Zhao Jinjin stumbled a few steps in her high heels, her pretty face burning with even more fury.
She stared at the seemingly delicate figure limping along with difficulty, a glint of cunning flashing in her eyes as she clenched her nails tightly into her palms: Yan Yi’an, you wronged my sister, and now you want to get close to Brother Xi Zhi… I’ll be the one to destroy you.
Zhao Jinjin strode into the villa on her high heels, her cold gaze sweeping the room without finding any trace of Yan Yi’an. Has she crawled back into her little doghouse again?
“I want some tea—very, very hot tea,” Zhao Jinjin ordered the other servants in the villa.
Though she rarely came to Deep Water Bay, as Zhao Ruoruo’s younger sister, the servants there dared not neglect her.
Zhao Jinjin sat down on the sofa with an air of arrogance, her high heels still on, and waited.
Only when a servant brought over a cup of hot tea did Zhao Jinjin look at the billowing steam, a hint of triumph coloring the corners of her eyes as she curled her red lips. “Bring me the freshly boiled hot water as well.”
Yan Yi’an was just rolling up her pant leg to apply medicine to her swollen calf when a figure flashed past her doorway.
Zhao Jinjin leaned half against the doorframe, propping herself up with her left hand, casually examining her freshly done nails with a raised brow.
“You don’t want to see me, and I don’t want to see you either. Miss Zhao, there’s no need to force us both to be disgusted.” Yan Yi’an’s lips shimmered with a faint pink sheen, her complexion deathly pale with illness.
“Seeing you every time really does turn my stomach.”
“You’ve made it so I can’t even attend afternoon tea gatherings anymore—everywhere I go, people point and whisper about me…”
A murderous glint gradually crept into Zhao Jinjin’s eyes. Despite her beautiful face, there was something almost terrifying about her now.
Yan Yi’an cursed inwardly: Sure enough, both sisters are insane. Her gaze grew increasingly wary as she watched the figure at the door.
Zhao Jinjin sidled in and slowly closed the door behind her. “Yan Yi’an, no matter what I do to you, it won’t be enough to quell the hatred in my heart.”
A wave of unease washed over Yan Yi’an as she braced herself to stand. Seeing how much effort it took for her to get up only made Zhao Jinjin more confident.
“Zhao Jinjin, what exactly are you trying to do?” Yan Yi’an gritted her teeth.
“Brother Xi Zhi belongs to my sister. No one can take him away. Don’t think I don’t know your scheme—lingering at Deep Water Bay, staying close to Brother Xi Zhi. Isn’t it just to use that face of yours to seduce him?”
She had to admit, Yan Yi’an’s face was the greatest threat to any woman. Even bare-faced, she looked pure, delicate, and alluring.
“But…” Zhao Jinjin parted her red lips, her voice calm and unhurried as she took step after step toward Yan Yi’an, “how is an ugly freak supposed to seduce Brother Xi Zhi?”
Only then did Yan Yi’an notice that Zhao Jinjin was holding a kettle of scalding hot water behind her back.
She’s truly insane…
Zhao Jinjin raised her hand—
Yan Yi’an, ignoring her injured leg, grabbed the pillow from the bed and hurled it hard at the kettle. A shrill, miserable scream rang out from Zhao Jinjin as most of the boiling water splashed onto her own leg.
Yan Yi’an’s body was also splattered with a few drops of the scalding water.
But there was no time to think about that. Yan Yi’an braced herself against the wall and hobbled toward the door.
Just as her fingers touched the doorknob, a powerful force yanked at her ankle from behind—like ghostly hands chasing after her, desperately tearing and dragging her back into hell.
Yan Yi’an’s knees slammed into the ground once more, bruising purple and bleeding profusely.
Zhao Jinjin was determined to destroy Yan Yi’an. Catching sight of the half pot of hot water still remaining, she lifted it and hurled it straight at Yan Yi’an’s face.
But in that instant, a dark figure rushed in from outside the door and shielded Yan Yi’an, with most of the hot water splashing onto Yan Yi’an’s upper body and the person’s back.
Butler Zhou heard the screams from the room and, thinking something had happened to Yan Yi’an, hurried inside.
“Uncle Zhou, are you alright?”
Yan Yi’an was anxious.
