Li Caiyi was bedridden for two days, but her fever still hadn't shown any sign of cooling down soon.
Whenever Li Caiyi wanted to sleep, she was afraid she would forget about Dai Zhiqiang. Worse, she would realize that everything up until now was just her dream, that she was already long dead.
A part of her knew that the fever made her think about the most ridiculous stuff, but she couldn't help herself.
Dai Zhiqiang was just that important to her. She was so devastated she felt like she had died twice.
Li Junjie would come to her room to check on her from time to time. Su Suyin would stay by her side and take care of her as much as she could before she returned to the hospital.
So many people cared for her, yet her mind replayed his farewell nonstop. It made her doubt her self-worth all over again.
Was she never deserved to be loved, after all?
She tried her best. She had done everything she could, but why did he leave her too?
Even Dai Zhiqiang left her in the end. It shook her to the core.
She was just no good for anyone, after all.
Li Caiyi coughed violently. Her head throbbed so much as her body convulsed. Her vision was hazy and slightly warped in front of her.
It was painful for her both inside and outside. Has she always been this weak before?
She wanted to drink some water, so she reached out her hand to the glass of water on her bedside table. Then, she lost her balance and slipped, causing the glass to fall onto the floor.
*CRASH*
Li Caiyi groaned and slowly climbed down the floor to clear the mess but accidentally injured her finger when the glass fragment grazed her finger.
"Xiaoyi!"
She raised her head and found Li Junjie walking briskly from the door. He caught her injured hand in his and frowned hard. "What are you doing? I told you to stay put on the bed."
"I want to drink some water…."
Li Junjie took a deep breath before helping—half-forcing her to return to the bed. "A sick person shouldn't concern herself with something like this. Just rest and let me take care of this."
Then he wrapped her body with a blanket before crouching down to gather the glass fragment. Looking at his back, Li Caiyi felt that her brother seemed exceptionally caring towards her.
"Thank you, Brother Jie. I'm sorry."
"If you are sorry, then get better soon."
Li Caiyi faintly smiled before burying her head into the blanket. There was no sound other than clinking glass on the floor for a while, but then Li Junjie asked her.
"Did something happen between you and Dai Zhiqiang?"
"Huh?" Li Caiyi returned her gaze toward him again.
"You called out for his name several times in your sleep."
Li Caiyi: "...."
She had been seeing nothing but a nightmare lately, so it was very likely to happen. Even when she didn't say anything, she involuntarily gave herself out. How pathetic.
Li Junjie watched how her expression turned gloomier at the mention of Dai Zhiqiang's name. He fumbled inwardly to find good words to say.
"I don't know what happened, but don't let it get to you too much. It's not worthy enough to make your body sick for that."
Li Caiyi let out a weak laugh. "It must be unpleasant for you to look at me now. Sorry for that."
"Why do you always think negatively about everything? I'm just saying that your body won't get better if you keep wallowing in negative feelings."
"But I don't know what else I can do. Everything is so messed up now. I don't know where to start."
"You are a patient. What about focusing on your recovery first? After that, you can start writing again. Didn't you say you would pursue your dream seriously?"
Dai Zhiqiang said they were hindering each other's path. She initially had a wishful thought about how he asked her to break up because he wanted her to focus on her dream.
However, then there wouldn't be any explanation for why he suddenly looked at her like a stranger? He didn't even bother to ask her thoughts and decided that he would transfer schools and disappear from her life after that.
That was what she couldn't accept the most. Li Caiyi couldn't move on from the fact that Dai Zhiqiang could leave without looking back, leaving her behind. As though she had no space in his heart anymore.
"I'm not even sure anymore if that's what I want. Brother Jie, I'm so lost… Just for what did I return to?"
Li Junjie raised his brows in confusion. "Return? What do you mean by that?"
Ah. Li Caiyi wanted to smack her head. No matter how delirious she was, how could she ask Li Junjie, who knew nothing about her regression about that?
"Nothing. Sorry, I'm talking gibberish because I'm not in the right mind. I think I will rest for now."
Li Caiyi turned her back on him and tightened her blanket, refusing to talk further.
Meanwhile, Li Junjie was still puzzled but decided not to think much about it. A patient tends to speak nonsensical things, after all.
"Then I will let you rest. Just call me if you need anything."
Li Caiyi only pretended to sleep initially, but she quickly drifted off once she closed her eyes.
***
Shao Jingfei walked out of the meeting room while fuming. His expression was dark, and people who saw him dared not approach him first.
After all, it had become a public secret that Shao Jingfei was favored by the Chairman of Glorious Days. One wrong word and they probably would lose their job.
They subtly glanced at Shao Jingfei, who walked while huffing towards the pantry and silently pretended they didn't see him.
Meanwhile, the said person gulped a glass of cold water in one gulp and immediately felt better afterward.
Having your family working in the same company was a pain. He couldn't even work in peace!
"Just how long will they continue to pester me about this matchmaking thing. For god sake, I'm still in high school!" He hissed in a low voice. He wouldn't want anyone to accidentally hear him.
Shao Jingfei knew he shouldn't have come to the company for a while. He thought Shao Junfei wouldn't be around, yet he ran into him accidentally. What bad luck.
He was still grumbling when his phone vibrated. It was a message from Shao Junfei. The content was an address, name, and picture of a girl approximately the same age as him.
Below that information was another message from his half-brother:
[Just try to meet her once and give me a proof shot. I will try to explain it to Mother later].
What pissed Shao Jingfei the most was being forced to do something he didn't like. He honestly didn't understand why they were so persistent about this.
However, Shao Junfei gave him an ultimatum today. If he didn't comply, then he would take back the ownership of the cafe from him.
Shao Jingfei had to admit that he made a big mistake by asking his brother to help him procure that place. Now he used it as a weapon against him.
"Who cares about this stupid matchmaking. If he wants to take back the cafe from me, then he could try his worst!"
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l