Stuck between these two girls, Dai Shenqiang found himself at a loss on what to do. He only wanted to talk to Li Caiyi, so why did it become like this?
'Ah, whatever. Let's just finish this quickly,' He thought to himself.
"Um, Caiyi? You don't have to be that tense. We are just going to exchange our contact information. Don't make a face like that, you are scaring your sister. Don't you feel sorry for her?"
Li Caiyi, who stood in silence and watched the scene unfolding before her, let out a bitter smile. Thinking back, Li Chunhua only asked him for his contact details, and it was up to him to give it or not.
Why did she interfere?
Was it because she was worried her sister would plot something against Dai Shenqiang?
Or was it because, deep in her heart, she did not want Li Chunhua to take anyone else from her anymore?
She was not even sure if Dai Shenqiang was her Shen Qiang or not, so what was this weird, suffocating feeling in her chest?
This scene overlapped with a similar situation in the past.
It was the same with Meng Renshu once. He would look at Li Caiyi with the same tired and helpless look while standing beside Li Chunhua. He never said it directly, but his eyes expressed disappointment and impatience, as though he found her an eyesore.
Dai Shenqiang had the same look in his eyes just now.
When they looked at her like that, Li Caiyi knew they would only drift further from her after this.
First, it was Meng Renshu. Now, it was Shen Qiang.
But they were not hers, to begin with, so what rights did she have to stop them?
'Ah, crap. This is so frustrating. I hate this feeling,' Li Caiyi thought to herself.
While Li Caiyi was standing there, contemplating on what to say, she did not realize a figure had approached them.
"Xiaoyi? Are you okay?"
Meng Renshu leaned in to look at Li Caiyi's face closer with a worried expression.
He suddenly showed up beside her, so Li Caiyi took a step aside in surprise. "B-brother Renshu?!"
Meng Renshu chuckled, looking at her slightly bulging eyes. "Did I surprise you? Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak on you. You were so deep in your mind you didn't even notice me."
Li Caiyi was just reminiscing about her not-so-good memories with Meng Renshu, and now the person himself appeared before her. She felt like she was just caught red-handed doing something bad.
However, thanks to him, Li Caiyi got a hold of herself again. She was too overwhelmed by emotion just now, but Meng Renshu's interruption calmed her down somewhat.
It was weird that he did not approach Li Chunhua first thing and came to her instead. Usually, he would always stand by Li Chunhua's side without question when he saw her being wronged.
Meng Renshu, who felt Li Caiyi stare at him, asked with a smile, "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"....Nothing." Li Caiyi was not used to having him standing by her side, but she quickly brushed it off as a coincidence.
"More importantly, who is this? Your friend?" Meng Renshu shifted his attention to Dai Shenqiang.
Dai Shenqiang groaned inwardly but kept a friendly smile on his face.
One after another showed up. Moreover, this guy seemed to exude the aura of a nobleman with every gesture he made. Dai Shenqiang knew immediately that he must come from a wealthy family.
"I'm Caiyi's friend, Dai Shenqiang. Nice to meet you."
Meng Renshu's mouth twitched a bit when he heard his name, and his eyes gradually turned several degrees colder. He lowered his eyes and noticed how Dai Shenqiang's right arm was wrapped in a bandage under his sleeve. His eyes narrowed down further when an idea occurred to him.
"Your hand, is it okay?"
Dai Shenqiang unknowingly held her injured hand and smiled. "Oh, this? Yeah, it has gotten a lot better than last time I was in the hospital."
"Oh my God! That looks hurt! Are you okay?" Li Chunhua touched his injured hand gently with a worried expression. She was standing so close to him it made Dai Shenqiang's heart skip a beat.
"A-ah, it's fine already. It doesn't feel that hurt anymore." He answered in stutters.
"You should be more careful. Don't push yourself too hard."
"Y-yeah. Thanks." The flustered Dai Shenqiang put away his hand to avoid further contact with Li Chunhua. He felt weird and restless.
Li Caiyi watched them with a complicated expression. Then, she secretly sneaked a glance at Meng Renshu; she wanted to know how he would react.
Meng Renshu was frowning, with lips pressed into a hard line. His long eyelashes cast a looming shadow on his eyes, making his appearance look more somber. It was his expression when he was in a foul mood.
Sure enough, he must be upset seeing Li Chunhua so close to Dai Shenqiang. Li Caiyi could not help but gloat a little inside.
'Now you understand how I feel? Serves you right! Eat that dog food!'
In the end, Dai Shenqiang exchanged his contact information with Li Chunhua. The latter smiled happily, while the former somehow appeared tired.
Li Caiyi said nothing throughout the process. There was nothing she could do to prevent it, anyway. She would only make herself look bad if she intervened further.
Dai Shenqiang vaguely felt Li Caiyi was upset about something, but he could not guess why. Women's minds were really hard to predict.
"Caiyi, I will go now. I really want to talk to you about the other day, so let's meet another time, okay?"
Li Caiyi nodded. "Yeah. Let's do that. Are you sure you will be okay? Wouldn't it be safer if you wait for your brother first?"
"Don't worry. I might not look like it, but I can run fast. Those guys got me because they used dirty tricks, but I won't be fooled twice."
Li Caiyi was still worried, but there was nothing she could do to make him change his mind. In the end, Dai Shenqiang left while waving his hand to her.
Li Chunhua looked at the new contact on her phone with a gloating smile. It was very easy indeed to manipulate a stupid guy.
Meanwhile, Meng Renshu, who stood nearby, heard their conversation and felt a sense of impatience rush through him. He met Dai Shenqiang for the first time today, but his presence had irritated him so much.
He felt restless and angry for some unknown reason. Even more so when he saw that guy talking with Li Caiyi and elicited responses from her. She revealed concern for that guy more than she was concerned about him.
Meng Renshu could not stomach that fact. Wasn't he just injured a little? It was not even that serious of an injury, so why did he have to act pitiful to gain Li Caiyi's sympathy? How unmanly.
"Xiaoyi, you have finished your talk, right? Shall we go?"
Li Caiyi's brows knitted. "Go? Go where?"
Meng Renshu felt more irritated upon sensing her wariness of him, so he strode over to her with a wide smile on his face. Little did he know his smile looked scary when he was in a bad mood.
Li Caiyi took a step back, but Meng Renshu prevented her from running away by taking her hand and dragging her with him. "It's time to choose your dress for the party. You'll come with me whether or not you like it."
"Ah! What are you doing?!" Li Caiyi tried to pull her hand, but she could not win against Meng Renshu's strength. She sighed in resignation as she let herself be dragged away.
Li Chunhua, who was left behind, stood there with a dumbfounded expression. How could someone steal her sister before her eyes again?
"Hey, wait for me!" She exclaimed while chasing after them.