Of course you were criticising. You just said he is not smart, in a harsh tone, and maybe even imply that he is stupid. While all those things might be true, a

Of course you were criticising. You just said he is not smart, in a harsh tone, and maybe even imply that he is stupid. While all those things might be true, a smart person would realise early on that being nice pays off and not being nice has consequences, he seems to have realised that too, so no point picking at something which is hardly relevant to what he enquired.