Criticizing Love - Chapter 38

Chapter 38

The light and shadows gradually slanted westward, a stray butterfly flapping its wings, leaving behind a shadow that skimmed past the outside of the window.

The sharp sound of the assembly whistle pierced through the glass, and the noisy, joyous sounds of the sports field suddenly became very distant.

She Ning’s appearance was sudden. Lin Xi’s tension was like a bowling pin being knocked over by a backhand, the clear small balls clattering and filling up her chest, rolling around chaotically inside the entire narrow space.

This was the second time Lin Xi generated this kind of feeling.

Clearly she had always been looking forward to having an opportunity to take revenge on Lin Deyuan, looking forward to the reaction of this woman when she saw herself together with her daughter.

And this event was a very good opportunity. Even if she and Gu Nianyin were not together, Gu Nianyin getting injured to protect her was capable of stimulating the other party even more than them being together.

After all, feelings spoken from the mouth could potentially be fake, but actions would not be.

That drop of blood flowing from Gu Nianyin’s forehead dripped within Lin Xi’s line of sight, fresh red and eye-piercing.

This was the price Gu Nianyin paid to protect her, the evidence that could best prove their relationship was anything but shallow.

But even so, Lin Xi still didn’t want this matter to become the knife that stabbed into Lin Deyuan.

The emotion of fear came more strongly than the last time, and also more clearly.

She was afraid of being recognized by She Ning.

She was afraid of herself and Gu Nianyin falling out because of this.

Lin Xi stood at the doorway exchanging looks with She Ning just like this, suddenly discovering that she actually cherished her bond with Gu Nianyin like never before.

But clearly when she proactively added her as a friend in the beginning, fulfilled her birthday wish, and asked her out for her birthday, it was all her single-mindedly planning how to utilize her.

Since she chose baseness, she should be righteously confident and shouldn’t hesitate.

The knife Lin Deyuan stabbed into her and Xing Xiu back then, she was going to pay it back double.

But, why.

Why did she suddenly become reluctant to part when the incident was possibly coming to light.

Indecisive.

Unable to even be a bad person with no bottom line properly.

“Hello, classmate.”

Just when Lin Xi was questioning herself in her heart, She Ning’s voice interrupted her train of thought.

This woman’s voice was just as cold as the aura she exuded, her flat voice written with estrangement.

Lin Xi returned to her senses watching the look in this person’s eyes when looking at her, suddenly realizing that she didn’t seem to know her.

To be precise, she didn’t care about Lin Deyuan, so she also wasn’t interested in his original family.

Since it was like this, why did she interpose into Lin Deyuan’s marriage.

If she had other reasons to utilize Lin Deyuan, then wouldn’t this selfish and self-benefiting behavior of hers be even more detestable than Lin Deyuan.

Lin Xi’s eyes abruptly let out a sigh of relief just now, and subsequently became sharp again.

She looked at this woman in front of her whose name she didn’t even know, giving rise to loathing in her heart, yet having to force herself to look calm, responding to the woman in a seemingly natural manner: “Hello, Auntie.”

She Ning lightly nodded her head, subsequently expressing to Lin Xi: “Niannian is hard on you to take care of. Just hand the cup to Secretary Liu. It’s not good to delay your time further, go back to class.”

After these words were spoken, the assistant beside She Ning naturally took away the cup held in Lin Xi’s hand.

Lin Xi blankly discovered that under this woman’s calm voice, she had actually issued a guest-expulsion order to her. That action of the assistant tightly following over left her with absolutely no reason to refuse.

The door was shut. As if the two sides had swapped places, Lin Xi stood outside the door, and the group of people who were standing at the doorway just now entered the sickroom.

The steps of the girl leaving trod within the long and lonely corridor, and the active students on the sports field swapped for another group of people.

