After that day, Chen Ruolan never ate lunch with them anymore. There was a prickling sensation in the air whenever she was around, mainly coming from Feng Nian.
Li Caiyi bit her lips. They were a very close friend before, but because of Li Chunhua, they grew apart.
Li Caiyi had tried to confront Li Chunhua about it at home, but every time, she just brushed it off as Li Caiyi imagining things. She would not listen to anything and even accused Li Caiyi of being biased towards her friends.
If Li Caiyi felt bad, then Zhou Ya was tired. She had known both girls longer than Li Caiyi, so she was sandwiched between the two, and that stressed her out.
Zhou Ya was not stupid. What Feng Nian could see, of course, she could see as well. However, she did nothing because Li Chunhua had a powerful ally beside her.
Zhou Ya glanced at Li Caiyi and sighed. As long as Li Caiyi was with them, Meng Renshu would not do anything to them, but looking at things right now, the twins seemed to have a discord because of them. Who knows what will happen in the future?
"I can't believe it. Chen Ruolan, that girl is really getting on my nerves!" Feng Nian said in annoyance.
"I'm sorry, it's because of my sister." Li Caiyi looked down apologetically.
"Your sister is one thing, but Chen Ruolan's stupidity irked me the most! How could she be so blind and gullible?"
Zhou Ya and Li Caiyi tacitly chose to keep their silence. Both were busy with their own thoughts.
No one said anything, but Li Caiyi could feel that the last argument caused a rift between them, preventing them from being as close as before.
***
Li Chunhua seemed to have fun playing with Chen Ruolan and her other friends these days. She hadn't walked home with her for a while now.
Well, Li Caiyi was the one who said they needed to do things separately, so she could not say anything against that.
Everything went in a weird direction just because Li Caiyi made a different choice in this life. She even blamed herself. If it weren't for her and Li Chunhua, those three would not fight against each other like this.
"Fucking bastard!"
Thump!
Li Caiyi's wandering thoughts returned to one place when she heard loud noises. She looked to her side and found a small alley. The noise seemed to come from there. Was there a fight?
Li Caiyi did not want to get in trouble, so she was about to quietly walk away when a sharp and deep voice stopped her on her track.
"Don't think you can get away from us this time! This time, we will make sure to break one or two of your legs."
"Let this become a lesson for you and your family, not to owe a debt you can't pay."
"What was his name again? Oh yeah, Shenqiang. Don't worry, I'll make a grave for you."
Li Caiyi's heart almost dropped to her feet when she heard that. Her hands got colder.
"Just because you are young doesn't mean you can get away from responsibility. Pay what you owe us, right now!"
Li Caiyi glued herself to the wall as she listened to their conversation. Discreetly, she peeked at what happened in the alley and found three burly men ganging up on someone. She tried to look closer, but those burly men blocked the way.
If that person really was Shen Qiang, she could not just sit around and do nothing.
Li Caiyi pulled out her phone and quickly contacted the police. Meanwhile, the burly men kept shouting and wrecking the place. She could faintly hear a whimpering sound, too. A sense of apprehension grew inside her.
When the call was connected, she quickly whispered her current location and told them to come soon or someone would get killed.
Li Caiyi knew there was nothing she could do alone to help, but listening to those burly men's malicious laugh, along with smacking sounds and Shenqiang's shriek of pain, made her heart ache. If this went on, he could really die!
She was scared, but the thought of losing Shen Qiang made her more afraid than anything.
In the end, she could not wait until the police came.
"Stop it!"
Li Caiyi stood at the end of the alley while gripping her phone tightly. Those burly men looked back at her, and their faces were terrifying!
"Ah? What do you want, little girl?"
"We don't have time to play with you. Get lost if you don't want to get hurt."
Li Caiyi could not see it well earlier, but they were huge like a mountain bear. She assumed their height reached two meters.
While she was distracted, she noticed a pair of legs sprawled on the ground, with some blood beside it, and everything went black before her.
She rushed forward and squeezed her way through those men. The sight in front of her almost made her cry.
In front of her, a boy around her age with swollen eyes and cheeks looked up at her expressionlessly. His clothes were disheveled and dirty, and blood dripped from her nose and the corner of his lips. He leaned weakly to the wall, with his hand limped beside his body.
