Marry by Relying on Favor: Chapter 126 - Not Every Woman is He Qingchi
There was a burst of commotion downstairs. He Qingchi saw a tall, slender man walk into the living room, dressed in a black suit. One shoulder was soaked by the rain outside, but he didn’t seem to care and didn’t take the towel offered by the bodyguard.
With Wen Yue’s appearance, the chatting atmosphere in the living room gradually fell silent.
He stood there without moving at first, his whole body radiating an unapproachable aura, his gaze slowly shifting toward the staircase.
He Qingchi had already come downstairs and was ushered to sit on the sofa.
Wen Yue’s appearance was only momentary; he was soon escorted upstairs by the bodyguards.
Because of this interruption, everyone in the living room seemed to have their thoughts drift upward, and He Qingchi was no exception. She absentmindedly held her teacup and took a light sip, until someone beside her spoke to her, breaking her train of thought.
He Qingchi paused for a second, then lifted her lashes to look at the other person.
For a moment, she didn’t know how to address this woman of the “aunt” generation, and she hesitated as she formed her words.
The aunt showed no embarrassment at all. She warmly took He Qingchi’s hand and, between her words, tried to recommend a young niece from her in-laws’ family, hoping to arrange a childhood betrothal with her.
He Qingchi used the excuse of drinking tea to keep some distance from her.
Her refusal was gentle but clear: “Jianci is still young, and Wen Shuchen decides all the big and small matters at home.”
The aunt’s smile faltered, then she said again, “My little niece is the same age as Jianci. How about bringing her over to the Wen family another day to keep him company?”
He Qingchi had no intention of finding herself a future daughter-in-law, nor was there any need to arrange a childhood engagement for a three-year-old. She returned a smile and declined the suggestion.
Her reason was simple: “Jianci doesn’t like playing with girls.”
Aunt: “……”
He Qingchi lowered her lashes and continued sipping her tea.
At that moment, a loud noise came from upstairs, like a chair or coffee table being knocked over. It was loud enough to be heard downstairs.
Her fingers instinctively tightened around the teacup. The rhythm of her heartbeat began to quicken, beyond her control, and images from the funeral at the Wen residence years ago seemed to flash before her eyes, spinning rapidly.
Whether it was coincidence or fate—
The seat she was in now was the very place Wen Shuchen had sat back then. Only the sofa had been replaced, and the surrounding decor had changed.
After that single noise, there was no further disturbance upstairs. No one in the living room stood up to go check.
He Qingchi silently counted the time. After a full half hour had passed, she saw Wen Shuchen slowly appear. His dark suit was still immaculate, perfectly tailored as always. From a distance, he gave her a reassuring smile.
Only after seeing him did the tension in He Qingchi’s heart gradually ease. Her dark eyes followed the man as he calmly descended the stairs, as though everything were under control, his gentle expression revealing not the slightest anomaly.
No one in the living room asked about what had happened upstairs. When Wen Shuchen walked over, he naturally took the teacup from He Qingchi’s hand.
Only then did she realize that from being so tense, her fingers had nearly gone stiff and were faintly aching.
Wen Shuchen finished the half cup of tea for her, bade the others in the living room farewell in an unhurried tone, and then took He Qingchi’s hand.
Under everyone’s gaze, the couple left the old house together.
As soon as they were outside, He Qingchi looked up at him at close range and asked with concern, “What happened upstairs?”
Wen Shuchen protected her as she got into the car first, then turned his face to look at her. “Did it scare you?”
He Qingchi neither admitted nor denied it. Her pale fingers hooked lightly at his suit. “You didn’t tell me Wen Yue would come. Seeing him really startled me.”
She was afraid that if Wen Yue became emotionally unstable, he might do something to hurt Wen Shuchen.
And the man before her—whose smile was exceptionally pleasing to the eye—was clearly the victor. He lowered his voice and said, “Right now, Wen Yue is being held accountable by the family elders. He doesn’t have the energy to deal with anything else.”
He Qingchi watched the slight curve of his thin lips—truly killing without spilling blood.
He wanted to deal with Wen Yue under the banner of the Wen family itself. She spoke softly, “That’s fine too. Before, when my aunt-in-law first came to see me, she kept saying that you brothers didn’t need to fight to the death, that you were both Wen family children, and that Wen Yue had been traumatized by Qiu Jin’s death and became mentally unstable, hoping you’d show mercy.”
Now, even the Wen family elders were disappointed in Wen Yue. No one had the right to point fingers at what Wen Shuchen did.
He Qingchi rested her head on his shoulder and repeated the same line: “Your family really plays favorites.”
“My father spent years painstakingly trying to help Wen Yue establish himself in the Wen family. Naturally, he would pave the way and make plans for him. It was only to be expected that my aunt-in-law would speak up for him.” The calmer Wen Shuchen sounded as he explained all this, the more it made He Qingchi’s heart ache.
