Delicate Beauty in the Palm : Chapter 66 - Dad-Figure Like Boyfriend
Chapter 66: Dad-Figure Like Boyfriend
Chen Die didn’t see the video Ye Chuqing sent her right away, because at that moment, the entire cast had already changed into costumes and was getting ready to go on stage. All their phones had been turned off.
Meanwhile, the hashtag #WenDieRelationshipExposed# skyrocketed, quickly surpassing the original #Fanny's Vlog# to take the number one trending spot.
The following hashtags were right behind it:
#WenLiangSuccessfullyChasedHisWife#
#TragicLoveStory#
#ChenDieCaughtKissingInCinema#
When Fang Ruan noticed the trending topic, Chen Die was already on stage.
Fans, eager to confirm whether the man kissing Chen Die was really Wen Liang, turned into ‘microscope detectives’ and flooded the internet with analysis posts.
When the man in the vlog raised his hand, his sleeve pulled back, revealing a glimpse of a wristwatch. Some fans quickly realized that Wen Liang had worn the same watch in a previous finance interview.
After zooming in and comparing the styles, they concluded it was likely the same model.
Others compared heights and concluded that the man’s height in the vlog matched Wen Liang’s.
[It’s Wen Liang, right?! It’s gotta be Wen Liang!!]
[If this really happened during the final season of <Three Meals a Day,> then it’s been months already! And that was even before the Film Night event — but during Film Night they acted so heart-wrenching!]
[Damn, my cool and aloof Sister Die looks so soft in the video!]
[AAAAAA all the dating reality shows, hurry up and invite them!!]
[This is one for the history books. Is my WenDie ship finally delivering real sugar?!]
[Wuwuwuwu Chen Die was way too low-key, I’m spamming Wenyuan’s official account right now, begging for some sweet couple content! We’re starving out here!!]
……
Meanwhile, completely unaware of all the brewing chaos, Chen Die was still chatting and joking with the crew on stage.
Huang Sheng stood in the center, with Chen Die and Xue Mu standing on either side of her.
The host opened with the usual greetings and introductions, then turned to Chen Die with a smile: “When everyone watched the trailer, there was a very emotional confession scene from <A-Xiao>. Could we ask Chen Die to recreate that moment with Xue Mu live on stage?”
These kinds of male-female lead interactions were common in film promotions.
Chen Die had been told about this question in advance, so she had memorized the lines again and walked with Xue Mu to the center of the stage.
Holding the microphone, she looked at Xue Mu and delivered her lines.
Just as she finished, a fan in the crowd suddenly shouted: “WenDie is real!!”
Chen Die: “......”
Although most of her fans shipped her with Wen Liang, and even the solo stans didn’t seem to mind her dating, usually in public events, fans would keep it low-key.
What’s going on today…?
Then another fan shouted: “Chen Die, you’re heartless!!”
The crowd immediately erupted into laughter.
Not just Chen Die’s fans, but even fans of other actors who knew what was going on were laughing too.
Chen Die: ???
Did she lose her memory or something?
What exactly happened??
Even the host clearly knew something, grinning with a gossipy expression. But just as he was about to say something, a shrill alarm suddenly sounded across the campus, the lights flickered, and the ground trembled violently.
Chen Die, wearing high heels, lost her balance and stumbled.
Xue Mu, standing right next to her, reacted quickly and caught her.
Yan City was a place with very stable conditions, with almost no natural disasters. Chen Die was completely unfamiliar with this sensation. However, the host, being a local from S City, immediately realized what was happening. Grabbing the microphone, he shouted: “It’s an earthquake! Everyone, exit calmly through the emergency exits — no stampede!”
Fang Ruan ran onto the stage and grabbed Chen Die: “Let’s go!”
Without time to think, Chen Die was dragged along in a run.
The lights hanging from the ceiling of the auditorium trembled and fell, shattering into pieces on the floor, drawing terrified screams from the crowd.
Luckily, right outside the auditorium was a large open area. Soon, more students flooded out from another building.
Still panting, Fang Ruan turned to Chen Die: “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Chen Die shook her head: “I’m fine.”
