The princess herself was a bit dazed at this moment.
In the 21st century, Chen Die had only heard the word “princess” when Chen Shao mocked Chen Shuyuan, but now that word had landed on her forehead.
Is this how men approaching thirty pursue women?!
Yet Chen Die still couldn’t control her cheeks as they began to warm up, her breathing slowing down.
Wen Liang remained crouched in front of her, looking up at her, his eyes dark with just a hint of subtle humor at the corners, appearing somewhat mischievous.
Chen Die reacted a beat late before pulling her leg back from his hand.
Wen Liang gently gripped her ankle, placing her foot on the ground. Chen Die’s feet were fair and slender, and the crystal shoes looked especially beautiful on them. Her Achilles tendon was high, her calves straight and even, particularly suited for high heels of this height.
Ye Chuqing clapped her hands twice from the side, perhaps deliberately, saying, “Your Highness, only when you wear them can they be called crystal shoes.”
Wen Liang faintly curved the corner of his mouth, “Do you like them?”
Chen Die lowered her eyes to look, “Mmm.”
“Shall we wrap them up, or do you want to wear them out?”
The heels were too high, only suitable for special occasions. They were too exhausting for everyday walking. Chen Die changed back to her original shoes, “Let’s wrap them up.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Wen Liang had already taken out a card and handed it over.
Ye Chuqing leaned close to Chen Die’s ear and sighed, “So this is what this man is like when he speaks properly. Not easy, finally showing some human qualities.”
Chen Die still felt her ankle burning, especially the spot where Wen Liang had just encircled.
People around them were chattering, but Chen Die had neither the heart to care what they were saying nor the interest to see what expression Chen Shuyuan had now.
Ye Chuqing glanced at her with an understanding smile, “Darling, are you pursuing someone or being pursued? He just put a shoe on you, and you’re already so enchanted. Have some backbone.”
“…”
“Men like this need to be properly trained to be tamed.” Ye Chuqing said.
As they spoke, Wen Liang had already returned with the packaged shoes, “Shall we go eat?”
Chen Die said goodbye to Ye Chuqing and left with Wen Liang, one after the other.
The commercial event Wen Liang had attended had already ended, but everyone from the fashion exhibition hadn’t left yet. There were few people outside the World Entertainment Plaza, with security guards standing at the perimeter.
Chen Die walked behind Wen Liang, “What were you doing, putting shoes on me in front of so many people?”
He chuckled softly, tilting his head to look at her, “Why are you embarrassed?”
Chen Die: “?”
Who’s embarrassed?!
This dog of a man was being presumptuous! Making it seem like she was a young girl who had admired him for a long time.
Wen Liang lazily draped his hand over her shoulder, “I’ve touched every part of your body.”
“????”
Chen Die’s shoulders shuddered as she shook off his hand, not knowing whether she was angry or embarrassed, her cheeks flushed red as she glared at him, “Wen Liang!”
He raised an eyebrow casually.
“Know your place! Have you ever seen anyone pursue a woman the way you do? What you just said was completely inappropriate!” Chen Die pointed at him.
Wen Liang looked at her helplessly, lowering his eyes.
This man had lived too roughly; perhaps even this kind of pursuit was a learning process for him, not to mention Chen Die’s list of rules and requirements that resembled some kind of moral code.
This time Wen Liang looked at her with lowered eyelids, and Chen Die could practically see a sentence in his gaze—we’ve been sleeping together for so many years, why are you making such a fuss?
“Fine.” Wen Liang finally sighed, raising his hand to tap her head. “Get in the car.”
Chen Die sat in the car, and Wen Liang put the shopping bag with the high heels on her lap.
“The ballet shoes I bought you before were too big and didn’t fit. You couldn’t wear them,” Wen Liang said casually, looking ahead. “Now these finally fit.”
“What do you want to eat?” Wen Liang asked.
Chen Die was still thinking about what he had just said, her thoughts wandering, until Wen Liang snapped his fingers in front of her and repeated the question.
