The Female Lead Insists on Being My Wife [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Stealing the Wife in a Stand-in Novel (Part 2)

Even when Chen Suihe cried, she was silent, yet her tears were like a broken faucet that couldn’t be turned off. Shen Chuli spent a long time in a frantic flurry of comforting before she finally managed to soothe her.

Afraid of making her cry again, Shen Chuli consciously sat on the opposite corner of the sofa.

The laptop on the coffee table chimed a few times. Shen Chuli glanced at Chen Suihe and then focused her attention on the screen. As she scrolled through the transmitted document, scanning ten lines at a glance, her teeth ground together with an audible creak.

She had been in such a hurry to take Chen Suihe away earlier how did she not think to turn back and give Xu Hao a few good slaps?

As she flipped through the pages of information regarding Chen Suihe, Shen Chuli cursed Xu Hao under her breath as a beast. No, he was something far worse than a beast!

Her emotions slipped, and a trace of anger leaked out. Chen Suihe, who had been quietly observing her, perceived it keenly and instinctively shrank back in fear.

Noticing the lapse in her composure, Shen Chuli immediately reined in her emotions. She focused her mind, and the gaze she directed toward Chen Suihe became filled with pity and lingering affection.

Just as she was about to drown in this “gentle village,” the growling of her stomach called her thoughts back. Shen Chuli stood up, acting as if nothing were wrong, and asked, “Are there any foods you avoid or anything you especially want to eat?”

After more than a year of “discipline,” Chen Suihe could no longer remember her own likes and dislikes; conversely, she remembered every single detail of Shen Chuli’s preferences.

She gestured a few things first, then remembered that Shen Chuli couldn’t understand sign language, so she picked up her notebook: “Anything is fine, thank you.”

However, seeing Shen Chuli prepare to cook personally, Chen Suihe couldn’t help but feel surprised. In Xu Hao’s words, Shen Chuli was a delicate young lady who never touched the “spring water”—forget cooking, even the water she drank was aristocratic mineral water costing thousands per bottle.

And now, she was going to cook for herself…

Chen Suihe sat on the sofa, nervously squeezing her notebook.

Like a peacock spreading its feathers, despite there being only two of them, Shen Chuli prepared a whole table of dishes. Whether it was frying, deep-frying, stewing, stir-frying, steaming, braising, or tossing, she was eager to showcase every cooking skill she had learned while studying abroad.

If only the fridge had more ingredients!

Carrying the final national dish, Tomato and Scrambled Eggs, to the table, Shen Chuli looked at the dozen or so dishes with a hint of dissatisfaction. After a moment of self-doubt, she carried Chen Suihe over to eat.

Both of them seemed to have forgotten the existence of indoor slippers.

Not knowing her preferences, Shen Chuli had made a dish for every flavor profile. Although the food was delicious, Chen Suihe stared blankly while biting her chopsticks. Her stomach had long been ruined under Xu Hao’s malicious punishments; now, after just a few bites, she lost the desire to eat.

Seeing her stop her chopsticks, Shen Chuli knit her brows slightly. “How can you eat so little? You’ll be hungry in the middle of the night.”

Since she didn’t know what the girl liked, Shen Chuli didn’t feel right forcing food into her bowl. Instead, she served a small bowl of overcooked, soft rice porridge, sat beside her, and coaxed: “Will you have a little more porridge, okay?”

Perhaps it was because she hadn’t been treated with kindness for so long, or perhaps Shen Chuli’s focused, gentle expression was impossible to refuse—even though she was already very full, Chen Suihe lowered her eyes and ate the porridge fed to her.

That small bowl wasn’t much, only the size of a palm. Before Shen Chuli could even enjoy the feeding process, it hit the bottom.

The food on the table couldn’t be wasted either; Chen Suihe sat obediently to the side, accompanying her in silence.

After the meal, they faced a difficult problem: washing up and going to sleep.

Selfishly speaking, Shen Chuli’s heart was barely holding back the urge to take advantage of the situation, but she was afraid that showing too much haste would scare the girl. Even though her heart was itching with impatience, her face remained perfectly solemn. She helped Chen Suihe wash up without a wandering eye, carried her to the master bedroom, and then left with stiff, robotic movements.

The bedding carried a cold, elegant fragrance. Chen Suihe snuggled inside and couldn’t help but hug the quilt to sniff it. Accompanied by the scent lingering at the tip of her nose, she drifted into a groggy sleep.

In the middle of the night, a sharp pain suddenly gripped her stomach. Her whole body felt as if it had just been fished out of water, with beads of cold sweat popping up on her forehead. She clutched her stomach, biting her lip and curling up.

It’s okay, just endure it and it will pass.

The abdominal pain made her head spin. The moment before she passed out from the pain, she seemed to see a blurry figure.

When she opened her eyes again, the smell of disinfectant told her where she was.

Seeing her awake, Shen Chuli rose anxiously to go over. She desperately wanted to confirm her condition but feared being too reckless and making her uncomfortable, so she pressed the call button instead.

A moment later, a group of doctors in white coats arrived, carrying stethoscopes and flashlights, and performed a comprehensive physical examination on her.

“Miss Shen, rest assured, the patient is no longer in danger, but great care must be taken with her diet from now on,” the lead doctor said to Shen Chuli after the check-up. “I have already requested a consultation from the rehabilitation department; a treatment plan should be ready by the afternoon.”

