Marry by Relying on Favor: Chapter 2 - In terms of looks, Wen Shuchen fully lived up to the title of ‘the most distinguished among the elite’
Chapter 2: In terms of looks, Wen Shuchen fully lived up to the title of ‘the most distinguished among the elite.’
Up on the third floor of Penglai Palace, a private room was bustling with activity.
This private club was the most prestigious in Jiangcheng, famously known as a lavish playground for the idle rich of the upper class. It offered strict privacy, and strangers were absolutely not allowed to intrude.
By the time He Qingchi arrived, she was already over an hour late. The staff recognized her and respectfully guided her to the private room.
As soon as she entered, she caught Qin Chuan’s attention. He waved enthusiastically. “Miss, you’ve finally arrived.”
Wearing high heels, He Qingchi walked over and, without a word, picked up a glass of alcohol from the glass coffee table and took a sip.
The drink was still in her throat, not yet swallowed, when suddenly her wrist was grabbed, and the glass was swiftly taken from her hand.
She looked up to see Qin Chuan raising an eyebrow. “Why are you drinking like it’s urgent? And you didn’t explain anything clearly over the phone either—damn! You didn’t commit a hit-and-run on the way here, did you?”
“……”
“Do I look like the kind of woman who shirks responsibility?” He Qingchi pulled her hand away irritably after catching her breath.
To prove her ‘innocence,’ she placed the black-and-grey business card she’d been clutching the whole ride onto the table and pointed at it with a fair finger. “I got the car owner’s contact info!”
“A business card?” Qin Chuan picked it up casually.
A second later, he stared at it in disbelief, thinking he must’ve read it wrong.
“Yeah…” He Qingchi didn’t notice anything unusual about Qin Chuan’s reaction. She sighed. “I swear I must be cursed lately. I haven’t even started filming yet and I already owe the production a ten-million-yuan penalty for breach of contract. And now I go out and crash into a luxury car worth millions…”
No one replied to that, but as she kept talking, her dark eyes began to glisten with tears.
She nearly burst into crocodile tears.
Feeling tired from standing, she went to sit on a leather sofa near the floor-to-ceiling window. When she turned and saw Qin Chuan still frozen, she snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Cat got your tongue?”
Qin Chuan suddenly snapped back to reality. Then, as if someone had injected him with adrenaline, he slapped her thigh excitedly. “This card says ‘Wen Shuchen,’ right?! I’m not hallucinating?!”
As the words fell, as if afraid of being overheard, the voice suddenly lowered: “Did you know who he was before you hit him? He’s the most distinguished among the elite!”
*
He Qingchi winced in pain from the slap, and the tears that were about to fall got forced right back.
Before she could beat up this ‘traitor’ in front of her, Qin Chuan couldn’t contain his excitement and continued:
—“Wen Shuchen, heir to the Wen Group. He’s been ranked the top of Jiangcheng’s elite circles for years. Do you know how many socialites dream of being in an arranged marriage with him?!”
—“He’s supposedly the only younger member of the Wen family with real power. He manages the family business and keeps an extremely low profile. Apart from necessary social events, he never appears at public functions. Only his bodyguards know his schedule!”
—“And you, stepping out and immediately crashing into him? That’s some divine-level blessing from Lady Luck!”
He Qingchi listened for quite a while, not knowing what kind of expression she should have.
“Outsiders know about Wen Shuchen like he’s a blank slate. In short…” Qin Chuan paused dramatically, examining the black-grey card with admiration. “Even judging by looks alone, his appearance could rival any top male celebrity.”
“……” He Qingchi gave him a look.
A grown man obsessing over another man he didn’t even know was… something.
“What kind of look is that?” Qin Chuan asked.
He Qingchi: “……” What do you think?
“I’m talking myself hoarse here and you’re not even a little starstruck?” Qin Chuan frowned and looked her over, then pulled out his phone and brought up a photo from a finance magazine. He showed it to her: “Missy, this is the guy you hit, right?”
In the photo on the lit-up screen, a tall, lean man stood beside a bookshelf wearing a finely tailored grey suit. His presence was more refined than any male model’s, and even in the close-up shot, every feature of his face was chiseled to perfection—it looked like a high-end artwork of a beautiful man.
Back during the car accident, the lighting inside the car had been dim and he hadn’t gotten out, so He Qingchi hadn’t really noticed what he looked like. But now that she saw clearly…
From his refined features, she could tell this man was a perfectionist who cared deeply about appearances.
She suddenly understood why Qin Chuan was so excited—despite being a man himself.
In terms of looks, Wen Shuchen absolutely lived up to the title of ‘number one elite.’
“Wait a sec—since you were the one who caused the accident, how come he gave you his business card?”
Qin Chuan finally circled back to the juicy part!
He Qingchi took two seconds to react. Her throat tightened like it was caught in a vice. She was not about to tell him anything.
The fact that Wen Shuchen had seen her phone’s very revealing lock screen? That mortifying moment was going to the grave. No one was allowed to bring it up. Ever.
