Marry by Relying on Favor: Chapter 111 - Sharing a Man
Chapter 111: Sharing a Man
Wen Shuchen stood straight on the open-air balcony, his gaze drifting toward the crowd in the center of the banquet. Following his line of sight, Shen Fu also saw a young man with a naturally flirtatious face, his brows and eyes carrying a lazy charm that easily drew the attention of the women present.
Qu Bixin’s obsession with looks—no one understood this flaw better than Shen Fu.
Back then it was also because of this face that he easily won the woman’s heart. And now Wen Shuchen was choosing a handsome man to send to the Qu family—ulterior motives couldn’t be more obvious.
Shen Fu’s expression didn’t differ much from usual. He only paused for a second before speaking in an even, unhurried tone: “Xiao Cen. People call him ‘Xiao Half-a-City’. There isn’t a single social event in the noblewomen’s circle he can’t navigate. You picked him?”
Wen Shuchen had indeed chosen this “Xiao Half-a-City.”
He had no legitimate reason to go to Wushan Town to see He Qingchi. The only way was to lure her out. Aside from Qin Chuan, the only person who occasionally kept in contact with her was Qu Bixin.
What he said about “letting Shen Fu evaluate him” was just politeness—everything had already been planned.
Tonight was merely a formal notice.
Before the banquet was over, Wen Shuchen—surrounded by a wall of bodyguards—left early. Throughout the event, he had only shared half a glass of red wine with Xiao Cen. Outsiders couldn’t discern anything from it.
In the parking garage, Shen Fu lit a cigarette beside his car, not in a hurry to leave.
There were few people around, and the lighting was dim. Footsteps approached from a distance. Ahead, Xiao Cen was gentlemanly escorting a socialite to her car. Judging from their conversation, their relationship seemed pleasant.
Shen Fu kept one hand in his pocket, the cigarette between his fingers glowing faintly. If one wasn’t attentive, one wouldn’t even notice his silhouette standing there.
After the socialite’s car drove away, the faint curve on Xiao Cen’s lips faded. He pulled out his cigarette case and lighter from his pocket, intending to head back toward the elevator. Just as he walked forward, he spotted a dark silhouette half-hidden under the dim lights.
He didn’t know who it was. Before he could take a closer look, something heavy shoved him from behind.
Caught off guard, Xiao Cen slammed forward onto a parked car. His dazed head was then forcibly pressed against the hood. The assailant rained punches and kicks on him mercilessly.
In the quiet parking garage, the violent beating lasted a full ten minutes.
Bruised and swollen, Xiao Cen collapsed to the ground. His eyelids were so puffy that everything blurred. Struggling to look up, he saw a tall, dark figure approaching—pant legs and polished shoes stopping just inches away. Even if he couldn’t see the man’s face, the atmosphere alone reeked of danger.
After half a minute, the mysterious man said nothing. He flicked the burnt-out cigarette butt onto the ground beside Xiao Cen’s cheek and casually crushed it under his shoe before walking toward a car.
The two bodyguards who had done the beating finally stepped back and left with him.
Every bone in Xiao Cen’s body ached. When his vision slowly cleared, their car was already exiting the garage. Half-dead, his once handsome, flirtatious face swollen like a pig’s head, he had no idea who was behind the attack.
Lying on the cold concrete for some time, he finally pushed himself up and painfully dialed for an ambulance.
The next morning, Wushan Town.
At 6:40 AM, He Qingchi was awakened by her phone ringing.
She covered the child’s ears first, groping for the phone. Still half asleep, she paused in confusion when she saw Qu Bixin’s name on the screen.
Afraid the ringtone would wake the child, she quickly slipped out of bed to answer.
“Calling this early? Unless you’re hospitalized, I don’t accept any excuses.”
Qu Bixin: “Not me. My blind-date partner.”
He Qingchi splashed cold water on her face. After her mind cleared a bit, she replied, “So you’re delivering an obituary?”
Qu Bixin was briefly speechless. “I don’t know which bastard ambushed him and beat him to a pulp… sigh, such a pity. He had such a pretty face. I was even planning to introduce him to you.”
He Qingchi had no time to play around with men—her thoughts were all on her son.
She pulled down the white towel and wiped off the water on her face, speaking mildly: “Thanks, but he’s the man your dad picked for you. No need to share him with me.”
“I want to share him with you! No one has to know…” Qu Bixin had a very high opinion of this candidate’s looks. She even swooned, “His face is absolutely god-tier. Even just chatting with him is pleasing to the eyes.”
“Then why don’t you want him yourself?”
“My dad prepared a whole basket of men for me! I’m being generous—saving the best-looking one for you.” Obviously, she wasn’t telling the whole truth. Recently, the Qu family had arranged several blind dates for her, but she secretly gave the men away to her friends.
She knew if this ever got out, her dad would explode—so she could only do it behind his back.
This particular candidate, she didn’t want him, but felt it’d be a waste to let him go unused.
After thinking it over, a man with both looks and talent seemed perfect for He Qingchi.
Qu Bixin continued enthusiastically, “His name is Xiao Cen. He’s flawless in every way—and the key point: he’s handsome and great at coaxing women. Come to Jiangcheng and meet him! If you still don’t want him, then I’ll take him for myself.”
