Marry by Relying on Favor: Chapter 135 - He is a Vicious Dog
After their showdown that night, Qu Bixin had prepared herself to be locked up in the old Western-style house for half a month. To her surprise, when dawn broke, he unlocked the tightly sealed front door—yet she still couldn’t leave.
She had caught a chill in the living room the night before. When she woke up, she didn’t even have the strength to get out of bed. The low-grade fever left her whole body weak; even the muscles in her slender arms ached faintly. Sweat soaked through her as she lay wrapped under the blanket.
The master bedroom windows were covered by heavy curtains without even a slit of light, leaving the air stuffy and unmoving. Only when the bedroom door opened did Qu Bixin manage to pry her eyes open. Through her blurred vision, she saw Shen Fu walking in, carrying a bowl of medicine.
It smelled like traditional Chinese medicine—bitter.
He forced a mouthful into her. She scrunched up her face and complained, “Are you trying to murder me?”
Shen Fu’s heart was as hard as iron. He poured half the bowl down her throat.
The bitterness brought tears to her eyes. Her breathing quickened. She was wearing the man’s oversized bathrobe, the collar hanging open, no bra underneath. When she pressed against his arm, the softness of her body was unmistakable.
A flicker crossed Shen Fu’s eyes. He used his thumb to wipe the corners of her lips clean, then tucked her back under the blanket.
Her hair stuck to her face, her skin flushed an unhealthy red, and she kept cursing at him.
Her voice was so weak it sounded like a kitten’s mewl.
Shen Fu pulled over a chair and sat by the bed. A laptop rested on his long trousers as he focused intently on his work.
Not long after, Qu Bixin started complaining that she was thirsty and tried to kick off the blanket, saying it was too hot.
Shen Fu reached over and tucked her back in, then got up to pour her a glass of warm water.
“Drink another bowl of medicine and the fever will go down.” He placed his palm on her forehead. It was no longer hot.
After drinking the water, she glared at him. “Don’t pretend to be kind.”
If he hadn’t made her stay in the living room in the middle of the night, she wouldn’t have caught the fever.
Shen Fu didn’t look the slightest bit guilty. “I’ll pay attention in the future,” he said flatly.
Her hand froze around the cup. In the future?
It was obvious from his stance that he had no intention of letting her go. “Once your fever’s gone, come abroad with me for a few days.”
Qu Bixin stared at him without blinking, lips pressed tight.
“Your brother took my benefits,” Shen Fu reminded her calmly, as if he were merely collecting what he was owed.
“Then ask his wife to go with you! Why me?” Qu Bixin leaned against the headboard. Her bathrobe and shoulder-length hair were slightly messy. In her sickly state, she had no imposing presence; even her voice lacked strength.
Shen Fu had no intention of wasting words on this matter. He had already made arrangements.
By the afternoon, when it was time to drink medicine again, she resisted in every way possible.
She said the herbal medicine was too bitter and wanted fever pills instead.
She even called Shen Fu pretentious and fussy.
No one knew where a rich young lady like her had learned such vocabulary.
She didn’t bother pretending anymore and sneered. “When I was smoking and swearing, you were probably still playing in the mud.”
Back then, he had likely already been shouldering the burdens of life and raising a mute girl. Saying he played in the mud was actually mocking him for having lived at the bottom of society.
Shen Fu had never hidden his past. After feeding her another spoonful of medicine, he said expressionlessly, “When I was fifteen, I worked as a temporary laborer for a contractor, carrying bricks from the first floor to the twelfth. I earned about two cents per brick. After school every day, I’d work to earn enough for the next day’s meals.”
He really had been playing in the mud.
Qu Bixin had never been part of Shen Fu’s world, but she knew he hadn’t had it easy growing up.
He sold the house he lived in to pay for Shen Tingji’s surgery. He had to earn money to support the family and pay tuition. No wonder, once he became an adult, his ambitions grew so large.
Before she knew it, Shen Fu had forced an entire bowl of medicine into her.
She gulped water to wash away the bitterness.
After setting the cup down, she brought up the earlier topic again. “Now that you’re rich and powerful, why not marry Shen Tingji? She’s not mute by birth, so it won’t affect your offspring genetically, right?”
Shen Fu placed the bowl on the coffee table without lifting his eyes.
“You used that face to seduce me back then and got what you wanted—you became rich. I admit I was willful and wrong before. Consider it a good deed. Can’t you just leave me alone?”
She tried to reason with him.
Only then did Shen Fu look at her. Instead of answering, he asked, “How does the outside world describe me?”
She was momentarily stunned.
The rumors had long been rampant. They said Shen Fu climbed up by relying on the Qu family’s daughter, used connections to enter the circle of wealthy elites, and latch onto the Wen family. Later, for the sake of power and status, he resorted to any means, even acting as a spy. Now he had gone from a poor boy to a billionaire, successfully escaping poverty.
But deep down, he was considered dirty and dark, his methods disgraceful—looked down upon by many traditional wealthy families.
Watching her changing expression, Shen Fu added, “So do you think I’m the kind of person who does good deeds?”
She instinctively knew the answer was no.
He earned every penny ruthlessly and wouldn’t even donate to charity. How could he suddenly grow a conscience?
With his slender fingers, he lightly scraped her pale cheek. His voice carried little warmth. “Whoever that Xiao is, I advise you to keep your distance. Don’t test a man’s patience.”
Everything about him was domineering. Before she fully recovered, she didn’t even have the energy to argue.
She stayed in the old house for three days, and finally her fever subsided.
Whenever she was forced to drink medicine, she would dazedly wonder—who exactly was the one recuperating?
Shen Fu appeared perfectly normal. Every afternoon, a group of company executives would come to discuss business with him for two hours before leaving. The entire time, they didn’t even glance at her, treating her as if she were invisible.
Qu Bixin knew that Shen Fu had deliberately allowed Wen Shuchen to bankrupt him, abandoning the company he had painstakingly built over several years. Now he had successfully entered Wen Corporation’s inner circle, becoming Wen Shuchen’s right-hand man and one of his most capable assistants.
The outside world had called him worse things.
They said he was a vicious dog raised by Wen Shuchen, handling the most unspeakable affairs within Wen Corporation.
Shen Fu didn’t care. He had obtained the power and social status he wanted. When he went out now, people no longer referred to him as the Qu family’s poor son-in-law but respectfully addressed him as President Shen. Even his bearing in public carried more authority. He now had the ability to threaten her brother.
Qu Bixin was curious what benefits Qu Yanming had accepted—enough to sell his own sister without blinking.
Their sibling relationship wasn’t good, but it hadn’t been this disgraceful, had it?
At dinner, seeing her unusually obedient, Shen Fu’s mood lifted slightly. “Your brother found you a little sister-in-law.”
Her beautiful eyes widened. “You hired a private investigator to dig up all my brother’s secrets?”
This completely ignited her love of gossip. As a rich young lady living a pampered life, she survived on gossip from high society—especially when it involved her own family.
She dragged her chair over to Shen Fu, looking up at him eagerly. “Tell me!”
Shen Fu hadn’t started eating yet. His gaze swept over one of the dishes.
Quick to read the situation, Qu Bixin immediately picked up her chopsticks and placed some shredded potatoes in his bowl. “Eat more. Don’t lose weight.”
Shen Fu elegantly ate what she had served. After a moment, under her enthusiastic gaze, he finally revealed that Qu Yanming was keeping the campus beauty from a certain university.
Shen Fu hadn’t hired a private investigator.
The campus goddess Qu Yanming was supporting happened to be an intern at Wen Corporation. By chance, he once saw the two of them together downstairs at the company.
Killing intent flashed in Qu Bixin’s eyes. “Qu Yanming is dead!”
The Qu family was strict about their children’s conduct, especially with the He family as a comparison. Her father would never tolerate such scandals. Back when she insisted on marrying Shen Fu, her father had warned her sternly.
If she couldn’t endure poverty in the future, she could return home—but she was absolutely forbidden from cheating or being kept by a wealthy man.
She had been worrying about how to retaliate against Qu Yanming. Now she had her chance.
Shen Fu claimed Qu Yanming had accepted his benefits. “Is your brother’s money tightly controlled by your sister-in-law?”
“Of course! He’s a spineless coward. I never thought he’d learn to keep a mistress!” Qu Bixin rolled her eyes.
Shen Fu seemed thoughtful. “I see.”
“What?”
“Your brother asked me to prepare an apartment for his campus goddess. In exchange, he gave you to me.”
The air seemed to freeze for a second. Then Qu Bixin shot to her feet in rage. If Shen Fu hadn’t pulled her into his arms, she might have grabbed a knife to kill Qu Yanming. She was so furious that her words came out incoherent. “I’m only worth an apartment? He sold me for that? If he can’t control what’s in his pants, he should just become a eunuch! A campus beauty and he forgets his own surname!”
Shen Fu held her in his arms, patting her back gently. “Your fever just went down. Don’t get angry.”
His usually indifferent voice softened deliberately, as if he were a different person.
Only when she came to her senses did she realize how close they were. “Stop pretending. You’re no good either.”
Was everyone in the Qu family blinded by good looks?
Qu Yanming sold his sister for a mere campus beauty.
Shen Fu didn’t release her slender waist. His thin lips curved slightly as he stated a fact calmly. “Bixin, your father is getting old and will retire soon. When your brother takes over the company, he won’t hesitate to squeeze every bit of value out of you.”
She wasn’t stupid. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been secretly competing for the family inheritance all these years.
She didn’t understand company management and couldn’t beat her brother there, so she could only fight for the properties and money in her father’s hands.
Shen Fu told her coldly and clearly, “If your brother can sell you to me for a few days, he can sell you to another man.”
Qu Bixin stared at him silently, her breathing uneven, as he lifted her sharp chin with his fingers and continued, “You’re so beautiful and know how to please men. Plenty of men would be interested in you, hm?”
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