Rebirth: Once Again With You

She quickly added, "I mean, you are already involved in this too, so you have every right to know about it. But if you don't want to, that's a different story."

"Xiaoyi's right. You can stay, Renshu," Li Junjie said. "And there are things I would like to confirm with you."

Meng Renshu nodded and smiled refreshingly. "If both of you don't mind my presence, I'll be glad to hear more about this."

Li Junjie snatched the book in Meng Renshu's hand before shifting his gaze to Li Caiyi and saying, "Go first to the cafe we visited last time. Just use Renshu's car to go there."

"Huh?" Meng Renshu and Li Caiyi were caught off guard by Li Junjie's proposition.

"You are just going to return those books, right? We'll wait for you, Brother Jie."

"No, I need to talk to the teacher first after this. You guys go first." Li Junjie didn't give them a chance to rebut more because he had entered the library without looking back.

"Brother, wait!" Li Caiyi tried to call for him, but it only fell on deaf ears.

After the door was closed, Li Caiyi and Meng Renshu stood side by side in awkward silence. To be fair, only Li Caiyi felt awkward because Meng Renshu was acting like his usual self.

"Well, shall we go now?" He invited her first.

"Let's just wait until Brother Jie finishes his business. The talk can't start without him, after all."

Meng Renshu shook his head. "Don't tell me you are so dense that you can't understand what Junjie is trying to do now?"

Li Caiyi had an inkling, but she would rather not think about it. "I don't know, and I don't care either."

"Ouch, so cold. After everything I have done, my merit doesn't even amount to that much. It's sad."

"Ugh," Li Caiyi groaned when her conscience was pricked once again. "Didn't you say that you won't charge me for your help in settling the matter against our father?"

"I won't charge you for that, but don't you forget something? I gave you a flower a few days ago, didn't I?"

Li Caiyi groaned. "Don't tell me you will charge me for something I didn't wish to receive as well now."

Meng Renshu touched his chest dramatically as though someone had stabbed him in the heart.

"Way too blunt. You hurt me deeply there, Xiaoyi. Even if you dislike me, how could you dislike innocent flowers?"

"When did I say that? I was just saying I never asked you to give me flowers or any gift on that matter. I'll appreciate it if you never give me anything in the future."

"But you have accepted my gift, and returning something that has been given to you is bad manners. Besides, shouldn't you honor your brother's wish? He even played a matchmaker for us with a few romantic cells he had on his body. What tremendous growth!"

"You are not making any sense here," Li Caiyi sighed, finding that arguing with Meng Renshu today felt more exhausting than usual.

"Just give it up. You can never get rid of me, no matter how much you try," Meng Renshu smirked devilishly.

"Who says that? Don't be too full of yourself." Li Caiyi glared.

"You can deny it all you want, but the way you keep feeling conscious of my presence is proof that it's affecting you somehow. If you aren't conscious of me, why would you refuse to do as your brother said?"

"What do you know about me? Because you are sly and cunning, I can't help but always increase my guard against you. I couldn't care less about you and what you do."

"It doesn't look like it, though? I bet you also think of me and unconsciously wonder about my whereabouts when I didn't come to pester you." Meng Renshu chuckled teasingly.

As much as Li Caiyi wanted to deny his narcissistic claim, his words contained some truth. No matter how much she tried not to think about it, she couldn't help but feel bothered about Meng Renshu. If she was genuinely indifferent to his action, she wouldn't feel this conflicted.

That was the main reason she was reluctant to spend more time with him. She felt like she would easily be swept away by his pace if she did.

"If you are confident that you won't fall for me, there shouldn't be any problem with us going ahead of Junjie alone, right? Are you afraid of falling for me so badly?"

It was obviously a taunt. Meng Renshu knew her personality like the back of his hand and used it to his own advantage.

"Brother Renshu, you seem to forget one thing as well. I like someone else right now, so there's no way I will fall for you."

"You only said you like someone, but you didn't say you are in a relationship with the said someone. Doesn't that mean you are still available to anyone? Unless you are worried you will fall for me, I can't think of any other reason for your attitude now."

It was obviously a taunt. Li Caiyi knew that well, but it was really infuriating to hear that coming from him! Especially with that wicked smirk on his face.

"I'm not afraid, but I know this is just your idea to rile me to agree with you. There's no way I'm going to fall for it again."

"Sounds like an excuse to me. Can I take this as a confirmation that I indeed still have a chance with you?"

Li Caiyi: "...."

They were arguing back and forth over a simple thing to the point they attracted some people's attention.

Come to think of it, it wasn't like this meant anything because Li Junjie would follow them soon after. She was too caught up in the heat of the moment that she forgot about such an important point.

Li Caiyi felt stupid for prolonging this useless banter and finally heaved a defeated sigh.

"Fine, I only need to go with you, right? I will go, but seriously, stop having a weird idea about what I did. You can't be more far-fetched from the truth."

Li Caiyi didn't wait for Meng Renshu to respond and walked away first towards the parking lot.

Meng Renshu watched her small back slowly walk away from him. The mischievous smirk on his face gradually faded and was replaced with a bitter smile.