Chapter 3 To Let It Go
"Then, do you want to do it together?"
"Huh?" The man's sudden question caught her off guard.
"If we're going to do the same thing, anyway, then should we do it together?" The man repeated his offer flatly as if he didn't just suggest something outrageous.
Li Caiyi examined his face to gauge how serious he was. She didn't think he was trying to be funny by saying that. His face was dead serious. "Why, though?"
"You mean, why do I want to jump off the building with you? Simple, it's because you seem like you can use some company."
Li Caiyi looked at the man incredulously. "Is that all?"
The man looked back at her with a strange expression. "What else the reason could be?"
She couldn't hold back her laughter anymore. She didn't remember when was the last time she laughed so unrestrainedly like this. Her laughter carried a bit of an ironic feeling in it.
People who were dear to her refused to accompany her in this life, yet this stranger offered to accompany her in her death. If this was a joke made by gods, then Li Caiyi really had to give it to them!
"Sure, why not?" She brushed off the tears from the corner of her eyes. Whether it was the tears of sadness or joy, she didn't want to find out.
The man looked at her with a deep gaze. Even amid the raging wind, Li Caiyi could see her reflection properly in those ink-colored eyes. He slowly reached out his hand to her, beckoning her to grab it.
She looked up at him, and since he stood in the higher level of her, for a second, Li Caiyi had an illusion that this man was the messenger of death who came to pick her up.
Whether it was a messenger of death or not, as long as he could take her away from here, Li Caiyi would follow him. The man sighed when she took his hand. With a bit of force, he pulled her up to the same level as him with ease.
When she finally came face to face with the man, he showed her a faint smile. He didn't speak a word, but his eyes told her many things. There was relief, guilt, grievance, and joy mixed in it. The hand he used to hold hers was trembling ever so slightly.
Li Caiyi suddenly felt an indescribable feeling assault her as if her shackles came unbound. She felt like she could fly anywhere now. When she looked at this man's eyes, she strangely had an odd sense of security and contentness.
She wanted to know.
Even in this brief moment she had left, she wanted to know more about this man.
"Do you have a last wish or regret?" She asked him.
The man's gaze deepened. "I do."
"Me too."
"Shall we stop, then?"
Li Caiyi shook her head. "No. I was just saying, even if we became acquainted just now, if there was something you want to do before you die, then I want to fulfil it for you."
The man's pupils shook for a moment before it returned to the previous tranquility. He turned his gaze away from her and looked faraway with a tender expression. "That's so kind of you. If I knew everything would come to this, I should have taken my beloved away with me back then. Leaving her on her own was my biggest regret of all."
So this man has someone in his heart? He must have loved her so dearly if remembering her could make him look like that.
What about her? Was her love for Meng Renshu amount to what he felt? Was Meng Renshu's love for Li Chunhua comparable to his love?
Li Caiyi didn't know anymore. If there was something she knew, it was that she envied the lucky woman whom this man loved.
"Then, do you want to go on a date with me?" f𝔯ee𝘸𝘦𝚋𝒏oѵ𝐞l.c𝒐𝓂
Li Caiyi said that impulsively. She was about to correct that ambiguous sentence when that man answered.
"Sure."
It was the same flat tone he used when he offered her to die together. Li Caiyi didn't know whether she should laugh or cry. However, since she was the one who suggested it, she couldn't take it back now.
"Okay, then."
The man jumped off the wall and helped her come down, too. Before she knew it, the gloomy weather had cleared up. The afternoon sunlight fell on the man's face, making her handsome face look even more prominent, almost heavenly. Li Caiyi held her breath unconsciously.
The man clasped her hand and led her downstairs. Li Caiyi was silent throughout the walk and only stared absentmindedly at his back. She wondered what this man had thought when he agreed with her suggestion. Was he so desperate for a woman he didn't care who it was anymore?
When they finally left the building's area, Li Caiyi slowly pulled out her hand from his grasp. Before she went into this, she wanted to clarify a few things with him first.
"I don't think there's any need to say this, but let me say it just in case. I didn't plan to continue living anymore."
The man nodded his head. "Yeah, me too."
His honesty was astonishing, but Li Caiyi quickly regained her composure. "I don't have much time. If I want to do this, I need to do it tomorrow, at the latest."
"Then, let's go back here tomorrow."
She eyed him suspiciously. "Do you really understand what I'm trying to say?"
"I do. You are still determined to die, even if there's some attraction growing between us later. You said that to remind me to be careful and not to stop you later."
Once again, Li Caiyi was surprised by his response, which lacked enthusiasm but was very blunt. He seemed to know exactly what she had in mind as if he could read her like a book. She felt conflicted about this.
"I have no intention of stopping you because I'm the same as you. I don't have much time, either."
His response eased her mind. It was always good to talk to a person with the same idea. "Then, we have a deal?"
Li Caiyi offered her hand for a handshake. The man stared at her hand for a while before he asked her, "What about you? Do you have a death wish or lingering regret?"
She flinched a bit. She closed her eyes, but nothing came to her mind. Everything that happened to her in this life was a bunch of mistakes. It was irredeemable.
Even regretting felt useless when something had broken to that extent. The only thing she could do… was to let it go.
"Nothing. I have none of that."
The man gazed at her doubtfully. Thankfully, he didn't pry further. He shook her hand in a friendly handshake. "Then, I'll be in your care for today."
Li Caiyi smiled. "Leave it to me."