Li Caiyi did not know if this boy was her Shen Qiang or not, but her heart felt like it was shredded into pieces looking at his sorry state.
She did not hesitate when she pulled the boy into her embrace. She glared at the burly men while shielding the boy using her body.
"Doing this in broad daylight, aren't you afraid that people are going to report you?!"
"Huh? What the hell is wrong with you? Do you have a death wish or something?"
"Don't think we will go easy on you just because you are a girl!"
Li Caiyi sneered. "You talk big for people who walked around in a group to gang up on a defenseless boy and girl. You should be ashamed of yourself!"
The burly men exchanged glances with each other before they burst into laughter. Li Caiyi bit her lips to suppress the urge to flee. She had to buy time as much as possible until the police came.
"R-run…." the boy said weakly. Li Caiyi didn't dare to respond and only tightened her hold on him.
"What's so funny?! Don't think you can get away safely after laying your fingers on me!" Li Caiyi shouted at them, making them stop laughing altogether.
"This girl started to get on my nerves. Big brother, should we teach her a lesson too?"
The biggest man among the three came forward and squatted in front of Li Caiyi, making her flinch.
"Little Miss, I don't know who you are, but you are misunderstanding uncle's intention here," He pointed his finger at the boy. "This guy's family owed a lot of money to us, so it's only right if we ask him to pay us back. Or what, are you going to pay us back in his stead? Either way is fine for us," the man smiled widely, showing his yellow teeth. He reeked of tobacco mixed with alcohol smell.
"No matter how you look at it, he is just an underage boy and incapable of taking or paying a loan. I bet it must be an adult from his family who owed you a debt. If yes, then on what ground do you beat him up? This is a violation of the law!" Li Caiyi argued. She had to hold them off so the police could catch them for good.
"Wow, so scary." The man snickered. "Little Miss, does uncle look like a law-abiding citizen to you?"
The other men behind him also snickered with him.
"Big brother. Looking at her again, she looked like a pretty fine gal. Can I have her? I think we are going to have a lot of fun together." One man looked at Li Caiyi with a predatory gaze, making Li Caiyi shudder in disgust and fear.
The biggest man smiled evilly, looking at Li Caiyi's frightened countenance. "My little brother seems to take a liking to you. I'm a generous person. If you play with him for a while, I'll let this boy go. What do you think, Miss?"
Li Caiyi was so disgusted; she almost vomited. "Do you think I will just nod my head and agree when you put it nicely like that? Dream on! I said it before, didn't I? If you touch even a hair on my head, my family won't let you off!"
"Argh, she is so annoying. Let's just do the usual things to her, Big Brother."
The biggest man shrugged his shoulders and threw a meaningful smile at her. "It's too bad you can't differentiate which is good and bad for you. My little brother's temper is not as good as mine, so let's hope you can remain in one piece when they finish having their way with you."
"N-No…" Li Caiyi's voice trembled when the burly men approached her. She tightened her hold on the boy, unwilling to let him go, and shut her eyes tight.
"Police! Nobody moved! Raise your hand in the air!"
"Shit! When did the police come here?"
"This little bitch must be the one who called them! She tricked us!"
"Forget about her; just run for now!"
The scene unfolding before her after that was like straight out of the movie. The police chased the bad guy to save people in need, while the bad guy ran like wild dogs. Li Caiyi was so scared earlier, but now she could finally breathe in relief.
"Young lady, are you okay? Can you tell us what happened here?" A kind-looking officer squatted beside her, and Li Caiyi quickly filled him with the series of events.
At the end of her explanation, she added. "Please help this boy. He was injured badly!"
"Yes, please come with us as well. We will need you to answer a few questions for us."
With the officer's help, Li Caiyi supported the boy and went inside the police car. Being inside this car gave her a mixed feeling inside because the last time she got into the same type of car was in her previous life, and she was the prime suspect, not the victim.
Li Caiyi looked worriedly at the boy, who was unconscious and currently resting his head on her shoulder. She used her handkerchief to wipe the blood off of his face gently while praying the injury wouldn't be anything serious.