It was rare to hear Qu Bixin wanting to collect a second man besides Shen Fu.
Even if He Qingchi wasn’t interested in Xiao Cen, she was a little curious—mainly about what kind of man could make Qu Bixin yield so much.
“If I like him, would you be willing to give him up?”
Her tone was mostly teasing.
Who knew Qu Bixin would firmly declare: “I’ll even pay for the wedding!”
“……”
Hearing what He Qingchi said, she couldn’t take it back, so before hanging up, she first asked, “How did you know to call Wen Shuchen’s phone to reach me?”
“Oh, he contacted me twice before. Just to talk about you… said that you’d get bored staying in Wushan Town all day, and told me that whenever I had free time, I could invite you to Jiangcheng to have some fun. Whatever you spend, he’ll cover it.”
Qu Bixin spoke with full confidence. On one hand, she accepted Wen Shuchen’s kindness; on the other, she secretly introduced another man to He Qingchi behind his back—she showed no sign of guilt at all.
He Qingchi hadn’t expected Wen Shuchen to reach out to Qu Bixin, and for a moment, she said nothing.
Qu Bixin continued on the phone: “Wen Shuchen isn’t like Shen Fu. That jerk would never humble himself to admit fault and coax me. But Wen Shuchen—he’s probably dreaming of winning you back right now. So you’re the one with the upper hand, don’t you dare soften! Remember, for those three or four years, Wen Shuchen left you in the He family and didn’t care about you at all! You can’t forgive him so easily!”
This period of hiding away in Wushan Town was because He Qingchi still hadn’t figured out how to deal with everything between her and Wen Shuchen.
In the end, just as Qu Bixin said…
She was angry with him—angry at the choices he once made thinking they were “for her own good.”
But she also couldn’t lie to herself: the longer time passed, the more she realized that she had, without even noticing, fallen completely in love with this man.
That feeling was different from their early newlywed days.
Perhaps after going through hardships, Wen Shuchen had become a part of her life she could no longer cut away.
Her agreement to go to Jiangcheng for a few days, to meet Qu Bixin’s blind date, was really just an excuse to deceive herself. The truth was—she wanted to leave Wushan Town and give herself and Wen Shuchen a chance to meet again.
That afternoon, He Qingchi asked Yao Jing to arrange a car.
She knew very well that Yao Jing and the He family bodyguards were essentially monitoring her every move, so she didn’t bother hiding her reason for going to Jiangcheng.
Before departure, Yao Jing called Chairman He to inform him that He Qingchi was going to meet Qu Bixin.
As long as she wasn’t causing trouble, the He family also preferred she not stay cooped up all day.
An hour and a half later—
He Qingchi arrived at the place she had arranged to meet Qu Bixin.
She stepped out of the car still holding the child. Wearing a smoke-gray cheongsam, her hair pinned up, her figure slim and graceful, and the little boy obediently resting against her chest—they looked so much like a mother and child that Qu Bixin immediately praised, “How did I not see before that this little gremlin is your kid? He’s really good-looking.”
Earlier she was calling him an ugly clown; now she’s praising him.
He Qingchi fixed the child’s hat and carried him upstairs to the second floor of the restaurant.
By now she had experience taking care of him—her every move calm and natural. She could coax him into behaving perfectly, leaving Qu Bixin stunned: “My god, He Qingchi, you’ve been pulled right off your goddess pedestal, you know that?”
Sure enough, once a woman deals with family and kids, no matter how goddess-like she used to be, she turns into an ordinary housewife.
The moment Qu Bixin used “housewife” to describe He Qingchi, the little one tilted up his face, showing neat white baby teeth, and said with clear flattery: “Little Sister Xiao Chi is my and Daddy’s goddess, not a housewife!”
“You even know what a goddess is?” Qu Bixin’s attitude toward him had already improved a lot.
The boy pouted and said, “Daddy said that Mommy is his goddess!”
The child’s candid words made He Qingchi’s hand pause as she poured tea.
And Qu Bixin grimaced like her teeth hurt. “Your dad is really good at sweet-talking.”
The kid snorted softly and then blinked at his goddess-mommy: “Little Sister Xiao Chi, what are we doing here?”
“To find you a new dad.”
“……”
He Qingchi let the tea cool and placed it before the confused little guy, gently saying, “Auntie is joking with you.”
When he puffed up his little bun-face, he really did look a bit like Wen Shuchen.
He didn’t drink the water and instead turned to Qu Bixin very seriously: “I already have Daddy and Little Daddy.”
Qu Bixin was about to tease him again but froze under He Qingchi’s warning glance.
If anyone made her son cry, she wouldn’t care who showed up—she’d fight.
The two women and the child sat by the window on the second floor.
After ordering afternoon tea, Qu Bixin checked her phone and said, “Xiao Cen should be here soon.”
Right as she finished speaking, noise floated up from downstairs.
All three looked over. A tall, silent figure in a tailored suit was being politely escorted upstairs by the waitstaff.
At that moment, Qu Bixin received a new message from Xiao Cen: [Sorry, I have to cancel. I got hit by a car on the way there and ended up in the hospital…
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