Marry by Relying on Favor: Chapter 106 - Stealing a Child
Chapter 106: Stealing a Child
Late at night, the driver took the car all the way to an upscale residential complex. Yao Jing escorted He Qingchi into the elevator, but didn’t follow her upstairs. She booked a nearby hotel so she could come the moment He Qingchi needed her.
This apartment was one of Qu Bixin’s private properties in Yancheng. She split her time between Yancheng and Jiangcheng purely based on her mood. She never lived in the Qu family elder’s estate—she preferred choosing a prime downtown location where no one could control her, even if she burned the sky down.
When He Qingchi arrived, deafening rock music blasted from the living room. She almost thought she’d gone to the wrong place.
Until she saw that woman—wearing cute bunny ears, dressed in an evening gown at home, holding a piece of cake as she walked out.
The place was empty. Qu Bixin was cutting cake alone, playing by herself.
“Thank God you finally escaped that poor little town and came out to breathe…” Qu Bixin hadn’t seen He Qingchi in almost a year. When she saw her, she reacted like spotting a national-treasure-level rare creature. She put down the cake and went in for a hug.
But He Qingchi dodged it, apparently disgusted by the cream on her hands.
Her lashes lifted slightly as she took in the smoky, chaotic living room—champagne and wine bottles on the table, candles lit for atmosphere, rose petals scattered everywhere. She asked, “You’re throwing a house party by yourself?”
Qu Bixin pointed at her own cute bunny outfit. “Can’t you tell the theme tonight is a costume party?”
He Qingchi could tell. She always found it impressive how Qu Bixin could amuse herself to this extent even when home alone. She was dragged into the walk-in closet, where a whole row of bunny, fox, and Little Red Riding Hood outfits hung neatly—every style imaginable.
Qu Bixin wanted to pull off He Qingchi’s pale green long dress and put her into one of the costumes. “I booked the top escort—fresh young meat—from a club tonight to party with us. Don’t ruin the vibes.”
He Qingchi stopped her claws immediately—she had zero interest in top escorts or bottom ones.
“I came to tell you something… once I’m done, I’m going back to Wushan Town.”
Originally, she planned to stay overnight here. But seeing the costume party and the hired escort, she changed her mind.
Hearing that, Qu Bixin rolled her eyes. “Can’t take a joke, can you?”
For years, aside from her obsession with cheongsams, no matter how god-tier handsome a man was—even if he stripped naked in front of her—he couldn’t draw her attention. Qin Chuan had complained about this before and repeated it word for word to Qu Bixin.
Honestly—what kind of woman lives like this, being so boring?
He Qingchi walked out and turned off the rock music. She sat on the sofa, her skirt trailing onto the floor, picking up rose petals—though she didn’t care. She looked up and asked, “Have you kept in touch with Shen Fu at all this past year?”
“What are you asking that for?” Qu Bixin came out too and poured two glasses of red wine.
She didn’t answer directly.
He Qingchi told her that Shen Fu had shown up at He Li’s wedding today—her tone calm, just recounting it.
Qu Bixin handed her a glass, plopped lazily onto the sofa, crossed her slender legs, and said, “He ran all the way from Jiangcheng to Yancheng for a wedding? Bold of him—he’s not even afraid of running into my dad and getting his legs broken.”
“……”
After a moment, seeing He Qingchi’s expression still calm and indifferent, Qu Bixin added, “Come on, our plastic friendship doesn’t need all this dancing around. You’re not worried I’ll rekindle old love with Shen Fu, are you? Ugh, that man only likes focusing on business, not women. Relax, there’s no way between us.”
She said this firmly. Then she even winked: “My dad’s been aggressively setting me up with top young bachelors in Yancheng lately. All very reliable picks. Want me to share one or two with you?”
He Qingchi looked at her attitude. It did seem she had truly cut ties with Shen Fu.
So her voice remained calm as she said, “Shen Fu seems to have a son now. It’s good you’re not entangled with him anymore.”
