Chapter 3

Hearing the commotion, Ning Mei came out laughing. “Yes, yes, Xiaoxiao, you don’t know, Fangzi came back all frantic and crying, saying you fell into the water and asking who could swim well enough to rescue you. If it weren’t for the fact that Lao Liu and the others said Dr. Chen saved you, that child would have been even more worried.”

She took Wu Xiaoxiao’s hand and continued, “You two have always been close since childhood. It’s good that you’re fine; otherwise, Fangzi would have been really anxious. You look pretty good now, so I guess everything’s fine, right? But why are your hair still damp? Did you fall into the water and not wash your hair when you got back?”

Shaking her head disapprovingly, she said, “You young girls never take care of yourselves. Even though it’s not too cold now, you should still wash up with hot water after falling into the water. Why are you running around like this? It’s bad to catch a chill from the wind. If you catch a cold, our Fangzi will be crying again.”

She changed the subject abruptly and mentioned Dr. Chen, “By the way, Dr. Chen saved you. How are you going to thank him? He’s a good person and cares about you. Don’t give him the cold shoulder.”

The mother and daughter played along, making it sound as if there was something going on between Wu Xiaoxiao and Dr. Chen. They didn’t mention how Wu Xiaoxiao had nearly drowned and passed out, only discussing how Wu Ningfang was worried about her.

Wu Xiaoxiao smiled slightly and replied flatly, “Of course Ningfang should worry about me. If I had drowned, I would have definitely come to find her at night, standing by her bed to ask for her life.”

Wu Ningfang turned pale with fright and shouted, “I didn’t push you! I didn’t push you! You fell in by yourself!”

Her voice attracted her father, Wu Laosan, who came over dressed in an outer coat.

Wu Laosan, with a serious expression, walked over and said, “Alright, stop shouting. What’s the point of this? Nieces these days, for a notebook from a male educated youth, you’d risk your life.”

Wu Xiaoxiao sneered inwardly, thinking this family was truly shameless. First, they talked about how Dr. Chen was kind to her, and now they were bringing up the educated youth’s notebook.

They were just deflecting, trying to smear her.

Wu Laosan scolded them for a moment, then turned to Zhang Fang and said, “Sister-in-law, what kind of parenting is this? Those educated youths won’t stay here forever. Why make such a fuss? Xiaoxiao fell into the water today; shouldn’t you be getting her to rest? If her health suffers, how will we explain it to Lao Si later?”

He then turned to Ning Mei and added, “Her mother, get her a few eggs. After falling into the water, she needs to replenish.”

Although Zhang Fang was usually mild-mannered, hearing this made her uncomfortable. When Aunt Dong said that her daughter’s fall might have something to do with Wu Ningfang, she didn’t take it to heart. After all, they were just two young girls who grew up together in the village; how could there be such deep animosity? But seeing how Wu Ningfang reacted so strongly to her daughter’s situation, Zhang Fang couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

Zhang Fang ignored Wu Laosan’s words and stepped closer to Wu Ningfang, asking, “Did you push my Xiaoxiao into the water? When you saw her fall, why didn’t you call for help?”

Wu Ningfang immediately responded, “Aunt, don’t talk nonsense. Xiaoxiao fell in by herself. It has nothing to do with me! I was just borrowing her notebook. She couldn’t stand properly and fell in on her own.” Since no one else was around, no one saw what happened.

Wu Xiaoxiao frowned and said, “You stole the notebook I had borrowed so hard to get, and now you’re pretending to throw it in the water. I only wanted to get my notebook back.”

When it came to the notebook borrowed from Gu Zhenghong, Wu Ningfang was suddenly filled with anger and couldn’t keep up the pretense of being polite anymore. “So, you rushed and fell into the water, didn’t you? I borrowed it from Gu Dage a long time ago, but he wouldn’t lend it to me. Why could you borrow it right away? Even if you borrowed it, what’s the point? The taste of falling into the water isn’t pleasant, right?”

Seeing her father’s face darken further, Wu Ningfang realized she had said something wrong. Although she didn’t mention the part about tripping Wu Xiaoxiao, her slip of the tongue had already done its damage.

But according to her version of events, it seemed undeniable that Wu Ningfang had seen Wu Xiaoxiao fall into the water and had done nothing to help her.

What made Wu Ningfang even more anxious was that they were in the courtyard, and the neighbors might overhear. If the story reached Brother Gu’s ears, what would he think of her?

She wanted to explain but didn’t know what to say.

At that moment, it was Ning Mei who spoke up: “This child really makes one worry. And these young intellectuals, they’ve stirred up trouble, causing the girls in this entire area to get all worked up. It’s Fangzi’s fault, but Xiaoxiao, I owe you an apology on her behalf. You know, Fangzi can be a little impulsive sometimes.”

She pretended to scold Wu Ningfang, then turned to Wu Xiaoxiao. “Fangzi really didn’t mean any harm. When she came back, her eyes were wide with fear. She was so scared. She’s just embarrassed in front of you right now, which is why she’s saying these things. By the way, I just went out this morning and collected fresh eggs—this basket is full, and they’re all fresh. Xiaoxiao, you must eat well and take care of yourself.”

Zhang Fang didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t the type to argue, especially since there was no evidence that Wu Ningfang had pushed her daughter into the water.

But she also couldn’t just let it go when her daughter had been wronged.

“These eggs are something we…”

Before Zhang Fang could finish, Wu Xiaoxiao quickly took the basket from her hands. “Thank you, Auntie. By the way, Wu Ningfang, you still need to return Gu Dage’s math notebook to me.”

Of course, the eggs were a form of compensation, but whether they could make up for the life of the original owner wasn’t something the Wu family could decide.

Right now, there was no evidence that Wu Ningfang had pushed her into the water, and even if someone had witnessed it, the fact remained that Wu Xiaoxiao was fine now. As long as she was alright, no matter how many wrongs Wu Ningfang had done, they would all be forgiven. Not everyone would completely side with her, and she couldn’t really do anything to Wu Ningfang.

She had to wait for the right moment, when Wu Ningfang would have no way out.