Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 128: Chapter 117: Swimming Pool and ’Hero Saves the Beauty’ (Part 2)

”Yi Muhuan?” Luo Qianqian furrowed her brows, stood up, and rubbed her buttocks where she’d hit the ground, a hint of surprise in her eyes. Were those words just spoken by this person?

Yi Muhuan looked at the girl in front of him dressed without a trace of taste, a flicker of disgust passing through his eyes. Since she knew his name, did she know he was supposed to be here today to throw himself at someone? But he wasn’t so lacking in taste as to fancy such a bean sprout of a kid.

”Qianqian, are you okay?” The group of people, including He Wenyu, who ran over anxiously after seeing Luo Qianqian pushed into the pool, checked her for injuries, their faces full of concern.

”I’m fine, it just hurts from the fall. I’ll check it out in the changing room later.” Luo Qianqian shook her head to reassure her friends, while a few boys consciously stood in front of the girls, blocking Yi Muhuan’s line of sight.

”You are Yi Muhuan of the Yi family?” Zhang Jingjing asked, furrowing her eyebrows slightly, ”I didn’t expect the Yi family to have such manners.”

”Who are you?” Just out of the water and still wearing a swim cap, how could Fei Deqing tell who was who? In Yi Muhuan’s eyes, they were all just kids, it was just a matter of their different development stages. They weren’t as interesting as the young beauties playing by the poolside.

”My father is Zhang Hongru.” Zhang Jingjing watched Yi Muhuan with a cold smile. In recent years, the Yi family’s status as the city’s wealthiest had declined, not even ranking among the top enterprises in the city anymore. What was there to be arrogant about?

”Miss Zhang’s friend? Then I really must have been abrupt. Perhaps you should go to the hospital for a check-up later, and put the expense on Muhuan’s account. Muhuan will definitely come to apologize another day.” Hearing it was the Zhang family, Yi Muhuan could not help but take it seriously. His father had always said that gaining the support of the Luo Family of Capital City was just as good as gaining the Zhang family’s support, as both families had only daughters. But that Luo Qianqian was impossible to persuade; he couldn’t even get an appointment with her, and there was always someone to pick her up at the school’s gate. As an alternative, the Zhang family also always had someone to pick them up. If it wasn’t for his father’s command, he would have no desire to deal with a bunch of kids, and if they were just a couple of years older, he would have put more thought into it.

”No need for courtesy, my Zhang family can afford that small amount of money!” Zhang Jingjing watched Yi Muhuan with cold eyes. Zhang Hongru had long guessed the Yi family’s intentions. Unfortunately for them, Zhang Hongru loved his precious only daughter so much that even if she brought a poor man into the family, he would not object, and he did not intend to use his daughter as a sacrificial piece for profit: ”Young Master Yi, enjoy yourself.”

”Qianqian, shall we go to the changing room to take a look?” Zhang Jingjing said as she helped Luo Qianqian to her feet, with He Wenyu supporting her on the other side. Luo Qianqian really was in pain, her face scrunched up, not even glancing at Yi Muhuan.

”Qianqian... Luo Qianqian!” Yi Muhuan suddenly called out loudly, then stepped forward to block their way: ”You are Luo Qianqian?”

”Nonsense!” Zhang Jingjing looked at Yi Muhuan with disgust.

Yi Muhuan was greatly annoyed inside, cursing himself for mistaking her for a mere child because of her swimsuit. His father said that kids were easy to please, that he just needed to show up often and give them treats to make friends.

”Could you step aside, please? We need to go to the changing room,” said He Wenyu, his face turning cold as he noticed Luo Qianqian’s worsening complexion.

”Oh, sure, let me know how it goes later.” Yi Muhuan, seeing the unfriendly expressions on their faces, stepped aside, fuming inside: Once their Yi family secured the support of the Luo family, he would see how these people dared to act so high and mighty!

In the changing room, Luo Qianqian took off her swimsuit, and He Wenyu exclaimed from behind, ”It’s all red here.”

