The realization didn't sink in immediately to her. She was too late in noticing that she basically had shown Dai Shenqiang something she shouldn't.

Although there was nothing wrong with her chat and Zhiqiang, it was still embarrassing when someone pointed it out like some love display.

"You are missing the point!" Li Caiyi exclaimed while snatching her phone back.

Dai Shenqiang chuckled, seeing her reaction. "Your face is red. It's not easy to fool you, but it's easy to tease you."

Li Caiyi glared at him ferociously. "Shut up. Just explain to me everything. Now."

Dai Shenqiang sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck with a hesitant expression. "I underestimated my brother. To think he would be so daring in texting you first. That was unexpected."

"Why are you making a big deal out of this? Don't try to change the subject."

"No, I'm not. I truly am shocked right now." Dai Shenqiang glanced at Meng Renshu, who was still immersed in his conversation with his father before saying, "I didn't want to upset you, so I thought I should wait for more time until my brother contacted me before I told you."

"Did something happen to Zhiqiang, after all?"

Dai Shenqiang shook his head. "I don't know. I haven't been able to contact him since yesterday. No one can."historical

Left with no choice, Dai Shenqiang had to tell Li Caiyi everything he told Meng Renshu earlier. The more she heard about it, the more anxious she became. When she imagined something terrible happening to Zhiqiang, her heart felt like it had plummeted.

"So that's the deal. My brother isn't usually gone without informing me for this long, but don't worry too much. He is very strong."

"No, that's not true..."

"Huh?"

Li Caiyi recalled that lonely and bruised back of Dai Zhiqiang, also everything he had quietly endured by himself. She felt that calling him strong just because he never showed his weakness was like diminishing his effort and hard work, so it was unbearable to her ears.

"Your brother is hurting. I can already imagine him covering his wound again and acting like nothing happened. He isn't as strong as you imagine."

Dai Shenqiang: "...."

A moment later, Li Caiyi awoke from her stupor and regretted her words. Dai Zhiqiang especially said not to tell Dai Shenqiang anything, yet here she was, complaining that his little brother didn't understand his struggle while they were the ones who hid things from him.

"Shenqiang, I'm sorry for saying that. I have overstepped..."

Dai Shenqiang shook his head while smiling mirthlessly. "No, don't be. You're right. Out of all people, I should have known my brother's habit of not showing his weakness to anyone the best. Being with him all the time made me forget that sometimes, and I appreciate how much you have thought about him."

"Thank you, Shenqiang. I was really worried about him."

The younger teen showed a helpless look on his face before saying, "Caiyi, I have a feeling that you can save my brother."

"You mean regarding his disappearance right now?"

"No, I didn't mean that. The same way you saved me from those loan sharks, I feel like you can also pull my brother from the dark place he was in."

"I don't quite understand what you mean, but you want me to look after Zhiqiang, right? Of course, I will do that. I can't leave him alone, knowing he can be reckless sometimes."

Dai Shenqiang stared at Li Caiyi with an indescribable gaze before chuckling. "My brother is really the lucky one."

However, Li Caiyi couldn't hear that because she was already deep in her own thoughts. Dai Shenqiang suddenly thought of something and asked her.

"Oh yeah, I have been meaning to ask this for a while, but what kind of relationship do you have with Big Brother Meng, Caiyi? He seemed to be awfully concerned about you."

"Ah? Brother Renshu is my childhood friend. He knew Zhiqiang too, and when he knew I was going to come here, he insisted on following me."

"How do you know about where my father is treated, though? Did my brother tell you that?"

Li Caiyi couldn't find a better excuse, so she just nodded along with it. "Yeah, he told me that before."

"No wonder. Then you should just go with Big Brother Meng after this to check on my brother. He asked me earlier about my brother's workplace so he could go check on him. Actually, this is supposed to be a secret from you since both of us want to settle this matter without upsetting you, but the cat is already out of the bag. I have to apologize to Big Brother Meng later..."

Li Caiyi's head was overloaded with so much information, so she waved her hands to stop him from talking.

"Wait, hold on for a moment! What are you talking about now? When did you and Brother Renshu even have that talk?"

"When you were busy talking with my father, he was standing outside, and we talked a bit."

"So Brother Renshu knew about all this? And he asked you to keep it a secret from me?" Li Caiyi asked in disbelief.

Dai Shenqiang scratched his cheek unsurely. "Well, yeah, but you make it sound like he has committed something unforgivable. Big Brother Meng's worry is reasonable, and I agreed with him, so he wasn't forcing me into doing this."

Li Caiyi wanted to facepalm so hard right then. Meng Renshu had successfully turned this innocent boy to become his follower in a matter of minutes. How frightening.

A big conspiracy almost happened under her nose, yet she didn't realize that. Meng Renshu moved so fast and sneakily, just like always. No wonder he was so quiet at the beginning. She really couldn't let her guard down even a minute around him.

'Wait, no, this might be my chance,' Li Caiyi thought inwardly. 'Knowing him, he must have already mobilized his people to check on this matter. Why not interrogate him to squeeze more information from him?'

Li Caiyi didn't know if he could force him to talk, but she would lose nothing by trying. At this point, she didn't care about the means anymore. Even if she had to rely on her enemy, as long as she could make sure of Dai Zhiqiang's condition, it would all be worth it.