As soon as Sheng Jinhe finished speaking, she saw Jiang Yueyue, Xu Han, Shen Wang, and Zhao Haikun hurrying toward them at a run.
“Sheng Jinhe, where did you go? You scared us to death!”
Jiang Yueyue shouted from a distance, her voice full of concern.
When Sheng Jinhe heard Jiang Yueyue call her by her full name, she knew her friend was truly angry.
But for the sake of the plan she had in mind, she ignored it for now. She could soothe her later.
Then she looked at the man and woman in front of her—no, the shameless pair—and said:
“Of course I won’t go back on my word. I was just waiting for Yueyue and the others to arrive. Otherwise, if Lin Helian saves you but not me later, what if I really drown? My life is very precious.”
“Alright, they’re here. Let’s begin!”
With a fake smile that didn’t reach her eyes, Sheng Jinhe walked over to Yao Manman. When Yao Manman met her gaze, her heart skipped a beat. A bad feeling rose in her chest, as if something terrible was about to happen.
Sure enough, the next second—
“Manman, I’ll give my fiancé to you! Just don’t drag me into the river! I don’t want to die! I—I’ll ask my grandpa to go cancel the engagement!”
“Don’t pull me! Don’t drag me down! I can’t swim!”
Sheng Jinhe’s frightened voice, trembling with tears, instantly rang out along the riverbank.
Before anyone could react, Yao Manman had already fallen into the river.
Splash!
With tears glistening in her eyes, Sheng Jinhe collapsed onto the bank, looking delicate and terrified. Yet inside, she was absolutely delighted.
That sound… was truly wonderful.
From the perspective of the four who had rushed over, what they saw was simple: Yao Manman had been pulling Sheng Jinhe toward the river, trying to drag her in. Sheng Jinhe resisted, and in the struggle Yao Manman slipped and fell into the water herself, while Sheng Jinhe luckily fell onto the bank.
As for the truth—and Lin Helian—who cared?
One mouth couldn’t outtalk four witnesses.
It was only after Zhao Haikun shoved him while running over that Lin Helian finally snapped out of it and jumped into the water to save her. Thus, the male and female leads—so deeply “in love”—made another pleasant splash as he entered the river.
“Y-Yueyue, I’m so scared… Was Yao Manman trying to drag me into the river just now?”
“I… I don’t want to die… Wuuuu…”
Of course she “didn’t know” what Yao Manman was trying to do. There were witnesses who had seen everything. And she herself remained the same simple, naïve girl—someone without scheming thoughts—who couldn’t possibly understand Yao Manman’s shady actions.
That was far more convincing than directly accusing Yao Manman of trying to drown her.
After all, words spoken by others always carried more weight than defending oneself.
Jiang Yueyue practically slid to her knees beside Sheng Jinhe. Her cheeks puffed up in anger, her eyes red—she looked completely frightened.
Except Yueyue was truly scared. Sheng Jinhe was just acting.
“Shen Wang, Zhao Haikun—go find stones for me. As many as you can.”
“I’ve long known those two shameless cheaters were fooling around together. Look—they’re even hugging right now!”
“Xu Han, keep calling people! Call the adults!”
Jiang Yueyue arranged everything clearly and efficiently.
Lowering her eyes, Sheng Jinhe thought: the original host’s circle wasn’t entirely full of spoiled second-generation factory kids who only knew how to eat and play. Look—there were smart ones too. So why had the original host been so foolish?
It must be the damned author deliberately writing her that way.
As expected of the original host’s best friend. Sheng Jinhe decided she’d keep her too—although the original host hadn’t treated this friend particularly well.
“Jinhe, after seeing that, you still want this filthy man?”
Jiang Yueyue yanked Sheng Jinhe to her feet and pointed at the couple in the river with disgust.
“No. I want my life. You all came just now—yet she still dared push me toward the river. Who knows how many other ways she has to kill me? I… I’ll ask my grandpa to cancel the engagement. It must be canceled.”
Sheng Jinhe perfectly portrayed someone who had suffered a huge grievance yet was still trying to hold herself together.