Lin Xi’s class this period was math. For Cheng Jianbang’s class, she had always possessed the capital to skip class. She walked neither fast nor slow, looking all around, and she saw an exceptionally eye-catching Rolls-Royce Phantom parked in the faculty parking area not far away.

No one in this school could drive such a car.

The only possible person was vividly ready to come out in Lin Xi’s mind—Gu Nianyin’s mother.

This car was much more expensive than those cars of Lin Deyuan’s. The pure black color refused the infiltration of light, leaking a kind of cold extraction.

Lin Xi abruptly became somewhat blank. So Lin Deyuan using a Porsche Cayenne to pick up and drop off Gu Nianyin was not sycophancy, nor was it entirely partiality toward Gu Nianyin, but rather this was the absolute lowest standard of Gu Nianyin’s past life.

The silver lines protruding in the middle of this black behemoth were like chasms, straight and distant.

This was the gap between her and Gu Nianyin.

Even if she used pride to pad under her feet, she still couldn’t reach it.

Looking around the sickroom with a scrutinizing gaze for a full round, She Ning finally walked to Gu Nianyin’s hospital bed.

Gu Nianyin watched the shadow falling by her hand, calling out to She Ning: “Mom.”

“You really did give me a scare.” It didn’t count as blame. After Gu Nianyin finished calling her, there was lingering fear revealed in She Ning’s eyes.

She did not sit down on that old chair with peeling paint beside the bed, her gaze going from top to bottom.

That clip clipped onto Gu Nianyin’s head smeared a wisp of pink within the pitch black, abrupt, making one’s brows knit.

She Ning didn’t say a word, directly extending her hand and taking this thing off from Gu Nianyin’s head.

She carefully arranged the hair for Gu Nianyin according to her own aesthetics. The white gauze was eye-piercing, making her subsequently speak to Gu Nianyin again: “Told you before, when encountering any sudden situation, you must preserve yourself first.”

“She rushed over too fast, I didn’t react,” Gu Nianyin explained in a faint voice.

In truth, regarding handling this matter, Gu Nianyin had many methods, the majority of which could preserve her from receiving harm.

But these were all things she didn’t want to choose. What she wanted happened to be only this single kind.

Bleeding and leaving a scar were matters that onlookers would worry about. Gu Nianyin didn’t care.

She did feel the pain, yet she didn’t feel this kind of feeling was anything bad. The red color of blood flower bursting and spreading on the back of her hand allowed her to obtain pleasure.

Obscure and subtle, originating from a pathological state of breaking all beautiful things.

More importantly, just as She Ning told her back then, everything in the world is a transaction.

So she as always submitted the price she paid, and in exchange obtained the pity she wanted most.

It wasn’t given by She Ning.

On the contrary, she even utilized She Ning.

It was a victory.

Gu Nianyin summarized in her heart, her lowered sight falling flatly onto the bedsheet.

And when she returned to her senses again, another shadow was added by her hand.

She Ning did not have excessive harsh criticism toward Gu Nianyin, looking toward the woman who had just come over to the side, saying: “Doctor Zhou, sorry for the trouble.”

“This is my duty, Madam.” Doctor Zhou was She Ning’s accompanying doctor, saying this as she sat beside Gu Nianyin’s bed, “Miss, next I will help you re-examine the wound. It might hurt a little, but this is indispensable in order to rule out other problems.”

Gu Nianyin nodded her head, submissively watching Doctor Zhou approach.

The gauze that had just been applied just now was again re-uncovered by someone, and that opened white was tainted with the smell of medicine, carelessly set aside by someone.

Doctor Zhou’s examination was much more detailed than the school doctor’s, from checking the degree of severity of the wound to analyzing Gu Nianyin’s reactions to judge, down to the smallest detail, observing micro-extensively.

Only she didn’t pick up that piece of gauze again at the end.

The newly unpacked dressing patch was much more high-grade than the things in the school hospital. The near skin-color dressing smoothly covered the wound. Her stray hairs hung down, and if one didn’t look carefully, one couldn’t tell that there had been an injury here.

