Criticizing Love - Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The roller coaster in this amusement park was famously thrilling, starting off with a sudden, rapid acceleration up a small, steep incline.

Without any buffer or buildup, the wind howled fiercely past their faces, the sharp whistling of the air heavily laced with piercing screams.

Before Lin Xi could pull her hand back, it was caught and held together with Gu Nianyin’s just like that.

The autumn wind carried a distinct chill, wantonly plundering people’s body heat, yet it had no way to steal away the warmth gathering beneath their palms.

The fingertips that had been icy cold when they first gripped hers gradually grew warm, their palms interlocking as though they were warming each other up.

That’s right, it was mutual.

As the potential energy from plunging down from the highest point rapidly converted into kinetic energy, the roller coaster traveled at an extreme speed.

Sitting in the middle-to-back row, Lin Xi only felt her heart being continuously squeezed, beating exceptionally fast.

Thrilling amusement rides truly stimulated a person’s adrenaline, generating a sensation of excitement.

But Lin Xi felt that her adrenaline right now was a bit too excessive.

Beneath the young girl’s outward disdain for playing this kind of thing—which she labeled as childish—there was another reason hidden away.

—She was afraid.

No matter how wild and untamed this person usually was, tackling slopes and drops, scaling walls and climbing buildings, she still felt afraid when facing thrilling rides.

If she hadn’t come across the explanation for the female lead’s attraction to the hero while flipping through a manga, she never would have thought of this risky yet fascinating theory called the suspension bridge effect.

Throwing caution to the wind was throwing caution to the wind.

Her lack of morality had to pay a bit of a price after all.

It was amidst these exact thoughts that Lin Xi’s hand was firmly gripped by someone.

The chaotic wind continuously battered her hair, and amidst her tightly strung nerves, she caught a faint fragrance.

That scent was calming and gentle, like a flower resolutely blooming in a rainstorm.

Clearly so delicate, its tiny four petals ravaged and swayed out of shape by the wind, yet it still stood perfectly straight, remaining completely unmoving, bringing stability to the surroundings along with it.

The screams brought by the extreme speed were endless, and amidst her violently erratic heartbeat, Lin Xi forced her eyes open.

She looked toward the young girl sitting beside her. In the wild wind was a face completely unobstructed by a single strand of hair, her pale features chased by the sunlight, clean and clear in every single second.

The rapidly changing wind didn’t stir her expression in the slightest. Her eyebrows and eyes remained calm, still bearing that aloof and proud appearance.

She was so cold, maintaining the pride that Lin Xi disdained as always.

Yet it was the very thing that brought the most peace of mind during danger.

Her heart didn’t seem to beat as violently anymore.

Or perhaps it beat even more violently.

The eardrums of her heart were revolting.

Lin Xi’s gaze remained completely unmoving, and then she heard Gu Nianyin’s voice: “Are you afraid?”

This person looked over as she spoke. How could Lin Xi possibly admit to such a thing? Forcing herself to look composed, she said: “What a joke, just this?”

It was only because the wind around them was too loud that this person’s cold snort failed to come out.

Gu Nianyin shifted the hand she held with Lin Xi’s, exposing her: “Your hand doesn’t seem to say so.”

Lin Xi was speechless. In her line of sight was her own hand, which she had unknowingly used to grip Gu Nianyin back at some point.

It was hard to say whether it was more awkwardness or more shame and anger, but Lin Xi’s ears felt terribly hot. She immediately moved to pull her hand away from Gu Nianyin’s grip.

Only, she failed.

Whether it was because Gu Nianyin had strength from out of nowhere, or because she herself had been left powerless by this broken roller coaster, Lin Xi didn’t succeed in pulling her hand away.

Her hand was tightly held by Gu Nianyin just like that, and then beneath this person’s calm voice that was consistent as always, she heard her say to her: “A-Xi, I’m afraid.”

This person spoke with absolute honesty, her gaze looking over as direct as sunlight.

Lin Xi heard the sound of Gu Nianyin calling her name amidst the howling wind. The sun bypassed the winding tracks to shine straight over, making her face burn a little from the heat.

Lin Xi swallowed, the sound of her heartbeat drowning out everything else.

The surroundings were dead quiet, and the horizon could be seen gradually sinking with the naked eye as this long train carried them up toward another high peak.