But when she turned around, she saw that Zeng Liya’s leg had been cut by flying shards of glass, leaving a gash with bright red blood flowing down her ankle.
Not just her — many fans were injured too, and the earthquake was still ongoing.
Wen Liang had just landed in another province for a business trip. As he was about to send a message to Chen Die, he received a news alert — a 6.1 magnitude earthquake had struck S City.
He froze mid-step, his expression immediately darkening.
Zhu Qicong, following behind, stopped as well and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong, Mr. Wen?”
Wen Liang didn’t answer. Instead, he immediately called Chen Die. After a few rings, no one picked up.
Due to the earthquake, airport operations were affected. Aftershocks were still ongoing in S City, and all flights to S City had been suspended.
“Apply for a private flight to S City immediately. As soon as possible,” Wen Liang ordered, face grim.
At the same time, Chen Die had missed Wen Liang’s call simply because all the cast members who had gone on stage had left their phones backstage in the auditorium's resting room. The earthquake happened so suddenly that after escaping, everyone went straight to the hospital.
Zeng Liya’s leg injury had been bandaged.
Injured people kept arriving at the hospital one after another.
S City, being an earthquake-prone area, had swift rescue operations and a strong public awareness of emergency procedures, so fortunately, the consequences weren't too severe.
Chen Die had been running back and forth, helping injured fans get treated. It wasn’t until she finally had a moment to sit down that she realized she was still wearing her high heels — her heel was rubbed raw and bleeding slightly, and when she had twisted her ankle earlier, it had caused some light swelling.
The earthquake had been so sudden that she hadn't even noticed the pain until now.
She finally sat down to rest.
There were so many severely injured people — some with blood streaming from head wounds — that the hospital was in chaos. All the doctors and nurses were frantically busy. Chen Die, feeling embarrassed over her relatively minor injuries, didn’t want to trouble them and just sat quietly on a chair.
Fang Ruan came back with two cups of warm water and sat next to her.
“I didn’t have my phone with me either. The aftershocks have gotten much better now. Thankfully, all the school buildings are earthquake-resistant, so none of the fans seem to have been seriously hurt,” Fang Ruan said. “I’ve already asked someone to try retrieving everyone's phones from the backstage lounge. Don’t worry.”
Chen Die nodded.
Compared to her previous experience of being kidnapped, this natural disaster made her even more shaken.
Especially seeing the endless stream of injured people being carried in, the air thick with the smell of disinfectant, and the heart-wrenching cries of children.
“Oh right, before you went on stage, something happened. I didn’t get a chance to tell you,” Fang Ruan suddenly said.
Chen Die pulled herself out of her thoughts: “What is it?”
“Your relationship with Wen Liang has been exposed.”
“Huh?”
Fang Ruan, having already seen the fans’ reactions, wasn’t too worried. Even though the antis would definitely find something to criticize, at Chen Die’s current level of fame, relationship news would cause a stir no matter when it came out.
Fang Ruan briefly explained everything that had happened, then said, “It’s probably impossible to hide it now. Think about how you want to make it official.”
Chen Die: “……”
No wonder the fans had reacted like that during the movie promotion earlier.
Oh, right.
Wen Liang.
Chen Die suddenly snapped out of the earthquake daze and remembered that Wen Liang should be in another province by now.
She didn’t know if he had already landed or if he had seen the news about the earthquake.
She looked around and spotted a public phone at the nurses’ station, though there was already a long line of people waiting.
Chen Die said a word to Fang Ruan, then went and queued up at the end of the line.
Given the circumstances, even when people recognized Chen Die, no one was particularly eager to crowd her. She just drew a few curious glances without causing much commotion.
The middle-aged man ahead of her was trying to call his elderly parents to check if they were safe.
When the call didn’t go through, he broke down into tears, frantically redialing while covering his mouth to muffle his sobs.
Unable to bear watching, Chen Die looked away.
But to her surprise, standing here in S City, she ran into someone she thought she might never see again — Lin Quan.
Lin Quan was slightly injured, one leg bent and being helped inside by two nurses. As soon as she looked up, her gaze met Chen Die’s.
Chen Die was the first to look away.