Everything handled well, Doctor Zhou packed up her tools, replying to She Ning: “Madam can rest assured, Miss doesn’t have any major problems. The only wound was handled timely, not contaminated, and there won’t be any problems after healing.”

Only then did She Ning count as truly resting her mind, nodding her head, instructing the assistant beside her: “Send Doctor Zhou back.”

The assistant looked at her nose and her heart, understanding She Ning wanted to be alone with Gu Nianyin. Pouring water well for the two, she then led Doctor Zhou away.

The autumn day was quiet, and a world without cicada cries lacked several fractions of noisy fun.

Only She Ning and Gu Nianyin were left in the room, the shadows of the mother and daughter separated by a distance.

But subsequently, after the standing shadow extended a hand, they overlapped and contacted together.

She Ning lightly stroked across Gu Nianyin’s forehead, a bit of heartache in her eyes: “It’s mom who let you suffer grievances, enduring this kind of thing in such a place.”

“However, mom won’t let you suffer grievances from people like them.”

Speaking to the turning point, She Ning paused for a moment.

There wasn’t much emotion in her eyes; gentle it wasn’t, tender it didn’t count as either, leaking a chill cold-glossily: “This family merely ran into a bit of luck for a time. Heaven doesn’t help him, it’s fine to just snap it off.”

When She Ning said these words, it was casual and brief between the lines. Her calm and unhurried manner was like playing a game.

But in reality, the industry that Zhou Xiaofeng’s family took pride in was indeed merely a small plaything to She Ning.

An enterprise that had just developed was the easiest to become extinguished.

Because of being unsatisfied with previous profits, the desire expanded up, and it was very easy to be eaten to death by others.

The business world was just like this, nothing more than a game of big fish eating small fish.

And this was also what Gu Nianyin calculated well from the very beginning.

“Regarding those rumors about you in the school, what are your thoughts?” Speaking of what happened just now, She Ning thought of the cause of the whole matter, asking Gu Nianyin about the source of the matter.

“Already killed the chicken to warn the monkey.” Gu Nianyin’s answer was simple.

But she knew She Ning would not let it drop out of sight like this.

Sure enough, She Ning opened her mouth to say: “Since you don’t have thoughts yet, mom will handle it for you.”

“All posts regarding your sexual orientation will disappear. That student surnamed Zhou as the source of the event, I feel is also unsuitable to stay long in the school anymore.”

Arranging these casually and briefly, She Ning again analyzed the pros and cons for Gu Nianyin: “Niannian, this kind of rumor is highly disadvantageous to you. If it gets known by those few individuals in Zhucheng, it will inevitably be another storm.”

“Don’t let mom worry about you, do you understand?” As She Ning spoke, she gripped Gu Nianyin’s hand.

The woman’s hand carried a mild warmth, yet the cold ring was somewhat digging.

She placed her thin knuckles close onto the girl’s delicate skin just like this, it being highly clear with only a slight tightening.

This was consolation, and also a warning.

The people over on the Zhucheng side hadn’t expressed their stance yet, but she had already demonstrated her attitude clearly to Gu Nianyin.

She didn’t believe, nor did she allow, Gu Nianyin to be a homosexual.

That probing tentacle was forcefully snapped, the failure intense like a blood burst.

Gu Nianyin was expressionless, not having the submissiveness of nodding her head, but instead saying to She Ning: “Mom took trouble.”

“If it can obtain a better future for you, taking trouble is also worth it,” She Ning said, a bit of entanglement in her eyes, “Mom originally thought just like you told me back then, although the teaching environment in Nancheng is not as good as Zhucheng, at least it is safe. But looking at it now, don’t know if mom heard your suggestion wrong back then.”

Perceiving She Ning’s wavering, Gu Nianyin’s lowered gaze paused for a fraction, subsequently saying: “It’s merely a bit of matter internal to the school. There are this kind of people everywhere.”

