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On August 16th, at noon, Lin Yuan had lunch with Zhao Qianxue and Gu Paner.
She took advantage of the free time at noon to go back to the house and get two gifts that had been prepared long ago.
She should have sent it out yesterday, but she was not in good spirits yesterday and didn't feel like doing anything.
Zhao Qianxue was the first friend she met in this life. She was enthusiastic and cheerful, a little sunflower.
Gu Paner is Zhao Qianxue's best friend and the daughter of the Qingzhou prefect. Her elder brother is a favorite of the emperor. Although she has some temper like a spoiled brat, she is not a bad person at heart.
Lin Yuan felt that she was a spoiled little princess who needed to be coaxed and obeyed according to her wishes, but this was often the case, and Lin Yuan was even less able to coax her.
When she first arrived here, Lin Yuan went to Wuweixuan to cook to earn money and was laughed at by her classmates.
It was Gu Paner who stepped forward and responded to those who mocked Lin Yuan with the attitude of a king announcing to the world.
"Lin Yuan is my friend. Anyone who dares to mock her is against me!"
The three of them often chatted together, but strangely, when Zhao Qianxue left and only Gu Paner and Lin Yuan were left, the two of them could no longer talk.
"Maybe I'm not good at chatting, and our personalities clash. But aren't we both tolerant of each other?" Lin Yuan thought.
The sky was so stuffy that there was not a breath of wind. The trees were motionless like sculptures. Even the summer cicadas were silent. This silence was inexplicably irritating.
Under the shade of the tree, Lin Yuan gave the white magnolia pen holder and the golden crabapple pearl flower hairpin to Qianxue and Pan'er respectively.
Qianxue smiled with her eyes curved, thanked him, but felt embarrassed and insisted on going back to the house to pick out a thank-you gift. Lin Yuan couldn't persuade her, so he had to let her go.
Gu Paner waved her round fan, threw the golden crabapple pearl flower hairpin into the sachet, and then took out a silver-plated emerald flower hairpin from the sachet and gave it to Lin Yuan.
Gu Pan'er suppressed her irritability with her good manners and smiled sweetly: "Lin Yuan, does this pearl hairpin look good?"
Lin Yuan replied cautiously, "It's pretty, but... too gorgeous to suit me."
A flash of contempt flashed across Gu Pan'er's eyes, and she muttered in her heart, "You are blessed to have been given this by me, and you are still picky." But she said apologetically, "Then I will pick a better one for you next time."
Lin Yuan returned the pearl hairpin to her, "Well, thank you for your kindness, Senior Sister."
She spoke stiffly, feeling a little uncomfortable.
Gu Pan'er's smile froze, her pent-up anger boiling over. Her almond-shaped eyes widened as she shouted, "How can you return something someone gave you? Haven't you ever been educated?"
The sound was so loud and sharp that passers-by stopped to watch.
Lin Yuan was stunned for a moment. These words seemed to turn into bells and drums, ringing loudly and deafeningly, with sound waves booming from the eardrums to the top of the head.
Lin Yuan panicked: "I'm... I'm sorry, I..."
I don't understand. There's nothing to defend, but...how could Gu Pan'er say that? It's harsh, like glass scratching a mirror, piercing.
Seeing her tearful expression, Gu Paner was even more annoyed and sneered, "I only said a few words. You can't say anything when you've done something wrong? You don't understand the ways of the world, and you still have the nerve to cry?"
Lin Yuan blinked and didn't cry, so she clearly saw the undisguised disgust and contempt on Gu Paner's face, and her blood ran cold.
She just stood there silently, unable to refute and not knowing how to refute. After a while, her mind went blank. She even wondered, where am I? What is going on?
That feeling of unreality appeared again. Lin Yuan seemed to have left her body and was looking down from the sky at everything that was happening on the ground.
"Pan'er! Don't be impulsive. Lin Yuan definitely didn't do it on purpose." Zhao Qianxue rushed out of the crowd and grabbed Gu Pan'er.
Gu Pan'er ignored Zhao Qianxue's dissuasion and approached Lin Yuan, sneering, "Lin Yuan, I've had enough of you!! I've had enough of your pathetic and despicable appearance. Since you don't consider me a friend, why bother to fool me with such a piece of scrap metal! I can't stand your hypocrisy."
She threw the hairpin that Lin Yuan had given her onto Lin Yuan's clothes, and the jade handle slipped off and broke into several pieces.
Lin Yuan stared at the shattered hairpin on the ground, her lips tightly pursed, her knuckles clenched so tightly that her palms ached. She choked with sobs, "You..."
Why do you think so?
Because it's cheap? Because I've always been accommodating and tolerant?
But when I think about it, it's really hypocritical. It's not like a friend, but more like a servant trying to please his master.
Seeing this, Zhao Qianxue walked over to Lin Yuan, gently grabbed her arm, and said timidly, "Xiao Yuan, you...just apologize and comfort her. We are all friends, ah, please tolerate each other..."
Lin Yuan lowered her head and squeezed out the tears that had welled up in her eyes.
Apologize? You know what makes me apologize!
"Yes, this broken thing is used to deal with you. I hate you, Gu Pan'er." Lin Yuan interrupted Zhao Qianxue, his eyes bloodshot, and he looked at Gu Pan'er with a cold and fierce look.
Everyone around sighed. At this moment, in full view of the public, Lin Yuan was the prisoner being interrogated.
Gu Pan'er showed no surprise at all. The corners of her mouth curled up and she sneered, "Humph! You finally admitted it. You should know that a fox's tail cannot be hidden. There is more..."
She whispered in Lin Yuan's ear, like a devil's whisper: "Put away your dirty thoughts and stay away from Brother Yuan."
Lin Yuan pushed Gu Pan'er away. She grinned, but said, "Let's go our separate ways. I'm so sorry for disturbing your peace."
She looked at Zhao Qianxue again: "Senior Sister Zhao, you are on her side, right? Do you believe in her?"
Zhao Qianxue's eyes were filled with tears. She couldn't understand why everything turned out like this for them, and why they had to go on such a path of breaking off all ties.
She tried to grab Lin Yuan's hand but was dodged. "No... Lin Yuan, I believe in you too. You are my friend, and Pan'er is also my friend. I..."
Lin Yuan tried to force a laugh but failed.
So she remained expressionless, her lips drooping, her eyes shrouded in frost. She was indifferent and calm, seemingly resolute and at ease: "I understand... Don't be so embarrassed, just pretend that I'm not your friend."
How funny, because you are a friend, I can not be friends with you.
Ha ha ha ha,
Among the three of us, I am a joke, a fool who deceives himself!
No, or maybe I disturbed them.
"No, Lin Yuan, I didn't..." Zhao Qianxue staggered after being pushed by Lin Yuan.
The crowd formed a circle, marking the place where the incident happened, wrapped in salty tears and steaming heat. The weather was so hot that it was hard to breathe.
A bearded instructor came over and broke the circle, shouting, "Disperse, disperse! Go practice!"
Instructor Liu was used to seeing conflicts and frictions among his fellow disciples. Youngsters were full of vigor and often quarreled over trivial matters, which was extremely boring and useless.
"Oh, the rain is coming, and we still have to practice martial arts." Many people complained, but they had to go because of the instructor's power.
Gu Paner pulled Zhao Qianxue into the crowd. The crowd quickly dispersed, leaving only Lin Yuan, who was stunned for a long time, then came to his senses and walked in the opposite direction.
"Hey, hey, hey, the one in yellow clothes, where are you going?" Instructor Liu called Lin Yuan.
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