Rebirth: Once Again With You

Li Caiyi was surprised because he suddenly took some distance away from her. "Where are you going?"

"Li Caiyi, let's talk again later. I'm afraid your sister will kill me if she sees me here."

Since when did Dai Zhiqiang care about what other people think of him? Nevertheless, she knew that their sweet moments had to end eventually and felt saddened. There were so many things she wanted to ask him.

"Dai Zhiqiang, do you still love me?"

At least, she wanted to hear him answer this one.

Dai Zhiqiang seemed troubled by her question and withdrew his gaze. "There's no point talking about this now. You know what will happen if we force ourselves to be together."

Li Caiyi's heart stung upon hearing it. "If so, why did you say those things to me and confuse me? You should have just let me leave, and I wouldn't overthink about our meeting tonight."

The sound of footsteps was getting near. Dai Zhiqiang felt helpless seeing the gloomy look on Li Caiyi's face, but he couldn't be seen in this place tonight.

"I'm sorry."

That was all he could utter before he ran off, leaving the aggrieved Li Caiyi behind without answers. She bit her lips as she stared in the direction where he had disappeared to.

"Appearing and disappearing whenever you want, did you think I would wait forever for you?"

A moment later, she laughed dryly. Who was she trying to fool here?

Li Caiyi hated to admit it, but he was right. She couldn't move on from him, and her heart stirred just from hearing his voice. Six years had passed, and she was still walking in the same spot.

If Dai Zhiqiang answered her question positively, she would probably burst into tears of happiness and gladly wait for him again. Like a fool.

"Stop giving me hope if you have no intention to stay. Why are you like this to me? And just when I finally started liking myself again…." Li Caiyi felt bitter inside as she muttered to herself.

"Xiaoyi! There you are!"

However, Li Chunhua's voice quickly snapped her out of her negative thoughts. Raising her head, she saw Li Chunhua, Shao Jingfei, and another girl she didn't know walking toward her.

Li Caiyi couldn't help but narrow her gaze at the girl. She felt like she had seen her somewhere before.

Li Chunhua hugged her tightly and checked on her for any injuries. "Where have you been?! Do you know how scared I am when the light is on, but I can't find you anywhere? I thought someone had kidnapped you!"

"Sorry for making you worried. I was suffocated and wanted to have some fresh air."

"But why did your dress get so dirty?" Li Chunhua tried to dust away the dirt on the skirt, but the stain had already dried and was hard to remove. "How are you planning to go back inside like this?"

"It's fine. I already said my well-wish to Mr. Shao. I will just go home and take a rest. The meeting today seemed to tire me out more than I expected," Li Caiyi smiled weakly, and thankfully they bought her excuse.

But before that, she wanted to know who was that girl who came with them.

"Say, who is that?"

Li Chunhua's lip curled down in displeasure at that question. It looked like she was in a bad mood. "Ask Shao Jingfei. I'm sure he will gladly introduce her to you."

The prickly reaction made Li Caiyi even more curious. Shao Jingfei cleared away his throat before introducing the girl. His expression was slightly uncomfortable as he explained, "This is Xia Rouyue. She is…uh, my friend."

In a normal situation, Li Caiyi would feel suspicious of his brief pause, but she was shocked by the name she heard, so she didn't register the following words.

"Xia Rouyue, you said?"

"...Yes." Shao Jingfei scratched his cheeks awkwardly.

Among four of them, only Xia Rouyue, who was oblivious to their little thoughts, could smile widely as she offered her hand for a handshake. "My name is Xia Rouyue. I'm Shao Jingfei's friend and soon-to-be fiance."

Her voice was light and soft. A pair of big and pure eyes with thin lips that expressed nothing but good intentions.

How could Li Caiyi forget this girl?

It had been six years since the last time she saw her in the video Shao Jingfei showed her briefly. She had matured into a delicate and pretty woman during that time.

Li Caiyi felt her chest tighten, especially when she recalled how Dai Zhiqiang adamantly refused to tell her why he came there.

Was he here because of Xia Rouyue? It took six years before they could meet again. Did this coincidence happen because of Xia Rouyue's presence?

Li Caiyi would feel very unpleasant if that were the case.

But what was that about Shao Jingfei's fiance? Why did the girl she suspected of having an affair with her ex-boyfriend suddenly become a fiance for her sister's crush? The relationship maps had turned complicated.

Li Caiyi glanced at Li Chunhua, but the latter refused to meet her eyes. So this was why she was in a foul mood.

"I already heard about you from Jingfei, but you twins are very similar. I guess identical twins are really different. Nice to meet you, Li Caiyi. I hope we can get along."

Li Caiyi's heart felt heavy. She didn't want to take her hand, but it would be unreasonable for her to do so. Xia Rouyue had never actually done anything wrong against her. It was just her who had problems with her.

Eventually, she reluctantly took her hand. Even her hand was smooth, unlike Li Caiyi, whose hand had formed calluses from writing too much.

"Yes, I know about you. I read all your works, and I'm a big fan of your works!"

"I-Is that so?" She smiled stiffly.

"Yes! You are more famous than you think you are. I especially like 'The Lost Memories'! Even now, I will re-read it from time to time, but I still feel overwhelmed by the strong feelings between the two leads!"

Li Caiyi smiled dryly. She came up with the idea for that book after her break up with Dai Zhiqiang. It contained her deep and chaotic emotions at that time. It was ironic Xia Rouyue was attracted to that one, instead of her other works.

It was like she found pleasure in her suffering.

Li Caiyi was surprised when she realized what she had just been thinking. She was ashamed for harboring such an ugly thought, even for a moment.

How pathetic and deplorable. Now she was just trying to make an excuse to hate Xia Rouyue out of jealousy. What was wrong with her? Was she always this petty?

"If only I wasn't so busy, I would attend one of your fan signs. The schedule always crashes for some reason," Xia Rouyue pouted. "But I think all that bad luck was worth it if I could meet you privately like this. I'm glad I returned to the country early to attend today's party."

"What? So you have been abroad all this time?"

"Yes. I was studying pharmacy in N country up until a year ago. But something kept me from returning, so I only recently returned."