Zhou Yinhe forcibly restrained his impulse to step forward and embrace Wen Ling, asking only indifferently, "What is going on here? The gala is about to start."
He looked at the suit jacket draped over Wen Ling's shoulders, then saw that the man standing very close to her was left with only a dress shirt. His gaze was as cold and sharp as an ice blade, and the man trembled in fright.
When Ruan Miaomiao saw him, she ran to Zhou Yinhe and said urgently, "Senior Yinhe, my cousin is slandering me, saying I pushed her, but I really didn't! I have no reason to do such a thing."
Wen Ling cast a mournful glance at Zhou Yinhe, lowered her eyes, pressed her lips together, and tightened the suit jacket around her. The surrounding onlookers, seeing this, grew suspicious once more.
Jiang Jibai turned his head to look at Zhou Yinhe. Seeing his tightly clenched jaw and his hand balled into a fist, he knew Zhou Yinhe's heart ached for Wen Ling. Sighing, he walked over to Wen Ling, squatted down, and said calmly, "Whether you fell in by accident or someone pushed you, go change your clothes first. It wouldn't do to catch a cold."
Wen Ling tilted her head, looked at the expressionless Zhou Yinhe, bit her lip, and nodded.
She stood up with difficulty, even stumbling and nearly falling. Out of the corner of her eye, Wen Ling saw Zhou Yinhe step forward, but when he saw Jiang Jibai swiftly reach out to steady her, he halted.
Once steady, Wen Ling pushed away Jiang Jibai's hand and slowly walked up to Zhou Yinhe. In a voice neither loud nor soft, she said, "You know that I once fell into the lake in the compound and nearly drowned. Since then, I haven't even dared to take a bath."
Zhou Yinhe's jaw moved slightly, but he remained silent.
Wen Ling averted her gaze and brushed past him.
She didn't have to explain. After all, she was the one who had fallen into the lake. But she was afraid that Zhou Yinhe would be manipulated by the original plot and believe Ruan Miaomiao's words.
She could pay no heed to what the people around her said or did, or whether they believed her. But if Zhou Yinhe doubted her, she might break down.
After Wen Ling left, Ruan Miaomiao was still trying to explain to Zhou Yinhe. Frowning deeply, Zhou Yinhe lowered his eyes to look at her and said coldly, "Are you saying that Wen Ling would throw her life away just to frame you?"
Ruan Miaomiao frantically shook her head and explained, "I really didn't push her. She fell in by herself. Senior Yinhe, you have to believe me."
Zhou Yinhe looked at her with cold eyes. The hostile aura radiating from his entire body made the onlookers retreat and give him a wide berth.
Ji Wanruo and Li Wanzhen ran over, followed by other uninformed people who had hurried over after hearing the news.
The two had been in the auditorium when they heard someone say that someone had fallen into the lake, seemingly pushed. Subconsciously assuming it was Ruan Miaomiao who had been pushed in by Wen Ling, they had rushed over in a hurry.
But faced with the current situation...
Ruan Miaomiao was explaining herself to Zhou Yinhe, while Wen Ling was nowhere to be seen.
The two had no choice but to step forward and ask Ruan Miaomiao, "What happened, Miaomiao? What's going on?"
When Ruan Miaomiao saw them, she grabbed both of their hands and pushed them forward, saying, "Senior Yinhe, these two were once Wen Ling's good friends. You can ask them—they know Wen Ling's true nature best. She really jumped in on purpose to frame me!"
The two exchanged a glance and quickly caught on, saying, "Wen Ling has always been arrogant and domineering. She'll stop at nothing to achieve her goals. Since she wanted to frame Miaomiao, she wouldn't hesitate to risk her life to do it."
Zhou Yinhe suddenly smiled. Looking at the three of them, it was as though he were watching some kind of joke.
Others might not know, but how could he not? Just how afraid of water was Wen Ling? There was a time when she hadn't even dared to take a bath, when she'd needed him to keep her company even for a shower. Would she really risk her life to frame a Ruan Miaomiao who was inferior to her in every way?
Although Wen Ling's abandonment of him made him gnash his teeth in hatred, he had never believed those nonsensical, baseless rumors.
Zhou Yinhe couldn't be bothered to acknowledge the three of them any longer. He cast one more faint glance at the man who had draped his suit jacket over Wen Ling, then turned and left.
Jiang Jibai couldn't suppress the smile tugging at his lips as he followed. Qi Zhan had never been one for convoluted schemes and couldn't read people's hidden motives. Puzzled, he scratched his head, and seeing the two walk away, hurriedly chased after them.
Only the three of them were on the small path. Qi Zhan asked curiously, "I don't really understand. What's going on?"
Jiang Jibai raised an eyebrow and lifted his chin toward Zhou Yinhe, who was walking ahead while radiating an air of sullen displeasure. He teased, "Because of Little Five, of course. Trouble caused by jealousy."
Zhou Yinhe frowned tightly and looked back at him.
Jiang Jibai walked up to him, the corners of his mouth turning up. He said casually, "You're that certain it was Ruan Miaomiao who pushed Wen Ling?"
"What do you mean by that?" Zhou Yinhe asked coldly and sternly.
"Women will do anything when they're jealous. The matter of Wen Ling falling into the water is suspicious in itself. No matter how stupid Ruan Miaomiao is, she would know not to make a move in public. Yet Wen Ling happened to fall into the water right there in front of everyone. What a coincidence, don't you think?"
Jiang Jibai looked at Zhou Yinhe's increasingly gloomy expression and continued with a smile, "Did you think Wen Ling was easy to deal with? If she were, she wouldn't have taken over the Wen family only to hand the business over to that adopted younger brother of hers and come to China alone."
Zhou Yinhe's eyelid twitched. Narrowing his eyes, he said in an unfriendly tone, "You can't be prejudiced against her just because she dumped me. Only I know how afraid of water she is. It would be impossible for her to use her own life to frame someone else." He turned and continued walking, his tone growing even more firm: "Don't look at her through tinted glasses!"
Jiang Jibai held back his laughter. Qi Zhan finally understood the situation. Frowning at his good brother's angry, retreating figure, he asked a question to which he already knew the answer: "Is he...?"
Jiang Jibai said, "Yeah. A love brain. Even zombies would despise him."
"..." Qi Zhan agreed, "Yeah, you're right."
Wen Ling returned to the car, picked up the clothes she had prepared in advance, and changed into them. Only after she finished changing did the driver, Lao Liu, get into the car and ask, "Miss, are we going back?"
Wen Ling had originally wanted to return to attend the gala, but after thinking it over, she decided against it. She had just forcibly endured her fear and jumped into the water. Her heart was still thumping wildly.
"Let's go home."
Lao Liu saw her pale face and damp hair. Afraid she might catch a cold, he slammed his foot down on the brake. While waiting at a traffic light, he sent a message to the family doctor asking him to wait at the young miss's villa.
As soon as Wen Ling got out of the car, the family doctor, Qiao Hongyun, ran over. First, she took out a thermometer gun and measured Wen Ling's forehead, then took her pulse.
Wen Ling wordlessly withdrew her hand and looked at the doctor auntie who had cared for her since childhood.
"Auntie, what are you doing?"
Qiao Hongyun said anxiously, "Are you feeling unwell? Dizzy? That lake water is so dirty—did you swallow any? Let Auntie examine you, quickly."
Wen Ling said helplessly, "Auntie, I'm really fine."
"No, we need to check to be at ease. Your grandfather exhorted me repeatedly to send him your physical examination results every week. If you get sick, your grandfather will definitely blame us for not taking good care of you."
Wen Ling: "..."