Criticizing Love - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The voice was calm, a mirror image of Gu Nianyin’s own.

Upon hearing it, Gu Nianyin’s shoulders stiffened momentarily. The surveillance camera behind her silently watched the girl’s slender back, observing as she straightened her spine once more, exactly as required.

The blinking red light was like a human eye. After a few seconds, the emotionless female voice spoke again: “Turn on the video. It’s been a while since we spoke.”

Gu Nianyin lowered her eyes slightly and obediently picked up the tablet from her desk. Her long fingers brushed across the screen, opening a piece of software that was not available on the public market. When the call connected, the screen that had been pitch black a second ago was suddenly flooded with light.

An elegantly dressed woman appeared on the tablet with a faint smile. Her jet-black hair was pinned back in a meticulous bun; her face, unmasked by stray hairs, wore a layer of light makeup. No traces of time were visible, nor was there any expression of longing at the sight of Gu Nianyin.

In the brief silence, Gu Nianyin spoke first, addressing the person on the other side: “Mother.”

This woman was Gu Nianyin’s mother, Lin Deyuan’s cohabiting girlfriend, She Ning.

Indeed, though She Ning was with Lin Deyuan, she had not registered a marriage with him. She had her own plans and was currently away from Nancheng. Her first words to Gu Nianyin were: “Tell me, what have you been doing in Nancheng these past few days?”

“I wake up at five every morning, start with a morning run in the villa district, then come back for breakfast and school. The school has begun its first round of review; the teachers follow the teaching plan for modular revision. In the evening after school, I practice piano for an hour, then return to my room to finish my homework and the tasks you assigned.”

Gu Nianyin replied calmly. Her entire day, laid out like this, sounded like a formal work report.

She Ning nodded slightly, but her next words weren’t a compliment; they were a cross-examination: “Niannian, I’ve noticed you staying at your desk for quite a long time these past few nights. Is your Uncle Lin not taking good care of you?”

The woman in the camera remained gentle, but her eyes were sharp. She watched Gu Nianyin’s surveillance feed every day and was not entirely satisfied with her state.

In the days since moving here, Gu Nianyin had had little contact with Lin Deyuan. However, the man strictly followed She Ning’s instructions regarding her life. Even though there were half as many servants here as in Zhu City, Gu Nianyin’s life remained unchanged.

Square rooms stacked upon square rooms, piled up like blocks to form a villa. Even the car that dropped her off and picked her up every day was a boxy square.

Gu Nianyin’s expression didn’t change as she shook her head calmly. “No, I just haven’t fully adapted to the rhythm here. There are differences between the teaching in Nancheng and Zhu City. I am adjusting.”

She Ning’s eyes flickered with dissatisfaction. “Nancheng is far from Zhu City; the eyes of the other branches of the family can’t reach here. But you must always remember that you are of the direct line of the Gu family in Zhu City. Once Mother finishes settling things here, I will bring you back. Do not disappoint me then.”

“I know, Mother.”

She Ning never asked Gu Nianyin why, nor did she worry about her. Gu Nianyin had heard these words countless times; her answers were more like a muscle reflex. Her heart didn’t skip a beat; she was numb to it.

Seemingly moving to a warmer topic, She Ning’s tone softened slightly: “Mother will try to be back for your birthday. Your coming-of-age ceremony is very important. Have you thought about what style you want for the party?”

Gu Nianyin had started school late; her birthday next month would be her eighteenth. On that day, many people would come to celebrate the girl who had grown up from nothing. But the “celebration” wasn’t what mattered; the “many people” were.

To She Ning, every banquet was a high-level social event involving thousands of connections. It was also a subtle signal to the other side of the family that even if their branch only consisted of a mother and daughter, they remained unshakable.

Gu Nianyin had known this since she was a child. Hiding on an old-fashioned spiral staircase, she had seen so much. Her young eyes had never touched the innocent beauty of the world before being occupied by the rules of adults.

Obeying She Ning, Gu Nianyin gave the expected answer: “Mother can decide as she sees fit.”

Satisfied, She Ning nodded with a smile, then granted a “mercy” by handing the planning power back to her: “Niannian, this is your coming-of-age ceremony. You should plan it; I will only be responsible for implementation. Do you understand?”

In the end, the power still resided with She Ning. Gu Nianyin understood this perfectly; her expression remained constant as she nodded without hesitation. “Yes.”

The conversation had lasted twenty minutes. The watch on She Ning’s wrist beeped. She glanced down and said to Gu Nianyin, “It’s late. Go to sleep early.”

Gu Nianyin nodded and offered a gentle “Goodnight, Mother.”

The moment she finished speaking, the screen went black. There was no “goodnight” in return. It was impossible to tell if her last words had even been transmitted.

Gu Nianyin stared at her own reflection in the black screen for a long time. The girl’s extremely calm face sat alone on the glass, her falling hair brushing her shoulders, her back held as straight as bamboo.

Dark clouds rolled in, obscuring the high moon outside. The window glass was wiped clean, reflecting the girl’s profile in the white fluorescent light. The autumn night had already separated itself from summer; the cold wind made every stroke of the reflection seem harsh.

A small click echoed in the room as the tablet cover was flipped shut, and the device was returned to a high shelf.

The surveillance camera failed to capture where Gu Nianyin’s other hand went. She pushed back her chair, stood up, and entered her walk-in closet. Claiming to respect her child’s privacy, She Ning had not installed cameras in the closet.

Pushing aside some clothes, Gu Nianyin pulled out a large box. A clever mechanism opened it to reveal a simple small table, upon which were displayed insect pins, tweezers, spreading boards, needles, parchment paper, and specimen boxes.

What Gu Nianyin had brought from the room was her newest acquisition: a dried butterfly.

Opening the envelope, a butterfly with closed wings fell into the girl’s palm. Its brown body mimicked a withered leaf; deeper circles looked like eyes, staring hollowly and lifelessly at the human gently prying at its wings.

A needle filled its desiccated body with boiling water to soften it. Gu Nianyin’s movements were unhurried. Her long fingers pressed against the syringe, the metacarpal bones clearly outlined on the back of her pale hand. Her skin, dampened by a few drops of water, took on a faint pink hue. The moon peeked through the window, watching her quietly, helping her keep this secret.

After waiting for a while, the butterfly’s body became soft and supple again. With a gentle lift of the parchment paper, the starlight-dusted blue emerged from the withered brown. The saturated indigo was like the galaxy of this night, spreading into Gu Nianyin’s eyes, and with it, those eyes finally came to life.

The parchment paper pressed down on the butterfly’s unset wings. Long pins were skillfully inserted at angles, each one fixing its body in place. Nature had allowed it to die with elegant dignity, but a human selfishly wanted to keep its most beautiful form.

Gu Nianyin let out a soft, quiet laugh. The light hit her from behind; under the shadow of her long lashes, the color of her pupils was hidden.

Just as the final long pin was about to drop to fix the position, Gu Nianyin slid a button onto it. The small transparent object rested against the butterfly’s wing, a small patch of indigo shimmering through it like tidal mist.

It became a part of the butterfly. It became her butterfly.

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