Criticizing Love - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

The newly slammed-down dinner tray was tossed onto the table with a “clang,” crisp and ear-piercing, as if someone had pressed the mute button for the noisy cafeteria.

All around became silent. The students who heard the commotion one after another directed their gazes over here, looking around and tracking it, their eyes filled with curiosity.

The boy was completely stunned by being capped like this by Lin Xi.

The gravy from the braised meat rice was still flowing down the corner of his mouth, miserable and furious: “What are you doing!”

“Educating you, can’t you tell?” Lin Xi kept her face taut, and there wasn’t a sliver of expression on the face looking at this person.

She was disgusted to the absolute extreme by this kind of loose-tongued rumor-mongering and foul speech.

Especially since this person even applied these words to Gu Nianyin.

She had endured it.

It was useless.

Within the narrow space, Lin Xi stood while that boy sat.

The lighting overhead cast Lin Xi’s shadow entirely over the boy. Looking down from above, her expression was filled with ill intent.

Looking up, the boy couldn’t help but roll his throat.

But he seemed to feel that he was the victim. Regardless of what he had said just now, he directed a righteously confident interrogation at Lin Xi: “I—I was eating my food perfectly fine here, on what grounds do you—you hit me!”

“Exactly!”

“Just where did Zhou Xiaofeng offend you, don’t go too far!”

The several people at the same table as that boy—or rather, to be exact, with Zhou Xiaofeng—echoed in one voice.

Not knowing if it was because he gained backing to put on airs, Zhou Xiaofeng grew a few fractions braver.

His brain whirled quickly, shouting Lin Xi’s full name as he splashed dirty water onto her body: “Lin Xi, last time you just scolded me indiscriminately and I let it go, this time you directly laid hands on me! Just where did I offend you to be bullied by you like this! Everyone is a classmate, what hatred, what resentment, is it necessary for you to do this!”

In the past, whatever Lin Xi had with Lin Deyuan came directly. This white lotus grievance act truly opened her eyes. She was directly angered into a laugh by this person’s talent for talking nonsense with an open mouth, tossing a look of contempt through the corners of her mouth: “Heh, staging a scam, are you?”

Lin Xi never proactively looked for trouble, nor did she fear trouble.

As she spoke, she leaned even closer toward that boy, her shadow pressing down as if about to swallow him up: “It seems your memory isn’t very good. The words you said right here just now, do you want me to help you recall them?”

“What did they say?”

“Listening to it, it seems to be about the matter of Gu Nianyin liking girls.”

“I heard it too! It was this, even saying things like homosexuals are so disgusting.”

“Diseased, right.”

“What kind of person someone likes is none of his business.”

“Turned low self-esteem, I bet. Just now I even heard something about the girl he likes liking Gu Nianyin, I think his heart is unbalanced.”

“I think the disgusting one is him instead.”

“Exactly.”

“I also like Gu Nianyin! Damn it, beautiful women should like girls!”

“Weakly asking a question, does Lin Xi have a girlfriend?”

Zhou Xiaofeng had spoken arrogantly just now, and a densely populated place never lacked ears.

Under this sentence of Lin Xi’s, the crowd one after another began to complement the cause of the matter to each other. The bewildered public opinion also gradually became clear, and it even seemed to become… colorful and vibrant.

The four individuals who were arrogant in momentum just a moment ago now shut their mouths one after another. Zhong Sheng stood to the side watching with arms crossed, saying: “I say, this classmate Zhou… Xiaofeng, your skin is truly thick enough. Even ‘everyone is a classmate, what hatred, what resentment,’ please, are we familiar with you? On the contrary, Great…”

Speaking up to here, Zhong Sheng switched out the form of address she was used to shouting daily, angrily questioning: “Gu Nianyin, she was in your class when school started, so where did she provoke a foul-mouthed man like you?!”

“Is it because she is more excellent than you, so you have low self-esteem?”

“Or is it because you also want to have both men and women, but no one thinks highly of you?”

Zhong Sheng and Qin Zhuo truly were masters of sarcasm. One person, one question, asking until Zhou Xiaofeng’s face turned green and red by turns.

Not knowing how long he spent holding back to organize his language, he finally delivered a line with a red face: “You—you guys don’t distort the facts, I—you, I can report this to the teacher!!”

What Lin Xi feared least was exactly this.

Her expression was calm, her tone mocking to the absolute extreme: “This classmate, last time you guys also said the same thing.”

“This time count it as me begging you, quickly go report to the teacher, okay?”

