Wang Yurou had stretched her split too wide; she was only held upright by the leg Shen Zhaozhao was gripping. If that hand let go even a little, she would surely drop straight into a full vertical split.
She had never learned dance, so she had no such flexibility. Even at this angle, the muscles in both her legs ached fiercely from being pulled taut, and she could clearly feel her trousers had reached their absolute limit of stretch.
If she stretched just a fraction further, they would tear right open.
She could not bear to imagine the humiliating sight if she walked back to the front courtyard looking like she was wearing split pants, and Fu Shixuan saw her.
The mere thought made her want to vanish on the spot.
Wang Yurou strained to hold herself back, her face burning bright red with shame and anger.
“Shen Zhaozhao, let me go! You violent brute, you lowlife who only knows how to bully people with dirty tricks! If Fu Shixuan knew what you are really like behind closed doors, he would never spare you a single glance for the rest of his life!”
Shen Zhaozhao let out a laugh.
“Why would I care if he looks at me? Would I grow an extra pound of flesh, or earn a few hundred more dollars just because he glances my way?”
“Look at how pathetic you are! Do you really think everyone is just like you – unable to survive without a man?”
“If you apologize to me right now, I might consider helping you keep your trousers intact. Otherwise…”
Shen Zhaozhao half-smiled and loosened her grip just slightly. Wang Yurou’s front leg slid forward, and her split widened even more.
Panic truly set in for Wang Yurou. She bit her lip and hesitated for a few seconds before forcing herself to speak.
“I’m sorry, okay?”
Her words were mumbled, rushed, and barely audible.
“What did you say? I didn’t catch that.”
Shen Zhaozhao feigned a frown, watching her with that same teasing, knowing look.
Hatred burned fiercely inside Wang Yurou, but she had no choice but to yield when she was at another’s mercy.
She ground her teeth together, then raised her voice sharply: “I said I’m sorry! Is that enough?!”
Shen Zhaozhao let out a cold huff of laughter. She grabbed Wang Yurou’s ankle and gave her leg a firm push forward.
Wang Yurou stumbled, lost her balance, and staggered back several steps before slamming headfirst into the pigpen fence.
The pigs that had been eating peacefully squealed in fright, and instinctively kicked out at the fence in defense.
That kick landed perfectly – right through the gap in the slats, and straight onto Wang Yurou’s forehead.
“AHHHHH MY HEAD!!”
Blood instantly welled up at her temple. She clutched her head, nearly fainting from the sharp pain.
Shen Zhaozhao couldn’t help snickering at the sight, and most of the anger that had been building up inside her melted away in an instant.
Wang Yurou forced her head up through the pain, and met Shen Zhaozhao’s smiling face. Overwhelmed by shame and fury, she screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Shen Zhaozhao, I will never let this go!”
Shen Zhaozhao’s smile vanished at once, her eyes and expression turning cold.
“Go ahead and try. If you dare provoke me again, we’ll see exactly who won’t let who go.”
She leaned down, and a chilling, terrifying smile spread across her icy face. Her voice was as cold as shards of ice.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you – next time you bother me, it won’t stop at a few slaps.”
The sheer force of her aura was so overwhelming that Wang Yurou shuddered instinctively before she could stop herself.
She clung to what little dignity she had left: “Aren’t you afraid Fu Shixuan will find out and come after you?”
Shen Zhaozhao let out a short laugh and narrowed her eyes.
“Surely you don’t actually think that clinging to Fu Shixuan’s coattails will let you rise to the top the moment you get back to the city – living a carefree life, spoiled rotten by him?”
Her mocking tone caught Wang Yurou off guard, and a faint sense of unease crept over her.
“What do you mean?”
Shen Zhaozhao only smiled – a smile that sent chills down Wang Yurou’s spine.
She would never tell Wang Yurou that even if she married Fu Shixuan, she would never get the perfect life she imagined: being waited on hand and foot, showered with endless affection, with absolutely nothing to worry about.
In the original story, after Fu Shixuan returned to the city, Wang Yurou did indeed give birth to his child and enjoyed a few years of relative peace.
But just as Wang Yurou thought her place was secure, Fu Shixuan’s first love – his “white moonlight” – walked right back into their lives.
This woman was beautiful, cunning, intelligent, and exceptionally capable. More than that, she was Fu Shixuan’s childhood sweetheart, having grown up alongside him in the same compound.
Fu Shixuan had been close to her since they were small; they were each other’s closest confidants, and their families had always hoped they would end up together.
Even among Fu Shixuan’s friends, almost everyone favored this woman over the sudden appearance of Wang Yurou.
Wang Yurou seethed with jealousy at every turn. After meeting her just once, she marked her as her rival, throwing tantrums and scheming endlessly – doing everything she could think of, and creating every kind of dramatic, messy scene imaginable.
They fought and broke up and made up over and over: one minute she was crying in the rain and falling into the river, the next she was bedridden with a high fever and he stayed up all night caring for her… it was as if every over-the-top cliché Shen Zhaozhao had ever read played out between them.
At their worst, they even filed for divorce – Wang Yurou threatening to end her life over it again and again, until it became tedious just to read.
Then one day Fu Shixuan supposedly “saw the light,” turned back to Wang Yurou, and they went through endless chapters of on-again, off-again drama before finally staying together.
Just thinking about it filled Shen Zhaozhao with helplessness – like trying to squash a cockroach only to watch it strut right back out in front of you, alive and unharmed.
Seeing that Shen Zhaozhao only smiled and said nothing, Wang Yurou grew more anxious by the second.
“Shen Zhaozhao, tell me what you mean! Have you already planned some scheme to ruin Shixuan and me?”
“I’m warning you – you can bully me all you want, but if you dare lay a hand on Shixuan, I’ll fight you to the death!”
Shen Zhaozhao shook her head with a faint laugh.
“Don’t jump to conclusions. I wouldn’t want that kind of blessing even if you gave it to me. You can enjoy it all by yourself.”
“I only wish the two of you love each other endlessly – have your second child in three years, your third in five, and be bound together for this life and the next.”
Wang Yurou: ???
She could no longer make sense of Shen Zhaozhao.
Those words sounded like well wishes – so why did it feel like she had just been scolded?
Confused as she was, Wang Yurou had no desire to drag this out any longer.
This woman was nothing but bad luck – the further she stayed away, the better. She had no intention of becoming a side character in a hundred chapters of messy drama.
Shen Zhaozhao turned to leave, but Wang Yurou wouldn’t let her go. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her forehead, she jumped up and lunged forward, grabbing Shen Zhaozhao’s arm tightly.
“Don’t you dare walk away! Finish what you were saying! What kind of plot are you hiding behind that smile of yours?!”