Delicate Beauty in the Palm : Chapter 27 - "I'm pursuing you now."
Chapter 27: "I'm pursuing you now."
Chen Die was woken up by the alarm.
The first thing she felt upon waking was that her face was tight and dry.
Then she noticed the towel on the bedside table, stained with a strange red mark—she almost passed out again from the shock.
Memories of the previous night slowly came back. After seeing Xia Ying off, it seemed like Wen Liang came over…?
She looked again at that towel that looked like it was stained with ‘blood,’ and suddenly realized it was lipstick. Considering how roughly it must have been wiped off, it was obvious who did it.
“......”
Chen Die had to thank herself for not reacting too badly to her hangover—she wasn’t feeling much dizziness or headache by now.
She climbed out of bed, slid into her slippers, and walked into the bathroom.
Like most girls, Chen Die cared a lot about her appearance. Back when she lived in the western suburbs, the bathroom was filled with her skincare products and beauty tools.
But now, the bathroom in this hotel room couldn’t hold that much stuff. Plus, she didn’t have the extra time to maintain her routine. Her skin was already dry due to the seasonal change, and after yesterday’s ‘Wen Liang-style’ makeup removal, it was even worse.
Seriously, what kind of girl uses such a thick towel to wipe her face these days??
It was still early. Chen Die re-cleansed her face and put on a sheet mask.
Just as she finished washing her hands, there was a ‘beep’ at the door. Wen Liang walked in carrying a bag of breakfast.
Chen Die was stunned. With the mask on her face, her voice came out muffled: “How did you even get in?”
Wen Liang raised his hand and showed her the room card.
“......”
How is this hotel not out of business yet??
“Come out and eat,” Wen Liang said.
Chen Die pointed at her face. “I can’t eat right now.”
“Then eat later.” Wen Liang was surprisingly easygoing today. He took out a cup of honey water from the bag, stuck a straw in, and held it up to her lips. “Drink this first.”
Chen Die didn’t understand how Wen Liang could act so naturally like this.
If she remembered correctly… weren’t they broken up??
She quietly thanked him and took the honey water from his hand.
Wen Liang stared at her for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand. Chen Die reflexively blocked him, swatting at his arm.
Wen Liang winced but didn’t pull back. Instead, he reached over again and brushed down a strand of messy hair from her temple. “There was something on you.”
“…Oh.”
Chen Die noticed that he had winced earlier, and her gaze drifted over—then suddenly froze. A red mark was visible on his skin.
Wen Liang generously hooked his finger into his collar and pulled it open, letting her look.
She’d bitten hard last night. The area was now surrounded by purplish bruising and looked rather nasty.
“What happened?” Chen Die was confused.
Wen Liang raised an eyebrow. “Forgot?”
As soon as he asked, the memory of last night came back—the very obvious bite mark now seemed to be accusing her of her drunken outburst.
Wen Liang scoffed. “Bit by a dog.”
“......”
Chen Die only remembered the sensation of biting, not the reason behind it. “Why would I bite you?”
“How would I know? Probably for revenge. You even said I bit you before.”
A vivid memory flashed through Chen Die’s mind—Wen Liang biting her shoulder, the moment laced with intimacy.
Sweat sliding down his jawline, his dark eyes intense, muscles taut with strain…
Her face flushed, and she suddenly couldn’t stay in the cramped bathroom any longer.
Wen Liang noticed her expression and grinned mischievously. “What did you just think of?”
Chen Die shoved him away. “Get out, get out.” She fled the bathroom in embarrassment.
The sheet mask, which had only been on for a few minutes, was peeled off early and wasted. Chen Die usually didn’t eat breakfast until she got to the film set, but they’d spent quite a bit of time this morning.
After eating at the hotel, she got a call from Fang Ruan.
“We’re about to start filming—why aren’t you here yet?”
“I’m coming, I’m coming!”
Chen Die went downstairs with Wen Liang.
Zhu Qicong had just parked the car outside the hotel.
Ah, the evils of capitalism—just because Wen Liang was now living near the film base, Zhu Qicong had to wake up half an hour earlier every day to drive over.
When he saw Chen Die come out, he automatically opened the back door and nodded politely. “Miss Chen.”
Chen Die greeted him lightly: “I’ll go by myself.”
Wen Liang: “Didn’t they already rush you?”
“If my agent sees me arriving in your car, she’ll nag me for half an hour.”
Wen Liang frowned, but Chen Die was already heading down the steps.
Her mood that morning was surprisingly good.
All the negative emotions from the day before seemed to have vanished along with the alcohol. Thinking back on how upset she’d been over Lin Quan, it now felt almost ridiculous.
That was—until she arrived at the set and saw Chen Shuyuan sitting on a small stool next to Lu Chuan.
...Really haunting, isn’t she?
But today she was alone—Lin Quan wasn’t around.
Still incredibly annoying.
Chen Shuyuan happened to turn and see her at the same time. The two of them rolled their eyes at each other in perfect sync. Chen Die immediately turned and walked off.
As the filming neared its final stages, Chen Die had grown increasingly comfortable in her role, and each scene was getting done more efficiently.
Over this period, aside from her relationship with Wang Yunxi—which had gone from combative to basically pretending not to know each other—she got along well with the rest of the crew.
Lunch was standard boxed meals prepared by the crew. Qi Cheng had just hit 70 million followers on Weibo, so he decided to celebrate by going live during lunch.
His studio had announced it in advance, and as soon as the live stream started at noon, a flood of fans poured in.
[Ahhhhhh God Qi look at me!!!]
[I’m here!!!]
[Is Qi God still filming <Hairpin Flowers>? Wasn’t that variety show announced to start shooting in just two weeks?]
Qi Cheng ate while watching the flood of scrolling comments, picking a few to answer every now and then.
“Yeah, filming for the variety show starts in two weeks. <Hairpin Flowers> is almost done.”
“There’s no confirmed release date yet, but we’re hoping for the Chinese New Year slot.”
“Hm? I’m not eating alone,” Qi Cheng said as he turned the camera. “Chen Die’s here too.”
Chen Die was eating a boxed meal while reading the script, having just shoved a big bite of rice into her mouth. The sudden camera turn caught her completely off guard.
“...Cough cough!”
She turned away, hand over her mouth, already dreading how terrible she must’ve looked just now.
Face flushed from choking, she waved weakly at the camera. “Hi, everyone.”
Unlike Qi Cheng, who had been in the industry since childhood, Chen Die wasn’t used to live-streams and looked a bit stiff and formal saying hello.
Qi Cheng laughed. “Why such a big reaction?”
The comments came rolling in:
[Because God Qi, you’ve made so many memes out of her expressions!!!]
Chen Die: “...”
She had nothing left to say.
Qi Cheng turned the camera back to himself.
[Waaahhh even with her mouth full, she’s still so pretty!]
[Why do I find Chen Die’s awkwardness kind of cute?? Blushing like that is too adorable!!]
[I want to squish her cheeks…]
[I’ve been a fan of her face since I first saw her years ago. Been following her for four years but she never posts! God Qi, get her to post something, pleaseee!!]
[LOL look at how often God Qi posts. These two are a match.]
……
Qi Cheng’s livestream didn’t last long—it was mostly just him eating lunch.
After the meal, he ended the stream, rested for a bit, and then filming resumed.
The hairpin that Wen Liang lent the crew finally got used. The makeup artists were trembling as they handled it.
It really felt like they were holding five million yuan in their hands.
Xiao Qi carefully tucked the hairpin into Chen Die’s updo, muttering as he worked, “I have to be so careful. If I break this, even selling myself wouldn’t be enough to pay for it.”
Just then, Chen Die’s phone, left on the table nearby, rang. A crew member brought it over.
She thanked them—it was a call from Wen Liang.
To avoid drawing attention, Chen Die had already deleted Wen Liang’s contact name from her phone. But she could still recognize his number instantly.
“Hello?”
“What time are you done tonight?” Wen Liang asked.
Chen Die lifted her eyelids lazily. “Why?”
“I’ll come by.”
...And what’s that got to do with me?
Chen Die silently cursed in her heart.
“I don’t know.”
Now that she was sober, she’d returned to her prickly self. Even Wen Liang had been worn down to the point of having no temper left.
He sighed and called her name. “Chen Die.”
“......”
“I’m pursuing you now,” he said quietly, his voice deep and magnetic, striking straight into her ears.
It was the first time he had said it that plainly.
Chen Die was momentarily stunned. Her thick lashes fluttered rapidly, and after a pause, she forced out a reply: “Plenty of people are pursuing me. Why are you acting all smug?”
Wen Liang chuckled. “Like who?”
“......”
Why did that sound… vaguely threatening?
“None of your business,” Chen Die snapped and immediately hung up the phone, flipped it over on the table, and set it to silent.
Beside her, Xiao Qi was doing her hair and teased, “Was that one of your admirers?”
Chen Die gave a soft ‘mm,’ then absentmindedly touched her ear. “Seems like it.”
“Tsk tsk tsk, I can’t even remember which past life my last boyfriend was from. Is he from the industry or not?” Xiao Qi asked.
He’s the owner of that five-million-yuan hairpin in your hands. Chen Die sighed, “Outsider.”
Meanwhile, Wen Liang had just been hung up on again.
In his whole life, he could count on one hand the number of times someone had hung up on him—all of them were Chen Die.
Originally, Zhu Qicong had reported to him that Chen Shuyuan had shown up at the set again today. Wen Liang had remembered the image of that girl lying on the sofa last night, eyes red but refusing to cry. That’s what prompted him to make the call.
Judging by her voice now, though, she was full of life again.
Ever since his girl had escaped his care, her claws had only grown sharper.
Wen Liang looked down at his phone. The call log popped back up, showing her contact name as just ‘Lingling.’
Heartless.
He let out a low laugh, lips pulling into a faint smirk.
An internal line call came through—it was Zhu Qicong, reminding him it was almost time for the meeting.
The project they had snatched from Chen Ke had now officially launched. The plan was to build a gourmet food plaza on the land.
“The construction team has confirmed they can complete it within the set deadline. As for the spokesperson, after some research, we’ve decided on Qi Cheng,” the project lead said, pulling up a PowerPoint.
“He has 70 million followers on Weibo and previously appeared on the highly rated variety show <Wilderness Kitchen> (score: 9.4). He showed a strong interest in food, which fits our theme. Plus, the movie <Hairpin Flowers> he’s currently filming is scheduled to release during the Chinese New Year—right around our food plaza’s opening. It’ll act as organic promotion.”
Wen Liang held a pen between his fingers, his gaze flat as he looked at the screen—no telling what he thought.
The project lead paused, then added, “We’ve also considered the option of dual spokespersons. A CP-style approach—keeping Qi Cheng and adding <Hairpin Flowers> female lead, Chen Die.”
That’s when Wen Liang finally looked up and said, “Go on.”
The project lead was thrilled, thinking he’d struck gold.
“Though Chen Die is new to the entertainment industry, she’s very buzzworthy and has a fitting image. Recently, her first variety show appearance with Qi Cheng made headline news. Just this afternoon, she also appeared briefly in Qi Cheng’s livestream.”
As he spoke, he played a 10-second clip from the stream.
It was the part where Qi Cheng turned the camera to Chen Die.
Wen Liang said, “Play it again.”
This time, he read the scrolling comments clearly:
[I’m shipping them SO hard, omg.]
[Why does this feel so sweet?!]
[Both of their visuals are on another level, I’m obsessed.]
[I want this moment burned into my memory forever!!]
Of course, there were some not-so-kind comments mixed in, but those just stung even more in Wen Liang’s eyes.
The project lead continued, “Right now, Qi Cheng and Chen Die are trending at number one on Weibo. The post has over a billion views. While there’s some controversy, it’s guaranteed to draw attention.”
“Plus, during the New Year film release, there’s bound to be talk about them as an on-screen couple. If we secure them as our ambassadors now, negotiations will be smoother.”
Sitting next to Wen Liang, Zhu Qicong thought: “…”
Some people in the company had commented that Chen Die looked like the woman they once saw in the elevator with Mr. Wen, but no one had connected the dots that they were the same person.
Otherwise, who would dare recommend their future boss’s lady to do a fake couple act with another man?
Trying to ease the tension, Zhu Qicong said, “Using this couple angle might backfire. Qi Cheng’s fans could react badly and end up ruining the brand.”
The project lead argued, “The most important thing right now is making the brand known. The worst thing is no buzz. Whether it’s good or bad attention, it works in our favor.”
Zhu Qicong: “…”
Why was this guy so bad at picking up hints?
Thankfully, Wen Liang, who had been silent this whole time, finally spoke: “We’ll go with Chen Die as the spokesperson.”
The project lead: “Huh? Just her?”
“En.”
“I’m just worried her popularity might not hold up, and we won’t get the effect we’re hoping for. Why just her?”
Wen Liang looked up. “She’s cheap.”
Zhu Qicong: “…”
No progress after all this time, and that’s the reason?
The project lead: “…”
Has Wenyuan Group gone broke or what?
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