Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

Xue Rui’s face fell. ’If I’d known this was going to happen, I never would have come to the gala,’ he thought.

Chen Tingting was being a little too bold, confessing her feelings in front of the entire school’s students and teachers.

"Quiet! What’s all the noise about?" Chen Tingting demanded with a frown.

If these gossiping onlookers were any use, she would have won Xue Rui over long ago.

Unfortunately for her, when it came to Xue Rui, the bigger the crowd, the more it backfired. It would only scare him off.

"I was only singing for Xue Rui. What does it have to do with any of you?" Chen Tingting complained.

The only reason she’d signed up for the New Year’s Gala was that Xue Rui wouldn’t talk to her. The moment he saw her, he’d run like a mouse from a cat. How could he possibly stay and listen to her sing a whole song?

That was her whole purpose in signing up for the gala, but the emcee had actually ignored her wishes, forcing her to say a few more words.

The teachers below the stage were frantically trying to signal the students onstage, motioning for them to grab the microphone from Chen Tingting’s hand.

Xue Xiaying also snapped out of her stupor. ’What do I do?’ she thought.

This was the first time she had ever encountered something like this.

But Xue Rui hadn’t even done anything. The one causing trouble was a first-year female student. She debated whether she should do something...

Xue Rui turned his head away, but the cameraman, smiling, just followed him with the camera. ’This kid’s pretty shy,’ he thought.

In reality, Xue Rui didn’t want to give any kind of reaction. Whether good or bad, if Chen Tingting saw it, it wouldn’t be a good thing for him.

The best method was to ignore it completely.

Suddenly, the cameraman noticed a girl who was so beautiful it was unreal appear in his viewfinder.

Gu Muxue had stepped in front of the lens.

"Gu Muxue! It’s the goddess!" a student cheered.

The crowd had fallen silent for a moment after Chen Tingting’s angry outburst, but seeing Gu Muxue made them erupt all over again.

In terms of popularity, Gu Muxue was the undisputed number one at No. 2 High.

Many of the boys had been lamenting that Gu Muxue wasn’t performing this year, only for her to suddenly appear on the big screen.

Gu Muxue’s eyes narrowed as she shot a glare at Chen Tingting.

Even though she was far away, Chen Tingting subconsciously took a step back.

Many people knew that Xue Rui and Gu Muxue had an unusual relationship, and they sensed some major drama was about to unfold.

Gu Muxue shot Xue Rui a look, tilting her chin up slightly.

Xue Rui understood instantly. Gu Muxue was drawing the fire for him, telling him to leave quickly.

"Old Li, don’t hold me back. This is outrageous!" Director Wang couldn’t hold it in any longer and decided to go up and drag Chen Tingting away himself.

However, the head of the first-year grade level stood up.

"Director Wang, just let it be. The principal himself brought her in. I’ll handle it..."

He didn’t know who Chen Tingting had pulled strings with to transfer, but either way, he definitely couldn’t afford to offend them. He remembered clearly that on Chen Tingting’s first day, the principal and several other leaders had personally escorted her to the classroom.

Xue Xiaying and two female teachers, who had been hiding in a corner, quietly circled around to the back of the stage and snatched the microphone from Chen Tingting.

"Hey?"

Chen Tingting was completely bewildered. ’Where did these people come from?’

Xue Xiaying gave Chen Tingting a strange look, then grabbed her arm and started pulling her off the stage.

Chen Tingting reluctantly dragged her feet, looking down from the stage to search for Xue Rui.

Another teacher, a heavyset woman, frowned. ’Why is this little girl so difficult?’

She put some muscle into it, and together with Xue Xiaying, they lifted Chen Tingting up.

"Teacher, I can walk by myself," Chen Tingting grumbled.

Xue Rui kept his head down as he walked to the back door of the cafeteria, wanting to escape as quickly as possible.

But at the door, he spotted a familiar figure from behind.

"Officer Chen?" Xue Rui murmured, not entirely sure it was him.

"You’ve got the wrong person," the man said, pressing a hand to his forehead as he turned to leave.

"Uncle Chen, it’s me, Xue Rui," Xue Rui called out.

He was sure now. That figure was definitely Chen Shen. Few people walked with such an upright posture.

Chen Shen turned around and gave an embarrassed laugh. "Oh, it’s Xiaorui. Sorry for all the trouble."

He’d heard his daughter was performing in the New Year’s Gala, so he had rushed over right after work.

He had arrived just in time to see Chen Tingting go on stage. ’Good, I made it,’ he had thought.

Chen Shen had originally planned to greet the school leaders at the front, but who knew his daughter would pull a stunt like this...

Now, he just wanted to pretend he’d never been here.

"What time do you get out of school today?" Chen Shen asked.

Xue Rui gave a helpless smile. "There are no classes tonight. Uncle Chen, you can take Tingting home now."

"Oh. Okay." Chen Shen started walking toward the cafeteria exit.

"Uncle Chen, the stage is that way," Xue Rui said, pointing back inside the cafeteria.

Chen Shen paused. "I’ll go to the back door to get her."

He was genuinely afraid of running into old acquaintances now.

Xue Rui walked out of the cafeteria. A cold wind blew past, and he instinctively pulled his head into his collar.

’Lin Ruoxi’s sweater is so warm...’

PAT. Someone tapped Xue Rui lightly on the left shoulder. He instinctively looked to his left, only to find nothing there.

He turned back to see Gu Muxue standing on his right.

"Let’s not go back in. Let’s go for a walk," Gu Muxue suggested.

"Okay," Xue Rui agreed with a nod.

All the students were gathered in the cafeteria watching the New Year’s Gala, so the campus was practically deserted.

Even if a few young couples had snuck out, they would have found a warmer classroom to hang out in.

