Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

Back in Jun’s bedroom, Ai was having her own conversation with her mother, who had called her after a considerable amount of time. She did keep a track of Ai’s life and regularly had conversations via chat and messages with her which were always short and simple.

During the whole plagiarism scandal, Ai’s mother was relatively calmer than Ai herself because she knew that the accusation was nonsense and that the truth would come to light soon enough.

Naturally, she had questioned the whole matter when Ai came out with her post. She didn’t understand when did her daughter take another pen name to which Ai only replied that she would explain everything in detail later as she wanted to focus on Summit.

Her mother didn’t mind. She wasn’t the type to make a fuss. Right now, her mother called her to talk about an important matter with Ai.

“Mom.”

“Ai.”

Then there was silence.

Xie Nuying and Ai were cut from the same cloth. Quiet and humble by nature. They spoke very little and only what was necessary.

Xie Nuying spoke from the other end, “I saw the Summit last night on my tab,” her mellow voice was pleasing to hear.

“I see,” Ai nodded, though inwardly, she held a tiny anticipation in her heart.

“You won the Summit. Congratulations.”

To anybody else, it might have felt that she spoke very plainly and without emotion, but Ai sensed the hint of pride in her tone.

Ai beamed and softly smiled. “Thank you, Mom.”

“You did a good job. I loved your story. I didn’t know why, but it brought tears to my eyes. Perhaps because I strongly felt that you were talking about yourself.”

Ai slightly stiffened. She hadn’t told her mother about her rebirth.

Xie Nuying’s voice turned somber. “I don’t know why I felt that way. Maybe it was because of how you delivered the story. I have read many stories and heard many recitations. Your emotions as you told your story felt different. The part about parents’ separation…you were talking about our family, right?”

Ai pursed her lips and remained silent. Her mother got her answer anyway.

“There are actually many things I want to talk about since I feel you were the protagonist of your story. But the one because of which I called you is to know about the man who you confessed to through your story.”

Ai slightly cleared her throat.

Xie Nuying continued with her soothing voice and gentle pace, “I saw you trembling when you read the last part. You seemed to be oddly emotional and nervous especially around the ending. I surmise that man must be either watching you like me through a stream or was actually present there. Nevertheless, it felt like your confession was real. Am I right?”

Ai softly admitted. “Yes. It was real. He was there at the Summit.”

“I see.”

Xie Nuying then took a long pause. “What was his answer?”

A smile bloomed on Ai’s lips. “He returns my feelings too.”

She couldn’t guess what her mother must be looking like right now.

She replied. “As much as I have heard through your story, he seems to be a nice man.”

“Yes. He is kind and caring. He loves me a lot.”

“Indeed. Though that is how you feel about him which is fine. But I need to have that assurance too. I need to see it with my own eyes.”

Which simply meant that Xie Nuying wanted to meet Jun.

Ai thought about it and nodded. She would need to ask Jun about it, but she knew he wouldn’t have any problem with it.

She was about to respond when Jun climbed on the bed and snuck his arms around her waist, pulling her body against his. “Ai.”

Ai stiffened. The phone was in her left hand and wasn’t clearly visible with the angle she had held it on her ear.

“I have made breakfast. You must be hungry. Let’s go. Also, I need to talk about something important with you.”

Ai coughed. With the phone still on, she felt slightly nervous.

Jun frowned. “Why do you look so tense?”

She slowly revealed her phone and showed the caller ID to him.

It displayed ‘Mom’ and the call was ongoing.

He blinked, and his mouth formed a small O. But overall, he looked the same. He wasn’t fretting or panicking at all.

There was a long silence from the other end and when Jun couldn’t take it for any longer, he took the phone from her hand. “Hello.”

“…Hello.”

Jun felt as if he was listening to Ai version 2.0. Ai and her mother’s voices felt too similar to him.

Xie Nuying calmly said, “I wasn’t aware that my daughter and you were together.”

“We are,” he confirmed without feeling any shame or embarrassment.

“I see.”

Jun narrowed his eyes. He felt her silence to be irksome. “Very respectfully, if you want to say something, please say it.”

“…I understand she has feelings for you, but I didn’t expect Ai to be so hasty with her relationship,” her voice was tranquil but sharp at the same time.

Jun’s gaze darkened. “Once again, very respectfully. You can judge me or talk to me however you want. That’s your right because you don’t know me yet, and you haven’t met me yet. I understand if you blame me for whatever has happened. But don’t speak to Ai like that, or don’t imply that she has done anything wrong.”

There was a pause. “Why so?”

“Because she is wise and mature. She knows what she is doing better than anybody else her age. I expect her mother to be even wiser and more mature because you have given birth to her. I expect some amount of wisdom to be reflected in the genes. You should know your daughter even better than me. It won’t sit well with me if you accuse Ai of anything. Nobody can talk to my girlfriend like that. Neither will I allow anybody from my family to hurt her nor her own.”