Rebirth: Once Again With You

Dai Zhiqiang threw a skeptical gaze at her. Although hesitant, Li Caiyi could tell her offer piqued his interest.

"You didn't let me finish my explanation the other day. Aren't you curious about it?"

"Of course, I'm curious. But I don't know if I can reveal anything to you. I have sworn to secrecy, after all."

"Why are you so inflexible?! Do I look like someone who will spread the secret? I will pretend I didn't know anything after hearing your story."

Dai Zhiqiang still looked unsure. "And I'm afraid you will scold me a lot after you find out."

"So you think I will scold you if I hear the real reason. All more reason for you to spill the beans now!" Li Caiyi grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer as she gazed into his eyes firmly.

"You have a lot of things on your plate. That's why I tried to be understanding and never forced you to tell me anything without realizing it only drove us apart. Zhi, are you really fine with this?"

He averted his eyes from her. A troubled look flashed across his face before a sigh escaped his lips. "Yi Yi, the less you know about me, the safer it will be for you."

"And yet you were suspicious of me and refused to listen to my explanation because you are jealous. This is too much! Why am I the only one who always has to be understanding here?"

"That's different. You might be targeted after you know what kind of work I have been doing."

"I knew it. You are involved in something dangerous, aren't you?"

Energy left her arms, loosening her hold on him. Dai Zhiqiang felt terrible making her upset like that. When he asked her to come to his place, he didn't plan it to turn out like this. It had been a while, so he spoke too much, making her worry unnecessarily.

"I won't hide it from you. The boss indeed asked me to do something, and it took up much of my time. I could barely make some time to watch over Father, much less to spend some quality time with you. I'm sorry for being selfish."

"Zhi, I'm so scared right now. I don't want to be separated from you again."

Although the way she said 'again' made him confused and bewildered, her sad expression made him forget about it almost instantly.

"I have a lot of people who are waiting for me to return. I'm not so stupid to risk my life over something like that."

"But, you did say it will be dangerous."

"Yes. But I'm not alone in this. There are a lot of people who will help me by my side, and we have each other's back. So nothing will happen to me. Please believe in me."

Li Caiyi automatically reminded Lin Xiang, who promised her he would do whatever it took to keep Dai Zhiqiang safe. As reliable as he looked, she still couldn't get over the fact that Dai Zhiqiang once decided to end his life.

According to him, she probably would be in danger if he told her everything. Meng Renshu also mentioned once that Dai Zhiqiang, in her previous life, was a fugitive on the run. Putting the two together, it was highly likely that his involvement with Ye Wang was the root cause of his criminal life.

As she couldn't do anything, she decided to believe in Lin Xiang's promise in the meantime. But with the mention of this 'dangerous mission' from the boss, Li Caiyi felt apprehensive.

"Zhi, what is this job you are talking about? I won't ask for details, but can you at least tell me what kind of work you have done so far? I will not talk to you until you tell me what it is."

Dai Zhiqiang made a conflicted expression, but he relented under her threat and insistence gaze.

"The place I worked at is similar to an information trading agency. We will give you the information you need in exchange for money, rare goods, or other valuable information. That's the extent I can tell you."

Li Caiyi wasn't completely unfamiliar with information trading. She recalled how some people in high society mentioned it a few times and how the information about this mysterious group played a significant role in political and economic shifts.

However, since you need to pay a high price to buy information, most people prefer to use their family power to investigate alone. Besides, information regarding this agency was only known to several privileged people, and not everyone could use their service.

Was Ye Wang the information provider they talked about?

"But if I'm not mistaken, Ye Group is a group moving in the food industry. They have several chains of restaurants and bars both within and outside the country."

"Yi Yi, you actually know quite a bit. But did I ever mention the name of the group before?"

Li Caiyi almost bit her tongue due to shock. She had done her research regarding Ye Group after she sneaked into Ye Wang last time but found nothing suspicious. However, Dai Zhiqiang wasn't supposed to know about that!

"Oh, uhm... After visiting you at the bar, I tried to find out who the owner was and everything related to it. That's how I found out!"

"I see, that makes sense. Ye Group does a restaurant business on the surface, but their real occupation is information trading. Using their chains of restaurants and bars where a lot of people came in and out, they have made a lot of connections and collected various kinds of information."

Fortunately, Dai Zhiqiang didn't suspect her of anything.

That was to be expected. If she thought about it calmly, he could never guess that Li Caiyi had ever visited his workplace once to spy on him.

"And this mission of yours must be related to their main occupation? Does someone want information regarding something, and you are tasked to find out about it?"

"...I can't tell you that."

Li Caiyi took a deep breath to calm herself down. She felt like she could finally see why Dai Zhiqiang couldn't quickly tell anyone about it. The one who could win a war wasn't the strongest, but those who held the most information, and he just couldn't risk telling anyone about it.

This development wasn't looking good at all. If Dai Zhiqiang got deeply involved with Ye Wang more than this, the chance of his future being repeated would be higher.

Li Caiyi bit her lips anxiously. Convincing Dai Zhiqiang to stop wouldn't work. Was there anything she could do to prevent him from sinking further into that dark hole?

Then, Dai Zhiqiang cleared his throat, which immediately caught her attention. He stared at her like he was expecting something.

"I have answered your question. Now it's your turn to answer my question."

"Oh, yeah. I have promised you that. What is your question?"

"What is exactly your relationship with Meng Renshu?"

Li Caiyi sighed. "How many times have I said this? We are merely childhood friends."

"It doesn't look like that to me. That guy is clearly interested in you and diligently approaching you, but you aren't against it either." Dai Zhiqiang's eyes squinted.

"It's not like I'm around him because I want to. I have a good reason for that."

"Let me hear your reason, then."

Li Caiyi pondered for a moment before finally saying, "Just like you, I have a secret of my own. I can't tell you everything, but Brother Renshu and I are partners in this. There is someone I need to save, and to do that, I need his help."

"Is that the truth?"

Li Caiyi nodded firmly. She never looked away from him to show him she wasn't playing around. "I swear to heaven that our relationship is strictly business."

"You were alone with him at school when you collapsed that day, and you even went to the beach with him. I believe in you, but I can't control my unpleasant feeling when I see that."

"I can see where you are coming from, but there is no need to read too much into it. I will never fall in love with Meng Renshu...."

The word 'again' almost slipped from her mouth, but she managed to hold it back.

​ Despite her effort to explain everything, Dai Zhiqiang was still unconvinced. He looked down as he shifted in his place uncomfortably.

"Yi Yi, I know you used to like him so much. I have been watching you, so I find it hard to believe when you say you will never fall for him. I want to believe you, but there is something inside me. It keeps telling me that the two of you share a special bond, which isn't something I can intrude on, no matter how hard I try. I'm afraid he will take you away from me, just like...."

Li Caiyi was rendered speechless by his words. Putting aside the fact that Dai Zhiqiang successfully saw through her made her, why did she feel like his words held a deeper meaning than simple jealousy? He almost looked like he was frightened.

"Just like...what?"

Dai Zhiqiang didn't answer immediately and only gazed at her with an inexplicable gaze. The suspense made her even more restless.

"I.. don't know... There was this strange dream I recently had, and it was not exactly a pleasant experience for me. I felt helpless whenever I saw you with him, like I naturally realized I could never win against him. I can't explain it well, but something wedges inside me whenever I see him with you." He said as he clutched onto his chest with a painful expression.

Unbeknownst to him, Li Caiyi's face color had changed entirely. The word shock was an understatement to describe her current state of mind. She gulped hard as she tried to keep her voice from trembling. Whether it was shaking from excitement or fear, she couldn't tell.

"Dream? What kind of dream are you talking about?"