Criticizing Love - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Long afterward, whenever Lin Xi recalled this moment, she could still picture Gu Nianyin’s beautiful eyes.

The girl’s pupils seemed naturally light; when the sunlight hit them, the black patterns were layered over a golden-brown base, like meticulously polished glass marbles—clean and transparent.

Youth is always filled with various fantasies. Some people might categorize a first meaningful look with another as the beginning of fate, their hearts racing as if they were in the middle of a romantic encounter in a campus drama.

But Lin Xi only felt that this was a wicked twist of fate.

Gu Nianyin’s silent appearance stirred up the emotions Lin Xi had just managed to calm. She stood there on the covered walkway, staring at the girl who had no idea she was the daughter of her “cheap” stepfather, a layer of frost forming in the depths of her dark eyes.

“Lin Xi! Why aren’t you in your classroom for the assembly! What are you doing here!”

Before the staring contest could lead anywhere, Lin Xi heard her homeroom teacher’s voice. A premonition of doom struck, and Lin Xi’s eyelid twitched.

She shifted her gaze away from Gu Nianyin and saw her homeroom teacher, Wang Tingxiu, standing among a group of teachers, glaring at her. Her young face was set in a serious expression as she shouted sternly, “Wait for me in my office.”

Those five words hit Lin Xi like a bolt from the blue.

She hadn’t expected the teacher to be right there. The hostility she had mustered toward Gu Nianyin was instantly suppressed by a wave of overwhelming annoyance.

Damn it, I forgot to run!

It was all Gu Nianyin’s fault. If this person hadn’t locked eyes with her, she would have had plenty of time to escape!

See? A wicked fate, indeed.

As Lin Xi mentally blamed Gu Nianyin for her misfortune, she looked up to find that the culprit had vanished. A cool wind blew through the empty walkway, leaving Lin Xi with a fire in her chest and nowhere to direct it.

The school assembly had ended. The silence in the teaching building lasted for about a second before students began pouring out of their classrooms.

To Lin Xi, the lively atmosphere was just noise. Resigned to her fate, she cautiously turned off her phone and pushed through the crowd toward Wang Tingxiu’s office.

To create a focused environment for seniors, the school had moved both students and teachers into one building. Wang Tingxiu, the Chinese teacher for the elite class, had an office at the end of the second floor, diagonal to where Lin Xi had been caught.

Lin Xi walked quickly to avoid the teachers, arriving before Wang Tingxiu. A moment later, Wang Tingxiu walked in, greeting students along the way. She glanced at Lin Xi, who was standing there obediently, and sat down unhurriedly.

“Do you know why I called you here?”

Lin Xi had skipped many assemblies before; she knew that alone wasn’t enough to get her hauled into the office for a lecture. She knew exactly why she was there, but it didn’t make her any less defiant. “I did poorly on the opening exam.”

“Oh, so you do know.” Wang Tingxiu was dissatisfied with Lin Xi’s perfunctory tone. She pulled Lin Xi’s paper from a stack. “Sixty points for the essay, and you just… gave up on it? Throwing away that many points doesn’t it hurt?”

If Dr. Tao’s reminder had merely stirred dissatisfaction, Wang Tingxiu’s interrogation made Lin Xi truly irritable. On the day of the exam, Xing Xiu was having a biopsy. Lin Xi’s mind had been entirely focused on that surgery. She had taken on this heavy burden without preparation; family matters had left her exhausted and anxious.

It was just an opening assessment. She truly felt it didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. She replied flatly, “No, it doesn’t hurt.”

“What did you say?” Wang Tingxiu was stunned. She had taught Lin Xi for two years and knew her temperament; Lin Xi was witty and occasionally talked back, but this was the first time she had been so confrontational. “Lin Xi, did something happen over the summer?”

“No.” Lin Xi didn’t want to talk about it. Her denial was sharp.

As an experienced teacher, Wang Tingxiu sensed something was wrong. Seeing that communication was failing, she pulled out her final card: “Lin Xi, if you refuse to talk to your teacher, I’ll have to speak with your parents instead.”

Lin Xi laughed. “Teacher, the ‘calling the parents’ trick doesn’t scare me.”

Sunlight slanted through the window onto Lin Xi’s face. The girl’s natural features radiated a bright, defiant energy, as if nothing in the world could bring her down.

But in reality, Wang Tingxiu had her cornered. Dr. Tao had repeatedly warned that Xing Xiu should not be stressed. Lin Xi didn’t want her mother worrying about her school troubles.

“Lin Xi!” Wang Tingxiu was so frustrated her throat felt dry. she reached for her water cup, only to see two chrysanthemum buds floating in the clear water.

This brat had prepared it for her in advance.

Wang Tingxiu paused, her stern criticism turning into a sigh. “I just want to understand why your grades dropped. If you don’t want me to call your parents, you have to give me an explanation.”

“A mistake,” Lin Xi offered as a compromise.

“Just a mistake?”

“Just a mistake.”

“…Fine.” Wang Tingxiu reluctantly accepted the answer. Still worried, she added, “As long as you’re aware. I hope to still see you in this class after the first mock exam at the end of the month. Understand?”

“Rest your heart 180 times over,” Lin Xi replied lazily. Her tilted chin radiated a pride that wouldn’t allow anyone to doubt her. She would not drop out of the elite class—especially not if it meant being replaced by Gu Nianyin.

“I’m leaving, teacher.”

Before she could take a step, Wang Tingxiu called her back. “Where are you going? Did I say I was finished?”

“…There’s more?”

“Go to Class 13 and find Gu Nianyin. Then take her to the logistics department to get a set of desks and chairs and help her move them into our classroom.”