Her pale hand tightly clasped the man’s palm. After a moment’s thought, she said, “Even if the old master hadn’t groomed you as the next heir and had handed the family business to your father, a person like him wouldn’t suddenly treat you and Wen Yue fairly just because you posed no threat to him anymore. The old master really saw the situation clearly.”
Their palms pressed together, warmth spreading bit by bit. Wen Shuchen gazed at her serious little face, concealing his own emotions, and said softly, “Back then, my father probably didn’t want to marry my mother. Because the old master was so domineering, he had no choice but to obey. Naturally, he didn’t care much for me, his son.”
“Then do you like Jianci?” He Qingchi tilted up her fair face, her eyes fixed on the man’s handsome features.
Wen Shuchen’s thin lips curved slowly. He tapped her forehead lightly. “I like his mother more.”
He Qingchi’s heart raced, but she forced herself to stay calm.
She leaned further into his embrace, breathing in his scent. “Being with you is really nice.”
Better than ever before—making her vivid, alive.
Over the course of the following week—
As for Fei Ying, Wen Shuchen, as the one in control of Wen Group, naturally didn’t sit idly by. He had long since made arrangements. After she was discharged from the hospital, he personally met with her and gave her a sum of compensation.
The media coverage quickly died down as well, with no further reports about the Wen brothers.
He Qingchi neither asked about this nor had the mind to pay attention to it.
News came from Wushan Town that her grandmother had fallen and was bedridden. She rushed back that very day, not even bringing the child with her. Fortunately, a family doctor was called in, and it wasn’t anything serious.
Still, two months of bed rest were unavoidable, so He Qingchi decided to stay in Wushan Town for a while.
She knew Wen Shuchen was tied up with work at the company, so she told him to focus on his affairs first and come visit her grandmother when he had more time.
Far away in the center of Jiang City, when Wen Shuchen heard this, he had no choice but to instruct his secretary to cancel his evening trip to Wushan Town. On the sofa, the little one was tilting his head up at him, staring expectantly, his chubby little hands cupping his cheeks as he said in an especially adorable voice, “Mommy doesn’t want us anymore?”
Wen Shuchen put his phone back into the drawer and slowly walked over to his son. He casually scraped the tip of the child’s little nose with his finger, seeming to be in a teasing mood. “If she wanted to find you a new dad, would you agree?”
The little one rolled his eyes and shot the question back at him. “Would you agree, Dad?”
Wen Shuchen seemed amused by the question, his brows and eyes filled with warmth.
The child began climbing up his suit pants—at such a young age, he was already very good at acting spoiled. “I want Daddy to hold me.”
Wen Shuchen reached out and effortlessly lifted the child into his arms. At that moment, the secretary knocked and came in. “President Wen, that Miss Fei is still downstairs at the company, asking to see you.”
After speaking with Fei Ying once before, Wen Shuchen had already made it clear that he would not see her again.
The secretary, clearly holding back complaints, said, “She’s been coming for three days straight. I’ll notify security to have her removed.”
Wen Shuchen glanced at the child in his arms. The little one immediately covered his ears. Then, in a calm tone, Wen Shuchen gave the secretary a few instructions.
After a while, the secretary acknowledged and left the office.
Downstairs at the company stood a frail, emaciated woman. Her face had long since become familiar to the security guards.
Because she had been standing there for so long, she looked as if she might collapse at any moment. Leaning against the wall, she was on the verge of crying.
Seeing this, the secretary didn’t know whether to sigh or to ask why she was doing this to herself. He walked over and said, “Miss Fei, there’s no use in asking President Wen to intervene—”
Before he could finish, Fei Ying became emotional, her eyes red. “The Wen family is under his control now. If I don’t go to him, who else can I go to?”
Her child had inexplicably been taken away by a bowl of medicine.
During her hospitalization, aside from Wen Shuchen, no one had cared whether she lived or died.
Reluctantly, Fei Ying had accepted the money, agreeing not to accept any media interviews and not to say anything in public that would damage the Wen family’s reputation. But she had never agreed to give up seeking justice for her child.
After venting her emotions, she pulled a receipt from her pocket and handed it to the secretary. “I donated all the money Wen Shuchen gave me. I didn’t keep a single cent.”
Secretary: “……”
If she wanted money, that would at least make sense. Not wanting money at all was truly baffling.
He could only think the same thing again—why go this far?
With a pale face, Fei Ying continued, “From beginning to end, I’m the victim. I did nothing wrong. Until I see Wen Shuchen, I’m not leaving.”
Hearing this, the secretary had no choice but to give her Wen Yue’s newly changed address.
“President Wen said that he’s already done everything he can. Whatever happens between you and Wen Yue from now on has nothing to do with the Wen family.”
Fei Ying stood there for a long time, holding the address in her hand.
