Delicate Beauty in the Palm : Chapter 93 - Could it be That You Were Tricked into Marriage?
Chapter 93: Could it be That You Were Tricked into Marriage?
Ye Chuqing didn’t even have time to react before Chen Shao casually revealed her pregnancy. Although her conscience was clear, hearing her ex-boyfriend say something like ‘I never got over you’ in front of her husband still made her feel inexplicably guilty.
Chen Shao must’ve heard that... right?
She glanced at him for a moment, then belatedly asked, “Weren’t you on a business trip?”
“It ended early, so I came back.”
Chen Shao turned to look at Wei Yuanhe. He didn’t know him personally, but he did recognize his father, so he didn’t put on a cold face and instead smiled lightly. “If you still haven’t gotten over Chuqing, you can go on dreaming. But it won’t do you any good—Chuqing is already my wife.”
Ye Chuqing couldn’t help sneaking another glance at him, then turned her gaze to Wei Yuanhe. His face had gone dark—embarrassment from being overheard, shame from being rejected by both sides, it was all written there.
So satisfying.
Ye Chuqing let out a long breath, then immediately clung tightly to Chen Shao’s arm, tilting her head to rest against it like a loving wife. She took the chance to show some loyalty and shot Wei Yuanhe a glare before saying to Chen Shao, “Let’s go.”
Thanks to this little episode, even the nausea she’d felt earlier from the smoke in the karaoke room had vanished. She felt completely refreshed.
As she and Chen Shao walked toward the elevator, they were suddenly called over by another group of people. Judging from their attire, they were also alumni attending the anniversary celebration.
“Hey, didn’t you say you were too busy to come?” one of them said to Chen Shao.
Ye Chuqing immediately understood—these were probably his university classmates.
Before Chen Shao could reply, another person looked at Ye Chuqing in surprise and said, “Eh? Isn’t this our junior from back then?”
Ye Chuqing smiled and greeted them, “Yes, I’m Ye Chuqing.”
“Of course I remember your name,” the man said with a grin. “I recall quite a few guys talking about you back then.” Then he looked at Chen Shao, then at her again, and finally realized something was off. “Wait a second—when did you two meet?”
Someone beside him said, “Wow, you’re really out of the loop. Everyone in Yan City knows—they got married just last month.”
“What the hell?!”
The group murmured among themselves, eventually reaching some kind of consensus, then turned to Chen Shao and said half-jokingly, “You’re too sneaky. You secretly married our junior and didn’t even post it on your Moments. We who don’t live in Yan City didn’t hear a thing.”
Ye Chuqing, still holding onto Chen Shao’s arm, smiled sweetly and didn’t break their illusion of her being the charming “junior.”
Chen Shao didn’t chat for long before making an excuse to leave, which earned him another round of complaints: “What’s this? You skip the anniversary, show up now, and still won’t come to our private room? Are you seriously just here to pick up your wife?”
He smiled and joked, “Exactly.”
Blunt and proud.
“You really are whipped,” they laughed, then turned to Ye Chuqing. “Since you're already here, how about coming with us for a drink, junior?”
Chen Shao replied, “She can’t drink.”
“Then drink for your wife! None of us could outdrink you back in the day—we’ve never even seen you drunk. You’re not leaving sober tonight!”
Ye Chuqing: “…”
She felt like she just learned something she wasn’t supposed to know.
Chen Shao, however, had no intention of hanging out with them and refused again. This time, they didn’t press and just said, “Next time, then,” and let them go.
Chen Shao’s car was parked right outside the karaoke venue.
Because of the school anniversary, the highest library building across at Qichuan University still had glowing words that read: “Welcome Alumni.”
Ye Chuqing stood on the steps for a while, staring at the glowing characters before finally following Chen Shao into the car.
“I thought you wouldn’t be back for a few more days,” she said, grabbing a bottle of mineral water and taking a sip to wash the smoke from her throat.
Chen Shao said, “If I waited a few more days, I’d have no wife left.”
“......”
Ye Chuqing’s first reaction was: Why is this man still calling me his wife like that?
