Chapter 16: Seventy Points

Zhou Yan’an sat across from her, smiling.

Lin Ci came back to her senses and looked at him. She had already taken this tired routine apart in her head eight hundred times.

Back when she lived in the boys’ dorm, she had heard those guys cook up plenty of schemes, all to get a girl’s WeChat with some supposedly proper excuse.

“Senior Lin Ci, I heard you’ve been troubled by the forum posts lately.”

Zhou Yan’an pushed up his glasses.

“The Student Council can contact the moderators and help you delete those candid photos that invaded your privacy.”

Lin Ci didn’t even lift her eyelids.

This kind of move, using official business as an excuse to get close, she had watched her roommates wear it out back in freshman year.

“No need to trouble yourself.”

Lin Ci split apart the disposable chopsticks and picked up a rib.

“If you’re so free, Junior Zhou, why not inspect the cafeteria hygiene? This rib is too dry. It hurts my teeth to chew.”

The smile on Zhou Yan’an’s face froze.

He hadn’t expected Lin Ci to call him junior directly. With one sentence, she broke the equal footing he had tried to force.

But Zhou Yan’an quickly recovered his poise.

“You’re right, Senior. The cafeteria hygiene really does need fixing.”

He stood up and picked up his tray.

“Then I won’t interrupt your meal. Contact me anytime if you need anything.”

Lin Ci watched him walk away and rolled her eyes inwardly.

‘Seventy points.’

‘He advances and retreats well, doesn’t cling, and knows to leave a hook.’

‘Too bad. She isn’t interested in men at all right now.’

After Zhou Yan’an left, Lin Ci turned to look at Gu Mianmian.

Gu Mianmian had kept her head down the whole time. Her chopsticks drew circles in the noodle soup. She hadn’t touched a single noodle in her bowl.

“Why aren’t you eating? It’ll clump up if it gets cold.”

Lin Ci urged.

Gu Mianmian didn’t speak.

Lin Ci noticed her left hand was hidden under the table. Her shoulder line was pulled tight.

Something felt off. She reached over and tugged Gu Mianmian’s sleeve.

“What’s wrong with your hand? Let me see it.”

Gu Mianmian quickly tucked it deeper into her sleeve.

But Lin Ci still saw it.

At the edge of her left index finger, a bead of blood was welling up.

A small piece of skin had been torn open, red and stinging to look at.

She had been sitting under the table, using her nails to tear at the dead skin on her finger.

“I scraped it by accident.”

Gu Mianmian said quietly. There was no extra emotion in her voice.

“Is your hand made of paper?”

Lin Ci’s temper flared.

She grabbed Gu Mianmian’s hand, pulled a tissue from her pocket, and pressed it roughly onto the wound.

“You can even make yourself bleed while eating. I can’t believe you. Hurry up and eat. What are you spacing out for?”

Gu Mianmian looked at the wrist Lin Ci was holding. She didn’t struggle.

The tissue was a little rough, but it felt warm against the wound.

Lin Ci’s fingers were warm, and the milky scent from her body drifted into Gu Mianmian’s nose.

Gu Mianmian breathed in greedily. Suddenly, the wound on her finger didn’t hurt at all.

“Senior, you’re so good.”

She murmured softly.

“Good my foot. Hurry up and eat.”

Lin Ci glared at her irritably.

Back at the dorm, Lin Ci took a shower.

When she came out of the bathroom, she had on a camisole nightgown.

She stood in front of the mirror, shoulders exposed and collarbones deep. The graceful lines were ridiculous, even to her.

She looked at the beauty in the mirror and let out a heavy sigh.

“These two heavy mounds on my chest drag me down every day. I really don’t know how those girls survive it.”

She resignedly reached up and cupped them.

The soft, warm touch struck the soul of the tough man inside her again.

She quickly let go and glanced around guiltily.

Luckily, Gu Mianmian was still on the balcony doing laundry.

Lin Ci tugged at the hem of the nightgown to cover her thighs.

But the nightgown was too short. The slightest movement made it ride up.

She walked back to the bed and sprawled out.