”Looks like it was quite a fall. When you get home, have Auntie rub some safflower oil on it or something. Otherwise, if it bruises and there’s a buildup of blood, it’ll be uncomfortable for the next few days,” Jiang Qian sighed and said.

”I knew Yi Muhuan was no good, but I didn’t expect him to be so terrible!” Zhang Jingjing said fiercely as she watched Luo Qianqian put on her swimsuit. ”The Yi family hinted before at wanting to engage with my family in a betrothal, but my dad rejected them. He mentioned that they seemed to have even better options and didn’t care much about us. So there were no issues after the rejection, but every time he meets my dad, he’d say things like ’don’t come begging to me in the future’... Now it seems like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Better options? Luo Qianqian’s eyes darkened. Could it be the Luo Family? But in her past life, she hadn’t returned to the Luo Family, had she? Plus, Yi Muhuan wasn’t as arrogant as he was now, although a bit unruly, he was quite nice to her; at the very least, he would buy gifts to win her over even if he didn’t have time for her.

Thinking of this, Luo Qianqian said to the others, ”You guys go ahead and play. I’ll stay here for a while and then go out when I feel better.”

”I’ll stay with you,” He Wenyu said, clearly worried.

”What could possibly happen to me? Go and have fun; I’ll be fine here after a while,” Luo Qianqian waved them off and watched as they left the changing room, then took out her cell phone from the locker and dialed Luo Xiying’s number. This was the most direct person to ask, since he was the first person from the Luo family they had met after all.

”What’s up?” Luo Xiying picked up the phone after a while.

”Little Uncle, before you met me, did you have any news about my brother, mom, and me?” Luo Qianqian asked after carefully choosing her words.

Luo Xiying put down what he was doing, leaned back in the sofa chair, and asked softly, ”Why such a question? Well, yes, there is some news. After all, your brother is a descendant of our Luo family. It’s just that with your sudden appearance, the investigators got a bit uncertain which delayed their conclusion. Anything happened?”

”So you’re saying, even if my brother and I had never been to the Luo family, someone would still know our identities?” Luo Qianqian asked, ”Then, what would the Luo family do to us if we hadn’t returned?”

”Know your identities? Actually, the matter of your third brother is hardly a secret; many people know about it, including that he has a son. It’s just your existence that’s not as widely known.” Luo Xiying’s eyes, sharp as a hawk’s, gazed at the ceiling. ”If you hadn’t come back, you wouldn’t have known about the Luo family matters. But Luo Jiahui provided you with some assistance, behind the scenes, like with your husband’s Shufan’s in-laws.”

”So what you’re saying is...” Luo Qianqian paused for a moment, her eyes slightly blurry, ”people who approach me, whom I don’t know, might do so with the intention of receiving protection from the Luo family?”

”Even if you hadn’t returned, the Luo family would still protect you, after all, you’re blood relatives,” Luo Xiying asked in a gentle tone, sensing something off in his niece’s voice, ”What’s wrong? Is someone deliberately getting close to you?”

”It’s nothing, Little Uncle, I understand now. Goodbye, Little Uncle,” Luo Qianqian hung up the phone, tears sliding down her face. Sure enough, the Luo family had known about them for a long time. Then the gentle and considerate ’boyfriend’ from her previous life was nothing but a bubble under the sun, with its prismatic light dazzling her eyes only to burst in an instant.

The lure of the Luo family is truly immense, to turn such an unreasonable and arrogant young master into a gentle boyfriend who didn’t care about status or looks. Luo Qianqian laughed mockingly to herself. What she couldn’t let go of was merely an illusion. Should she be thankful she found out early enough to see all this clearly?

”Little sister, are you alright?” Seeing Luo Qianqian lock the locker and then alternate between crying and laughing, the girl, who had just changed, couldn’t help but feel worried.

”I’m fine,” Luo Qianqian replied, lifting a tear-streaked and snotty smile, but the smile did not reach her eyes.