Rebirth: Once Again With You

Li Caiyi put the heavy box in her hand on the floor, causing a thumping sound. Around her, a few similar-looking boxes, along with a few essential necessities like a mattress, blanket, and small table, were also stacked neatly in the corner of the room.

"Caiyi, have I already said that your place is awesome?"

"Ya Ya, that's all you have been saying for the past hour." Chen Ruolan responded while texting something on her phone.

Meanwhile, Feng Nian entered the room with another box in her hand. Just that it was much smaller compared to the others. She breathed a long sigh when she finally put it down.

"I think this is the last one." Feng Nian cleaned the dust on her palm as she looked at Li Caiyi.

"En. Thank you guys for helping me move in. I can handle the rest, so why don't you guys sit down? I'll prepare tea and snacks for you."

"We can help you arrange your things too, you know?" Zhou Ya stood up and helped Li Caiyi unpack the mugs and plates from one of the boxes.

"No, I can do it myself. I was already very grateful you guys would go so far to come here and help me move my things in your summer break."

"That's what friends are for. Don't be shy and ask for our help anytime." Zhou Ya looked around the room again and sighed with envious light in her eyes. "Ah, I wish I could move out of my place too. My brothers are annoying and always pick on me. I want to live alone too."

"Why don't you try asking your grandfather or parents, then?"

Zhou Ya shook her head. "They need all the manpower they have to help in our store. There's no way they would allow me that. Oh, this packet of snacks looks delicious."

"Yeah. Xiaohua bought me many of these things, so let's eat this together. And about your situation, I'm sure everything will become better once you graduate from high school and enter  university."

Zhou Ya's eyes blazed with determination. "You think so too, right? I'm going to study hard, then apply for university pretty far from here so I wouldn't have to help in the store again. I feel like I will become an oily old woman if I spent all my youth there."

"Well, your store has a lot of regulars, so I can only see it growing from here. You should be more proud of it." Feng Nian popped out from behind them and reached out to take some snacks from the plate. "If you do your part well, then who knows? You might inherit the store someday."

"Nian Nian, my brothers are still alive. When will it become my turn to have something to do with the store? I can only see my brothers forever working me to death in that place."

"Your brothers are rather mischievous, I agree."

"Mischievous? That is an understatement. They are devils whose  life goal is to ruin my every plan!"

Feng Nian and Li Caiyi exchanged glances and tacitly agreed to not continue this topic further. When Zhou Ya behaved like this, her brothers must have done something to her again.

"I won't hope for many things. I don't even need to rent a 20 square meters place like Caiyi's. As long as the place belongs to me and only me, I won't mind even if it is small or cramped."

Li Caiyi was very proud of the place she found. It was pretty spacious, with a kitchen counter, sink, and indoor bathroom. The bed didn't have a mattress, but it didn't matter because she could just purchase it.

The floor was made from wood, and the big sliding window on one side of the room gave plenty of sunlight in the room. If she opened it, there would be a small balcony outside where she could hang her clothes.

The air circulation was excellent, enough for her not to bring her air purifier from home. She could get this place at a lower price because she rented it yearly. Not that she wouldn't rent it if it was a bit more expensive, because she fell in love with this place at first sight.

Everything was perfect, whether from its facilities or strategic location.

Money was indeed the thing that moved one's world. Li Caiyi felt proud of herself for being so lucky to live in a beautiful place like this.

"I'm sure you can do that. When that time comes, I will help you move in too." Li Caiyi responded with a kind smile. "The tea is ready. Let's sit down."

Feng Nian put the small table in the middle of the room, while Zhou Ya and Li Caiyi arranged the food and beverages on top of it.

Meanwhile, Chen Ruolan was still so busy with her phone that Feng Nian couldn't help but click her tongue in annoyance.

"How long are you going to play? I will eat your portion if you don't get your ass here."

Chen Ruolan switched places quickly with a sheepish grin. "Hehe, sorry about that. I didn't realize you guys had prepared everything."

"You have been glued to your phone lately. Did you finally grow a phone addiction?"

"Well…" Chen Ruolan's corner of her mouth curled up in a wide smirk, making Feng Nian cringe in her place from how creepy it was. "Guys, I think I finally found my soulmate."

Li Caiyi's hand stopped moving, Zhou Ya almost spat her tea out, and Feng Nian was petrified by her sudden confession.

It was an expected reaction, considering how much of a movie-freak Chen Ruolan was. Aside from movies, Chen Ruolan rarely talked about anything else so seriously like this.

"Cough! What did you say?" Zhou Ya was the first one to ask her.

"Like I said, I think I just met my fated one!"

"Okay, putting aside how bizarre hearing something like this from you, who is it? A guy from our school?"

Chen Ruolan waved her hand femininely, making Feng Nian vomit from how weird that was.

"No way! I have no interest in boys around our age. My taste is always someone who is mature and gentle. Don't compare him with other monkeys from our school!" Chen Ruolan laughed smugly, but when her eyes fell on Li Caiyi, she quickly corrected herself.

"Ah, I mean, that's just my opinion. I never said Dai Zhiqiang is a monkey or something like that."

Li Caiyi giggled. "Don't mind that. More importantly, who is that lucky guy?"

Chen Ruolan smiled with a faint blush on her cheeks, evidently looking bashful. She was a very simple and somewhat tomboyish girl, so it almost never occurred to them that Chen Ruolan could act like this.

Although she was shy, she didn't hesitate to tell her friends. Or perhaps she couldn't keep it to herself anymore.

"You also knew the guy, Caiyi." She said softly.

"I did?" Li Caiyi thought hard about it under Feng Nian and Zhou Ya's curious look. But nothing came to her mind. "Ruolan, I can't guess who it is. Can you tell us?"

Chen Ruolan smiled. "He is that kind brother we met during our school trip. His name is Fu Hang."