Saying this, Lin Xi put her palms together toward him, bowing to him like praying to a Buddha.

This person feared neither heaven nor earth. Praying to a Buddha was also in mockery.

The old lighting cast onto her face, and her raised eyebrows and eyes were written full of wild untamableness.

Gu Nianyin watched from the side. Not knowing from which exact second it started, she was protected behind this person’s back.

She originally should have been the center of public opinion, yet within a solar storm, she was fortunate enough to encounter a safe harbor.

In truth, the indigo blue on the blue morpho’s wings was also a kind of reflection of light.

“Fine, you wait!”

The sticky sauce began to solidify on his scalp, and the mocking gazes around him grew more and more numerous.

Zhou Xiaofeng didn’t stand in the right at all. Disregarding his brothers, he threw down his next line, turned his head, and ran.

This person named Zhou Xiaofeng was a worthless coward who couldn’t be propped onto a wall. Lin Xi waited for him for an entire afternoon, yet she didn’t wait for a teacher to come demand answers.

Instead, her heroic deeds of punishing the foul-mouthed man were publicized out by the students present at the time. The whole matter was spread with a massive bustle, known to everyone in the school, and Lin Xi became famous overnight.

Who knew whether this was a blessing or a curse.

Lin Xi thought in her heart, propping up her head as she noted down the English teacher’s explanation. The afternoon sun baked people until they were groggy and sleepy.

It was exactly at this time that Wang Tingxiu very suddenly knocked on their classroom’s back door, saying to the teacher on the podium: “Sorry Teacher Qin, let me call out our students.”

“Okay.” The English teacher nodded her head, stopping her explanation.

Wang Tingxiu subsequently indicated to Lin Xi, who wasn’t far away: “Lin Xi, come out for a moment.”

The people in the class instantly all looked toward Lin Xi, whispering to each other, probably all clear on what matter Wang Tingxiu’s trip was for.

Precisely because of this, Zhong Sheng held her hand high: “Teacher, I was also there this afternoon, I’m an eyewitness.”

Qin Zhuo also expressed: “Teacher, so am I.”

Looking at these two eyewitnesses who volunteered themselves, Wang Tingxiu also felt that bringing one such person along was better for explaining the situation, so she said: “Zhong Sheng come, Qin Zhuo you concentrate on class. I heard this time you tested dead last in English again?”

Wang Tingxiu arranged two people with a single sentence, smoothly blocking the words Qin Zhuo wanted to fight for back into her throat.

She swept a glance over the class, casting a cold look at several students who weren’t paying attention in class, and subsequently expressed politely to the English teacher: “Sorry about that, Teacher Qin please continue.”

The English teacher nodded her head, immediately picking up the paper in her hand once more.

Zhong Sheng and Lin Xi then by common consent got up, preparing to go out the door.

Yet unexpectedly, at the same time Lin Xi got up, another silhouette also appeared within her line of sight.

—Gu Nianyin also stood up along with them.

Lin Xi furrowed her brows: “What are you getting up for?”

Although she was in the right for this matter, laying hands and getting rough lay on her. In the end, it was unavoidable to be called in for a talk.

It would be fine for her to bow her head and take a harsh scolding, but Gu Nianyin couldn’t.

“It has nothing to do with you.”

Lin Xi wanted to make Gu Nianyin sit back down, pulling at her hand as she spoke.

Yet unexpectedly, the consequence of reaching her hand over was that her hand was gripped back by this person.

Gu Nianyin: “You stood up for me, how does it have nothing to do with me.”

This person’s lips were very thin. Her clean-cut words were just like her gripping Lin Xi’s hand, instantly clamping onto a relationship that couldn’t be brushed clear.

The sunlight scraped across the window edge without any extra obstruction, falling straight into Lin Xi’s pupils.

Just like the gaze she saw from Gu Nianyin at this moment, firm like never before.

Lin Xi’s heart thudded fiercely twice.

She felt she shouldn’t feel tense over this matter, yet she couldn’t find a rational reason to explain, simply flinging away Gu Nianyin’s hand that gripped her, not going to think more on idle matters.

Thus, the teacher and student duo that Wang Tingxiu originally planned became a line of four people.

From the first floor upward, this teacher talk unexpectedly didn’t go to the office, but arrived at the disciplinary office.

Lin Xi had doubts in her heart.

But at the pushed-open doorway, all questions received their explanation.

Inside the disciplinary office, only a woman with a robust frame and an exaggerated, ostentatious style of dress was seen sitting on the sofa with legs crossed.