Wait—
Qu Bixin’s eyes widened, clearly failing to comprehend the literal meaning.
What do you mean Shen Fu has a son?
Which little tramp gave birth to it???
“Aren’t you trying to move on from this failed marriage?” He Qingchi asked, seeing the easy smile instantly vanish from Qu Bixin’s face. Gone was the carefree attitude—replaced with murderous rage.
Qu Bixin’s words were freezing cold, her possessiveness blatant: “I’ll do whatever I damn well want. He doesn’t get to do anything.”
She was furious enough to make her ancestors’ graves smoke. Shen Fu dared to secretly father a child with some little tramp?
Under the light, He Qingchi frowned slightly at her reaction.
Just as she was about to speak, she saw Qu Bixin already pulling out her phone to look up Shen Fu’s hotel for the night.
When Qu Bixin wanted something, she always acted immediately—never hesitating, never looking back.
It took her ten minutes to find his hotel address and room number. He Qingchi sat quietly on the sofa and reminded her: “I might be wrong. If you go now, you won’t have any moral grounds to stand on.”
“I don’t care about grounds!”
Qu Bixin talked big about cutting him off, but the slightest rustle of trouble made her want to charge over and see the truth for herself.
It was obvious she had no idea a child existed. Even if He Qingchi was mistaken, she would want to verify it.
“Shen Fu left the kid at the hotel… We’re going now.”
He Qingchi had originally worried she was still emotionally tangled with Shen Fu and would get hurt again. Now she regretted saying anything, asking instinctively: “Shen Fu isn’t at the hotel. What are you going there for?”
Qu Bixin answered, “To steal the kid, obviously!”
Ten minutes later—
Qu Bixin arranged a driver and bodyguards, changed out of her bunny costume, and insisted on dragging He Qingchi along. While getting into the car she was still saying, “It’s not like I’m asking you to traffic the kid. If anything happens, I’ll take full responsibility. Just come with me… Besides, your old man was nagging me recently to find an excuse to take you out and show you some ‘real fun’.”
Stealing someone’s child counts as seeing the world?
He Qingchi looked at Qu Bixin—no matter how many years passed, she was still this straightforward. There was no persuading her.
On the way, Qu Bixin even took out a clean, transparent evidence bag. Inside were a few strands of sealed, preserved hair—no idea how long they had been stored.
With behavior like this, even He Qingchi’s normally placid heart stirred with surprise. Her eyes showed a trace of astonishment. “You even have Shen Fu’s hair?”
“I kept it on a whim ages ago,” Qu Bixin said lightly.
She put the evidence bag away and then asked the bodyguard in the passenger seat if the hospital had been contacted.
Clearly, the plan was: steal the kid from the hotel, then go straight for a paternity test.
He Qingchi still found it inappropriate. If this got out, she and Qu Bixin would absolutely be seen as kidnapping someone’s child.
But Qu Bixin spoke as if perfectly reasonable: “I’m just checking on my ex-husband’s situation. If Shen Fu wants to hold me accountable, let him call the police. It’s not like I’m trafficking or abusing a child. Worst case, the officers will just give me a lecture.”
“……”
The hotel Shen Fu checked into was also in the bustling city center—less than a twenty-minute drive away. Qu Bixin had someone track him; he was still at a high-end social event networking. The child had been left in the hotel suite.
When she arrived, the first person she contacted was the young owner of the hotel, who had a shallow social connection with the Qu family. Without asking for details, he directly instructed the manager to assist her.
To steal the child, the first step was to get rid of the female secretary Shen Fu left behind.
Qu Bixin casually gave the manager an excuse and had the secretary sent away for ten minutes.
She went in herself. He Qingchi refused to appear in public, sitting quietly in the car outside.
Everything proceeded smoothly—within ten minutes, Qu Bixin had stolen the child.
When she carried him into the car, the little guy was still half-asleep in his cartoon pajamas, rubbing his eyes with his tiny pinky finger.
