"Meili, you shouldn't associate all your happiness with someone else's life. Is ruining your life, abandoning everything able to return his life? If he knew what you've become now, do you think Tang Beixuan wouldn't blame himself for the situation you are in?" Li Yuanyi continued, giving his sister a piece of his mind.

  He didn't have many experiences with love and relationsh.i.p.s, unlike her, but Li Yuanyi had come to the conclusion that he should always preserve his self-love and respect first and foremost before he would be able to give love to others. This was why he wasn't worried about love anymore.

  He and Meng Yanran didn't even make promises to get married to each other. On the contrary, they rarely talked about it and enjoyed each other's company. With Meng Yanran being a divorced woman, Li Yuanyi was also aware of how his parents and society would perceive her if she married him.

  Still, he had no intention of forcing her to marry him. He only mentioned it once to her, that he wanted to ask for her hand in marriage in the future, but didn't try to tell her any more than that.

  It wasn't like he didn't have any d.e.s.i.r.e to marry her, but Li Yuanyi wanted her to decide if she was truly ready to spend the rest of her life with him. Because personally, he didn't want to get a divorce and hear that she regretted marrying him. So if the day comes and he pops the question and she refuses him, Li Yuanyi was willing to let her go.

  As for his younger sister, Li Meili might have shared a passionate kind of love with Tang Beixuan, but life shouldn't stop and cease moving just because he was gone. Being in a relationship, no matter how long it was, was not a guarantee that she would spend the rest of her life with Tang Beixuan. However, it was important for the couple to lay out their intention towards each other clearly.

  "Brother, do you know… he was about to propose to me." Li Meili fixated her gaze on her cup, allowing her tears to roll down her cheeks once again. "We were supposed to be together forever, but he was gone before I knew it."

  This time, Li Meili couldn't reign her emotions and wept in front of her brother. Seeing his younger sister like this broke Li Yuanyi's heart, but he kept his emotions in check. He needed to be strong so Li Meili could rely on him. He cannot allow her to ruin herself and lose her because of the immense grief she was suffering right now.

  Li Meili knew that what her brother said was right but she couldn't help it. Losing Tang Beixuan was the hardest obstacle she had encountered in her life. Even when her parents turned their backs on her couldn't make her weep like this.

  "Tell me how am I supposed to continue without him? What did I do to deserve all of this?" As her tears continued to roll down, Li Yuanyi stood up and took a seat next to her, drawing her into his embrace.

  There were no words that he couldn't think of to comfort her, because truth be told, Li Yuanyi also knew it would be hard for him too if he lost Meng Yanran like that too. He could only comfort his sister like this.

  Because he didn't know what to do to help her ease her pain, he could only allow Li Meili to cry to her heart's content. He wished he could do more for her, but it was impossible to bring back the dead to life.

  Li Yuanyi patted her back as she cried against his shirt, aware that he might need to change into a new one after this. From the kitchen, Meng Yanran saw the two in each other's arms and smiled at Li Yuanyi. Wasn't this the reason they came here? At least he was able to make his sister open up to him.

  Meng Yanran remained in the kitchen until Li Meili ceased crying and had wiped her tears dry. It was still awkward for her to see Li Meili in such state, far from the confident woman she had met before.

  "They didn't send you here to force me to go back to Beijing for a marriage arrangement?" She asked Li Yuanyi, who was glad that she seemed to be feeling a little better now.

  "No. I came here to see you. They didn't force me at all." He replied. So he was right, Li Meili was worried of the consequence that awaits her once she returned to Beijing.

  "I see, then you and Miss Meng…" Li Meili looked at her brother and glanced at Meng Yanran, who had a slight blush on her cheeks.

  Her brother coughed awkwardly in his hand and looked away.

  "Don't say anymore. Stop teasing, Meili." He retorted.

  "But I'm not teasing you." Li Meili corrected him before turning to speak to the woman standing next to her brother. "But Miss Meng, you do know that being involved with him, you would eventually face scrutiny by other people as well as our parents?"

  "I understand." Meng Yanran placed a hand on Li Yuanyi's shoulder, giving him a small smile. "He already explained the situation to me."

  "And I'm surprised you aren't running away from him." Li Meili pointed out.

  "I have enough people dictating me regarding how I live my life, Miss Li. I'm sure you understand this, right? How can I put my happiness in other people's hands? I don't deserve that." She paused, giving it a good thought. "It's not that I don't trust your parents, but I hope that our happiness is more important than what people would think about the two of us."

  Li Meili hummed and looked at her brother. If it was already hard for her to get away from their parents' influence, it would be harder for him.