Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

When Lin Ruoxi heard the knock, her heart suddenly began to pound.

After a moment’s hesitation, she rushed to open the door.

Seeing Xue Rui’s smiling face, her nose tingled. She blinked away the moisture in her eyes and broke into a stunning smile. "Let’s eat."

’Xue Rui really came.’

Somehow, the moment Xue Rui walked in, she felt the room grow several degrees warmer;

even the picture on the TV seemed much more vibrant than before.

"My family kicked me out, so I have nowhere to go this year," Xue Rui said, shaking his head with a sigh.

Lin Ruoxi replied without the slightest hesitation, "You can sleep in my room."

"That’s what I was thinking," Xue Rui replied with a perfectly straight face.

He set the gift box he’d brought aside. "Grandma, a little something for the New Year."

In reality, it was just a large gift box filled with snacks and eight-treasure congee.

He and Lin Ruoxi would end up eating it all anyway; Xue Rui had bought it purely for the sake of propriety.

"Mm-hmm," the grandmother nodded.

Xue Rui sniffed the air and couldn’t help but ask, "Is something burning in the kitchen?"

Lin Ruoxi scurried into the kitchen in a panic. "My fish!"

In the end, Lin Ruoxi brought out the half-burnt fish.

Lin Ruoxi couldn’t bear to throw it out, so she placed the plate in front of herself, intending to eat it.

However, Xue Rui scraped the fish directly into Da Huang’s dog bowl. "It’s fine, we’ll feed it to the dog," he said with a smile.

The aroma of food filled the house. The three of them, squeezed in front of the coffee table in the small living room, created an exceptionally cozy scene.

After a few quick bites, Xue Rui stopped eating. He had to save room for sunflower seeds.

The three of them watched the Spring Festival Gala. Lin Ruoxi peeled oranges for Xue Rui, taking a bite of each one first.

Xue Rui didn’t like sour fruit, so if one was too tart, she would eat it herself and give him the sweet ones.

"The Spring Festival Gala is so boring," Xue Rui said, shaking his head as he watched.

’I thought the 2013 Gala would be good, but I guess it had already started going downhill by then.’

The old, famous sketch comedians were almost all gone, replaced by forgettable new faces. ’Who knows if they just got the job through connections.’

’Still, it’s better than the galas from a decade later. Every show after this was more ridiculous than the last, so cringey it made your toes curl.’

Even so, Xue Rui was getting sleepy just watching it.

Seeing Xue Rui yawning again and again, Lin Ruoxi said, "Why don’t you go to bed?"

Xue Rui rubbed his face. "Who goes to bed early on New Year’s Eve? I’m not a kid."

Even kids have to stay up until midnight to set off firecrackers.

Xue Rui checked the time. It was already half past ten. "The rest of the show is just going to get more boring," he said. "Let’s go for a walk. People are setting off fireworks outside."

"Mm, okay." Lin Ruoxi obediently went to put on her jacket.

"Grandma, we’ll be back in a bit. You can go to bed first," Xue Rui said.

The grandmother shot Xue Rui a glare. "I can’t sleep."

’Taking her granddaughter out in the middle of the night while she just lies at home and sleeps?’

’She wasn’t that complacent.’

Xue Rui and Lin Ruoxi walked along the empty streets. An occasional car sped past, and even the traffic lights had stopped working, just blinking yellow.

The city lights were bright, and from time to time, fireworks bloomed in the sky, illuminating Lin Ruoxi’s fair face.

Lin Ruoxi was wearing a pale yellow down jacket, a gift from Xue Rui. She usually wore her school uniform to school and did chores when she got home. The only times she went out were to buy groceries, so she rarely had a chance to wear it.

But with the New Year upon them, she wanted to wear something nice for Xue Rui to see.

Lin Ruoxi let Xue Rui hold her hand as they strolled through the empty city.

With no one else around to watch, her steps grew lively. Every so often, she would sneak a step into a pile of snow on the side of the road, leaving a footprint behind.

Xue Rui led Lin Ruoxi to a children’s park filled with playground equipment like slides and seesaws.

"Want to play?" Xue Rui smiled.

Lin Ruoxi had never been to kindergarten, so naturally, she had never played on this kind of children’s equipment.