“That is also true.” She Ning nodded, her evaluation of this school also not being entirely without merit, “Although today I am indeed quite unsatisfied with your school, your homeroom teacher is not bad. Handing you to her, I can count as reassured.”

Gu Nianyin thought of Wang Tingxiu who had been protecting Lin Xi just now, also nodding her head in approval: “She is a very good teacher.”

Speaking up to here, She Ning thought of something else again, raising her head to look at Gu Nianyin, questioning in her eyes: “Only Niannian, just now your homeroom teacher and I went to your classroom to look. Is your position currently in the last row of the classroom?”

Gu Nianyin was steady through the change instead: “Yes, the back row is more convenient for me to do my own things.”

This reason She Ning understood and was satisfied with, nodding her head in approval: “This is indeed not wrong. The teaching method here is still the old set from over ten years ago. It is indeed unsuitable for you.”

Speaking up to here, She Ning let out another sigh: “Hard on you, Niannian.”

As she spoke, her hand again re-rubbed onto Gu Nianyin’s head, considerately comforting her: “Endure it for a bit first. After the college entrance examination next year, mom will arrange for you to go abroad. The subsequent environment will be much better than now.”

“Not hard,” Gu Nianyin responded in a faint voice, bypassing She Ning’s last sentence of consolation that measured others by herself.

The sun fell another few degrees toward the horizon. Within the sunlight, She Ning’s gaze deeply fixed on Gu Nianyin.

She didn’t say anything more to Gu Nianyin, and Gu Nianyin was also as always not the party who would proactively open a topic; all around was quiet.

The girl’s exquisite face skimmed past the dry and thin fingers, the fingertips parting her scattered hair.

That invisible bandage covering the wound was also hidden by her long hair, only revealing a pair of clear eyes, just like a gift from the Creator.

She Ning’s line of sight paused in front of Gu Nianyin’s eyes for a good while, slowly curving up an arc.

Only it wasn’t like love. It was more like admiring the most outstanding work of art in her life.

Seemingly this was the most heartwarming time between them.

Watching for a while, She Ning then satisfiedly drew back her own line of sight, saying to Gu Nianyin: “Alright, mom cannot stay here too long, still have to go back.”

“The project interfacing over on your little uncle’s side had a bit of problem yesterday, it might be somewhat tricky. Mom needs to go back to Zhucheng in a bit. Going back this time, it’s estimated I won’t come back before the new year. You yourself are here, you must master the degree well, understand?”

Hearing these words, Gu Nianyin abruptly let out a sigh of relief.

Her head-nodding was entirely within the range of the arc She Ning required, responding: “I understand, mom rest assured.”

“Good child.” She Ning smiled and touched Gu Nianyin’s face, “Although mom won’t come back for a long period of time, I will also be looking at you within the surveillance.”

A gust of wind suddenly blew outside the house, blowing the withered branches into a chaotic shake.

Even the sun was covered by more than half by the pushed-over clouds, the brightness masked with a layer of dense moisture. It was the cold extraction of dark tones.

After She Ning finished saying these words, she then prepared to get up and leave.

Gu Nianyin followed behind her to send her off, the two walking in parallel, yet also having a seemingly non-existent distance.

The sun tried its best to chase the whole way, yet in the end it still couldn’t connect their two shadows for a single second.

The mother didn’t look like a mother, and the daughter didn’t look like a daughter either.

And all of this was seen clearly by the girl standing at the third-floor corridor link.

Sending She Ning to sit into the car, Gu Nianyin waved her hand to her politely and with measure: “Goodbye, mom.”

She Ning also replied with a smile in satisfaction: “Goodbye, Niannian.”

The next second the car drove out of the parking area, Gu Nianyin’s straight shoulders and neck had a moment of slackening.