Once she got in, Qu Bixin directly tossed the soft little body into He Qingchi’s arms.
Thinking about how this was Shen Fu’s illegitimate child made her irritated: “Ugly little clown.”
He Qingchi steadied the child. The sleepy boy lifted his head, blinked his big eyes at her… and in a sweet, milky voice called out: “Mommy.”
Qu Bixin nearly exploded hearing that. She glared at him with murderous intent. “This ugly clown must be secretly raised somewhere. He can’t even recognize his own mom!”
He Qingchi gently patted the little one’s back to soothe him. Then she looked up at the furious woman. “You dragged him out in the middle of the night. He’s just not fully awake yet.”
Besides, the child was clearly carved out of jade—how was he ugly?
Qu Bixin watched how gently she handled the “ugly clown.” She had planned to mock the kid again, but halfway through the thought, she suddenly remembered the child He Qingchi had lost three years ago. Her words got stuck in her throat, and she swallowed them back.
Still, she stubbornly muttered, “This ugly clown is very ugly!”
Right after she said that, the little guy in He Qingchi’s arms finally woke up. Tilting his tiny head, his confused eyes looked at the adults in the car. “Um… where are you taking me?”
He Qingchi worried he might start crying. Neither she nor the others had any experience dealing with kids. They’d never be able to calm him down.
So she kept her expression soft and spoke gently to capture his attention. “Xiao Ci, do you remember Auntie?”
The kid stared at her for a long moment, then his chubby little face broke into a shy smile. “Oh! It’s you, Little Sister Xiao Chi.”
Seeing he wasn’t unfamiliar with her, He Qingchi relaxed a little. She also shot Qu Bixin a warning look—don’t scare the child.
As if she ever would. At most she’d roll her eyes.
She urged the driver to go faster—preferably straight to the hospital to finish things quickly.
The little guy was still stuck on his earlier question. In his sweet childish voice, he asked, “Little Sister Xiao Chi, are you taking me to find Daddy?”
He Qingchi lowered her head and met his clean, bright eyes—impossible not to soften. “Auntie is taking you somewhere first. After that, we’ll go find Daddy, okay?”
Qu Bixin added, “Not that it matters whether he agrees.”
He Qingchi shot another glare—
Only then did the boy notice there was a pretty auntie sitting beside him. With his upbringing teaching him to be polite, he greeted her, voice soft and slow: “Hello.”
Qu Bixin, who had been extremely irritated by this “ugly clown,” couldn’t believe he had the nerve to greet her.
Of course he was Shen Fu’s secretly raised child—he had inherited that thick skin!
“Little Sister Xiao Chi,” the boy whispered again, pointing at his own eyes with a tiny finger, “does that auntie have something wrong with her eyes?”
He Qingchi blinked. Could such a small kid really notice signs of cosmetic surgery?
And besides, Qu Bixin’s eye surgery in Japan had been extremely successful. After several years, no trace remained.
Even the woman herself tensed up.
But the little guy said very seriously: “Otherwise, why has she been glowering at me the whole time?”
“……”
The car fell silent for a solid minute.
Finally, He Qingchi leaned toward Qu Bixin and whispered, “Please hold back a little.”
Only then did Qu Bixin reluctantly withdraw her murderous stare, turning instead to look out the window.
The little guy was still completely unaware of the situation. So young, yet not afraid of being kidnapped by two beautiful women—he sat obediently in He Qingchi’s arms, even rubbing his chubby little face against her palm.
How to describe this feeling… it was like a little puppy begging for affection.
Even though He Qingchi wasn’t used to being around children and had no experience, the little guy still stirred a faint sense of maternal instinct in her.
Her emotions were complicated beneath her eyelashes. She lightly touched the child’s cheek with her fingertips. He was very delicate-looking—probably took after his father. But he was still young, his face soft and chubby, so you couldn’t see his bone structure yet.
