Rebirth: Once Again With You

"I came here to check on you. Did you fall asleep thinking about me last night?"

*Gasps!

It felt like everyone had a synchronized timing for that gasp. Li Caiyi couldn't blame them because it was a public secret that Meng Renshu favored the younger twin more than the older twin. Seeing him come to Li Caiyi's class was already surprising enough, and adding with that ambiguous greeting, it would be stranger if it didn't cause an uproar.

Li Caiyi frowned in displeasure at Meng Renshu, who was smiling innocently. What now?

"Hey, Caiyi," Zhou Ya tugged on her sleeve. "Aren't you going to talk to him?"

Li Caiyi was unwilling to stand from her seat, but who knows what nonsense he would spout after this?

"Yeah, I should. Sorry guys, I need to talk to him."

"Do I smell a love triangle here? Or rather, love squares?" Chen Ruolan rubbed her chin while grinning creepily but got nudged on the side by Feng Nian.

"Don't listen to her. Just go."

"Yeah, thanks."

Li Caiyi stood up and walked up towards Meng Renshu. While the former glared at him, Meng Renshu only smirked in amusement.

"Let's go somewhere else to talk," Li Caiyi whispered and walked out of the classroom without waiting for his answer. Meng Renshu shrugged his shoulders and followed her outside, ignoring the entire class' gazes at them.

Li Caiyi deliberately led him to a secluded place where there would be no disturbance. With that thought, she brought him to the backyard garden and sighed in relief when she saw no one was there.

She turned around and folded her hands in front of her chest. Irritation was apparent on her face. "What do you want this time?"

"Nothing? I just came to check on you and possibly talk to you."

"Please stop saying misleading things. I don't want to get attacked by your fans if they find out about this."

"My fans? Ah, don't worry about them. I won't let them harm you," Meng Renshu smiled reassuringly. He looked as innocent as a lamb, and Li Caiyi had to remind herself that this guy was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"That's not the point. What I want to say is, please stop bothering me. Can we just walk in our path peacefully without arguing like this every time?"

"We won't have to argue in the first place if you just let me walk by your side."

"No," Li Caiyi answered immediately. "I don't know what else I can say to make my words go through your thick skull."

"Haha, you probably have to give up on that. I already said it yesterday, didn't I? I have already decided to pursue you because I can't not have you by my side, Xiaoyi." Meng Renshu said earnestly. There wasn't any hint of his earlier playfulness in his expression.

Li Caiyi felt uncomfortable being stared at so deeply like that, so she averted her eyes. "Brother Renshu, are you confessing to me right now?"

"No, not yet. I know that the current me has no right to confess just yet. Not after I have hurt you unintentionally. The day when you finally can give me a second chance, I will confess to you, then."

"There is no second chance," Li Caiyi said decisively in a cold voice. She dared not to meet his eyes, so she kept her gaze away from him. "No matter how much you try, nothing will change. I will never like you the way you like me because I don't see you that way. As presumptuous as it is, that's just how I feel, so you should save your time and effort in a more meaningful way."

Li Caiyi gripped her forearms tightly. She felt uncomfortable saying something like that to the current Meng Renshu, who had done nothing wrong yet. But the thought of him remembering his previous life's memory made her anxious. Moreover, he seemed to be increasingly affectionate to her, which worsened everything.

Nevertheless, she hoped there would be a way to chase him away without hurting him too much. In her previous life, although Meng Renshu didn't love her and pushed her away in the end, she also received a lot of kindness from him. Those years they had spent together since childhood could never be erased, no matter how much she tried. It was precious, as much as it was heartbreaking.

"Oh, it seems I got rejected today." Meng Renshu laughed mirthlessly. "I will try again next time, then."

This time, Li Caiyi turned to him impatiently. Even shamelessness should know it's bound!

"There is no 'next time'. Did you even listen to what I just said?"

Meng Renshu smiled gently. "You finally look my way."

"What?" Li Caiyi felt a stab in her consciousness when she saw how cool he was in taking this. She expected him to be more angry, offended or perhaps disappointed, but there he was, looking at her with his usual gentle gaze as if he had prepared for her rejection.

Meng Renshu walked over to her in big strides, and Li Caiyi unconsciously took steps back. Her short legs couldn't be compared with his long ones, so he reduced their distance in no time at all.

Li Caiyi's whole body was tense when he stood so close to her. The world seemed to move in slow motion when the wind blew his hair and revealed his tranquil eyes laced with indulgence and understanding.

He raised his hands, and Li Caiyi instinctively shut her eyes in reflex, not knowing what to expect. Meng Renshu chuckled helplessly while rubbing the frown in the middle of her forehead tenderly like he was caressing it with his thumb.

"Look at your frown. If it makes you uncomfortable to say such things, then just don't say it in the first place. It will only hurt you more than it hurts me."

Li Caiyi was stunned. Meng Renshu looked down at her while smiling when she opened her eyes. He didn't blame or question her and just accepted whatever she threw to him.

Her guilty conscience amplified as she found herself at a loss for words. She could only stare blankly at him while thinking about how happy she would be if this had happened in her previous life. It was a pity everything was already too late.

"About what you said just now, you don't have to be guilty about it. You can reject me, but it's up to me whether or not to continue pursuing you. Don't reprimand yourself too much, and just be yourself."

Li Caiyi: "...."

"Well, let's end this conversation for today. I enjoyed my short time talking with you. See you next time, Xiaoyi," Meng Renshu patted her head once before walking away with a wave of his hand.

Li Caiyi couldn't move a step from where she stood, even when Meng Renshu had long gone. She couldn't understand what she was feeling right now. Why did she feel hurt instead when he did nothing but treat her tenderly?

"Don't waver now. This is for the best." Li Caiyi whispered softly, letting the wind carry her uncertainties away before she finally left.

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