After Rebirth, I Married the Great Demon King-Chapter 351 Not That Fond
The steam rising from the hotpot swirled in the air, like a barrier placed between the two of them.
But even so, Yun Shifei felt no sense of security.
Through the white veil, Cheng Lie’s gaze fixed on her unwaveringly.
Yun Shifei: "..."
She ate quietly while Cheng Lie, across from her, said nothing—continuing to add ingredients to the pot, cooking them, and then scooping them into her bowl once they were ready.
Finally, Yun Shifei couldn’t hold back and asked, "Why aren’t you eating?"
Cheng Lie replied indifferently, "Not hungry."
Meaning, he just wanted to watch her eat.
Yun Shifei had shared countless meals with Cheng Lie in the past. Back when their relationship was good, he’d even eat the leftovers from her plate without hesitation.
At that time, she didn’t feel even the slightest discomfort about it.
But now, this was probably the most awkward meal she had ever had with Cheng Lie.
Not only did Cheng Lie refuse to eat, but he kept staring at her—
It was terrifying!
Yun Shifei felt a little like crying and could only continue eating in slow, measured bites.
Cheng Lie observed Yun Shifei’s timid posture as she ate and couldn’t help but curl his lips in amusement. Was this all it took to scare her?
Cheng Lie thought it wasn’t nearly enough.
After all, how had she treated him back then? A casual, dismissive remark about breaking up—did she have any idea how much it had hurt him? She probably would never truly understand how much pain he felt during that time.
So he decided to make his heart colder, refusing to show any care for her discomfort.
Her pain was necessary—only then would she learn her lesson.
Yun Shifei soon felt full, but when Cheng Lie kept putting food into her bowl, she couldn’t help but wrinkle her brow and look at him pitifully. "I really can’t eat anymore."
Her voice was soft, tinged with rare traces of coquettishness.
Upon hearing this, Cheng Lie stopped adding more food to her bowl and asked, "Do you want soy milk?"
Yun Shifei shook her head and rubbed her stomach. She felt so stuffed that she didn’t think she’d want hotpot again for the rest of the year.
"In that case, let’s talk," Cheng Lie said, placing his chopsticks aside and fixing his gaze steadily on her.
Talk about what? Yun Shifei instantly felt tense. Was this going to be an interrogation?
Usually, in hotpot restaurants, people would chat casually while eating. The tables around them were filled with lively conversation, yet the atmosphere between her and Cheng Lie felt decidedly odd. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
They had been completely silent while eating just moments ago. Now, after the meal, they were preparing to talk—an interaction shrouded in an almost eerie sense of formality.
"Talk about what?" Yun Shifei asked, feigning ignorance.
Playing dumb? Cheng Lie stared at her before finally speaking. "Let’s talk about why you broke up with me back then."
Here it came—the question she had expected all along.
"Didn’t I already tell you the reason at the time?" Yun Shifei replied.
She had indeed given him a reason then, but there was no way she could reveal how Mu Chengzhu had threatened her.
Even now, despite Mu Chengzhu’s current troubles and Cheng Lie’s continuous rise, she still knew that as long as the man held leverage against her, it would be a problem.
Yun Shifei believed it was always better to be cautious.
No! Back then, when she thought Cheng Lie was just an anonymous online friend, she had told him all about her breakup, hadn’t she?
Yun Shifei widened her eyes, staring at Cheng Lie. Yet his face remained expressionless, his eyes plainly spelling out three words: "I don’t believe you."
Yun Shifei: "..."
"It was because of Mu Chengzhu, wasn’t it?" Cheng Lie said.
Yun Shifei suddenly recalled the time she had asked "Cheng Cheng" how to make someone who liked her, but whom she didn’t like in return, stay away from her.
Cheng Lie had replied that she should ruin him completely.
Now, considering Mu Chengzhu’s recent streak of misfortune, Yun Shifei wondered—could Cheng Lie have been responsible?
The powerful figure in Beijing had suddenly invested in a company competing against Mu Chengzhu’s. Thinking about it, it seemed like something Cheng Lie might have done.
Back then, she had firmly doubted Cheng Lie could have been involved. But now...
"Was Mu Chengzhu’s downfall your doing?" Yun Shifei couldn’t resist asking.
Cheng Lie responded with a brief "mm."
He admitted it that easily?
"Why did you do it?"
Cheng Lie said, "He was too much of a nuisance."
Yun Shifei knew Mu Chengzhu had been a nuisance, but she also knew he was far from simple. If he could quietly kill her in their previous life, what wouldn’t he do with the memories of that life in this one? It would be all too easy for him to kill her again. Meanwhile, although Cheng Lie was powerful now, he lacked the advantage of Mu Chengzhu’s memories of their previous life.
The more Yun Shifei thought about it, the more afraid she felt of Mu Chengzhu’s potential revenge against Cheng Lie.
"You should leave him alone. Mu Chengzhu is nothing but a rabid dog—you don’t know how terrifying he can be when he goes mad." As she spoke, Yun Shifei raised her hands in a clawing gesture. "Like this. He’d eat people alive."
Watching Yun Shifei enact a clawing motion, Cheng Lie couldn’t help laughing. But his amusement didn’t last—he frowned again. "You think he’s stronger than me?"
Yun Shifei immediately shook her head. That wasn’t what she meant at all! Was the big boss going to get angry again? She wanted to say there was no comparison between them. In their previous life, Mu Chengzhu hadn’t been capable of matching Cheng Lie, and she doubted he ever could in this one either.
After all, Cheng Lie had created only a minor inconvenience for Mu Chengzhu, yet he was busy enough now that he hadn’t even tried to come after her.
This was proof Mu Chengzhu wasn’t Cheng Lie’s opponent.
Still, she feared Mu Chengzhu might resort once again to underhanded tactics like reviving designs from Cheng Lie’s previous life that hadn’t yet been developed in this one—schemes that could make Mu Chengzhu seem more powerful than Cheng Lie.
Just thinking about it sent cold sweats down Yun Shifei’s back.
But the Cheng Lie in front of her displayed not the slightest fear of Mu Chengzhu—he didn’t even understand why she was afraid of him.
After mulling it over, Yun Shifei said, "Cheng Lie, I know you’re amazing, but Mu Chengzhu is a little... strange, don’t you think?"
Cheng Lie thought about the secret between them and asked, "Are you referring to the secret between you two?"
At his words, Yun Shifei lowered her gaze. Their shared secret—that both of them retained memories of their past life. How could she ever explain that?
Seeing Yun Shifei’s expression, Cheng Lie realized she had absolutely no intention of discussing the matter.
So he asked, "Yun Shifei, why did you break up with me back then?"
"Could I... not explain?" Yun Shifei said weakly.
She couldn’t bring up Mu Chengzhu’s involvement, nor could she lie to Cheng Lie—especially not when deception seemed impossible. Her only option was to avoid answering altogether.
Cheng Lie had initially decided that no matter what Yun Shifei said, he could accept it as long as she was willing to come back to him and never mention breaking up again.
But hearing her refusal to speak—her determination to protect her secret with Mu Chengzhu—stirred something volatile within his chest.
Then Yun Shifei muttered softly, "Cheng Lie, maybe you don’t love me as much as you think you do."
She knew their bond ran deep. From their teenage years, they had shared a connection as pure as crystal—transparent and untouched by any speck of impurity.
It was rare and beautiful.
Yet even with such a strong connection, she sometimes wondered—was Cheng Lie’s love for her truly romantic, or had it simply been mistaken for love born of familial affection?
Looking back on their time together, his affections didn’t always seem to align with the kind of love between lovers.