Expressionlessly, she watched that Rolls-Royce leave, without a half-fraction of reluctance in her eyebrows and eyes.

Waiting until she left the range visible to She Ning, Gu Nianyin turned around without a half-fraction of hesitation.

Yet she also stopped very abruptly.

The sun happened to hang at the absolute top of the teaching building, the rich gold splashing and filling up the corridor link loosely and widely.

The angle Gu Nianyin stood at was just right. As soon as she turned her head, she saw Lin Xi, who was currently looking at her on the corridor link.

The wind blew willfully, lifting the girl’s tied-up long hair into motion in the air.

This person stood casually, the long pants of the sports school uniform not fearing being lifted by the wind, leaning languidly and lazily, even within her hair strands leaking freedom and wild growth.

This person seemed to care about that pitch-black car even more than herself, raising her head and gazing from afar for a good while before drawing back her own line of sight—

Carelessly, their eyes locked together.

Lin Xi subconsciously wanted to turn around and leave, but just like that first time she locked eyes with Gu Nianyin, the girl’s long eyes burst into her line of sight without any warning, calm and deep, making people unable to move away.

Within the girl’s quiet line of sight, a kind of sense of admitting defeat was added. She looked at the Gu Nianyin who was only a tiny spot below just like this, the noisy sound of the classroom transmitting to her ears…

“Speaking of which, the Great Deity with a flash of her body blocked the attack of the foul-mouthed man’s damn mother.”

Just as Lin Xi returned to the classroom, she heard Zhong Sheng excitedly telling stories to everyone.

This fellow as the only person in the class who witnessed the entire process set up a full stance, speaking along with gesturing, exceptionally invested: “You guys don’t know, that foul-mouthed mother really, one person has two of my widths, I feel if I went over I would have to be fanned out by her! The strength was too massive!”

“So the Great Deity protected Lin Xi, but she herself was pushed to the ground, and blood streamed down right away!”

Speaking up to here, Zhong Sheng instantly revealed an expression of sadness, and the people in the class also subsequently grew tense, one after another emitting indignant follow-up questions: “And then, and then?”, “Great Deity is fine, right!”, “Damn, this is too much bullying, right! What kind of parent! Great Deity didn’t suffer grievances, right!”…

Zhong Sheng opened her hands, indicating for everyone not to be anxious: “Rest assured, your Great Deity doesn’t have a major problem, the wound is very small.”

This person possessed extremely good potential as an entertainment gossip reporter, having paved sufficient suspense in front. Watching everyone grow tense, she then said: “And Great Deity’s expression didn’t collapse in the absolute slightest. She was just still the same as usual, even colder. Just like, just like that Siberian Plateau, it was quite terrifying!”

“She just, just exposed her own wound, expressionless, saying to the foul-mouthed man’s mother: ‘I think you should now have a proper talk with my parent’.”

Zhong Sheng recalled and imitated Gu Nianyin’s tone, speaking until she even grew to worship her: “That kind of keeping calm in a crisis, wow damn, it really was too handsome!”

“Wow, so handsome.”

“Why does it feel like the battle-damaged Great Deity is even more awesome.”

“Really want to go see the scene.”

“Do you think we can go steal the surveillance from the disciplinary office?”

Perhaps because this person’s storytelling really was very authentic, many people in the class listened with investment, attracted by the Gu Nianyin of that time relying merely on verbal description.

Lin Xi listened to Zhong Sheng’s exaggerated description, only feeling this person somewhat broke Gu Nianyin’s image, straight up parting the crowd and sitting back into her own position.

Seeing the party concerned arrive, Zhong Sheng instantly rolled up the book beside her hand to make a microphone, poking it right in front of Lin Xi all at once: “A-Xi, let’s interview a bit, how was the mood being protected by the Great Deity? Was there any little deer crashing wildly?”

This person’s expression was mocking, clear that the gossip had come.

Lin Xi paused for a moment, and then retorted back in a bad mood: “Crash your grandpa.”

