Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

Yating could see his fingers trembling as he held Ai’s hand in his. His gaze fell at Ai, and his heart skipped a beat. He quickly looked away, not wanting her to catch his expression.

“Your hand feels cold,” Ai remarked.

“Is that so? I don’t know…”

His other arm pulled her waist and with that, she stepped even closer to him. He lowered his gaze and noticed her eyelashes at a closer distance, blinking and fluttering.

“I apologize in advance if I step on your foot,” Ai said.

His daze broke, and he smiled. “Doesn’t matter.”

They danced to the music playing in the background while Yating took slow, deliberate steps so that Ai could match his pace.

Ai asked, “How is work going in Dream High?”

Yating thanked the heavens that she asked that question because he was at a complete loss. He didn’t want to be mute during this whole time of dancing with her.

“Yeah going pretty good…” he couldn’t make up his mind if he should focus on his answer or at the heart loudly beating in his chest.

So close…

He tried to shut off any intimate thoughts that kept hammering into his mind the closer the Ai was.

“How is your new book coming up?”

She smiled. “Yes, it’s good. Oh and how is Mr. Gu?”

He nodded. “More energetic now since he has joined back the company. Of course, he still demands an answer from that judge for accusing him.”

“Indeed…”

Now that they knew that everything was linked to Guiying to such an extent, she wondered if the bribe against her was really her doing. Though Chyou never got any evidence against her, she couldn’t help but think if there was something more at play.

“Ai?”

“Yes?”

He chuckled. “What are you thinking so deeply?”

She shook her head. “Just some random thoughts. By Mr. Gu, I remember. Nuo said that he is interested in a marriage proposal for you and Chyou.”

His brow twitched. “Please ignore that! Dad is all going on about this on his own. Chyou and I are just friends.”

He was a second too quick to answer that, and he didn’t understand why he felt the need to clarify. He was aware that it had no point.

“I mean,” he cleared his throat. “She helped me a lot with Dad’s stuff. It’s because of her that Dad could get bail. Also she-“

He was about to reveal that she was interested in Cheng Yin but he had promised Chyou not to come out with it.

“She…is a brilliant actress. It’s her golden time to focus on her career,” he randomly came up with it.

The mention of that made Ai shine. “Yes! Chyou is so talented. I have watched all her movies! I am also her biggest fan,” she softly smiled with pride, “I have her autograph too.”

Yating blinked and stared at her. Their steps continued to be in a rhythm. “You are her fan?”

“Yes,” her eyes sparkled. “That day we met you at her set, it was because Jun took me to meet my idol.”

How come I never got to know that she had an actor she liked so much…?

Suddenly, he felt depressed about not knowing something about the woman he loved so much.

“I see. Indeed, she is very talented. I watched her performance on the set that day when it got on fire. I had to admit that even if I wasn’t interested in movies that much, she actually made me want to try watching one of her movies.”

She chuckled. “Yes, nobody can beat Chyou’s charm.”

From a distance, Jun’s aura kept on darkening and worsening. First, he had to bear that Yating was her partner and now, he watched them talk and laugh together. His heart burned as if somebody was continuously pouring acid on top of it.

Xing Bi was dumbfounded. “You are leaking too much of a murderous aura. It feels chilly, okay?”

She felt her hair tingle on the back of her neck, feeling an intent gaze from her right which belonged to none other than Nian, who was lamenting on his fate of not being Xing Bi’s dance partner and simultaneously also getting extremely jealous of Jun.

These two brothers…Can they not just let this dance get over in peace!?

—

“Are you nervous?” Zixin asked Guiying as she was fumbling in her steps as they danced.

“Oh-oh…Sorry…I am not used to dancing like this,” she apologetically smiled, feeling embarrassed.

“You have never danced with someone before?”

“…Not really.”

Zixin’s eyes twinkled for some unknown reason. “I see. I thought you had experience considering how you wrote a perfect dancing scene in Forever Heart.”

“Oh yeah that, I had to research a lot from that and-“

She abruptly paused and stared at Zixin. “What did you say?”

“How you wrote a perfect dancing scene in Forever Heart?”

She blinked rapidly. “How did you know that?”

“Know about your book? Indeed, I do. I came to know that you are CherryBlossom. You wrote the book Forever Heart, right?”

“Yes…”

For some reason, Guiying felt a nauseous feeling erupting in her chest. It wasn’t that she was particularly trying to hide it from Zixin but she also preferred he didn’t know her identity.

“I-I see…”

Zixin beamed and nodded. “I read your book. I loved it. You did a good job.”

She froze.

He said with absolute sincerity. “I didn’t know much about the writing world or the process. But reading your book made me realize how much effort you had put in. From the beginning to the end how you crafted it; it was amazing. I didn’t realize when the time passed by at all. I have your other books with me too and I am reading them next.”

She stared at him, tears threatening to form in her eyes.

What was it?

It wasn’t like she hadn’t gotten appreciation from her readers before. But she had this strange urge to cry as something welled in her chest. She had been asked to think of a new story but been feeling blank since the Summit ended.

Her mind was empty. No new ideas flowed anymore.

But Zixin’s appreciation was simple, yet heart touching.

For a moment, a note she had once received from MrPerfect flashed in her mind.

‘You did a good job. I didn’t realize when the time passed by.’