“Thank you for your hard work,” Shen Chuli said, shaking his hand.

Even though she was the center of the conversation lying on the hospital bed, Chen Suihe couldn’t understand a word. After the doctors left, she gestured to ask: What were you talking about?

“About your treatment.” Shen Chuli sat on the chair by the bed, using her warm palm to cradle the IV tube. “You scared me to death last night. If I hadn’t heard the sound of the porcelain cup on the nightstand shattering, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have found you unconscious until this morning.”

Was there a glass cup by the bed? Chen Suihe tried to remember in confusion, but her memories of last night were a blur; she couldn’t clearly recall if there had been a cup on the nightstand or not.

“I asked someone to check your files before,” Shen Chuli said with a bit of bashfulness. “Can I call you Suihe? You don’t mind, right?”

Chen Suihe shook her head, her face pale. Since there was no pen or paper, she pulled Shen Chuli’s palm over and lightly traced with her fingertip: Thank you.

The cool fingertip sliding across the hot palm didn’t lower the temperature; instead, it stained her own fingertip with heat. Looking at Shen Chuli, whose cheeks were flushed without her realizing it, an idea bloomed in Chen Suihe’s heart.

She was a human being, not a saint without desires; she could not simply cast those past events behind her. Ever since Shen Chuli appeared and displayed such unusual behavior toward her, a thought surfaced in Chen Suihe’s mind:

Since Xu Hao loves Shen Chuli so much, what would happen if she this “inferior stand-in” ended up with the “original” Shen Chuli? Just thinking about that scumbag having a mental breakdown made Chen Suihe’s heart swell with an uncontrollable sense of satisfaction!

Although she thought this, her weak, sickly body couldn’t support her in carrying out this plan. Just thinking about the steps made her feel exhausted. By the time the rehabilitation doctors came for the consultation, she had already drifted back into a groggy sleep.

“Miss Chen’s body is currently too weak; we do not recommend starting rehabilitation training at this moment.” Holding Chen Suihe’s report, the doctor from the rehab department frowned. “The stomach issues and fatigue are just what’s on the surface; her current bodily functions simply cannot support training.”

This was obvious, and Shen Chuli knew it in her heart. “What about the aphasia?”

Physical recovery could wait until her body was nourished, but the issue of speech was urgent. After all, Shen Chuli couldn’t understand most of Chen Suihe’s self-taught sign language and had to rely on guessing. While she would learn sign language, she hoped even more that Chen Suihe could speak again.

“She was artificially placed in an environment with zero linguistic interaction, leading to aphasia. Is this easy to treat?”

“This…” The doctor hesitated. “We cannot give you a guarantee; we can only tell you we will do our best.”

Their answer was within Shen Chuli’s expectations. She nodded. “Thank you.”

When Chen Suihe woke up again, the window was already painted orange. Just as she instinctively tried to guess the time, Shen Chuli’s voice came from her ear: “It’s already 6:30 PM. Are you hungry?”

She walked over naturally to check the temperature of Chen Suihe’s forehead with her hand. When she pulled her hand away, Chen Suihe shook her head. But even though she indicated she wasn’t hungry, Shen Chuli still had a nutritional meal delivered.

“You just had a stomach episode last night; even if you aren’t hungry, you have to eat a little to line your stomach.”

A spoonful of vegetable porridge was carefully blown cool and brought to her lips. Chen Suihe stared at her face, and after a long moment, slowly opened her mouth to eat. Shen Chuli only fed her two or three spoons with restraint before stopping. Chen Suihe thought she was going to eat something else, but to her surprise, Shen Chuli used the same spoon Chen Suihe had used to finish the rest of the porridge.

Do you… do you really like me?] Chen Suihe gestured to ask.

Shen Chuli watched her gestures intently. When she realized what was being asked, she almost jumped up in excitement. But some things required a gradual approach; being too hasty would hinder their development.

Chen Suihe tilted her head, watching her, waiting for an answer.

“I do like you. Don’t you like me as a friend?” Shen Chuli replied with practiced composure.

Just… the liking between friends? Then what did those previous actions mean?

Seeing her confusion, Shen Chuli continued: “Everyone knows Xu Hao is a scumbag. After I learned of your existence, I tried to find a way to save you, but he was too cautious. I had to trick him for a long time before I got your location out of him.”

As she spoke, she didn’t forget to cast her rival in a bad light: “If I hadn’t acted that way back then, it would have been impossible for him to let us leave so easily.”

Chen Suihe felt that something was a bit strange, but Shen Chuli’s expression was too sincere, making her feel a bit ashamed of her own little schemes. Shen Chuli was such a good person, and yet she was thinking of using her…

But this was the best method of revenge she could think of.

Chen Suihe suppressed the guilt in her heart and looked up at her with a slight curve of her eyes: “In any case, thank you. Please keep a record of the hospitalization costs; I will pay you back.”

“Alright,” Shen Chuli didn’t argue with her. Giving in now was a strategic retreat she would make her way into her life bit by bit anyway. “Just get better quickly.”

The ubiquitous white of the hospital scared Chen Suihe just as much as that villa. After reluctantly staying for a day, she gestured to discuss being discharged with Shen Chuli. Shen Chuli initially didn’t want her to leave because of her weakness, but after the doctor said something to her, she finally nodded in agreement.

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