This was truly driving her to her grave.

Lin Xi stopped struggling, letting Gu Nianyin hold her just like that.

She couldn’t tell if she was feeling afraid in this exact second, but she also wanted to share a bit of courage with the person beside her.

The sound of screaming flew over the sky above the amusement park in waves. Coming down from the roller coaster, Lin Xi’s steps were still a bit unsteady.

She was considered quite decent. Several tourists from their train vomited the moment they got down, each clutching a trash can, a scene that was beyond spectacular.

Meanwhile, the person who had claimed she was afraid looked as calm as always.

Walking beside her, Lin Xi felt that her previous thought of rushing over to grab a trash can as well had been entirely unnecessary.

“There are snapshot photos over here, do you want to take a look?”

As the two walked outward, the staff member responsible for guiding tourists out warmly hosted them.

Lin Xi was all too familiar with this routine. If her colleague’s photo-taking counted as merely expensive, then the photos here were both expensive and ugly, entirely dependent on your own facial expression management and snapshot luck.

Vile capitalism always thought of every possible way to empty your pockets.

Lin Xi let out a cold snort in her heart, not being the least bit interested in this.

Only, just as she was about to refuse and leave, the silhouette in her peripheral vision suddenly vanished.

Lin Xi halted her steps and turned her head to look, seeing that Gu Nianyin had walked over under the warm greeting of that staff member.

“Can we preview it?” Gu Nianyin asked.

“Sure.” The staff member was very enthusiastic, bringing up several snapshots caught by the machine on the computer as she spoke.

Lin Xi really wanted to pull Gu Nianyin away to avoid spending wasted money.

But when she stood off to the side and saw the photo focused on their row, her gaze froze.

What kind of monster was this?

Clearly at this instant they were rapidly descending under the force of gravitational potential energy, yet this person’s expression was as calm as a pool of stagnant water.

No matter how broken down the people in front were, no matter how much their facial features flew all over the place, she just sat there, her straight spine without a single point of laxity or collapse; only the redness piercing through the tip of her nose from being blown by the cold wind counted as her physiological response to this thrilling ride.

Leaning against the table on the side, Lin Xi couldn’t help but complain: “This is the ‘afraid’ you were talking about?”

“Mm.” Gu Nianyin nodded seriously.

Then she raised her finger to point at the photo on the top right of the screen, “Let’s have this one.”

“You and your friend look very beautiful in this one.” The staff member played along, immediately selecting the photo Gu Nianyin pointed to.

Lin Xi was somewhat thick-skinned, feeling that there wasn’t much difference among those snapshots displayed on the screen.

So when the photo Gu Nianyin selected was enlarged and displayed on the screen, she still didn’t have any extra exclamations.

Gu Nianyin still performed stably, her expression refusing to break down no matter what.

The wind also seemed to take good care of her, even the arc of her hair being blown carried a touch of agility. The sunlight sprinkled down, making it a rare and beautiful sight among the snapshots of this ride.

As for herself sitting beside her.

Lin Xi candidly faced herself, who had absolutely no expression management whatsoever.

Compared to the natural sense of relaxation on Gu Nianyin’s body, she kept her entire face taut throughout the whole process.

She didn’t shout or scream, her tightly closed lips pursed into a straight line, making her face look even grumpier.

If before this, the photos Lin Xi’s colleague took for her still possessed some level of composition, then this one could be said to have no level at all.

The entire picture looked devoid of any aesthetic value. The clothes on everyone were of all kinds, the colors piled together in a mess, and some parts even had ghost images, lacking even the most basic collection value.

Lin Xi truly didn’t understand why Gu Nianyin wanted to buy a photo like this.

This person looked cold and detached, not seeming like someone who liked taking photos that much either.

Feeling that Gu Nianyin had really spent too much wasted money today, Lin Xi couldn’t help but ask: “Hey, what are you buying this thing for?”

“Afraid of forgetting,” Gu Nianyin accepted the photo, answering in a calm voice.

And this answer far exceeded the scope of Lin Xi’s expectations.

She even found it somewhat incomprehensible.

“Ah?” Lin Xi tilted her head.

Gu Nianyin, however, kept her features calm, silently looking at Lin Xi: “Some people have bad memories.”

She didn’t specify anyone with these words. “Some people” seemed to be a general reference to a certain category.

