Mister Li, the Heart Bandit

Ji Weixi paused then. Her feet were as heavy as lead even as she quickly wiped away her falling tears.

Sniffling, she changed the topic and asked, “Don’t you care about the Li family? They are crumbling.”

“I’m not one of them.”

“But you are a Li. Your father is, too.”

Li Shaoling turned her around and stared at her seriously. “Would you be with me if I’m not a Li?”

Ji Weixi could not hold back her tears right then. “Are you crazy!? What do you mean ‘if’!?”

“Should I change my name?”

“No!” She retorted indignantly.

Li Shaoling grinned. “Do you really care so much?”

Ji Weixi wiped off her tears firmly. “I feel guilty. I feel upset. I care a lot!”

“The truth is I’ve hated you.”

Li Shaoling’s smile faded while Ji Weixi stared blankly at him.

“I hated myself for liking you, for caring so much about you.”

“Even so, I’ve thought things through. That’s the grievances of the last generation, and it has nothing to with me or you. It’s really tiring to be burdened by the bad blood of generations past—yes, your father did kill my mother, but have you thought about why the Yu family and Li family are such bitter enemies?”

Ji Weixi shook her head. She didn’t know.

“Both families once shared a strong bond, but there was a mole in the Li family who made the Yu family go bankrupt overnight, forcing them to sell off their stocks just to survive while the Li family prospered greater with each passing day. That’s how the terrible grievance between the families came to be.”

“At the time, the damage to the Yu family was so frightening that they had to flee, and their head committed suicide because he wasn’t unable to bear the pressure. But think about: everything was caused by the actions of the Li family.”

Li Shaoling looked at her. “It’s tragic to be born in such a family. Is there a family that doesn’t shoulder living humans? It’s only ever about business, about profits and gains. Look: the families might struggle until they leave everything ruined in their wake, but they would become great partners whenever they face outside competition. Your grandfather would never tell you all that because you knowing would only feel more guilty, that the Yu family had wronged the Li family and so feared that you would be with me. He just hates the Li family very much.”

Ji Weixi understood. “But I do feel guilty, I remember your mother when I see you… about how she went away in front of me…”

Afraid of invoking Li Shaoling’s memories, she wouldn’t say the word ‘die’.

Nonetheless, Li Shaoling held her cool small hand and strolled along the snow. “The truth is that my mother didn’t love me. Her aim in her kindness is so that I could inherit the entire estate of the Li family and repay her.”

“She lived for gains too. She had no affection towards me. I did not have much attachment to her either because of her early passing.”

He looked at her again. “Are you cold?”

Slow to react, Ji Weixi nodded.

Li Shaoling took off his scarf and put it around her neck.

All she could smell right then was his clean scent.

He smiled bitterly then. “I’m leaving.”

Her eyes tightened. “Where are you going?”

“Somewhere isolated.” Li Shaoling touched her ice-cold face. “No one wants me around anyway, nor do I have any intention to return to the Li family. Being alone is fine too.”

Ji Weixi stared at him blankly, her heart aching. “When would you come back?”

“I won’t be coming back. I’ll just die.” Li Shaoling freed her then, a dark look in his eyes as he took one step back. “There’s no one I would miss.”

With that, he turned and left, without coming back.

Ji Weixi was stunned, but soon made a snowball, threw it at him and yelled. “Idiot! Bastard! You promised to marry me and you’re regretting already?! I don’t care anymore!”

Li Shaoling turned just a little from the hit, his voice remaining indifferent. “You don’t want me anymore. What good is saying that now?”

Meanwhile, her years were flowing rapidly. “Who said so?! I didn’t!”

He promptly strode towards her, rubbed off her tears as his voice became tender. “Good girl. Now say that again.”

Ji Weixi only realized then that she was tricked once again, and threw her fists at him in indignation. “Fooling me again?! You’re so annoying! I don’t care anymore!”

Li Shaoling caught her trashing hands in his palm. “Come home with me?”

Ji Weixi shook her head. “What about Grandfather? He won’t let me be with you…”

“Come back with me first. Set everything else aside.” Li Shaoling held her, closing his eyes. “Weixi, I missed you so much… if I don’t hate you, how could you leave me?”

“You told me you would marry me. You have to fulfill your promise, and if you go back on your word…” There was a plea in Li Shaoling’s voice just then. “I would be devastated. Promise me, marry me and stay with me. Okay?”

Ji Weixi returned his embrace, reveling in his warm chest.

She gently closed her eyes, feeling his strong, pulsing heartbeats.

He was right. Why should a generation bear the sins of generations past?

Even if she might live out the rest of her days in guilt, it didn’t feel like a bad thing to submit her life to Li Shaoling in recompense.

Moreover, he was begging her.

Her heart hurts.

“Okay,” Ji Weixi replied. “I’m coming home with you.”

Li Shaoling freed her then, and was smiling like a child. Ji Weixi could not help wrapping her arms around his neck, stand on her toes and kiss him on her own volition.

When that was done, she spoke beside his ear. “Li Shaoling?”

“Yes.”

“I love you.”

***

Li Shaoling led Ji Weixi home, their bodies touching constantly with affection.

He forced her to say ‘I love you’ many times.

It was not easy to make her convey the feelings in her heart, so why would he give up on such a chance?

Meanwhile, Yu Qishan immediately guessed that Ji Weixi had run off with Li Shaoling when he found her gone.

When he and Yu Xiangnian came asking for her, Ji Weixi was still sleeping.

Li Shaoling answered the door, dressed in his casual clothes.

“Where is my Qing’er! Hand her over!” Yu Qishan demanded the moment the door opened.

“Quiet. She’s sleeping.” Li Shaoling was at once languid and provoking.

Yu Qishan was left choking with indignation, while Yu Xiangnian pulled him back. “Grandfather, Cousin is sleeping.”

“What are you talking about?”

Yu Xiangnian threw Li Shaoling an indifferent look and said, “It’s obvious that they have a child and feelings for each other. Surely you can’t break them up.”

Yu Qishan could never have expected that the grandson he was so proud of would betray him.

“Xiangnian… don’t you know…”

“Are you talking about what happened before? You’re wrong there, Grandfather. You have been tormented enough by your own grandfather, so why would you not let it go and continue tormenting new generations? Have you never thought about what would happen to Jiayu if you do this? That’s your great grandson. Are you able to watch a young boy like him live in hate?”