She also hoped this shock might let her “start fresh.”
Her personality was completely different from the original host’s. She couldn’t pretend to be the same person forever—that would be exhausting. But if her behavior suddenly changed without a big trigger, people would become suspicious.
“Alright!”
“Hurry up. Where are the stones?”
“Bring them here first!”
Jiang Yueyue shouted at the two boys.
“Coming!”
In an instant, Jiang Yueyue and Sheng Jinhe each had a handful of pebbles.
“Come on—while no one’s around, throw them! Anyway, we won’t know who threw them. They probably just slipped on their own.”
“Better aim carefully though. Just touching them already feels dirty.”
Sheng Jinhe: “…”
This sister was great. She had even prepared the excuse.
Throwing stones at people?
That was easy.
After all, Sheng Jinhe had once been a sharpshooter. Throwing pebbles was nothing.
“Th-this… is this okay? What if we get caught?”
Sheng Jinhe still pretended to be timid.
Jiang Yueyue shot her a look of exasperation and demonstrated.
“What’s wrong with it? Throw!”
“Okay!”
Soon, Lin Helian, who had just dragged Yao Manman out of the water, shouted angrily as pain struck him.
“Jiang Yueyue, have you gone crazy?! Instead of helping save her, you’re throwing stones?!”
“Yeah, I’m crazy! I’m a lunatic! I’ll do whatever I want. Who can prove I threw them?”
At the same time Jiang Yueyue spoke, Yao Manman’s screams rang out.
“Ah! It hurts so much! What are you doing?! Ah! Stop throwing! Stop! My stomach! My leg! My arm! Brother Helian, shield me! Wuuuu… you’re attacking us! Sheng Jinhe, I won’t let you off!”
Lin Helian wasn’t much better off, but as a man he couldn’t scream like Yao Manman. That would be too embarrassing. So he endured it, only letting out muffled groans.
Because Sheng Jinhe had begun her real attack.
Her movements looked clumsy, yet every pebble fulfilled its mission.
Even with the two of them in the water, she accurately struck their pressure points.
Guaranteed intense pain—without leaving a mark.
Finally, annoyed by the shrill screaming, she simply made Yao Manman pass out.
“Yueyue… what do we do? She didn’t die, did she?”
Sheng Jinhe asked as if frightened.
“Dead? That’d be perfect. In ancient times, someone like that would’ve been drowned in a pig cage.”
During this time Shen Wang and Zhao Haikun had delivered several batches of stones. The surrounding ground had been completely picked clean.
Jiang Yueyue clapped the dust from her hands.
“That’s enough. No need to pick more. Xu Han should be bringing people soon.”
Then she exchanged a glance with Sheng Jinhe.
The two of them had done plenty of mischievous things together since childhood. Their tacit understanding was still there—even though Sheng Jinhe was currently playing the role of a slightly foolish girl.
“Brother Helian! Hurry and pull her out!”
“Quick! Look, she’s already passed out! She must have swallowed water! What if she dies? Pull her up so we can rush to the hospital!”
“Wuuuu… Brother Helian, I was wrong. I should’ve jumped in myself. Then Yao Manman wouldn’t have fallen in trying to drag me down. I don’t want to marry you anymore—I’ll give you to her!”
Yes—when she said this line, adults had already arrived.
Some were workers from the machinery factory, some were passersby, and others were nearby residents. A whole crowd gathered around in no time.
“Isn’t that Director Sheng’s granddaughter? What did she just say?”
Someone in the crowd recognized Sheng Jinhe, whose swollen tearful eyes made anyone who looked at her feel sympathy.
“Uncles, aunties, please listen—it’s like this. The few of us can all testify that Yao Manman…”
Jiang Yueyue chattered quickly, summarizing the situation, but it was enough for everyone to understand the whole story.
“Girl from the Sheng family, don’t cry. This isn’t your fault. Luckily you didn’t fall in. If you had, that Lin boy definitely wouldn’t have saved you!”
“Now that the Jiang girl mentions it, I think I’ve seen those two walking together before!”
“I’ve even seen them going to the movies together!”
…