kingnovel Chapter 1243 Yun Rui's Devotion: Teacher-Student Love
Chapter 1243 Yun Rui's Devotion: Teacher-Student Love
It was still the late autumn on the Hunan University campus, with ginkgo leaves swirling in the wind. The whispers from some classroom were like spider webs covered with morning dew, quietly entangling passers-by.
"Have you heard? Lin Xu, the sophomore in the Materials Department, is pursuing our Professor Gu!"
"Is this true? Teacher-student romance is a taboo in our school!"
At first, these words were just topics of conversation during breaks, but they continued to echo in the cafeteria windows, library corners, and laboratory corridors.
Someone took a photo of Lin Xu waiting for Gu Yunxi at the laboratory door. The blurry figure was accompanied by the text "Infatuated junior waiting for goddess professor" and it went viral on the campus forum.
What's worse, they dug out the experimental data that Lin Xu compiled for Gu Yunxi and exaggeratedly described it as "proof of love."
Lin Xu heard these rumors when he was helping his classmates debug instruments.
The wrench fell to the ground with a clang, and his face instantly turned red: "What nonsense are you talking about! Teacher Gu and I just have a normal teacher-student relationship!"
The response was met with malicious laughter: "Stop pretending, the whole school knows you invited her to dinner!"
Rage surged up like a tide, and Lin Xu rushed into the dormitory where the rumors were spread the most. When he opened the door, several boys were gathered in front of the computer to browse the forum, and the screen was full of hot posts about him and Gu Yunxi.
"Delete these things immediately!" His voice trembled with excitement.
"Oh, are you angry because you were accused of something?" The leading boy glanced at him and said, "If you have the guts, let Professor Gu clarify it himself!"
The quarrel alarmed the dormitory manager, and the matter was brought to the attention of the counselor.
The gossip that was originally based on hearsay became more real because of this conflict. The version of "Lin Xu had an argument with his classmates to protect his lover" began to spread on campus, and even the senior students in the laboratory looked at him with a more meaningful look.
Gu Yunxi learned the news during his break from lesson preparation.
The office suddenly became quiet, and her heart tightened as her colleagues seemed to be hesitant to speak.
The phone screen lit up, and the screen was full of unread messages about rumors about her and Lin Xu.
The microwave in the tea room made a "ding" sound, startling her and causing her hand to tremble. The coffee spilled all over the lesson plan, leaving a dark mark.
The interview with the school leaders came very quickly.
The air conditioner in the conference room made a slight hum, and the sunlight filtered through the blinds, cutting out alternating light and dark stripes on Gu Yunxi's face.
The dean pushed up his glasses and said in a serious tone: "Professor Gu, although you are a well-known scholar, the school has always attached great importance to the relationship between teachers and students..."
Outside the corridor, Lin Xu came running like mad.
His white shirt was soaked with sweat and the ends of his hair were stained with laboratory reagent powder.
Seeing Gu Yunxi and the school leader walking out of the office side by side from afar, he suddenly stopped. In the narrow corridor, the four people facing each other cast long shadows in the afternoon sun, and the air seemed to freeze.
Gu Yunxi was the first to break the silence. Her voice was calm and clear: "Director, this is Lin Xu, who we just talked about is very talented in catalytic material research."
Lin Xu bowed stiffly and greeted him. His throat seemed to be blocked by a rubber tube used in experiments. It took him a long time to squeeze out a sentence: "Hello, teacher."
His eyes swept over Gu Yunxi's white knuckles, and he suddenly realized how much trouble his impulsiveness had caused her.
The school leader looked at the two of them meaningfully, adjusted his glasses, and patted Lin Xu on the shoulder: "Young people, it's good to be enthusiastic, but you also have to know when to stop."
This sentence was light, but it hit Lin Xu's heart like a huge rock. He looked at the leader's back as he left, and finally understood the warning hidden in his eyes.
Gu Yunxi turned and left, the sound of her high heels hitting the ground crisp and rapid.