‘Being a man is so much better. One pair of baggy shorts and you can go anywhere. Now I even have to worry about flashing someone while sleeping in the dorm.’

She grabbed the blanket in frustration and wrapped herself up tight.

By evening, what Lin Ci had been worried about happened.

A screenshot of a Student Council internal group chat spread through the class groups.

In the screenshot, Zhou Yan’an had written: Senior Lin Ci’s personality is a bit cold, but the colder she is, the more interesting it gets. Take it slow.

People on the forum immediately started egging him on.

“Vice President has openly declared war. Everyone, scatter.”

“A cold, gorgeous senior and a Student Council elite. I ship this CP first.”

Lin Ci looked at the comments and felt disgusted.

‘Ship your ghost. My sexual orientation is perfectly normal.’

She threw her phone on the desk and paced around the dorm irritably.

Because she walked fast, the weight on her chest swayed hard.

Lin Ci had to stop and tug at her bra strap.

It was so tight she couldn’t breathe, but she didn’t dare take it off. Walking without it would be worse.

Gu Mianmian sat nearby, holding a fruit knife and peeling an apple.

Her eyes were hidden behind her bangs. Her expression was unreadable.

The apple peel lengthened under the blade.

Lin Ci walked over, about to complain about the group chat screenshot, when she saw Gu Mianmian’s blade suddenly slip.

The tip cut a line across the pad of her index finger.

Blood immediately welled up and dripped onto the apple flesh.

Gu Mianmian didn’t seem to feel pain. She stared fixedly at the wound on her fingertip. A dark look surfaced in her eyes.

“What are you doing? Why are you spacing out?”

Lin Ci’s scalp tightened. She grabbed the knife away.

“You can even get hurt peeling an apple. Were you born with two left hands?”

She tossed the knife onto the desk with a clatter and grabbed Gu Mianmian’s hand.

“Go rinse it in the bathroom and put on a band-aid.”

Lin Ci ordered irritably.

Gu Mianmian stood up and obeyed.

Lin Ci sighed and picked up the half-peeled apple.

She cut off the bloodstained part, gnawed the remaining peel off roughly, and sliced it into small pieces on a plate.

Gu Mianmian came out with a band-aid on her finger and stood quietly by the desk.

“What are you looking at? Eat.”

Lin Ci pushed the plate over.

Gu Mianmian picked up a piece of apple with her uninjured hand and put it in her mouth.

This was an apple Senior had peeled for her. It was delicious. It belonged only to her.

After lights out, Lin Ci lay in bed, chest tight.

She had just opened WeChat when she saw the counselor’s pinned notice in the class group.

The Foreign Languages Department Youth League Committee required every dorm to put on a performance for the autumn welcome party. Otherwise, the whole dorm would lose five points on their comprehensive quality assessment.

Right after, her phone buzzed.

It was an invitation from the Student Council.

They respectfully requested Lin Ci to serve as a performance guest for the Foreign Languages Department.

The signature at the bottom right was Zhou Yan’an.

Lin Ci stared at those three characters, so angry she wanted to crawl through the internet and hit him.

This guy really was a ghost that wouldn’t leave.

She tossed and turned in bed for half an hour without sleeping.

“Mianmian, are you asleep?”

Lin Ci asked in a low voice.

“Not asleep, Senior. What’s wrong?”

Gu Mianmian’s voice came from the opposite bed.

“Tell me, can I fake sick and skip this crappy party?”

Lin Ci’s head was pounding.

“Fake what?”

Lin Ci’s brain short-circuited and the words slipped out.

“I’ll fake menstrual cramps.”

No one spoke in the dark.

Lin Ci wanted to slap herself.

‘What the hell, menstrual cramps.’

‘I’m a proud, iron-blooded man, and I just said those two words so smoothly.’

Across the room, Gu Mianmian was silent for a long time.

“If Senior has to go, I’ll sign up as your personal support.”

Gu Mianmian’s voice was serious, stubborn.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Ability Inside

AngstBLFriendsToLovers

Read Now →
Not interested