Rebirth: Once Again With You

Around half an hour later, they left the store with their purchase. Li Caiyi bought a set of matching mugs for all members of her family, and Dai Zhiqiang bought a shoulder massager for Dai Bolin, just like he planned.

"What about Shenqiang? Aren't you going to buy something for him?"

"Lately, he seems busy doing something. I will think about what I can give to him later. For now, this is enough."

"I see. Then, shall we go to the hospital now?"

"No, let's eat first. I want to buy something delicious for my father as well."

Li Caiyi smiled. "Sure. I just happened to know a good place."

Dai Zhiqiang smoothly took the bag on Li Caiyi's hand, then used his free hand to hold her hand. "I'll go to any place you recommended."

His gentlemanly gesture moved her, and Li Caiyi interlocked their fingers together while smiling brightly, feeling extremely happy. "Yes, I assure you, you won't regret it."

They walked by chatting happily. It reminded Li Caiyi a lot of the last date she had in her previous life, and how fulfilling it was compared to anything else she had done with her life.

Now she had the same man, just the younger version of him beside her. The warmth of his hand was proof that this moment was real, and  Li Caiyi felt so full and content.

"Oh yeah, just tell me if there is anything you don't understand. Knowing you, you must have rarely come to places like this."

"Is that really obvious?" Dai Zhiqiang's brows raised in amazement.

Li Caiyi chuckled. "You told me this before, did you forget about it?"

"I am?" Dai Zhiqiang tilted his head unsurely. "Well, since you have said that, then it must be like that. I'll take you up on your offer then. There are indeed a lot of interesting things here."

The young man looked around curiously, and looked like a child who came to the toy store for the first time. It was cute of him, so Li Caiyi couldn't help but sneakily took out her phone and snapped a picture. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice because he was too focused on  the queue in front of a stall.

She checked on the picture she just got and her smile deepened. Hopefully there would be a lot of moments where she could take pictures of him like this.

"Caiyi, what is that thing being sold there? I smell something sweet." Dai Zhiqiang asked while pointing at a stall.

"Yes, which one?" Li Caiyi quickly tapped the button on her screen, changing the wallpaper of her phone before she slipped it back into her bag.

Around half an hour later, they left the store with their purchase. Li Caiyi bought a set of matching mugs for all family members, and Dai Zhiqiang bought a shoulder massager for Dai Bolin, just like he planned.

"What about Shenqiang? Aren't you going to buy something for him?"

"Lately, he seems busy doing something. I will think about what I can give to him later. For now, this is enough."

"I see. Then, shall we go to the hospital now?"

"No, let's eat first. I want to buy something delicious for my father as well."

Li Caiyi smiled. "Sure. I just happened to know a good place."

Dai Zhiqiang smoothly took the bag in Li Caiyi's hand, then used his free hand to hold her hand. "I'll go to any place you recommend."

His gentlemanly gesture moved her, and Li Caiyi interlocked their fingers together while smiling brightly, feeling extremely happy. "Yes, I assure you, you won't regret it."

They walked while chatting happily. It reminded Li Caiyi a lot of the last date she had in her previous life and how fulfilling it was compared to anything else she had done with her life.

Now she had the same man, just the younger version beside her. The warmth of his hand was proof that this moment was real, and Li Caiyi felt so full and content.

"Oh yeah, just tell me if there is anything you don't understand. Knowing you, you must have rarely come to places like this."

"Is that really obvious?" Dai Zhiqiang's brows raised in amazement.

Li Caiyi chuckled. "You told me this before. Did you forget about it?"

"I am?" Dai Zhiqiang tilted his head unsurely. "Well, since you have said that, it must be like that. I'll take you up on your offer then. There are indeed a lot of interesting things here."

The young man looked around curiously and looked like a child who had come to the toy store for the first time. It was cute of him, so Li Caiyi sneakily took out her phone and snapped a picture. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice because he was too focused on the queue in front of a stall.

She checked on the picture she had just got, and her smile deepened. Hopefully, there would be a lot of moments where she could take photos of him like this.

"Caiyi, what is that thing being sold there? I smell something sweet." Dai Zhiqiang asked while pointing at a stall.

"Yes, which one?"

Li Caiyi quickly tapped the button on her screen, changing her phone's wallpaper before she slipped it back into her bag.

***

Li Caiyi took him to a relatively secluded hotpot restaurant with a thick chinese feeling. It wasn't that famous, but Li Caiyi knew from her two life experiences that this restaurant would soon gain fame, just like the Zhou family's Yueguang Noodle House.

They took a seat at a table near the window and quickly made their order. After walking around to find a good present, both felt pretty hungry.

"Zhiqiang, while waiting, let's get to know each other better!" Li Caiyi said enthusiastically.

Dai Zhiqiang chuckled. "Someone has a lot to ask, I see. Fine by me. What do you want to ask?"

"I noticed you seem to have a peppermint smell on you. Is it because you are always with Shenqiang?"

Dai Zhiqiang was astonished by her question. Out of all the questions he expected her to say, this one was definitely not one of them.

"Did I smell like that?" Dai Zhiqiang tried to sniff himself from his hand. Still, the only thing he could smell was the lingering delicate and feminine smell of Li Caiyi's hand, which distracted him for a few seconds.

"Yes, you are."

Li Caiyi wanted to hear if there was any reason behind it. "Peppermint smell" was noted in her notebook, but she hardly remembered anything about it.

She wanted to test whether she could regain her memory if she learned the reason from the said person. Or would she forget it again when the time comes?

"Hmm, did you hate it?"

"Ah? No, I didn't hate it. It was just I'm curious."

"As long as you don't hate it, it's good. I don't really know about that since I can't smell myself. But I did eat many mint candies and used mint-scented soap because of Shenqiang," Dai Zhiqiang put his finger on his chin as he contemplated it.

"I see. Shenqiang really likes his mints. Is there any particular reason why?"

Dai Zhiqiang's expression turned serious and a tad gloomy hearing her question.

"Do you want to hear the real reason?"

Li Caiyi could sense that something serious must have happened, so she straightened her back before answering, "Yes, if you don't mind telling me."

"I'm pretty sure Shenqiang won't mind if I tell you this, but still, keep it secret from him, okay?"

Li Caiyi felt even more curious now, so she nodded.

"It was actually our mother's favorite smell." Dai Zhiqiang started with a calm tone, but various emotions lurked in his black eyes.

Li Caiyi clutched her skirt under the table before putting her hand on top of his. She wasn't sure why she did that; she felt like doing it.

Dai Zhiqiang felt much better when holding her hand, so he continued, "My mother has asthma, so peppermint essential oil helps a lot in decreasing the number of her episodes. I assume Shenqiang's fondness for mint started from there."

"I see," Li Caiyi said. "Did I make you remember something unpleasant? You don't have to continue if you don't want to."

Dai Zhiqiang smiled mirthlessly. "No, it's okay. It's just someone who is a part of our past. It happened long ago, and I'm over it already. However, I'm not sure about Shenqiang. That's why I told you not to say this before him."

"I understand. I will be careful."

"From your face, I bet you are curious about what happened to our mother, right?"

"Well, I would be lying if I said I'm not curious."

"I will tell you about my family, so can you tell me more about your family? I have a feeling I barely know anything about you," Dai Zhiqiang caressed the back of her hand with his thumb, relishing the smooth surface of her skin.

Li Caiyi smiled before nodding her head. "Yeah, let's do that."