Chapter 22: To Defeat Him Head-on With a Sword
She had already gotten angry once before.
Now... better not make her mad again, right?
He saw the girl eating while opening the box that had been delivered by a courier. Inside was a pair of black wedge-heeled shoes. When she saw the shoes, she smiled, and her eyes curved into happy crescents.
Xia Changyu stared so hard his eyes almost went blank and said with admiration, “Her smile is really beautiful.”
Of course, Lin Yibai was smiling happily. But secretly, she was cursing.
“Ugh, those stupid high heels! They almost killed my feet!”
But now, things were better. Wedge heels were much easier to walk in. At least she didn’t have to worry about balance or falling over anymore.
After quickly finishing her food, Lin Yibai couldn’t wait to take off her heels. Cool air from the air conditioner gently touched her toes.
“Phew~~~”
“Finally… I’m saved!”
She leaned back a little on the bench, placed one foot up on the seat, hugged her knees, and looked down.
Her toes were already a bit red. If she kept wearing those heels and walked around a lot, Lin Yibai was sure, in two days, her toes would hurt worse than an ingrown nail.
Also, her toenails had gotten a bit too long. That might be one reason the shoes were hurting her toes so much.
She looked closely at her pretty feet.
Small, delicate, soft, and beautiful.
‘I didn’t expect my feet to look this good after turning into a girl,’ she thought to herself in a daze.
If this were before, they probably looked like typical rough guy feet, right?
After glancing around to make sure no one was watching, Lin Yibai picked up the heels she had just worn...
Then gently placed them in front of her and sniffed them lightly.
Seriously, guys, believe me. I'm not some kind of weirdo!
This was just a little curiosity from a guy’s point of view, that’s all.
The shoes didn’t smell bad at all.
It felt like, after turning into a girl, she also got some “pretty girl privileges.” Like having soft, nice-smelling feet?
“Phew~~”
Lin Yibai let out a long breath.
But hiding behind a big pillar, Xia Changyu’s breathing had suddenly gotten faster.
To him, what Lin Yibai did, smelling the shoes, wasn’t weird at all.
In fact, quite the opposite.
When he saw a girl who had a great figure, a beautiful face, and graceful manners, sitting there hugging her knees, then gently picking up her high heels, looking at them, and sniffing lightly...
It was just... so attractive.
As he was thinking this, suddenly, a surprised sound came from the bench.
Lin Yibai had found a split in her toenail. No matter how hard she tried with the nail clipper, she couldn’t cut it right. So she just pulled it off with her fingers. A thin line of blood appeared from under the nail, and pain hit her right away.
Out of worry and emotion, Xia Changyu stepped out from behind the pillar without thinking and asked, “Hey, are you okay?”
When Lin Yibai saw it was him, her face instantly turned strange.
When did he get here? Did he see her sniffing her shoes just now?!
He must’ve been hiding and watching, laughing at me!
Ugh, this love rival is so sneaky!
She gave a cold snort and said, “Why would anything be wrong with me? I’m just fine, humph!”
In front of her love rival, she didn’t show any kindness. And she definitely couldn’t lose in terms of confidence or attitude.
“But your foot—”
“My foot?”
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“It doesn’t... hurt.”
No way was she going to lose face in front of a rival. Even if it hurt a lot, Lin Yibai just gritted her teeth and endured it.
Even though it clearly hurt a lot, she still tried to act tough. To Xia Changyu, this made her seem even more charming. “What a strong-willed girl,” he thought.
Xia Changyu couldn’t understand why this girl was always so cold and unfriendly toward him. It was like she hated him for something really serious.
But the split in Lin Yibai’s toenail that she had pulled off was bleeding quite a bit. The blood coming out from the side of her nail made Xia Changyu frown. And the girl in front of him wouldn’t let anyone help or even take care of it herself.
This made him feel even worse. With a serious look, he said, “Hey… um, I remember your name is Lin Baiyi, right? I don’t know what I did to upset you so much, or why you seem to hate me so badly, but right now I think you should go take care of that injury.”
“Who asked for your help?” Lin Yibai said with a cold laugh.
She had been annoyed with Xia Changyu for a while. And now that she saw him still staring at her bleeding toenail, she lifted her foot and kicked at him from the bench.
Even though her toe hurt, she still wanted to kick him just to let out some steam.
But instead of hitting him like she imagined...
What actually happened?
Well, have you ever seen one of those scenes where a girl’s foot ends up in a guy’s hand?
Lin Yibai’s voice turned cold as she shouted, “Let go of… my foot!”
Her foot, now a girl’s foot... Was actually being held by her love rival! The feeling was super awkward.
Even worse, Xia Changyu’s whole vibe suddenly turned serious and cold. Lin Yibai had a bad feeling.
Then Xia Changyu gave a quiet snort and said firmly, “Don’t move until I finish treating your injury.”
What the heck, is this some overbearing CEO act?!
Bro... I’m your love rival! Is this really how you should act??
Let go of my foot already!
This is super creepy! I turned into a girl and now I’m going to freak out for real!
Xia Changyu crouched down, holding Lin Yibai’s foot, gently wiping away the blood from her toe. Then he took out a band-aid and carefully placed it over the wound.
“I think this should do the trick,” he said.
“You!” Lin Yibai was furious.
Then Xia Changyu seemed to realize that she was truly angry now. He quickly said, “Sorry, I probably went too far just now. If you want to hit me or yell at me, go ahead.”
Actually, if Lin Yibai wanted, she could’ve just called the police and accused Xia Changyu of harassment. He’d definitely be locked up for a few days.
But as a love rival and for the pride of being a man...
Lin Yibai felt it was inappropriate to do that. She swore she would defeat Xia Changyu fair and square, in a face-to-face fight!
She took a deep breath and said through clenched teeth, “You… you better get lost now! I don’t want to see you again!”
Xia Changyu wasn’t the kind of person who didn’t know when to back off. He walked around the big pillar and disappeared from Lin Yibai’s view.
And then—
“Arghhhh! I’m so mad!!”
Images of what just happened kept flashing in Lin Yibai’s mind. It was so... ugh, just thinking about it gave her goosebumps.
She never imagined that her first direct showdown with her love rival would end up like that.
“Whatever, whatever,” she told herself. “It’s not worth getting mad over him.”
Let’s just say... he touched my male feet—no, no! Now that I’m a girl, they’re my lovely little feet!
But if that’s the case... didn’t I totally lose out here?!
Ugh!! So annoying!
Right now, the only thing that could cheer Lin Yibai up... was that pair of wedge heels.
She tossed the high heels aside and muttered to herself, “I hope no one notices I’m slacking off. The supervisor shouldn’t be so bored that they check what shoes I’m wearing, right? A good job is one where you can slack off a little!”
“Pfft~” A laugh came from behind the pillar.
Xia Changyu hadn’t really left. When he stepped out from behind the big pillar again, he saw Lin Yibai walking awkwardly back to the front desk of Area E.
He couldn’t help but think she looked really cute.
And her "slacking off theory"?
It made him both laugh... and feel a little sorry for her.