Second reaction: Wait, huh?
“You don’t actually think I have anything going on with Wei Yuanhe, do you?”
As he drove out, Chen Shao glanced sideways at her but didn’t respond.
…So he really does think that.
“That jerk? Like I’d ever still be involved with him. I was just young and dumb back then, blinded by his face. Looking at him now—meh, totally past his prime.” Wanting to sound more convincing, she added, “If I’m going to get fooled by a face, I’d rather be fooled by yours.”
The car went silent for several seconds.
Wait… did that count as calling Chen Shao handsome?
Ye Chuqing’s face began to warm, so she quickly changed the subject and asked accusingly, “How come your friend just now said he’s never seen you drunk? I remember seeing him at our wedding—you were drunk that night!”
Chen Shao saw right through her. “What, are you thinking I pretended to be drunk that night just to kiss you?”
“…I didn’t say that.”
Though it did sound like she was accusing him of being a delusional narcissist.
Chen Shao added in a calm voice, “I wasn’t drunk, just a little dizzy.”
“???”
A thousand question marks popped up in Ye Chuqing’s head. Then why did you kiss me?! And even took advantage of me while doing it!
“But you said you were drunk at the time!”
He chuckled. “Well, if I hadn’t, I was afraid I’d get beaten up on our wedding night.”
“......”
His words were so strange and roundabout that even Ye Chuqing—who always considered herself pretty clever—felt a bit thrown off.
So he lied about being drunk just to avoid getting hit… but why kiss her at all!?
Are we the kind of people who can just kiss each other?!
Or maybe guys just lose control after drinking?
Ye Chuqing suddenly remembered an old science article she’d read once—it said when guys do something impulsive after drinking, it’s usually because they’re not fully drunk. If they were completely out of it, they wouldn’t even be able to.
So what Chen Shao really meant was… he wasn’t completely drunk?
The more she thought about it, the more acceptable that explanation seemed.
Still, her face kept getting hotter. She pressed her hand against her cheek, trying to physically cool herself down, but before she could say anything, Chen Shao—very thoughtfully—lowered the car window on her side.
Ye Chuqing paused and looked at him.
Chen Shao looked back, raising an eyebrow. “You look hot.”
“I’m not hot,” she said stubbornly.
“Then why’s your face so red?”
“Chen Shao, shut up.” She snapped immediately. Then, seeing that he was about to laugh, she clutched her belly and threatened, “If you don’t shut up, I swear I’ll get so worked up I’ll hurt the baby.”
Only then did he smile and fall silent.
They didn’t speak for the rest of the drive home. Later, as Ye Chuqing stood in front of the mirror removing her makeup, she thought back on it all and was filled with regret. She’d completely lost her edge in that exchange and ended up letting Chen Shao have the upper hand.
She should have mocked him relentlessly for faking being drunk to kiss her!
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. In the end, maybe from sheer frustration, her belly even started hurting a little, so she gave up and obediently went to lie down.
That night, Ye Chuqing had an embarrassing dream—and the male lead was Chen Shao.
The dream picked up where their wedding night left off. Chen Shao wasn’t drunk. He walked into the room, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. Then it was all raging passion—like sparks on dry grass. In the dream, she wasn’t pregnant, and the room turned into a battlefield of chaos and carnal energy. It was… honestly too much to witness.
Ye Chuqing woke up.
She stared at the ceiling, chest rising and falling, and took several minutes to come back to her senses.
She had just dreamed something completely indecent.
Ye Chuqing, a modern independent woman, didn’t think there was anything wrong with sex in general—but when the dream involved her clean-cut, contract-marriage husband? That was a little hard to digest.
She’d heard dreams reflect one’s subconscious. So did that mean… the two times she got drunk and acted bold with Chen Shao were really her suppressed feelings surfacing?
This was… way too intense.
Early the next morning, Ye Chuqing lay in bed repenting to herself.
When she finally turned over, she saw Chen Shao still fast asleep beside her. Somehow, that made her even more annoyed. If he hadn’t said all those weird things yesterday, would she have had that kind of dream?
