Delicate Beauty in the Palm : Chapter 43 - I want to see Wen Liang soon
Chapter 43: I want to see Wen Liang soon
Chen Die returned to the room; the other three were still chatting.
Lin Qingye shook the can in his hand, then looked up and asked, “Want a drink?”
Chen Die let out a small breath, patted her still-burning face, walked over, and handed him a glass: “Just a little.”
Ran Liming stared at her for a moment, puzzled. “Hmm? Why is your face so red?”
Chen Die paused and made something up on the spot: “It’s hot.”
Ran Liming was even more confused. “It’s hot? In this weather?”
“......”
Seriously—was it just a hug? They've done worse before. And now, just that tiny moment has her completely losing her head.
Chen Die didn’t know how to explain, but thankfully Lin Qingye had already poured a drink and tapped the glass in front of her lazily: “Drink up.”
So the topic changed.
Because of what had just happened outside, Chen Die couldn’t fully focus on the conversation. Her mind kept drifting elsewhere.
They stayed in the living room for about half an hour before everyone went back to their rooms to sleep.
After removing her makeup and putting on a sheet mask, Chen Die leaned on the bed, spacing out.
She thought about messaging Wen Liang to ask how things were going, but then realized he was probably still on the plane and had a lot to deal with. He probably didn’t have time to check messages.
She’d always thought she understood Wen Liang well.
But with Wen Huaiyuan’s sudden health crisis, she found it hard to imagine exactly what he might be feeling.
In the end, she didn’t send a message. After tossing and turning with insomnia for a few hours, she finally fell asleep.
The next morning, sunlight spilled into the room, falling hot on her eyelids, and Chen Die slowly woke up.
There was a single unread message on her phone from Ran Liming, asking if she was up—they were already preparing breakfast.
That’s when she realized she’d somehow slept until almost 10 a.m.
She quickly got out of bed, only dabbed on some lipstick, and went out.
“Hey, finally awake,” Li Cong said with a smile, raising his hand. “We were just debating who should go break into the girls’ room to wake you up.”
“I didn’t think I’d sleep this long,” Chen Die said, rubbing her face as she sat down on the cushion beside the low table. Ran Liming brought over the breakfast they’d just made.
Chen Die thanked him.
While eating, she sent Zhu Qicong a message to ask about Wen Huaiyuan’s condition. At the same time, Ye Chuqing sent her a photo.
Ever since they had attended that fashion show together, she and Ye Chuqing had strangely gotten closer.
The photo showed two little boys standing outside a classroom, with a sign above reading “Class 3-4.”
They seemed to be being punished.
The boy on the right had wet black hair, slouched lazily against the wall with his hands in his pockets. The boy on the left had his chin raised, his expression indifferent—cold and impatient.
Both of their uniforms were dirty.
[Ye Chuqing: Recognize who this is?]
Chen Die stared at the boy on the left for a long moment, slightly stunned.
[Chen Die: Wen Liang?]
Of course, she recognized Wen Liang.
His eyes were distinctive—you could already see the early traces of his features back then.
He had double eyelids, but they were narrow, so when he looked up, they’d bunch into a shallow fold that split at the outer corner.
His gaze had always been distant and cold, like there was no warmth—giving people the feeling of arrogance and rebellion.
[Ye Chuqing: Bingo. What about the one on the right?]
Only then did Chen Die take a closer look at the boy on the right. Zooming in, he did seem familiar. She frowned and guessed:
[Chen Die: Chen Shao?]
[Ye Chuqing: Hahahaha I can’t believe you recognized him! A friend sent it to me—I’m dying. Chen Shao was such a little dumbass even back then.]
Chen Die had heard from Fang Ruan that recently, because of some upcoming film projects this year, Ye Chuqing and Chen Shao had to stay in contact. At first, Ye Chuqing had been furious with Chen Shao. But since Ye Chuqing wasn’t someone to mess with either, it eventually turned into Chen Shao being the one to suffer during every meeting.
[Chen Die: I remember Chen Shao saying before that the two of them were in the same schools from kindergarten all the way through university.]
[Ye Chuqing: What a fate. They don’t even look like they’d know each other.]
[Chen Die: Probably just a personality mismatch. Just look at them—doesn’t seem like they’d get along.]
