Chapter 52 - Accidental Encounter

While Dai Zhiqiang was drowning in his inferiority complex, Li Caiyi bumped into an unexpected person on the hospital's ground floor.

"Xiaoyi?" Meng Renshu called out to her with an astonished expression.

Li Caiyi did not understand why she kept having accidental encounters with him everywhere. Was he a ghost or something?

Meng Renshu was happy to see Li Caiyi for the first time after a few days, but he refrained from walking over to her when he saw Li Caiyi's unhappy expression. He still remembered what she said last time, and although he could not accept the idea of Li Caiyi having a boyfriend so soon, he respected her wishes.

The atmosphere was awkward between them. This was not what Li Caiyi had planned in mind. Her original plan was to avoid and keep some distance from Meng Renshu in this life, and considering how little he thought of Li Caiyi in her previous life, she believed he would not care even if she was not there.

However, looking at Meng Renshu's crestfallen face, he looked like a puppy who just got scolded, which made Li Caiyi feel conflicted inside. If she could help it, she did not want to interact much with him, but it should be okay if it were only small talk, right? Meng Renshu had yet to do anything terrible to her in this life, and she felt bad for unreasonably showing a cold shoulder to him.

"Brother Renshu, it's been a while. How do you do?"

Gosh, what was with that super stiff greeting? Li Caiyi was so distraught she momentarily lost control of her mouth.

Meng Renshu could tell how uncomfortable and distant she was, and it made him lonely inside. For as long as he could remember, Li Caiyi had always been there by his side. He was not accustomed to turning around and not seeing her there. For some reason, Li Caiyi's cold gaze on him was the only thing he had in mind these days. He could not stop thinking about it.

"I'm fine, Xiaoyi. Did you come to visit Uncle?"

"No. My friend was hospitalized here, so I came to visit him."

Meng Renshu did not miss the single clue in Li Caiyi's sentence. Him? A male friend?

Then, he recalled what Li Caiyi said when she pushed him away the other day. She complained she would not get a boyfriend if he kept sticking to her.

Meng Renshu was clever, so he could easily find the string which binds these facts together, and the conclusion of those facts was enough to render him speechless.

Honestly, when Li Caiyi told him to keep some distance from her, Meng Renshu was not entirely convinced. He thought that Li Caiyi was probably mad at him because of some misunderstanding. Thus, she did not want to see him for a while. He believed that Li Caiyi would come back to him eventually after she calmed down because he knew how much she looked up at him. That was why he never pestered her and patiently waited until her anger subsided.

He did not expect that not only did she never come to find him again, but she also grew more distant from him day by day.

Now, Li Caiyi suddenly told him she was getting along with her male friend so much that she even visited him in the hospital. Meng Renshu finally realized that Li Caiyi was serious all this time, which means she was also serious when she said she would cut ties with him!

Meng Renshu could not accept that. He did not understand why her attitude would have a one hundred eighty degree change. He felt that Li Caiyi was treating him unjustly. How could she treat him coldly without even telling him what mistake he committed?

"Xiaoyi, can we talk for a moment?" Despite his inner turmoil, his tone was still gentle when he spoke to Li Caiyi. "It's been a while since we talked, so I want to catch up."

Li Caiyi was reluctant, but this person might become her brother-in-law in the future, so she could not avoid him forever. She decided to bite the bullet this time and complied. "Sure."

Meng Renshu was delighted. He was supposed to retrieve some documents from one of the doctors here per his father's instruction, but he had long forgotten about that plan. He also thought about which restaurant would be good to go to.

"Let's talk while eating something. You must be hungry, right?"

"No, I had already eaten. Can we just go somewhere quiet and talk there?"

Meng Renshu felt like his excitement had utterly cooled down by a basin of cold water. He laughed dryly before he said, "I'm actually pretty hungry right now. You don't have to eat if you aren't hungry, but can you please accompany me?

Ugh, how could there be such a pretty boy in this world? Li Caiyi felt her resolve wavered under his pleading gaze. Beauty really is a sin. She did not have romantic feelings for him anymore, but she was still not immune to his beauty!

"A-alright…"

Meng Renshu smirked slyly. It looked like this move still worked on her. It eased him to know that Li Caiyi did not completely hate him.

"Yay! Then, shall we go?"

***

Meng Renshu brought her to a high-class restaurant. Li Caiyi's smile stiffened when she looked at how luxurious the interior was. A middle-aged man with a suit came forward with a bright smile when they arrived. He treated Meng Renshu respectfully, and from their exchange, it seemed Meng Renshu was a VIP customer, and the man was the manager there.

The manager led them to one of the private rooms on the second floor, and Li Caiyi could not help but feel on edge. It did not take geniuses to know that this place was not the kind of restaurant where you can easily get a private room without prior reservation, but Meng Renshu treated this as if this was the most natural thing.

Li Caiyi knew how affluent the Meng Family was because she was also part of that family once. However, she seemed to forget about that fact after she got reborn.

Meng Renshu pulled a chair for Li Caiyi while flashing a gentlemanly smile. It only made her feel more awkward instead. However, she was not that rude to refuse his kind gesture, so she stiffly sat down. Meanwhile, Meng Renshu also took the seat across from her.

"Shall we order, then?" Meng Renshu smiled at her.