Meanwhile, that Zhou Xiaofeng sat behind the woman, blocked by her frame, as if hidden inside her body.

—This coward stood in the wrong and didn’t dare report to the teacher, directly calling over a parent.

Lin Xi rolled her eyes over, laughing coldly in her heart.

Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother also heard the movement at the door, looking contemptuously and disdainfully at the several girls who had just entered. Facing Gu Nianyin, who was the most conspicuous of the three arrivals, she came out with: “You’re that Lin Xi, aren’t you?”

“Ha.” Lin Xi truly couldn’t hold it back, subsequently letting out a laugh.

Wang Tingxiu was also somewhat embarrassed, drawing back the hand Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother extended while saying: “Sorry Xiaofeng’s parent, this one is Gu Nianyin, she’s the girl who was rumored about by Xiaofeng.”

Hearing this, Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother instantly deflated.

The Zhou family relied on the substantial wealth their family accumulated from doing business over these years. They were filthy rich and looked down on everyone.

Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother looked up and down scrutinizing the Gu Nianyin she had mistaken, subsequently giving her a glare: “The little girl grows up looking clean and tidy, why do you do this kind of thing that can’t be brought to the table, and you don’t even find it disgusting…”

Lin Xi finally knew where Zhou Xiaofeng’s foul stench was learned from. Before his mom could finish speaking, she cut her off in a cold voice: “Your son can be brought to the table. He’s so cowardly he only knows how to hide behind people.”

“What did you say?!” Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother was enraged by Lin Xi’s words, pointing at her, repeating her old trick: “You’re Lin Xi, aren’t you?”

Only, seeing her wide-strained eyes, Lin Xi was not only not intimidated, but instead found it funny, opening her mouth to complain: “I say big sister, do you feel that as long as it’s a girl you don’t like the look of, she must be called Lin Xi?”

“You!” Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother was choked by these words, her entire face becoming unsightly.

Fearing Lin Xi would intensify the conflict, Wang Tingxiu hurriedly spoke up to remind: “Lin Xi.”

Hearing this name, the expression of Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother changed instantly.

It was as if she had finally caught it. Instantly, her entire being became righteously confident, pointing at Lin Xi as she said: “As expected it’s you, you still didn’t want to admit it, wanting to hide, are you!”

“I ask you, on what grounds did you cap rice over my son’s head? Didn’t he just say a few words, and you don’t even let people speak?! What do you want to do, school bullying, is it!”

The more this person spoke, the more excited she became, an open mouth smeared with big red lipstick constantly spraying saliva.

Lin Xi truly felt disgusted, tilting her head to dodge, her line of sight subsequently pairing with Zhou Xiaofeng, who was hiding behind his mother.

What Lin Xi looked down upon most was exactly this kind of behavior; he was a person who was almost an adult, yet he still couldn’t handle his own matters well.

Her face sank. Bypassing his mom, she directly conversed with him: “Hey, do you dare tell your mom what you said at the time that made me hit you?”

Hearing this, and even hearing the sound of Lin Xi directing a question at him, Zhou Xiaofeng instantly hid even further behind his mother.

The entire picture was exactly like a little chick and a mother hen protecting its brood. It couldn’t be called mocking, but it was just something that made people unable to bear laughing when they saw it.

“Teacher, look at you guys!” Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother instantly erupted, pointing at Lin Xi, “This student of yours, she is just this arrogant! Right in front of the teacher, right in front of the face of me, a student’s parent, publicly threatening a classmate!”

“Your son’s courage…” This person truly had too many points to complain about. Lin Xi felt she could evoke her sense of irritation even more than Lin Deyuan. Only, just as she was about to open her mouth to retort, she was immediately pulled by Wang Tingxiu.

“This parent, my student was merely asking your son about the facts normally. I do not believe she was verbally threatening your son just now.”

Wang Tingxiu’s words were highly objective and forceful. Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother had no choice but to stop holding onto Lin Xi without letting go, asking Wang Tingxiu: “Then the teacher says, how should this matter be handled.”

Wang Tingxiu: “For this matter, I feel both sides possess elements of irrational behavior…”

Before the words could finish, Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother instantly flared up: “What, my son suffered a beating, and he turns out to be the one in the wrong!?”

“This parent, it isn’t that whoever takes a beating is in the right, we still have to look at the facts and speak on evidence.” The disciplinary director came out to mediate. He turned the computer screen around, inside of which was the cafeteria surveillance just extracted and sent over by the logistics department. “The surveillance for the cafeteria I have already transferred over. Now you are also here, as well as the eyewitness students. We will together watch and supplement, investigating just what on earth is going on with the matter.”

