Rebirth: Once Again With You

Li Caiyi's whole body tensed up when she realized she had made a slip of the tongue.

Dai Zhiqiang thought her flustered expression was funny and laughed. "No need to get alarmed. I'm not angry or anything. It sure shocked me to death when I saw you there, though. Don't do it again next time. That place is full of rough and muscle-brained men, so it's not a safe place for you."

The cat was already out of the bag. She might as well admit it and use this chance well.

"Since when did you find me out?"

Dai Zhiqiang smirked meaningfully before catching her hand and pressing his lips on the back of it. It tickled her skin and heart simultaneously.

"Do you really think I won't notice if you give me a false name? The moment I held your hand, I knew it was you. It's the hand I always imagine holding every day, after all."

Her cheeks warmed up at his sweet words. Li Caiyi felt lame for being won over so quickly by a few words from him. Her anger towards him earlier had reduced a lot just from that.

"Then, why did you pretend not to know me?" She feigned an angry look to hide her embarrassment.

"I thought of uncovering your disguise, but doing that would only make you even more curious. If I stayed silent, you wouldn't be able to ask me anything because you didn't want me to find out about your little 'adventure'."

"You are as cunning as a fox sometimes." Li Caiyi groaned but then remembered something. She fidgeted in her place as she hesitantly glanced at him. "Does that mean you also know how I enter that place?"

Dai Zhiqiang smiled, but his smile didn't reach his eyes and looked scary. "Of course. I made sure to teach Senior Lin a lesson after that. He should have known better not to tempt my girlfriend into making mischief and even let her wander alone in a dangerous place like that."

Li Caiyi shuddered. Lin Xiang was apprehensive about Dai Zhiqiang finding out, so they were being cautious. Still, it turned out the latter found them out anyway. She dreaded imagining what he did to poor Lin Xiang when he found out.

"Don't blame him. He was just trying to help me. I met him by chance and half-threatened him to help me." Li Caiyi pleaded.

"I know. I have heard the story from him. You never cease to surprise me. Just what did you do to make him listen to you? He never told me the details no matter how much I tortured—ahem, asked him."

Li Caiyi pretended she didn't hear the word 'torture' and grimaced. It seemed she had put Lin Xiang in a problematic situation. She had to apologize if she met him later.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. It's kind of a personal issue for him. I don't know if it's alright to tell you that."

His eyes narrowed down upon hearing that. "What's this? Are you trying to defend him in front of me? Besides helping you enter Ye Wang, did he ever contact you again?"

The black aura around him prompted her to immediately shake her head. "This is a misunderstanding! I have never met or talked to him again after that!"

"Really?"

"Trust me. I inconvenienced him a lot by pestering him last time. I'm not that shameless to keep asking him for a favor."

"Alright, I will trust you on this one. But that doesn't mean I will let your recklessness slide. I really can't take my eyes off you for a moment."

"But why did we talk about this again? Weren't we talking about the Young Master Ye just now?"

"Now you are trying to change the subject," Dai Zhiqiang felt helpless, while Li Caiyi avoided his stare. "But you are right. We went out of track for a bit. I believe you must have heard many things about Ye Wang's current situation from Senior Lin."

Li Caiyi nodded. "Yeah. I heard that the Young Master liked you a lot. That's why the Master trusted you to keep him safe all the time."

"That's right. Just a few weeks ago, Ye Wang was attacked by an unknown group. Their target was  to kidnap Ye Zhong."

"What?" Li Caiyi's eyes widened in disbelief. "Is he alright?!"

"Yeah. Thankfully, we solved the crisis and eliminated the threat before they could reach Ye Zhong. However, some of them managed to escape as well. The boss assumed that this attack was probably master-planned by Huang Zhen. Only he could devise a bold strategy like that, like how he barged into the anniversary party the other day."

Li Caiyi's heart raced from nervousness. She witnessed firsthand how vicious Huang Zhen could be, and the same person attacked Dai Zhiqiang's workplace before. For a moment, her mind wandered, and she imagined a big fight between two powerful groups and her boyfriend, who got stuck in the middle of it.

She shuddered in panic.

"A-are you alright? Did you get hurt somewhere?"

"I'm fine," Dai Zhiqiang smiled, feeling warm at her concern. "I got a minor injury, but it healed in a few days. However, the boss was panicking because it was the first time for someone to boldly attack them from the front door like that."

Ye Wang was like an impenetrable fortress. It was huge and guarded by trained men. Even Li Caiyi thought the place was like a palace once.

Daring to intrude on a place like that, it was no wonder the Master of Ye Wang freaked out when a psycho like Huang Zhen targeted his precious grandson.

"I chased away and captured some men who came after Ye Zhong. I assumed that was probably why Huang Zhen was wary of me."

"So he thinks you are a tough opponent; that's why he resorts to this underhanded tactic?" Li Caiyi was baffled. What does their conflict have anything to do with her and Dai Zhiqiang? She was an innocent party, and Dai Zhiqiang was just doing his job. She felt so wronged.

"Huang Zhen is very unpredictable. I doubt he sees me that highly. He has many other ways to bring me down if he wants, but he chooses the most inefficient way to get Ye Zhong. He probably just finds it amusing to mess with me."

"That's even worse! I almost died, and Xiaohua hasn't regained consciousness until now. You want me to accept that he did all that purely because it's amusing?"

Dai Zhiqiang looked down apologetically. "I'm sorry. This is all because of me that you and your family have to suffer. You have done a lot for me, but I bring nothing but pain for you."

"If you are sorry, you must tell me everything you know about Huang Zhen! Don't try to hide anything from me again. I have the right to know."

"Yes, that's my intention. I already told you everything I know, and it's up to you to believe it or not."

"Of course, I believe you. But what should we do against someone as slick as him?" Li Caiyi asked worriedly.

,m "We are still actively searching for him. And regarding that, I have a favor I want to ask you."

"What is it?"

"If you can find it in you to forgive me, can you please keep wearing the necklace I gave you? As expected, I don't feel calm unless I see you wearing it," Dai Zhiqiang's gaze fell on her bare neck.

There was a trace of disappointment in him, knowing she had taken off the necklace.