He wanted to help Lin Ruoxi make up for her lost childhood. ’If I get the chance in the future, I’ll take her to a real amusement park,’ he thought.

Xue Rui pulled Lin Ruoxi to the top of the slide, but her feet seemed to be frozen to the spot.

He glanced at her expression. She looked excited and a little bit expectant, yet she refused to crouch down.

"My jacket will get dirty," Lin Ruoxi said, stroking the down jacket. She was about to take it off before playing.

As she unzipped it, Xue Rui reached out to stop her. "If it gets dirty, we’ll wash it."

He positioned Lin Ruoxi at the top of the slide and gave her a gentle push.

"Ah!" An unprecedented feeling of weightlessness made Lin Ruoxi cry out.

Xue Rui grinned. ’See? Still just a kid.’

"Get up, I’m coming down too!" Xue Rui shouted. After waiting a moment, he plopped down and slid after her.

When Xue Rui got up, he saw Lin Ruoxi inspecting the hem of her down jacket.

"Now that it’s dirty, you can keep playing," Xue Rui said with a smile.

Lots of people are afraid of getting things dirty, but once you get that first smudge, you don’t have to worry about it anymore.

It’s like being afraid of getting your shoes wet on a rainy day, always walking on tiptoe at the edge of the road.

But once your shoes are wet, you no longer need to worry, and you can walk through the water without a care.

Lin Ruoxi seemed to understand. She climbed back up and began sliding down again and again, tireless and happy.

In a public service kiosk nearby, a young police officer was smoking, choking on each puff. Seeing a girl that old on the slide, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

Xue Rui watched from the side, amused.

When Lin Ruoxi was tired from sliding, she and Xue Rui got on a seesaw. She leaned back with all her might, managing to lift the heavier Xue Rui into the air.

"You’ve gained weight. How much do you weigh?" Xue Rui asked.

"127 pounds," Lin Ruoxi answered truthfully.

Xue Rui stifled a laugh. "Girls don’t usually report their actual weight."

’Lin Ruoxi is just so earnest. She answers whatever I ask.’

Lin Ruoxi had a great figure now—graceful and well-proportioned. She was full in all the right places, had a slender waist, and her thighs were just a little soft.

’Now that’s a healthy figure,’ Xue Rui thought. ’If she wore stockings, they’d probably leave little indentations on her thighs.’

"Then how much should I weigh?" Lin Ruoxi asked timidly.

Xue Rui didn’t answer. Instead, he asked another question. "When you’re in the shower scrubbing yourself, do you turn the water off?"

Lin Ruoxi thought for a moment. "I turn it off, scrub, then rinse."

Xue Rui shook his head. "Wrong. How could a beauty like you have any grime to scrub off?"

"But... I do..." Lin Ruoxi whispered, blinking at Xue Rui.

Xue Rui was left speechless. ’Her earnestness is her greatest weapon.’

"Come here." Xue Rui led Lin Ruoxi to a park bench.

’A personality like Lin Ruoxi’s is so dorky yet so cute.’

Xue Rui glanced at his phone. It was already past eleven-thirty. He playfully jabbed at Lin Ruoxi, shouting the name of a martial arts move, "Sunflower Acupoint Hand!"

He had expected her to play along, but she just looked at him, completely baffled.

"You haven’t seen The Legend of Martial Arts?" Xue Rui asked curiously.

"No."

Lin Ruoxi shook her head. Her TV at home was broken. She’d heard classmates talk about shows like that before, but she didn’t really know anything about them.

Xue Rui had just wanted to play a little game to get her to stay put for a moment, but there was a cultural gap between Lin Ruoxi and other kids her age...

’What else is there... The time-stop genre? The investigator series...? No, no...’ Xue Rui muttered to himself, realizing his train of thought was heading somewhere inappropriate.

He was about to mention Journey to the West—to draw a circle for Lin Ruoxi and tell her not to move from this spot.

But before he could say anything, he noticed Lin Ruoxi shrinking back, her face flushed bright red.

"You’ve seen the stuff I mentioned?" Xue Rui asked in disbelief.

"I... I’m a bad girl." Lin Ruoxi didn’t dare to meet Xue Rui’s gaze.

