Marry by Relying on Favor: Chapter 16 - You've already used Wen Shuchen—it's not like you can't switch to another man now
Chapter 16: You've already used Wen Shuchen—it's not like you can't switch to another man now
Before the hotel suite door closed behind the man, He Qingchi had been holding her emotions together well—until his last words shattered that composure. Her heart began beating out of rhythm in her chest, and when she placed her palm over it, she could feel each thud clearly.
Now alone in the living room, He Qingchi sat down on the soft carpet, hugging her knees. She slowly rested her forehead against them, and the ear visible beneath her black hair had already turned slightly red.
There were still things she couldn’t make sense of. After a few minutes, she ran her hand irritably through her hair, stood up, and went to look for her phone.
Leaning against the wall, she tapped on Qin Chuan’s WeChat profile picture and sent him a video call request.
It took a while for the video to connect. When it did, Qin Chuan’s enlarged face appeared on screen. He blurted out in surprise, “Who messed you up like this in the middle of the night?”
He Qingchi closed her eyes for a few seconds and replied, “And you have the nerve to say that to me?”
Qin Chuan was lying in bed half-dressed, and beside him was the vague silhouette of a young woman’s body, the blanket pulled tightly up to her shoulders. Only her long hair was visible. He Qingchi realized she’d probably called at the wrong time and was about to hang up.
“Wait—” Qin Chuan quickly stopped her, pulled on some pants, and stepped out of the bedroom.
He Qingchi kept her hand on the phone. Once he went into the kitchen and shut the door, she hesitantly asked, “Qin Chuan, do you believe in love at first sight?”
“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?” he said casually. “The girl lying in my bed—I fell for her at first sight tonight.” He pulled a beer from the fridge, opened it with one hand, and took a long swig, his Adam’s apple moving visibly as he drank.
He Qingchi was speechless at how shamelessly he could make picking up girls sound so poetic.
Resting her chin lightly on her knees, she hesitated for a while before finally speaking. “Wen Shuchen proposed to me tonight.”
Pfft!
Qin Chuan spit out his beer without mercy, scrambling to find tissues to clean up the mess while asking in shock, “Did Wen Shuchen mess you up and now he’s trying to take responsibility?”
He Qingchi glared at him. “You think every man is like you?”
Qin Chuan shamelessly teased, “It’s just a normal activity for men. If he didn’t have that kind of thought toward you, he wouldn’t be a man!”
“…”
He Qingchi and Wen Shuchen hadn’t even properly held hands yet. Qin Chuan’s line of thinking was completely foreign to her. “Then why would he want to marry me? Do I look like some traditional wife type or something?”
It wasn’t unreasonable for her to ask. The He family’s socialite image had been carefully cultivated, and she was quite sought-after in high society circles.
Qin Chuan glanced at her face through the video call and couldn’t help but ask, “Have you always misunderstood how good-looking you are?”
“…” He Qingchi just couldn’t understand what it was about her that would make Wen Shuchen want to jump straight to marriage.
A man like him—why would he want to settle down so young?
It just seemed like a bad deal for him.
Qin Chuan said, “Maybe it’s just time for him to get married.”
That explanation was much more realistic than some romantic notion of love at first sight.
He Qingchi didn’t respond, her long eyelashes lowered.
Qin Chuan asked, “Do you like him?”
“No!” she shot back without hesitation.
She distractedly brushed her fingers over the soft carpet and tried to reason her way out of it. “I’ve only known him for less than two months. We’ve seen each other fewer than five times, only had one meal together. How could I possibly like him?”
“But you’re used to having him around, right?”
Qin Chuan pressed on. “It takes seven days to form a habit. You’ve met five times. What about private contact? You’ve already gotten used to him quietly being in your world. Even if he’s not around, you can’t forget him. Even in this closed-off filming period, the investor behind the production is still him.”
What he said left He Qingchi with no room to argue.
Even though she hadn’t spoken to Wen Shuchen privately over the past couple of weeks while filming, she still heard people casually mentioning him around her.
“Whether Jiangcheng’s most eligible bachelor wants to marry you or have a secret affair, either way—it’s still a losing deal for him,” Qin Chuan continued. “You should seize this chance. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”
“… “ He Qingchi don’t even know what kind of face to make right now.
