Rebirth: Once Again With You

Li Caiyi touched the place he had caressed earlier in a flabbergasted manner. "Dust? There is some dust on my cheek."

Dai Zhiqiang nodded. "It's already clear now, though."

Li Caiyi could feel her cheeks burning even hotter than it already was. She was so surprised when he suddenly leaned into her so closely that she overreacted. Even though he only wanted to help her wipe something on her cheeks. She really wanted to find a hole and hide in it!

However, she refused to let him see her making a fool out of herself anymore, so she cleared away her throat before saying, "Ahem, then you could just tell me, and I would wipe it by myself."

"It just seems easier if I do it. It was right before my eyes, after all."

"Listen here. You shouldn't touch a girl so carelessly like that. They'll easily misunderstand," Li Caiyi warned this insensible boy calmly but secretly scolded him inside.

'The effect is much worse because you are good-looking and cool. Have some self-awareness for a bit. This isn't good for people's hearts!'

"Pfft…"

Li Caiyi raised her head when she heard suppressed laughter and was stunned when she saw Dai Zhiqiang let out a genuine smile. It was not a faint or sarcastic smile he usually put on.

"What? Did you admit my actions made you misunderstand?"

"H-huh?"

Dai Zhiqiang tilted his head, and a glint of mischievousness flashed across his eyes as he smiled playfully. "Then, can you teach me what I should and should not do in front of a girl? You are the first girl I'm close to, after all."

Thump.

All her blood suddenly rushed to her heart upon listening to his words. Perhaps it was because of the theory she had made this morning, or maybe she was just anxious after discovering that Meng Renshu would probably gain his past life's memories.

Perhaps this was just another wishful thinking on her part, the same as when she met Dai Shenqiang.

But why did Dai Zhiqiang resemble Shen Qiang so much? His personality, gestures, the way he laughs, smirks, and even words.

Li Caiyi had experienced disappointments before this, so she didn't dare make any wild guesses. Nevertheless, she couldn't deny that the Dai Zhiqiang who stood in front of her now reminded her a lot of Shen Qiang.

Was it possible for two people to be so similar? Even to the way they laugh and smile?

'But how can that be? There's no way Dai Zhiqiang would be Shen Qiang. Because if yes, then wouldn't it mean Shen Qiang had lied to me about his name? There's no reason for him to lie to me when we are bound to be dead soon.'

Li Caiyi calmly acknowledged the error in her judgment, but her heart refused to listen to reason, as it kept beating fast, even when she convinced herself not to make any assumption.

"What…. Stop confusing me like this…."

"Huh? Did you say something?" Dai Zhiqiang didn't quite hear her voice.

"Zhiqiang, is your name really Zhiqiang?" Li Caiyi asked him, causing him to look at her weirdly. Of course, she knew her question didn't make any sense, but she just couldn't resist the urge to ask.

"My name has always been Dai Zhiqiang if that's what you want to know."

"What about Dai Shenqiang?"

"I don't understand why you asked this, but he also has always been Dai Shenqiang."

"I see. Thank you for answering."

Dai Zhiqiang could tell that something was amiss when he looked at Li Caiyi's troubled face. He thought it was probably because he teased her too much, so he quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry if what I said put you in a bad mood."

"Huh? No, it's okay. You didn't offend me in any way. Let's just finish this quickly so we can go, okay?"

After that, she busied herself arranging and stuffing the books into the boxes, so Dai Zhiqiang didn't have any chance to talk again.

Li Caiyi tried to clear her mind by moving her body, but the thought that had emerged was hard to chase away just like that. She felt suspicious and uneasy.

'What if everything I know about Shen Qiang all this time is false all along? Come to think of it, even if he has no reason to lie, there is no reason for him to tell the truth either.' Li Caiyi thought inwardly.

Both of them were just lonely souls that happened to meet at the right time. They lost hope for life and wanted to end their lives. Would anyone care if a person is telling the truth or not in that mental state?

Until now, Li Caiyi never thought of this possibility, but now that she thought about it, she felt it was very plausible that Shen Qiang might be lying, or at least hiding some truth from her.

If this theory was also true, she really had no lead that could connect her to Shen Qiang. Li Caiyi couldn't even determine just how much of his words were true or false, so where could she even begin to identify him?

Everything was like a jumble of mess inside her head. The more she tried to think of a solution, the more she realized she was in a deadlock. Unless Shen Qiang miraculously regained his memories and came to confront her directly, she probably wouldn't believe it was him.

Li Caiyi was so immersed in her thoughts, and by the time Dai Zhiqiang called out to her, everything had been packed neatly to the boxes.

"Thanks for your help. This should be enough for now."

"Where are these books going to be taken to?"

"They would deliver them to another school, or perhaps another public library. Our students didn't read these books as much, so it was better to send them elsewhere where it could be useful to other people."

"I see."

"Then, shall we go home now?"

Li Caiyi flinched a bit at his invitation, feeling that it was something Shen Qiang would say, but she quickly chased away that thought before nodding her head.

She should stop overlapping Dai Zhiqiang with Shen Qiang until everything became clear, or she would have a false hope again.