Rebirth: Once Again With You

Su Suyin was disappointed when Li Caiyi came alone, but she quickly urged her to sit down and choose anything she liked.

Li Caiyi stared at the variety of cakes on top of the table. Her mouth was salivating when she glimpsed a lemon tart among them.

Usually, her mother would ask her to wait for Li Chunhua to come back first before letting her choose first before Li Caiyi could choose whatever she didn't pick, but now Li Caiyi didn't need to hesitate anymore.

Su Suyin poured both of them a cup of tea before smiling at her eldest daughter, whose eyes were glittering as she took a bite of her tart. "How is it?"

"It's delicious! Mother, eat some of this too," Li Caiyi replied energetically.

"I'm content just watching you eating it so happily. It's been a while since we can sit together like this, isn't it?"

Li Caiyi noticed the gloominess in her words and couldn't find a word to say. Their mother-daughter relationship wasn't as broken as in her previous life. However, Li Caiyi still felt awkward whenever Su Suyin tried to show her care and affection to her.

"But if it feels weird eating by myself. How about that cheesecake? Mother, you like cheesecake, right?" Li Caiyi pointed at the visually delicious cheesecake among the cakes.

Su Suyin suddenly took her hand into hers and squeezed it gently, to her surprise.

"Xiaoyi, do you hate me?"

Li Caiyi: "...."

It was a lie if she said she had never bore even the slightest hatred for her mother, but what was the point of bringing it up now? Li Caiyi had decided she wouldn't hope for her affection anymore. It didn't matter what she felt towards her mother since it wouldn't change what she must do.

Su Suyin smiled bitterly when her daughter didn't respond. She slowly put down her hand and then stood up.

"I'm sorry, it seems I have ruined the mood now. Eat slowly, Xiaoyi."

"Ah, Mother!" Li Caiyi called out to her retreating figure, but Su Suyin had entered her room before she could stop her. Her back looked lonely and sad.

Li Caiyi sighed deeply as she looked down at her half-eaten lemon tart, suddenly losing her appetite. However, if her mother saw her stop eating, she would probably feel worse, so she kept eating until no crumbs were left.

After that, she cleaned up the table and was about to return to her room when her eyes accidentally glimpsed Li Chunhua's room.

'This is a good chance,' She thought inwardly, 'Xiaohua is not in the house right now. She won't notice if I take one or two of her medicines.'

With that thought in her head, Li Caiyi sneakily walked over to her sister's room and opened the door. Feminine and cute room with light blue nuance immediately greeted her. It was very contrasting with Li Caiyi's simplistic one.

Li Caiyi knew where Li Chunhua kept her medicines, so she didn't need to search around and walked straight to her vanity desk and pulled open the bottom drawer, where rows of medicine lined up neatly inside.

Li Caiyi smiled bitterly because looking at this scene reminded her of her state in her previous life. She was painfully aware of how hard it was, living by relying on medicine until it robbed a part of your human heart little by little. Not to mention, what she took couldn't be compared with the sheer amount Li Chunhua had in her drawers.

"We are really twins, alright," Li Caiyi chuckled drily. "Even the place we choose to keep these things are the same."

Li Caiyi didn't know which one of these was actually the real medicine and the fake one given by Li Jirong, so she decisively took a capsule from each bottle. She even took a picture of the medicine name so that Detective Tang would have an easier time identifying it.

There were so many that Li Caiyi's hand got tired. After collecting a capsule for each medicine, she reached out to a book on top of the study desk, ripped a piece of paper, and used it to wrap them all. She put them inside her pocket and was amazed at how quickly she completed her task.

"I should ask Detective Tang to meet me again tomorrow. I hope the result can come out quickly." Li Caiyi muttered before she stood up, intending to leave the room.

However, when she pulled the door open, a familiar face popped out in front of her, making her yelp in surprise. The other person also shrieked in shock when she saw Li Caiyi's face beyond the door.

"Xiaoyi? What are you doing in my room?" Li Chunhua was the first to recover, and she asked her sister in confusion.

Honestly, Li Caiyi was flustered because she didn't expect Li Chunhua would come back this quickly, but she tried not to let it show on her face.

"Oh, nothing. I just want to see how your room looks, and I want to borrow a book from you."

"Really? But you didn't hold any book, though?" Li Chunhua looked down at her empty hand.

"Yeah, I want to borrow your French dictionary, but I can't seem to find it. That's why I thought I should just ask you later when you are back. You came at the perfect timing."

"Is that so?" Li Chunhua squinted her eyes skeptically but later smiled brightly at her. "Let me fetch it for you. Wait a minute, okay?"

Li Caiyi smiled and moved aside to let Li Chunhua in. Thankfully, she could come up with an excuse at the last minute. Her hand discreetly felt her pocket and thought it would be a big problem if she was even a second slower. If Li Chunhua caught her 'stealing' her medicine, Li Caiyi wouldn't know how to explain.

"Here, the French dictionary you were looking for. I put this on top of my desk, though. How could you miss it?" Li Chunhua said while handing over the thick dictionary to Li Caiyi.

"Is it? I'm probably too tired and can't focus. I didn't notice it there at all."

"Is it for homework? You even come to my room to borrow it directly without putting your bag in your room first. It must be a difficult one. Do you want me to help you with that?"

"No, it's okay. Thanks, Xiaohua, but I can do it by myself. Well, I'm going to go back to my room and rest now."

"Okay, let me know if you need anything else!" Li Chunhua waved her hand before slowly closing the door.

It didn't seem like Li Chunhua suspected her, so Li Caiyi sighed in relief before returning to her own room.