Ever since the day Xue Rui had "accidentally" led her astray, Lin Ruoxi had discovered the gateway to a whole new world...

The corner of Xue Rui’s mouth twitched. ’If you’re a bad girl, then is there anyone good left in the world?’ he thought.

"As punishment, you have to close your eyes and reflect on what you’ve done," Xue Rui said, pretending to be stern.

He figured it was better to just give her a direct command. With Lin Ruoxi, he didn’t need to come up with elaborate schemes.

"Mm," Lin Ruoxi obediently closed her eyes.

Xue Rui ran toward the public service kiosk in the distance, glancing back every so often to see if the girl was peeking.

He exchanged a quick greeting with the police officer on duty and retrieved all the things he had left there.

Xue Rui’s gaze never left Lin Ruoxi.

He walked back to Lin Ruoxi’s side and lit a cigarette, planning to use it to light the fireworks.

Lin Ruoxi smelled the smoke and thought someone else had approached. She started to open her eyes, but Xue Rui chided her again.

Realizing it was Xue Rui, she relaxed. With her eyes still closed, she said, "Don’t smoke, okay?"

Xue Rui didn’t answer. He just arranged the fireworks in a circle and lit the candle on the small cake.

Xue Rui quickly lit the fireworks, which began to crackle and pop.

He slowly held out a small cake in front of Lin Ruoxi, a candle in the shape of the number "17" flickering on top.

"Happy birthday," Xue Rui said softly.

Lin Ruoxi’s eyelashes fluttered. All she could perceive was a bright light. She desperately wanted to open her eyes and see what Xue Rui was doing, but he hadn’t given her permission.

Xue Rui froze for a second. ’This girl is so literal, she won’t open her eyes unless I tell her to?’

He hurriedly added, "Open your eyes."

Lin Ruoxi slowly opened her eyes. Seeing Xue Rui holding a small cake, she couldn’t help but smile.

She had heard him say "Happy birthday" moments before; she just hadn’t dared to believe it.

’The whole world forgot about me, but Xue Rui remembered.’

This was the first birthday she had ever celebrated.

Xue Rui had also set off a row of fireworks for her, their brilliant light forming an arched curtain of silver...

As she smiled, tears began to stream down her face against her will.

The candlelight made Lin Ruoxi’s face look even softer, beautiful and captivating.

"Quick, make a wish."

"Oh..." Lin Ruoxi hurriedly closed her eyes again.

She had seen other children celebrate their birthdays; they all had to close their eyes and make a wish.

Xue Rui reached out to shield the flame, afraid it would be blown out by the wind.

Soon, Lin Ruoxi slowly opened her eyes and blew out the candle.

Xue Rui would ask Gu Muxue what she wished for, but he wouldn’t ask Lin Ruoxi.

Because Lin Ruoxi would actually tell him the truth.

Soon, the clock struck twelve. It seemed as if all the fireworks in the city had been saved for this very moment, exploding at once and lighting up the night sky.

"Happy New Year. Here’s your lucky money," Xue Rui whispered in her ear, pulling out a thick red envelope.

He had added a little more inside to make it an even 10,000, hoping to make up for all the lucky money Lin Ruoxi had missed out on.

Lin Ruoxi took out a red envelope of her own and stuffed both of them into Xue Rui’s hands. "I..."

"What? I can’t hear you?" Xue Rui shouted.

The sound of fireworks and firecrackers throughout the city drowned out Lin Ruoxi’s already quiet voice.

Lin Ruoxi bit her lip lightly, stood on her tiptoes, and hugged Xue Rui’s neck, pressing her face close to his ear.

Xue Rui was startled by Lin Ruoxi’s bold action, and his heart skipped a beat.

"I... I’m actually a year older than you."

Lin Ruoxi’s voice wasn’t loud, but because they were pressed so tightly together, the vibrations carried the sound directly to Xue Rui’s ear.

Xue Rui chuckled. "You want me to call you ’Big Sis’?"

’She’s only older by three months,’ he thought. ’It’s not that big a deal.’

Then he heard Lin Ruoxi say slowly, "No, it’s just... since I’m older, I should be the one giving you lucky money..."