Delicate Beauty in the Palm : Chapter 37 - “Chen Die, my cousin—Blood-related.”
Chapter 37: “Chen Die, my cousin—Blood-related.”
The power lines crisscrossed overhead, and the raucous noise from the nearby Yif Pavilion could still be heard.
‘Lingling’ was a nickname she made up on the spot. She hated the name her adoptive parents in the small town used to call her—it sounded unpleasant—and she thought Wen Liang would make fun of it, so she made up the name ‘Lingling’ and told him that instead.
He rarely called her that though. Most of the time, he used her full name.
But perhaps because the nickname had been fake from the beginning, Chen Die didn’t even know how to respond now.
She pushed Wen Liang away, gave him a long look, then turned and walked off.
Back at Yif Pavilion, Fang Ruan was still furiously arguing with Zhu Qicong, but he remained unyielding, blocking her path no matter what she said.
Chen Die walked over and called Fang Ruan’s name.
Fang Ruan was stunned, then immediately ran over. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Chen Die shook her head. “Let’s go home.”
Fang Ruan hadn’t drunk any alcohol earlier and didn’t want Chen Die to continue being in such an environment, so she quickly brought her home.
On the other side—
Wen Liang returned to Yif Pavilion a bit later than Chen Die.
The commotion from earlier had already drawn the owner of the pavilion out, rushing to the scene. But when he didn’t see Wen Liang at first, he waited anxiously. Once Wen Liang finally showed up, the owner immediately approached, bowing and scraping to apologize.
Wen Liang casually unbuttoned a shirt button, his expression dark and moody, clearly in no mood to entertain the owner’s groveling.
He merely tilted his head slightly and told Zhu Qicong to deal with Qu Fang, then turned to the pavilion owner and made it clear: tonight’s surveillance footage must not be leaked under any circumstances.
Indeed, the security footage from Yif Pavilion didn’t get out—but that night, another video silently crept onto the trending topics list.
Chen Die, the breakout star of this year’s Spring Festival, already hit once with rumors of sleeping her way to the top—now she was back in the headlines with new dirt.
This time, it wasn’t some blurry, questionable photo—it was a video.
Clearly secretly filmed, the footage was a bit shaky and dim around the edges, but the faces of the two people involved were unmistakably clear and undeniable.
It was only ten seconds long, capturing the moment Wen Liang pushed her against the car door and leaned in to kiss her.
[What the hell, how much drama does Chen Die have??]
[Wait a sec—wasn’t this guy in the video NOT the one who drove her home last time?? Wasn’t that Chen Shao??? Still though… gotta admit, both guys are kinda hot… If I had a face like Chen Die’s, I’d be out here shouting to the world: I CAN!!]
[Damn this drama is wild. So did Chen Shao just get cheated on?? Is Chen Die gonna get blacklisted??]
[Can someone please dig up who the guy in the video is? From the looks of him, definitely rich and powerful—maybe he even knows Chen Shao. Could we be looking at some ‘I stole my bro’s girl’ drama??]
[LOL I’m not even mad anymore, I just wanna see how Chen Shao reacts to this!]
[Real comedy comes from real life [thumbs up][thumbs up]—this is better than any drama series! I can’t wait to see what happens next!!]
[What’s wrong with everyone?? Isn’t this straight-up cheating?? How is no one calling her out??]
[Cheating or not, she clearly already got whatever she wanted from Chen Shao. Sure, she moved on fast—but as long as it’s not emotional, it’s whatever. Just not something us regular people can relate to.]
[Lowkey though… do all sugar daddies look this good nowadays??]
[Same. Honestly, kind of into it… especially the guy in the video. My heart was racing just watching it (sorry, I’m weak).]
……
Compared to the casual gossip from the public, Chen Die’s fans took the blow much harder.
[Okay. Fine. Me, personally—used to be a Zhan Xiao fan, now I’m a Chen Die fan. But this?? This is a double kill. Smack in the face. Her career was just taking off and she starts dating?? What the hell is she thinking?]
[If she doesn’t come out and explain soon, I’m unfollowing. She’s just constantly out here being messy.]
[Sister Die, I’ll always believe in you!!]
[Same thing I used to say under Wang Yunxi’s posts…]
[I swear, if you’re gonna set up a cold-and-cool persona, at least stick with it. Now you’re out here being a total romantic fool.]
[Guys, calm down. I really don’t think she’s that kind of person.]
[There's a video. What’s there to defend??]
……
Fang Ruan was practically fuming.
At the same time, they finally got answers from the people she’d sent to investigate who was behind the smear campaign.
“I should’ve known it was Wang Yunxi! Now that she’s dragged you into this mess, people have stopped talking about her own scandals. Her agency’s scrambling to erase all the nasty tags about her right now!”
The comments under Chen Die’s own posts were angry but relatively civil.
But under marketing accounts, it was a whole different story.
The words were brutal. Ugly. Cruel.
Back in school, Chen Die had lived in the center of gossip, too—she’d been cursed at before. But this time, the scale was completely different. The endless barrage of hateful comments and mockery felt like invisible knives, impossible to ignore.
Chen Die read those comments over and over again, her face completely expressionless.
After a while, she looked up and asked Fang Ruan: “Should I clarify things a bit?”
“Clarify what?” Fang Ruan snapped. “Clarify that Chen Shao was just giving you a ride home? Or that in the video, Wen Liang didn’t actually kiss you? Try posting that and see if they don’t tear you to shreds even worse.”