Hearing Gu Nianyin speak this way, Lin Xi naturally classified her into this category, her brow furrowing even deeper.

—Gu Nianyin didn’t look like someone with a bad memory either.

—She could score 138 in Chinese literature.

“…Then I suggest you eat more walnuts, they say it’s quite effective.” Failing to muster any other words, Lin Xi casually tossed a piece of advice to Gu Nianyin.

This statement came as no surprise, yet Gu Nianyin still let out a light breath.

She carefully placed the photo into the bag she was carrying, and when she raised her head again, she watched the person she had taken the photo with walking forward alone.

The young girl pursed her lips, her cold pupils covertly surfacing with a few fractions of helplessness.

And interest.

Most of the time in the amusement park was spent waiting in line. Lin Xi, who had engraved “the pancake-flipping problem is not advisable” deep into her heart, spent the whole afternoon suppressing her frantic urge to do math problems. She didn’t get to play many projects with Gu Nianyin either, and before the sun set, she left with Gu Nianyin.

In late autumn Nancheng, the sky grew dark faster and faster.

Lin Xi rode her bicycle to send Gu Nianyin home. Just as they turned a corner, the orange on the treetops was swallowed by the night, and the sky had already darkened.

Looking at the moon that had already climbed up in the distance, Lin Xi asked on a strange impulse: “Gu Nianyin, does your house have a curfew?”

“Not exactly.” Gu Nianyin paused for a moment, giving Lin Xi an ambiguous answer.

Lin Xi was puzzled: “If there is then there is, if there isn’t then there isn’t, how can it be ‘not exactly’?”

“They have never set a rule for me, but there has always been a thin line lying horizontally there,” Gu Nianyin explained in a flat voice.

For some reason, Lin Xi felt a bit of suffocation within Gu Nianyin’s description.

Compared to those things that were clearly marked with a price, the ones that couldn’t be seen were the hardest to grasp.

It was just like her riding her bicycle right now. If a rope suddenly appeared not far away, then she would be done for.

“Is it there now too?” Lin Xi suddenly thought of Lin Deyuan, who hadn’t been invited yesterday. Saying this, she felt as though she were acting like she knew a lot about Gu Nianyin’s family affairs, so she added another sentence, “Aren’t you an adult now?”

Adulthood had always been a very vague concept. Many children felt that after turning into an adult, they could do things they couldn’t do before, but in reality, many things that couldn’t be done before still couldn’t be done after crossing that day.

Gu Nianyin recognized this point clearly, lowering her eyelashes and merely saying: “I might find out after going back today.”

“Then I’ll have to pedal faster.” Hearing this, Lin Xi caught a strange burst of motivation, accelerating her cycling speed as she spoke.

As the saying goes, first time a stranger, second time an acquaintance. The wheels pressed over the fallen leaves, carrying their shadows all the way upward.

Just like last time, Lin Xi stopped only after carrying Gu Nianyin past Lin Deyuan’s villa by a certain distance: “Alright, you’re home.”

“Thanks a lot.” Just like last time, Gu Nianyin followed suit by loosening her hands that were looped around Lin Xi’s waist.

The temperature in the evening was too low, the wind pushing a chill that slipped inside immediately afterward.

Eroding the greater half of the warmth.

Gu Nianyin lightly gripped her hand, turning around to walk back toward that villa.

The treetops made a rustling sound. Just as she entered the password to go through the door, a voice traveled from the intercom at the entrance: “Stop right there.”

The woman’s voice was calm yet deep, her commanding phrasing brooking no resistance from Gu Nianyin.

As the words fell, the door of the villa was opened from the inside by someone.

The light spilled slanting across the dim stone steps, and She Ning walked out from the house.

She wore a pair of satin mules, her slender legs wrapped in silk pajamas.

The coat she had casually thrown over the outside was ringed with soft white rabbit fur, moving with every step, casual and graceful.

The near-round moon hid behind the trees whose withered leaves hadn’t fallen yet. Gu Nianyin watched She Ning walk over, her expression changing bit by bit.

Presumably the mountain rain was about to come, the wind suddenly rising from the ground.

“Did I not tell you that you are not allowed to bring this kind of thing into the house?”

She Ning stood high above, and as she spoke, she took an unfinished butterfly specimen out from her pocket, tossing it straight to Gu Nianyin’s feet.

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