"We have said it before, but once again, happy birthday, Caiyi." Zhou Ya gave her a warm hug. "I'm very nervous, but thanks for inviting us."
"Haha, you are too tense, Ya Ya. But I'm also thankful for this opportunity. Not every day can I see a famous indie band perform so close. Do you mind if I go closer to record them?"
Feng Nian dabbed her mouth with a napkin before pulling Chen Ruolan back to her seat. "At least act like a civilized person for a day. Do you want to ruin Caiyi's important day?"
"What's ruining? I only want to take selfies with them and ask for an autograph, alright?" Chen Ruolan pouted, looking offended.
Li Caiyi felt the tension leave her body. So what if Dai Zhiqiang wasn't here? She could still have plenty of fun with her precious friends. Just wait until the next time they meet again; she will give him a piece of her mind!
While the two were bickering, Zhou Ya seemed to think deeply about something.
"What's wrong?" Li Caiyi asked her.
"Hmm, I don't see Dai Zhiqiang anywhere." Zhou Ya looked around. "We have been here for a while but haven't seen him yet."
Li Caiyi sighed dejectedly. She hoped they wouldn't ask her this, but it seemed this topic was unavoidable. "I texted and called him, but he didn't give me any response. He probably forgot about my birthday."
"What? That's no way." Zhou Ya exclaimed, but seeing the dark cloud on Li Caiyi's face, a guilty expression flashed across her face. "Actually, there's something I've been meaning to tell you, Caiyi."
"Huh? What's wrong? You sound so serious."
"Do you remember the last time you collapsed in school? We have to leave you with Senior Meng, but as expected, I don't feel at ease leaving you like that. So I called Dai Zhiqiang to come over and take you home."
Li Caiyi's brows raised in astonishment. So the reason why Dai Zhiqiang knew about that was that Zhou Ya told him about it. Wait, since when did the two of them become close enough to exchange contact information?
"Ah, please don't misunderstand!" Zhou Ya quickly added upon noticing the frown on Li Caiyi's face. "It wasn't just me. He gave each of us his phone number so we could contact him in case something happened to you."
Li Caiyi turned her head to Chen Ruolan and Feng Nian, demanding an explanation. One of them grimaced while the other whistled awkwardly.
"So it's true?" Li Caiyi asked, almost in disbelief.
"Well, yeah. But we never contacted him until the last incident." Feng Nian answered carefully. "Sorry for not telling you anything. The guy didn't want you to know about this."
Li Caiyi really couldn't understand his mind. Shouldn't he contact her directly if he was concerned about her well-being?
"Caiyi, I can't help but notice that your relationship with Dai Zhiqiang has not been so good lately. The two of you seem more distant after the incident with Lu Ruan. I was worried that it might be because of my unnecessary meddling." Zhou Ya said in a concerned tone. "I wasn't thinking clearly that time because I was too worried about you. Dai Zhiqiang probably saw you alone with Senior Meng, and he misunderstood the situation and got jealous. That's why he hasn't been contacting you much."
Half of Zhou Ya's idea came from her wild fantasy, but it was surprisingly not entirely far-fetched like usual. Dai Zhiqiang did feel jealous, but she was pretty sure her outing with Meng Renshu the other day was the trigger for everything.
Come to think of it, he looked uncharacteristically agitated that day. He seemed very anxious about her getting into the 'arm' of other guys, although she had explained everything to him. Li Caiyi had never seen him act so emotionally before.
"Caiyi, how about you contact him once again? Isn't it lonely to spend your birthday without your beloved one besides you?"
Li Caiyi was still upset and angry, but her heart wavered hearing Zhou Ya's words. It was indeed, as she said. It was lonely and sad to have everyone but him celebrating her birthday. Because she wanted to hear him wishing her happy birthday the most.
"I-I will be back." Li Caiyi stood up from her seat in a hurry. Her friends didn't stop her and waved encouragingly at her.
As she tried to enter the house for some private space, she accidentally bumped into Meng Renshu, who was on his way to join the party venue. He quickly caught her by the shoulder to steady her.
"Oops. Why are you always in a hurry whenever we meet?" Meng Renshu chuckled.
"I didn't see you. Sorry about that. Now, if you'll excuse me."
