It was a very unexpected question; Li Caiyi's brain couldn't keep up for a moment.
Wasn't the answer obvious? The day they first met was during the Glorious Days anniversary party. They had just talked about it, so why did he ask about it again?
Then she saw his meaningful gaze, and an idea hit her. In this situation, it was hard to imagine he would ask her such a simple question. This must be a trick question.
Li Caiyi took her time and tried to remember again. Aside from the school and a few places she went to with her friends, Li Caiyi rarely ever went to other places. Based on his speech, their first meeting should be something that would give a deep impression on her.
Li Caiyi thought so hard she frowned her face. The man chuckled before giving her a hint. "Don't think about it too hard. There shouldn't be that many people in your life who would try to break you out there."
Her frown deepened even more hearing that. Actually, she had been through a lot ever since she returned to the past. She barely did anything, but people kept hating her for no reason and trying to hinder her path.
However, suppose she reduced the list of suspects by process of elimination. In that case, there should be only one other occasion where she almost lost her life.
This person always wore a mask; the only thing she could use to identify him was his blue eyes. But eye color could easily be covered by contact lenses, so the possibility of this intruder being 'that' person was pretty high.
Li Caiyi gulped hard. If her assumption was correct, then this person was a complete psychopath. He tried to kill her twice! Even went so far as to invade her house to press a knife into her neck.
"From your expression, it seems you already have an idea. Let's hear your answer. Remember, you only have one chance." He said in amusement while caressing her side face with the cold blade of his knife. Li Caiyi was intimidated but forced herself to stay strong.
"Ugh, fine." She couldn't delay any longer and carefully replied, "Are you…Hu Jian?"
His eyes curved into a crescent shape as if he was entertained by her answer. "How interesting. I didn't expect you to answer correctly. It makes me happy but also regretful at the same time."
"So you really are the person who pushed me off of the cliff?"
"One hundred points for you. That's right!"
A chill ran down her spine every time she remembered that incident. If Dai Zhiqiang didn't come to help her, she could have died there without anyone noticing, yet this person admitted it so flippantly.
"You will go that far just to see Dai Zhiqiang suffer? What wrong did I ever do to you?"
"There is no right and wrong in this. I'm simply trying to get rid of the biggest obstacle in the most efficient way. And that is by breaking you."
The man or Hu Jian laughed creepily before continuing, "Even now, I can still remember that disbelief and despair in your eyes as you fell down the cliff. It was so amusing. I thought you would die if I left you alone just like that, but who could have guessed that you persistently survive like a cockroach?"
Li Caiyi's face was filled with fear. She had never felt so much malice coming from a person ever since she found out about Meng Yaoshu's true nature. Both of them were the same regarding their indifference toward people's lives. They had no qualms about using other people if that meant they could achieve their goal.
Hu Jian retracted his knife from her and sheathed it back on the pouch on his thigh before speaking again, "Come to think of it, you are pretty lucky. You have that pretty rich boy mobilizing a rescue team for you, and Dai Zhiqiang used his body to turn every stone in the mountain. Your existence must mean that much to them if they were willing to go that far. I think that's the beginning of my interest in you. I want to know what makes you so special? What kind of face will they make once they see you broken in pieces?"
This sick bastard. The way he took pleasure in her suffering infuriated her. But sadly, there was nothing she could do except glare at him.
"No need to get so angry. When I realized my plan had failed, I wanted to finish the work as soon as possible. But as my interest in you grew, I thought it would be a waste if you died so fast. So it saved you, in a way."
He laughed darkly again before continuing. "I want to play with you, so I purposefully got close to a certain school girl who seemed to have a deep grudge against you."
Li Caiyi was surprised. She blinked her eyes a few times in disbelief as she slowly put the pieces together. "Don't tell me, the black hooded man who helped Lu Ruan, is you?"
"Correct once again. I know you won't disappoint me."