Qin Chuan added with a smirk, “Come on, you’re no saint. You used to swap out shirtless photos of guys with eight-pack abs like they were wallpapers. You’ve used Wen Shuchen—so what? It’s not like you can’t change to a different guy later.”
This time, He Qingchi ended the video call directly. This guy was getting more and more ridiculous.
She tossed her phone aside and buried her face in her knees again.
If she couldn’t make sense of it, then she just wouldn’t think about it. Besides, she hadn’t actually said yes to Wen Shuchen’s proposal.
She kept comforting herself like that for quite a while before finally getting up off the carpet and heading to the bathroom to shower and go to bed.
Even though Wen Shuchen had used the bathroom earlier, he had cleaned up thoroughly. Everything was neatly in its place. Even the white bathrobe he’d used was folded neatly in the laundry basket.
He Qingchi thought to herself—he really is a perfectionist.
But before she could smile, her eyes fell on something that made her freeze. Her lace slip dress—the one she wore to bed—was folded neatly and placed beside the suit he had changed out of. The sight of it sparked an unmistakable sense of intimacy.
Her dark eyes widened slightly. She vaguely remembered carelessly tossing it into the bathtub earlier.
Did Wen Shuchen actually pick up her sexy nightdress and fold it himself?
The thought of his long, cool hands touching her sleepwear made her cheeks burn. She quickly messed it up again, as if ruining its neatly folded appearance would erase the image from her mind.
Suppressing the strange feeling in her chest, she finished her shower and put on a new nightgown.
As she dried her damp hair, standing in front of the mirror, her eyes once again drifted toward his suit.
And suddenly, she realized—Wen Shuchen hadn’t taken his other suit with him!
A full, expensive men’s suit—tie included—was still sitting there in her bathroom.
He Qingchi didn’t dare touch it. Her expression grew increasingly complicated.
She gave up on drying her hair and, slipping on her slippers, hurried out to send him a message.
[Did you forget to take your other suit with you?]
By this time, Wen Shuchen had already returned to the hotel and replied unhurriedly: [I’ll come get it next time.]
He wants to come to her hotel room again next time?
He Qingchi bit her pale lower lip lightly, and her fingertips paused on the screen for a moment.
Then, a new message from Wen Shuchen arrived, politely asking her: [Can I officially pursue you starting tomorrow?]
He Qingchi stared blankly at those words. Even though he sounded gentle, it was clear that he couldn't hide the inherent assertiveness typical of men.
He wanted to pursue her formally, and yet still came to ask for her permission?
Was he really that obedient?
He Qingchi didn’t reply—she was afraid that if she replied ‘yes’ now.
Wen Shuchen would immediately follow up with another confession.
So instead, she put down her phone and decided to go to sleep.
……
The next day, the filming resumed at the usual time, not affected at all by last night’s dinner party. Everyone was busy until around noon when the morning shoot finally wrapped up.
Several actresses and assistants were chatting in the makeup room, gossiping as usual about the popular figures in the crew.
He Qingchi sat in front of the vanity removing her makeup, never participating in these conversations.
Everyone was already used to this cold, cheongsam-clad beauty. Given she didn’t even have a personal assistant, they had long lost interest in speculating how she managed to land the lead role in a major film.
Maybe it was that figure—what could the director do if he was taken with it?
Just then, a sunny young man politely knocked and entered the makeup room, holding a delicately wrapped pink rose. He cheerfully asked: “Who here is the leading lady?”
—Leading lady?
The room full of chattering women instantly fell silent. All eyes turned instinctively toward the quiet He Qingchi.
Even she was surprised, looking at the boy as he placed the flower in front of her: “A gentleman ordered this single pink rose from my flower shop and said it’s for the leading lady.”
In this movie, He Qingchi was the only person who could be considered the leading lady. It was obvious who the rose was for.
Hearing the title ‘leading lady,’ she immediately knew whose handiwork it was.
With so many people around, she couldn’t ask outright if it was from Wen Shuchen. She simply smiled and accepted it, signing for it. “Thank you.”
The boy didn’t linger and left quickly, escorted out by the crew.
The room was quiet for a moment. Then the third female lead sitting next to He Qingchi asked curiously: “Pink roses represent first love. So romantic! Leading lady—who in the crew sent it?”