So she lifted her leg and gave him a kick under the covers.
He woke up with a hiss, eyebrows furrowed, voice raspy. “What was that for?”
…For nothing, really.
Just that I had a dirty dream about you and freaked out a little, so I kicked you to vent.
Ye Chuqing blinked, then muttered with very little momentum, “I’m hungry.”
Chen Shao was cold and heartless, clearly about to snap, and replied indifferently, “Call the maid and have her cook.”
Strangely, after all the “fake drunk” nonsense last night and the ahem dream this morning, his blunt rejection didn’t bother her like it normally would. In fact, it weirdly calmed her down. Her heart wasn’t racing anymore.
She let out a breath, stretched lazily, feeling way more relaxed, and playfully kicked his leg again. “Go make it.”
Ye Chuqing swore—she really only said that to wrap up the conversation and move on. She didn’t actually expect him to get up and make her breakfast.
But the next second, Chen Shao sat up, gave her a dark look for a moment, and then silently got out of bed and left the room.
“…”
What the hell.
There was only one thought left in Ye Chuqing’s mind: Did I accidentally marry a perfect, traditional, doting husband straight out of a textbook?!
Her heart was honestly struggling to handle it.
This was really going way beyond just a marriage-for-the-baby situation.
If Chen Shao brought her breakfast up to the bedroom in a bit, she might actually faint. So, not daring to wait any longer, she hurried to get up and wash up.
When she came downstairs, she saw Chen Shao standing at the kitchen counter, flipping an egg in a frying pan while letting out a huge yawn, clearly exhausted.
Ye Chuqing walked quickly down the stairs. “Is the housekeeper not here?”
“Mm.” He yawned again, eyes barely open. “Just made you something simple—bear with it.”
Three minutes later, Chen Shao handed her a sandwich made with freshly toasted bread, stuffed with egg, spam, and some lettuce, along with a glass of warm milk.
Ye Chuqing was so moved she nearly cried—and didn’t nag him the entire day.
From that point on, their relationship didn’t seem to change much on the surface, and they got along as usual. But underneath, there was an undercurrent—some subtle shifts in their dynamic that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
That day, Ye Chuqing didn’t head out until noon. Chen Shao had already gone to work. Lately, Old Master Chen had been preparing to pass certain business areas over to him, so he was even busier than before. When she was getting ready to leave, the house was empty. Just as she was about to walk out the door, she turned back to glance at the ‘Top Fortune Stick’ still perched on the potted plant.
The housekeeper was a devout Buddhist and apparently felt the stick had some special meaning, so she made a point to dust it daily and even kept fresh fruit offerings in front of it.
Ye Chuqing stared at the fortune stick for a moment, then muttered to herself, “You didn’t really come true, did you?”
Recently, Chen Die had started rehearsing a new stage play. Ye Chuqing, seeing that she had some time before her next meeting, decided to swing by the theater first.
When she arrived, Chen Die had just finished the first round of rehearsals. The next phase involved breaking the play down scene by scene, so she had a break and jumped off the stage to greet her.
Chen Die was even more curious about the baby than Ye Chuqing herself. As soon as she got close, she reached out to feel her belly. “It’s gotten a bit bigger now, but you still can’t tell with clothes on.”
“The doctor said it’ll grow faster in the later stages. Honestly, I already think it’s too big—I have to wear looser clothes all the time now.”
Chen Die laughed. “What brings you here today?”
“Bored. Thought I’d drop by and see you.”
“Chen Shao didn’t come with you?”
“Well, he’s busy with the company now. Just started taking over a few parts. Sounds like a lot of annoying tasks. He even complained about you to me the other day.”
Chen Die rolled her eyes.
Ye Chuqing stayed for a little longer, chatting for a while, but left when it got close to her meeting time. Chen Die went back to her rehearsals.
The meeting venue wasn’t far from the theater. Strangely, ever since she got pregnant, Ye Chuqing had taken a liking to walking. So she didn’t ask the driver to come—she just strolled over at her own pace.
She’d recently joined a filming team, and today’s meeting was for a script reading.
