Chapter 11: Who Can’t Pretend?

As soon as she took a step, she saw Shen Yingying stumble and suddenly fall to the ground just as she was about to reach Xie Fangzhu.

Wu Xiaoxia froze for a moment, instinctively stopping in her tracks. Then, a wave of satisfaction surged through her, and she viciously cursed in her mind: “Falling on flat ground, Shen Yingying, you deserve it! You were too smug, even the heavens are punishing you. I hope you break your neck!”

On the other side, Xie Fangzhu looked at the woman clutching her ankle, her eyes red with grievance as she stared at him, a complex expression on his face.

When Xie Fangzhu first came to the Shen family, he was only 6 years old, and Shen Yingying hadn’t been born yet. He essentially grew up watching her.

After she was three years old, she rarely fell down. The only time she did was when she stepped on a banana peel, and the twisted expression on her face as she fell was something he would never forget.

Now, watching this woman—who had walked down this same path countless times—suddenly fall, and even maintain a graceful pose as she did so…

Xie Fangzhu’s first instinct was that she was pretending, but he still stopped beside her.

“Can you walk?”

Shen Yingying didn’t expect him to be so attentive. With a pitiful expression, she extended her hand toward him. “I don’t know, my foot hurts so much, my whole body aches. Xie Fangzhu, can you help me up?”

Xie Fangzhu pursed his lips, his face showing helplessness. He lowered the bicycle kickstand and bent down to pick her up horizontally.

Shen Yingying: “!!!” She was stunned.

She had expected him to just extend his hand and help her up, and then she would lean against his chest and pretend to be pitiful, asking for help to walk. But to her surprise, he was so… strong…

Xie Fangzhu held her steadily and directly walked past Wu Xiaoxia, placing her near the door of the wooden house before turning and entering.

Shen Yingying, weakly leaning against the wooden house behind her, twisted her “injured” ankle and raised her eyebrows, her lips curling into a provocative smile.

Her expression seemed to say: “Keep going, let’s see who can outdo whom.”

Wu Xiaoxia was stunned. She thought that Shen Yingying had fallen due to divine retribution, but now she realized—this wasn’t punishment! It was clearly Shen Yingying pretending, trying to make Xie Fangzhu pity her.

Thinking back on how smug she had been earlier, she felt like a complete fool!

Wu Xiaoxia was on the verge of exploding, her eyes bloodshot, fists clenched tight, but Xie Fangzhu was inside the house. She didn’t dare to act out.

At that moment, Xie Fangzhu came out of the house, holding a wooden stool in his hand.

He placed the stool near the door and took Shen Yingying’s arm, attempting to help her sit on it.

But as soon as his hand touched her, Shen Yingying leaned on him, as though losing strength.

Seeing her like this, Xie Fangzhu furrowed his brow. “Is it that serious?”

Shen Yingying’s eyebrows were furrowed in a delicate, weak manner, and her voice was a soft, pitiful tone: “Mmm, it hurts so much. I can’t even walk.”

Wu Xiaoxia: “???” Didn’t she just twist her ankle and act as if nothing happened?

The roar inside Wu Xiaoxia’s mind went unheard by Xie Fangzhu. He changed from pulling her to gently holding her as he helped her sit on the stool.

He crouched down, lifting her pants leg slightly and carefully examining her ankle.

The pale ankle was clearly defined, and there wasn’t a trace of injury.

He gently twisted it. “Does it hurt?”

“It hurts so much…”

Her voice was soft and tender, accompanied by a slight gasp as though it really hurt.

But Xie Fangzhu could feel the soft, pliant ankle in his hand and didn’t feel any stiffness, which would be present if it had been truly sprained.

He couldn’t help but look up at her.

In her eyes was a glimmer of spring water, shining and sparkling.

Seeing him look at her, her eyes curved into a smile, like a breeze brushing through flowers, causing them to bloom in an instant.

Xie Fangzhu’s heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly lowered his gaze.

Releasing her ankle, his voice unconsciously became husky. “I’ll go get you some medicine in a bit.”

Wu Xiaoxia, who had been standing nearby, could no longer watch. She had just witnessed Shen Yingying’s real tactics.

No wonder she had acted so hostile toward Xie Fangzhu before, yet he was still so kind to her. It turned out she was using these shameless, despicable methods!

Disgusting! Disgusting!

She wanted to expose Shen Yingying’s shamelessness, but based on Xie Fangzhu’s reaction, she knew that if she did, it would backfire. He wouldn’t believe her at all.

Just as she thought this, Xie Fangzhu’s voice came again: “You sit here for a while. I’ll push the bike up, and we can eat together later.”

Immediately, Shen Yingying’s sweet voice followed: “Okay.”

Listening to this exchange, Wu Xiaoxia gritted her teeth, her eyes red. She wished that if only her gaze were a blade, she would stab Shen Yingying a thousand times!

Seeing Xie Fangzhu turn around, his handsome face in profile, Wu Xiaoxia’s anger subsided by half. She unconsciously tugged at her clothes and whispered, “Xie Dage…”

Hearing this, Xie Fangzhu casually glanced over. “Oh, it’s Xiaoxia. Are you here to see Yingying?”

The look in his eyes, that tone of voice, it was as if he had just noticed her existence. But she had been standing there for quite a while.

She thought back to how he had looked at Shen Yingying with such fervor earlier, and Shen Yingying’s malicious words resurfaced in her mind:

— “It’s just that you’re not pretty, he doesn’t like you.”

Instantly, she was so furious she nearly coughed up blood.

She bit back her tears, lowering her head. “Mm… I’m just a bit worried about her, I came to check on her… Once I saw she was fine, I was going to leave…”

“Mm, it’s getting late. You should head back, or your mom will worry.”

His voice was calm and neutral, as always. Moreover, she wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but she even detected a hint of impatience in his tone.

It was as if he found her bothersome and just wanted her to leave quickly.

This attitude was completely different from the one he had toward Shen Yingying.

If Shen Yingying’s words had made her angry and emotional, Xie Fangzhu’s current treatment of her had truly wounded her heart.

“Okay…” She lowered her head in defeat, and as she turned, tears welled up and trickled down her face.

Shen Yingying, sitting on the wooden stool, rested her hand on her face, her eyes thoughtfully following Wu Xiaoxia’s figure as she walked away into the sunset.

Although she couldn’t see Wu Xiaoxia’s face, Shen Yingying could imagine how she must look right now—definitely full of grievance and sadness, perhaps even on the verge of tears.

Just the thought of it made her feel a bit sorry for her.

But deep down, Shen Yingying felt no pity at all.

She had never liked the idea of competing with other women for a man’s attention.

She had just been disgusted by the way Wu Xiaoxia and Xie Fangzhu were “fighting” over her, and it had made her want to vomit.

In her opinion, there were so many men in the world—why would anyone fight and ruin sisterly bonds over just one?

But this Wu Xiaoxia, Shen Yingying was determined to make her uncomfortable