The moment she heard Gu Nianyin’s name, Lin Xi’s reflex kicked in: “Not doing it.”

“Lin Xi, what is wrong with you today? Why must you oppose everything I say?” Wang Tingxiu swatted her with the test paper. “Gu Nianyin is an excellent student. Is it a loss for you to help her and make a friend? What did she ever do to you?”

What did she do? She’s the daughter of the mistress who caused my father to abandon us—does that count?

“We aren’t the same kind of people,” Lin Xi muttered.

Wang Tingxiu didn’t catch the double meaning. “You’re in the same class now, so you are. The school hasn’t had a top-tier scholar in a long time. The Academic Affairs Office made an exception for her to join our class. Why can’t you do your part for the school and help a new classmate?”

“Tch,” Lin Xi scoffed. “So what if she’s a top scholar? What’s the big deal?”

“If it’s no big deal, go get that rank yourself,” Wang Tingxiu retorted. She looked at the defiant girl and used both the carrot and the stick: “Since you’re so unconvinced, go help her move classrooms. See what a top-tier senior student is actually like. Otherwise… I’m calling your parents.”

Lin Xi was silenced. She couldn’t figure out when she had let it slip that she was actually afraid of her parents being contacted.

Seeing her quiet down, Wang Tingxiu smiled with satisfaction. She handed Lin Xi a slip from the logistics department. “Go.”

“…Fine.” Defeated, Lin Xi took the slip.

A shadow moved slowly and heavily down the hallway, radiating reluctance.

Even after leaving the office, the word “friend” from Wang Tingxiu’s mouth echoed in her mind. She never imagined anyone would want her to be friends with Gu Nianyin.

If she actually became “best friends” with Gu Nianyin, she wondered how Lin Deyuan would react. He threw her out like trash, only to see her brought back home as Gu Nianyin’s friend. Would he be furious and reveal she was his daughter, or would he smile at her while trying to please Gu Nianyin?

And what about Gu Nianyin? If she found out her new friend was the daughter of her “cheap” father, would she be embarrassed by her poor taste in friends?

And then there was that haughty woman she hadn’t even met yet. How would she react?

Thinking about this, Lin Xi’s lips curled up. She felt a sudden, malicious curiosity about how this story might play out. It almost felt satisfying. But on second thought, it seemed unnecessary. If they were just “friends,” how could it possibly cause enough chaos?

The teaching building was bustling during the break. Lin Xi found Class 13. She had no intention of doing the work or looking for Gu Nianyin, so she stopped a random girl coming out of the room. “Hey, could you call Gu Nianyin for me?”

Lin Xi was 173cm tall; standing by the window, she blocked out a large patch of light. Her shadow loomed over the girl, along with the scent of her presence. The girl’s face turned red instantly. “She… she doesn’t seem to be here…”

“Where did she go?” Lin Xi asked, annoyed.

Startled by Lin Xi’s cold expression, the girl stammered, “Someone… someone called her to the back of the second-floor water room as soon as she got back.”

The area behind the second-floor water room was a spacious, empty corridor. It was poorly lit and usually empty, except for young couples sneaking away for dates…

Well, well. Our new star student is quite popular.

Lin Xi gave a cold internal commentary, thanked the girl, and headed down to the second floor. The peak time for getting water had passed, and only a few people were lingering.

As Lin Xi rounded the corner, she heard a voice.

“…So, Gu Nianyin, I really like you. Can you give me a chance?” A boy was making a sincere, passionate confession.

Wow, it really is a confession.

Lin Xi stayed put. She knew eavesdropping wasn’t right, but she didn’t move. She had climbed from the first floor to the third and back to the second; her legs were tired. Why should she go out of her way to give Gu Nianyin privacy?

“No.”

There was no hesitation. The rejection came faster than the time it took Lin Xi to take a breath.

Compared to the voice softened by the sun during the assembly, Gu Nianyin’s voice now was much colder—flat, like a bullet fired at a target without emotion.

So cold. So direct.

Lin Xi raised an eyebrow, mentally applauding the rejection. Her curiosity piqued, she peeked toward the center of the “stage.”

The boy had his back to Lin Xi. Even from a distance, it was clear Gu Nianyin was keeping a significant gap between them. The corridor wind blew, causing the neat pleats of her navy skirt to sway against her straight legs. Her slender frame looked like a delicate white flower that would make anyone want to protect her, but the light on her face revealed eyes that were pitch black and colder than her rejection.

She looked like a completely different person from the one Lin Xi had seen earlier.

“Why not? Can you give me a reason?” the boy pleaded. “I think I’m a good match for you. I won second prize in the Provincial Biology Competition last semester. I was on stage receiving the award, did you notice?”

Notice? Lin Xi leaned against the wall and snorted. Beyond her disdain for Gu Nianyin, she found the boy’s logic hilarious. A provincial second prize versus a national first prize? Anyone knew the massive gap in value.

As if sharing Lin Xi’s thought, Gu Nianyin remained silent, just looking at him. Her cold eyes held no emotion. The boy grew nervous but didn’t want to give up. He clutched his love letter. “Gu Nianyin, if there’s anything you’re dissatisfied with, please tell me. I’m willing to change everything. I really like girls like you. I’ll be the perfect partner!”

“I don’t like boys.”

The loud vow was crushed by a cold, heartless announcement. The clear voice rang through the quiet corridor. Gu Nianyin’s expression didn’t change; she stated it calmly, as if informing him of the most mundane fact.

Lin Xi wasn’t one to hide her emotions; her eyes widened instantly.

The corridor fell silent. In her shock, Lin Xi looked over, only to find that Gu Nianyin’s gaze had moved past the boy and was looking directly at her.

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