By the time the meeting ended, it was already 4 p.m., and traffic was starting to pick up outside.
She thought for a moment and sent Chen Shao a message:
[Ye Chuqing: What time are you getting off work?]
[Chen Shao: What’s up?]
[Ye Chuqing: If you’re done early, swing by and pick me up.]
[Ye Chuqing: But it’s not urgent—around 5-ish. If you’re too busy, I’ll just call the driver.]
[Ye Chuqing: For now, I’m going to get some dessert.]
[Chen Shao: Alright. Send me the address.]
[Chen Shao: Don’t drink anything cold.]
Ye Chuqing stared at that last message for a moment, then sent him her location.
After a pause, she dug through her stickers and sent one that said: Men are annoying.JPG.
Chen Shao didn’t reply.
Ye Chuqing put away her phone, crossed the street to the dessert shop, and ordered two servings of hot milk with strawberry and taro balls—planning to give one to Chen Shao as a little treat for picking her up.
A fair trade, she figured.
Just as she finished paying, a voice called from behind her: “Junior!”
Ye Chuqing turned around and saw one of Chen Shao’s college classmates—the same guy she’d met at the karaoke party during the school anniversary. She smiled politely, unable to recall his name right away, so she went with, “Senior, what a coincidence.”
“Where’s Chen Shao? Not with you?”
“He’s at work. I just snuck out for a bit to grab something sweet,” she replied easily, presenting the image of a loving wife and husband dynamic—Chen Shao the responsible breadwinner, her the beautiful homemaker.
The classmate chuckled knowingly. “You two sure kept it under wraps really well.”
Ye Chuqing smiled along politely but didn’t add anything.
The guy, however, was a bit of a chatterbox. He kept going, “I was in the same dorm as Chen Shao in college. Never thought he had his eyes on you back then. When our dorm leader heard you two got married, he totally lost it—spent the whole night yelling at Chen Shao in the karaoke room. Even threatened to chop him up.”
Ye Chuqing blinked. “Huh?”
“Chen Shao never mentioned it to you?”
She shook her head.
“Our dorm leader back in college was actually pretty good-looking, just a bit dramatic. He always wore a headband—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—you name it. We called him ‘Rainbow Bro,’ remember him?”
As he said that, Ye Chuqing began to vaguely recall. “What was his name?”
“Lin Qimeng. Ring a bell?”
“Oh, right—I remember now. I think he even confessed to me once.”
Ye Chuqing no longer remembered what he looked like—probably not her type. All she recalled was that there was a guy who chased after her and wore a different-colored headband every day.
During the first week, she thought it was seven different guys. By the second week, when the headband colors started repeating, she realized it was just one person.
That’s why he left a bit of an impression.
The classmate laughed. “Damn, that’s wild. He really liked you back then—always had us brainstorming in the dorm on how to win you over. We all just sat there enjoying the show and even kept track of how many times you rejected him. Wanna guess how many times he confessed to you between junior and senior year?”
Ye Chuqing’s mind was already elsewhere, preoccupied with her own thoughts. She absentmindedly asked, “How many times?”
“Eighty-three.”
“…”
“Persistent, right?” the guy said, clicking his tongue and shaking his head in admiration. “That’s why I say Chen Shao was such a jerk. His own buddy pined for you for years, and then he just quietly swooped in and married you. Still kinda hard to believe when I think about it.”
“......”
Yeah… it did sound pretty shady.
At that moment, the two hot milk strawberry taro balls she’d ordered were finally ready. She thanked the staff and took them from the counter.
Originally, one of them was for Chen Shao, but since she’d run into his classmate, she handed one of the cups to him.
“Hey, thanks, junior!”
Ye Chuqing followed him to sit down nearby, then asked thoughtfully, “So Chen Shao already knew me back then?”
The guy looked stunned by the question, blinking at her for a few seconds. “Of course he did. You were all we ever talked about in the dorm!”
“......”
“Don’t tell me that bastard Chen Shao never told you any of this?” he said in disbelief. “Junior… you weren’t tricked into this marriage, were you?”
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