Chapter 71 - A Meeting With Detective Tang

Li Caiyi had made an appointment with a private investigator before this, and they were supposed to meet this afternoon. With her new appearance, Li Caiyi walked using the etiquette she had painstakingly learned in her past life. 

It would be bad if she showed up as a student because she might be looked down upon, or worse, she could be a victim of fraud. There was no harm in being careful, so she changed her appearance before going to the appointed place.

Li Caiyi entered a restaurant with a confident stride, and the waitress quickly greeted her with a bow. Li Caiyi mentioned the investigator's name, and the waitress led her to the table in the corner.

The investigator she hired looked cleaner than she expected. He had a pair of sharp, deep eyes that watched her every move closely like a hawk, and he also got a faint scar on his left temple.

"Are you Detective Tang?"

"That's right."

"Thank you for coming all the way here. As you know, I'm here today to request an investigation."

Detective Tang leaned against the backrest. "Let's hear about it."

"I want you to investigate a man named Li Jirong. It's a simple affair case."

Detective Tang scoffed. "I can already guess that. Tell me the details."

Li Caiyi pulled out Li Jirong's photo from her bag and slid it to him. Then she told him about everything she knew. Detective Tang would occasionally hum, albeit he looked disinterested. A case like this was pretty common, so it was no wonder if he did not feel excited about it.

Li Caiyi pulled out a white envelope with cash inside at the end of her explanation. "This is for the deposit. I'll send you the rest if you can gather good evidence for me."

Detective Tang received it lazily, but Li Caiyi did not miss a gleam in his eyes when he checked the content. Li Caiyi did give him a generous amount.

He smiled for the first time since Li Caiyi met him before he slipped the envelope inside his jacket. "Is the target your husband or something?"

"There is no need for you to know that. I'll pay you generously if you can do a good job. That's all you need to know."

"Fair enough. Anything else?"

Li Caiyi stopped for a moment to think. "I want you to inspect everything. If you have a chance, please investigate the woman he is having an affair with as well. Her name is Gu Xue."

"Gotcha. I'll report to you if I find something."

"I leave it to you, then."

Li Caiyi refused his invitation to eat first and left the restaurant when she finished her business. 

She tried her best to maintain a strong and confident look all the time, but on her way out, her heart was beating crazily.

She had gone and done it now. She was really going to go against Li Jirong. There was no turning back anymore.

Li Caiyi had never done this before, so she was unaccustomed to the thrill. However, she did not regret her choice. This was what she was supposed to do since the beginning, anyway.

Li Caiyi suppressed the uncomfortable feeling in her guts and hastened her step.

***

Li Caiyi fetched her things from the train station and went to the bathroom. After changing her attire and erasing her makeup, she went straight home.

A few boxes were arranged on top of the living room table when she arrived at Li family's house. Li Chunhua was there happily chatting with Su Suyin while admiring the box's content. They looked like they were having so much fun. 

Li Caiyi hesitated a bit before she approached them.

"What are all these boxes? Did you go out shopping?"

Li Chunhua only gave her a slight nod while Su Suyin smiled brightly at her. "Xiaohua said she was bored, so we went out shopping together. It was so much fun!"

Her mother sure looked the happiest when she was with Li Chunhua, so Li Caiyi only smiled back and looked at the light blue dress embroidered with a butterfly motif in Li Chunhua's hand. 

"That's a wonderful dress. It really suits you, Xiaohua."

Li Chunhua snorted and finally said her first words to her after a while, "Of course, it will suit me! Lighter colors are the best, and I don't know why some people prefer dark, boring colors."

She must have been talking about the last time Li Caiyi rebuked her. It seemed like Li Chunhua was very bothered about it. Li Caiyi did not know how to respond to her little sister's pettiness.

Su Suyin looked at Li Caiyi worriedly but later said, "Xiaoyi, I'm sorry, but we got nothing for you this time. Mother thought you would get a matching dress with Renshu anyway, and anything he prepared for you will be the best, so you don't need anything from here. Xiaohua also needs a wonderful dress, shoes, and accessories for the party. You'd understand, right?"

Li Caiyi looked down at the sheer amount of the things they bought. There were at least five boxes of various sizes and a dozen paper bags. By buying Li Chunhua many things for the party, it would seem Su Suyin means Meng Renshu's party and the future's party. 

It was not like Li Caiyi coveted these things. She had not mentioned anything about taking her share, yet the way Su Suyin said that was as if she was trying to take Li Chunhua's things.

Li Caiyi smiled bitterly. Su Suyin adored Li Chunhua the most, and she had always been partial with her love and affection. Li Caiyi thought it was because Li Chunhua was cuter and more capable, but even after she worked hard and finally won something, Su Suyin never once looked for her or cheered on her. She only gave a short congratulatory statement and forgot about it.

It meant that Su Suyin's partiality was not because of superficial things like that. It was simply because Li Caiyi was not Li Chunhua. Only a mother could never mistake her children with her other child in this world. That was also true for Su Suyin, but for an entirely different meaning.

Her mother was always like that, and Li Caiyi had long given up trying to win her mother's heart.

"I understand. I will return to my room first, then."

"Aren't you going to sit here and have a chat with us? Xiaohua is going to try on her dress now. Wouldn't you want to look at how pretty your sister is, too?" Su Suyin asked excitedly, totally oblivious to Li Caiyi's stiff smile.

"No. I'm sure anything will look good on her. You guys have fun without me."

Su Suyin's brows knitted. "You have always gone out somewhere lately, and you rarely spent time with Xiaohua anymore. What if she gets lonely? You need to be more responsible, Xiaoyi. Don't be selfish and play too much outside with strange people. It won't do you any good."

Right, she had to restrain herself because she had a little sister to take care of. She could not think only for herself and always had to be considerate toward Li Chunhua. If she did not care, it meant she was mean and unreasonable.

She had always been listening to her mother obediently in her previous life, so she wanted to reward herself by loving herself more in this current life.