Chapter 9: Kicking Someone When They’re Down

Just moments ago, while still in the water, Zhao Dacheng had been unable to find Ning Ruyun. Then, seeing Feng Qingxue fall in, his first thought was to switch his rescue focus—saving Feng Qingxue first.

However, Feng Qingxue had already succumbed to the panic of drowning. The instant she encountered Zhao Dacheng, she seized him like a lifeline, gripping him tightly. This made it difficult for Zhao Dacheng to bring her back to shore smoothly; instead, their clothes were torn and snagged, escalating the whole situation.

At that moment, seeing Feng Qingxue in such an unseemly state and realizing that the crowd had glimpsed many of her private parts, Zhao Dacheng’s eyes widened in dismay. Feeling at a disadvantage, he hurriedly took off his torn vest and roughly covered Feng Qingxue, trying to shield her as best as he could.

Noticing that Feng Qingxue had actually lost consciousness, Zhao Dacheng assumed she had fainted from water inhalation, which was dangerous. He lifted her up again, patting her back to help her expel the water.

Having finally found a woman who might become his wife, Zhao Dacheng valued this chance dearly and did not want Feng Qingxue to perish.

With his efforts, Feng Qingxue soon coughed up a considerable amount of water, her coughing becoming violent, and finally, she regained consciousness.

A few bystanders who had come over, either to help or out of curiosity, saw Feng Qingxue’s second wardrobe malfunction and voiced their displeasure openly.

Fortunately, one of them was an elder relative of Feng Qingxue. She quickly took off her long-sleeved sunshade shirt and draped it over Feng Qingxue, covering the embarrassment caused by the torn skirt.

This gesture made Zhao Dacheng realize the gravity of the situation. He hastily pulled down Feng Qingxue’s skirt, trying to cover her thighs as much as possible, unwilling to let others see her exposed body.

Witnessing this, Peng Lingling, who had been watching the commotion, sneered and remarked, “Feng Qingxue, you’re already awake. Don’t you think you should be more careful?”

“Besides, aren’t you usually so concerned about your image and reputation? What happened this time?”

“Last time, you said if you fell into the water and were rescued, you’d have to watch your reputation and not cling onto someone. So what’s going on now? Do you want to cling to Zhao Dacheng?”

Peng Lingling and Feng Qingxue did not get along at all; in fact, they were enemies.

Her second sister, Peng Qingqing, had been engaged to a man who, after their betrothal, fell for Feng Qingxue instead. He even broke off the engagement to pursue Feng Qingxue.

That incident had caused a huge scandal, bringing great loss to their family. Naturally, they bore deep resentment not only toward the man but also toward Feng Qingxue, who had forcibly interfered.

At that time, although the marriage was canceled, Peng Qingqing’s reputation suffered significantly.

Yet Feng Qingxue, who had meddled in the affair, pretended ignorance afterward, denying her involvement.

If it were true that the man had acted on impulse, then the matter might have been understandable.

But Feng Qingxue repeatedly accepted gifts from him and treated the man like a fish in her pond.

Such behavior only fueled the Peng family’s hatred further.

Now, seeing Feng Qingxue take such a hard fall publicly, her skirt torn and much exposed, Peng Lingling naturally seized the opportunity to kick her when she was down.

She loathed women like Feng Qingxue—shameless and fond of stealing others’ men.

When she arrived here earlier, Peng Lingling had witnessed part of the incident but sensed something fishy. She suspected Feng Qingxue was deliberately framing Ning Ruyun to ruin her engagement and force her onto Zhao Dacheng, so that Peng Lingling could claim Ning Ruyun’s fiancé, Wei Zhitao.

Peng Lingling detested such scheming ways of snatching men and sabotaging others’ marriages.

Though she knew it wasn’t noble to pile on someone already down, she was too angry to play the good person who took all the losses silently.

At least by verbally scoring some points, she could vent some of her frustration.

Feng Qingxue always posed as Ning Ruyun’s best friend, but to Peng Lingling, she was merely exploiting her. The things Feng Qingxue did were truly disgusting.

Ning Ruyun was foolish, too—utterly duped by Feng Qingxue, trusting her so deeply without suspecting her true motives.

Peng Lingling also looked down on Ning Ruyun for this.

All because of a scar on her face.

Because of this, Ning Ruyun became overly sensitive and insecure, which made her an easy target for Feng Qingxue’s deceit and blind trust.

Unfortunately, Feng Qingxue was no kindhearted soul, and Ning Ruyun’s trust only led to deeper betrayal.

Yet this time, the situation seemed different, which surprised Peng Lingling.

She had already spotted Ning Ruyun, who stood there watching like any other spectator, witnessing Feng Qingxue’s troubles unfold without stepping forward to help.

In the past, Ning Ruyun would have rushed to help Feng Qingxue out of trouble, even taking the blame if necessary.

But now, Ning Ruyun had made a different choice.

Peng Lingling couldn’t quite understand this change yet. Did Ning Ruyun truly change? Did she finally stop valuing such a despicable person as Feng Qingxue?

Frowning, Peng Lingling decided to keep watching a bit longer before passing judgment.

Meanwhile, Feng Qingxue on the shore had regained consciousness but felt utterly devastated.

She couldn’t believe she had fallen into the water for no reason and been rescued by Zhao Dacheng, who had gone through so much trouble for her. Their plan was completely ruined, and she might even get entangled further with Zhao Dacheng, which infuriated her to no end.

What was worse, Wei Zhitao hadn’t saved her when she fell in but kept searching underwater for Ning Ruyun!

How could Wei Zhitao treat her like that?

Just then, someone noticed Ning Ruyun standing among the onlookers and exclaimed in surprise, “Xiaoyun, why are you here? Weren’t you swept away when you fell in?”