Rebirth: Once Again With You

Based on his reaction, he shouldn't have known about this before Li Caiyi mentioned it. Meng Renshu explained before that he let Li Jirong come to the central laboratory because it would be easier to monitor him that way. But was it really the only reason?

Meng Renshu noticed her looking at him weirdly, so he tilted his head while smiling. "What's wrong, Xiaoyi? Is there something on my face?"

"No. It's nothing."

Li Caiyi wanted to ask, but she thought she should save it for later. They couldn't talk about their previous life with Detective Tang here.

"Although the matter has long passed, I still keep an eye on Li Jirong. But aside from his drinking and womanizing habit, he didn't seem to do anything particularly worth noting."

Li Caiyi shifted her attention to the discussion. "Detective, is my father still in a relationship with Gu Xue?"

It took him a few seconds to recognize the name before he responded, "Ah, you mean the nurse he was having an affair with. Yeah, he is. Although they rarely meet since your father is often seen with other women instead."

Old habits die hard. Sure enough, Li Jirong never once reflected on his mistake. Li Caiyi didn't care before, but hearing that sounded reassuring now.

"Actually, Gu Xue once approached me before. She acted suspiciously, saying something like she wanted to keep cooperating with me, even after I let her go."

"Young Miss, did you return the blackmail material I gave you to her?" Detective Tang's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Not everything, of course. I'm not that stupid. She will never stop bothering me if I don't give her anything. Besides, I promised her."

"But still, you are too generous to a woman who schemed against your family."

"In the first place, Gu Xue wouldn't have the chance if only a certain someone didn't give her the confidence."

There was no need to explain further. They already knew who Li Caiyi talked about.

Meng Renshu patted her shoulder gently. "You did well fighting against them. Now, please leave the rest to Detective Tang and me. We will keep an eye on them and inform you if they do something related to our current case."

Li Caiyi nodded gratefully. She didn't know if she could keep calm if she saw those two again. "Thank you. However, if I can suggest, we should probably pay more attention to Gu Xue. Unlike Father, her position enables her to get close to anyone without alarming someone. The last time, she told me she wanted nothing to do with Father anymore, but later contradicted herself. She probably knows something."

She stopped briefly before adding, "I don't think Father will cast her aside that easily. She has been his favorite for so long, after all."

Both males nodded in agreement. With Li Jirong in the central laboratory, there would be more watchful eyes around him, so Gu Xue was the more probable solution.

After deciding their next move, Detective Tang bade his goodbye and went ahead first, leaving Li Caiyi alone with Meng Renshu.

Seeing her chance, she finally asked him the question that bugged her.

"Brother Renshu, tell me the truth. Did you already know Father's involvement in this before? What is the real reason for you keeping him close to you?"

Meng Renshu didn't answer immediately as he calmly took a sip of his black coffee. "I knew you would ask me something, but it's about that again? I thought I had explained it to you last time."

"No. I know you are hiding something." Li Caiyi insisted. Some of her memories were gone, so that must have meant that Meng Renshu remembered something that prompted him to do that.

"At that time, I didn't know you had slowly regained your memories, so there was no way for me to find out what you were hiding. But today, I'm certain you must have been keeping something from Brother Jie and me."

Meng Renshu smiled approvingly. "You become more and more clever. I'll give you that. However, what can you do if I refuse to tell you?"

"What? Aren't you supposed to be cooperating with me? We agreed to help each other!"

"Yes. But that doesn't mean I should give you the information I have for free." He smirked, secretly enjoying the flustered look on her face.

"That's unfair. By hiding an important piece of clues, you may hinder the progress of our case. Please stop acting selfishly like this."

"I don't want to hear it from someone who also keeps something from me for so long. If Hu Jian didn't attack you last time, I doubt I would ever know how he almost killed you twice." Meng Renshu smiled coldly, and she winced.

"But that's because I thought it was not something you needed to know," Li Caiyi quickly tried to reason.

"Precisely. Hence why I will not divulge anything to you. Because I'm not sure if I have to reveal anything or not."

Li Caiyi was at a loss for words. He really knew how to deliver his point. She didn't expect him to use her action to completely shut her down. It frustrated her because she couldn't say anything back to him.

"Fine. You win. Is there any way I can change your mind?" She asked reluctantly.

Meng Renshu's smile deepened. "Now we are talking! Don't think badly of me, but we are in a business relationship, after all. Let's trade our information."

"Huh? But I have told you everything I know."

"You still haven't told me why you are fighting with Dai Zhiqiang."

Li Caiyi frowned. Her whole body screamed vigilance all over as she sharply stated, "I don't think my personal matter is something you need to know."

Instead of feeling offended, Meng Renshu calmly shook his head. "Wrong. Just like your hunch telling you that Gu Xue might have something to do with it, my hunch also told me that Dai Zhiqiang probably related to this somewhat."

Li Caiyi maintained her expression so her shock wouldn't show on her face. "What makes you think that?"

"Every time you are attacked, for some reason, Dai Zhiqiang is always there. As if he knew beforehand that you were targeted. Once or twice might be a coincidence, but a third time? I don't think so. It makes me think that Hu Jian and Dai Zhiqiang probably have a connection. You are just the unfortunate soul that happened to get caught between them."

Li Caiyi gulped silently. Her whole body was rigid as she tried hard to stay calm. Curse him and his brilliant mind! Now she was afraid of keeping a secret in front of him. It felt like he would always be able to see through her.

While she was busy thinking about how to get around this crisis, Meng Renshu almost couldn't restrain his laughter seeing her constipated face. He felt good knowing that his words and actions could still affect her like this.

"Can I take your silence as an affirmation?"

She wanted to ask Dai Zhiqiang first about it, but she didn't think she could keep it from Meng Renshu for long. Because Hu Jian DID have something to do with Dai Zhiqiang and possibly the case in hand. If he really wanted to know, it would only be a matter of time before he found out.

Li Caiyi heaved a long sigh before annoyedly admitting. "You leave me with no choice. If I tell you, will you tell me your reason for hiring my father?"

Meng Renshu made a dramatic bow while smirking triumphantly, causing more ire from her. "You have my word."

"It is as you said. Hu Jian did mention something about Dai Zhiqiang that night. It seems he has a considerable grudge against him. Still, when I confronted the latter about it, he refused to give me any details."

"Which caused the crack in trust between you two. Hmm, very interesting indeed," Meng Renshu commented jovially, without bothering to hide his good mood.

Li Caiyi didn't have the energy to deal with his mockery. She continued, "Hu Jian said he wanted to make Dai Zhiqiang suffer through me. I don't know what conflict between them, but that person has an abnormal obsession with him. That's all I know."

"Just as I thought. You do have a knack for attracting oddballs around you, Xiaoyi."

"Why, thank you. But don't worry, you are still the oddest among them," Li Caiyi replied sarcastically while smiling. Meng Renshu chuckled in response.

"Fair enough. I guess it's my turn then."

Li Caiyi straightened her back, preparing herself for the answer.

"It's nothing big, actually. I already told you about how I lost contact with your family after your passing, right? At that time, I wanted to know what happened to Junjie and Xiaohua so badly, but your brother hid his tracks cleverly. I couldn't get any news of them even after years of searching. However, your father contacted me one day and asked me for a favor."

"He did?" Li Caiyi was very intrigued; she leaned forward. "What did he ask you about?"

"He asked me for a position in the central laboratory. He said since the fall of the Li family is partially my fault, I should take responsibility for it."

"But why did he ask that?"

Meng Renshu shrugged. "He sounded desperate. He alternately begged and threatened me for a position. Although it should be our first time talking after years. It was almost like he was being chased by someone."