Rebirth: Once Again With You

Li Caiyi was still wearing her dress when she rushed to the hospital, so her appearance caught people's attention. The deep purple dress fluttered around her legs, making her look like a floating fairy.

Oblivious to people staring at her, Li Caiyi kept walking with her head full of worrisome thoughts. She really hoped Dai Bolin would get through this safely.

After asking around and finally arriving at Dai Bolin's surgery chamber, she first saw Dai Shenqiang, who curled himself into a ball on the bench in front of the room. Dai Zhiqiang was nowhere in sight.

"Shenqiang!"

The boy was startled and slowly lifted his face. His eyes were swollen, and traces of dry tears littered his face. He couldn't even force himself to smile anymore.

"Caiyi. You are here."

Li Caiyi quickly held him tightly. This boy was still very young to experience the loss of both parents. Faced with a vulnerable state, she found herself at a loss for what to say.

His ice-like body snuggled closer to her instinctively, like searching for warmth. It felt like he was enveloped in a cocoon. Dai Shenqiang shut his eyes, thinking how nice it would be if she could keep embracing him like this.

"Shenqiang, where is your brother?"

The question was riddled with concern. It dispelled the illusion of having her to himself, even for a moment. Dai Shenqiang's expression turned gloomy again as he finally regained his wits together.

'That's right. Of course, Caiyi will ask about my brother because that's why she's here in the first place,' Dai Shenqiang thought darkly. Even though he knew he shouldn't feel like this, he couldn't help but envy his brother.

He slowly removed himself from her embrace and hugged himself into a ball again. "He is here just now. But he left with that woman."

"That…woman?"

"Our mother. Didn't I mention it once before?"

There was a heavy alarm sound in Li Caiyi's head. Dai Zhiqiang still couldn't forgive his mother to this day, and seeing her today out of the other day must have devastated him so much. He could barely keep his calm the last time he met her.

A flashback of Dai Zhiqiang's frightening side appeared in her mind. She could never forget how he quickly grabbed Lu Ruan's neck and almost broke it.

"You should go after him." Dai Shenqiang said weakly. "He probably didn't want me to feel distressed, so he brought that woman away from here. He told me not to follow him and kept my eyes on Father."

Li Caiyi felt a strong urge to do just that. She wanted nothing else but to fly to his side and comfort him, but something kept her from doing so. "But if I do that, you'll be alone here."

Dai Shenqiang flinched before letting out self-deprecating laughter. "Are you stupid or what? Why are you caring about me when you are clearly making a painful expression like that?"

Li Caiyi didn't even notice that. She touched her face as the younger boy's gaze softened. "Don't worry about me, and just go. I'm worried about my brother. I'm sure he is also as afraid as me, but he never cried and comforted me. Now he has to deal with that woman because I'm too weak to do anything."

"Shenqiang…" Li Caiyi bit her lips. "Will you really be okay?"

"Yeah, so just go. Please take care of him."

Li Caiyi rose from her seat and hugged him tightly. "I'll be back soon with your brother, so please wait a bit longer, yeah? We will go through this together."

Just when he was about to hug her back, she had already pulled out and rushed to find Dai Zhiqiang. Only her warmth lingered on his skin.

Dai Shenqiang felt bittersweet inside.

***

Li Caiyi looked around frantically. Knowing him, he must haven't gone that far. He could never leave when his father and brother were currently in a miserable state like this.

Her hair, tied in a bun, was all messy, and her dress was sticky with sweat. Li Caiyi regretted that she came here without changing her outfit first. This dress really made it hard for her to move around.

Dai Shenqiang's condition was much worse than she thought, making her uneasy about leaving him alone for too long. She had to find Dai Zhiqiang as soon as possible and come back.

"Haa…Ha… Just where is he?" Li Caiyi wiped the beads of sweat on her neck while breathing heavily.

She asked around, but no one saw Dai Zhiqiang and her mother. So she had no choice but to search cluelessly. Then, she remembered the hospital garden where she and Dai Zhiqiang spent time together.

Li Caiyi's hunch was correct this time. From afar, she could already see Dai Zhiqiang's towering body. Then the tiny woman standing not far from him must be Yue Ling, the Dai brother's biological mother.

