Rebirth: Once Again With You

Li Chunhua was listless throughout the process of washing her face and changing. By the time she finished, Li Caiyi had waited for her with a cup of warm chocolate milk on the table. There were some marshmallows in it, just like the way Li Chunhua liked it.

Her nose soured, as the warmth spread inside her chest.

Li Chunhua acted tough in front of Shao Jingfei, but truthfully, she was a bit scared.

When Lu Zheng grabbed her with a terrifying expression on his face, she knew that she had screwed up. She imagined the scenario where he would beat her, and found herself shrinking in her place. It was purely because of her pride, she hadn't run away from that place in panic.

Now that Li Caiyi treated her with so much gentleness and warmth like this, the strong facade she put on crumbled down, leaving her vulnerable and having teary eyes.

Li Caiyi was startled when she saw Li Chunhua trembling like that, but she quickly understood something.

"Xiaohua, come here." She beckoned her sister to come closer, and Li Chunhua spared no time to enter her embrace.

"Waaah, Xiaoyi! I'm so scared!" That was all she said before bawling her eyes out.

Li Caiyi patted her back gently. She remembered how she used to comfort her sister like this all the time. "There, there, It's okay now. No one will hurt you here."

Even that one time when Li Chunhua bravely fought the big man when they got separated in a festival during their childhood, she didn't cry in front of anyone but her. That sense of dependence once comforted Li Caiyi greatly.

Just as much as she couldn't live without Li Chunhua, her sister was also the same. It gave her a purpose to keep going on, even when the despair took over her mind.

They clung to each other for life, and ended up hurting each other. It was a good thing she put her distance from Li Chunhua in this life, but when she saw her like this, she really couldn't help but wanted to comfort her like she always did.

They stayed like that for a while. Only when Li Chunhua finally calmed down did Li Caiyi asked her questions.

"So what exactly happened? There aren't many people that can faze you like this. Something terrible must have happened to you."

Li Chunhua blew her nose before replying in a small voice. "It's not that terrible. I was just…"

Li Chunhua explained slowly, from the beginning to the end, including how Shao Jingfei saved her from Lu Zheng. Throughout her story, Li Caiyi didn't say a word, but when she finished, she glared at her angrily.

"How could you plan something reckless like this without telling me anything?"

Li Chunhua gulped. Her sister didn't raise her voice, but the pressure and seething anger under her voice was palpable.

"Uhm, I was just trying to help. There was no guarantee Lu Zheng had any good info, so I didn't want to make a fuss."

"Xiaohua, you are so smart, yet you are too clueless about how the world works! Do you think you could get away with it once he found out you are only using her? It was inevitable that something like this would happen, but did you ever stop to think that?!"

Li Chunhua couldn't refute it at all. She could still handle Shao Jingfei, but she couldn't escape Li Caiyi's wrath.

This was why she didn't want her sister to find out! She planned to tell her that she peacefully got new information from Lu Zheng, but her constitution just had to give her away.

"B-but, I have new information about Hu Jian from him! We can probably use this in the future…"

If look could kill, then Li Chunhua probably already died ten times by now. Li Caiyi's eyes narrowed down even more, upon noticing that Li Chunhua had no intention to reflect her mistake at all.

Shivers ran down Li Chunhua's body at her sister's sharp glare. She dared not to say anything except one thing, "Sorry. I was wrong."

Li Caiyi's anger subsided a bit at her honest apology. She still had so many things to say, but considering how shaken Li Chunhua was after that experience, she held herself back with a sigh of exasperation.

"You are lucky Jingfei happened to be around to save you. Can you imagine what will happen if he isn't there?"

Li Chunhua really wanted to rebuke, but recalling what happened earlier today clamped her mouth shut.

"As for Hu Jian matter, let's not pursue it further."

"What? Why?!" Li Chunhua raised her head in disbelief.

"It's no use. Even if what Lu Zheng said is the truth, and Lu Ruan had been in contact with Hu Jian to mess with me, we have no proof of that. And there is no guarantee the man she is in contact with is the same Hu Jian I met."

"Well, yeah. But based on the circumstance, this is the only possibility we have. We can't just give up!"

"No! I will not hear any of this anymore. I want you to stop poking your finger around and put yourself in danger!"

Li Caiyi felt distressed inside. If she knew Li Chunhua would go this far, she would never let her in from the beginning. How could she be so careless? She should have known Li Chunhua wouldn't be able to calm down and go to any length to find the true culprit behind all this.

What if Lu Zheng told Lu Ruan about how Li Chunhua tried to gather information about her? That girl was already very hostile to them even without all that. And if the man Lu Ruan got in contact with was really that dangerous Hu Jian…

Li Caiyi's hair stood at the fearsome thought of what could happen to her sister. She had already experienced firsthand how malicious whoever targeted her. The attempt to steal her life, and the harassment she received, could be shifted to Li Chunhua in the future.

"Alright, I admit it was wrong of me to do that without consulting with you first, but we can't let that dangerous person roam around freely. What if they try to harm you again?"

"Xiaohua. Make no further fuss about this because I have decided to put an end to this. If they are so dangerous, then all the more reason for us not to stick our finger into the tiger's nose. Just pretend nothing happened and don't do anything."

"No! I don't want that. I want to protect you. They have malicious intent towards you, and you want me to stay put? Heck no!"

"LI CHUNHUA!"

Li Chunhua was shocked when Li Caiyi suddenly shouted her full name. She was rendered speechless and could only stare at her in disbelief.

"I don't need your protection and I don't feel like pursuing this matter anymore. That's my final decision."

Li Caiyi didn't wait for Li Chunhua to respond. She stood up and cleared her cup in the sink. "Come to think of it, how long are you going to stay in my place? I didn't want to say it since I'm the one who invited you here, but you already stayed here for too long. I want you to go back home tomorrow."

"Xi-Xiaoyi, what's wrong? D-did I say something wrong?" Li Chunhua said in panic.

Li Caiyi steeled herself and made her voice as cold as possible. "Just leave me alone. Don't get involved in my business anymore. It's bothersome."

There was a heavy silence in the room after she said that. Li Chunhua was stubborn, so if she didn't take extreme measures like this, she was afraid she wouldn't stop going off on her own.

Even so, her words were still too much. Li Caiyi felt guilty as soon as she let out those cruel words to Li Chunhua who had nothing but concern for her.

"Xiaohua, I-,"

"Stupid Xiaoyi. I don't care about you anymore!"

Li Chunhua shouted at her before diving into the bed and covered herself with the blanket, refusing to talk or even look at her anymore.

Li Caiyi sighed in defeat but also relieved at the same time. She almost retracted her words back there.

Although she felt bad for her, this was the best decision. There was no need to drag Li Chunhua deeper into this. She had to solve this problem by herself.