Delicate Beauty in the Palm : Chapter 83 - Brother Wen Liang
A row of dim yellow streetlights lit up the road. On this summer night, there were still quite a few tiny flying insects flitting in swarms among the bushes.
Yan City was a bustling place, but this street was far from any kind of entertainment venues, so even though it wasn’t very late, it felt unusually quiet.
Wen Liang was lazily leaning against a tree trunk, a cigarette between his fingers, talking on the phone.
On the other end, Xiao Shi was loudly rambling about something. Wen Liang took a deep drag from his cigarette, looking disinterested. He only responded blandly after Xiao Shi finished: “I’m not coming. I’ve got something else to do.”
“You just got out of the military camp today. What could you possibly have to do?” Xiao Shi assumed he was just making excuses.
Wen Liang was already out of patience and casually ended the call. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and looked across the street at a small restaurant.
The girl he had picked up at the train station was sitting at the wooden table by the door, eating small bites of food. Perhaps sensing his gaze, she paused with her chopsticks mid-air and suddenly straightened up, sitting properly, too afraid to continue eating.
Wen Liang faintly curled his lips into a smirk, then turned away to continue smoking, no longer looking at her.
He smoked slowly and unhurriedly. After finishing the cigarette, he stamped out the butt, stomped his feet on the ground a couple of times, and finally turned back and walked into the restaurant.
The girl had already finished eating. She set down her chopsticks and sat obediently in her seat.
Wen Liang walked up to her. “Finished?”
She nodded softly. “Mm.”
“Then why are you still sitting here?”
The girl’s face slowly turned red. She glanced at the restaurant’s proprietress and whispered like a mosquito, “I don’t have money to pay them. I left my luggage at the station.”
Wen Liang raised an eyebrow but didn’t say much. He went over and paid the bill.
When they stepped out of the restaurant, the street was still quiet.
The girl followed behind him the whole time. A cyclist passed between them, and she quickly stepped back to avoid the bike, looking very uneasy.
Wen Liang stopped by his motorcycle, handed her a helmet, and after securing his own, finally remembered to ask, “What’s your name?”
She struggled to put on the helmet with two delicate fingers propped under her chin. Her mouth moved but her voice was muffled inside the helmet—Wen Liang couldn’t hear her clearly.
“What?”
She swallowed nervously and tried her best to raise her voice: “Chen Die.”
That was how Chen Die ended up living in the villa on the western outskirts. A few weeks later, life gradually returned to normal, and she began attending school in Yan City.
Wen Liang didn’t come back often, and Chen Die didn’t dare ask where he went. Every morning, after breakfast, she would take the subway to school on her own and return the same way in the afternoon.
She had nowhere else to go. She couldn’t return to Wuxi, nor did she want to go to the Chen family. Living in the western suburbs villa made her feel on edge—she was terrified that one day Wen Liang would grow tired of her and kick her out, leaving her homeless.
Fortunately, even after that anxious period passed, she was still living there. Aunt Zhang took care of her daily needs, and no one treated her coldly.
In terms of material comfort, she was even better off than she had been in Wuxi.
She had lived in the villa for a long time but could count the number of times she saw Wen Liang on her fingers.
When he did come home, it was usually in the middle of the night after she’d already gone to bed, or when she left for school early in the morning, he hadn’t yet woken up.
They didn’t really become familiar with each other until half a year later, at the end of the year.
On the night of December 31st, the school held a New Year's Eve gala. The whole 11th grade was to put on six performances, not necessarily by class. Chen Die joined a few girls from a neighboring class to perform a dance and was selected.
That evening, during the last self-study session, the group of girls went early to do makeup and change costumes.
They wore stage makeup—heavy blush and glittery eyeshadow. Their hair was tied up, revealing their slender, fair necks, and they wore wide-sleeved dance dresses in shades of pink and white.
Since transferring to this school, Chen Die had gotten a lot of attention for her beauty. Now, dressed like this, she attracted even more. Someone took a photo of her, and it quickly spread among the boys.
By the time the New Year’s gala ended, it was already past 10 PM.
Yan City’s subway shut down at 10:30, and since Chen Die’s performance was the finale, she didn’t even have time to change out of her costume. She hurriedly told her friends she was leaving and ran out of the gymnasium, afraid she’d miss the last train.
That day, Wen Liang had gone back to the Wen family’s main house. As usual, he had a falling-out with Wen Huaiyuan and stormed out. Not wanting to hang around his usual crowd of aimless friends, he ended up driving to the school gates without realizing it.
