198: Chapter 192 Watching the Show

This made her very uncomfortable; why did a woman she'd never met have such an attitude toward Yu Heng?

What was her relationship with Yu Heng? She didn't want someone with that kind of personality in her family.

"Where are we going first?" Zhou Mengqi broke the silence, her voice sounding intentionally upbeat.

"Central Department Store," Yu Heng said. "Park in the underground garage."

"I know," He Mengyao chimed in. "It's not like I've never been there before."

Shen Yueling withdrew her gaze from the window and looked at He Mengyao in the front seat.

"Mengqi," Shen Yueling spoke up, her voice soft, "Is she your friend?"

"Huh?" Zhou Mengqi was startled. "No, she's our dance instructor, but Teacher He looks so young."

"Haha," Yu Heng chuckled. "She's a student from our year, so of course she's young."

"Oh, so she's a student from our year," Shen Yueling said softly. "That's quite impressive then. She speaks even more sharply than the seniors in our department."

Shen Yueling teased her on purpose. She wasn't usually the type to say such things, but for some reason today, she really wanted to needle this woman.

—

Men's clothing section on the second floor of Central Department Store.

Yu Heng picked up a light gray hoodie with a simple geometric print on the chest.

"Try this one," Shen Yueling said.

Yu Heng was about to head to the fitting room when He Mengyao glanced over. "That's more for high schoolers. Won't you look like you're trying too hard to look young?"

Shen Yueling picked up a dark blue shirt nearby. "Then what about this one? A shirt isn't exactly 'trying too hard,' right?"

He Mengyao's fingers slid across the rack, and she pulled out a navy blue shirt. The fabric had a subtle sheen under the lights. "This kind suits you better. That other shirt is too ordinary."

Yu Heng looked at the two pieces of clothing and said nothing.

He didn't really care what he wore, but the attitudes of these two women were starting to interest him.

Shen Yueling felt uneasy. What was with this He Mengyao? Every word she said was laced with thorns.

She curled her lip. "How old is Yu Heng? Why wear something so old-fashioned?"

"Old-fashioned?" He Mengyao laughed. "It's called mature. Yu Heng suits this style, you know?"

"I don't know?" Shen Yueling raised an eyebrow. "I've known him for years. How long have you known him? In all the years I've known him, I've never seen Yu Heng wear clothes like this."

He Mengyao was choked up by those words.

How long had she known him? Combining her past life and this one, it was far longer than she knew.

"Knowing someone for a long time doesn't mean you understand them." He Mengyao stuffed a jacket into Yu Heng's hand. "Go try it on."

Yu Heng took the jacket and also grabbed the shirt Shen Yueling had picked. "I'll try them both."

He went into the fitting room while the three women waited outside.

Bai Xinran hadn't said a word. She stood quietly by the clothes rack, completely detached from the tense atmosphere.

Zhou Mengqi looked at He Mengyao, then at Shen Yueling, her expression that of someone watching a drama.

She was thinking, Fight! Fight!

However, she still moved half a step toward Bai Xinran and lowered her voice. "What's wrong with them?"

Bai Xinran shook her head and whispered, "I don't know."

The fitting room door opened, and Yu Heng came out wearing the navy blue shirt first.

He Mengyao's eyes lit up. The cut of the shirt was good, and Yu Heng's shoulders filled it out well.

She walked over and reached out to straighten his collar. "It looks good."

Shen Yueling pursed her lips. It certainly wasn't bad, but she didn't want to admit it.

Yu Heng changed and came out in the shirt Shen Yueling had chosen.

Blue cotton, well-fitting but not particularly striking.

Yu Heng looked at himself in the mirror and turned to ask Bai Xinran, "A Ling, what do you think?"

Bai Xinran hadn't expected her master to ask her. She looked at the two shirts and said softly, "Both... both look good."

"Vague," Yu Heng chuckled.

Zhou Mengqi chimed in, "Why not just buy both?"

He Mengyao: "No need. Just buy the good one."

Shen Yueling: "If you like them, buy them. It's not like we're short on money."

Yu Heng changed back into his own clothes and handed both shirts to the clerk. "Pack them both up."

The clerk took the clothes to pack them. Yu Heng took out his phone to scan the code and pay.

Shen Yueling glanced at He Mengyao, who pursed her lips and turned her face away.

—

Hot pot for lunch.

The five of them sat at a table for six.

Yu Heng naturally sat in the middle. Shen Yueling was on his left, and since the right was empty, He Mengyao sat down on his right without a second thought.

Shen Yueling watched He Mengyao sit on Yu Heng's right, her hand holding the menu pausing for a moment.

Yu Heng picked up the pencil on the table and began marking the menu.

"Tripe, right? And shrimp paste?" he asked without looking up.

"Yes," Zhou Mengqi leaned in to look.

"Get more beef rolls," Shen Yueling said.

Yu Heng checked them off and looked further down. "And the soup base? Yin-yang pot?"

"Sure," Zhou Mengqi said. "I'll have spicy."

"I'll have spicy too." Shen Yueling glanced at He Mengyao. "What about A Ling? What soup base do you want?"

Bai Xinran was carefully wiping the dishes in front of her with a tissue. "I'm fine with anything."

"Then the yin-yang pot it is." Yu Heng put a checkmark on the menu. "One mushroom soup, one spicy pot. How spicy? Medium?"

"Sure!" Shen Yueling said.

"Mildly spicy," He Mengyao said at the same time. She looked at Yu Heng. "Don't you know your stomach is sensitive? Eating medium spicy will make you feel miserable tonight."

Shen Yueling was stunned.

Why didn't she know Yu Heng had a sensitive stomach?

"Is that so?" Shen Yueling looked up, her gaze fixed directly on He Mengyao. "I've never heard him mention it. Yu Heng, when did you develop this problem?"

The question was thrown to Yu Heng, but her eyes remained pinned on He Mengyao's face, filled with scrutiny and a trace of subtle provocation.

Yu Heng was checking off the vegetables when his pen paused at her words.

His stomach had indeed started getting worse in university. When he first started dating He Mengyao, they had hot pot together, and after he got an upset stomach twice, she remembered it.

After marrying He Mengyao in his previous life, she had indeed managed his daily life very carefully. She usually cooked the meals, and although He Mengyao loved spicy food, she rarely put any chili in her cooking.

"After starting university, my routine and diet were a mess, so there is a bit of that." Yu Heng's tone was casual. He glanced up at He Mengyao, twitched the corner of his mouth, and ignored her little bit of smugness, crossing out 'medium' in the spiciness column and changing it to 'mild'. "Let's go with mild then."

To Shen Yueling's ears, however, these words sounded like a confirmation of some sort of favoritism.

A nameless fire flared up in her heart, but she smiled instead, pushing the menu toward He Mengyao. "You're quite attentive. Why don't you see if there's anything else to note? If Yu Heng has any other issues we don't know about, tell us all at once so we don't accidentally order the wrong thing."

Bai Xinran stopped wiping the bowl and quietly lifted her eyelashes to look at Shen Yueling.

Zhou Mengqi's eyes brightened even more as she looked back and forth between Shen Yueling and He Mengyao, almost reaching for a handful of melon seeds.