Changing the subject, she scanned the room. Aside from a few pretty girls who worked at the club, the rest were all familiar faces—friends from Qin Chuan’s circle, either childhood buddies or family acquaintances.
A few of the rich young men present had originally planned to strike up a conversation with her, but Qin Chuan kept chatting with her excitedly without introducing her to anyone, so they didn’t dare interrupt.
He Qingchi withdrew her gaze and suddenly turned to Qin Chuan.
Their eyes met. Three seconds passed. They silently understood something.
“Daddy Qin!”
“What the hell—don’t break character like that!”
Qin Chuan jumped like he’d been electrocuted and tried to back away, but He Qingchi grabbed his arm with a fierce expression. “You think you can escape? Out with it—how much did my grandpa pay you to hold this disguised talent-scouting party here at Penglai Palace tonight?!”
"He Qingchi... that's not how a lady robs someone!"
“Daddy Qin, Daddy Qin, if you don’t give me some allowance, I’m going to be forced to sell my body! Can you really bear to see me, so young, being hounded by debt collectors?” He Qingchi said this as she tilted her face downward, her eyes fixed on the exposed section of her fair and slender knee beneath her skirt. Her long lashes hung low. She sounded pitiful, though there wasn’t a single tear in her eyes.
Still, it was a rare sight to behold.
Qin Chuan’s resolve wavered a little. He kept twirling the business card with ‘Wen Shuchen’ engraved on it between his fingers.
“Don’t worry…”
A moment later, he thumped his chest righteously in front of her. “Your big bro will take care of it for you!”
He Qingchi blinked.
—Huh? Take care of what?
*
Late that night, in the same district, outside a luxury suite at Tangshe Hotel, two well-trained bodyguards stood watch.
Wen Shuchen had just finished negotiating an investment deal. After returning to the hotel and changing into a clean suit, he went into the study to handle more work.
Since their boss was still working, his elite team didn’t dare rest either. They lingered in the living room ntil nearly 11:30 PM. At that point, someone started whispering idle gossip to kill time.
“I heard from the driver that President Wen got targeted by a female scammer—she crashed into his million-yuan luxury car just to get his contact info. Is that true?”
“He’s only been back in the country for a few days and someone already marked him?”
“You’ll have to ask Secretary Song. He’s the one who called the lawyers to handle the traffic accident tonight.”
Song Chao, overhearing his name, gave a slight frown. He was just as troubled.
In the past few years, President Wen had been expanding into European markets. Even though his reputation in the business world was legendary, he rarely appeared publicly in China. Now that he’d only been back a few days, how had word already gotten out? He hadn’t even returned to the family estate yet.
And their confidentiality had always been airtight.
Who had such insider intel? It made no sense.
—
The men in the living room joked brazenly about this ‘romantic encounter.’ With no women present, the gentlemanly filter was gone. Unbeknownst to them, the study door had been left slightly ajar—and every word outside drifted in.
Under the soft glow of the wall lamp, Wen Shuchen’s handsome face remained calm. He set down the fountain pen he’d been holding between his slender fingers.
Shao Qixiu, an old friend of many years, was seated on the sofa across from him. His eyebrows rose slightly. After a long night of dull business talk, a little gossip was just the thing to liven things up: “So that’s where the blood on your cuff came from. Are women in Jiangcheng really so desperate for your attention that they’re willing to crash into you just to get noticed?”
Wen Shuchen didn’t dignify the slanderous joke with a response.
But Shao Qixiu, experienced and always with a smirk, wasn’t about to let it go. “What’s her name?”
“Her surname is He,” Wen Shuchen said casually, as if they were simply chatting—his tone gave nothing away.
“He? There aren’t any wealthy He families in Jiangcheng.” Shao Qixiu looked surprised. His friend, who never showed interest in women, had actually remembered this one’s name. He pressed further, “She from an ordinary family?”
Wen Shuchen didn’t answer. He simply stood and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows. Tall and composed, he looked out at the glittering cityscape in silence, deep in thought.
Shao Qixiu lit a cigarette and said in a lazy, knowing tone, “If you’re interested, just go after her properly. Don’t start a one-sided Platonic crush like a monk—it’s pointless. The girl who crashed into you? I guarantee she’ll be the one to reach out first.”
Wen Shuchen turned, his brows lightly furrowed, just about to speak.
Just then, the phone on the coffee table lit up: [Hello Mr. Wen, I’m He...]
Shao Qixiu caught a glimpse of the beginning of the message, scoffed quietly with the cigarette still between his lips.
Wen Shuchen picked up the phone with his long fingers. A ripple stirred in his deep, obsidian eyes for a brief moment.
Shao Qixiu's smirk grew as he said, “So… the girl’s asking you to pick her up tonight, isn’t she?”
*
Originally unsure how long the meeting in the study would last, the restless men in the living room had ordered a table full of late-night snacks from the hotel’s front desk. One by one, they took off their suit jackets, rolled up their sleeves, and dug in.
Mid-meal, Wen Shuchen’s voice came from the study.
Song Chao stepped to the door and listened to the instruction.
After a brief pause, he replied,
“Yes, President Wen...”
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