Marry by Relying on Favor: Chapter 157 - Avoiding Him
[What New Year’s gift do you want?]
When Qu Bixin heard that, her instinctive first reaction wasn’t excitement at receiving a New Year’s gift—it was to run. Her slender back pressed against the man’s arm before she realized there was nowhere left to hide.
Shen Fu leaned closer, close enough to touch but not quite, his eyes dark and intense. His thin lips formed a few words that sounded utterly natural: “Xinxin, I want to give you a New Year’s gift.”
Her body stiffened as she was forced to look at him at close range. The harmonious atmosphere in the living room instantly turned subtle and charged. After holding his gaze for a long moment, she gave an awkward little laugh and joked, “Don’t tell me you’re planning to gift yourself to me?”
Shen Fu’s expression this time was different from before—so focused and serious that the woman in his arms began to panic.
When he didn’t speak, and her temper couldn’t handle the silence, she broke it herself. “Mm, then give yourself to me. I think there are still some condoms left from before—why don’t you let me go upstairs and get them? How about we do it right here in the living room tonight?”
She tried to stay calm, thinking that sacrificing her body for peace might not be a bad deal.
But Shen Fu didn’t let her have her way. Instead, he took out the ring he had prepared for his proposal. He watched as Qu Bixin froze. After a second of silence, his tone softened. “Xinxin, to me, you are a gift from heaven—the only redemption in my dark life… I love you.”
“Shen Fu!”
Qu Bixin suddenly raised her voice, cutting off the rest of his words.
She was truly flustered. Deep down, she instinctively rejected talking about love with him.
When they didn’t discuss feelings, their time together was harmonious and relaxed.
She didn’t want to go back to the days when she had humbly loved him. So not talking about love was the only way to keep things lasting.
“Put that ring away. The diamond’s hurting my eyes.”
She found an excuse and refused to look at the proposal ring again.
Her lashes fluttered slightly—an unconscious sign of unease.
She was afraid he would ignore her rejection and continue proposing, which would inevitably drive them back into conflict.
The living room fell silent for a long time. Shen Fu placed the ring back into its box. But he didn’t put it into his pocket. Instead, he casually set it on the coffee table—as if without her acceptance, the million-dollar ring had lost all its value.
Qu Bixin steadied herself on the sofa and stood up. She had no mood left to watch the Spring Festival Gala. Without turning back, she said, “I’m going upstairs to shower.”
She chose to flee, her back betraying a hint of panic.
Shen Fu remained seated on the carpet, unmoving, his calm gaze following Qu Bixin as she fled from a single ring.
……
That night, neither of them brought up the proposal again. After showering, they went to bed and did nothing.
Early the next morning, Qu Bixin ran back to the Qu family home. She had clearly been frightened by Shen Fu. Throughout the entire Spring Festival, she found excuses to avoid him—answering only three out of ten calls, ignoring messages even after reading them. This subtle distancing lasted until Shen Fu was sent on a business trip.
After being on edge for so long, she finally took advantage of the weekend to relax with her girlfriends at a beauty spa. When her phone rang, she deliberately ignored it. Yu Jiaojiao glanced at her. “How are things with your ex-husband?”
“Just getting by,” Qu Bixin replied.
That perfectly described her current attitude. She had no expectations for a future with Shen Fu. And because she had no expectations, she unknowingly became the one in control.
Not answering his calls simply meant she didn’t want extra trouble while enjoying herself. After their spa session, they went shopping.
Passing a luxury handbag boutique, Qu Bixin unexpectedly ran into Kang Yaoduo buying a bag with a long-legged beauty. The two were intimate, laughing, even putting their arms around each other.
Qu Bixin took out her phone, snapped a photo, and sent it to Qu Yanming—cruelly shattering his dream of Kang as a future brother-in-law.
By nightfall, she returned to her villa, exhausted and carrying shopping bags. Since Shen Fu left for his business trip, she had moved out of the Qu Residence. Because she hadn’t stayed here for days, a thin layer of dust coated everything.
She dropped her bags onto the carpet. As she reached for her phone, she accidentally knocked the ring box off the coffee table.
The diamond ring rolled to her feet, cool against her skin.
She froze for a moment, remembering that Shen Fu had left it there that night and never taken it back.
Her pale fingers picked it up, examining it under the light.
The design was unique, engraved with a name—clearly custom-made. Completely different from their wedding rings back then. Back then, he had treated the marriage casually. Now, he treated it with utmost seriousness.