“What, towards yourself not becoming the female hero to save the beauty, you feel displeased?” Zhong Sheng probed, leaning half a head toward Lin Xi.

Lin Xi was speechless, giving Zhong Sheng a roll of her eyes, the displeasure obvious.

“There’s no way around that either; the Great Deity indeed was very dashing at the time.” Zhong Sheng patted Lin Xi’s shoulder, comforting, “No matter, when you capped that grandson’s rice, you were also very dashing! You two, now count as a draw.”

“Draw your head.”

Lin Xi was even more irritable, immediately pulling over the jacket she wore this morning to pillow on her head, announcing to Zhong Sheng: “I’m sleepy, go tell stories somewhere else.”

In truth, regarding Zhong Sheng’s version of the story of Gu Nianyin as a female hero saving the beauty, Lin Xi indeed admitted it was very attractive, and her dissatisfaction also didn’t originate from herself becoming the party that was saved.

She was purely because this person Zhong Sheng was huffing and puffing, completely contrary to Gu Nianyin’s image, yet was imitating her.

At this time, Lin Xi didn’t know yet that there was a word in the fan circle called “defilement,” only feeling highly annoyed in her heart hearing Zhong Sheng’s imitation.

And her heart was also very messy.

Just now Zhong Sheng asked her, when seeing Gu Nianyin bleed to protect her, did she have a little deer crashing wildly.

She thought if the accelerated heartbeat generated by an adrenaline surge and the emotion of wanting to hit people could count, then she indeed had a little deer crashing wildly.

To be more accurate, it should be a stag crashing fiercely.

She was the party that was supposed to fish the person.

How could it be that before the person was fished, she paid herself into it first.

What a joke.

But in reality, that instant she saw Gu Nianyin bleed, even if only a thousandth of a second.

She also ached.

Everything happened rapidly, too late to react, yet the girl’s icy hand clearly skimmed past Lin Xi’s wrist.

The electric current abruptly pierced through her highly concentrated nerves, the excessive shocks bringing along her heart to shiver rustlingly, the blood abruptly rushing up to the top of her head.

It was anger.

It was an accelerated heartbeat.

Could it be that this also counted as a kind of suspension bridge effect?

“A-Xi.”

Lin Xi couldn’t figure it out, simply escaping self-study to come out.

And Gu Nianyin’s flat voice transmitted over from the stairwell opening, drawing her out from her memories and thoughts.

Lin Xi abruptly returned to her senses, watching the Gu Nianyin who had already come up, asking: “Your mom left just now.”

“Mm.” Gu Nianyin nodded her head.

The wind blew over from afar, blowing Gu Nianyin’s long hair that had been arranged obediently by She Ning into a flying dance.

She was different from Lin Xi, her body still wearing the summer version school uniform, the wind blowing her skirt hem to flutter, light and airy just like a butterfly staying at the railing.

Thinking up to here, Lin Xi thought of that blue morpho butterfly that was smashed to pieces in the courtyard at dusk.

That invisible chasm was reminded once more, the girl’s gaze slightly lowering, subsequently asking Gu Nianyin: “Did she question and rebuke you?”

“No, you don’t worry too much about me.” Gu Nianyin’s tone was relaxed, carrying a bit of a smile in her eyes when looking at Lin Xi.

Lin Xi froze for a moment, subsequently refusing to admit it: “Where do I have!”

“Mm, you don’t.” The wind blew for another burst, blowing this line of Gu Nianyin’s as though she were perfunctory.

She raised her hand like this to lightly gather up her disheveled long hair, subsequently within the chilly autumn wind, extending her hand and grabbing across Lin Xi’s wrist: “The wind is rising, let’s go back to class.”

The girl’s sleeve rubbed across Lin Xi’s fingers, minutely bringing along a light friction.

Her expression was flat, her tone natural as though she were saying: Let’s go home.