Ye Chuqing replied with a big thumbs-up emoji.
[Ye Chuqing: You’re absolutely right—one mountain can’t hold two dumbasses.]
The second two-day recording of <Three Meals a Day> wrapped up, and Chen Die hurriedly rescheduled her flight to leave earlier and rushed to the airport.
Zhu Qicong seemed extremely busy—he still hadn’t replied to her.
At 8 p.m., she arrived at Yan City Airport.
Chen Die walked out of the airport quickly, about to hail a cab, when she got a call from Chen Shao.
“Hello?” Chen Die answered.
Chen Shao: “Are you at the airport?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I just got back too, I’ll drop you off—on the way.” His voice suddenly faded a little, probably because the driver was talking to him. Then he added, “Hey, I see you. Wait there, I’ll have the driver swing around.”
And then he just hung up.
A moment later, the car pulled up. Chen Shao rolled down the window and looked at her. “Get in.”
Chen Die paused, leaned over to the window, and said, “I need to go somewhere else.”
“The hospital, right?” Chen Shao raised an eyebrow and nailed it.
“......”
Chen Die pressed her lips together, but before she could say anything, Chen Shao gave her a sideways look and said, “What are you going to do, show up like this at the hospital? His stepmother and half-brother are definitely there too.”
“But…”
Chen Shao opened the door and pulled her into the car. “But what? Come on, have a little self-respect, sis. You going there alone right now—who knows what kind of passive-aggressive crap that stepmom might throw at you.”
Chen Die knew everything he said made sense. After all, by blood, she was still part of the Chen family, and the ties between the two families were complicated—especially since she and Wen Liang weren’t even officially together yet.
She lowered her head. She knew she didn’t have much standing here and said softly, “But I just don’t want to leave him there alone.”
Chen Shao paused, turned to glance at her seriously, and casually said, “Don’t spoil him too much. You’re the one who should be getting spoiled.”
Chen Die looked up at him.
Before she could say anything, her phone rang. It was Zhu Qicong. She answered immediately.
“Miss Chen, sorry, I just saw your message,” Zhu Qicong said.
Chen Die: “How are Wen Huaiyuan and Wen Liang?”
“The surgery just finished. He’s stable for now, but we need to monitor his recovery,” Zhu Qicong said quickly. “Mr. Wen doesn’t have time to check his phone—there’s still a lot to handle, both company and family matters.”
Even though Chen Die had never met Wen Huaiyuan in all her years with Wen Liang, she finally let out a sigh of relief at that moment.
“Feel better now?” Chen Shao had overheard the call. “He’s too busy to pay you any attention right now. I’ll take you home first.”
“Okay.”
Once they were on the elevated expressway, Chen Die finally began to relax.
It wasn’t until much later that she had the mental space to think about Chen Shao’s earlier behavior. It was all out of concern for her—just from a more rational, outsider’s perspective.
“Oh right,” Chen Die said, pulling out her phone and opening the photo Ye Chuqing had sent her earlier. “Take a look.”
Chen Shao had been lounging lazily but glanced down at the photo, froze for two seconds, then suddenly burst out, “What the hell—who sent you that?”
“Ye Chuqing.”
“That crazy woman—where’d she even get that?”
Chen Die shrugged. “Didn’t know you and Wen Liang shared a ‘punishment corner’ history.”
Chen Shao snorted twice.
Back then, the relationship between the Chen and Wen families wasn’t nearly as awkward as it is now. They were never super close, but there were unavoidable business ties—they were considered partners.
There were only a few elite private schools in Yan City, and since Chen Shao and Wen Liang were the same age, it wasn’t too surprising they’d always gone to the same schools.
Wen Liang had always been… different.
While other kids were still into silly little games, Wen Liang already stood out from the crowd.
And Chen Shao had always had a problem—he hated going with the flow. Even if he liked something, he'd lose interest once everyone else liked it too.
At the time, he had really liked Wen Liang as a classmate.
Back then, little Chen Shao wasn’t as full of personality as he is now. He just followed his feelings. He trailed Wen Liang around every day, even though Wen Liang never once treated him like a friend. He tagged along like a little tail, happy as could be.
Wen Liang, despite not having many friends among his peers, was very popular with teachers.
