Rebirth: Once Again With You

"Come to think of it, I haven't heard anything from that guy." Shao Jingfei commented after they warped up the session.

"Hm? Who?"

"Dai Shenqiang. He hasn't contacted me yet ever since our last meeting. Do you think something happened?"

Li Caiyi had been busy with school and writing the past few days. She hadn't visited Dai Bolin nor contacted Dai Shenqiang in a while. The last time he called her was that one time when he sent her his drawing again.

"It seems he still needs time to think it over."

"Hmm, is it really that tough decision for him? As far as I know, this might be a good chance for him."

"He doesn't have much time because he has to look after his sick father in the hospital."

"Ah, so it's like that? Sorry, I didn't know that."

"It's okay. But you are right, this opportunity won't come twice. Do you think I should persuade him?"

Shao Jingfei mulled over it for a moment before nodding his head. "Yeah, I think you should. I wasn't joking when I said his drawing style would better suit something else."

"Alright. I will try to talk to him after this and see if I can persuade him."

"I'm counting on you. And I expect the revised version to be sent tomorrow. Don't slack off just because you did pretty well on your first book," Shao Jingfei grinned.

Li Caiyi laughed at that. "No way. I will make sure this one will be better than the last one. Then, I'll leave first. See you later, Jingfei."

Shao Jingfei replied with a wave of his hand, and Li Caiyi walked out of the cafe and returned to her apartment. Compared to last time, she had gotten used to commuting by bus, so she reached her place faster than expected.

"It's still so early. I wonder if I should do grocery shopping first?"

Li Caiyi contemplated her option when her eyes spotted a box in front of her door. It was tied by a rope to her apartment's door.

"Is this for me? But I didn't order anything." Li Caiyi looked around but found no one in sight.

Albeit unsure, she picked up the box first and entered her room. She put it on top of the small table as she hurriedly went to turn on the air conditioner.

"This year's summer is too hot! I don't want to go shopping anymore!" Li Caiyi whined before taking her towel and going to take a shower.

After 15 minutes, Li Caiyi was refreshed and came out of the bathroom with a towel around her neck. She sighed satisfactorily while throwing herself to the bed and rolling along on the cool sheets.

Her decision to leave her house and live alone was the best decision she could make.

Li Caiyi didn't have to battle complicated feelings whenever she encountered her family members, and she was free to do anything she wanted.

Even if she suddenly wanted to dance or jump around, no one would stop her, claiming it was unladylike and not befitting the daughter of a prestigious family.

"Ah, your house is really your safe sanctuary."

Then, Li Caiyi rose up and walked to the fridge, and took out a can of beer from the inside.

"And this is the best part of living alone!" Li Caiyi squealed before gulping down almost all the content from the can. Then, she sighed in contentment.

"Drinking after showering is really the best in summer."

While basking in her glory, her gaze fell on the box on top of the table. She has almost forgotten about it.

Li Caiyi put the can on the table and took the box instead. The package was light and made a slight noise when she shook it. There was no sender name anywhere, and it was wrapped by a rope which acted like a ribbon.

"Should I open it?"

Li Caiyi contemplated for a moment before deciding to check it for now. If her assumption was false, and this package wasn't meant for her, then she could just apologize to the actual owner.

Carefully, she untied the rope around the box and slowly opened it.

A nasty smell was the first thing that hit her nose.

Li Caiyi: "!!!"

Splash!

What she saw inside made her eyes bulge in shock, and she recoiled back unknowingly. Because of that, her arm accidentally tipped her can of beer down from the table. The contents spilt to the floor, but Li Caiyi couldn't care less about that. Her eyes were nailed to the object inside the box itself.

It was a bunch of her photos, taken without her noticing. But those photos were in tattered and horrible shape, as the part where her face or limbs were supposed to be was made into a hole or slice until she couldn't tell who was in the photo anymore.

Words made from red ink were plastered all over the surface, like 'Go die!', 'Hypocrite!', 'Liar'.

However, the most shocking thing was a dead rat inside the box with its gut splattered. It must be the source of the horrible stench spread in the room now.

"Ugh, what is this? Why?"

Li Caiyi felt the urge to retch by looking and smelling the terrible smell. Still, she fought it back and carefully scooted closer to inspect the box again. She really hoped those red words on the photo weren't written with rat blood or something.

Aside from the photo and the animal remains, she vaguely noticed a protruding white paper buried between the images. Li Caiyi took it out and found it wasn't a paper but a letter.

Li Caiyi gulped hard as she stared down at the letter. She had a terrible premonition about this.

Stealing her resolve, she opened the letter. Inside was a piece of paper with only a few sentences. It was written in the same style as those on the photos and with red ink.

"I will never forgive you. You ruin my life. If you dare tell anyone about this, you might find a dead rat under your pillow next time. I know where and who you are, but you don't." Li Caiyi read out the content out loud.

A mixture of confusion and anxiety made her mind go blank. She couldn't think of anyone she had ever offended, causing them to retaliate to this extent. Whoever sent this clearly had a deep grudge against her.

"Is this the work of Hu Jian again?" Li Caiyi mumbled to herself.

Aside from that person or whoever was behind that person, there was no other suspect. But Li Chunhua certainly said before the summer break that there was nothing wrong with those girls who ganged up on her last time. Aside from acting superior like they always did, they didn't make any suspicious behavior or action.

It alarmed her greatly to think she would be harassed even in her house. This time it was only threatening letters and an animal's corpse, but what about next time?

Li Caiyi put out the letter and took a deep breath to calm herself down first.

Her heart beat erratically. Because, to be honest, she couldn't calm down knowing there was someone out there who was eager to see her hurt or even disappear from this world.

First, she shoved the letter back into the box and took several pictures of it with her phone before sealing the box again tightly. Then, she put the package in a plastic bag and went down her apartment building to throw the box.

Li Caiyi went up again immediately after she finished discarding the box. Her legs were slightly wobbly from nervousness.

What if that person was still around here?