The driver quickly brought the car to the hospital, and the bodyguard got out to open the door.
Qu Bixin stepped out immediately in her high heels. She had handed the child to He Qingchi the entire time, holding her phone while calling someone. The hospital staff had already prepared everything—they were only waiting for the paternity test samples.
Before getting into the elevator, the little guy was still very calm.
But the moment he saw the doctor in a white coat, his eyes turned red, and he whimpered, “Daddy, it hurts…”
He Qingchi thought he was scared of the blood draw and instinctively wanted his father.
A nurse experienced with children quickly came over to comfort him.
But even after being placed on the bed and given candy and toys, the little guy wouldn’t calm down. Before long, big teardrops were rolling down his cheeks as he sobbed and sniffled.
Qu Bixin looked at him and wanted to curse. “This ugly clown was chatting and smiling with us before getting out of the car, and now he’s crying like his real dad just died…”
Seeing the doctors and nurses trying to coax him while he continued crying made He Qingchi’s chest feel uncomfortable.
The little guy refused all candy and toys, pushed the doctor’s hands away, and reached toward the doorway where He Qingchi stood. “Mommy… Mommy, want hug.”
The scene looked touching—almost like a deep mother-and-son bond.
Qu Bixin was about to complain when she heard He Qingchi say, “We’ve scared him so much he’s calling me Mommy.”
…Meaning, stop the blood draw?
Sure enough, He Qingchi stopped the doctor and lifted the crying child from the bed.
Qu Bixin could only force down the urge to complain about He Qingchi’s overflowing maternal instinct. Once the child slowly calmed down, she walked over and said, “Then let’s use hair instead.”
The little guy’s hair was soft. He had buried his face in He Qingchi’s chest.
When he heard Qu Bixin say they needed to pull his hair, he didn’t cry this time. His little fingers just tightened around He Qingchi’s dress, but without the fear he’d shown toward the doctor.
He Qingchi watched as Qu Bixin plucked a strand of his hair, and guilt surged in her chest. She softly apologized to the little guy in her arms, “Don’t cry anymore, okay? Is there something you want? The aunties will give it to you.”
The little guy’s eyes were no longer teary. He lifted his head and stared at her for a long time.
Qu Bixin didn’t bother with them anymore and hurried the doctor to run the test.
Gradually, the room emptied, leaving only the nurse tidying up.
The little guy leaned in close to He Qingchi’s ear—trying hard not to be overheard—and slowly said, “I want Mommy to kiss me.”
For a whole minute, He Qingchi said nothing. She wasn’t sure how she had gone from “Little Sister Xiao Chi” generation-wise to suddenly becoming his mother.
“Is that okay?” The tips of his ears were red—maybe because it was his first time asking a girl for a kiss and he was nervous.
His eyes were still dark and glossy, washed clean from crying—deep and shiny. She gradually softened. She wiped the tear tracks off his chubby little face with her fingertips. Her expression was impossible to read beneath her lashes, making the little guy nervous enough to barely breathe.
After a long moment, He Qingchi studied his face and said, “Where do you want me to kiss?”
The little guy instantly lit up with joy. He pointed at his forehead with his pale little finger. “Here, here… Daddy always kisses me here.”
He Qingchi looked at him for a few seconds. But instead of kissing his forehead, her red lips pressed gently on the top of his head. “Tonight wasn’t good on our part. Can Xiao Ci forgive us?”
“Okay!” the little guy agreed generously, not blaming the other pretty auntie for glaring at him earlier.
He Qingchi noticed it was already dark outside, and she had no idea where Qu Bixin had gone.
She sat holding the child, exhausted from running around all day. Her lashes drooped.
The little guy, after crying so much, also looked tired.
So the two—one big, one small—leaned against each other and dozed.
She didn’t know how long had passed before Qu Bixin woke her up. When He Qingchi opened her eyes, the woman in front of her looked awkward and secretly pointed at the child sleeping in her arms. She whispered, “Shen Fu hasn’t come looking yet. We need to send this kid back to wherever he came from, fast.”