It took another fifteen minutes before it was finally her turn to use the phone. She quickly dialed Wen Liang’s number, but again, no one answered. Chen Die frowned slightly but, seeing the long line behind her, she didn’t feel right redialing.
She went to the water station and poured herself a cup of water. Just as she finished, a voice came from behind: “Chen Die.”
She immediately recognized it — it was Lin Quan. Chen Die turned around without changing her expression.
Compared to the past, Lin Quan looked much more disheveled — her clothes were dirty in places, her hair at his forehead and neck was a messy tangle, and her injured leg had already been wrapped in bandages.
Chen Die gave her a quick glance, then wordlessly handed her the cup of water she had just poured.
Lin Quan froze for a second, then took it and said softly: “Thank you.”
Chen Die didn’t respond. She simply grabbed another disposable cup and poured herself a new one.
“Can I talk to you?” Lin Quan asked.
Chen Die replied, “I don't think there's anything left for us to talk about.”
Lin Quan stiffened, a flicker of emotion crossing her face. Then she reached out and grabbed Chen Die’s wrist.
There were too many people around, and under so many watchful eyes, Chen Die couldn’t directly shake her off. She frowned and asked in a low voice, “What exactly do you want?”
Most of the time, Chen Die had a very good temper; it was rare to see her so impatient with someone.
But she really didn't want to have any further entanglement with Lin Quan.
Lin Quan stepped closer, her voice almost pleading: “Just for a moment.”
Chen Die looked at her for a while, and finally gave a silent nod.
The two of them walked to a quiet corner where no one was around.
“Chen Ke and I have decided to get divorced,” Lin Quan said, pausing briefly before adding, “I suppose I should say ‘your father and I,’ but honestly, we've never fulfilled our duties as a couple all these years, so it’s more appropriate to put it this way.”
Chen Die had no objection to how she phrased it. She found it strange that Lin Quan would even bother mentioning this to her.
Did she really look like someone who would care whether they got divorced?
“When Chen Ke and I got married, it wasn’t out of love. It was just a business arrangement. Over the years, we never got along, and there was never real affection between us,” Lin Quan continued.
She didn’t spell out the deeper meaning behind those words, but Chen Die understood.
Because there was no love, Lin Quan never saw their biological daughter as a ‘symbol of their love’ either.
Maybe, after raising Chen Shuyuan for sixteen years, whatever mother-daughter bond they had was built purely out of living together day after day. So when she found out about Chen Die’s existence, she didn't feel much turmoil.
Lin Quan and Shen Yunshu were two extremes.
“It wasn’t until everything happened that I realized what kind of person Chen Shuyuan really is,” Lin Quan said.
“I later went to visit her in prison.”
Chen Shuyuan had lashed out at Lin Quan.
She had given up on herself completely. Having been dragged into the police station by Chen Shao, abandoned by Old Master Chen and Chen Ke, and now with even Lin Quan doing nothing for her, Chen Shuyuan had exploded.
She accused the Chen family of kicking her when she was down, of using the situation as an excuse to cast her aside and make way for Chen Die’s return — that everything was done for Chen Die’s sake.
She even said that Lin Quan had never truly treated her like a daughter.
Lin Quan had been furious.
She had already been angry at Chen Shuyuan for secretly contacting her biological parents and transferring Chen family money to them, and now, hearing her ungrateful accusations, Lin Quan had turned and left without another word.
Now, nearly fifty years old, Lin Quan had suddenly seen things clearly.
She would divorce, give up any claim to the Chen family's fortune, and rely on the Lin family's connections to start anew in S City — though she hadn't expected to encounter an earthquake.
Leaning against the wall, Lin Quan took a sip of water and said, “Later on, I also found out that when you were in high school, Chen Shuyuan used to bully you. I never knew…”
Chen Die lifted her eyes slightly, the corners of her mouth curving into a self-mocking smile, but she said nothing.
“Back then, I only heard Chen Shuyuan’s side of the story. From her perspective... it was a completely different version. I was biased against you. I’m sorry. I apologize.”
Chen Die suddenly laughed coldly: “What, she told you that I was the one bullying her?”
