Rebirth: Once Again With You

Li Caiyi threw herself onto the bed, feeling the fatigue in her body slowly ebb away. She had a lot of things in her mind, but she couldn't see the end of that tunnel yet.

Her hair was still wet, but instead of taking a hair-dryer, she went to her school bag and retrieved her notebook. She flipped it open right on the page where she jotted down all the information about Shen Qiang she knew.

"Who are you exactly? How many of your words can I believe?" Li Caiyi muttered sadly.

The fact that she knew nothing about Shen Qiang depressed her, and there was no way to know now. Even her memories of him began to vague as time passed by.

It felt like he gradually went away to someplace far away. Li Caiyi was afraid she would wake up one day to find she couldn't remember anything about that man anymore.

"No, I can't accept this... Definitely not. I will never forgive myself if I ever forget about him."

Li Caiyi stood up and walked over to her study desk. She took out a new notebook she had just bought from her desk drawer and grabbed her pen.

"I won't let him disappear from my life," Li Caiyi whispered in a determined tone, as though she were making a vow to herself. Then, she began to write in that new notebook. She poured everything she remembered about Shen Qiang into the last details.

Even if she couldn't recall his face clearly anymore, she still remembered how he comforted her under the chilly night sky, telling her not to cry alone.

Despite not being sure if some parts of memories about him were already gone, Li Caiyi still noted everything down. If, by worst scenario, her memories truly disappear for good, she wanted her future self to know that she once had ever loved a man so deeply that she entrusted her life to him.

At the end of her notes, Li Caiyi made another note for herself, telling herself not to doubt her own handwriting and that she should never forget and give up finding Shen Qiang.

After she finished, she re-read what she wrote and felt like the burden on her shoulders lightened a bit.

"Shenqiang is right. I do want to believe in him, after all. I want to believe that his feelings for me are real." Li Caiyi said in a trembling voice.

Li Caiyi closed the notebook and returned it to her desk drawer and silently prayed that the time to use that notebook would never arrive.

She sighed and thought about drying her hair when her phone vibrated wildly on top of the bed. Li Caiyi plopped herself on the bed and grabbed her phone. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the sender's name.

"It's Zhiqiang. I wonder what he needs from me so late?" Li Caiyi muttered but actually felt happy inside. Filled with expectation, she slowly tapped on the new chat.

[Dai Zhiqiang: 👋≧◉ᴥ◉≦ Good evening. I have eaten your homemade dinner well. It was delicious].

Li Caiyi chuckled when she saw the contrast between the cute emoji at the beginning and the stiff gratitude message after that. She thought he must have racked his brain to find a good emoji to send.

"How cute," Li Caiyi could imagine his serious face while double-checking his message before sending it.

[Li Caiyi: Good evening. ^^ I'm glad you are enjoying it. Are you still working?]

[Dai Zhiqiang: Yes. I'm probably going home late today.]

[Li Caiyi: I see, that must be rough]

[Dai Zhiqiang: Not really. I'm used to it.]

[Li Caiyi: Even so, don't force yourself, and tell me when you are finished with your work.]

[Dai Zhiqiang: Why?]

Li Caiyi didn't realize what she had just sent until she re-read it twice. A sense of embarrassment burned her face when she found how creepy she sounded. Flustered, she quickly tried to recover from her mistake.

[Li Caiyi: Ah, I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm saying. Just forget it >///<]

[Dai Zhiqiang: I will tell you when I'm finished. Will you wait for me?]

She was surprised to find not only Dai Zhiqiang wasn't disgusted at her, but he even asked her to wait for him. Her heart raced when she thought about how intimate their conversation was now. It was as if they were in a relationship.

But strangely, Li Caiyi didn't feel averse to it. On the contrary, she was delighted and looking forward to it.

Li Caiyi gulped nervously before slowly typing her reply.

[Li Caiyi: I'd love to. I will wait for you, so please message me again when you are finished.

There was a slight pause after she sent her reply; it made her anxious. After all, what if Dai Zhiqiang was only joking when he said that? She would look like a fool for taking that seriously!

Li Caiyi waited patiently and perked up when she finally saw the typing sign on her phone screen. Shortly after, she received another message.

[Dai Zhiqiang: ᕙ(`▿')ᕗ I'm happy. Thanks to you, I feel more energized to work, so I will return to work now.]

When reading his message, a gush of warmth spread from her chest throughout her body. Her anxiety had gone without a trace and was replaced with pure bliss.

[Li Caiyi: I'm happy too. Good luck with your work, Zhiqiang. ^^]

Li Caiyi put down her phone while smiling from ear to ear. She was exhausted until a few minutes ago, but now she was motivated to work too, seeing Dai Zhiqiang working so hard.

While waiting, there was no harm in being productive, too. Li Caiyi would need to write a plot for her project with Dai Shenqiang, anyway.

With a newfound spirit, she walked back to her study desk and began making a new plot for her story. While she was writing, she couldn't help but look forward to the time when Dai Zhiqiang went off from work. Li Caiyi was giddy and had her phone near to her all the time.

Li Caiyi would check her phone from time to time before returning to her work. Two hours passed like that, and she felt proud of herself when she saw the result of her work so far.

When her phone vibrated again, Li Caiyi quickly snatched it and checked the incoming message.

Only to feel disappointed when she found out it wasn't Dai Zhiqiang this time.

Li Caiyi sighed, feeling stupid for putting her hopes up. "But it's been a while since Detective Tang contacted me like this. Perhaps he had some news for me."

Pushing her disappointment aside, Li Caiyi tapped on Detective Tang's message.