Chapter 73: A Year Without Them

  This time around Su Ning had thought the separation would be easier since she had already experienced it when Gu YuChen left for the UK. However, she was sadly mistaken in her thought process. In fact, she felt even lonelier and sadder this time around. The immediate days after Lin JinYan's departure, Su Ning went to school and work in a daze. She had been so forgetful and unfocused that Iher 5th grade tutee Xiao Mu had even pointed out a handful of mistakes in her lesson plan. Overall, it took Su Ning over a month before she was able to function with some sense of normalcy again. Perhaps, a part of her, a part she tries to ignore, knows that Gu YuChen and Lin JinYan have become an indispensable existence in her life.

In the weeks after Lin JinYan's departure, Su Ning busied herself with studying for the gaokao and catching up with her friends. Now that she is no longer in the same class as her buddies, Song Yu, Zhang Wei and Wang Lei, she makes an effort to hangout with them outside of the academy. Of course, this doesn't always bode well for her as the two troublemakers are often thinking of skipping classes and going on out of town trips. Su Ning has nearly gotten herself 'kidnapped' by these kids several times during the school week. According to Song Yu, they've become more fearless now that both Gu YuChen and Lin JinYan are no longer in C Country, all to Su Ning's dismay. And since she lived alone in Gu YuChen's apartment she now goes home more frequently on weekends to spend time with her parents and Old Madam Gu.

In her junior year, Su Ning chose to specialize in mathematics, a subject she previously was only average in in her past life. However, after she had been reborn as 12 year old 'Su Ning', she had made consistent efforts to truly learn the subject even going as far as taking supplementary classes i. Su Ning had become quite proficient in the subject. She also splits up her review time studying biology chemistry physics Chinese literature and English. These were all the topics she will be tested on in the science track of the gaokao. And although she is able to keep up with the lectures in the special class and consistently rank 5 in her class, she is still far from being exceptional and she is definitely not a gifted student per se. Su Ning simply worked hard for her grades and these efforts were bearing fruit. Her current special class was filled with exceptional students unsurprisingly most are on scholarship like Su Ning. At the beginning of the new school year, she was even pleasantly surprised to find that her old friend Qin Rong from Chang Yue Middle School was also in the same class. 

Ever since she enrolled in M Academy, the amount of times she was able to hang out with her friend has decreased tremendously. Most of the time, Qin Rong will only be willing to spend time with Su Ning going over lectures and homework at the library. But that had changed as of late; it appears Qin Rong has gotten somewhat comfortable with Su Ning and would even go get boba with the girl once in a while. 

As for Qing Mei, Su Ning was shocked to find out that her friend had dropped out of M Academy after their sophomore year. Su Ning made several attempts to contact her friend but all her calls and texts were left unanswered. Worried, Su Ning even dropped by Qing Mei's apartment for a visit only to find that she and Wang Mei Na had moved to another city. Truthfully,  Su Ning was saddened by the way her friendship with Qing Mei ended. A few months before the close of their sophomore year, she had begun to notice that Qing Mei had become quite standoffish towards her. It seemed that her friend didn't have much interest in anything other than Lin JinYan. And because Su Ning was not the type to force friendship on others she simply let their relationship come to its natural conclusion.

  There were also many times during the year where Lin Feng had reached out to Su Ning. However, having been spooked during their second encounter, Su Ning would purposely bring Li Youqing or Lin Miao to their appointments. There was even an instance whereby Lin Feng had arrived unannounced at M Academy with the intention of taking Su Ning to a classical music concert at E City. Luckily, Song Yu was with Su Ning at that time since she had stopped by at her friend's art class. Upon learning that Lin Feng was waiting for her at the school's entrance, she desperately pleaded with Song Yu to accompany her to E City. Ever the gentleman, Song Yu gladly agreed when he noticed how uneasy Su Ning was around Lin JinYan's older brother. Her poor friend sat through 3 hours listening to classical orchestra music to which he holds absolutely no interest. The entire time, Su Ning pretended to be unaware of Lin Feng's obvious displeasure.

After much deliberation, Su Ning finally decided to tell Lin JinYan and Gu YuChen about her experiences with Lin Feng. In fact, she had been extremely reluctant to talk to Lin JinYan about his brother since she worried that he may take offense to what she had to say. She didn't want to appear as if she was making a big deal out of nothing and further create a wedge between the two. Plus, both of her friends were currently in another continent so she didn't want to trouble them unnecessarily. 

However, the last incident at E City had completely put Su Ning on her guard. If Song Yu had not been with her at that moment  she would've been stuck alone with Lin Feng for the better part of the night. Somehow, it was also extremely difficult to reject Lin Feng; everytime she tried to do so, he would artfully make the entire conversation appear as if it was her who had done something to inconvenience him. And that to decline him now would only mean that she would owe him more later. It felt quite manipulative and passive aggressive to Su Ning. Yet she was a 17 year old living in a society like C Country which values its deeply rooted social hierarchy and she also never experienced being targeted in such a manner. So Su Ning was nearly at her wits end on how to properly resolve the situation without damaging any potential business relations with the other party. It would be extremely worrisome if Lin Feng had retaliated against Lin JinYan's budding music career.  There was also no way to ensure that she could always have her friends around to protect her. So after almost 7 months of constant pestering from Lin Feng, Su Ning video called Lin JInYan and Gu YuChen nearly in tears.

Contrary to any doubts she had anticipated, both of her good friends believed her unconditionally. "My poor little NingNing has suffered a lot. Don't worry we'll take care of this from now on," Gu YuChen said with a determined look on his face.

"H-How?" Su Ning asked, perplexed.

"You don't have to worry about the details NingNing," Lin JinYan had said to her with a gentle smile. 

"Just know Lin Feng won't be able to bother you for the time being," Gu YuChen had responded with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"But, but you two will be okay right? I would hate it if something were to happen to Lin JinYan's debut," Su Ning asked worriedly. 

"JinYan will be fine and so will I," Gu YuChen said with certainty.

"But..how could that be? The other party is Lin Feng," Su Ning asked, obviously unconvinced.

"NingNing should only worry about herself. Everything will be done discreetly," Lin JnYan's soothing tone belied the veiled threat in his words. 

"That….I don't know what that means," she replied with visible uncertainty. 'That doesn't make me feel better at all! Is this something a 19 year old would say!?' Su Ning lamented.

"NingNing, Listen to JinYan and take care of yourself. I promise we will both be alright," Gu YuChen said in a calm, quiet voice. They didn't tell Su NIng how they would deal with Lin Feng and simply allayed her fears.

"En. I trust you both. Just don't do anything dangerous alright?" she prodded.

"Mmm. Sleepwell NingNing," Gu YuChen said with a gentle smile.

"G'night NingNing. I miss you," Lin JinYan interjects, pushing Gu YuChen's face off the screen as he did so.

"En, En. I miss you both as well," Su Ning said with a lovely laugh as she waved goodbye to the screen.

In fact, what Su Ning didn't know was that Gu YuChen's subordinates had been following her during all the times she was together with Lin Feng to ensure nothing untoward happened to her. While the realization that his brother had been surreptitiously attempting to get close to Su Ning had enraged the youth and he barged into Gu YuChen's home unannounced, "I will kill that brother of mine. YuChen, can you find out what skeletons he has in his closet?" 

"Tch. I told you to keep your family in check," Gu YuChen quipped, annoyed.

"He didn't make any moves when I was there. There was no hint at all that he'd been interested in Su Ning all this while. How soon can you get the info on that bastard?" Lin JinYan answered exasperatedly.

"Should be about 4 days...a week tops," Gu YuChen responded after a quick glance on his phone. 

"We should just bring her here as soon as possible." (Lin JinYan)

"If you have any good ideas to do so, I'm all ears. We both know how independent and future-minded NingNing is. She's not someone who you can force to do something just because it suits your plans." (Gu YuChen)

"Dammit!" (Lin JinYan)

.........….. 

Though Su Ning did not expect the situation to drastically change right after their conversation,  she was thoroughly surprised to hear nothing from Lin Feng during the next couple of months. She was ecstatic and felt for the first time in a long while she could let her guard down. 

It's now early May and Su Ning has spent nearly a year without Gu YuChen and Lin JinYan. Looking forward to her upcoming gaokao in June, she made plans in her head to see her two friends in the UK  after her exams. 'I wonder if they would be happy with my surprise visit.' she wondered.