“She was only a high schooler at the time. And you, an adult, couldn’t even tell right from wrong? Even if you didn’t know me, you should’ve at least had some understanding of your daughter’s character. But you were only concerned with protecting her, indifferent to everyone else. So now you stand here making this grand apology — what’s the point?”
Lin Quan froze.
She had never imagined that Chen Die would say such things.
There’s a saying: ‘The child who cries the loudest gets the candy.’ It was true for Chen Die and Chen Shuyuan as well.
Back at the train station, when Chen Shuyuan sat on the ground crying her heart out, Chen Die had stood silently.
All these years, Chen Die had always been like that.
So much so that Lin Quan had grown used to it, and stopped considering Chen Die’s feelings altogether — after all, she never cried.
Chen Die lowered her eyes, her voice calm: “My entire life has been messed up by you all.”
“But standing here now, looking back — it’s fortunate. If Chen Shuyuan hadn’t rushed over at the train station, I wouldn't have met Wen Liang and left with him. Otherwise, I wouldn't be who I am today.”
“I know you never saw me as a daughter. I'm stubborn, too. Since you never treated me like your child, I’ve never treated you like my mother. I suppose that’s fair.”
“So from now on, let’s keep it this way.”
Chen Die took a sip of water. It had already gone cold, and so had her hands: “Having a biological mother like you — I’d rather have been an orphan from the start.”
Lin Quan stood there stunned, unable to find any words.
Chen Die spoke very calmly, still without tears, as if she were merely stating a fact — yet Lin Quan suddenly realized just how cruel she had been all these years.
“Chen Die…”
She reached out again, trying to grab Chen Die’s hand, but Chen Die moved slightly and avoided her.
Chen Die lowered her eyes to glance at the bandages wrapped around Lin Quan's leg. In the end, she said, “Your leg is like that, go sit down,” and pushed the door open, walking away.
Chen Die didn't want to forgive her.
After Old Master Chen apologized to her, she could now face him calmly — but with Lin Quan, it was different.
Perhaps the Chen Die who used to live in Wuxi would have softened and forgiven Lin Quan. But now, the pride in her was something Wen Liang had nurtured in her, carefully and little by little.
She had lived with Wen Liang since she was sixteen. Much of her current temperament and stubbornness was shaped by him.
She was not someone who was endlessly kind. Lin Quan had never shown her any kindness — so why should Chen Die forgive her just because of a meaningless ‘I'm sorry’?
Chen Die walked outside.
Having said those things, she felt much lighter, but the sense of relief almost went too far — it left a hollow emptiness inside her, hard to describe, as if a hole had been ripped open and a cold wind blew right through, chilling her fingertips.
She kept her gaze lowered, not even noticing the noise and commotion around her.
Until, all of a sudden, she was pulled backward by a strong force. Chen Die stumbled back due to the momentum but was caught tightly by someone's arms around her waist.
A warm embrace enveloped her, and the hollow feeling inside her instantly disappeared.
Chen Die’s eyes widened. Seeing Wen Liang appear so suddenly, she froze — there were already people around them taking photos.
“Goddammit,” Wen Liang swore under his breath, “Why is there always so much shit going on every damn day?”
Chen Die: “...”
Seeing his reaction, Chen Die immediately understood: he must have seen the news and rushed over.
But seriously, what kind of opening line was that?
For a moment, Chen Die forgot about the crowd around them. She slowly wrapped her arms around his back, patting him gently as if to soothe him: “Why did you suddenly come over?”
“Couldn't get through to your phone,” Wen Liang said, his voice muffled against her neck.
“Ah... I left my phone at the auditorium after the promotional event. I called you using the hospital phone, but your phone was off,” Chen Die explained.
At that time, Wen Liang had just landed at S City’s airport. When he turned his phone back on, he found a missed call from an unfamiliar number. He tried to call back, but the line was always busy.
Wen Liang reached out and ruffled her hair. Only now, upon seeing her safe and sound, did the tight knot in his chest finally loosen.
Ever since the kidnapping incident, whenever Wen Liang couldn't reach Chen Die, he would be consumed by extreme anxiety, gripped by the terror he felt back then.
“You're not hurt, are you?”