First, because under Wen Huaiyuan, the Wen family business was booming, so of course teachers at elite schools treated him with care. Second, Wen Liang was naturally smart and always had good grades.
Chen Die hadn’t expected Chen Shao to tell her all this. She asked, “So that photo—your uniforms were so dirty. Were you guys fighting?”
“Pretty much. That was our first fight.”
“With who?”
Chen Shao didn’t answer her question right away. Instead, he said, “You don’t know—back in third grade, we were both ten. That was when Wen Liang’s mother had just passed away.”
Chen Die froze, her mouth opened slightly, but no sound came out.
She knew that Wen Liang’s mother had died young, and she knew it had something to do with his father. But she had never asked.
Back when Wen Liang had taken her home, there was a period when she felt like she was living under someone else’s roof. Even if she’d heard bits and pieces, she never felt like she had the right to ask what had really happened.
As time went on, she wasn’t sure whether she avoided the topic because it was too sad or simply because her curiosity faded—but she had never brought it up to Wen Liang.
“It was a pretty big deal in Yan City at the time,” Chen Shao continued. “The Wen family had just started making it big under Wen Huaiyuan. They were riding high on a major international project, and a lot of people were watching. Wen Liang’s mother died during that time—an overdose, suicide, at home. The whole city was talking about it.” He turned his head to glance at her. “You can imagine the kind of looks Wen Liang got from everyone after that.”
Chen Die suddenly felt a chill in her palms.
She couldn’t imagine how someone as proud as Wen Liang could endure the mix of pity and schadenfreude from others. And she didn’t even want to imagine how a child so young coped with his mother dying right there in his own home.
“You know how it is with elite private schools—most of the kids come from well-off families. Some are just spoiled, others are from families that compete with the Wen family. After hearing things at home, some kids had this natural hostility toward Wen Liang.”
“That photo you saw—that morning, someone came up to Wen Liang and mocked him. Kids are blunt, right? Basically, they laughed at him for not having a mom. Wen Liang didn’t say a word—just straight-up punched the kid.”
Chen Shao paused, his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as if he were a little embarrassed. Then he added, “And I joined him—we both beat the kid up.”
“......”
Chen Die couldn’t quite process all of it right away.
She had never really thought about the kind of pain Wen Liang must’ve carried as a child—not just losing his mother, but also dealing with the cruel words of others.
After a long moment, she asked quietly, “So that photo… was from when you two got punished after that fight?”
“Yeah. That lunatic fought like he didn’t care about living—knocked out the kid’s tooth. Thank God it was still a baby tooth, otherwise he’d have needed dentures in elementary school.”
Chen Die didn’t react to the joke. Her brows were tightly furrowed, her heart beating faster, as if she could somehow see that scene from years ago playing out in front of her.
“Back then, a lot of people wondered if this would break him for good. It happens—you go through something like that, lose yourself, drop out of school, start hanging with the wrong crowd.”
“And then?” she asked.
“There was no ‘then.’ He stayed the same—if anything, more intense than before. He never went looking for trouble, but he got into a few fights anyway. Eventually, people started to avoid him.”
Chen Die suddenly noticed the scar on Chen Shao’s neck.
Back when they first met, Chen Shao had pointed to that scar and said Wen Liang gave it to him.
But now, hearing all this, it seemed like the two of them should have become friends. Clearly, that wasn’t the case.
She raised her hand and pointed at it. “What about your scar?”
Chen Shao paused, then scoffed. “That was later—after we graduated college.”
Then he looked at her, slow and deliberate. “Because of you.”
Chen Die froze. “What?”
“Your ex-boyfriend cut your own brother’s neck open because of you,” Chen Shao said flatly.
Chen Shao and Wen Liang had never actually been friends. In the beginning, he had been curious— followed Wen Liang around, even helped him in a fight— but Wen Liang never responded.
Chen Shao, having grown up spoiled, didn’t have the patience for someone like that. Eventually, they just drifted apart.
As for the scar—bad luck, really.
As adults, they moved in completely different circles. But Wen Liang was an odd one. Even something like him bringing a strange girl home became gossip-worthy.
It happened at an archery range. One of Chen Shao’s friends happened to recognize Chen Die, and the group started cracking crude jokes.
