Rebirth: Once Again With You

Li Caiyi fell into silence as she listened to Li Junjie's words. She had never expected herself to have this deep conversation with Li Junjie, out of all people. All this time, she thought that her brother was just too indifferent or slow to notice anything, but it turned out that her brother was actually keeping an eye on her actions.

"Brother Jie, if you notice everything, why didn't you say anything?"

"Sometimes it's easier if you pretend you don't know anything."

"Is this related to the so-called promise? Brother Jie, can't you tell me about it?"

"...I can," Li Junjie answered after a moment of pause. "But not now, not in this place. Let's go somewhere else after school. Just you and me."

"What about Xiaohua?"

'"She doesn't need to know about this. At least not yet."

Li Caiyi felt more curious now that her brother clearly expressed his reluctance to bring Li Chunhua along.

'Did he know about Father's evil deed towards Xiaohua? Or was it because of something else?'

There were too many questions left unanswered, but Li Caiyi decided to follow her brother's advice for now. After all, although Li Junjie was unfeeling and apathetic, he had never said a single wrong thing until now.

***

It was a bit of a hassle to convince Li Chunhua to leave first. This was the first time ever since Li Caiyi stayed at Shao Jingfei's that she refused to go home together.

However, Li Caiyi managed to find some excuse and even asked Shao Jingfei to distract her sister's attention.

After parting ways with them, she quickly went to the place Li Junjie sent her. It was a book cafe with a cozy and vintage feeling to it.

Li Caiyi didn't even have to look around since she only needed to follow the line of the gaze of the female customers and staff working there.

Sure enough, sitting at the table in the deepest corner, Li Junjie was currently sitting with his hand casually flipping books with no care for his surrounding.

Li Caiyi really envied his ability to ignore people. How could he read leisurely like that while stealing everyone's attention effortlessly?

Beauty is a sin, indeed. If only these people knew how her brother behaved normally.

"Brother Jie, I'm here." Li Caiyi said while pulling the chair across from him.

"Hmm." Li Junjie barely gave a hum of acknowledgment while keeping his eyes on the book. "Wait until I finish this chapter first."

Li Caiyi: "...."

At least he didn't ask her to wait until he finished the book he was holding. Li Caiyi tried to keep a positive mind about this and decided to order something first.

After fifteen minutes, Li Junjie finally closed his book and put it on the table. Li Caiyi's order had arrived by that time, and she also finished half of it.

"Brother Jie, can we talk now?" Li Caiyi asked more urgently.

"Yeah."

"I guess I should start first," Li Caiyi took a deep breath before showing Li Junjie her phone. The latter stared at it inquisitively, so Li Caiyi quickly explained. "You'll know once you see the information I have."

Li Junjie appeared skeptical but accepted her phone nonetheless. Li Caiyi had prepared everything regarding Li Jirong's affair beforehand, so she anticipated how her brother would react.

Li Junjie's pupils moved quickly as he read the content she had compiled beforehand. If he was surprised by it, he did such a good job hiding it. This reaction wasn't that surprising coming from her ever calm brother. Probably not even an earthquake could make him bat an eye.

"I see. So this is why you suddenly became so hostile and went against Father's will."

"Brother, aren't you surprised at all?"

"I did, actually. However, the difference between us is that I already have a hunch this would be the case." Li Junjie said before elegantly taking a sip of his black coffee as if what he just read wasn't the evidence of their father's affair but a morning newspaper.

"Is this hunch related to the promise you said before?"

Li Junjie put his cup back into its saucer before replying. "Yes and no. I did make a promise with Father long ago, but I'm not sure if you want to hear about this."

Li Caiyi was stupefied hearing that. What was she had just heard? Was her brother actually expressing his concern for her just now?

"If you really want to hear it, I can tell you. But keep it a secret for Xiaohua."

"But, I think Xiaohua also has the right to know." Li Caiyi argued weakly.

"Of course, she has the right. I never said we wouldn't tell her anything. It was just not the right time to tell her about it."

"Alright, then please tell me about that promise."

Li Junjie looked down as he began narrating, "This will be a pretty long and boring story. It first happened when I was 5 years old."

***

13 years ago.

"Xiaoyi, stop crying." The five-year-old Li Junjie sighed in exasperation as she wiped the tears and snot from his sister's face.

"But..but Brother Jie, I can't stop crying." Li Caiyi, who wore a dirty uniform, sobbed pitifully.

Li Junjie didn't know how to console her sister, so he just clasped her hand in his and Li Chunhua's hand in his other hand before pulling them gently to follow him.

"Let's just go home quickly. Mother must have prepared a lot of food by now."

"Yeah! So don't cry anymore, Xiaoyi. You are such a crybaby." Li Chunhua teased while waving a branch in her hand around playfully.

"Tomorrow is Brother Jie's birthday, so Mother is preparing a lot of food and cakes for the party!"

"Really?" Li Caiyi's sob gradually subsided at the mention of delicious foods and cakes.

"Yes. So please don't cry anymore." Li Junjie added tiredly. Having two sisters to take care of at once was really tolling him.

The older one was a cry baby, while the younger one was difficult to control. Li Junjie got a headache just thinking about how he should explain to their mother about Li Caiyi, who was surprised by a big dog and fell, which ultimately made her cry.

While they were walking, a car suddenly stopped beside them, and a familiar face popped out of the window with a bright smile.

"It's Brother Renshu!" Li Chunhua exclaimed in excitement as she pried her hand from Li Junjie's hold and ran towards the car.

"Ah, hey!" Li Junjie couldn't stop her spunky sister from leaving, but at least Li Caiyi remained by his side. Although she seemed to use him as a shield for hiding right now.

From within the car, Meng Renshu got off and opened his arm widely to receive Li Chunhua's hug. "Hello, Xiaohua. You are as cheerful as usual today."

"Brother Renshu! Let's have a cake at our house! Come on!" Li Chunhua tugged at his sleeve excitedly.

Li Junjie felt even more tired now that he had to watch over one extra person. He barely knew this guy because they went to the same class, but since their families were close, he had to listen to his parents to try to befriend this energetic person.

Among all of his classmates, Meng Renshu was the most annoying one to deal with because no amount of cold words could seem to discourage him from approaching.

Li Junjie had long since given up on it.