Lin Xu hurriedly followed, explaining: "Professor Gu, I really didn't know things would turn out like this..."
"That's enough." Gu Yunxi suddenly stopped, and when he turned around, his windbreaker blew up a gust of wind. "Do you think this is just a matter between you and me?"
Her voice was low, but it was chilling.
"In the adult world, every action has a price."
The afterglow of the setting sun poured in through the windows in the corridor, stretching the two people's shadows very long, but they never overlapped.
Lin Xu looked at Gu Yunxi's departing back and finally understood how much pressure his naivety and impulsiveness had caused her to bear during this turmoil that she shouldn't have had to endure.
And those rumors, like the lingering harmful gases in the laboratory, are silently corroding the visible and invisible...
The raindrops tapped against the glass windows of the office. Gu Yunxi stared at the documents on the table, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the words "suspend scientific research projects".
The paper spit out by the printer had a pungent smell of ink, mixed with the damp fragrance of osmanthus outside the window, which made her feel nauseous.
In just 24 hours, the desk that was once piled with experimental data was now filled with only this cold penalty notice.
She heard students talking and laughing in the corridor, and she subconsciously closed the blinds.
Those discussions about "Professor Gu being suspended for teacher-student love" are like countless needles piercing my eardrums.
She remembered that she was still explaining quantum catalysis at the podium with great enthusiasm yesterday, but now, her qualification for performance evaluation and professional title evaluation within two years has been revoked, and the research team to which she has devoted her efforts will also change hands.
"Maybe I really have to say goodbye to scientific research once and for all." She laughed at herself, and her laughter echoed in the empty office, sounding particularly desolate.
At the same time, Lin Xu curled up in the corner of the dormitory, staring at the campus forum on his mobile phone screen.
In the latest post, someone photoshopped a photo of him and Gu Yunxi into a wedding photo, and the accompanying text was extremely sarcastic.
The counselor's words, "Write a self-criticism and the matter will be over," are still echoing in his ears, but how can he pretend nothing happened?
He secretly looked in the direction of the laboratory, which used to be the place where he pursued his dreams but now became a forbidden place that he dared not approach.
He carefully sent a message to Gu Yunxi, but only received a system prompt that "the other party has rejected the message."
His finger hovered over the delete key for a long time, and finally fell down helplessly. He began to avoid everyone's gaze, and even dared not go to the cafeteria, for fear of hearing the words "It was he who harmed Professor Gu".
Late at night, he repeatedly looked through the research materials assigned by Gu Yunxi. Those formulas that once made his blood boil now seemed like an unbridgeable chasm.
At the faculty meeting three days later, Gu Yunxi sat quietly in the corner. When the principal read out her punishment decision, the entire auditorium fell into an eerie silence.
She looked up out the window and saw a few sparrows chirping in the sycamore tree, as if laughing at this ridiculous farce.
At this moment, Lin Xu was writing a self-criticism in the counselor's office, and the tip of his pen poked small holes in the paper.
After the meeting, Gu Yunxi walked through the laboratory and saw his former team members busy at work through the glass.
The new person in charge stood in her position, directing the experiment with gestures.
Her experiment notebook was thrown casually in a corner, and the cover was curled up.
Tears suddenly blurred her vision. She turned and walked away quickly, her high heels making a hollow sound as they stepped on the ground.
After this incident, Lin Xu was still able to attend classes normally, but no one saw him in the laboratory anymore.
Gu Yunxi has to face the sympathetic or curious gazes of her colleagues every day. She buries herself in basic teaching and fills every gap with correcting homework.
Occasionally they met on campus, but they always avoided each other's eyes tacitly, as if they had never met before.
People always say that teacher-student love is a taboo, but few people see that when rumors spread, the one who stands under the spotlight and bears everything is always the older educator who should be respected.
The younger party, even if faced with many thorns, can continue to stride forward after the wave of public opinion recedes.
After all, in this farce, some people paid their all, while others only suffered some insignificant scratches.