“Ah.” Chen Die blinked. “Anything is fine.”
Wen Liang thought for a moment about a barbecue place nearby owned by a friend of his, with good privacy, “How about barbecue?”
“Sure.”
Outside, the sunlight was bright; spring had begun, and willow catkins floated in the breeze. Chen Die tilted her head to look out the window, not knowing what she was thinking, or perhaps thinking of nothing at all.
The car stopped in front of the barbecue restaurant, which had rustic wooden decorations outside.
Chen Die put on her mask and walked with Wen Liang into a private room. But suddenly she noticed a dirty spot on the knee of Wen Liang’s black suit pants—from when he had knelt on one knee to help her try on the shoes.
Chen Die suddenly recalled their first meeting.
She was crouching at a shabby bus stop at the train station when Wen Liang approached her, bent down, looking down at her.
At that time, a dim street lamp was right behind his head, the light falling on him, forming a halo.
For some reason, the word “deity” had popped into Chen Die’s mind.
She and Wen Liang had maintained that kind of relationship for a long time—looking up and looking down, just like their first meeting.
But now the dust on Wen Liang’s knee made Chen Die truly feel that her deity had finally bent down to her, and now she stood on equal footing with him.
“Your pants are dirty,” Chen Die said after entering the private room.
Wen Liang lowered his eyes to look but didn’t care, casually dusting them off a couple of times.
“What would you like to order?” The staff at this restaurant were very attentive and didn’t treat Chen Die any differently, taking their order with a normal expression.
They ordered a set meal, which was served quickly.
Wen Liang didn’t let the server help with the grilling; only the two of them remained in the room.
He took off his jacket, rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbows, and picked up the tongs and scissors to grill the meat.
Usually when eating barbecue, there was someone to serve them, so Wen Liang didn’t need to do it himself and wasn’t very skilled. The meat frequently burned and stuck to the bottom of the grill.
Chen Die watched for a while and felt speechless—Wen Liang truly had no talent for cooking.
“Can’t you brush on some oil?” she asked.
Wen Liang glanced at her without saying anything, took the oil bottle from the side, and poured a layer.
Unfortunately, it had a minimal effect; what should burn still burned, and what should stick still stuck.
Indeed, this dog of a man wasn’t capable of such human activities.
Chen Die sighed, “Let me do it.”
She took the tongs and scissors from Wen Liang’s hands and skillfully grilled several pieces of meat.
After finishing lunch and getting back in the car, Wen Liang asked, “Where to now?”
“I don’t have work today. Let’s go home.”
“Then I’ll take you home first.” Wen Liang raised his hand to check his watch, his brows slightly furrowing. “I need to go to the hospital.”
Chen Die was startled and turned her head, “The hospital?”
“Not for me,” Wen Liang pursed his lips, his tone very calm. “It’s Wen Huaiyuan. He’s been hospitalized again. I need to go see him.”
Chen Die knew that after his mother’s death, Wen Liang no longer called Wen Huaiyuan “father,” and she also knew that Wen Huaiyuan’s health had been poor for several years.
“Is everything alright? Is it serious?” she asked.
Wen Liang smiled slightly, “It’s fine.”
After sending Chen Die home, Wen Liang drove to the hospital.
It was the weekend, so Fu Wanmei wasn’t at the hospital, but Wen Qian was.
As soon as Wen Qian saw him enter, he called out “Brother.”
Wen Liang responded flatly, not even glancing at him. He pulled up a chair to sit by the bed, “How were the tests today?”
Wen Huaiyuan waved his hand and sighed, “Same as always. All the usual problems.”
After this serious illness, Wen Huaiyuan seemed to have suddenly aged, his whole person deteriorating, looking ashen with no vitality.
“Wen Qian, step out for a moment,” Wen Huaiyuan turned his head and said. “I have something to discuss with your brother.”