He remembered Aunt Zhang had mentioned that Chen Die had school activities and would be home late today.
By the time he arrived, the school bell had just rung. Many private cars were already outside, picking up students. Wen Liang parked his car across the street and leaned against the door, letting the wind blow over him.
Soon, students began pouring out.
Most of them walked out hand-in-hand, chatting and laughing.
Wen Liang lazily scanned the crowd and spotted Chen Die almost immediately—she looked different from the other students.
She was still wearing that pink and white dance dress underneath a drab gray school uniform jacket. Her skin glowed faintly in the night.
Just as he was about to walk over, two boys ran up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.
Wen Liang paused in his tracks, smirking faintly as he crossed the street via the crosswalk.
As he got closer, he heard one of the boys scratching his head and saying, “Chen Die, can I ask for your QQ number? Your phone number is fine too.”
Chen Die was in a hurry to catch the last train, so she quickly said, “Sorry, I’m in a rush.”
“It’s already after school.” The boy clearly didn’t believe her and grabbed her elbow. “I really like you. My name is Zhang Yingyuan, I’m a senior, one grade above you. Can we get to know each other? Don’t always refuse to even give me a contact.”
Chen Die was anxious and couldn’t help but let out an “Ouch,” then said, “I really have something to do. Don’t hold me.”
The boy was amused by her soft Jiangnan-accented “Ouch” and smirked a little roguishly. “Then give me a reason for rejecting me.”
“I don’t like you.”
“Do you like someone else?”
Chen Die was only focused on leaving and impatiently replied, “Yes,” before yanking her arm free and running toward the subway station.
She had already wasted so much time.
She really didn’t want to walk back to the villa in the western suburbs late at night.
But just as she ran a couple of steps with her head down, she suddenly bumped hard into someone. Holding her forehead, she quickly said, “I’m sorry,” and when she looked up, she saw Wen Liang’s face.
She froze.
Still holding her forehead, she stared at Wen Liang blankly for a while before muttering, “Brother Wen Liang?”
“Yeah.”
Wen Liang looked down at her coolly, then glanced over her shoulder at the two boys behind her.
Chen Die followed his gaze and suddenly remembered what she had just said.
“Do you like someone else?”
“Yes.”
When had Wen Liang gotten behind her…
Hopefully, he hadn’t heard that part…
Her heart thumped nervously, terrified the boy behind might shamelessly come over again and ask who she liked. Without thinking, she grabbed Wen Liang’s arm and started walking forward.
It was the first time in the six months they’d known each other that she’d done something like that. Wen Liang glanced at her hands but said nothing, letting her lead him away.
“My car’s across the street,” he said.
“…Oh.”
Just in time for the green light, they crossed the crosswalk. Only then did Chen Die realize she was still holding his arm and quickly let go.
They said nothing on the drive back to the villa in the western suburbs.
“Thanks, Brother Wen Liang… for picking me up,” Chen Die said politely.
Wen Liang didn’t respond. He opened the door and went inside, turning on the lights in the living room. Only then did he clearly see the makeup on her face.
It was heavy, stage makeup that looked rather cheap, but on Chen Die, it made her appear dazzling and radiant, no longer the subdued girl she usually was.
Wen Liang watched as she took off her coat. The dance dress was cinched at the waist, emphasizing her budding figure, and her legs were slender and straight.
That’s when he realized—she wasn’t a little kid. She was already sixteen.
Chen Die patted her cheeks. “Brother Wen Liang?”
He had been staring at her waist, completely distracted. At her voice, he snapped out of it. “Hmm?”
“Then I’ll go upstairs now. You should rest early too,” she said softly.
“Mm.”
Chen Die fled to her room like she was escaping.
Thank goodness, she thought. Wen Liang hadn’t heard her admit she liked someone. If he had asked, she wouldn’t have known how to explain.
The next day was the New Year holiday.
Chen Die slept in a bit and started doing homework after getting up. She only came downstairs at lunchtime.
It was rare for Wen Liang to be home. Her footsteps paused on the stairs when she saw him. She tiptoed downstairs quietly.
“You slept that long?” Wen Liang asked first.
Chen Die stiffened. “...No, I was doing homework.”
She pulled out a chair and sat down. After eating for a bit, she told him about her interest in becoming an art student. Wen Liang didn’t object—if she wanted to, she could.
At the end, he teased, “What, the person you like is going into the arts too?”
Chen Die was drinking porridge and immediately choked, face flushing red. After a long while, she finally explained, “I don’t like anyone. I just said that to get that guy to leave me alone yesterday.”
