Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu



At the same time in Jun's office, Ai had pulled him in for a serious conversation that they couldn't have before Xing Bi.

"I know where the twins might be," she calmly but grimly said.

"Where?" 

"To nab the hold of Zhan Yahui probably."

His eyes widened, and he stared at her for a few moments, stunned. "Bro Jian and Bro Nian? Why?"

He remembered that after knowing the culprit behind everything, Nian had told Jun that he would take care of the matter, but he never expected that they would decide to take action so soon.

He released a sigh and pressed his brows. Ai gently held his face in her palms and asked, "Is it not good?"

His pursed lips expressed his slight hesitation. "Of course it's good. It's time that we stop Zhan Yahui once and for all. But I had other plans. I have already asked Chyou to dig into her past and first find out that traitor's identity anyhow. I planned to destroy that link first that always helped her in the shadows…" he gritted her teeth, "and betrayed my trust. Apart from that…"

After a long pause, he said, "I hoped the twins or anybody from the family would not involve themselves in this."

Ai blinked. "They are your brothers. They worry about you."

A sad smile etched on his lips. "Yes. But this is something…that happened because I got involved with Ouyang Haitao, who Zhan Yahui's mother was going to marry. Zhan Yahui's hatred is towards me and me alone who ruined her family. That's why I feel it's my responsibility to bring everything to closure as well. It's kind of…my penance for all the mistakes I made in my past. I don't wish for them to handle the mess that came into place because of me."

His beautiful brown irises at the moment looked alone and as if he was shouldering everything by himself. Ai strongly disagreed with this sentiment and buried her face in his chest first. "You look like you are pushing everybody away to fight alone. I am telling you that I am against this."

He blinked and burst into a soft laughter. "I am not pushing anybody away, especially you," he cupped her face and placed a gentle but firm kiss on her lips. "We are always together whatever the situation might be."

Ai nodded hard. "You better not back off from that."

"Why are you suddenly having trust issues?" He chuckled.

"It's your fault."

"Yes, yes, my Ai is always right."

She entwined her fingers against his and her voice softened. "The twins are doing this not for the reasons that you think."

He tilted his head, puzzled. 

"I mean, yes, it's regarding Ouyang Haitao only. But there is a big part of the story that you don't know, Jun."

His gaze grew bewildered. "About my kidnapping?"

"About Ouyang Haitao's death. They told me what exactly had happened and what they kept from you for all these years. That's why they want to be in the frontline in dealing with Zhan Yahui."

His jaw slightly dropped in shock. "I don't understand. What else was left not to know about?"

She let out a wistful smile. "I believe the twins should be the ones to tell you themselves."

Jun parted and closed his lips but was unsure of what to respond. To learn that there was a part that he was unaware of shook him. 

"I need to talk to them right now," he quickly grabbed his phone, trying to reach either of them. "Those idiots…"

Why am I having this weird feeling?

Jun couldn't reach either Jian or Nian no matter how many times he tried. 

"The hell, where are they!"

"Calm down, Jun. They are fine," Ai spoke in a reassuring tone. 

"I cannot calm down, Ai. What are they thinking? I need to find them and talk to them," it then struck him, "Dad…Dad must know everything. I will call him right now."

It was at that moment when he received Chyou's call at the same time he was about to dial Jinhai's number.

Damn Zhan Yahui's helper… it slipped my mind.

He quickly accepted the call and asked, "Chyou. Did you find anything about the traitor?"

—

"Yumm this is delicious!" Xing Bi appreciated the sweetness of the cold ice cream melting on her tongue.

Hou Lin watched her happily gobble down her ice cream and said, "Slow down, Miss. Xing or you will feel a freeze in your head."

"But this ice cream is delicious," she said, taking another quick bite.

"The ice cream is not going anywhere. You can have another one if you want, but don't be hasty."

Xing Bi relented and slowed down. She asked, noticing that he wasn't eating any ice cream, "You won't have some?"

He plainly said, "I don't prefer sweet things that much."

"But didn't you buy a whole cake that day from Nian's bakery?" 

eαglesnᴏνel He paused. "That wasn't for me. It was somebody's birthday."

Xing Bi thought that this could be the chance to know more about him. "Who was it? Someone from your family? Hehe or your girlfriend?"

It cannot be Zhan Yahui right?

Strangely to her, Hou Lin didn't respond to that. She stared into his eyes and felt it was more like he didn't know how to answer the question.

She quickly apologized. "Sorry if I was rude."

He peered into her sincere and remorseful gaze and shook his head. "Nothing for you to apologize for, Miss. Xing. I am sorry I am not able to clearly articulate it."

"It's fine, it's fine!" She tried to cheer him up, "I hope you find your answer soon! Of course the answer that you wish for haha."

Ugh I am here because I am suspicious of Hou Lin but why did I end up cheering him instead? Xing Bi seriously questioned her morals.

Hou Lin smiled. "Thank you, Miss. Xing."

"Here, try this second scoop. I know you aren't very fond of ice cream, but you will definitely like this one!" She chirped.

He contemplated for sometime and eventually took a bite. "It's good."

"See! I told you," she brightened.

"But too cold. And too sweet."

"..."

I-It's an ice cream. Of course, it will be cold and sweet…

Xing Bi burst into a hearty laughter. "You are funny, Hou Lin."

Her hearty laughter caused her to accidentally stain her dress with some ice cream.

Damn!

She smiled, embarrassed. "S-sorry, I will be back…"

"Please take your time."

She quickly headed to the washroom while Hou Lin stayed behind. He stared at her empty seat and was thinking with an unreadable expression when he heard Xing Bi's phone ring. He just slightly leaned and raised his brow looking at the caller ID.

Liu Jun.