Wen Qian was startled but didn’t show any reaction, just nodded with an “Oh” and went out.
Wen Liang sat comfortably in the chair, raising his eyebrows, waiting for Wen Huaiyuan to speak first.
“I’m at ease now that you’re managing Wenrong. Your brother isn’t cut out for business.”
Under Fu Wanmei’s constant pillow talk influence, Wen Huaiyuan had indeed once wanted to hand the company over to Wen Qian. But now seeing Wenrong doing better and better under Wen Liang’s management, and as Wen Qian grew up, Wen Huaiyuan was clear about what kind of person his younger son was.
With one foot already in the grave, he thought more clearly now and understood who should take over the company for it to continue thriving.
“However, Wen Qian is still your brother, and Wanmei has been married to me for so many years. If something happens to me, I still need to consider how they’ll spend the rest of their lives. You already have more than half of Wenrong’s shares. The remainder that I have will be split between your brother and stepmother after I die.”
Wen Huaiyuan suddenly started coughing violently halfway through his speech, his face turning red as if he might cough up his lungs.
Wen Liang took a cup of water from the side and handed it to him, still not speaking.
“As for Wen Qian and Wanmei, they’ll rely on company dividend shares so they won’t have to struggle for the rest of their lives. But the company will be handed over to you. I’m not confused enough to misunderstand this. The will states clearly that Wen Qian and Wanmei cannot interfere with company decisions.”
Wen Liang suddenly curved his lips in self-mockery.
Even in this situation, what Wen Huaiyuan considered for Wen Qian and Fu Wanmei was whether they could live comfortably for the rest of their lives, while for him, it was “rest assured, you’ll make all the company decisions.”
Wen Liang let out a light snort, leaning back casually, responding lazily, “Fine.”
“I’ve heard about that business between you and the Chen family’s child,” Wen Huaiyuan’s voice was very weak, without the spirit of the past. “I can’t manage you anymore, but her personality isn’t suitable for you.”
Wen Liang looked up, asking carelessly, “Then what kind of personality is suitable for me?”
Wen Huaiyuan shook his head, “The Chen family’s child is like your mother. Normally, you’re curious and like her, but she’s not suitable for marriage.”
“I’m surprised you still remember her,” Wen Liang said flatly.
Mentioning Wen Liang’s birth mother always made Wen Huaiyuan sigh, but just as he was about to speak, Wen Liang stood up, “I’ll be going now.”
A week later, Chen Die set off again to record “Three Meals a Day,” and the first episode was officially aired.
After their previous interaction, everyone felt more relaxed and familiar with each other when meeting again.
They all sat together at the table as the production team handed over the task for this episode’s program. The dinner ingredients needed to be obtained through an escape room game.
“When my agency told me about this job, they only said it was a food and drink program. I didn’t know we’d have to use our brains,” Ran Liming joked.
Li Cong also added, “My brain isn’t suitable for escape rooms.”
Chen Die took out the task card from the envelope and read it, “The four of us don’t start together?”
“That’s right. The four will enter from four different entrances. After cracking the room’s code, you might be able to meet your teammates in the middle. The ingredients are in safes in each room,” the director’s team explained. “There are four themes to choose from. Once you decide, we can prepare to set off.”
The four themes were: Space, Fairy Tale, Campus, and Cave.
Li Cong glanced at them and turned to ask, “Chen Die, with one person per entrance, would you be scared to death as the only woman?”
Chen Die replied, “I’m fine with it. I’m not afraid of this kind of thing.”
After carefully considering the four themes, they very gentlemanly decided to leave the seemingly least scary “Fairy Tale” theme for Chen Die.
…Although Chen Die didn’t think this theme would be particularly warm and cute for an escape room.
Lin Qingye chose Campus, while Li Cong and Ran Liming chose Cave and Space respectively.
Before setting off for the escape room, Wen Liang sent Chen Die a message.
[Wen Liang: Are you recording the show now?]
