Chapter 109: Isn't this my love rival?

Xia Xi's fever-addled mind suddenly cleared; she widened her eyes, brought the hand behind her back forward, extended her index finger, bent it inward, and pointed at her own face.

Every subtle expression and body movement revealed her disbelief.

"I, disrupting school order, corrupting school morals?" Xia Xi repeated Professor Li Zongyu's words in a hoarse voice, word by word, and questioned it: "What did I do, Professor Li?"

Could there be a mistake?

Since enrolling, whether in major or elective courses, she has excelled in every class, never skipped a class, never taken leave, strictly obeyed school rules, and actively participated in all school-organized activities.

To say she disrupts school order and corrupts school morals—isn't that absurd?

I heard you're pursuing Xu Yanfeng from our department?

As soon as Li Zongyu spoke, the grievance on Xia Xi's face froze, and she let out an abrupt, humorless laugh.

She didn't understand—how is chasing a boy considered disrupting order, and who is she hindering?

Li Zongyu tapped his finger on the table, signaling her to be serious and not laugh: "You caused such a commotion; I heard half the school's students came to watch last night, and you even got people to turn on the fountain in the square—isn't that nonsense?"

Xia Xi put on a look of grievance again and softly corrected: "It's not that exaggerated."

"What I said isn't wrong, is it?"

"There weren't half the school's students watching; it was less than a third."

"..."

Li Zongyu was so angry his moustache bristled—was the point of his comment the number of onlookers?

Xia Xi explained another point: "When the school builds a fountain, it should be put to use; otherwise it becomes mere decoration. Isn't the original purpose of architectural design for people to use it? Artistic appreciation comes second."

"You're still being stubborn?"

Once Xia Xi understood the content of the report, she had a counter-strategy, and she reasoned with the professor: "In high school, we accepted that early romance isn't allowed, focusing on studies, with the college entrance exam weighing on us, we dared not slip. How come in university they still manage students' love lives? We've already got one foot in society."

Li Zongyu was almost convinced by her, steadied his resolve, and then said: "It's not about stopping you from dating, but asking you to keep a low profile and mind the impact. Do you know how widely this has spread? Nan Da is a century-old prestigious school; previously, the news that went out was about academic research achieving new breakthroughs, not this kind of news!"

"Then we should catch the people spreading it." Xia Xi joked, but seeing Professor Li Zongyu's eyebrows about to rise, she quickly changed her attitude, meekly lowered her head and admitted fault: "Okay, don't be angry, I was just talking nonsense. I know I was wrong; it won't happen again. Tell me how you want to punish me—write a self-criticism? Read it aloud at the broadcast station?"

Li Zongyu gave her a sideways glance, lifted his thermos, took a sip: "It's not that serious; I've already suppressed the matter—just be careful yourself from now on."

Xia Xi said sincerely: "Thank you, teacher."

Li Zongyu looked at her; he was turning a blind eye out of reluctance to waste talent.

This girl before him has talent and a sharp mind; whether it's a floor plan or elevation, she draws clean, neat, and beautiful. Other students in the same class hand in assignments full of scribbles, erasing and redrawing, leaving the paper covered in correction marks that hurt the eyes. Xi Xi is different—no matter how complex the architectural drawing, she handles it with ease.

"Alright, go eat." Li Zongyu waved the back of his hand twice: "Remember to take your medicine."

Xia Xi didn't move her feet, lowered her gaze to stare at the anonymous complaint letter on the table, and boldly pleaded: "Professor Li, may I take a look at this letter?"

Li Zongyu opened the drawer, about to file the letter away, paused at her words: "What do you want to do?"

"Nothing, I just want to glance at it."

"Go ahead, go ahead." Li Zongyu handed her the envelope.

After thanking him, Xia Xi opened the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

The complaint letter detailed her actions this semester in pursuing Xu Yanfeng, emphasizing the confession ceremony she caused a disturbance with last night at Nan Guangchang Square. It angrily accused her of abusing authority, privately opening the school fountain that only large-scale events can activate, drawing a large crowd of onlookers, spreading too widely, damaging Nan Da's reputation, constituting disorderly conduct and corrupting academic atmosphere, and demanded she be punished.