They didn’t mean real harm, and certainly wouldn’t have done anything—but Chen Shao, who already knew Chen Die’s true identity, just stood by casually, listening.
None of them noticed when Wen Liang walked in.
He didn’t say anything when he heard them. Just picked up a bow, aimed.
Chen Shao was the first to notice that Wen Liang wasn’t aiming at him—but at one of the guys who had been speaking. On reflex, he yanked the guy aside.
And that’s how the arrow sliced his neck.
The arrows at the range had been modified—non-lethal, but still sharp enough to hurt at close range. It cut his neck open right there.
But Chen Shao had no intention of telling anyone that ridiculous story in full.
The driver pulled up to the entrance of the complex.
Just before getting out, Chen Die asked, “Why did you tell me all this?”
Chen Shao said, “Because your dear brother here is both gorgeous and kind-hearted.”
“......”
Chen Die lost interest in responding to him.
She muttered a brief thank you before getting out of the car. As soon as the door slammed shut, Zhu Qicong called again.
He never called her for no reason.
A sudden, unpleasant premonition rose in her chest.
She answered the phone, but couldn’t find her voice.
Zhu Qicong spoke calmly, “Miss Chen, Old Master Wen passed away just now. Despite all efforts, the rescue was unsuccessful.”
The early spring night still carried a biting cold, the chilly wind creeping up her pant legs. The last bloom of the early spring plum tree was swept off by the wind, landing in the muddy dirt.
Chen Die’s hand, still holding the phone, slowly fell to her side.
For the first few seconds, her mind was completely blank. She didn’t know what to do, especially after hearing about Wen Liang’s childhood from Chen Shao.
It was Chen Shao who first noticed her change in expression. He rolled down the window and leaned out to ask, “What’s wrong?”
Chen Die didn’t know how to answer. She was frozen, just staring at Chen Shao.
Her eyelashes trembled, and suddenly tears started falling.
The tears came so suddenly and inexplicably that even Chen Shao was startled. He quickly opened the car door, pulled her back inside, and told the driver, “Take us to Yan City Hospital.”
Chen Die was startled by her own tears. She hastily wiped them away.
Chen Shao clicked his tongue impatiently, handing her a tissue. “What the hell are you crying for?”
“Thank you.” Chen Die took the tissue and gently pressed it to her eyes.
“You’re crying like something happened to Wen Liang,” he said, his tone mocking.
Chen Die, without thinking, raised her hand and punched him on the arm. It made a loud slap, and she glared at him. “Do you ever think before you speak?”
Chen Shao snorted with a smile. “I really don’t get it. Wen Huaiyuan just passed away, and you’re crying like this. Wen Liang probably wouldn’t even shed a tear, and here you are, sobbing.”
Chen Die couldn’t understand why she was suddenly crying either.
But she wasn’t in the mood to figure it out. The driver sped ahead, and finally, ten minutes later, they arrived at Yan City Hospital.
Chen Die thanked Chen Shao again, hurriedly running into the hospital. As she ran, she quickly put on a mask and hat.
She didn’t dare take the elevator. She pushed open the stairwell door and rushed up the stairs.
She couldn’t explain why, but she just wanted to see Wen Liang as soon as possible.
Now, she felt more confident. She thought maybe, just maybe, seeing her would make Wen Liang feel a little better.
After running up to the sixth floor, she was breathless, sweating from the run in the chilly air, and her palms were clammy, though cold.
As soon as she pushed open the stairwell door, she collided with someone.
Zhu Qicong quickly steadied her. When he saw her face, he paused for a moment. “Miss Chen?”
At the same time, Fu Wanmei and Wen Qian, who were standing ahead, turned to look at her, followed by several other relatives of the Wen family and company shareholders.
They all stared at her.
Fu Wanmei furrowed her brows. Her face was tear-streaked, but her attire was overly luxurious, giving off a certain coldness that made her look almost harsh.
She looked at Chen Die for a while, about to speak and dismiss her, when the elevator behind her dinged and opened.
Chen Shao stepped out, walked directly to Chen Die’s side, and gently placed a hand on her back.
Chen Die unconsciously straightened her posture.
Chen Shao nodded slightly, smiling at Fu Wanmei. “Mrs. Wen, my condolences.”
Those five words shut Fu Wanmei up.
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