[Chen Die: Yes, I’ll have to turn off my phone soon. We’re going to do an escape room task.]
[Wen Liang: I’ll come find you later.]
Chen Die paused as the production team was already distributing blindfolds and walkie-talkies to them.
Before putting on the blindfold, she sent Wen Liang a final message saying “No need, you focus on your work,” then turned off her phone.
After the four put on their blindfolds, they were driven by the production team to an unknown location, faces covered the entire time until they were separated and delivered to their respective escape room entrances.
Only then did the director announce through the walkie-talkies: “The difficulty of the four themes from easiest to hardest is: Space, Cave, Campus, Fairy Tale.”
Chen Die: “…”
Well, fine.
She was led into the first room by the staff, following the walkie-talkie instructions until they said, “Everyone can take off their blindfolds now.” Only then did Chen Die remove her blindfold.
She did this quickly, simply pulling up the blindfold by one corner, so when she opened her eyes, the impact of what she saw was truly overwhelming.
It was indeed a fairy tale theme, no mistake there.
Except the fairy tale before her was a dark one. The entire room was bloody; all the princess dolls had bulging eyes full of blood vessels and eerily smiling faces.
Chen Die truly wasn’t afraid of horror movies, but standing alone, immersed in such a gloomy room, she couldn’t help but feel unnerved.
At the same time, the screams of the others came through the walkie-talkie, probably also shocked by what they saw.
Chen Die didn’t dare stare at the dolls for too long and quickly focused on finding the codes.
The fairy tale room had many wooden boxes that looked like treasure chests. Chen Die opened several in search of clues, but wound up being scared by many trick boxes, letting out several screams that could be heard by the men in the other rooms, who laughed at her misfortune.
She had played escape rooms a few times with the student council when she was in school and was somewhat familiar with the routines. After the initial scares, she quickly started to figure things out.
After an hour, Chen Die had successfully passed through two rooms and obtained two ingredients.
The walkie-talkie broadcast the real-time progress of each themed room. Chen Die was the first to pass two barriers, with Li Cong and Ran Liming exaggeratedly praising her.
“Well done, Chen Die.”
“You’re definitely the intellectual support of our team!”
Chen Die was smiling, about to respond, when suddenly the walkie-talkie emitted static, the crackling sound sharp and piercing, followed by complete silence.
Chen Die tried adjusting it several times with no success.
The walkie-talkie had malfunctioned.
Meanwhile, Ran Liming also called “Hello, hello, hello” several times before notifying the show’s director.
When Wen Liang arrived, the production team was dealing with this issue. The escape room had many cameras installed to create atmosphere, so there were no camera operators inside. With so many cameras, it wasn’t practical to access the footage in real-time.
With Chen Die’s walkie-talkie broken, she had lost her communication tool and contact.
“What happened?” Wen Liang asked.
The director knew about their special relationship and could only tell the truth, not daring to be negligent: “I’ll send someone in with a new walkie-talkie right away.”
Wen Liang frowned slightly, “Give it to me. I’ll take it in.”
The program director was startled but could only give the walkie-talkie to Wen Liang, finally adding cautiously: “There’s real-time filming inside, which will be edited into an episode later.”
The implication was for Wen Liang not to stay inside too long, or it would be difficult to edit.
It wasn’t clear if he understood, but he took the new walkie-talkie, tested it, and followed the staff toward the escape room entrance.
Meanwhile, Chen Die hadn’t taken the walkie-talkie malfunction seriously and even thought that perhaps everyone’s devices had been shut down for the show’s dramatic effect.
So she quickly went back to focusing on the challenge.
But the fairy tale theme truly was the most difficult, as advertised. The first two stages were relatively easy, but she was completely stuck at the third one.
The third stage was pitch black, with only a few candles providing light, which made the environment even more eerie.
Chen Die pulled out a note from a bamboo tube in the candlelight, opened it to find a string of numbers, and was about to look closely when she accidentally triggered a mechanism. Suddenly, all the candles went out.
