<h4>Chapter 240: Chapter 240: Don’t You Like Me Anymore?</h4>


    Yun Shifei walked toward the private room with Zhao Pan.


    The closer she got, the more unsettled she felt. Cheng Lie had probably grown into a little big-shot by now, hadn’t he? She wondered how he was doing.


    The door opened, and Zhao Pan said to Yun Shifei, "Miss Yun, please."


    Yun Shifei stepped inside and saw the young man sitting on the sofa.


    After half a year without seeing him, his face had shed some of its youthful softness. His features were sharper, his facial structure more defined—a boy transitioning into a man.


    The calm and unperturbed demeanor he carried was even more pronounced now.


    He wore a ck shirt, hisplexion pale as ever, but his eyes, once indifferent, now sparkled with intensity. Yet beneath it all, there was still an icy, dark undertone.


    This was a feeling distinctly different from the Cheng Lie Yun Shifei had once known.


    Back then, Cheng Lie was cold, but she had attributed it to his autism—it felt natural at the time.


    Now, however, his coldness left her feeling uneasy.


    Especially since his gaze was fixed squarely on her, making her too afraid to meet his eyes.


    The intensity of his aura—it was unmistakably that of a big-shot.


    Yun Shifei thought her heart was about to leap out of her chest. This was scarier than being called to the principal’s office for a talk.


    "Shi Fei, long time no see." The young man’s voice sounded faint and calm, exactly as she remembered it.


    No, perhaps not exactly. He must have gone through voice changes, as his tone was now deeper and more resonant.


    This tiny familiarity helped Yun Shifei gradually find her footing.


    She forced a small smile. "Long time no see."


    She sat down across from Cheng Lie.


    Cheng Lie silently appraised her.


    A seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl, this was probably the peak of beauty—pure yet alluring, with a power to captivate hearts. No wonder so many people liked her.


    Yun Shifei had hardly settled down before a variety of desserts began arriving, followed by a cup of milk tea ced in front of her.


    "The desserts here are quite good," Cheng Lie said.


    Yun Shifei didn’t touch them. Her hands rested on her knees, nervously clenching into fists.


    She had envisioned countless scenarios of their reunion.


    But she never expected it to happen so suddenly, in a moment she wasn’t prepared for.


    The questions she wanted to ask him—to her frustration—she couldn’t even figure out how to begin.


    Her heart was a mess; her worst fears hade true.


    Back then, she thought what she liked about Cheng Lie was his obedient, soft-spoken nature. Now she felt it might actually be true!


    The Cheng Lie before her—despite his sparse words and unchanged speech—had an entirely different presence from the boy she remembered. She could sense it instantly.


    This feeling was anything butforting.


    Just like her preconceived notions from her past life, Yun Shifei could only see him as a powerful figure, someone distant and unattainable.


    The lingering romanticism she thought was unshakable, invulnerable—it was now dissipating, bit by bit.


    She scooped up a bite of strawberry cake. The tangy-sweet vor spread through her mouth.


    The rich creaminess suggested it was made with high-quality cream.


    It had been ages since she’dst eaten cake, and even in the tense atmosphere, she could still rx enough to focus on eating.


    As she ate, Cheng Lie watched her eat.


    She hadn’t changed. Not one bit.


    It seemed they had merely changed venues, but their mode of interaction remained the same.


    That was for the best.


    Yet deep down, Cheng Lie felt an inexplicable restlessness. How could she just quietly eat her food without asking him anything?


    She didn’t ask why he left without saying a word, nor why he had suddenly appeared in Beijing, nor about his illness, or even the Cheng Family’s bizarre affairs.


    She seemed to have epted everything matter-of-factly.


    eptance—it was perhaps another form of estrangement.


    "I’m done. Thank you for the treat." Yun Shifei wiped the corner of her mouth and looked at Cheng Lie.


    That was her first proactive sentence to him—and it seemed she was about to leave already?


    Cheng Lie gave her a sidelong nce and effortlessly saw through her nervousness.


    He curled his lips into a faint smile, then suddenly stood, bypassed the table, and sat beside her.


    The table in the middle was simply too annoying.


    His sudden movement startled Yun Shifei. What was he doing?


    "Are you really that scared of me?" Cheng Lie sat next to her, one hand resting on the nearby sofa, his fingers idly tapping the leather surface.


    Yun Shifei leaned against the ss wall, her face expressionless but her internal anxiety was through the roof.


    Seeing her resistance, Cheng Lie should have been angry—angry that she was even afraid of him at all.


    But he knew his anger would only make her more frightened.


    So he changed his expression and asked earnestly, "Shi Fei, do you not like me anymore?"


    Yun Shifei: "..."


    "Was the affection you had for me back then all fake?" Cheng Lie’s tone carried a hint of mncholy.


    That sliver of sadness, paired with the familiarity of his once-obedient manners, made Yun Shifei feel like she was being jolted by electricity. A guilty conscience surged within her.


    She thought back to all their past interactions.


    She had once been so kind to him, and now she was afraid of him—of course he’d be hurt.


    Even though his life was better now, and he had be capable, he was still only eighteen.


    And for most of his life, up until now, it had been filled with darkness, without many friends.


    The fact that he remembered her proved that he regarded her as a friend.


    If she stopped hanging out with him just because he recovered, he’d surely be heartbroken.


    "It’s not that. I just haven’t adjusted to the fact that your illness is better now. You seem harder to approach."


    It’s me who’s unworthy! Yun Shifei screamed inwardly.


    She wasn’t worthy of sitting next to a big-shot, wasn’t worthy of casually talking to him either!


    Seeing that Yun Shifei had started expressing her feelings, Cheng Lie realized his ’ying pitiful’ approach had been quite effective.


    So he continued to lower his eyelids, striving to look even more pitiful. "If I had known your feelings for me would change because I got better, I’d rather have never recovered."


    What kind of logic was that?


    But hearing this, Yun Shifei was reminded of the questions she had wanted to ask but hadn’t dared to until now.


    "You... Did you really recover from your illness? Or were you pretending the whole time?"


    So direct with her questioning.


    Cheng Lie raised his jet-ck eyes to look at Yun Shifei. "Pretending what?"


    His puzzled expression made Yun Shifei falter.


    "Did your autism just get better recently?"


    Cheng Lie nodded.


    It really was true. Yun Shifei inexplicably believed Cheng Lie’s words.


    So all the anger she had felt before—it seemed she had been overthinking things.


    Still, some parts felt difficult to reconcile. However, faced with Cheng Lie’s earnest expression, Yun Shifei couldn’t quite bring herself to believe he was lying.


    A big-shot wouldn’t need to deceive her, right? Either he recovered, or he didn’t—it was as simple as that.


    Seeing Yun Shifei believe him, Cheng Lie breathed a sigh of relief.


    Previously, he had worried that if Yun Shifei doubted him, she might get angry and never speak to him again.


    Unexpectedly, she trusted him so easily.


    Cheng Lie felt a twinge ofplicated emotion—she was too obedient, and he was growing increasingly uneasy about her.


    Studying in Beijing without her family around, surrounded by men vying for her attention—it unsettled him.


    He didn’t have the free time he once did and couldn’t apany her to and from school every day.


    As he strategized, Yun Shifei’s voice broke through his thoughts: "Then why haven’t you contacted me all this time?"


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