Xia Xi quickly finished reading, folded the letter back into the envelope, handed it to Li Zongyu with both hands, and murmured: "This is the phrase 'a graceful gentleman, a lovely lady is his match.'"

Li Zongyu blinked: "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, Xu Yanfeng is a gentleman; many ladies want to pursue him, I've been made a target and attacked by other ladies." Xia Xi said helplessly: "If you look closely, the letter portrays Xu Yanfeng as the victim of my harassment, paints me as an utterly wicked woman, and waves the banner of protecting Nan Da's reputation—it's all self-righteous. In short, isn't this just my love rival? To stop me from continuing to pursue Xu Yanfeng, the informant went to great lengths."

Li Zongyu's mouth twitched.

"A graceful gentleman, a lovely lady is his match"—I can't believe she could say that with a straight face.

Professor Li, laughing and crying, pointed at Xia Xi: "Your taste is indeed good." He had picked out the most excellent one to like.

Stepping out of Professor Li's office, a cool breeze hit her, her clear mind began to fog again, her body grew hotter, a fire burned from inside out, scorching her throat to dryness, itchiness, and pain.

This situation required a visit to the infirmary to see a doctor; otherwise, another gust could knock her over.

Xia Xi hesitated—should she go to the infirmary first or the cafeteria to fill her stomach? After weighing it, she found the infirmary was closer from here, so she chose that.

The nurse brought a thermometer for Xia Xi to measure her temperature; after a few minutes, the reading showed 39°C, and the doctor suggested an IV drip to reduce the fever quickly.

Xia Xi refused; rather than sitting here for an IV, she preferred to take some medicine and rest lying down in the dorm.

The doctor prescribed her fever-reducing medicine, plus some anti-inflammatory and cough medicine, while recording it in her medical record and telling her: "If the fever hasn't gone down by tomorrow, you'll need to come for an IV."

"Okay, thank you, doctor."

As Xia Xi got up to leave, her head felt heavy and her feet light; each step felt like walking on cotton, light and insubstantial, so even if she bumped into someone she hardly reacted—mainly because she had no strength.

She left a muttered "sorry," didn't bother to look at who she had bumped into, and walked straight away.

Her phone rang inside her bag; Xia Xi slightly turned her body, opened the strap, and pulled out the phone.

Wu Qinglu's call came through; after answering, a noisy sound came from the other side, likely still in the cafeteria: "Xi Xi, are you done? We've finished eating—shall we pack you a meal to take back to the dorm?"

"Perfect, I don't want to go to the cafeteria; you guys bring it for me. Thanks."

"What for?" Wu Qinglu asked her, "What do you want to eat?"

"Dragon beard noodles, please cook them soft."

"Sure." Wu Qinglu was about to hang up, then thought of something and said, "Hey, did you go to the infirmary?"

"I have, just got my medicine out."

"Good, good."

After the call ended, Xia Xi gripped her phone and walked toward the dorm with uneven steps in the cold wind.

Behind Xia Xi, the person she had bumped into was Yu Tingbo, who was secretly calling Chen Mian: "Xu Yanfeng is truly tormented—junior Xia Xi caught a chill last night and came down with a bad cold; I ran into her at the infirmary while picking up iodine solution, holding a big bag of cold medicine. What a lively girl she used to be; now she's as frail as Lin Daiyu—I'm really afraid she'll collapse on the road."

In Sushe 503, Chen Mian held his phone to his ear, having said he wouldn't meddle in Xu Yanfeng's affairs, but words must be kept; he deliberately shouted: "What's the use of you calling me to say all this? Junior Xia Xi's severe cold isn't because of me—go tell Xu Yanfeng. What? You say she's about to faint? She doesn't even have anyone to keep her company? That's too pitiful!"

Chen Mian spoke while glancing sideways at Xu Yanfeng, only to see the neutral-tip pen he had been turning drop onto the desk.

With a "slap," it overlapped with the sound of a withered branch outside the window snapping in the wind.