Rebirth: Once Again With You

Contrary to Li Caiyi's thought, there were a lot of people gathered at the bottom of the mountain. There was no reason for all students to wait for her, so she expected the place would be deserted by now.

Meng Renshu's appearance was shocking, but it was more surprising to see many people wearing the same orange uniform welcoming them when they arrived. Li Caiyi vaguely recognized them as a disaster rescue force whose task was to help disaster victims.

Why would such people be here? There was only one reason she could think of.

Li Caiyi was about to turn her head back, but one of the men with an orange uniform approached them with a semi-formal smile. From his demeanor, Li Caiyi assumed he was the leader of this group of people.

"Thank goodness you guys are fine. Did you get hurt somewhere? We have paramedics ready to examine your condition."

"I'm not hurt. She is." Dai Zhiqiang replied, representing her.

"Young man, you are courageous to go out of your way to find your friend, but you shouldn't have recklessly gone to the mountain on a stormy night." The man sighed helplessly. "If you are not careful, the number of missing people will increase to two."

"Mister, where can I find the paramedics? She is injured pretty badly." Dai Zhiqiang asked, almost in an impatient tone.

The man frowned a bit at his rude response, but his expression softened when his gaze met with Li Caiyi's troubled and apologetic look.

"Let me take you there. Do you want me to take over from here? You must be exhausted too." The man said while opening his arm, implying Dai Zhiqiang to hand Li Caiyi over to him.

Dai Zhiqiang's grip on her thigh tightened. "No, thanks. I can carry her myself. Please show us the way."

The man stared at Dai Zhiqiang and Li Caiyi alternately with a knowing look. He didn't suggest it again and only gestured to follow him.

Dai Zhiqiang followed the man's head to a small tent under a big tree. The leader talked to his colleague and asked Dai Zhiqiang to bring her inside the tent first.

Dai Zhiqiang carefully put Li Caiyi down on the camping beds. After that, he crouched again and helped her take her shoes off. His movement was very tender, as though her legs were made from glass.

Li Caiyi smiled softly as he let him spoil her. "Thank you."

"Does it still hurt terribly?"

"No. It doesn't hurt that much anymore. Thanks to you."

A pair of women entered the tent, and Dai Zhiqiang rose to make some space for them.

"Zhiqiang, you should take a rest too for a while. I'll see you again after they finish treating me."

Dai Zhiqiang gave a brief nod and went outside the tent. While secretly watching the treatment process from outside, he heard footsteps coming his way.

"Dai Zhiqiang!"

When he turned around, he found Li Chunhua was running toward him with desperation on her face. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead when she stopped in front of him, bending her upper body forward, trying to catch her breath.

"Xiaoyi, where is she?!"

Li Chunhua's eyes were red and swollen like she had spent much time crying. She wore a jersey two sizes bigger on top of hers, and her shoes were muddy.

To put it short, she was as messy as Meng Renshu, or probably worse. It was very different from her usual brilliant and idol-like image.

Dai Zhiqiang didn't say anything and only made way for her. Li Chunhua immediately took his hint and barged inside the tent. Not long after that, wailing sounds could be heard from the inside.

Li Chunhua was crying so hard the paramedics needed to coax her to calm down. Dai Zhiqiang regretted letting her in easily and wanted to drag her out. Still, he cancelled that thought when she looked at Li Caiyi's teary face.

'Well, let them have their family reunion.'

After a while, another person ran over to where he stood. He had slightly curly hair with piercings and a black hoodie. From his pants, he should be a student from their school too.

Dai Zhiqiang's brows raised when the boy stopped in front of him while trying to catch his breath.

"Dai Zhiqiang, I heard you have found Caiyi, where—"

A loud sob could be heard from the inside again, interrupting his words. He leaned to the side to take a peek, and a sigh of relief left him watching the view inside.

"Thank goodness, she seems fine."

"Who are you?"

"Hm? Ah, right. We don't know each other. I'm Shao Jingfei, Li Caiyi's friend."

Dai Zhiqiang clasped Shao Jingfei's hand offered to him, and the blank nails caught his eyes immediately. His memory immediately recalled the scene when Li Chunhua was kidnapped.

"I already heard from the safe force people. You are the one who finds her, right? Thank you for bringing her back."

Dai Zhiqiang frowned. "Why would you thank me for that?"

Shao Jingfei's face blanked for a moment because he didn't expect Dai Zhiqiang to respond with a hostile attitude. Until he realized what he had done wrong.

"No, that's not what I mean! I genuinely worried for her because she is my friend and work colleague. Please don't take it the wrong way."

"Hmph. Did you wait all night here?"

Shao Jingfei scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Well, I can't leave his sister alone here. Chunhua insisted she would stay until Caiyi was found. Actually, Caiyi's friend also insisted. Teacher Shi had to scold them before they were willing to return to the hotel. It was a big mess because they cried a lot."

Dai Zhiqiang barely reacted, and Shao Jingfei couldn't guess what he was thinking. But since Dai Zhiqiang looked like he was listening attentively, Shao Jingfei continued.

"Chunhua and Senior Meng were the only ones allowed to be here, but since Senior Meng went out to find Caiyi, Chunhua needed a person to look after her. You know she had a frail body."

"And you are the one who got that task?"

Shao Jingfei sighed. "Well, I basically became her punching bag all night. She kept crying and venting her anger on me. She ditched me and ran here by herself immediately after hearing the news about her sister. Not that I blame her, but you know what I mean, right?"

Dai Zhiqiang was still as silent and still as a rock. Hence, Shao Jingfei continued again.

"To be honest, I was surprised when Senior Meng made a professional group from the rescue forces come here. He even participated in the search himself, even when knowing the risk. But in the end, it was you who brought Caiyi back. That's why I was grateful."

"You guys are amazing. Of course, I was worried about Caiyi too, and I would help you find her if I can, but Senior Meng wanted me to watch over Chunhua."

Shao Jingfei laughed. "She is like a tigress, scolding the rescue force when they couldn't get any news about Caiyi even after hours. It was tough to placate her. Thinking back, all of us had a rough night…."

Shao Jingfei still talked, but Dai Zhiqiang wasn't listening to him anymore. He stared coldly at Meng Renshu's figure, who was talking to the leader man from afar, as various thoughts came to his mind.