“No,” Chen Die shook her head, then remembered something. She lifted her foot slightly and said, “Ah, right, this part got scraped earlier.”
Wen Liang frowned. “How has it still not been treated after all this time?”
Whenever he pulled a straight face and furrowed his brows like that, he looked very fierce. Chen Die blinked and answered honestly: “The doctors were all busy earlier, and then I forgot.”
“Go sit down first,” Wen Liang said in a low voice.
Chen Die obediently nodded.
But then she froze mid-step.
She suddenly realized —
There was a whole crowd watching them, with people snapping photos everywhere. No doubt many photos were already being posted online.
Even though she already knew that her relationship with Wen Liang had been exposed, Chen Die still wasn't mentally prepared for so many people openly watching her being hugged and fussed over by him.
Her face flushed hot. Instinctively, she wanted to flee, and she ducked her head and hurriedly ran back into the lounge she had just come from.
Wen Liang quickly followed her inside. He had grabbed disinfectant, alcohol, and gauze tape from the nurse’s station. He knelt down on one knee in front of Chen Die, took her ankle gently, and placed her foot on his knee.
Chen Die felt awkward and tried to pull back, but Wen Liang tugged her foot back firmly.
He lifted his eyes, the corners of his eyelids folding into shallow creases, giving him a slightly impatient look: “Don't move."
Chen Die pressed her lips together and kept her head down, not daring to look anywhere else. She watched as Wen Liang dabbed a cotton ball with alcohol and began to disinfect her scraped skin. The sting was immediate, and Chen Die let out a hiss of pain.
She tried to pull her foot back again, but he kept it firmly in his grasp.
“It hurts, it hurts, be more gentle!” Chen Die complained.
Wen Liang gave a low scoff, mocking her: “Now you know it hurts? What the hell were you thinking wearing such high heels? Your foot’s already swollen.”
“It’s not like I had time to change shoes — the earthquake hit right in the middle of the event,” Chen Die grumbled, feeling a bit wronged, and tried to pull her foot away again. “Did you come all this way just to lecture me?”
Wen Liang ignored her grumbling. He let her pull her foot back, left the room briefly, and came back with a box of medicated patches.
Chen Die’s foot was swollen — earlier it had just been a small patch, but she hadn’t paid it much mind and kept walking around in heels. Now it was badly bruised and noticeably puffy, though thankfully it didn’t hurt too badly.
She watched Wen Liang tear open a patch, wrinkle her nose, and complain: “It stinks.”
Wen Liang didn't even bother responding. He simply slapped the medicated patch onto her foot.
“You're such a princess — whining about the pain from disinfecting, now whining about the smell of the medicine. Who spoiled you like this?”
Chen Die stretched out an index finger and lightly poked the patch on her foot: “Who else? You.”
Wen Liang chuckled softly.
Chen Die kept her head down, unsure how many people were pointing their cameras at them. But since their relationship was already exposed, she figured there was no need to hide anymore.
A little mischievous thought bubbled up inside her — a rare urge to show a little affection publicly.
She puffed out her cheeks slightly and muttered, “But it really does stink.”
Her voice was soft — it sounded like a complaint, but even more like she was acting cute.
She had only meant to get Wen Liang to coax her a little. But this damn guy not only didn't know what patience was, he had also completely forgotten how to coax someone after managing to win her over.
Wen Liang shot her a glance and said, “If you keep whining, I’m gonna slap it on your mouth instead.”
Chen Die: “???”
What the hell??
I was trying to be cute, not humiliate myself!
Chen Die rolled her eyes hard, decided she didn’t want to bother with him anymore, turned her face to the side, and shifted her body away — clearly drawing a line between them.
Wen Liang watched her little act and found it amusing, like a school kid drawing a boundary line.
He reached out and pulled her back: “Are you tired?”
“None of your damn business,” Chen Die shot back quickly.
Wen Liang said, “Talk nicely.”
“You flew all the way back just to scold me, huh?”
Wen Liang didn’t continue arguing with her and instead asked, “Do you still have anything else to do here? If not, let’s head back soon.”
After all, with an earthquake just happening, it wasn’t possible to continue any promotional activities.
