When the Male Lead Finds Out I’m the Transmigrator Trying to Win Him Over - Chapter 3

“He really… changed.”

Yun Ruo covered her eyes as she spoke haltingly, tears seeping through her fingers. “The night of the car accident he was still fine, but the next morning he woke up and he was different—cold toward me, wouldn’t let me see him, and even said…”

She couldn’t hold it back anymore. “He said seeing me made him upset.”

Her voice was thick with sobs, and as the tears kept streaming, her friend He Xitong felt her heart twist with pain.

“Did Meng Tingmo get possessed or something? How could he say that to you!” He Xitong was warm-hearted and a little hot-tempered. She immediately wanted to call Meng Tingmo to curse him out. “He was the one who begged you to marry him, swearing he’d treat you well. You’re even pregnant now, and he dares say something like that? Is he still human?!”

Yun Ruo quickly held her back.

After being turned away yesterday when she brought him food at the hospital, she hadn’t been able to sleep all night. So today she met up with He Xitong to analyze the situation. “I just don’t know if it’s a temporary bad mood or something else. It’s too sudden.”

Could it be he has someone else outside—He Xitong almost blurted it out, but calmed down. Impossible. This was Meng Tingmo. She’d grown up in the same circle as him. Say what you will, but at least responsibility was something he had.

“Did something happen at the company? Or did you do something to make him mad?” He Xitong speculated, then suddenly clapped her hands. “Unless… he has some terminal illness and doesn’t want to drag you down? That’s how it always is in TV dramas.”

Yun Ruo: …

“The company is doing fine. Just yesterday he signed a contract worth hundreds of millions. I haven’t done anything out of line, and we haven’t argued. After the car accident he had a full-body check-up. I saw the report—he’s completely fine.”

He Xitong threw up her hands. “Then I’ve got nothing.”

The only thing left was for Yun Ruo to talk to Meng Tingmo directly. “Be upfront and honest with him. If he’s dissatisfied, let him say it. You can’t go on like this.”

“Or I could sound him out for you. Sometimes it’s easier to talk to a third party.”

“That might be best.” Yun Ruo tidied herself up. “Thank you, Xitong, for listening to me ramble all morning.”

“This is nothing. We’re best friends, aren’t we?” He Xitong pinched her cheek, then patted her belly. “Is the baby being good? I’m the godmother, you know. Godmother is still a mother…”

She babbled on until Yun Ruo finally laughed.

He Xitong was the first friend Yun Ruo made after coming into this world. Back then He Xitong had been cornered in an alley by some thugs, and Yun Ruo happened to pass by and call the police. Afterwards, He Xitong insisted on treating her to a meal, and bit by bit, they became close.

He Xitong was generous and cheerful, Yun Ruo was thoughtful and delicate. They had promised to be lifelong friends.

“He’s being discharged tomorrow morning. I’ll pick him up then and talk to him properly.” Yun Ruo concluded.

He Xitong nodded, and after sending Yun Ruo off, she immediately called Meng Tingmo.

The phone rang for a long time before it was answered. He Xitong went straight to the point: “What’s going on between you and Yun Ruo?”

There was a pause before Meng Tingmo’s cold voice replied: “She came to you?”

“She’s really upset. She said your attitude toward her has changed. Did you two argue?”

“No argument.”

He Xitong breathed a sigh of relief. “Then why would you—”

“He Xitong.” Meng Tingmo suddenly cut her off, asking a question heavy with meaning: “Are you sure… she really considers you a friend?”

Meng Tingmo’s health check was normal, so he was set to be discharged early in the morning. After Yun Ruo went home, she picked out clothes from the wardrobe to bring him tomorrow. She couldn’t let him leave in a hospital gown.

They had a whole dressing room full of clothes. Her gaze passed over rows of dresses—all bought by Meng Tingmo. Since their marriage, he had handled everything for her, from clothing to food, from small details to major events.

On holidays and birthdays, he always prepared gifts ahead of time and placed them by the bedside, so they were the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes.

Over time, she came to look forward to those occasions.

Their love had been real.

Yun Ruo carefully packed the clothes. No matter what, she had to figure out what was going on in Meng Tingmo’s heart.

The next morning, she left home at nine. Normally, after discharge, Meng Tingmo would return home—because she was there.

But this time she wasn’t sure.

Forcing a smile, she entered the hospital room. Meng Tingmo was changing, while his assistant held a coat.

When they saw her, both looked over.

“Madam,” the assistant greeted, glancing cautiously at Meng Tingmo.

Meng Tingmo, however, withdrew his gaze as if he hadn’t seen her. “Give me the coat.”

The assistant handed it over, and he put it on.

Yun Ruo froze.

Trying to bridge the silence, she said softly, “I was worried you wouldn’t have clothes ready, so I brought some. But I see everything’s already prepared.”

“Mm.” He acknowledged her, but nothing more.

Yun Ruo stepped forward gingerly. “Are we going home afterward? I can ask the housekeeper to make your favorite dishes.”

Everyone could see how cautious she was.

Meng Tingmo’s deep eyes fell on her. He was taller, so to look at him she had to tilt her head up. He had never thought it troublesome before, but now it made his neck feel tired.

What a performance, he thought.