Uncontrollably, she thought of the look in his eyes on New Year’s Eve when he had taken out the ring—and the unmistakable disappointment after she rejected him.
A long-forgotten ache stirred in her chest, as if reminding her of all the grievances she had endured.
In the end, she put the ring back where it had been.
Then she went upstairs without another glance.
Around eleven that night, after showering and before bed, she finally replied to Shen Fu’s message.
She simply told him she’d been too tired from shopping to answer his calls.
He was still on his business trip and hadn’t rested yet. Considerately, he didn’t call—just texted: “I’ll be back tomorrow. What gift do you want?”
“So soon?!” was her first reaction.
Fortunately, she kept that to herself. After editing and re-editing, she replied politely: “Your salary card is still with me. I can buy whatever I want. I spent a lot of your money today.”
He didn’t mention the tens of thousands she had spent. After chatting briefly and sensing her distracted replies, he said, “Sleep early. Good night.”
He could clearly feel her distance ever since the New Year’s proposal. There was still a barrier between them, but neither dared to break it.
She waited a while before replying with two simple words: “Good night.”
She didn’t actually go to sleep. After dealing with him, she opened his social media. There was little to see—just a shopping photo from that afternoon. He had still bought her a gift.
Her lips curved unconsciously. When she realized, she quickly pressed them flat.
Have some backbone, will you? she scolded herself.
Maybe it was psychological, but knowing he was coming back from his trip, she dreamed all night.
In her dream, she had accepted his proposal on New Year’s Eve. He was ecstatic, preparing a grand wedding and inviting all the people who once mocked her. She became the most beautiful bride. But when the ceremony began, he publicly called off the wedding.
In the dream, he stood in a tailored black suit—still outstanding, fair-skinned, refined. Yet his expression felt unfamiliar as he coldly mocked her for foolishly dreaming of becoming Mrs. Shen.
She woke to the sound of her phone ringing, tears soaking her pillow.
She had cried both in and out of the dream. Her chest ached unbearably.
Sunlight flooded the master bedroom—it was already past nine in the morning.
The ringing phone was the culprit that had woken her.
Wiping her tears, she picked it up. The caller ID showed: Shen Fu.
In her dream, he had humiliated her again. The anger was still lodged in her chest.
This call was destined to go unanswered.
She tossed the phone onto the bed and went to wash up.
It rang for a long time before stopping. When she came out of the bathroom, her emotions had finally steadied.
She pulled open the curtains. The bright weather lifted her mood slightly.
Looking at the quiet phone, she guessed Shen Fu had returned from his trip. He had only been gone three days—almost as if he had left deliberately when she hid at her family home, then returned the moment she cautiously peeked out.
His intentions were practically written on his face.
After realizing this, she wasn’t as angry.
After all, lately she had been the emotionally erratic one. Around noon, she was mentally preparing to clean the villa herself. She was certain Shen Fu would probably come over that night, and she couldn’t keep avoiding him forever.
But the one who showed up wasn’t Shen Fu. It was Qu Yanming.
The moment he entered, he practically sniffed around the villa like a moral watchdog, checking for signs of a man’s belongings. Only when he found none did his expression improve slightly. “Guess who Dad ran into at lunch today?” he asked bluntly.
Without even offering him water, Qu Bixin closed her eyes. “Shen Fu.”
Qu Yanming sneered. “Dad was hosting clients in a private room. Shen Fu happened to be in the room next door. He paid for Dad’s entire bill, then had the nerve to walk over with a wine glass, greeting all the bosses and introducing himself as the Qu family’s former son-in-law!”
The audacity was astonishing.
Qu Bixin: “…”
Qu Yanming had every reason to suspect she’d secretly gotten back together with Shen Fu. He’d come unannounced to catch them in the act—but found no evidence. Instead, he mocked sarcastically, “He harassed Dad at lunch, then went to the Qu house tonight, saying he wanted to introduce business opportunities. Calling Dad ‘father-in-law’ so sweetly. Must’ve learned that smooth tongue from you.”
“…?”
Qu Bixin had no idea that instead of harassing her, Shen Fu had been harassing her father.
“Let me tell you, you can’t keep a scheming bastard like that,” Qu Yanming continued. “Before the holidays, he quietly bought off all of Dad’s old social circle. How else would he know which club and which private room Dad was hosting in? It’s terrifying.”
Even as a man himself, Qu Yanming thought Shen Fu was like a silent vicious dog—the kind that doesn’t bark but bites fatally.
Marrying someone like that into the family? He wasn’t in a hurry to die.
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