“......”
The current situation clearly showed that this was a premeditated and organized attempt to frame Chen Die—whoever was behind it had even hired paid commenters to control public opinion. A simple verbal clarification from Chen Die would only backfire.
Fang Ruan asked, “What exactly happened in that video with Mr. Wen?”
Chen Die sighed. “Didn’t Qu Fang pester me yesterday? Wen Liang got mad at me because of that, and then it turned into what you saw in the video.”
“And then?”
“I pushed him away.”
Fang Ruan frowned. “Obviously they won’t release the part where you pushed him away. I checked—there are no security cameras in that area.”
Since they didn’t know how much more dirt the other side might be holding, Fang Ruan had no choice but to postpone any official clarification.
That afternoon, the production team behind <Hairpin Flowers> posted a statement on Weibo to support Chen Die:
@OfficialHairpinFlowers: Recently, there have been numerous unfounded rumors about Ms. Chen Die. We would like to clarify that Ms. Chen signed on as the lead actress for the film <Hairpin Flowers> back in June of last year, before she ever joined Yiming Entertainment.
As soon as the statement was released, netizens jumped back into gossip mode:
[Nice, the whitewashing team scored a point. Now let’s see what the scandal team can do next!]
[Lol this official account missed the juiciest part. We care more about the video now.]
[Still, I just don’t believe Chen Die is that kind of person. Don’t ask me why—intuition.]
But just as public opinion started to shift slightly in Chen Die’s favor, another bombshell dropped:
<Chen Die’s college boyfriend was a Bentley-driving tycoon—broke up fast when she entered the entertainment industry!>
Below the headline, someone dug up an old post from their university’s online forum, written around graduation day, talking about how shocking it was that Chen Die had broken up with her boyfriend.
People kept digging. Eventually, they even unearthed old posts where Lu Chuan, another student, had defended her in the campus message boards.
[Not gonna lie, after eating all this gossip, I’m starting to feel a little jealous.]
[Being hot really does let you do whatever the hell you want…]
[Please, Chen Die, release a handbook on how to pull rich boyfriends—all your exes are power players!]
At the same time, netizens also uncovered the identity of the man from the viral video.
[Wen Liang. 29. Chairman of Wenyuan Group. Net worth in the billions. The company has holdings in commercial real estate, luxury hotels, tourism investment, cultural industries, and retail chains.]
They even included a photo from a business magazine interview last month.
[A man in a sleek suit, relaxed posture, broad shoulders, narrow waist, deep features—his face like it was sculpted with a blade.]
[HOLY SHIT. I’M DOWN. KISS ME.]
[Low-res pixels are a crime. Getting kissed by that kind of man isn’t about money—hell, I’d pay him to kiss me. [crying][crying][crying]]
[This gossip is doing more harm than good—my self-esteem keeps dropping.]
[Seriously though. Chen Die is 23, has ten million Weibo followers, and debuted in a movie that grossed over a billion. Wen Liang is 29, worth billions, and hot enough to make you wanna strip.]
[Sorry not sorry—I wanna see them star in a rom-com together.]
[It’s literally the ‘hot rich CEO × gorgeous rising starlet’ trope. Why is this so hot???]
[Wait. I looked up Wenyuan Group’s assets. That Gourmet Food Plaza Chen Die endorsed earlier? It’s owned by Wenyuan!]
[The sugar daddy is so generous!]
[So Wen Liang’s been backing her since then? Which means she knew him first, then Chen Shao at the start of the year, and now back to Wen Liang? This girl is WILD. Usually it’s sugar daddies toying with actresses, but Chen Die’s out here toying with the sugar daddies??]
[HAHAHAHAHAHA toying with sugar daddies—too good]
Chen Die: “......”
This public opinion shift is whiplash-inducing.
Meanwhile, Chen Shao had finally returned from vacation in the Southern Hemisphere.
The trip had driven him insane. Thanks to Chen Die, he was bombarded with calls from magazines and reporters the entire time.
After a grueling 10+ hour flight, he finally had a moment of peace—until he turned his phone back on and immediately got another call.
“Fuck,” Chen Shao muttered.
He hung up and instead called Chen Die.
She had just gotten out of the shower and was drying her hair with a towel. Seeing the screen light up, she wiped her hands and answered.
“Hello?”
Chen Shao said, “Chen Die, what the hell is wrong with you?”
Chen Die responded instantly: “What’s wrong with you?”
“Do you have any idea how many people have been calling me about your damn drama lately?!”
“You think you’re not part of the drama? Would it kill you to publicly say you’re just my boss?” Chen Die never backed down from a challenge.
They went back and forth, arguing several more rounds, before Chen Shao finally snapped, yelling: “Just wait—I’ll explain everything,” and hung up.
As soon as Chen Shao stepped out of the airport with his luggage, he was swarmed by reporters. A flurry of questions erupted:
“Mr. Chen Shao, is it true you’re in a relationship with Chen Die?”
“Do you know Mr. Wen?”
“Is Chen Die cheating between you and him?”
Chen Shao: “...?”
Unbelievable. One flight later, and these two chaotic disasters—Chen Die and Wen Liang— had jointly gifted him a massive public green hat.
“Alright, gather round,” Chen Shao said, raising a long arm to direct the crowd, “Cameras rolling?”
He looked directly into the lens and said: “Chen Die. She’s my cousin. Blood-related.”
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