Rebirth: Once Again With You

Li Caiyi's body tensed all over. He wouldn't have asked such a thing unless he suspected her of something.

'Don't tell me. Does he think I'm a threat or something?'

Her fear had become a reality, even after taking care of Ye Zhong. Li Caiyi could feel her palm dampen with sweat as Dai Zhiqiang took a few steps closer.

"It will only take a second. I just want to confirm something."

The teenage boy reached out to touch her mask, and Li Caiyi evaded instinctively. Once she did that, her gaze and Dai Zhiqiang clashed, and that was when she knew she had messed up.

"You seem very against the idea of showing your face. I wonder if there's any special reason for it?"

Dai Zhiqiang's voice got even colder when he said the following sentence, "If you keep refusing like this, I might become suspicious of you. Are you sure that's what you want?"

Chill ran down her spine. Li Caiyi couldn't lift her face, let alone make a sound.

The young man in front of her was completely different from the gentle and considerate Dai Zhiqiang she knew. She could understand now why many people were reluctant to approach him.

'No, that's not important right now! What should I do? I can't run anywhere!' Li Caiyi panicked inside, facing her biggest crisis today.

Being stared at by Dai Zhiqiang like this was more frightening than when the tan burly man from earlier reprimanded her.

Li Caiyi was petrified in her place and shut her eyes tight when Dai Zhiqiang reached out again to grasp her mask.

"There you are!"

Both teenagers jerked their heads simultaneously. Standing a few steps away from them was Lin Xiang, who appeared out of nowhere.

Li Caiyi was so relieved she could cry. His timing couldn't be any more perfect than this.

While Li Caiyi was basking in awe and gratefulness at Lin Xiang's arrival, Dai Zhiqiang subtly glanced between the two with a calculative gaze.

"Senior Lin, why are you here? Aren't you supposed to supervise the training today?"

"I was bored and thought I could check on my relatives for a bit." Lin Xiang grinned before shifting his gaze to Li Caiyi. "I have been looking for you everywhere. This isn't a place where you should be. Quickly, come here."

Even without being told, Li Caiyi had planned to run over to his side. But before she could take steps further, Dai Zhiqiang blocked her way. He had his back on her with his gaze still nailed on Lin Xiang.

"Senior Lin, didn't you say before that you have no family and relatives left?"

"Did I say that? Well, my family is pretty big, so I can't possibly remember each of them. This one is my distant relative, and she was in dire need of a new job, so I took her here."

Dai Zhiqiang said nothing, and the silence after that felt pressuring.

Li Caiyi glanced at him and slowly walked past him towards Lin Xiang. This time her boyfriend didn't try to block her way anymore.

She breathed a sigh of relief once she had safely stood by Lin Xiang's side. Even so, she stood behind the bald man and tried to keep her presence as minimal as possible. Dai Zhiqiang hadn't said anything, but she knew he was still unconvinced.

"Why didn't you say so? If you told the boss about it, I'm sure he can prepare a much better job for your relative."

"How can I bother the boss with something trivial like this? This lass is inexperienced and doesn't have outstanding achievement, so I think the current job is more comfortable for her to begin."

"At least you can tell me. I have never seen her face around the main building before, so I thought she was an intruder at first."

'Sure enough, that's what he thinks of me!' Li Caiyi thanked heaven for sending Lin Xiang in time to save her.

"Yeah, my bad. It's her first day here, and I forgot to tell you about it. Then I will take her with me to show her around, so she won't end up stranded here again."

Lin Xiang put her arms around her shoulder and half-pulled her to follow him.

Li Caiyi didn't resist, allowing Lin Xiang to guide her, but then Dai Zhiqiang spoke again.

"Senior Lin, aren't you going to introduce your relative to me?"

There was a gulping sound, but she was unsure whether it was from her, Lin Xiang, or both of them.

"Zhiqiang, I thought you disliked it when a woman approached you? Won't you feel uncomfortable by it?"

"I will feel like that if that woman is a complete stranger to me. But she is your relative, so she isn't a stranger but also someone I need to look out for too. Don't you agree?"

The way Dai Zhiqiang said it made the sentence 'look out for' carry a double meaning. If even Li Caiyi could sense his blatant suspicion of her, then Lin Xiang must have felt that too.

In the end, Lin Xiang could only push her forward gently. "You heard him. Go introduce yourself. He is my colleague and my most trusted subordinate. His name is Dai Zhiqiang."

"Hello, nice to meet you." Dai Zhiqiang reached out to her for a handshake.

Li Caiyi found the situation bizarre, but she had no choice but to follow the flow. Gingerly, she took his hand in her as she mentioned her' name'.

"My name is Zhou Lin."

Li Caiyi tried to retract her hand, but for some reason, Dai Zhiqiang refused to let it go. His deep, fathomless eyes never took her out of his sight. It fascinated her and made her restless at the same time.

Then, her daydream was interrupted when he suddenly let her hand go. "I see. I hope you can cope well with the work here. Good luck."

Then, without showing further interest in her anymore, he walked past her and nodded briefly to Lin Xiang before leaving them behind.

"Haah," Lin Xiang heaved a deep breath when Dai Zhiqiang was nowhere in sight anymore. "I just lost ten years of my lifetime. That kid is way too sharp for his own good."

"Uncle Lin, do you think he found out?"

Lin Xiang grimaced. "It's hard to tell with him. But to be honest, he is just letting this one go. Probably out of consideration for me."

"I hope this won't get you in trouble later," Li Caiyi said worriedly.

"Nah, don't think too much of it. Anyway, time's out, young lady. I think it's about time you return to your original self."