The room plunged into complete darkness.
Chen Die had poor night vision, and before she could adjust, she couldn’t see anything.
At the same time, eerie music suddenly started playing, particularly ethereal, making one’s heart tighten with fear.
Chen Die: “…”
Who came up with this stupid game?!
She was going to be scared to death!!
Could she just not get the ingredients?!
She didn’t dare stay in place, carefully groping forward in the dark, but after just a few steps, she heard some strange sounds from her side, amplified infinitely in the silent, dark room.
Chen Die felt her heart slowly climbing up, almost reaching her throat.
She had even started to consider how to appear somewhat graceful despite her startled state when the episode aired.
The sound grew closer, and Chen Die didn’t dare move. She stood still, trying hard to see what was in front of her, but it was useless.
What happened to the normal escape room? How did it become an immersive experience?
And now NPCs were appearing?!
Then, she suddenly smelled a familiar scent—a faint tobacco smell, and the fragrance of laundry detergent, the same as what was used on her clothes before.
…Was she hallucinating from fear???
Before Chen Die could think, she tried to step back, but her waist was held, that familiar scent came closer, and something cool touched her mouth.
Chen Die bit down hard, quickly retreated, and exclaimed, “Aaaaaahhhh!”
“Tsk.”
Wen Liang raised his hand to his lips, which were wet.
She had drawn blood.
Chen Die heard his small sound and asked tentatively, catching her breath, “Wen Liang?”
Wen Liang rubbed his mouth and responded faintly, then chuckled lightly, “You bit quite hard.”
Chen Die had finally adjusted to the darkness, and Wen Liang’s figure appeared dimly before her, with distinct features. The blood on his lips had been casually smeared into a line, and his prominent Adam’s apple moved smoothly.
Chen Die was momentarily stunned, “…You deserved it.”
“Did I scare you?” Wen Liang raised his hand, tugging at her ponytail, teasing her, “With that feeble courage of yours.”
“…”
Chen Die couldn’t be bothered with him. She raised her hand to wipe her mouth, suddenly realizing where they were, and widened her eyes, “Why did you kiss me just now?!”
He smiled mischievously, not answering.
“The cameras here have night vision. It must have been recorded!”
“Oh,” Wen Liang raised an eyebrow, “So it would be fine to kiss you if it wasn’t recorded?”
“…You’re shameless.”
Wen Liang was used to her words by now, “I’ll tell them later to delete that footage when they edit.”
“Oh.” Chen Die couldn’t help wiping her mouth again, looking up, “Why did you come in?”
Wen Liang handed her the walkie-talkie.
Chen Die adjusted the walkie-talkie channel, quickly tuning to the originally set channel. Ran Liming and Li Cong’s voices came through.
“Why hasn’t Die-mei said anything yet?”
“Hello, hello, Die-mei, are you there?”
Chen Die pressed the button and said into the microphone, “I’m here. The previous walkie-talkie was broken.”
As soon as she put down the walkie-talkie, Wen Liang let out a low snort, narrowing his eyes as he repeated their form of address, “Die-mei?”
“…”
Actually, this was the first time Chen Die had heard Ran Liming and Li Cong call her that. Usually, no one called her that; only her fans referred to her as “Die-mei.”
“Chen Die,” he called her name with lowered eyelids.
“What?”
“Be careful. Don’t start any brother-sister nonsense with me.”
“…”
OK, Wen-style pursuit, stolen kisses with warnings included.
Hmph.
I’ll consider myself beaten if someone like you manages to win me over.
Chen Die thought to herself.
She rolled her eyes and pushed him, “You should go now.”
“Not scared anymore?” Wen Liang looked at her.
“I was never scared. You were the one who frightened me just now.”
Wen Liang patted her face and turned to leave.
After being disrupted by Wen Liang, Chen Die had lost quite a bit of time. After getting the new walkie-talkie, she turned on the backup flashlight and finally passed through the third room after another twenty minutes.