The moonlight was like spun silk, and the campus was a world draped in silver.

"My mother is from Jiangnan Province. She had never seen a vast expanse of snow, so she named me Muxue."

Gu Muxue stomped her feet heavily, each step crushing the snowflakes, leaving her footprints in the thick drifts and making a "CRUNCH" sound.

Xue Rui had never heard the story behind his own name. ’Did they get it from a naming service?’

’Or... maybe his parents weren’t great students, so they chose the character ’Rui’?’

In any case, his parents weren’t very educated, so his name definitely didn’t have as much meaning as Gu Muxue’s.

"Muxue. It’s a beautiful name," Xue Rui said with a smile.

Xue Rui’s hands had been tucked in his pockets, where it was nice and warm.

He gently took Gu Muxue’s hand. "Are you cold?"

Gu Muxue didn’t pull away. "A little. Let me warm up."

After finding an excuse for herself, she proactively tightened her grip on Xue Rui’s hand.

It was already the second nine-day period after the winter solstice, and the temperature outside was over ten degrees below zero. The two of them walked aimlessly through the snow.

Gu Muxue’s nose and ears were red with cold, and her body was trembling slightly, but she still wanted to keep walking like this forever.

She saw a pine tree whose branches were bent low with snow, and she veered slightly, pulling Xue Rui over to it.

Xue Rui obediently let Gu Muxue lead him. ’This girl is so afraid of the dark, yet she insists on pulling me under this pitch-black tree. When something is this strange, there must be a catch. Gu Muxue was definitely trying to prank him.’

When they reached the tree, Gu Muxue spoke. "Xiaorui, see if there’s a bird’s nest up in this tree."

The moment Xue Rui looked up, the corners of Gu Muxue’s mouth lifted. She kicked the tree hard, then quickly let go of his hand to run away.

But Xue Rui was prepared. The instant she let go, he tightened his grip on her small hand.

WHOOSH!

Sheets of snow were shaken from the pine tree, and a flurry of snowflakes fell right on top of their heads.

"You knew all along, didn’t you!" Gu Muxue said, puffing out her cheeks.

She had planned to dump snow all over Xue Rui’s head, but she hadn’t expected to get covered in it herself.

Still, seeing Xue Rui’s head all white with snow, she wasn’t so angry anymore.

It was a move that injured the enemy by one thousand, and herself by one thousand.

Seeing Xue Rui with his head full of snow, Gu Muxue couldn’t help but laugh. "You look like an old man with a full head of white hair."

Xue Rui didn’t reach up to clear the snow from his head. "Aren’t you the same?"

Gu Muxue held her breath, thinking that if Xue Rui dared to say she looked like the White-Haired Witch or something, she would definitely bite him.

Xue Rui said lightly, "This is called ’growing old together until our hair turns white.’"

Gu Muxue’s body stiffened, and her face instantly flushed red.

Xue Rui always came at things from such a strange angle. ’This implication is actually really nice...’

Xue Rui reached out and brushed the snow from Gu Muxue’s head, then took the opportunity to ruffle her hair.

Opportunities to touch Gu Muxue’s head were rare, so he took advantage and gave it a few extra ruffles.

"You’re going to rub all my hair off!" Gu Muxue grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and threw it at him.

Xue Rui cheekily picked up a clump of snow and threw it at Gu Muxue, where it landed with a dull thud.

"You’re playing for real?"

Gu Muxue’s peach-blossom eyes widened. She absolutely had to get her "revenge."

The two of them chased each other, playing around, all the way to the athletic field.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Xue Rui interrupted. "I’ll show you something fun."

"What’s something fun?"

Gu Muxue pretended to listen, but just as she got close to Xue Rui, she smashed a snowball against his body.

"Hee hee!" Gu Muxue beamed, finally having hit Xue Rui.

After succeeding, she instinctively tried to run, but Xue Rui caught both her hands. "Squat down. I’ll pull you and you can slide on the snow."

"Huh?" Gu Muxue’s eyes lit up.

Lots of students played this game during breaks. One person would squat down, and another would pull them along, "skiing" on the ground. She had actually really wanted to try it.

But she didn’t have many friends, and Mei Lili was too weak to pull her.

She was eager to try and obediently squatted down.

However, Xue Rui just leaped right over Gu Muxue’s head.

"You’re trying to stop me from growing taller!" Gu Muxue exclaimed, realizing she’d been tricked again.

She once again started kneading and packing snow on the ground, forming a round snowball.

"Alright, alright, I’ll play with you for real."

Xue Rui got serious and started pulling Gu Muxue, letting her slide across the snow.

It was Gu Muxue’s first time playing this game, and being pulled by Xue Rui especially, she couldn’t have been happier.

"One more time!" Gu Muxue said, her face full of excitement.

Xue Rui’s back was about to cramp up. He was about to say he couldn’t do it, but then he thought better of it.

’How can a man say he can’t go on?’

"This is really the last time!" Xue Rui warned.

Gu Muxue tricked him with "last time" every time. He felt like he’d already run several laps around the field backward.

"Mhm, last time!" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

A smile played on Gu Muxue’s lips as she thought, ’Next time will be the last, last, *last* time.’

Xue Rui sighed. Gu Muxue was like a seven or eight-year-old child, never tiring of "ice sliding" on the snow.

He felt he could now truly understand Chen Shen, and the helplessness of being a father.

As he squatted down again, Xue Rui felt a little dizzy, most likely from a lack of oxygen.

After taking a few deep breaths, he once again took Gu Muxue’s hands and began to slide her across the field.

This time, his stamina was clearly failing him, and his footing wasn’t as steady as before.

Suddenly, he tripped on something and his body pitched backward.