Marry by Relying on Favor: Chapter 48 - Can’t Eat You
Chapter 48: Can’t Eat You
After He Qingchi finished applying the medicine for Wen Shuchen, she went on to undo all the buttons on his shirt. Using the glow from the floor lamp, she carefully examined him again and saw more bruising on the left side of his firm waist. She pulled out some medicinal wine from the first aid kit and applied it to the injured area.
Neither of them spoke for a while. Wen Shuchen’s fair, well-defined features were cast in the lamplight, his profile calm and silent, without uttering a sound.
He Qingchi put the bandages and medicinal wine back into the first aid kit, then walked over to the window and opened one of the panes.
The air in the room was stagnant, thick with the smell of medicine and the scent of alcohol clinging to her—an unpleasant mix.
“I’ll have Song Chao prepare you a bowl of sobering tea,” Wen Shuchen offered, knowing she wasn’t drunk at the moment but that she probably wouldn’t feel great after sleeping it off.
He Qingchi didn’t accept his kindness. Instead, she went to the door, twisted her fingers on the lock, and shut it from the inside.
Then she came back, the dark green hem of her dress swaying as she gracefully sat on the edge of the bed.
From the man’s point of view, this posture was no different from an interrogation scene in a courtroom.
Wen Shuchen raised his slender hands, slowly and unhurriedly fastening his shirt buttons, leaning against the headboard as though she might do something to him—making sure to fix his disheveled clothes first.
But, to his disappointment, she didn’t move an inch closer. After sitting on the edge for a moment, she got up and went to the sofa instead.
Facing him directly from across the room, they kept enough distance but could still clearly see each other’s expressions.
“Wen Shuchen, I’ve been thinking…”
He Qingchi spoke first, her expression very serious. “Before our marriage, you pursued me, and my good impression of you began with the flawless image you presented to me. But once we got married, the problems started surfacing one after another. I respect you and am willing to let you keep a part of your privacy, but don’t you think you have an obligation to explain exactly what’s going on with the Wen family?”
That way, next time she could handle herself in the old house instead of being passively attacked.
Wen Shuchen had never mentioned the Wen family’s old house before, but seeing her ask now, the master bedroom fell into a moment of stillness. Perhaps because the lamplight was dim, even his deep voice carried a faint, muffled quality as he spoke: “My mother passed away twelve years ago. Later, Qiu Jin was finally legitimized. The son she bore was never entered into the Wen family genealogy—that’s Wen Yue.”
He Qingchi straightened her back on the sofa and gradually grew quiet, listening as he continued.
“Qiu Jin is the daughter of the Wen residence’s former steward. She grew up in the old house. My father is seventeen years older than her.”
Speaking of the old house’s long-buried past, Wen Shuchen’s tone was calm, as if he were narrating someone else’s story. There wasn’t much to say—just a pair of people with no moral restraints having an affair in secret, and later scheming to bring an illegitimate child openly into the old house.
At the time, the Wen Corporation was still firmly under the grandfather’s control. Faced with his own son’s disgraceful behavior, the old man made the most decisive choice.
Wen Yue was never qualified to be entered into the Wen family genealogy. As long as Wen Jingchun wasn’t in power, that opportunity would never come.
The grudge between Wen Shuchen and this half-brother of his was not something that could be explained in a few sentences. Most of the time, he deliberately avoided the subject—clearly not wanting He Qingchi to know.
Listening to the Wen family’s previous generation’s entanglements, He Qingchi softly asked with her red lips: “Why didn’t the old man accept Wen Yue into the genealogy?”
“When Wen Yue’s identity was exposed, he had already been living in the old house for several years.” Wen Shuchen’s eyes hid their emotions as his expression became strangely distant while speaking of the past. His voice lowered: “At that time, we were already teenagers, capable of thinking for ourselves.”
“I privately told the old man that if he let Wen Yue acknowledge his ancestors and enter the family, I would remove myself from the Wen genealogy, change my name, and leave Jiangcheng forever.”
His words were clear as crystal in the stillness of the night.
They made He Qingchi’s heart churn with conflicting emotions. She couldn’t imagine how Wen Shuchen, still a teenager and without his mother’s protection, had faced all of that alone.
There was no way the old man would give up the heir he had groomed for years for the sake of an illegitimate child.
Besides, he had never thought much of his own son and had long intended for Wen Shuchen to take over.
Unquestionably, Wen Yue had become the casualty of a silent war.
A faintly mocking curve appeared on Wen Shuchen’s lips as he added, “From that moment on, my relationship with my father completely broke apart.”
Though only three steps away from him, He Qingchi suddenly felt Wen Shuchen was out of reach.
He was solitary—no one could truly step into his inner world.
“And you…” The words He Qingchi wanted to say hovered on her lips before she held them back, afraid that a single wrong word would ruin the moment. After a long pause, she continued softly, “Did your father see you as some kind of rival for the inheritance?”
“He raised Wen Yue as the heir to inherit everything after his death. As for me, I was the old man’s personally trained weapon to compete for the family assets. The relationship had already soured long ago. To him, I wasn’t a son—I was a political opponent.”
Wen Shuchen had long since stopped feeling anything about it; he had accepted this unchangeable reality years ago.
Through the warm halo of the floor lamp, he seemed to see the faint glimmer of moisture beneath He Qingchi’s long lashes.
