Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

"Cherry…Blossom?" Zixin slowly whispered the name, his gaze seeming faraway.

"Yes."

"I see. Pen name as in…"

"A writer. She is a writer and so am I. Her pen name is CherryBlossom," she smiled, remembering the good memories between them once upon a time. "The petal blossom in your hand reminded me of her."

Zixin lowered his gaze. He had lightly held onto the petal between his thumb and index finger. Guiying's face flashed in his mind for a moment.

Liu Hai commented. "The same author who was in the Summit and competed with you, right?" He then proudly said, "The Summit which my future granddaughter-in-law won."

"Yes. The same author."

Zixin seemed to be in a trance. Serena held his shoulder and asked, "Zixin? What are you thinking?"

Covering the cherry blossom in his palm, he said, "Nothing."

—

Zhan Yahui returned to her apartment after her day's work at Dream High. She sat back on her couch and pouring some wine in a glass, she breathed out. She took a sip and stared at the ceiling, narrowing her eyes.

Chen Zixin is out of the way. He won't bother with approaching Guiying anymore. Now MrPerfect's identity will be safe, she smiled.

Her phone rang, and she furrowed her brows in displeasure. She stared at the name displayed on her incoming call log.

"What?" She asked, coming to the point without any emotion.

"Yahui," a hesitant voice came from the other end. "You are back from Shanghai."

She smiled. "Yes daddy dearest. I am back. Why? You wished I didn't?"

"O-of course not, Yahui!"

"Then how is it that daddy dearest is remembering his illegitimate child?" She sneered.

There was a beat of silence.

"Can you come to the Shi residence?"

Zhan Yahui raised her brow. "Oh? Quite for you to ask that question. What about your wife? I don't think she will welcome me with open arms."

"Yahui…" his voice was strained.

She chuckled. "Fine. I will come. I cannot miss any drama, now can I?"

,m —

Zhan Yahui watched two grim faces with great interest as she entered the Shi residence. Shi Shuren, the head of the household, awkwardly smiled while averting his eyes from Zhan Yahui. His wife, Shi Zhelan, didn't make any attempts to hide her hatred and disdain for her.

Zhan Yahui was about to sit on the couch when Shi Zhelan sharply poked her. "This is not your home. Who gave you the permission to sit as if you own this place?"

She stopped and narrowed her eyes.

Shi Shuren widened his eyes and hastily pulled back his wife. "Zhelan! Stop it…"

"We just called her to meet us here. That doesn't mean she gets to act like a part of our family. Shi Shuren. I think I had already made it clear what I feel about her and…" she dug her nails in her palm, "you don't have any right to question me after how YOU cheated me with her mother. So, don't tell me what I should and what I shouldn't."

He stiffened and remained silent. As Huan came down, she was surprised to see Zhan Yahui in the house. "Hello."

Zhan Yahui threw her a glance but didn't bother to reply. "I am not sure why I am called here? This is the same old conversation we had before. I am crystal clear about your feelings for me, Mrs. Shi. So, why am I here today?"

Shi Zhelan gritted her teeth. "Don't act as if you don't know why I called you! You are making trouble for Huan at every single step and you expect me to say nothing?"

"Mom," Huan pursed her lips. "Please. Don't fight because of me."

"Don't be silly, Huan."

Zhan Yahui tilted her head. "Making trouble?"

"Yes, making trouble! I know that Huan couldn't participate in the Summit's finals because of you. You mixed something in her drink, and she was forced to fall sick so that she would get disqualified. You plotted against her, Zhan Yahui. You didn't want to take the chance of Huan winning the Summit, so you made sure of clearing your writer's way by making my daughter disqualified! I don't believe it's a coincidence that she fell sick right at the time of such an important competition."

Zhan Yahui smiled. "What you think or not is hardly relevant, Mrs. Shi. What matters is the evidence. Your theory sounds plausible but only on paper. What proof do you have against me?"

Shi Zhelan angrily laughed. "Proof? What more proof do I need that you interfered with Huan's seminar in Shanghai! It was Huan who was supposed to give the seminar, but it was cancelled at the last moment. And who replaced her? Your writer, CherryBlossom. Your writer reached the finals, not Huan and she got to give the seminar and not Huan once again. You were present at both places and every time, Huan has suffered. Doesn't that obviously mean that you are interfering with Huan's career!?"

Zhan Yahui chuckled. "That's just speculation on your part," she folded her arms, "It's not wise to put accusations without proper evidence. Of course, I will be at the same places as Shi Huan. We work in the same industry, after all. Naturally, our paths will cross."

Huan sighed. She was getting a headache with all this mess. She wanted to leave as soon as possible to visit Yunru in the hospital.

She continued. "Huan not able to participate in the finals could be just her bad luck."

"You think only she would fall sick by drinking the juice? Do you take me for a fool!?"

Shi Shuren tried to calm her down. "Zhelan…"

"Well, Shi Huan was always so delicate. Maybe the juice didn't quite fit her. As I said, bad luck. As for what happened in Shanghai," Zhan Yahui mockingly smiled. "It's nice that she has the whole Shi Publishing backing her, but Shi Publishing still cannot beat Dream High. Dream High is more influential and certainly ranks higher than Shi Publishing."

Shi Zhelan trembled.

"For Dream High, Cai Guiying is a star. It was the management's decision to make space for her."

"And you say you didn't have any hand in influencing that decision? Especially after the deal between us?"