Chapter 13: The Thirteenth Day After Transmigrating – What Else Does He Like…

Before seeing Yun Shuning, Yu Cheng had already decided how he would mock her—how to use the most real and concise words to tell her how ridiculous everything she insisted on was.

Someone as cold-hearted and emotionless as He Yan—how could he possibly truly like anyone?

That’s right, he was jealous. Why should such pure and beautiful emotions belong to He Yan, someone he despised?

As expected, everyone in the He family clashed with him.

But when he saw her, it was like he lost his voice. The words he had prepared in advance wouldn’t come out at all, and in the end, he could only dryly repeat something he had said to her before.

Yun Shuning was very sensitive to people’s emotional changes, and she noticed the trace of indulgence in Yu Cheng’s tone, quickly devising a counterplan.

She acted as if she hadn’t heard what he said and continued eating on her own.

Yu Cheng grew more and more annoyed seeing how completely unaffected she was.

This restaurant wasn’t big, and the tables and chairs inside were quite small. Sitting in the chair, his long legs were awkwardly tucked to the side.

No matter how you looked at it, he didn’t belong in this place.

“Sir, is there something you’d like to order?” The waitress saw him and blushed, walking over to him and carefully asking.

“The same as her.” Yu Cheng didn’t even look at her, just lifted his chin in the direction across from him to indicate.

“Alright.” The waitress suppressed her fluttering heart. As expected, handsome guys and pretty girls always end up together.

That young lady had been in a bad mood these past couple of days. She had even worried that the girl might be depressed. Now it seemed like she probably just had a fight with her boyfriend.

Yu Cheng and Yun Shuning sat across from each other. To others, they should’ve looked like a golden couple, but for some reason, the atmosphere between them didn’t match at all. From a distance, it looked like two strangers sharing a table.

Yu Cheng casually rested his hand on the table. Even though he rarely ate in such places, there wasn’t the slightest sign of discomfort in his eyes.

He looked at the person across from him, his gaze dark.

At this moment, no matter what he said, it seemed she wouldn’t lift her head.

But he was the type who liked to poke people’s sore spots. Once it hurt enough, others couldn’t ignore him.

“Isn’t it boring to eat alone?” He looked at her and pulled out a malicious smile. “Oh, right, the person you want to eat with seems like…”

Yun Shuning kept her head lowered, a faint confusion in her eyes. Why did Yu Cheng come to her today? Just to stab her heart a couple of times? That was way too boring.

Even though she felt helpless inside, her body language still put on a perfect performance.

When she heard his words, her hand paused ever so slightly, then she calmly picked up another bite of food. But to a careful observer, her movements had become stiffer and more mechanical.

Looking at her like this, the second half of Yu Cheng’s sentence turned into a cold smile with an unclear meaning.

Just as the two fell into silence, the waitress brought over his food. “Please enjoy.”

Yu Cheng glanced disdainfully at the food, but still honestly picked up his chopsticks.

After one bite, his facial expression didn’t change at all, but at some point, his chopsticks had already been put down.

Now he understood why this place had so few customers.

“You used to eat this with He Yan too?” He didn’t bother hiding the disdain in his tone.

“Is that not allowed?”

Yu Cheng hadn’t expected Yun Shuning to respond, so when he heard her voice, he froze for a moment. “What did you say?”

He saw the person across from him lift her head, revealing a pair of calm and distant eyes.

“President Yu, I hope you enjoy your meal.”

Seeing her about to leave, Yu Cheng suddenly said, “I’ve seen He Yan before…”

Yun Shuning stood there like she’d been nailed to the floor, completely still, as if she were processing what he just said.

It was unclear whether it was a brief moment or a long time, but finally, she looked up, her eyes filled with a mix of panic and hope. Her body had unconsciously tensed up.

Seeing the anticipation in her eyes, Yu Cheng shrugged. “Now can you listen to me properly?”

Yun Shuning blinked slightly, her long lashes fluttering, eyes locked on him seriously.

“At that time, I didn’t have much status in the Yu family, so I only saw him at a few banquets.” As he said this, he gave a cold snort, and his tone became sarcastic. “The head of the He family is really picky.”

“If the ingredients weren’t fresh, he wouldn’t touch them. Every time he attended a banquet, no matter how hard the host tried, he wouldn’t eat a single bite from the table.”

“That’s impossible…” Yun Shuning’s voice carried a hint of a sob. Her face looked lost and fragile.

She knew about He Yan’s preferences, knew how picky he was—but the “she” in the story shouldn’t know that, because that’s how the script was written.

If all the love between them was revealed at once, it would feel sudden. She had to slowly uncover their time together and their emotions so it would feel more real and be more heart-wrenching.

“Of course it’s possible. He Yan’s pickiness is famous in the circle. Even now, there are chefs who…”

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by the tear-filled eyes of the person across from him.

Yun Shuning kept her dazed expression, but her tears fell one by one like broken pearls.

As an actress, she often practiced her expressions in front of a mirror. While messy sobbing could show emotion, it wasn’t elegant.

