Just as she was about to step forward, Wu Xiaoxia saw Shen Yingying, who had nearly run up to Xie Fangzhu, suddenly stumble and fall to the ground.
Wu Xiaoxia froze for a moment and instinctively stopped walking. Then a wave of satisfaction surged through her heart as she viciously cursed inwardly: Serves you right, Shen Yingying! Falling on flat ground? That’s what you get for acting so smug. Even heaven can’t stand you anymore. Better if you broke yourself to death!
Meanwhile, over by Xie Fangzhu—
He looked at the woman clutching her ankle, eyes reddened as she gazed at him pitifully, and his expression turned complicated.
When he first arrived at the Shen family, he had only been six years old. Shen Yingying had not even been born yet. In a sense, he had watched her grow up.
Ever since she turned three, she had hardly ever fallen. The only memorable time was when she slipped on a banana peel. The twisted expression on her face back then had stayed in his memory to this day.
And now, seeing this woman suddenly fall on a path she had walked countless times before—while somehow still managing to maintain an ethereal, graceful pose even as she fell…
Xie Fangzhu’s first reaction was that she was faking it.
Still, he stopped beside her.
“Can you still walk?”
Shen Yingying hadn’t expected him to play along so well. Pouting pitifully, she reached a hand toward him.
“I don’t know. My foot hurts, my whole body hurts. Xie Fangzhu, pull me up…”
Xie Fangzhu pressed his lips together. A helpless look appeared on his face as he set down the bicycle stand, bent over, and lifted her into a bridal carry in one swift motion.
Shen Yingying: “!!!”
She was stunned.
Originally, she had only wanted him to offer his hand so she could lean into his arms afterward and coquettishly complain that her foot hurt too much to walk without support.
She hadn’t expected this man to be so… effective…
Holding her steadily in his arms, Xie Fangzhu walked straight past Wu Xiaoxia, carried Shen Yingying to the doorway, then turned and entered the wooden house.
Leaning lazily against the wall behind her, Shen Yingying lightly twisted her “injured” ankle at Wu Xiaoxia. One eyebrow arched, lips curling into a provocative smile.
Her expression practically said:
Go ahead. Let’s see who’s better at acting.
Wu Xiaoxia was dumbfounded.
She had thought Shen Yingying’s fall was heaven’s punishment.
Now it was obvious there had been no punishment at all. Shen Yingying had done it on purpose just to make Brother Xie pity her.
And she herself had actually felt pleased about it earlier.
She was as stupid as a pig!
Wu Xiaoxia was so furious she nearly lost her mind. Her eyes reddened, fists clenched tightly, but with Xie Fangzhu inside the house, she didn’t dare explode.
At that moment, Xie Fangzhu came back out carrying a wooden stool.
He set it by the doorway and grabbed Shen Yingying’s arm, intending to help her sit down.
But the moment he touched her, Shen Yingying suddenly seemed to lose all strength and leaned entirely against him.
Seeing this, Xie Fangzhu couldn’t help frowning.
“Is it really that serious?”
Shen Yingying knitted her brows weakly and replied in an incredibly delicate voice,
“Mhm… it hurts so much. I can’t even walk anymore.”
Wu Xiaoxia: “???”
Wasn’t this the same person who had just been casually twisting her ankle at her like nothing was wrong?
Of course, Xie Fangzhu couldn’t hear Wu Xiaoxia screaming internally.
In the end, he changed from merely supporting Shen Yingying to wrapping an arm around her waist and guiding her onto the stool.
Then he crouched down, rolled up her pant leg, and carefully examined her ankle.
Her pale ankle was slender and elegant, without the slightest visible swelling.
He gently rotated it.
“Does it hurt?”
“It hurts a lot…”
Her voice was soft and tender, even accompanied by sharp little intakes of breath as if she were truly in pain.
But the ankle in Xie Fangzhu’s hand felt soft and relaxed—nothing like the stiffness of an actual sprain.
Unable to stop himself, he lifted his eyes to look at her.
Shen Yingying’s eyes looked like they held a pool of spring water, shimmering with ripples of light.
When she noticed him looking, her eyes curved into a smile, like spring breeze brushing past blooming flowers.
Xie Fangzhu’s heart skipped a beat involuntarily, and he quickly lowered his gaze.
Releasing her ankle, his voice unconsciously became hoarse.
“I’ll go find some medicine for you later.”
Standing nearby, Wu Xiaoxia could no longer bear to watch.
Today was the first time she had truly witnessed Shen Yingying’s methods.
No wonder Shen Yingying had treated Brother Xie so badly before, yet he still treated her so well.
So this was the kind of shameless trick she used.
Disgusting! Revolting!
Wu Xiaoxia desperately wanted to expose Shen Yingying’s fake act, but judging from Brother Xie’s reaction now, she knew it would only backfire. He would never believe her.
Just then, Xie Fangzhu spoke again.
“Sit here for a bit. I’ll push the bike up first, then we’ll eat together.”
Immediately afterward came Shen Yingying’s sweet, syrupy reply:
“Okay~”
Hearing their exchange, Wu Xiaoxia bit down hard on her teeth, eyes red with rage. She wished her gaze could turn into knives and slice Shen Yingying into a thousand pieces.
As Xie Fangzhu turned around, Wu Xiaoxia hurriedly calmed her emotions. She absolutely couldn’t let Brother Xie see her like this.
Looking at his handsome face, most of her anger instantly faded. Nervously tugging at the corner of her clothes, she called softly,
“Brother Xie…”
Hearing her, Xie Fangzhu turned his head and glanced at her casually.
“Oh, it’s Little Wu. You came to see Yingying, right?”
His tone and expression were as though he had only just noticed her existence.
But she had been standing there the whole time.
Remembering the passionate look he had just given Shen Yingying, Shen Yingying’s cruel words resurfaced in her mind:
— It’s simply because you’re not pretty enough. He just doesn’t like you.
The thought made Wu Xiaoxia so angry she nearly coughed up blood.
Holding back tears, she lowered her head.
“Mhm… I was worried about her, so I came to check on her… Now that I see she’s okay, I should head back…”
“Mhm. It’s getting late. Hurry home, or your mother will worry.”
His voice remained as calm and emotionless as ever.
Not only that, Wu Xiaoxia even thought she could detect a trace of impatience in it.
As though he found her annoying and wished she would leave quickly.
Completely different from how he treated Shen Yingying.
If Shen Yingying’s words had merely enraged her, then Xie Fangzhu’s attitude now truly broke her heart.
“Okay…”
Defeated, she lowered her head. The moment she turned around, tears streamed down her face in humiliation.
Meanwhile, Shen Yingying sat on the stool with her chin propped on her hand, thoughtfully watching Wu Xiaoxia’s retreating figure beneath the setting sun.
Even without seeing her face, Shen Yingying could imagine exactly how she looked right now—wronged, heartbroken, maybe even crying already.
Just thinking about it made her seem rather pitiful.
But Shen Yingying felt absolutely nothing.
Not the slightest bit of sympathy.
She had never enjoyed fighting other women over a man.
Just now, treating Xie Fangzhu like some prized treasure and “competing” with Wu Xiaoxia over him had nearly disgusted her to death.
In her opinion, there were so many men in the world. Why ruin friendships between women for the sake of one man?
But this Wu Xiaoxia—
Shen Yingying specifically wanted to make her miserable.