After Rebirth, I Married the Great Demon King-Chapter 453: As a Bridal Gift

He rarely seemed to show his fears, especially in front of Yun Shifei.

On one hand, he wanted her to understand him completely, to know what kind of person he was.

On the other hand, he feared that once she truly knew, she would only drift further away.

But now it seemed that she wasn’t as repelled by him as he thought.

Thinking about this, Cheng Lie felt rather cheerful.

Upon hearing Cheng Lie’s words, Yun Shifei quickly shook her head: "I would never say that about you. Xiao Lie, you’re not cold-blooded. Your blood is warmer than anyone’s."

She understood Cheng Lie’s character. If someone treated him poorly, he would retaliate as fiercely. But if someone treated him kindly, he would go to great lengths to repay them.

She thought, Cheng Lie must have always felt that she brought warmth into his life.

But in truth, he had brought plenty of warmth to her as well.

At the very least, during her moments of sadness and loneliness, he was invariably by her side.

Before, she believed those moments were merely coincidental, but now it seemed that many of them had been deliberate.

His feelings were hidden in those deliberate gestures, warming her in ways that moved her deeply.

When Cheng Lie heard this, he pressed his lips together, but his rapidly blinking eyelids betrayed his emotions—even though, fortunately, Yun Shifei didn’t see it.

She gathered the papers in her hands and handed them to Cheng Lie.

Such valuable things—she’d better return them to him quickly. What if she lost them?

These items easily amounted to assets worth tens of millions, perhaps even close to a billion.

In this era, what does having tens of millions mean?

Just a few of the luxury properties and plots of land in there would appreciate significantly in value within a few years.

Yun Shifei dared not hold onto something so precious.

But then she heard Cheng Lie say, "Take it. It’s yours."

Yun Shifei blinked in astonishment and looked at Cheng Lie, her expression frozen.

"As a betrothal gift."

Betrothal gift...

Wow. When the boss makes a move, he doesn’t hold back, huh? Yun Shifei felt as if she were dreaming.

After coming back to life, she had thought about becoming rich, but her idea of wealth had always been about working hard on her own. She had never considered anything as fantastical as this falling into her lap.

After all, she believed she’d always been an unlucky person.

But who would’ve thought that fortune would favor her like this?

Still, she didn’t dare accept it: "This is too valuable."

"Do you think you’re not worth this much?" Cheng Lie lifted his eyes and looked at her.

Yun Shifei: "..."

Never underestimate the boss—he gets straight to the point with one remark.

Was today a day of double surprises? She felt utterly floored.

But... she couldn’t argue.

"Yes, I don’t think I’m worth this much."

She thought she wasn’t being unrealistic in her self-assessment.

Yun Shifei’s self-deprecating nature hadn’t entirely changed just yet. Cheng Lie sighed and put the papers away. "If you’re afraid to accept them, that’s fine. I’ll head to South City in a while and let Uncle Yun take a look."

Yun Shifei: "..."

"Cheng Lie, are you crazy? Such a grand gesture—do you honestly think my father would dare to accept it?"

Sure, their family might be considered quite wealthy, but they definitely didn’t have assets worth upward of a billion!

She saw it clearly—there were several plots of prime land in Beijing City among the assets. Keeping those would mean her family’s financial security for the rest of their lives, wouldn’t it?

But Yun Shifei felt that Cheng Lie didn’t understand the implications, so she leaned closer to whisper near Cheng Lie’s ear: "Let me tell you secretly: these plots of land will skyrocket in value in a few years. You should keep them for yourself! Later on, when you want to expand your business empire, you’ll be able to do whatever you like."

With this kind of capital, even just living off the bank interest would far exceed the income of ordinary workers.

But hearing Yun Shifei’s advice, Cheng Lie didn’t seem particularly excited, as if such statements meant little to him.

To him, these assets were nothing remarkable.

Yet he knew this kind of talk might frighten Yun Shifei, so he put the papers away without saying much.

He planned to hand them to Yun Tiancheng when he returned to South City another day.

Elder Meng had left these behind for him—they were all assets. As for the Meng Family’s enterprises, Cheng Lie figured Elder Meng wouldn’t trust outsiders to manage them.

Even among relatives, where there’s no genuine familial bond, some degree of scheming always existed.

Cheng Lie understood that Elder Meng had given him these things as an act of guilt. By doing so, at least his guilt toward Cheng Lie’s mother would lessen.

And Cheng Lie didn’t mind having more money; he simply accepted it.

For him, growing up on the bottom rung of society—even while living in opulence with the Cheng Family—had felt like living in a prison.

Now, material wealth was crucial to him, but freedom mattered even more.

After dropping Yun Shifei off at school, Cheng Lie instructed Zhao Pan to drive him back to the apartment.

Not expecting it at all, he ran into someone he hadn’t seen in a long time at the apartment complex entrance.

Wen Lin stood under the streetlamp, wearing a simple white dress that accentuated her delicate figure. Her feminine charm radiated vividly.

"Mr. Cheng... Miss Wen..." Zhao Pan felt a bit awkward.

It was late—why was Wen Lin here suddenly? What was her purpose?

Thinking about Wen Lin’s feelings for Cheng Lie, Zhao Pan couldn’t help but let the thought cross his mind—could she be trying to pursue Mr. Cheng again?

To Zhao Pan, this seemed like a futile effort. It wouldn’t work.

He could tell that Cheng Lie’s gaze when looking at Yun Shifei was entirely different from his gaze at Wen Lin.

Wen Lin felt Cheng Lie’s coldness but softly said, "Cheng Lie, my grandfather’s wheelchair broke down; it won’t move anymore. Can you check how to fix it?"

Previously, Cheng Lie had helped install an automatic mechanism on Elder Wen’s wheelchair, allowing it to move and change direction independently, greatly improving Elder Wen’s quality of life.

But now it was broken.

Was this what brought her here so late? Zhao Pan shook his head, feeling Wen Lin probably had ulterior motives.

Cheng Lie replied with a faint "Mm." "I’ll send someone to look at it tomorrow."

"Thank you," Wen Lin said with a gentle smile and adjusted her hair.

Under the light, her diamond earrings sparkled like twinkling stars.

She then turned to leave.

Such a small matter—a call to have someone come would suffice—but for some reason, Wen Lin had felt compelled to tell Cheng Lie in person.

Perhaps it was because she liked him.

Even though Cheng Lie had rejected her clearly, she still couldn’t let go.

From the moment she first laid eyes on him, she had been drawn in. No other man had ever made her feel this way.

Shamelessly, she had lost her dignity.

Even Qin Yumo mocked her as being crazy for liking someone like Cheng Lie.

Wen Lin understood Cheng Lie’s coldheartedness and indifference, but she liked him anyway. What could she do? Liking someone wasn’t something you could control.

If it were, there wouldn’t be so many lovesick fools in this world, so many unrequited feelings.

Thinking this, Wen Lin took a deep breath. She told herself that perhaps one day, her feelings for Cheng Lie might become so strong that she would hate him.

Someday, that would happen.