Rebirth: Once Again With You

"No, that's quite okay. It's the least I could do for you after you helped me out last time."

Li Caiyi furtively glanced toward where Detective Tang previously was. And to her surprise, he wasn't there anymore. She was too busy talking with Shao Junfei and forgot to keep a tab on him!

Li Caiyi had to ask him what he was doing here, so she shouldn't be wasting her time.

"Mr. Shao, if that's all you want to talk about, can I excuse myself first?"

Shao Junfei looked like he was about to say something when Li Caiyi went ahead of him. He immediately swallowed the words that had already been on the tip of his tongue and shook his head instead.

"Oh, yes, that's all I want to talk about. I'm sorry for taking up your time."

"No, it's alright. It's been nice talking with you Miss Li."

"Then, I will take my leave first. Have a nice evening, Mr. Shao."

Li Caiyi walked away briskly—almost like half-running to the front yard again, hoping to get a glimpse of Detective Tang again. She even took a look around the main venue again just to make sure. However, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Crap, I lost sight of him."

Nothing went well for her tonight. It seemed she had no choice but to ask Detective Tang about it later.

Although she believed Detective Tang would know better not to let his guard down in front of a big figure like her ex-father-in-law, she still felt the obligation to warn him about Meng Yaoshu. That was just how dangerous that man was.

CRASH!!

Li Caiyi raised her head when she heard a loud shattering noise, followed by the shriek of surprise of the guests. She was even more surprised when a group of guests suddenly ran past her in the direction of the entrance.

"Run! It's a terrorist attack!"

"They took the Chairman hostage. Call the police!"

A man bumped into her and she staggered behind from the force. The vague words she heard were all she needed to know about the situation. This place was under attack!

BLAM!!

"No one shall get out of this place! Not if they valued their lives!"

"Kyaaa! They blocked the exit! We can't get out!"

"They were armed! We are going to die!"

Li Caiyi hadn't fully recovered from her initial shock when things escalated to the worst. It was as if all the surprise she experienced this evening wasn't enough, the heaven saved the most shocking one as the grand finale.

'I can't understand! What is going on here?!'

"Xiaoyi!"

Someone forcefully turned her body around as she tried to ingest all the new information inside her head. When she looked up, her blank expression was met with Meng Renshu's terrified face.

"Why are you still here? Didn't you say you are going to leave?!"

"Brother Renshu… The attack, what is…"

Meng Renshu's concerned face contorted in pain as he looked at her. He pulled her into his embrace and he rubbed her back gently. "Xiaoyi, don't be afraid. I promise I will protect you."

Just earlier, Li Caiyi tried not to think about his warmth, but now she found herself enveloped in it again. Perhaps because she was too shocked, she couldn't muster any energy to resist.

"You must be shocked, but nothing to worry about. I have contacted the police and they should be here any time now. I won't let anything happen to you."

Meng Renshu kept whispering these words to her, even though he must be equally confused and scared as her.  His heartbeat and warmth soothe her tense nerves, and soon she finally found her composure again.

Li Caiyi slightly raised her head, and her gaze fell to his jaw, with his body covering her small frame.

He looked ready to shield her from anything that might come to harm her. His body's warmth seeped through their clothes and slowly found its way into her heart, making it ache with a sweet yet painful sting.

It was crazy how she could find comfort in the arm of a person who had hurt terribly in the past. For someone who had experienced death once, this situation should be nothing. Wasn't this a very pathetic scene to see?

Li Caiyi bit her lips hard, before gently retreating from his embrace.

"I'm sorry for showing you my unsightly side, Brother Renshu. I'm fine now."

Meng Renshu felt a tad disappointed because she didn't stop drawing lines even in the middle of this madness. He would totally understand if she burst into tears now, yet she insisted on keeping a strong front to create some distance between them.

Nevertheless, it was still better than seeing her frightened like before.

"Are you sure? Can you stand properly?"

"En. Someone bumped into me just now so I lost my balance. But I'm not hurt or anything."

"Thank good—"

"Hey, you over there? Get into the line and don't try to do anything funny!"

Their conversation was short-lived when one of the terrorists clad in black pointed his gun at them.

Meng Renshu immediately stood in front of Li Caiyi with both of his hands in the air. "I get it, so can you please put down that dangerous thing? You scared the lady?"

"Do I look like I care? Just get your ass over there!" The man barked his order and left no room for rebuttal.

Li Caiyi, who could tell that the situation didn't work well in their favor, discreetly took a knife from the table. She waited until the man was distracted before slipping the knife into her skirt. Thank god she always wore short pants under her skirt.

"Xiaoyi, are you alright? We just need to obey them until the police arrive, so don't be scared."

She was distraught at first, that was for sure, but now that her mind was clear, she found his concern rather silly and endearing.

'Sure enough. There was a reason why I fell so hard for this person previously.'

"Brother Renshu, please worry about yourself more. Don't talk back to them unless you want to get beaten. I was surprised before, but I'm calm now."

"Tsk, you think you are so great to have your lover with you. Just go there like the other losers before I lose my patient!"

The man had a short temper, so they tacitly agreed not to provoke him further. Carefully so as not to drop the knife she put inside her shorts, Li Caiyi went to the corner of the hall where all guests were forced to kneel.

"Do you think you will get away with this?! My family will never let you go if you touch me even by a hair!"

"That's right! Everyone who comes here today are all influential people. If you hurt us, we will make sure to get back at you tenfold!"

"Who hired you to do this? We can pay you twice what they gave you!"

Li Caiyi watched how a few fearless people shouted their dissatisfaction, while silently lighting a candle inwardly.

When people are in extreme fear, they tend to do unreasonable things, and these people were the perfect example of that. Do they really think those treats would work against these people? They wouldn't raid this place in the first place if that was the case.

BANG!

"Kyaaaa!!!!"

One bullet was all it took to shut those men's mouths. The man in black who shot the gun snickered with an arrogant smirk on his face.

"What's up? You look like you have a lot to say so I just added music to liven up the mood. Now, why don't you finish your words so I can play some more music?"

The man who protested before was ashen and petrified in his place. He didn't even dare to lift his head anymore.

No one dared to say anything and desperately tried to minimize their sense of presence.

"Haha, this is why elite people like you are all bark and no fight. You only know how to flaunt your wealth and ancestry to look down on people. I'd kill each one of you if you dare to say a word again."

Everyone held their breath under his threat. These terrorists didn't look sane by any means and only a fool would try to talk them out of this.

Although she had experienced death once, this was actually her first time seeing the real gun being shot in real life. Trying to keep her composure, Li Caiyi kept her eyes lowered and tried not to do things that might catch their attention.

A while later, she noticed that Meng Renshu seemed restless. He glanced around as if trying to find something or someone.

Li Caiyi scooted closer and whispered without turning her head. "What's wrong?"

"I can't find my father anywhere."