At the very beginning, when Fei Ying was assaulted while on duty at a hotel, she didn’t even know the attacker’s name. She had grown up with strong self-respect and simply wanted justice—to slap the faces of those at the hotel who said she was trying to climb the social ladder and ended up being taken advantage of for nothing.
Later, when she sought out Wen Yue and Wen Shuchen, their indifference left her feeling more helpless than ever. As for Wen Yue, he even insulted her with words and used her to cause trouble for Wen Shuchen.
After being humiliated by Wen Yue, Fei Ying had already made up her mind that this man must publicly apologize.
Then afterward, she became pregnant—
She never expected to get pregnant, nor did she realize that Wen Yue had overdosed on medication that night. His child couldn’t have been carried to term at all.
While she was still struggling over whether to give up the baby, a single bowl of medicine made the decision for her.
Having come to this point, Fei Ying slowly pulled back her sleeve, revealing knife scars that had yet to heal. She had even thought about suicide. Someone who had brushed past death once feared nothing anymore.
She wanted justice—she wanted those lofty, powerful people to kneel before her and repent for what they had done!
The taxi stopped outside a villa. Fei Ying paid the fare and got out. Following the address given by Wen Shuchen’s secretary, she encountered a well-dressed woman with a worried expression who was just coming out of the gate.
Fei Ying didn’t know this woman’s name. She had vaguely heard Wen Yue call her “aunt-in-law,” so she always addressed her as Madam Wen.
When they met, Madam Wen clearly disliked seeing her and showed signs of wanting to drive her away. “Who told you to come here?!”
After being reprimanded by the family at the old house some time ago, Wen Yue was now practically under house arrest. Only she, as his aunt-in-law, had come to check on him out of concern.
Faced with this haunting woman, Madam Wen felt guilty at heart, though on the surface she put on a tough front.
Fei Ying’s face was as pale as paper, and she spoke as if she had no strength left. “I’m here to see Wen Yue.”
Madam Wen blocked her at once. Up close, due to prolonged insomnia, the dark circles and wrinkles beneath her eyes betrayed her age and exhaustion, yet her grip was strong. She tightly seized Fei Ying’s wrist. “Stop pestering Wen Yue. How much money do you want? I’ll give it to you!”
Fei Ying wanted to smash the donation receipt from her pocket into her face. Hatred burned in her eyes. “Wen Yue ruined my reputation, and people curse me, saying I did it all for money. Madam Wen, the compensation Wen Shuchen gave me was far less disgusting than your attitude! Because of him, the hotel where I worked part-time—and even my school—was thrown into chaos with rumors everywhere… This is a shadow and a stain I’ll carry for life. No amount of money will make me stop!”
“Then what do you want?”
Madam Wen had long since lost patience with Fei Ying, especially after learning that the child could not be kept.
Fei Ying enunciated each word and spat out her demand: “I want Wen Yue to publicly announce the cancellation of his previous engagement—and marry me!”
A flash of shock crossed Madam Wen’s face, as if she’d heard something utterly unbelievable.
“Even if he divorces me tomorrow, he must marry me—otherwise, he should voluntarily turn himself in to the police!” Fei Ying knew very well that in others’ eyes, these choices sounded like a fool’s dream. The Wen family was wealthy and powerful—how could they ever marry an ordinary woman?
But only this way could she hold her head high in her own world for the rest of her life.
Madam Wen sneered, reacting just as Fei Ying had expected. “If you want to make trouble, go make it outside. Do you even have evidence that it was Wen Yue?”
Now that even the child was gone, what evidence was left?
Madam Wen looked at Fei Ying as if she were a foolish, naïve woman—someone who believed that because Wen Shuchen had helped her once, she could truly step into the Wen family. Her upbringing prevented her from hurling outright insults, but every word dripped with mockery of Fei Ying’s delusion. “Don’t think that just because Wen Shuchen protected you once, you can do whatever you want in the Wen family. You’re not He Qingchi—and you don’t have her kind of fate.”
“In the whole of Jiang City… the only person Wen Shuchen is willing to bend over backward for is He Qingchi. What do you think you are?”
Madam Wen’s final words showed she had truly reached the end of her patience.
This woman just wouldn’t go away—did she really think Wen Shuchen had helped her out of kindness and would see it through to the end?
Madam Wen’s sarcasm was clear to Fei Ying. In a fit of humiliation and rage, she instead shoved her hard.
Caught completely off guard, Madam Wen was still gripping her wrist, and the two of them tumbled down the steps together…
There was no one around. Fei Ying’s frail body pressed down on top. She lowered her head, looking at Madam Wen’s face twisted in pain from the fall. No one knew what crossed her mind, but as if possessed, she pulled a fruit knife hidden in her pocket.
----------
If you like my translation, please support me by buying me a coffee:
0 comments: