The Lady’s Facade Was Ruined - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: She Never Knew He Loved Her (1)

This chapter was courtesy of Wang Mei

June 2X19, Huo Zhai, City A.  

A photo was placed on the coffee table in the living room. Huo Cheng’s eyes lingered on the photo for a little while. Then, he looked up at Huo Tingxiao in the opposite direction with a calm face.

“This is Shen Wanying. She is 23 years old this year, the same age as you. Do you remember, you both had met each other when you were young?” Huo Tingxiao said, suddenly bringing up the marriage talk with his son. Perhaps it was due to the suddenness itself, but Huo Tingxiao was a bit agitated before saying, “Your grandfather asked you to meet him tomorrow.”

“M-hm.” Huo Cheng practically said nothing and just nodded. He never talked much, so his reaction didn’t seem strange to Huo Tingxiao.

However, marriage was a major event in Huo Cheng’s life. Huo Tingxiao wanted Huo Cheng to tell him more about his own opinion regarding this. “I know that when you return home, your grandfather will arrange a blind date for you. It’s rather impatient of him. You’ll see Shen Wanying tomorrow. If you don’t want to get married, I will resolutely refuse this matter and tell your grandfather about it. I won’t force you.”

“M-hm.” Huo Cheng only repeated the same word. His tone and look didn’t change as well.

Huo Tingxiao was speechless, after a few seconds, he said, “If it’s okay, go upstairs and rest first. Don’t be late for the meeting tomorrow.”

“I know.” Huo Cheng said two words this time. When he left, he took a picture of Shen Wanying from the table with him.

Tomorrow’s meeting was set in Tian Xia restaurant¹ Chestnut Verse regular: owner is the protagonist of I’m Unsuited For Dating. His grandfather had booked the most expensive private room there.

Huo Cheng arrived earlier than Shen Wanying. After entering the private room, he sat in his place and waited quietly. Not long after Shen Wanying arrived. Ashe sat facing the door, he was able to see her as soon as she opened the door and entered the room.

Shen Wanying wore a red retro dress. Her hair was also made into retro style to match her skirt. Her face was so small that it looked delicate, even such a hairstyle couldn’t adorn one’s face too much.

When Shen Wanying saw Huo Cheng was sitting inside, she was taken by surprise for a moment. Shortly, she gave a polite smile to Huo Cheng and apologized to him. “Sorry Mr. Huo, I am late.”

“No, I’m here too early.” Huo Cheng stood up and waited for Shen Wanying to sit down before he sat back to his original seat.

The waiter came with the menu and Huo Cheng asked Shen Wanying to order. After they were done ordering, the two chatted while waiting. Before this meeting, they had barely met except for that one time when they were young.

Although the atmosphere was a bit awkward, there was no awkward silence. Huo Cheng had lived overseas from an early age while Shen Wanying had studied in a university abroad. So, the two talked about studying and living abroad.

After the dishes were served, Shen Wanying smiled and asked Huo Cheng, “Mr. Huo, although we met when we were kids, today should be the first formal meeting between the two of us, right? Regarding our marriage, don’t you think the time we’ve known each other is too short?” 

Huo Cheng slightly raised his eyes to look at her, then answered, “No.”  

♥

In February 2X13, M country, the 17 years old Huo Cheng opened his eyes.

The computer was on and a picture of a girl was shown on the screen.

Huo Cheng’s brain had gone blank for two seconds before he realized that he was reborn into the 17 years old himself.

He had been back for two days, but he still couldn’t get used to it. He couldn’t remember how he fell asleep a moment ago. Before sleeping, he was looking at Shen Wanying’s Weibo.

Today was Shen Wanying’s 17th birthday. She sent a photo of herself wishing for the birthday cake to Weibo. In the photo, Shen Wanying closed her eyes sincerely, her mouth slightly raised, and her face was lit with the candlelight. She looked happy. Her appearance overlapped with Shen Wanying in Huo Cheng’s dream. In Huo Cheng’s mind, she echoed the question she asked to himself.

“Mr. Huo, don’t you think the time we’ve known each other is too short?” 

No, of course, he didn’t. Because during the time that Shen Wanying didn’t know, he had liked her for 13 years. From his first meeting with Shen Wanying at the age of ten to the reunion at the age of twenty-three.

This Weibo, Huo Cheng wasn’t following because he was concerned about the time he was reborn. Rather, he was paying attention during those years he was abroad.

It had been a long time, but Huo Cheng remembered that day, the day when the news about Shen Wanying was suddenly brought up to a group of international students from where he was.

As if he was trying to prove something, he clicked his computer mouse a few times and then he found the screenshot he had saved at that time.

“After school, in one of City A’s alleys, two groups of bad teenagers met. The atmosphere was pretty nerve-wracking. At that time, an ordinary female student passed by and then gave them a math question. As a result, she restrained the fight between both groups of fellow students by making them solve the mathematical problem.”

Upon seeing this news again, the corner of Huo Cheng’s mouth formed a very small arc. At that time, the news was only sent to a private microblog of the student who wrote the news. Huo Cheng, who was far away abroad, saw the news from the group he was in.

That’s right! That ordinary female student who happened to pass by was Shen Wanying. Later, Huo Cheng thought about why the Weibo post became popular. It was mainly because of Shen Wanying’s photos.

Until today, the remains of the Weibo were still there, you could see all kinds of comments. Shen Wanying also replied below. Many people found her on Weibo after looking around.

Shen Wanying’s incident was trending. Her Weibo traffic was comparable to those celebrities, but after a long time, everyone’s enthusiasm slowly subsided. Some of Shen Wanying’s followers were like Huo Cheng. They paid attention to Shen Wanying’s Weibo from the time she was in high school to her college graduation.

However, Shen Wanying didn’t know any of this, just like she never knew Huo Cheng loved her.

In Shen Wanying’s eyes, the marriage between the two of them was only an arranged marriage for business purposes. The two of them met and, eventually, their marriage progressed smoothly. It didn’t take long before they officially received the marriage certificate. Then, the last thing Huo Cheng could remember about his previous life was his wedding anniversary with Shen Wanying.

That day was their wedding anniversary, but Huo Cheng saw his wife, Shen Wanying, stabbing him in the belly with a knife.

At that time, there were some things Huo Cheng had yet to understand. He didn’t know why Shen Wanying would do this. Also, he didn’t even know whether Shen Wanying loved him or not.

That one year of their marriage wasn’t that long. She might not have fallen in love with him yet. Even if she didn’t, was that sole reason enough to kill him?

What was it? The reason for her to kill him. 

♥♥♥