Crying was an art. If done beautifully, it evoked sympathy. If too pitiful, it just annoyed people.

Her eyes were red, and every time her lashes trembled, another tear fell from the corner of her eye. Her nose also turned pink from crying.

“What else does he like?” Her voice was very soft—just by listening, you couldn’t even tell she was crying.

But Yu Cheng easily heard the bitterness in her tone.

To secure his position in the Yu family as an illegitimate child, of course, he wasn’t stupid.

By connecting their conversation slightly, one could understand why Yun Shuning was the way she was now.

He had originally thought that He Yan was just trying to have some fun out of boredom, but he hadn’t expected that he might have truly fallen for her.

To accommodate his girlfriend, he went to eat food he didn’t like—this kind of thing didn’t seem like something He Yan would do at all.

“I haven’t met him many times, so I don’t know much about him,” Yu Cheng said. He clearly knew more about He Yan than that, but seeing her like this, he suddenly didn’t want to say anything more.

“I see.” Yun Shuning’s voice trembled slightly. The calm and strength she had been forcing out during this time shattered in an instant, and all the sorrow and pain that had been accumulating rushed out, completely overwhelming her.

“Thank you for telling me this.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks. Her voice was hoarse after crying. “I’ll be going now.”

She mechanically picked up her belongings and walked out the door step by heavy step.

Yu Cheng remained seated in place, completely still, as if he didn’t care about her at all. But if you looked closely, you’d see that his gaze had never left her from beginning to end.

Only when her figure finally disappeared from his sight did he snap out of it, lift the cup of water in front of him, and drink it all in one go.

As if that could suppress the dense jealousy and sorrow in his heart.

He had always thought that he and He Yan were the same kind of person—both without friends, both alone.

Sometimes, he even thought he was much stronger than him. At least, when he died, there would still be someone like Lin Wan who would remember him.

“Yun Shuning.” He pronounced her name word by word, his tone hard to read.

On the other side, Yun Shuning had no idea what he was thinking. Her expression remained mechanically numb until she entered the apartment.

She also didn’t know what had gotten into Yu Cheng today. In the original story, at this point, he should’ve been trying everything to win Lin Wan’s attention while constantly suppressing He Chen.

Logically, he shouldn’t have had the time to come looking for her.

But this visit had indeed brought her a lot.

The He Yan she saw—or rather, the He Yan she had fabricated—was clearly different from the heir of the He family in others’ eyes.

Her performance in front of Yu Cheng today had directly emphasized this point. That way, even if something went wrong in the future, there would be someone who would naturally help her cover for it.

And more importantly, after suffering today’s “blow,” she now had a valid reason to ask He Chen about He Yan’s preferences.

Some things weren’t mentioned in the original story, so she had to carefully avoid them, not daring to get too close, afraid of revealing any flaws.

Now, it was fine. Today, she could finally ask all the questions she had wanted to ask.

Yun Shuning took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and switched to the tone that best fit her current emotional state, then gently pressed the call button on her phone.

---

“He Chen, I’ve recently discovered a secret,” Lin Wan said as she put down her knife and fork. Her eyes curved like crescent moons, and her voice sounded especially sweet. “But you mustn’t tell anyone else.”

“So mysterious.” He Chen cooperatively put down his utensils and made a show of listening attentively. “I’ll definitely keep it a secret.”

He was always especially patient with Lin Wan. After all, she was the treasure he had waited a long time for.

“Recently, while studying with Teacher, I noticed something,” she leaned forward slightly and lowered her voice, “Teacher seems to really dislike roses.”

“So, as the saying goes, a blessing in disguise. If that gown of mine hadn’t been ruined, I probably wouldn’t have become his student.”

She had brought this up intentionally. The incident with the ruined dress had happened a while ago, yet Yun Shuning hadn’t received any punishment.

She figured He Chen had nearly forgotten about it by now. But how could she let that happen? She had to make him remember.

She could accept He Chen sparing Yun Shuning, but she couldn’t accept him treating the matter as if it had never happened.

As she spoke, she didn’t notice that the man across from her had slightly paused.

The things Yun Shuning had said in his office that day—so they were all true.

“This secret must be well protected. If others find out, it’ll be very troublesome,” He Chen pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at her seriously.

“Don’t worry, I’m not that dumb,” Lin Wan said with a smile, waving her hand. “Besides, it’s not like you’re an outsider.”

Verbal praise is the cheapest thing in the world, but it often works in unexpected ways. Thinking of this made her smile even more brightly.

But…

Just as she finished speaking, He Chen’s phone suddenly rang. He pulled it out, glanced at the contact, and slightly furrowed his brows.

Lin Wan had been watching him the whole time. When she saw his reaction, her heart sank.

“If you’re busy, go ahead. We’ve finished eating anyway, and I was just about to go find Teacher,” she said gently and considerately, as always when she was around him.

“I’ll have the driver take you,” He Chen nodded at her, his tone carrying a hint of apology. “I’ve got something to handle. Be careful on the road. If anything happens, just call me.”

After speaking, he walked out of the private room with a heavy heart and pressed the answer button.