—“Just one rose? The actress next door got a huge bouquet this morning. I suspect it was from one of the investors!”
Where there’s admiration, there’s also jealousy. Someone deliberately brought up Shu Tongyi to shift the spotlight.
He Qingchi lowered her head, looking at the vibrant rose. There was no card attached.
It was very much in line with Wen Shuchen’s low-key style.
She quietly listened as the others quickly shifted focus to Shu Tongyi’s massive bouquet of red roses, and their attention drifted away from her. She simply smiled slightly and admired her single bloom.
That afternoon, before wrapping up for the day, He Qingchi even asked a staff member for a glass vase to take back to the hotel.
She had received roses from men before, but always threw them away. This was the first time she actually wanted to care for one.
He Qingchi brought the rose back to the hotel. Carrying a single bloom into the elevator wasn’t nearly as flashy as Shu Tongyi’s bouquet.
They were neighbors in the hotel, always bumping into each other.
Inside the elevator, He Qingchi raised her eyes to glance at the elegant woman beside her—Shu Tongyi—and her assistant. Just as they were nearing their floor, He Qingchi spoke lightly: “Wen Shuchen told me your assistant found my bracelet?”
Shu Tongyi looked over and noticed that the pink rose was in the same hand where He Qingchi had worn the red beaded bracelet again.
He Qingchi had a faint smile on her face, but her words implied something deeper—there wasn’t a trace of gratitude in her tone.
Shu Tongyi’s assistant immediately lowered her head. The elevator dinged and opened slowly.
Neither of them stepped out. After a long pause, Shu Tongyi said coldly: “You first.”
Her assistant looked at her boss, then quickly bowed her head and left carrying the bouquet of red roses.
No matter the occasion, Shu Tongyi always appeared flawlessly composed. But her expression was cold now as she said: “Miss He, that bracelet isn’t yours.”
“So, is that why your assistant didn’t return it to me after picking it up?” He Qingchi chose her words carefully, using “picked up” to give Shu Tongyi some face—she wasn’t trying to start a scene.
In the He family, she was the eldest among her cousins and had always protected them. She’d grown up gentle and uncompetitive.
But that didn’t mean she’d let others take what was hers.
“My assistant just found it,” Shu Tongyi replied, her tone calm but unapologetic.
She had, after all, given the bracelet to Wen Shuchen, not returned it to He Qingchi.
He Qingchi’s red lips curved faintly: “Then it’s back with its rightful owner.”
A direct response to Shu Tongyi’s earlier remark that the bracelet wasn’t hers.
Shu Tongyi’s eyes turned cold. She asked: “Do you even know what that bracelet means?”
He Qingchi had only just met Wen Shuchen. How could she know about the man’s past?
She didn’t reply, and Shu Tongyi continued: “Wen Shuchen was kidnapped when he was about ten. The criminals demanded ten billion yuan from the Wen family, threatening to kill him if they didn’t pay. The Wen family kept the news tightly under wraps and spent a full month rescuing him. From that moment on, this red string has never left him—it’s protected him ever since.”
Shu Tongyi’s lips curved in mockery: “They say the Buddhist beads on that red string were blessed by a highly revered monk at the temple, arranged by Old Master Wen three years before he passed away. Wen Shuchen never parts with it. Miss He—just because you like it, you think you can take something that important?”
He Qingchi looked at Shu Tongyi in stunned silence. She hadn’t expected such a story behind what seemed like an ordinary bracelet.
Suddenly, the bracelet on her wrist felt heavy, almost scalding against her skin.
Having said her piece, Shu Tongyi left the elevator with her usual cool elegance.
He Qingchi stood still, staring at the red string around her wrist, remembering how she’d only looked at it once—and Wen Shuchen had immediately given it to her.
A bracelet he hadn’t taken off in years… Was it really less important than a woman he’d known for less than three days?
……
He Qingchi didn’t even remember how she got back to her room. She sat quietly on the sofa, her mind circling around what had happened.
She stayed like that until night fell and the sky turned dark outside the window before she finally came to her senses.
She reached out for her phone on the table, pulled up his contact.
He Qingchi took the initiative and called him without hesitation.
“Qingchi?”
His warm, pleasant voice came through the phone, calling her name clearly: “Did you like today’s rose?”
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