He Qingchi’s arms were sore from holding him so long. She adjusted her position and whispered back, “The paternity test is out?”
She already had a guess in her heart.
This kid probably wasn’t Shen Fu’s. Otherwise, with Qu Bixin’s temper, there’s no way she would suddenly be this calm.
“Send him back to the hotel. Pretend nothing happened tonight.”
Qu Bixin planned to drop the child off before Shen Fu returned and then disappear.
They left the hospital and got back into the car.
The little guy was still sound asleep, unaware of anything.
He Qingchi continued holding him quietly.
Qu Bixin reread the paternity report several times, word by word, confirming it beyond doubt.
“This kid… could he be Shen Tingji’s illegitimate son?”
Now it was confirmed that the child was not Shen Fu’s, and speculation began about whose he might be.
He Qingchi lifted her lashes and exchanged a glance with Qu Bixin.
It seemed this possibility wasn’t entirely out of the question.
Qu Bixin immediately grew annoyed with the child again, muttering under her breath, calling him the “ugly little clown.”
“If it’s Shen Tingji’s… could it have something to do with the Wen family? Damn… no wonder this little clown looks familiar. He Qingchi, take a closer look—isn’t he similar to a Wen man?”
Qu Bixin transformed into a detective, pulling out her phone and turning on the flashlight.
He Qingchi raised her pale hand to shield the child’s tightly shut eyes.
“Turn off the light. You’ll wake him.”
Qu Bixin, with even less experience handling children than He Qingchi, couldn’t imagine how desperate she’d be when she became a mother herself. Seeing He Qingchi caring for the child so naturally, she let slip: “Well, it’s definitely not your child anyway…”
The comment instantly made the atmosphere awkward. Neither of them had time to react before the driver slammed on the brakes.
Qu Bixin nearly jumped out of her skin, patting her chest and scowling. “Why are you stopping?”
The driver quickly unbuckled and went outside, seemingly to confront someone blocking the road. He didn’t return within a couple of minutes. The bodyguard also got out for the same reason.
Inside the car, Qu Bixin, impatient to secretly return the child, lost her temper.
“I’ll go check the situation…”
She said, opening the door and stepping out.
Through the dark-tinted car window, He Qingchi saw only the bustling street outside and nothing unusual.
She waited quietly for a while, sensing something was off. Just as she was about to lower the window and call Qu Bixin, a tall, black-clad figure appeared outside the glass. His face was obscured, but a pale, slender hand reached out and opened the car door.
……
The man calmly opened the door. The night air followed him inside.
Time seemed to stop. Within a few seconds, He Qingchi’s eyes widened as she looked at the man sitting so close. A thousand emotions stirred in her chest, indescribable.
In the enclosed car, a long, silent tension lingered.
Her eyelashes twitched, and instinctively she hugged the child closer.
It was a reflex—and it woke the little guy. Rubbing his eyes, he looked at He Qingchi, then tilted his head to see the man who had appeared in the car. Finally, his clear childlike voice rang out unmistakably: “Daddy!”
The little guy, completely oblivious to the adults’ complicated emotions, wriggled out of He Qingchi’s arms and threw himself at the man. He clung to him, calling nonstop in a clingy, spoiled voice: “Daddy, Daddy…”
Every “Daddy” shattered all of He Qingchi’s carefully maintained composure.
She froze in the back seat, her breathing uneven, clearly flustered.
The man, long calm and composed, stared deeply at He Qingchi, not willing to look away for even a second. As if sensing her shock, his gentle voice finally escaped his lips, carrying years of restraint and feelings that were hard to put into words: “I just got off the plane. Shen Fu called to tell me the child had been taken…”
His words came abruptly, like a half-explanation for why he had appeared.
His voice sounded clear in her ears, yet He Qingchi remained silent, even holding her breath.
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