Butler Zhou smiled and said he was fine—his clothes were thick, and he only felt a warmth on his back, nothing close to a burn.
Zhao Jinjin was clearly in a worse state than the two of them. Her leg was red and swollen in patches, with severe areas already blistering.
Butler Zhou quickly called Zhou Xizhi. After all, Zhao Jinjin had been injured at Deep Water Bay, and he bore some responsibility. When Zhou Xizhi heard what happened, his expression darkened as if it could drip ink.
Unsurprisingly, Tang Jingfeng was summoned once again.
At this moment, the villa was filled with Zhao Jinjin’s cries of varying pitch, faint tear tracks at the corners of her eyes, as Tang Jingfeng lanced her blisters.
Though Tang Jingfeng was a doctor, he was no ordinary one. Booking a private appointment required scheduling in advance and depended on his mood. Never had he bent over to lance blisters for someone else.
But Zhao Jinjin was spoiled and petulant, cursing at the young nurse until she dared not approach. Tang Jingfeng, out of consideration for Zhao Ruoruo, suppressed his irritation and did it himself, though the barely concealed anger between his brows finally made Zhao Jinjin rein herself in somewhat.
When Zhou Xizhi returned, this was the scene that greeted him—Zhao Jinjin’s fair leg red and swollen, raw and bloody…
Zhao Jinjin recognized who had arrived and, feeling emboldened by her various backing, blinked her glistening eyes, pouted with utmost grievance, and called out, “Xizhi-ge.”
Zhao Jinjin and Zhao Ruoruo bore a strong resemblance around the eyes and brows, especially now with her misty, tearful gaze, as if she had suffered some great injustice.
Zhou Xizhi swept the room with a sharp gaze. Not seeing Yan Yi’an, he immediately concluded that she had bullied Zhao Jinjin.
He turned on his heel at once, his long legs striding furiously toward Yan Yi’an’s room.
Inside the room, Yan Yi’an had partially slipped off the clothes on her upper body. Her snow-white skin was red and swollen in spots, burning unbearably, and the young nurse was tending to her. She never expected the door to be suddenly thrown open and hastily pulled her clothes back up to cover herself.
Zhou Xizhi’s gaze landed on her, his eyes unreadable and profound.
“Young Master Zhou, Miss Yan is also injured and is being treated…” Butler Zhou, afraid that Zhou Xizhi might make things difficult for Yan Yi’an, rushed over to explain.
Zhou Xizhi instinctively turned sideways to block Butler Zhou’s line of sight, concealing his dark eyes, and said coldly to the person behind him, “Finish up, then get out immediately.”
Tang Jingfeng’s shoulder was nearly crushed by Zhao Jinjin’s grip. He recalled the day he had treated that bloody, mangled knee—the person in that room back then had been just like the one in there now, not making a single sound. Truly remarkable endurance.
Not like Zhao Jinjin, this delicate, pampered young lady. He pried Zhao Jinjin’s hand off his shoulder, his expression turning irate. “Your Xizhi-ge is here now—go grab his shoulder instead. My arm is very valuable; plenty of people are waiting for me to see them.”
Beside them, Zhou Xizhi’s expression was dark and inscrutable. Zhao Jinjin hadn’t expected her scheme to backfire so spectacularly, and she was even more afraid of provoking Zhou Xizhi’s anger, so she could only dig her nails into the sofa and endure in silence.
Behind him, the sound of light footsteps approached extremely slowly, until they came to a stop not far from Zhou Xizhi’s side.
Zhou Xizhi assumed the posture of a judge, lifting his eyes to scrutinize the woman beside him. She was frail, as if a gust of wind might knock her over. Her collarbone and the backs of her hands were red and swollen, and blood seeped from her knees…
Zhou Xizhi furrowed his brow, inexplicably recalling how in the past, at the slightest bump or scrape, she would insist on running to him, coquettishly crying out in pain, using it as an excuse to cling to him, claiming he was the best medicine for her wounds.
“What happened? How did Jinjin’s leg get injured?”
The more Zhou Xizhi reminisced about the past, the colder the chill in his eyes grew. How had he never noticed before that she was such a vicious, venomous woman?
“She picked up a pot of boiling water herself, saying she wanted to ruin my face, but ended up spilling it on her own leg. That’s what happened.”