The First Heartbreak
<<Flashback starts>>
Li Caiyi got delayed because of class chores. She remembered Li Chunhua told her they would go home with Meng Renshu today, so she was very looking forward to it.
Meng Renshu was a gentle and kind boy who often came to their house to play. His grandfather and theirs were close brothers, so their family had a very close relationship.
Li Caiyi had long admired this person for his abundant patience and gentleness. Whenever she fell, he would pat her head and coax her. He would occasionally shower her with gifts and help her with her study. That admiration later turned into attraction and later developed into a crush. Now, Li Caiyi couldn't even meet his eyes without making a fool of herself.
It's been a while since he came to their house, so Li Caiyi was very excited.
Li Chunhua and Meng Renshu should have waited for her on the first floor.
Li Caiyi hastened her steps.
When she was about to arrive at the front entrance on the first floor, she glimpsed Meng Renshu's figure. She had always stared at his back from afar, so even from a distance, she could tell it was him.
Li Caiyi's heart skipped a beat. She fixed her hair and uniform before she took a breath and nervously stepped forward.
Because of the angle, she hadn't noticed that Meng Renshu was standing facing someone. When Li Caiyi took another step and saw the sight in front of her, she felt like there were shattering noises beside her ears. The world seemed to turn upside down before her.
On the corner hidden by the shoe racks, she saw Meng Renshu and Li Chunhua kissing.
They glued together and stayed still for a few seconds before separating.
What happened after that, she didn't remember. However, she recalled feeling so uncomfortable that she didn't want to be there anymore.
When she came to her senses, her feet had taken her to the school's back gate, which was in the opposite direction of the front entrance.
The image of Meng Renshu and Li Chunhua exchanging kisses still lingered in her mind, overlapping with the memory of Meng Renshu smiling gently at her.
Li Caiyi's heart felt like it was being ripped into pieces. She couldn't think of anything but that frightening scene repeatedly.
The more she thought, the more devastated she felt.
The pain was so excruciating, almost like something had gnawed on her flesh.
"I should've known that Brother Renshu would also like Li Chunhua," Li Caiyi muttered under her breath bitterly. "They were both beautiful, and they were kind and had good grades too. They are a perfect couple. That's good."
Li Caiyi forced herself to laugh, but even her laughter didn't sound like one in her ears. She couldn't even raise her head.
Slowly, her vision became blurry, and droplets of water fell to the sand in front of her shoes. Due to shock, she forgot she was still wearing indoor shoes and not her outdoor ones. Now she had to bring these shoes home to wash.
However, none of that could ease her heartache. The pain made it hard for her to breathe, but as soon as she closed her eyes, that scene would repeat itself inside her mind; it was unbearable.
She brushed off the tears using her sleeve. "Stupid, what are you crying for. It's not like you have a special relationship with Brother Renshu. He is free to fall in love with anyone."
Li Caiyi reprimanded herself repeatedly a few times until she tired of crying. However, the damage and stress were still there, hovering around her head like black clouds.
She didn't want Meng Renshu and Li Chunhua to see her pathetic self, so she texted Li Chunhua, telling her she suddenly had something to do and Li Chunhua should leave first. The reply came almost immediately, asking her what happened, but Li Caiyi didn't reply.
She spent her time in the school until the sky darkened and the security staff told her to go home.
On the way, the rain poured down heavily, but she just let it drenched her as if trying to wash her sadness away like that.
<<Flashback ends>>
It was a memorable day where she got heartbroken because of Meng Renshu for the first time. That memory still left a bitter taste, no matter how many times she recalled it. Back then, Li Caiyi was also sick like this, although not as severe as this timeline.
It seemed her sickness worsened after she went back in time? In her previous timeline, she could still go to school by the next day, but looking at her condition now, it didn't look like it would be the case this time.
If she had gone back to that part of her life, she should be in her second year now.
Li Caiyi was concerned about Shen Qiang. They both jumped and died in the same place. Then wouldn't it be reasonable to think that Shen Qiang had also gone through the same thing as her?
"Xiaoyi, what are you thinking? You don't know how worried I was when you came back late last night." Li Chunhua spoke beside her, with a tone of reprimand and grievance in her voice. "You passed out as soon as you stepped into the bedroom. You gave all of us a big scare this time!"
Li Caiyi stared at her sister, who looked so much like her but shared no similarity with her except for that. She wasn't in the mood to coax her just like she always did, so she only gave her a short hum.
Li Junjie saw Li Caiyi's weak state, so he pulled on Li Chunhua's forearm. "Come on, don't disturb her. She still needs some rest."
"Ah, brother!" Li Chunhua exclaimed, but she couldn't shake her hand off of him. In the end, she had no choice but to leave with him.
After everything became calmer, Li Caiyi finally felt more at ease. Looking at her siblings' faces again after everything that happened was like an ordeal. Although she had already put an end to everything in her previous timeline, she hadn't thought she would meet them again in this way.
Li Caiyi didn't bear a grudge against them, but she wasn't ready to act friendly to them just yet. It was tough to act normal in front of those who had hurt you so much, even if you had decided to let it go.
She shook her head to brush off that thought from her mind. Right now, that wasn't the most important thing.
Li Caiyi spent a lot of energy to get out of bed, and now she was exhausted. She needed some rest for now. After she woke up, she would think about what step she should take.
With that thought, she drifted into the dreamland.
She saw a man's figure opening his arms wide before her in her dream. She couldn't see his face clearly, but her heart instinctively knew that this man was the person she had longed for.
Without hesitation, Li Caiyi ran barefooted and leaped into his embrace.
Or so she thought…
The figure suddenly dispersed into particles of light within her embrace and floated away like fireflies, leaving her dumbfounded by the sudden disappearance of that person. Li Caiyi tried to collect those lights on her arms in vain. They had disappeared before she knew it.
Where did that person go?
Wait, that person?
Who… was that person again?