Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu-Chapter 1173: Cai’s decision
"Ru Yi!" Zhong Heng rushed to hug her. "What happened? I heard the cops were called to the bar!"
"I’m fine, Dad."
"You don’t look fine to me! Who hurt you?" He gritted his teeth.
"Oh my, such concern for your daughter~"
Zhong Sihan was seated on the couch, chuckling as he stared at the family.
"I wonder where was this concern when she was dating a toxic man and nobody really bothered then."
Her brother, Xieren, gritted his teeth but chose to ignore his sarcasm. Instead, he directed his anger at her.
"I don’t understand what’s the problem with you! Everything was going between you two so why have things suddenly turned sour? Don’t tell me you are still not able to forget that lowly man!"
Cai, who was standing behind Lin, slightly stiffened.
"Ooohhh," Zhong Sihan added his commentary again as he stared at his sister-in-law this time.
"My grand-niece is dating some man but has somebody else in her heart? Oh my, why does that sound so familiar? Anrui, what do you think?"
Shui knitted her brows, feeling odd.
I don’t understand what he meant by that sarcasm...
But Zhong Anrui very well understood his nuances, to which she only pressed her lips for a moment. She walked toward Ru Yi and patted her head.
"I’m so glad you are doing okay, dear."
"That’s not important, Grandma. What’s important is why does she keep causing trouble for us!" Xieren grimaced.
"You are asking the question to the wrong person," Lin intervened, seeing Ru Yi too tense to speak out.
"You should ask that to the stalker who is not leaving her alone."
"And who are you?" His eyes narrowed.
"My grandson who I will adopt very soon and who will drag you to the streets penniless," Zhong Sihan chuckled.
His eyes widened.
He is that man Granduncle keeps talking about?
At the same time, this was news to Cai too. He knew about Zhong Sihan but didn’t know that Ru Yi belonged to this Zhong family.
Wait...How...
Zhong Heng ignored that subject for now and looked at his daughter. "I will never forgive nor tolerate Da-Fu harassing you like this, but what happened between you two? Like Xieren says, you still cannot be thinking about that other man now, are you?"
She stiffened.
"That other man is my brother," Lin dropped the bomb without any warning.
Everybody stared at him.
"Sorry, what?"
He pulled Cai in front of him. "Ru Yi and Cai liked each other, or should I say, still do. He is the man her brother keeps talking about."
Cai neither responded nor reacted. He was still reeling from the shock that Ru Yi belonged to the same family as Zhong Sihan - the same man wanting to adopt his brother.
"You are that man?" Xieren was flabbergasted. "What the hell are you doing here? Wait a minute..."
If his brother was in prison then...
He stared at Lin. "Are you the brother who was in prison until now?"
"Yes."
Even Zhong Heng couldn’t believe this turn of events.
Xieren said, "No way. You are saying that Granduncle wants to adopt a criminal and then my sister likes your brother? This is lunacy!"
Ru Yi threw her brother a glare. "Th-They are not like that...!"
"You think you can take away the criminal’s tag just because you like someone?"
Zhong Sihan sneered. "Well, you all have inherited my brother’s idiocy tag for all these years, did I say anything?"
"Enough!"
Zhong Heng was exasperated with this commotion. His squinted gaze fell upon Lin and Cai. He glanced once at Shui, remembering her words at the hospital.
He took a step toward them and said, "I appreciate you helping my daughter. She was in trouble and you saved her. Twice. But Ru Yi and your brother..."
Lin caught his rejection very clearly, which was why he came to the Zhong villa today. He wasn’t going to let his past affect his brother’s future and he was ready to do anything if it meant bringing Cai and Ru Yi together.
"I understand-"
"Ru Yi and I were just friends."
Cai spoke all of a sudden, taking everybody by surprise. He then looked up, holding a soft smile on his lips.
"So you don’t have to worry, Mr. Zhong. We were just friends and we naturally drifted apart. We don’t like each other that way."
The words struck Ru Yi so hard that even though she didn’t want it, she couldn’t stop from tears brimming in her eyes. Shui felt her slightly shaking and she held her hand firmly.
"Cai," Lin stared, "I’m talking-"
Cai smiled. "It was never needed Bro. Ru Yi and I were just friends. Really. We don’t see each other that way."
Zhong Sihan raised a brow. "Clearly, one look at Ru Yi doesn’t give the picture that you are telling, young man."
He silently breathed out. "It doesn’t matter, Mr. Zhong. We only helped her because that was the right thing to do. Nothing else," this time, his gaze remained firm as he watched Zhong Heng.
Zhong Sihan smiled. "Well it makes sense~ If I adopt Lin, then your relationship with Ru Yi would become familialy weird ahahaha."
Shui grimaced.
"No, it’s nothing about your adoption dream. I know what everyone thinks about Bro," he clenched his fists. "I don’t blame anybody for us drifting apart because of my family. Ru Yi is free to make her own decision. But then...it was equally my decision not to pursue this friendship any further if she or her family had problems with Bro’s past."
Ru Yi stiffened.
"Just like how you love and care about Ru Yi, I love and care about my brother. I cannot watch him being humiliated over and over again for those six years when I...I..." his voice choked as his eyes turned misty, "know what kind of a man he is. But if six years of his life would keep bringing hate and resentment in any of my friendships or relationships, then I found it prudent to let things end where they stood."