She took a deep breath, trying to steady her emotions. “They’re both his sons—how can he be so biased?”
Wen Shuchen fell silent, unable to answer.
Because in his youth, he too had once been unwilling to accept it. As the legitimate son born of the main wife, bright and intelligent from a young age and nurtured by the Wen elders, why did his father favor an illegitimate child?
Slowly, He Qingchi stood from the sofa and walked toward him, step by step.
Without the need for words, Wen Shuchen lifted his arm and gently pulled her into his embrace, speaking softly: “That’s all in the past. Don’t let it affect your mood now.”
He Qingchi had always been used to being the eldest at home. Whenever her younger siblings cried to her, her heart would soften.
At her core, she was a kind but willful woman. Even if there had been rifts before, at this moment she still empathized with Wen Shuchen’s past experiences. Her eyes reddened, but unwilling to be seen, she kept her head lowered and asked quietly, “Since Wen Yue can’t be included in the Wen family genealogy, do they want to groom him to replace you?”
During those years when the old master was bedridden, Wen Shuchen hadn’t yet matured or built his own power. He had even suffered a crushing defeat, been expelled from the family home by his father, and, as a once-prominent heir of a wealthy family, ended up abroad among a group of poor students studying together.
His palm slid down along He Qingchi’s slender back, soothing her fluctuating emotions. “No one will ever replace me.”
Right now, He Qingchi had not the slightest good impression of the Wen family. She suddenly released Wen Shuchen, her expression cold as she said, “Find a chance to have Wen Yue get plastic surgery someday. I don’t want to see him using that face to flirt with other women.”
Seeing her jealous expression, Wen Shuchen’s eyes gradually warmed with a faint smile.
The rift between them tonight was already beginning to fade. He Qingchi was not the type to brood; as long as her bottom line wasn’t crossed, she wouldn’t cling to a man’s small mistakes. This bright, generous nature of hers was what Wen Shuchen admired most.
She wasn’t burdened by heavy thoughts and was never overly sentimental, making her an easy person to be around.
It was already well past midnight, and clearly she wasn’t going back to the hotel tonight.
Obviously, she would be staying in the old house. Luckily, the wardrobe in the room held Wen Shuchen’s clothes. After showering, she picked a long-sleeved pajama top for herself. Her bare, slender, snow-white legs rested on the deep black quilt.
Sinking slightly into the bedding, she looked rather tempting.
Wen Shuchen had also showered, but the places where he was bandaged needed fresh medicine.
He Qingchi wrinkled her delicate nose, clearly displeased with the smell of medicinal herbs on him. “Tell me about Wen Yue’s injuries.”
Perhaps hearing that would make her feel better, instead of only knowing her man was hurt.
“His right hand is broken,” Wen Shuchen said in an indifferent tone, as if it were something trivial.
He Qingchi, kneeling on the edge of the bed while fastening his robe, froze mid-movement and suddenly looked up in surprise at his calm face. “You broke his hand?”
Just because Wen Yue had called her on the phone, Wen Shuchen broke his hand?
Her movements stiffened slightly—she didn’t like this at all.
Wen Shuchen’s gaze was shadowed. Seeing her reaction, the atmosphere went quiet for a second before his thin lips slowly parted. “I arranged a hospital room for him, right next to Shu Tongyi’s. You told me before to have people from the old house stay at the hospital to take care of Shu Tongyi until she recovered—I remember.”
He Qingchi couldn’t tell how much truth there was in his words. The explanation made it sound like breaking Wen Yue’s hand was merely a pretext to have him hospitalized alongside Shu Tongyi.
But deep down, she felt it wasn’t that simple—he was just masking his real reason for doing it.
She curved her lips in a light, almost casual smile. “I thought you broke his hand over a phone call. Shu Tongyi should be fine now, right?”
“Don’t know,” Wen Shuchen said, having now learned to avoid showing too much concern.
Ever since realizing He Qingchi would get jealous over Shu Tongyi, he had been secretly pleased, though also very cautious.
He Qingchi only let out a soft “Oh,” lowered her head again, and gently tied his robe before lifting a corner of the quilt and quietly lying down.
Wen Shuchen’s body followed, pressing close. A man’s body temperature was naturally higher than a woman’s, and the atmosphere immediately changed.
Curled up in the blanket, He Qingchi looked at him. “Aren’t you going to sleep?”
His dark, deep eyes were heavy with emotion as he slowly lowered his head, his warm breath brushing against her delicate cheek. His fingers wandered beneath the covers, then tentatively brushed the corner of her lips. “It’s been half a month…”
They hadn’t shared a bed for half a month—long enough for even each other’s scent to feel unfamiliar.
He Qingchi felt the buttons of the men’s pajama top she was wearing being undone one by one by his long fingers, her fair shoulders soon exposed outside the quilt. Wen Shuchen’s focus on the task left her nowhere to hide.
But tonight she had no intention of letting things go further. She raised her pale fingers to stop him.
“You smell too strongly of medicine. Even if you had the best body in the world, I couldn’t take it.”
Wen Shuchen’s usual composure shifted subtly.
It was probably the first time in his life he’d ever been told he wasn’t clean—by a woman lying beneath him, no less.
He Qingchi pushed him away and rolled toward the edge of the bed. Her muffled voice came from the covers: “I’m not in the mood tonight. Sleep.”
----------
If you like my translation, please support me by buying me a coffee:
0 comments: