Chapter 396 : What Are You Laughing At You’re Not Off the Hook Either
“By the way, where’s Luo Xiaoyu?”
After resting for a while, Ling Ning finally realized something was missing. She looked around but didn’t see any sign of Luo Xiaoyu.
Lin Xi gave an awkward smile. “I... I don’t know.”
She had been so focused on dragging Ling Ning out of the cafeteria that she’d completely forgotten about Luo Xiaoyu, who, as far as she recalled, had still been sitting at the table in a daze.
Ling Ning nodded and pulled out her phone to call Luo Xiaoyu, but before she could dial, her phone lit up with an incoming call from her.
“Hello? Where are you guys right now?”
Luo Xiaoyu’s voice came through. Blinking, Ling Ning realized she wasn’t sure of their exact location. She turned to Lin Xi for help.
“Just tell her we’re near the flower garden.”
“Don’t bother repeating it—I heard. I’ll be there soon.”
Luo Xiaoyu said before hanging up, leaving no room for Ling Ning to respond.
Luo Xiaoyu was still reeling from the earlier incident. She hadn’t expected Lin Xi to be so bold, kissing Ling Ning in public like that. The scene had been overwhelming for her, even more shocking than what she’d witnessed in the grove earlier that day.
Her mind kept replaying the kiss, and images of Ling Ning’s enticing lips lingered in her thoughts. Suddenly, she felt the urge to... No! She shook her head violently. I’m straight! she told herself firmly. I can’t let myself be swayed by this. It was all Ling Ning’s fault for being so overwhelmingly charismatic.
The flower garden wasn’t far from Luo Xiaoyu’s current location, and she soon found the two girls crouched in a corner, admiring the blooms.
“You two sure are taking it easy,” Luo Xiaoyu remarked with a deadpan expression.
“Well, what’s done is done. There’s no point in overthinking it now. Better to stay calm and figure out what to do next.”
“Exactly!” Lin Xi chimed in.
Luo Xiaoyu raised an eyebrow. Since the two involved parties didn’t seem to care much, she saw no reason to stress over it either. Still, she had a burning question on her mind.
Letting out a long sigh, Luo Xiaoyu turned to Ling Ning. “Can I ask you something?”
“If it’s about me and her, we’re not in the kind of relationship you’re imagining. She only kissed me to make a clean break with her ex. As for what happened between her and her ex...” Ling Ning glanced at Lin Xi, who gave a nonchalant shrug, before continuing with an explanation.
After hearing the story, Luo Xiaoyu’s expression shifted to one of righteous indignation. She couldn’t believe that Makoto Itou, who looked so dignified on the surface, was actually such a scumbag. Someone like that deserved to be... wait, what was that term? “Nice boated?” Where had she even learned that phrase?
Meanwhile, Ling Ning suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. She shivered involuntarily, sensing that she’d somehow been targeted.
As the two chatted, Lin Xi, who had been idly playing with her phone, suddenly let out a loud exclamation. “Oh no! This is bad!”
Her outburst startled both Ling Ning and Luo Xiaoyu, who immediately turned to her.
“What’s got you so worked up? Don’t tell me someone took a photo of the kiss and posted it online?” Ling Ning joked.
The kiss had happened so quickly that she doubted anyone would have had time to take pictures... right? But even as she thought this, a sense of unease crept in.
“Just look for yourself,” Lin Xi said, handing her phone to Ling Ning.
On the screen was the S University forum, with a pinned post titled: “Shocking! Chinese Literature Beauty Caught Doing This in Broad Daylight!”
Ling Ning quickly skimmed the post. Her initial unease was replaced by relief. While there were plenty of photos, none of them captured her face clearly. Lin Xi, on the other hand, was easily identifiable, and no one seemed to have figured out Ling Ning’s identity yet.
Lin Xi, however, wasn’t as relieved. Though her parents wouldn’t visit the school forum, her classmates and friends definitely would. How was she supposed to face them when the semester started?
As Lin Xi agonized over the situation, her phone began to buzz incessantly with messages from her friends and classmates.
“Lin Xi, I can’t believe you’re into girls! And you didn’t even pick me? Friendship over!” texted a dormmate.
“Xi Xi, just because you broke up with Makoto doesn’t mean you should go for girls. What a waste of resources! Look at me—I’m perfect for you,” messaged a frequent co-host of hers, who happened to be a closeted gay man. He’d always been jealous of her ex, and now he was probably celebrating.
“Don’t mind what others think. I fully support you! But seriously, who’s your girlfriend? Bring her to the club sometime!” came a message from her club president.
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“Aaaah!”
Unable to take it anymore, Lin Xi shut off her phone entirely. She was too overwhelmed and decided it was better to ignore everything for now.
“Ling Ning, what should I do?” Lin Xi asked, looking utterly defeated.
“You have two options: explain the situation and set the record straight, or just embrace it and officially come out. These days, being into girls isn’t a big deal. Just make sure not to drag me into it. Thanks!”
Luo Xiaoyu smirked, thoroughly enjoying Lin Xi’s predicament. For some reason, seeing Lin Xi so flustered improved her mood significantly—so much so that she wouldn’t even mind being called “Legal Loli” three times in a row.
“No way. If I can’t fix this, I’ll take you both down with me. And you, Legal Loli over there—what are you laughing at? You’re not getting away either. We’ll all go down together!” Lin Xi declared with a manic grin.
Luo Xiaoyu blinked in surprise. She was just an innocent bystander! Why was she being dragged into this? She was straight! She didn’t want to be involved in any of this!
“Calm down! Don’t give up just yet. There’s still hope. If we wait for the buzz to die down, people might forget about it. Or we could stir up an even bigger scandal to overshadow this.”
“Bigger scandal?”
In a secluded corner of campus, Makoto Itou shivered. A foreboding sense of doom washed over him.
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Author’s Note:
Yesterday, over a dozen mosquitoes got into my mosquito net. They nearly drained me dry. I’m exhausted after spending most of the night chasing them down.