As she wiped her face clean, she walked to the Xie family's doorstep.
The door was opened from the inside.
Madam Xie angrily threw the duck out and turned to shout into the house:
"You still have the leisure to care for ducks?!
"Are you just going to watch that bastard son be born?!
"Xie Jin Yi, are you even my daughter! How can you not care at all about me..."
Her peripheral vision caught someone approaching, and Madam Xie immediately stopped speaking and quickly turned her head.
Wen Ting Xue didn't know how to describe that look.
It was like a cornered beast.
Every inch of her was covered in thorns.
Wen Ting Xue was so startled she froze, and Yu Wen Li stepped forward in time.
"Madam Xie."
"Mm."
Madam Xie quickly composed herself, smiling warmly, "Is this the duck you're raising, Xiao Wen?"
"No," Yu Wen Li braced himself, bending down to pick up the dirty little duck.
"It's one that Yi Yi and I raised together." He gently stroked the slightly frightened duckling, his gaze warm.
Madam Xie's expression changed slightly, and her look towards Wen Ting Xue was one of displeasure, then she smiled as if nothing had happened.
"Oh, is that so? Why didn't you say so sooner? Yi Yi almost raised it."
Madam Xie raised her hand to cover her mouth, curving her eyes in an awkward yet elegant manner.
"If this is taking something from Miss Wen, Yi Yi would be very upset."
As she spoke, Xie Jin Yi appeared at the door with a displeased expression, "Where's my duck?"
Madam Xie raised an eyebrow, "What's yours? That's Miss Wen's."
Xie Jin Yi then noticed Wen Ting Xue and Yu Wen Li at the door.
Her expression softened slightly, "Oh, so you're raising it? Good thing I caught it, otherwise its little life would be in danger."
"Ah?" Wen Ting Xue's eyes widened in fright.
Xie Jin Yi chuckled, "Someone here doesn't like small animals. You should be more careful next time."
Madam Xie rolled her eyes with her eyes closed.
...
After everyone left, Madam Xie closed the door.
She shouted towards Xie Jin Yi's retreating back as she went upstairs:
"Do you even take anything I say to heart?!
"You still have the leisure to find a job for that person surnamed Wen?!
"Xie Jin Yi, do you think your position is that secure?
"Your father's beloved son is already four months old, and he'll be born in another four or five months.
"Then the Madam of the Xie family will be someone else! You, Miss Xie..."
"Enough!" Xie Jin Yi roared, unable to bear it any longer.
Madam Xie was startled, standing pale under the chandelier, her lips pressed tightly together.
Xie Jin Yi stood on the stairs, her body sideways, her hand on the banister.
A moment later, she turned back, her eyes as cold as snow.
"Don't you like him very much? Didn't you like him so much that you'd give up your dignity?
"Then why do you care about the title of Madam Xie? Or do you simply not like him.
"You just like the position of Madam Xie?"
Madam Xie's gaze flickered, "Yi Yi, what nonsense are you talking about? Mother isn't caring about the position of Madam Xie.
"Mother just doesn't want you to be wronged. Once that child is born, with your father's preference for sons...
"You definitely won't be able to compete with that bastard, not to mention that shameless woman has better methods than you!
"Then, it won't just be me, but you too, that your father will despise."
Madam Xie cried as she went upstairs, "Yi Yi, don't blame mother for being heartless, mother is truly planning for you.
"Mother is naturally soft-hearted and can't bring herself to do certain things, but you can. You're just like your father.
"You're both people who do great things. A shameless third party, you can surely help mother deal with her."
Madam Xie took Xie Jin Yi's hand and asked cautiously, "Right? Yi Yi?"
Madam Xie looked pitiful, and when she cried, she was even more endearing.
Xie Jin Yi closed her eyes wearily, broke free from her hand, and said, "Let me think about it."
At the same time, at the Wen family's door.
"I don't want to hear your explanations, and I don't want to know where you went today."
Wen Ting Xue got out of the car with the duck, looking indifferently at the boy who had caught up, her words blunt.
It was a rare display of decisiveness.
Yu Wen Li clenched his fists anxiously and said stubbornly, "Yi Yi, I..."
"You're hurt, go home and get it bandaged."
Wen Ting Xue interrupted his explanation in a calm voice, stepping aside to enter the house.
Yu Wen Li, annoyed, blocked her way back home, then abruptly grabbed the duck and threw it inside, closing the door.
"What do you want... Ah!"
Before he finished speaking, Yu Wen Li grabbed her by the waist and pinned her against the wall.
With an absolute force, Wen Ting Xue was a little frightened, staring blankly at him.
Her clear black and white eyes held obvious grievance and fear.
Yu Wen Li helplessly and flusteredly withdrew his hands, resting them on his waist in frustration.
One hand pressed against the wall next to her slender white neck.
His fingertips turned slightly white, and the tension made the wound on his wrist bleed again.
"Yi Yi, let brother say something, okay?"
His tone was completely soothing, yet also a little humble and subservient.
Wen Ting Xue was trapped in his embrace, the wall behind her, him in front.
She had nowhere to retreat.
Hearing him, she lowered her gaze as if returning to her senses, and said with a light, sarcastic tone:
"You told me not to make a fuss, so why are you making a fuss?"
You were the one who stood me up, you were the one who went to fight for another girl, you were the one who yelled at me without reason.
What are you trying to do by putting on this act now?
Wanting both sides?
Yu Wen Li recalled what he had said to her angrily on the road, and a flicker of embarrassment crossed his handsome face.
Then he bent down, looking up into her eyes, and pleaded with a sincere and humble attitude:
"Brother was wrong, brother shouldn't have yelled at you, brother begs you to make a fuss, to be difficult, okay?"
"No."
Wen Ting Xue looked at him with moist eyes, her voice soft and hoarse.
Yu Wen Li felt the wind from her eyes rush into his heart, his breathing becoming a torment.
"Yi..."
"I'm tired, let me go back."
Her voice was very weary, and even her eyes seemed to dim.
Yu Wen Li compromised reluctantly.
After she entered the house, he walked a few steps away and stood under her window, smoking.
He didn't leave until the light in her room turned on, just continuing to smoke one cigarette after another.
His eyes were fixed on that window, but his gaze was empty.
Inside the house.
Wen Zhong En knocked twice and pushed open the door.
He found his daughter lying on the bed, lost in thought, with various scratches on her exposed wrist.
"What's going on here?"
Wen Zhong En's brows furrowed instantly with heartache.
He wished he were the one who was hurt.
Wen Ting Xue hugged Xiao Jiu, sat up with some effort, and smiled, saying:
"It's nothing, I accidentally got scratched by a branch."
"How can it be nothing?"
Wen Zhong En fumbled for the first-aid kit.
He sat down and noticed his daughter's eyes were red and swollen.
He paused, then said,
"Go take a bath first, and I'll put the medicine on afterwards."
"Okay."
Wen Ting Xue handed Xiao Jiu to Wen Zhong En, then took her clothes into the bathroom.
Wen Zhong En carried the cat to the window and indeed saw the familiar figure.
"Hmph!"
Wen Zhong En angrily closed the window and drew the curtains.
That brat, he actually made his daughter's eyes so swollen from crying!
He really wanted to go down and beat him up!
Xiao Jiu: "..."
...
When Wen Ting Xue came out after her bath, Wen Zhong En carefully applied medicine to her wounds.
His movements were a little rough, but the young girl didn't make a sound throughout, completely lost in thought.
Wen Zhong En, both heartbroken and angry, closed the lid and said,
"Yi Yi, did you have a falling out with that boy from the Yu family?"