The Dai Family's house was located on the south side of the city. It was pretty far from S International High School and the hospital, so they had to take the subway. Thankfully, it was not that crowded around that time, so the trip was pretty great.
Li Caiyi had come to this area a few times to accompany Meng Renshu at business parties or such, but she never had a chance to explore it before. She took in the surrounding sight curiously. Maybe because this place was a bit far from the center of the city, but the ambiance was slightly different. It looked less busy and quieter here.
Dai family's house was not far from the subway station, so the Dai brothers refused Li Caiyi's idea to take a cab and walked instead. Well, Li Caiyi did not mind either way, so she happily obliged.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, they finally arrived at a small house painted with a grayish-blue color. No, it would be more accurate to say that they painted the house with a light blue color, but the color faded as time passed.
"This is our house. It might be small, but it's still a good place." Dai Shenqiang cheered as if he had been liberated from everything. "Come on in, Caiyi!"
"There's no need to rush. Watch your injured hand," Dai Zhiqiang reprimanded him lightly.
"I'm sorry to intrude," Li Caiyi said. Dai Shenqiang gave her a brief tour of their house as soon as she came in.
The interior was pretty nice. Although it was not that spacious, the furniture was arranged efficiently, so it did not take too much space. It made the room appear wider than the original.
When she entered, there was a living room in front of her. On the deeper side, there was a kitchen and dining table. These rooms used the same space and did not separate by a wall. The bedrooms, bathroom, and toilet were on the right side of the other room. Although the wall and floor looked old, it was clear that the people living in it took good care of it.
Li Caiyi had to say this house looked much better than she initially thought. She was expecting a dilapidated house, judging by how reluctant Dai Zhiqiang was to let her come, but that was not the case at all.
It was not the most fantastic house, but it was decent and overall a lovely place to live, with enough windows to let plenty of the sunlight shine through the room. There was a backyard where they could hang their clothes and plant some vegetables.
Many pictures were hanging on the wall. Most of it was pictures of the boys. It was a house with a clear sign of a happy family living in it.
Li Caiyi recalled Shen Qiang's apartment, and the contrast could not be more apparent. He used to have a family who was precious to him. However, he did not even bother to decorate or take care of himself after he lost them. Her heart squeezed painfully.
"Li Caiyi, sit down first. You don't have to do anything." Dai Zhiqiang said.
Li Caiyi looked around and saw how the dish had been piled up on the sink, a mountain of clothes was piling on the couch, and other miscellaneous things could be found scattered on top of the dining table. There were also lots of trash bags in the kitchen corner, and dust was everywhere.
It was indeed a bit dirty like he said.
She chuckled. "It's okay, you don't have to be so reserved. We're friends, right? Let's help each other more from now on." Li Caiyi patted him on the shoulder while giving him a reassuring smile. "I'll start with the dish, and you can sit while folding the clothes. You must have been tired doing everything by yourself, so you can relax now."
Dai Shenqiang grinned when he heard that. "Thanks a lot, Caiyi. You are such a lifesaver!"
He ignored his older brother's glare and went to the toilet instead. Dai Zhiqiang was left alone with piles of clothes. He glanced at Li Caiyi, who was currently folding her sleeves, and almost could not believe that Li Caiyi was here, in their humble house. She was like a delicate flower growing in the pile of a trash can. It healed his tired eyes just from looking at her lovely figure.
"Hm?" Li Caiyi noticed someone was staring at her. When she looked up, Dai Zhiqiang was gazing at her intensely. "What's wrong, Dai Zhiqiang?"
"You can call me by my given name, just like how you called my brother."
Li Caiyi was astonished. She hoped she could get closer to Dai Shenqiang's family, but she did not expect the opportunity to come so fast. Of course, she felt thrilled by it.
"Please call me Caiyi from now on as well, Zhiqiang!"
Dai Zhiqiang felt attacked by her radiant smile, so he quickly avoided her gaze and plopped down on the couch. His hand folded the clothes one by one, but he would secretly sneak a peek at the girl from time to time.
Nobody said a word. By now, Li Caiyi had gotten used to his reclusive behavior, so she did not feel awkward around him anymore. On the contrary, she felt the clumsy Dai Zhiqiang, who could not express himself well, was pretty cute.
When Dai Shenqiang came out of the toilet, he saw how his brother and Li Caiyi worked in silence in their respective station, but both had smiles adorning their faces. The boy sighed inwardly, feeling a bit helpless about these two.
It did not take that long for them to finish. Soon enough, the house chores were done, so they were relaxing on the sofa.
"Finally finished, huh? Thanks for your help, Caiyi," Dai Shenqiang said.
"It was not a big deal at all."
"Didn't you say you want to look at my drawing? I have already bought some from my room!" Dai Shenqiang raised a few drawing books in his hand with sparkling eyes, looking at her expectantly. Li Caiyi laughed at his enthusiasm and sat beside him.
"Show me?"
Dai Shenqiang opened it, and Li Caiyi was shocked by what she saw. She was not an artist by any means, so she did not know if her opinion was accurate or not, but what she knew for sure was Dai Shenqiang had quite a talent in him!
There were lots of drawings of the scenery. A waterfall, a watermill, a treehouse, a city, a bridge, and many others. In another drawing book, he drew a more specific object, like a cat, a tree, a flower, or an electric pole.
Each of them was so detailed. As someone who often saw these sceneries or things in her daily life, she could confidently say that everything was just on point. Most of them were colorless and only used the pencil to give some texture to the drawing, but some were colored using colored pencils.
To put it shortly, Dai Shenqiang was a fantastic artist! No wonder he said he could not live without his right arm. It would be a loss to this world if this talent was gone, indeed!
"How is it? Are you amazed?" Dai Shenqiang asked teasingly.
"Yes! I was so impressed. You are amazing, Shenqiang!" Li Caiyi could not praise him for using anything else but amazing. She knew nothing about art, but she knew a good drawing when she saw one.
"O-oh?" Dai Shenqiang did not expect she would answer so honestly. It caught him off guard instead. "Thanks."
"You are so talented at this. Someone out there must definitely need your artistic hand to help them."
Dai Shenqiang smiled bitterly. "That's not true. Art is fun to do, as long as it remains as a mere hobby. There are only so many people out there who take art seriously as their career path."
Li Caiyi sensed the change in his demeanor and immediately felt she had just said something insensitive there. "I'm sorry. I know nothing about art, so please don't mind my words."
Dai Shenqiang laughed. "What are you saying? I'm the one who wants to show it to you, so I should be the one saying sorry for ruining the mood."
"No, you are not…."
"Oh, look! Brother brought us his special handmade drink!"
Li Caiyi could tell Dai Shenqiang was deliberately trying to change the topic, but she ended up looking up, anyway.
In front of them, Dai Zhiqiang carried a tray with three glasses of ice tea on top of it. "Drink this first."
"Thanks a lot, Brother! I was feeling thirsty, so this is perfect!"
Since the Dai brothers had already drunk their tea, it would not be polite if Li Caiyi did not. She wanted to talk with Dai Shenqiang about what he said last time, but she decided to put it off for now.
Li Caiyi reached for her glass and took a sip. Her eyes widened when she tasted it.
"Th-this taste is….!"
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