But with her blushing cheeks and that explanation, it didn’t sound very convincing.
Wen Liang only gave a short laugh.
Chen Die wanted to explain further but didn’t know how, so she gave up.
Still, after that, things between them grew a little more familiar. Chen Die wasn’t as afraid of being near him as she used to be.
She was like a conqueror advancing step by step, methodically carving out a territory of her own in Wen Liang’s life, taking advantage of the indulgence he increasingly showed her.
Wen Liang had never been good at picking up on the subtle twists and turns of a young girl’s thoughts. Compared to the cautious and reserved Chen Die from before, he actually liked the later version of her more—the one who grew bolder and more willful under his indulgence. He found her amusing and didn’t mind letting her do the kinds of things others wouldn’t dare do to him.
In her final year of high school, Chen Die got busy with her studies and switched from being a day student to boarding at school. She only came home once a week.
That day, Wen Liang was hanging out with a bunch of friends when his phone buzzed twice on the coffee table.
He picked it up.
[Lingling: Brother Wen Liang, I have a day off tomorrow. Can you come pick me up?]
He gave a faint smile. One of his friends noticed and teased, asking what kind of beauty had managed to make Wen Liang smile like that.
Wen Liang ignored them and simply replied, “Okay.”
That only made the group more curious. They started teasing and pestering him to reveal who it was.
Wen Liang lazily snapped, “Get lost.”
The next evening, Wen Liang went to her school to pick Chen Die up.
As soon as Chen Die got in the car, she caught a whiff of a perfume scent on his clothes. It was a woman’s perfume. She frowned slightly and, like a little puppy, leaned in and sniffed at his sleeve.
Her frown deepened. “Where have you been?”
“What?”
Chen Die flung his hand away in a spoiled manner. “You smell like perfume.”
Wen Liang raised his arm and sniffed—it was faint but there. Probably from when he’d bumped into Xiao Shi earlier, and the scent rubbed off from the woman accompanying him.
Chen Die couldn’t help but ask again, “Where did you go?”
Wen Liang didn’t feel like explaining. He gave her a light smack on the forehead. “None of your business.”
“......”
Recently, Wen Liang had started taking on some projects at Wenyuan Group. After returning home, he took a call and headed straight to his study.
Chen Die, meanwhile, finished her homework at her desk but the memory of that perfume scent kept annoying her more and more. She finally dropped her pen, buried her face in her arms, and grumbled in frustration, her hair getting all messed up.
She still couldn’t let it go. After smoothing her hair, she slipped on her slippers and stepped out of the room.
Aunt Zhang had just finished cutting up some fruit and called out to her. Chen Die picked up the plate and said, “I’ll bring it to Brother Wen Liang’s study.”
Wen Liang was buried in data, calculating profit margins for a project, when there were two knocks on the door. Chen Die poked her head in, holding a plate of fruit.
She set it down beside him.
Wen Liang glanced at her. “Eat it yourself.”
“Oh.”
Chen Die pulled a chair over and sat beside him, eating watermelon with a toothpick.
Before long, she got bored and leaned over to look at his computer screen. It was full of messy charts and numbers—eye-straining data.
“Do you even understand this?” Wen Liang scoffed.
She gave a light snort. “What’s so hard to understand?”
“Aren’t you in your final year? No homework?”
Chen Die replied, “We just had midterms. There’s not much homework this week. I’ll do it tonight.”
He mocked her lightly, “With your attitude, be careful or you’ll have to repeat a year after failing the college entrance exam.”
“You don’t have to talk like that,” Chen Die muttered, a bit upset. “Like your stuff is so hard to understand. I bet you wouldn’t even know half of what I’ve memorized.”
Wen Liang chuckled, moved his chair aside a little. “Then you write this report for me.”
“......”
Chen Die had no choice but to lean closer to the computer screen. The file was long and disorganized—her eyes started to hurt just from reading it. But in this position, she could smell that same perfume even more strongly.
So she shifted and plopped down backward.
Wen Liang’s chair was large, and though Chen Die only sat on one corner, her legs still ended up touching his. She could practically feel his body heat.
She frowned. “You should go take a shower. That perfume smells awful.”
Wen Liang’s eyes landed on her legs—her school skirt had ridden up a little, exposing her fair, slender thighs. His Adam’s apple bobbed involuntarily, and his voice came out rough for some reason. He grabbed her by the collar and yanked her up. “You’re not a kid. Sit properly. Why are you squishing in here?”
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