“Nothing else,” Chen Die said. “Are we leaving now?”
“In a bit. Zhu Qicong is on his way over.”
“Didn’t he come with you?”
Zhu Qicong was practically glued to Wen Liang’s side every day — half of Wenyuan (Wen Liang's company) practically belonged to him already.
“Yeah, he stayed behind to meet with the other party’s representative before coming over.”
Chen Die paused, then asked, “Wait — you haven’t signed the contract yet?”
“No,” Wen Liang said bluntly, fiddling absentmindedly with her fingertips. “I had just landed when I saw the news about the earthquake in S City.”
“And you came straight here?”
Wen Liang glanced at her and said, “What else would I do?”
Soon after, someone from the crew brought over the phones that had been left behind in the auditorium.
The school auditorium had withstood the earthquake, but the tremors still caused some things to fall. Chen Die’s phone screen had a crack in it, but otherwise, it seemed fine.
Not long after, Zhu Qicong arrived too, carrying a bag. Wen Liang took it and pulled out a pair of flat shoes, bent down, and placed them by Chen Die’s feet: “Put these on.”
Chen Die slowly stepped into them.
The unhappiness she’d felt earlier because of Lin Quan quickly faded away.
Standing nearby, Zhu Qicong said, “The lunchboxes we prepared for everyone are outside.”
“Bring them in and hand them out,” Wen Liang replied.
Chen Die was puzzled. “What lunchboxes?”
Wen Liang pulled her up by the hand: “Can you walk by yourself?”
Chen Die nodded: “It doesn’t hurt that much.”
Once they were in the elevator, Wen Liang answered her previous question: “There are still a lot of your fans downstairs. I had Zhu Qicong buy lunchboxes so everyone on that floor could get something.”
Chen Die blinked at him and said, “Wen Liang, you’re actually acting like a human being today.”
Wen Liang: “......”
The two of them got into the car.
S City wasn’t far from Yan City, so Wen Liang drove them back.
During the ride, a call came through — probably the business partner they were supposed to meet today. Wen Liang connected through the car’s Bluetooth and briefly explained what had happened.
At the end of the call, he laughed and said, “No, it’s not a scandal. It’s real.”
Chen Die: “......”
While charging her phone through the car's USB port, Chen Die immediately received a bunch of messages asking if she was okay. After replying to them one by one, she opened Weibo. The number one trending topic was, of course, the earthquake in S City. But right under it were multiple trending tags about her and Wen Liang.
As she opened one of them, she asked Wen Liang, “Will the contract be affected?”
“No problem,” Wen Liang said casually. “I’ll just fly back in a few days to wrap it up.”
Chen Die nodded. The signal after the earthquake wasn't great, but the page finally loaded.
She froze — a little despair creeping up inside her.
The footage of her and Wen Liang at the hospital had already been posted by netizens.
She glanced back at the trending tag—
#WenLiang Dad-Type Boyfriend#
Chen Die’s vision darkened.
[What the hell! What the hell!! We were supposed to be a cool, angsty CP! How did it suddenly turn into this much sugar??]
[I'm about to get diabetes, aaaaahhh!!!]
[AAAAAAHHHHHH the old fans of WenDie CP are literally ascending right now (xз」∠) !!!]
[Hahahahaha I used to think Wen Liang was the pitiful one — I’ve been slapped in the face by reality so hard! Come, everyone, savor the classics from Wen Liang’s mouth: ‘Now you know it hurts,’ ‘You're such a princess,’ ‘Who spoiled you like this,’ ‘If you keep whining, I’m gonna slap it on your mouth instead.’ Respect. Seriously. The man is ruthless.]
[I really want to know — how the hell did WenDie even start dating?? Is there anyone who knows the inside story, please spill!!]
[Wen Liang, the man who sweetly spoils you with his actions but has a knife for a tongue — Seriously! A knife-mouthed, tofu-hearted, doting ‘father’ type boyfriend!!!]
Chen Die: “......”
And then, her so-called ‘doting father’ casually smacked her on the forehead and suddenly asked: “By the way, are we out of condoms at home?”
“?”
Is this… Is this really how a ‘doting father’ should talk???
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