Rebirth: Once Again With You

After the bell signaling the end of the class rang, Li Caiyi rose from her seat. She turned to look at her friends, and they nodded simultaneously.

Li Caiyi didn't know whether this would work, but she had to try anyway. She packed all her belongings before making her way out of the room.

In front of the classroom, Dai Zhiqiang had been waiting for her. A sweet smile bloomed on her face once she glimpsed his gallant figure.

"Zhiqiang, you are here."

He straightened his back as he turned to her. Ignoring people's gaze, he smoothed down her bang before asking, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling great, actually." Li Caiyi beamed. "It felt so refreshing to vent like that. Now I understand why people like to send their problems to radio stations."

"I watched it, and I think you are very cool. Are you sure you don't want me to help you?"

"Don't worry." Li Caiyi clutched his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Please watch over me instead."

Dai Zhiqiang knew he couldn't persuade her, so he smiled in defeat before interlocking their fingers together. "Then, at least let me escort you."

"Hehe, gladly!"

Lu Ruan should have received her message by now. Li Caiyi silently prepared herself for what was to come.

***

When she arrived at the park near their school, Li Caiyi suddenly had a deja vu. This was where she and Gu Xue talked last time.

In this life, she had taken proper measures against Gu Xue so that women wouldn't be able to mess with her anymore. However, it seemed heaven wanted to test her once again by making Lu Ruan her enemy next.

Li Caiyi wondered how did she attract so many psychos around her?

'Xiaohua alone was enough to drive me crazy, but these women never let me breathe.'

Walking past the playground, Li Caiyi arrived at a small fountain in the middle of the park. From there, she went to a secluded place covered by trees behind the public bathroom. No one should be able to see or hear what happened there.

The sound of rustling from her movement startled the girl who had arrived there before her.

"Li Caiyi! So it is really you!"

Before she had a chance to announce her presence, Lu Ruan had already shouted at her vengefully. Her face twisted so bad that she looked like a crazed woman.

"I have made you wait, didn't I?" Li Caiyi smiled politely, but it only infuriated Lu Ruan further.

"What are you planning by calling me out here?!"

The temperature between them dropped significantly as the smile on Li Caiyi's face slowly faded, revealing an icy expression. Shivers ran down Lu Ruan's spine, being at the receiving end of her calm yet hostile eyes.

But she refused to back down in front of her enemy. She clenched her jaw before shouting again, "Are you deaf? Say something, will you?!"

"Even now, you don't seem apologetic for your actions."

"Why should I? I didn't do anything wrong?" Lu Ruan retorted. A crooked smirk on her face made her face look even crazier than before. "Or perhaps you want to accuse me without proof? Just because we crossed each other once, you didn't hesitate to point your finger at me. You are just too much."

Li Caiyi was baffled by her shamelessness. Hollow laughter escaped her mouth. "You seem confident that no one will find out everything you did to me. Well, guess what? Like how you can hire someone to stalk me, do you think I can't do the same?"

Lu Ruan tried to maintain her composure, but the slight twitch on her finger betrayed her. Li Caiyi didn't miss that subtle reaction of hers.

"I should say, you have the wildest imagination in your mind. You are so eager to throw dirt on me that you gave yourself out."

"What are you talking about?! Speak clearly!" Lu Ruan screamed. She appeared restless.

Li Caiyi took out the pictures Detective Tang gave her the other day and threw it her way.

"Hey, what's your deal?! Throwing stuff to me like that is uncalled for?"

"Ha. After all the harassment you did to me, you are complaining just because of this?" Li Caiyi sneered. "See for yourself."

Lu Ruan frowned in displeasure, but she still crouched down to pick up some pictures. She couldn't hide her surprise once she saw what was captured in those pictures. "T-This is!"

"That's right. I have proof that you are colluding with the mysterious person who has been harassing me all this time. And don't even try to deny it because those pictures' dates were the same day as when I was being harassed." Li Caiyi glared at her.

It took her a few seconds before she could compose herself. Smiling haughtily, Lu Ruan responded condescendingly. "You think you can trick me with these things? Even though you have these pictures, nothing is incriminating about them. I can meet up with anyone I like. These pictures prove nothing!"

"I'd predicted you would say that." Li Caiyi took out the final picture from her pocket before throwing it her way again.

Lu Ruan glances skeptically at it before she picks it up. The picture showed her entering Li Caiyi's apartment building with that man.

Lu Ruan could be seen holding a familiar box. There was no way she'd forget when this was taken and what happened that day.

She began to break out in cold sweat as her face gradually turned ashen. "H-How did you get this?"

Li Caiyi smirked when Lu Ruan reacted precisely as she had predicted. When she saw her in fear like this, Li Caiyi felt a strange sense of satisfaction inside her.

"You don't have to know that. Based on your reaction, it seems you know what was inside the box without me needing to tell you. I can print this picture as many as I want and drown our school in it again if you want."

"No!" Lu Ruan had shouted before she could stop herself. She seemed to realize she'd made a grave slip up a moment later. Li Caiyi smirked at that.

"From your reaction, I take it that you finally understand the situation now. Tell me, how do you like my conclusive evidence? And what do you think I should do with you?"

Lu Ruan panicked. She scrambled to recheck each picture, and her confidence suddenly plummeted.

"What do you think will happen if I show these to the school board?" Her tone kept dropping as she spoke, "I'll make sure that you will get expelled because I won't let it be settled with a mere probation."

Li Caiyi stepped forward, and Lu Ruan could feel the pressure she exuded.

Before this, she never imagined that Li Caiyi would be the one to stand in front of her while she could only powerlessly look at the corner of her shoes as she sat on the filthy ground.

Lu Ruan didn't care about school, but it was the only place she could see her prince. Looking up slowly at Li Caiyi's dark face, she felt like she could finally see Li Caiyi truly as she was.

Cold and ruthless. She was like a noble giving out her punishment on a lowly commoner.