"So the surprise gift box and those photos of me…." Li Caiyi didn't even want to finish her words. She wasn't prepared to meet with the creep that had been stalking her all this time. Her skin crawled from sheer disgust.
"All suggested by yours truly. That girl…who was her name again? Well, whatever. She isn't that bright, so it's easy to use her. It doesn't take much effort to make her cooperate with me. But she was too rash and got kicked out of school faster than I thought." He shook his head helplessly, "I have prepared a lot more fun things to do with you, but she ruined it. Next time, I will find someone more useful."
"You…." Li Caiyi was speechless.
"It was fun to see you run around trying to figure out who is the one behind everything. Thanks to you, I found more information about the matter I'm currently looking into. I especially crashed into the party just so I could meet you again officially, but my plan didn't work out as I wanted it to. It was unfortunate."
"G-get off me." Li Caiyi tried to push him away, but as expected, he wouldn't budge.
"Are you scared of me? Don't be like that. I still want to play with you a lot more."
"Crazy bastard! Get away from me!"
If she kept listening to him, she felt like she would vomit. She struggled with all her might, but Hu Jian seemed relaxed, almost enjoying it. "Come on. Is that all you got?"
At first, Li Caiyi didn't want to use this method, but the desperate situation called for desperate measures. Slipping her hand into her pajama pocket, she was about to pull out the 'weapon' she took from her room when there was a hard banging sound from the door.
"Xiaoyi! Are you alright inside? Answer me!" Li Junjie's slightly panicked voice could be heard from outside. From the sound of it, he probably tried to break the door down from the outside.
Hu Jian clicked his tongue in annoyance. "He is so noisy. I should have taken care of him the first time. Well, no matter. My time is up anyway, so I guess that's it for now."
The heavy weight on top of her suddenly disappeared as Hu Jian stepped away from her with a playful glint in his eyes. "Let's play some more next time, Xiaoyi. I will make sure no one will be around to disturb us when that time comes."
"Wait! I still have a lot of things I need to ask!"
"Haha, you can cease the act now. I know you are trying to hold me back until the police come. But unfortunately, even if they are here, there's nothing they can do to me."
Li Caiyi couldn't see his face, but she could imagine his mysterious simile behind that mask.
"This won't be the last time you see me. Don't look so sad and wait patiently for me, okay?" Hu Jian climbed the window and was about to jump when he seemed to remember something.
"Oh, I forgot to ask. Did you get that necklace from Dai Zhiqiang, by chance?"
His questions bewildered her, but she instinctively clutched the pendant in her hand. "Why do you ask that?"
"So, I'm right. You treasure it so much without knowing what that actually is. I feel sorry for you." Hu Jian shook his head. "You are smart, so you can figure it out by yourself. You can come crying to me anytime; my arm is always open for you. Goodbye for now."
Then, he jumped off the window and disappeared like the night wind.
Li Caiyi's stiff body finally relaxed. Her heart was still pounding so loudly from everything that had happened.
If everything Hu Jian said was true, then the harassment Lu Ruan did to her was orchestrated by him to make her suffer. Lu Ruan wasn't lying when she said she never asked someone to push her off the cliff.
"Ngh…"
A weak grunt coming from Li Chunhua snapped her back to reality. Ignoring the banging on the door, Li Caiyi quickly jumped to her side and checked her condition.
Li Chunhua's body was covered in sweat, and her breath was labored. It must have gotten worse as she wasted her time with Hu Jian!
Then, she could hear the sirens coming from the police car. Meanwhile, Li Junjie was still trying to break in, so Li Caiyi had no choice but to rest her sister against the wall to open the door.
As soon as she opened the door, Li Junjie grabbed her shoulders tightly. His bloodshot eyes scanned her from head to toe. "Are you hurt? Where is that man?!"
"Brother Jie, calm down," Li Caiyi replied while slowly prying his hand off her. "That man left when he heard the police coming. More importantly, we must bring Xiaohua to the hospital as soon as possible!"
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