Wen Ying had little contact with this sister-in-law in her previous life, only seeing her a few times at sect gatherings.
At that time, Wen Ying was still a student who had not left the ivory tower, and she had nothing in common with the female prosecutor sister-in-law. Seeing that the other woman maintained her figure and looks so well, she even thought Zheng Shixiong was fortunate. There was no helping it, after Zheng Zhihe grew stronger, he also went bald. In terms of career prospects, he was evenly matched with his wife or even superior, but in appearance, he was undoubtedly inferior.
To outsiders, however, they were a couple who matched perfectly, equals in every way.
Seeing Zheng Zhihe’s wife from his previous life again, Wen Ying recognised her at once. The other woman looked younger and sharper than when they had met in the previous life, clearly not easy to get along with.
In that instant, Wen Ying’s alarm bells rang!
She had to protect Xiao Ni!
The thought had just arisen when Wen Ying was pulled behind Xiao Ni by the latter.
Xiao Ni had never met Zheng Zhihe’s first-love girlfriend, but based on a woman’s intuition, Xiao Ni felt that Zheng Zhihe’s first-love girlfriend should look exactly like this.
Zheng Zhihe was excellent, and excellent people should have outstanding exes. To be fair, Zheng Zhihe’s taste was really good. His first-love girlfriend was stunning, a real beauty!
Seeing Wen Ying standing there foolishly, Xiao Ni acted quickly.
Adult emotional troubles should be handled by adults themselves, and she must not let the fire spread to Wen Ying.
“Hello, I am Ni Sisi.”
Xiao Ni was stunned by Zheng Zhihe’s first-love girlfriend, while the first-love girlfriend scrutinised Xiao Ni from head to toe.
The first impression was youthfulness.
The second was plain like clear noodle soup, without much adornment… surprisingly not all that detestable?!
So this was the plain porridge and simple vegetables Zheng Zhihe had chosen.
Even a woman did not find her detestable, so naturally men would like her.
Alarm bells rang loudly in the first-love girlfriend’s heart, and her face grew even more coldly glamorous. “I am Ma Wei. You should know who I am, right?”
Xiao Ni nodded honestly. “I have heard Zhihe mention you. What brings you to see me today?”
Ma Wei smiled. “Zhihe? You call him quite intimately! I have some words I want to make clear to you. Would it be convenient to talk here?”
Ma Wei had a natural talent for this. Even standing silently, she exuded an air of superiority, and once she spoke, her words dripped with insinuation!
Xiao Ni frowned. “If it is a private matter, it is indeed not convenient here. Let us go out and talk.”
“That is a smart choice.”
Ma Wei said she would wait downstairs first and hoped Xiao Ni could come down quickly. At the doorway, she turned back with a smile. “This is a matter between women. We can settle it ourselves, do you not think?”
Without waiting for Xiao Ni’s reply, Ma Wei went downstairs.
The great beauty was full of confidence, even her back view was so attractive, but dropping this gauntlet was rather grating.
Whether to accept the challenge or not, it was all infuriating.
“Xiao Ni, are you really going down?”
Wen Ying worried that Xiao Ni would suffer a loss, but Xiao Ni said nonchalantly, “Of course I am going. Why not? Otherwise, people might think I am guilty and afraid.”
Xiao Ni felt no guilt at all.
From the beginning, when they met, Zheng Zhihe was single, and Xiao Ni was single too. Two single people developed feelings through interaction, Zheng Zhihe confessed publicly, and Xiao Ni accepted. There was nothing wrong with that process at all.
Zheng Zhihe’s first-love girlfriend showing up at the door did not panic Xiao Ni one bit.
Although the other woman had a good family background, good job, and good looks… they had broken up, after all!
Song Foxiang relished this kind of drama. Two women fighting over a man, that was once the treatment he, the great romantic, had enjoyed.
But when the争夺 was for Song Foxiang himself, he naturally felt proud. Now that it was Xiao Ni fighting another woman for Zheng Zhihe, Song Foxiang felt a bit displeased.
Song Foxiang might not fully accept Xiao Ni as his direct superior, but he had the right to grumble. Who were outsiders to bully her?
“Little Zheng handles emotional troubles in a messy, indecisive way. You two have only just started and your feelings are not deep yet. Why not dump Little Zheng and consider that someone from our group? Oh, there are several candidates. See which type you like.”
This time, Editor Wan did not undermine him but nodded solemnly in agreement. “Lawyers are all sharp as tacks. Finding one in the same field would be great, plenty of common ground!”
Wen Ying was dumbfounded.