Saying this, the disciplinary director clicked play.

The school’s surveillance was far superior to the surveillance circulating on the market. Even though the surroundings were noisy, it was hard to hide Zhou Xiaofeng’s arrogant and overbearing voice at the start. Zhong Sheng, as an eyewitness, mainly translated a certain foul word of Zhou Xiaofeng’s that wasn’t clearly pronounced.

The face of Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother gradually became unsightly, and the momentum that was aggressive just now weakened.

Zhong Sheng, on the side, was translating with great interest instead, incomparably admiring this surveillance: “What brand is this, even the sound is this clear?”

“It’s the H234 series from Qianming Technology.”

It was originally merely an exclamation, yet unexpectedly someone gave an explanation.

Gu Nianyin had a calm expression on the side, giving Zhong Sheng an answer without pause.

She looked as though she understood this thing very well, able to say even what series it was clearly.

Lin Xi watched Gu Nianyin silently, looking past her lowered long eyelashes to gaze into her pupils.

She always felt this person’s understanding of this thing exceeded the normal scope, exactly as though she had specially researched it.

But why did she want to research this thing?

Usually it couldn’t be used.

Over there, the three were still giving rise to curiosity over the surveillance monitor, while over here the disciplinary director looked toward the silent mother of Zhou Xiaofeng: “Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother, these words of Xiaofeng’s are indeed highly improper. Our school rules have clear requirements that one cannot insult classmates.”

“Where is it improper, did my son say anything wrong?”

Who could have thought that after being silent for a while, Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother still didn’t feel her child was wrong in any place.

She tightly fixed her eyes on the screen like this. Upon seeing the scene of Lin Xi capping the rice onto Zhou Xiaofeng, she instantly flared up: “Look! Look, you guys!”

“My son was sitting perfectly fine, and she capped the rice over! What kind of violent behavior is this of hers!”

This woman only had this single scene in her eyes, not caring about the causes and consequences at all, only feeling her son was pitiful, stating loosely: “Call her parents over for me! I want to look and see, just what kind of failed parents could raise this kind of uneducated thing!”

“Having a daughter like this, if I were her mom, I would smash myself dead on a wall right here today!”

The words of Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother were spoken with increasing ugliness, even elevating to Lin Xi’s parents.

Hearing the last half-sentence, Lin Xi’s fist instantly clenched tightly, retorting in a cold voice: “If I had a son like this, I would have smashed myself dead on a wall long ago!”

“What did you say?” Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother didn’t bypass this omitted personal pronoun of Lin Xi’s words, abruptly freezing for a moment.

Wang Tingxiu’s reaction was fast. Fearing Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother would react into a powerless fury, she made a move wanting to pull Lin Xi behind herself.

Yet unexpectedly, Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother reacted at this time, turning her hand over and about to lay hands on Lin Xi: “Today I will teach you a lesson on behalf of your mom!”

Neither of the two teachers present expected a student’s parent would have this kind of unstable emotion, wanting to lay hands on a student over a few words.

Instantly, it seemed no one reacted. With a fierce thud, a muffled sound was heard.

“Clatter!”

Only, as Wang Tingxiu fixed her eyes to look, she saw Lin Xi still standing in her original place.

Gu Nianyin, who originally was standing perfectly fine, had collapsed down.

Amidst the provocation, Gu Nianyin’s reaction was faster than anyone’s, leaping past her frame, protecting the Lin Xi who was about to be hit behind her back with a single move.

All around was shock. Zhong Sheng was completely stunned, and even Zhou Xiaofeng’s mother hadn’t figured it out.

—She merely wanted to scare and intimidate this little girl who didn’t know the height of the sky and the depth of the earth, not thinking to hit her at all. When her hand swung over, she had furthermore restrained her strength. How was it that Gu Nianyin fell from being lightly touched by her.

Two red beads smashed onto the ground, and at the brink of shattering, a bloody scent subsequently released within the room.

Gu Nianyin sat up single-propped on her arm. Looking at the blood beads fallen on her hand, she abruptly let out a laugh.

That split-open corner of her mouth was compressed full of a pathological gloominess, and the upward-tilted corners of her eyes leaked a seeping horror.

Clearly she was looking up at that woman in the superior position from the perspective of an underdog, yet her pitch-black pupils were filled with an oppressive weight: “I feel you should now have a proper talk with my parent.”

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