Rebirth: Once Again With You

Now that she had taken off the cardigan, she realized it had absorbed a fair amount of water. It was heavy, and water came out when she wrung it.

After taking care of the cardigan, she felt someone's stare, so she glanced at Dai Zhiqiang. Their gazes met immediately, and Li Caiyi felt self-conscious about being stared at.

In the next moment, he strode over to her. Li Caiyi's heartbeat sped up in nervousness and anticipation with each step he took.

'What? What is it?' Li Caiyi thought inwardly, almost breaking into a panic. She pressed the blazer in her hold close to her chest and awaited his following action.

Dai Zhiqiang reached out and took the blazer from her grasp before covering it over her frame. Li Caiyi instantly felt warm from the tip of her toe to her hair. The blazer smelled of peppermint mixed with a hint of tobacco wafted to her nose, and it felt like being hugged by him.

"You let your guard down too much. Be mindful of your surroundings next time." Dai Zhiqiang said in a deep, husky voice. It sounded so close and caused a shiver to run through her spine.

Li Caiyi's mind was in a mess as she kept her head lowered, not knowing where she should look. That was when she noticed her shirt, particularly the shoulder and chest area, was thoroughly drenched and transparent, revealing the view of what was beneath it.

Li Caiyi: "!!!"

She gasped and immediately tried to cover her front with the blazer, which was conveniently several times bigger than her body.

Dai Zhiqiang sighed. "You are lucky it's just me this time. If it were any other guy, you are probably in danger right now."

"S-sorry," Li Caiyi said in a small voice, almost like a squeak.

Dai Zhiqiang felt a sense of achievement when he could make Li Caiyi flustered like this. He knew it was bad of him, but he really wanted to tease her and incur more reaction from her.

Li Caiyi jolted in shock when she felt his cold touch brush her neck. It was only a fleeting touch because he only wanted to help her smoothen her hair which sticking to her neck, but the effect it had on Li Caiyi was tremendous.

"Or are you secretly doing it on purpose?" Dai Zhiqiang chuckled. "I'm not complaining if it is."

Her heart beat furiously in her chest. She felt like it would give up sooner than it should, so she took some steps away from Dai Zhiqiang. Little did she know the alley was so narrow, her back pressed against the wall with only a few steps.

The more she tried to hide, the more it spurred the young man's urge to tease her. Seeing his chance, Dai Zhiqiang smirked devilishly as she closed into her and put one of his hands beside her head.

By this point, Li Caiyi's mind had become blank, and the only thing she could hear was the noisy beating in her chest and the rumbling of his voice close to her ear.

"See? This is what I mean. If you let your guard down too much, some other guy will do much more than this." Dai Zhiqiang deliberately said it beside her ear, enjoying how her ear turned crimson with each second.

"I-I understand," Li Caiyi responded with much difficulty. "I understand now, so can you back away a little? You are too close…."

"You don't like it? I'll gladly step away if you don't like it."

"N-no, it's not like I don't like it…."

Dai Zhiqiang's heart swelled at her cute answer. His mind was in the cloud, yet there was a firework in his chest. He could smell that feminine lavender fragrance from her hair in this proximity, and it intoxicated him.

"Caiyi," He called out to her while using one hand to hold her shoulder. The soft and warm body under her hand trembled slightly at his touch, and it momentarily snapped him out of his drunken state.

Meanwhile, Li Caiyi probably could pass out at any moment.

Everything about him, from his smell, voice, and touch, was so wonderful; she felt like melting. The way he could suddenly flip his switch into a teasing demon like this was very similar to Shen Qiang.

He sure knew his way around this domain for a person who was supposed to be pretty hostile to the opposite sex. His every action and words were tantalizing and oozed male pheromone. It reminded her a lot of how natural flirt Shen Qiang was.

Although her brain still tried to deny it, her heart was almost sure that the man in front of her was the same person who held her tightly as they jumped off the building together.

And he was so close to her now. If she reached out to him now, she could hold him.

Dai Zhiqiang sighed inwardly, knowing that he had gone too far. When it came to Li Caiyi, it was hard to control himself. He still wanted to be close to her, but he didn't want to scare her. Perhaps he should retreat for now.

That was what he intended to do, but never in his wildest dream did he think Li Caiyi would jump at him and wrap her arms around his body, pulling him close to him.

It blew off every little thought he had. His mind lagged in processing the situation, and his arms hung beside his body stiffly, not knowing what to do.

"Zhiqiang," Li Caiyi called out softly while burying her face in his chest. "I miss you so much."

Meeting with Shen Qiang had released her from her past regret, but it also became the source of her new regret. She lamented how little time they had together before they had to part.

Now that she had successfully made her debut as a novelist and even chased away Li Jirong from harming her family, now she wanted to spend more time with someone she loved. Not because he was similar to Shen Qiang, but because she wanted to be with him.

'Ah, I really do like this person after all. I love Zhiqiang.' Li Caiyi thought inwardly but was so embarrassed now that she finally sorted out her feelings. She could only bury her head deeper in his chest so he wouldn't see her silly, flustered face.

Dai Zhiqiang chuckled before he let out a low laugh. Her face was pressed onto his chest right now, so she could feel its rumble.

"Really. I can't win against you."

Li Caiyi could discern the joy in his voice when he said that. He pulled her closer to him a moment later, reducing whatever gap they had left between them.

"Me too. I miss you so much; I feel like I can go crazy."