Zheng Shixiong was too tragic, with a meddling ex outside and this greasy duo sabotaging from within!
Xiao Ni was not swayed by the greasy duo and stuck to her choice.
“Come on, this is my private matter. Everyone, mind your own business. I will handle it. Let us continue discussing Wen Ying’s new book.”
“… Are you not going downstairs?”
Xiao Ni blinked. “I did say I would go down, but I did not say right away. Miss Ma was talking to herself, and I could not very well interrupt her. Let us finish work matters first.”
Wen Ying could not help laughing and gave Xiao Ni a thumbs up.
Wen Ying always saw Xiao Ni as that little editor bullied by Han Qin, forgetting that people grow. From resigning at Aegre, coming alone to work in a strange city, suing her former employer, participating from scratch in Spark’s launch and promotion, and organising the writing contest, even the greenest little editor would mature.
As for the official couple from the previous life, obsessing over that was pointless. If it was truly official, it could not be broken. If it could be broken, it was not official.
Wen Ying instantly felt enlightened.
Before discussing work, Xiao Ni sent a message to Zheng Zhihe on her phone about Ma Wei, then tossed the phone aside.
Late May, the weather in Rongcheng was growing hot. Ma Wei waited downstairs. Even in the shade, she sweated through her clothes.
The discomfort of the environment was one thing, but the psychological irritation was greater, a sense of disbelief.
A little editor, what gave her the confidence to leave her hanging like this!
Or perhaps she had been calm in front of others but actually lacked the courage to face her?
Hmph, coward!
Zheng Zhihe’s taste was truly poor. If he wanted someone to spite her, he should have chosen one with better overall qualities.
Ma Wei wanted to mock Zheng Zhihe harshly when a car pulled up in front of her. Zheng Zhihe had actually come.
“Ma Wei, you have really gone too far!”
Zheng Zhihe’s brows were tightly furrowed.
Upon receiving Xiao Ni’s message, Zheng Zhihe dropped his work and rushed over. Seeing Ma Wei waiting downstairs, he recalled the content of Xiao Ni’s text: There would be no “war of women” in this world without men’s indecision.
Ma Wei’s expression changed.
In the past, she had interfered several times when Zheng Zhihe showed signs of dating, and Zheng Zhihe was of course unhappy but had never shown such disgust.
So this time, had Zheng Zhihe taken the little editor seriously?
“What do you like about her? Family background, education, job, looks, she is inferior to me in every way. If you found someone better than me, I could accept it, but finding someone so inferior, I cannot swallow this!”
Ma Wei always spoke bluntly.
This had once been a trait Zheng Zhihe liked, but any quality taken to excess changed flavour. Ma Wei’s bluntness became overbearing, self-righteous.
Zheng Zhihe felt the person before him was both familiar and strange. He still remembered once liking Ma Wei very much; that feeling had been real.
Now not liking her was also real.
Having dated once was not a life sentence. Why could he not start a new relationship?
“Xiao Ni is not inferior at all. She is wonderful in my eyes. Family background is not something Xiao Ni chose herself; if you say her looks are not as good as yours, I can only say different strokes for different folks. Right now, I like Xiao Ni just like this; as for work, I suggest you learn more about Xiao Ni’s achievements. You are in different fields, so comparing is hard. Of course, what I want to express is this: I like Xiao Ni, and I do not want you harassing my girlfriend anymore. Ma Wei, let go. Give our past relationship a dignified end. Without Xiao Ni, there would be someone else. I have no intention of reconciling with you, not now, and not in the future.”
Scolding Ma Wei would only lead to her mocking Zheng Zhihe coldly in return.
No scolding, just this light explanation, truly stabbed a knife into Ma Wei’s heart.
…
In the office, Wen Ying stood by the window, peeking downstairs all along.
Zheng Shixiong had arrived.
Zheng Shixiong and Ma Wei were talking, seeming to argue.
Ma Wei ran off.
Zheng Shixiong did not chase, but he did not come upstairs either.
Zheng Shixiong had dealt with his first-love trouble, yet he did not come to Xiao Ni to claim credit. He just left quietly.
By the time Xiao Ni finished her work and said she was going down, Ma Wei was nowhere to be seen.
Even the greasy duo fell silent.
Zheng Zhihe had performed admirably. Picking faults now would be nitpicking.
Throughout this matter, Xiao Ni had handled it perfectly. Earlier, Wen Ying had just given her a thumbs up; now she genuinely wanted to kneel to Xiao Ni.
Thus, Wen Ying sent a dejected message to Xie Qian.
“You were right. Turns out Xiao Ni does not need my protection at all!”
