Rebirth: Once Again With You

"You're here." Feng Nian greeted Li Caiyi, who had just arrived with a nod of her head.

After the last period ended, Li Caiyi received another message from Feng Nian, telling her to come to the school's backyard. Li Caiyi immediately knew that Feng Nian must have wanted to talk about her remark the other day, so she wasted no time and went to the appointed place.

She didn't know why Feng Nian wanted to keep this a secret from Zhou Ya and Chen Ruolan, but Feng Nian must have had a good reason for that.

Li Chunhua said that Feng Nian wasn't a good friend, while Feng Nian seemed to be on guard around Li Chunhua. Li Caiyi wondered if perhaps there was some kind of misunderstanding between the two. If yes, then she should help them clear it up.

"Feng Nian, what do you want to talk about with me?"

"Before that, let me ask you something. What do you think of your sister?"

Feng Nian's question bewildered her, but Li Caiyi didn't think much of it and answered, "She is a sweet younger sister. We were always together since we were a child. She is a bit spoiled and stubborn sometimes, but she is kind and very protective of me."

Feng Nian's frown deepened when she heard that. She pondered for a bit before she spoke. "If you have said that much, then I doubt you will believe anything I say."

"Feng Nian, did Xiaohua do something to you? I think there must be a misunderstanding between you two."

"What? Did your sister talk bad about me to you?"

Li Caiyi was startled upon realizing she had unknowingly revealed something unnecessary. "We—that…"

Feng Nian raised her hand to stop Li Caiyi from explaining. "You don't have to explain. I already understand everything."

Li Caiyi pressed her lips into a thin line, feeling uncomfortable for getting caught red-handed. "Xiaohua didn't mean it. She just doesn't know you that well…."

"I guess you really have no idea if you can speak for your sister so vehemently." Feng Nian's tone softened as she let out a deep sigh. "This is troubling. I hate this already."

"Feng Nian, if you have something you want to say, then you can speak comfortably. I'll decide whether or not to believe it after I hear it from you. I mean, we are friends… right?"

Li Caiyi's voice became smaller when she uttered the last sentence. The lack of confidence in her was apparent, and Feng Nian suddenly felt sorry for her. She finally gave up and spoke straightforwardly.

"It's about your sister. You probably won't believe me, but as far as I can see, she is trying to isolate you from other people."

Li Caiyi's eyes widened when she heard that. A voice of denial immediately sprang up inside her, but she promised Feng Nian she would consider her words, so she held it back. "Why would you think that way?"

Feng Nian folded her arms in front of her chest. "Think about it carefully. She deliberately waited for us in a fairly crowded hallway and asked us to let her tag along. Nobody voiced any refusal to her request, yet she acted like we were trying to refuse her. I think she was trying to make other people believe that you left her behind on purpose, so it makes people think of you as a bad person."

"But that's just her personality. She often felt lonely, and she was very attached to me. That's why she couldn't help but act spontaneously when she heard I was going to hang out with you guys."

Feng Nian sneered. "From the way you spoke, I assume this isn't her first time doing this. Let me guess, every friend you hung out with kept their distance from you after that?"

Li Caiyi wanted to refute, but she realized that Feng Nian's guess was spot on. Every single person who she was particularly close with always grew distant from her after they got to know Li Chunhua.

'Does Feng Nian want to say that all of that isn't a coincidence?'

Deep inside her heart, she rejected that idea because Li Chunhua didn't have any reason to do that. However, her brain wouldn't cooperate as she suddenly recalled every detail of Li Chunhua's action.

"B-but that's because Xiaohua is very likable. It can't be helped if everyone prefers to be friends with her than me. I'm sure it was just a coincidence."

Feng Nian was unimpressed by her weak argument. "If it happened only once or twice, then yeah, it's probably just a coincidence. However, my guts are telling me that isn't the case, am I right? Seriously, you need to learn to doubt other people more."

Li Caiyi didn't know how to digest this new information, so she was left speechless with countless thoughts bouncing around in her mind.

Feng Nian watched her reaction and gave her shoulder a sympathetic pat. "I know you are very close with your sister, but someone who is closer to you is actually the dangerous one since you won't realize it when they are doing something under your nose."

"Feng Nian, I… You mean when Xiaohua was crying, it was all just her act?"

Feng Nian snorted. "Why are you so surprised? Listen well, the most unreliable things in this world are men's promises and women's tears. You can't trust it blindly. Don't you ever forget that!"

Li Caiyi's mind was blank. The idea of her closest family member scheming against her all this time made her brain short-circuited. Feng Nian's words overlapped with her memories of Li Chunhua, making her realize something she would never have known by herself before.

If what Feng Nian said was true, then it was frightening how she failed to see it even until she died in her previous life. A chill ran down her spine when she remembered her sister's innocent smile.

Feng Nian noticed how Li Caiyi's complexion turned ashen, and she felt guilty somehow. She really hoped she wasn't the one who broke this to her, but Chen Ruolan was too gullible, while Zhou Ya was too cautious even when she was judging someone.

"Li Caiyi, please don't think badly of me. I wasn't trying to sow discord between you and your sister. You seem to have complete trust in your sister, so at first, I doubt you will even listen to what I have to say. I just want to warn you to be more careful."

Li Caiyi nodded her head weakly. "I understand. Thank you for telling me this, Feng Nian."

After that, they parted ways awkwardly. Li Caiyi's head was so full that she didn't notice where she was going, and her steps were staggering. Everything just swirled inside her mind, starting from Feng Nian's words of advice to the fondest memory she had with Li Chunhua.

No matter how she thought about it, she just couldn't bring herself to believe that Li Chunhua was purposely doing this to hurt her.

Her mind wandered back to when they were still a child.