This woman really knew how to act—her hands twisted nervously, her eyes full of worry, lips pressed together, gaze fixed on him. To an outsider, she would look like the picture of a loving wife.

Even to him, once, it had seemed real.

A dull ache rose in his chest, followed by a wave of irritation. He looked away. All fake. Everything had been fake.

“To the company,” he ordered, striding past her toward the door.

Yun Ruo almost couldn’t react in time. She hurried after him. “Your body just recovered. Shouldn’t you rest another day?”

He didn’t reply.

She grabbed his sleeve. “Tingmo!”

“Tingmo!”

Another woman’s voice overlapped hers. It was familiar. Yun Ruo turned toward it—Jiang Yufei.

With a bandage on her forehead and a hospital gown, she was the very person who had caused the car accident.

“You…” Yun Ruo didn’t know what to say. Scold her? Something about Jiang Yufei’s sudden appearance felt off.

Jiang Yufei glanced at Yun Ruo, then turned to Meng Tingmo. “You’re being discharged? Perfect, me too. I have a friend’s wedding to attend, kind of urgent. The hotel is on the same route as your company. Could you give me a lift?”

What? Yun Ruo was stunned. After realizing his feelings for her, Meng Tingmo had deleted all of Jiang Yufei’s contact information and completely ignored her. He hadn’t even treated her as a friend.

And now Jiang Yufei had put him in the hospital—yet she dared to ask him for a ride?

Yun Ruo didn’t believe Jiang Yufei was that stupid.

Which meant only one thing: their relationship had changed.

Her heart sank as she heard Meng Tingmo answer, “Alright.”

“Go change,” he told Jiang Yufei, pulling his sleeve free from Yun Ruo’s grasp.

Her hand fell empty, as if something precious had slipped away. She felt not sadness, but bewilderment.

She didn’t understand. Why was his relationship with Jiang Yufei improving while hers with him deteriorated?

“Tingmo?” she called again.

But he only gestured to his assistant. “Arrange a driver to take her home.”

The assistant complied, looking conflicted, but still stepped up. “Madam, please go home and rest.”

Yun Ruo didn’t move. Meng Tingmo left without another word.

This time, she didn’t chase him.

The assistant sighed. “I don’t know anything, Madam. All I know is Miss Jiang came to see him once, and then… it was like this.”

As for what they had talked about—he truly had no idea.

Yun Ruo murmured her thanks. Jiang Yufei soon came out, fully dressed. Passing by Yun Ruo, she shrugged with a smirk. “See you.”

But Yun Ruo couldn’t smile back.

Now she was certain—this wasn’t her imagination. Something was seriously wrong between her and Meng Tingmo.

And it was out of her control.

She was escorted home. At the same time, Meng Tingmo and Jiang Yufei shared the backseat of another car. He to his company, she to the wedding.

“Who would’ve thought the truth was like this,” Jiang Yufei sighed, sounding pained. “How did she manage to hide it all these years without a single flaw?”

Meng Tingmo glanced at the driver, then raised the partition.

Jiang Yufei went on: “If it weren’t for the car accident and that strange effect causing us to have the same dream, you’d still be deceived.”

Meng Tingmo stayed silent, his aura turning heavier.

It was true. The night after the accident, both he and Jiang Yufei had the exact same “awakening dream.” The next morning, Jiang Yufei sought him out, and everything matched what he had dreamt.

If it had just been him, he might have dismissed it as imagination. But with both of them sharing identical details, the dream could only be real.

Yun Ruo was a “strategist”—a woman who had been acting for eight years to deceive him.

“Tingmo,” Jiang Yufei turned her gaze out the window, voice tinged with restraint, “if not for her… would we still have been…”

She left the thought unfinished, hanging in the air.

Meng Tingmo clenched his fists.

When they reached her stop, Jiang Yufei got out. She waved him off cheerfully, only lowering her hand once his car disappeared around the corner.

Then, a mechanical voice sounded in her mind:

【Yun Ruo and Meng Tingmo’s relationship breakdown progress: 20%】

Jiang Yufei let out a quiet laugh.

She too had been bound to a system—not just Yun Ruo. Only hers had come a week ago, while Yun Ruo’s was eight years earlier.

Strange, wasn’t it? That such supernatural things even existed. And with it, Yun Ruo had beaten her three years ago.

If not for the system revealing the truth of Yun Ruo’s “strategy,” she’d still be kept in the dark.

Today’s wedding was just a convenient excuse. The bride was a distant relative, hardly even a friend. Jiang Yufei wasn’t a bridesmaid or anything of the sort.

The system had told her: every time she completed a mission or caused further cracks in their relationship, she’d earn a reward. So the very first thing she did upon returning was to crash into Meng Tingmo’s car.

Hesitation only leads to failure. Better to act decisively.

The crash ruined Meng Tingmo and Yun Ruo’s anniversary dinner—mission complete. When the system asked what reward she wanted, she chose a dream.

A dream to “awaken” Meng Tingmo, to make him doubt his love at its very root.

From there, she would dismantle their relationship step by step.

【Progress has reached 20%. You may claim another reward. What do you want?】

Jiang Yufei thought for a moment. Yun Ruo seemed to have a friend… what was her name again?

“He Xitong? Give her a dream too.”

She wanted Yun Ruo to be abandoned by everyone.

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