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Join the Server“Look ahead, isn’t that Gu Mianmian? I heard she acts all high and mighty, won’t even talk to anyone.”
“Exactly. The forum has exposed everything about her. I heard she was in an orphanage and hung around with thugs outside all day. Who knows what she’s done.”
Gu Mianmian stood in the food line. Two girls behind her deliberately lowered their voices to gossip.
“Yeah, that’s her. The one who works at the night market barbecue place. I heard her private life is a mess. No wonder she’s always clinging to that senior.”
The girl in the red jacket sneered, her words full of malice.
Gu Mianmian listened to the nasty words behind her. Her hands holding the tray trembled slightly.
She quickly pulled down her hood, covering most of her face, then walked out of the line without a word.
She carried her tray to a corner. The food she’d gotten was half of what she usually took.
Just then, Lin Ci happened to go to the next window to get free soup.
When she returned to the table with two bowls of soup, she saw that Gu Mianmian had taken pitifully little food.
“How can you eat so little? That’s not enough to fill you up.”
Lin Ci glanced at the tiny portion of rice and frowned.
“Senior, I’m not very hungry today.”
Gu Mianmian said quietly, head down.
Lin Ci was puzzled but didn’t ask more. She pushed the soup she’d just gotten over.
“You still need to drink some soup even if you’re not hungry. Come on, don’t waste it.”
She bent her knuckles and knocked on the table, speaking firmly.
Gu Mianmian murmured in response and picked up a spoon to sip the soup.
Over the next two days, Lin Ci noticed Gu Mianmian’s strange behavior becoming more obvious.
Her appetite dropped sharply. She would only get a few bites at the cafeteria.
She pulled her hood down extremely low, hiding her whole face inside.
She deliberately avoided crowds when walking, choosing quiet green paths.
Even for her evening shift at the library, she took a long detour.
Lin Ci saw all this and felt uneasy.
‘What’s going on?’
‘This girl is socially anxious, but…’
‘…not to this extent.’
On the third night, Gu Mianmian went to wash up.
Lin Ci sat at her desk, pulled out her phone, and opened the school forum.
She meant to take a quick look at the gossip, but several hot posts were floating on the front page.
“Exposing the Sophomore Who Pretends to Be Innocent: Gu Mianmian’s Dirty Background”
“The Night Market Barbecue Girl and Her Thug Friends”
Lin Ci clicked on the posts. The screen was full of personal attacks.
Spreading rumors about a chaotic private life, mocking her as a wild child, even saying she shamelessly clung to her.
‘What the hell.’
Lin Ci finished reading, shaking with anger. She almost smashed her phone.
‘These idiots don’t study all day.’
‘All they know is spewing crap online.’
‘Did I give them face?’
She took a deep breath and forced down her anger. Then she screenshotted and saved all the malicious posts.
Then she opened the accounts that frequently stirred things up, copied their UIDs, and saved them in her notes.
“You idiots, just you wait. If I don’t dig you out, I’ll take your surname.”
Lin Ci shoved her phone into her pocket, face pale with rage.
At ten that night, Lin Ci went to the library on time to pick up Gu Mianmian.
On the way back to the dorm, Gu Mianmian walked behind, several meters away from Lin Ci.
Lin Ci walked ahead, feeling an emptiness behind her.
She stopped and turned to look back.
“Gu Mianmian, why are you so far away? What, are you picking up gold back there?”
Lin Ci spoke irritably.
Gu Mianmian stood in the shadows, head down, clutching the hem of her clothes.
Her lips were pressed into a line. She didn’t move.
Lin Ci sighed and strode over.
“I asked you a question. Why don’t you come here?”
Gu Mianmian still didn’t look up. She said softly.
“Senior, if you walk too close to me, people will gossip about you.”
Lin Ci was stunned.
Seeing the girl’s meek, cautious expression, anger surged straight to her head.
‘Silly girl. So this is what she’s been worried about.’
‘When have I ever been afraid of that?’
Lin Ci said nothing more. She grabbed Gu Mianmian’s wrist.
She pulled her to her side.
“Whoever wants to fart can fart. I can’t hear it.”
Lin Ci’s voice was fierce.
“If you dare hide again, believe me, I’ll really beat you.”
Gu Mianmian was pulled over.
Her eyes reddened. She bit her lip, forcing back tears.
“Say it. No falling behind from now on, got it?”
Lin Ci’s eyes widened as she glared at her.
“I got it, Senior.”
Gu Mianmian answered quietly, a mix of grievance and joy in her voice.
Back at the dorm, Lin Ci pushed Gu Mianmian onto a chair.
“Sit still.”
She turned and heavily set down the takeout sweet and sour pork and egg drop soup on the table.
She broke apart chopsticks and shoved them into Gu Mianmian’s hand.
“Eat. I’m watching you. If you leave even one piece, you’re not sleeping tonight.”
Gu Mianmian stared at the food, hesitating.
Lin Ci saw her still not moving her chopsticks. She picked up a piece of meat and forced it into her rice.
“Look at you. You’ve eaten so little these past two days. If you don’t eat properly, I’ll tie you up and drag you to the cafeteria tomorrow.”
Lin Ci threatened fiercely.
“I’ll let the whole school see how Gu Mianmian from 302 begs for food in public.”
Gu Mianmian’s cheeks flushed red. She hurriedly lowered her head and shoveled rice into her mouth.
She swallowed in small bites, eating all the meat cleanly.
Lin Ci crossed her arms and watched her eat bite by bite. Only then did her expression soften.
After the meal, they continued tutoring French.
Lin Ci rested her chin on her hand, staring at the vocabulary book, muttering conjugation rules indistinctly.
“Je vais… Tu vas… Il va…”
As she recited, her voice gradually faded.
Rote memorization made her science brain crash.
‘Too hard.’
‘I can’t. I’m going to faint.’
Then Lin Ci’s eyelids grew heavy. She tilted sideways and thudded onto Gu Mianmian’s shoulder.
The moment Lin Ci leaned on her, Gu Mianmian’s whole body went stiff.
She sat on the chair holding her breath, afraid of disturbing Lin Ci.
In the blink of an eye, Lin Ci fell asleep. Her warm breath spilled onto Gu Mianmian’s neck.
A milky scent wrapped around her overwhelmingly.
Gu Mianmian greedily inhaled deeply.
She carefully turned her head, the tip of her nose touching Lin Ci’s hair.
Satisfaction filled her whole body.
‘Senior is hers.’
‘I love this so much~’
Lin Ci twitched in her sleep and woke with a start.
Realizing she was leaning on a girl’s shoulder, her pure manly soul was deeply shaken.
She scrambled up and spoke hurriedly.
“Damn, I was out of it. Did I make your shoulder numb?”
Lin Ci scratched her hair awkwardly.
“It’s fine. Senior isn’t heavy.”
Gu Mianmian shook her head, voice a little hoarse.
Her ears turned completely red, pink under the light.
Lin Ci turned away awkwardly, gathering her books in a transparent attempt to cover her embarrassment.
“Alright, that’s it for today. I’m going to sleep. I’m dead tired.”
After lights out, the dorm fell into darkness.
Lin Ci lay on her back on the top bunk, tossing and turning.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the forum posts.
A fire burned in her chest, hurting her stomach.
‘Since I said I’d protect this girl, how can I let others shit on my neck?’
“Tomorrow I’m definitely skinning those troublemakers.”
Lin Ci ground her teeth in the dark.
On the other side, Gu Mianmian lay with her eyes open.
She clutched the hair tie Lin Ci had left behind during the day.
She pulled the hair tie tightly around her wrist, her fingertip morbidly stroking the mark it left.
The next noon.
Lin Ci dragged Gu Mianmian to the second floor of the cafeteria.
She specially ordered a whole pot of braised chicken and forced extra food on her.
The two found a seat by the window.
Lin Ci had just skimmed the oil from the clay pot and was about to pick up a piece of chicken leg to put in Gu Mianmian’s bowl.
Two trays clattered onto the table opposite them. Two people sat down.
They were the girls who had gossiped in line that day.
They were completely rude, their eyes provoking Gu Mianmian.
The girl in the yellow jacket deliberately spoke very loudly.
“Oh my, why does the cafeteria smell like piss today?”
The girl beside her glanced sideways at Gu Mianmian and sneered in agreement.
“Of course. With a slut sitting nearby, how could it not stink?”
The back of Lin Ci’s hand, holding the chopsticks, bulged with veins.
‘What the hell.’
‘These suicidal idiots actually came to me.’
‘If a tiger doesn’t show its power, do they think I’m Hello Kitty?’
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