The director announced through the walkie-talkie that Lin Qingye had successfully completed the challenge and brought out all the ingredients from his route.
Another forty minutes later, Chen Die was the second to complete the challenge, followed shortly by Ran Liming and Li Cong.
Chen Die went to take a sip of water and once again experienced scene 2.0 from her previous encounter with the film crew—the staff’s eyes were filled with respect when they looked at her…
She scanned around but couldn’t find Wen Liang anywhere.
The director was already calling everyone to get back in the cars.
Once back, it was time to make dinner. All four of them knew how to cook a little, though Chen Die hadn’t cooked for herself in a long time and was the least skillful at stir-frying.
After dinner, it was time to assign bedrooms.
The evening bedrooms were determined by the escape room completion speed. Lin Qingye got the best luxury bedroom, while Chen Die got the second-best room, and Ran Liming was last, sleeping in a tent.
Chen Die put her luggage in the bedroom, washed her face, and went out.
The other three were sitting in the living room chatting.
Li Cong waved to her, “Come sit with us, Die-mei.”
“In a bit. I’m going outside first,” Chen Die smiled and said.
The wind outside was cold. Chen Die regretted going out as soon as she stepped outside, not even wearing a scarf. She let down her tied-up hair, spreading it to both sides of her chest.
The director’s team had already returned to their vehicles.
Chen Die clutched her clothes and stamped her feet in place. Her breath formed white mist in the air.
She took out her phone to message Wen Liang.
After typing “Have you left?” she thought for a moment, deleted it, and typed again.
[Chen Die: Where are you now?]
Not expecting Wen Liang to reply quickly, Chen Die put her phone back in her pocket after sending the message. Just as she turned to go back inside, her phone vibrated.
[Wen Liang: Turn around.]
Chen Die turned around.
Wen Liang stood in the light, his black hair tinted slightly lighter by the street lamp’s glow.
Chen Die couldn’t help taking a step forward toward him, then paused, before continuing to walk over to him. She stood in front of him, looking up, “Where did you go just now?”
“Had something to do,” Wen Liang said softly. “I need to go back to Yan City soon.”
Chen Die was startled and instinctively asked, “Is everything alright?”
“Wen Huaiyuan’s condition is critical. He’s in surgery.”
His voice was very light, almost devoid of emotion, easily dispersed by the wind. An outsider hearing this would probably never guess that the Wen Huaiyuan he mentioned was his father.
But Chen Die knew.
She suddenly remembered a saying she had seen online: “With parents, life still has a place to return from; without parents, life only has a place to go to.”
At the time, this sentence had moved many people to sighs and laments.
Chen Die had no parents and couldn’t truly understand this saying until this moment when she finally felt she understood a little.
Although the relationship between Wen Liang and Wen Huaiyuan had never been good all these years, he was still his father. His mother was already gone, and now his father was in the operating room between life and death. There were certainly emotions that were difficult to express.
Chen Die looked at him for a long time without speaking, not knowing what to say.
It was Wen Liang who spoke first, his tone very relaxed, “What’s with that expression?”
Chen Die wasn’t amused by him and finally allowed herself to follow her heart.
She stepped forward, opened her arms to Wen Liang, and crashed into his embrace.
Wen Liang didn’t react immediately, his body stiffening for a moment until Chen Die complained in a muffled voice, “Don’t you know how to open your arms?”
Her voice was slightly annoyed, somewhat shamefully indignant, yet pretending to be forceful.
Wen Liang’s indescribable emotions suddenly eased. He opened his arms, bent down, lowered his head, and tightly embraced Chen Die.
He chuckled softly in her ear, “What a nice surprise.”
In his arms, Chen Die pressed her lips together, feeling both warm and embarrassed, her face bright red.
After a long while, she finally let go of Wen Liang.
The man looked down at her, raised his hand to rub her hair, “I’m off.”