Feeling extremely relieved, she slowed down her steps. That was when she heard him shout.

"Just leave! We don't need you here!"

"Zhiqiang…"

The chilly atmosphere most likely wasn't caused by the cold night wind. Li Caiyi stepped closer while reducing her sense of presence. She felt heartbroken when she saw how worn Dai Zhiqiang was.

"Can't you just let me stay until your father's surgery is done? I promise I will stay silent in the corner like a dead person. I won't try to talk to you or your brother."

"Stop acting as if you care after all this time! I have been pretty tolerant of you, so why did you come here and cause trouble? You promised you would never show yourself in front of Shenqiang again!"

"Please, I wouldn't be able to sleep if I left just like this."

Dai Zhiqiang sneered. "Why? Did your new rich husband not treat you well, so you came here to seek comfort for your lonely soul? Treating us like something you can use only when it is convenient. You disgust me."

There was so much loathing in his voice, but Li Caiyi could also sense a slight sadness. It hurt seeing him suffer like that.

"You…How did you…." Yue Ling stuttered in disbelief.

"Do you think I'm still the same clueless boy you can trick? Father believes you have the purest intention, but not me, so I did my investigation. You didn't wear your ring every time you came to visit, why is that? Are you trying to trick yourself into thinking that you somehow still have a place in my family like that?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I was just…."

"Whatever your reason is, I'm not interested. I don't care whether you live well or not because you are nothing to us now. Stop concerning yourself with other family matters and just take care of your own, Madam."

Li Caiyi watched Yue Ling's body shake like a leaf as she cried. She was already small from the beginning and looked like she could be blown away by the wind anytime.

What she did toward the Dai family was wrong. However, it still made her uncomfortable to see Dai Zhiqiang hurting himself just so he could inflict wounds on a person who once mattered so much to him.

Li Caiyi couldn't stand it, so she slowly came out of her hiding.

"Who's there?!" Dai Zhiqiang shouted as he jerked his head towards her. But his rigid face immediately softened when he saw her. "Caiyi, what are you doing here?"

Li Caiyi smiled and held his cold hand gently. He was initially surprised, but later, he felt like melting on the spot because her gaze on him dripped with so much sweetness.

"I came to pick you up. We shouldn't leave Shenqiang alone for too long. It must be hard for him to wait alone."

"Ah, you are right. But before that…." Dai Zhiqiang shifted his gaze to his mother again. "Since you broke our promise first, you are not allowed to come anywhere near my family after this. I'll be watching you."

"Wait!" Yue Ling suddenly came forward and grabbed Li Caiyi's other hand. There was desperateness in her eyes like she was the last person she could depend on. "Miss Caiyi, right? I saw you the other day as well. Are you Zhiqiang's girlfriend, by chance?"

"What do you think you are doing?" Dai Zhiqiang pried her hand away from Li Caiyi while glaring sharply. He had his other hand around her waist protectively.

"I just want to talk with her."

"Don't think I don't know what you have in mind. You can't argue with me, and now you want to persuade her to change my mind? Just how much trouble are you planning to cause here?!"

Yue Ling shed tears again, seeing how ruthless his son treated her. Her helpless gaze slowly darkened and changed into resentment.

"Zhiqiang, why can't you give me one last chance to repair everything? Do you know how much courage I built just to come here? Your father allowed me to nurse him, and even Shenqiang must be devastated now. Are you going to stop me just because you don't like me? Stop being stubborn and selfish! What can a child like you do at a time like this?!"

"How can you say that?!"

This time, it wasn't Dai Zhiqiang who yelled, but Li Caiyi. She tried to hold back since this wasn't a place for a third party like her to interfere, but she couldn't bear listening to Yue Ling anymore.

"You want to talk with me? Fine, I'll let you have some of my time."

"Caiyi, you don't have to—"

Li Caiyi interrupted Dai Zhiqiang's protest by raising her hand. Her determined gaze locked on Yue Ling's figure. "You can go back first and accompany Shenqiang. Let me have a woman-to-woman talk with your mother."