"Wait, where are you going to go? I saw Xiaohua with Shao Jingfei in the front, and she said the party would start soon. We can't start without the star of the event."
"Oh, it will only take a minute. I have to fetch something from my room." Li Caiyi made an excuse on the spot, and for once, Meng Renshu seemed to actually buy it.
"I see, so you are heading back to your room. Then bring this with you as well." Meng Renshu smiled as he pulled out a small box from his inside pocket. It was a silver rectangle-shaped box wrapped with a white ribbon.
"Happy birthday, Xiaoyi. Thank you for being born in this world."
For a moment, Li Caiyi couldn't think of anything to respond. She didn't expect him to give her a gift. This was her first birthday after a long time. When was the last time he personally gave her a birthday present?
And his last sentence also caught her off guard. He looked frank when he said that, as if that was the best thing to ever happen to him.
"Oh, thank you, Brother Renshu." Li Caiyi stiffly replied as she received the gift. Since it felt awkward, she quickly added, "You should find somewhere to sit first. I'll be back soon."
"En. Then, I will search for Junjie outside. Come back soon."
After saying that, he walked past her and over to the table where Li Junjie had been sitting with a bored expression. Li Caiyi gave them one last look before she returned to her room.
Once inside, she put the present from Meng Renshu on top of the table and checked on her phone. The good news was that she received one missed call; the bad news was that it wasn't from Dai Zhiqiang but from his brother.
Li Caiyi's whole body shrunk in disappointment. However, she soon became curious. She had invited the Dai brothers to her birthday party, but none of them showed up.
If it were only Dai Zhiqiang, then she could consider it as him being busy like usual, but Dai Shenqiang was very excited when she told him about the party. The younger boy said he would never miss it, yet there was no sign of him up until now.
Li Caiyi had a bad feeling. She might be too paranoid about this, but hopefully, nothing bad happened. She clicked the redial button and waited anxiously for the call to connect.
It rang for a few moments before it finally picked up. "Shenqiang? I'm sorry I didn't hear your call just now. Where are you now? I haven't seen you anywhere so far."
"....."
It was so silent; she had to look at her phone screen to ensure the call was still connected. "Shenqiang?"
"Sob. Caiyi, what should I do?"
Li Caiyi stood up in alarm when she heard him crying. "Are you crying? What happened to you?!"
It was hard to determine what he said with all his sobbing and hiccuping. The anxiety level within her had almost reached its max level. "Shenqiang, calm down and explain to me slowly. It's okay. I will be with you."
He took a deep breath before speaking in a shaky voice. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. My brother said I shouldn't call you because today is supposed to be a happy day. But, but, I just couldn't resist…Ugh… I'm so lame."
Li Caiyi felt even more anxious now. If there was a reason for Dai Shenqiang to cry like this, and Dai Zhiqiang refused to tell her about it to not make her sad, there could only be a reason.
All blood drained from her face as she started thinking about the worst possible scenario. "Please tell me the truth. Did something happen to Zhi? Is he hurt?"
"N-No, that's not it…."
Li Caiyi almost breathed a sigh of relief, but his following sentence made her mind go blank.
"It's not my brother; it's our father. Caiyi, what should I do? I'm afraid Father will not make it, and Brother hasn't eaten anything since yesterday. You are the only one I can rely on now."
After saying that, he cried again while Li Caiyi tried hard not to freak out. She took a deep breath before snatching her purse and quickly running out of the room.
"Don't cry. I will be there as soon as possible!"
Li Caiyi didn't stop even when she ran past Li Chunhua and Shao Jingfei at the front door.
"Xiaoyi, wait! Where are you going?!"
Li Caiyi could hear her sister calling her out from behind, and she felt terrible leaving like this. But there was no way she could continue having fun while knowing Dai Bolin was dying.
Ultimately, she left her house while promising inwardly to make it up to Li Chunhua later.
Her mind was busy thinking about the Dai brothers, especially her clumsy and awkward boyfriend.
Just thinking how heartbroken he must be right now was enough to make tears well up in her eyes. Even so, he refused to tell her anything because he didn't want to ruin her happy day.
"That idiot! I'll scold him to my heart's content later!"
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