Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

Xue Rui felt the red envelope, warm from being held, and a sense of warmth spread through his heart.

The last time he gave Lin Ruoxi cash was half a month ago. Plus, the food he usually ate was expensive, so he had been thinking of giving her a little more today.

He never expected the girl to have saved up five or six thousand yuan to give him as New Year’s money. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

In his past life, when he went on blind dates, many women would ask him for a gift on their first meeting. Give him a red envelope in return? Not a chance.

Speaking of which, Xue Rui was much older than Lin Ruoxi mentally. This was the first time he had ever received this kind of New Year’s money, and from a girl, no less...

He felt an indescribably strange feeling.

But, he was quite happy.

"If you gave it all to me, what will you spend?"

Xue Rui hugged Lin Ruoxi, but unfortunately, he couldn’t feel a thing. The girl was wearing too many layers!

"I... I actually still have two hundred yuan..." Lin Ruoxi said in a small voice.

Xue Rui joked, "You’re hiding a secret stash from me?"

Lin Ruoxi frantically fumbled through her clothes. "I’ll... I’ll give it all to you."

"I’m just teasing. Let’s light some fireworks."

Xue Rui had just lit a string of fireworks and still had half left, thinking he’d set them off with Lin Ruoxi.

Whenever a small cluster of fireworks shot into the sky, Lin Ruoxi’s eyes would widen slightly, only for her expression to grow a little disappointed as they gradually faded away.

The purchasing power of money was still quite strong these days—a few yuan could buy a full meal. Unfortunately, fireworks were never cheap. Five or six hundred yuan worth of fireworks only lasted for about ten minutes of unrestrained fun...

Watching Lin Ruoxi’s expression, clearly wanting more, he thought she looked just like a small child.

A sudden pang of regret hit Xue Rui. ’I bought too few.’

However, there were still a few boxes of handheld Fairy Wands left, which could last for a long time.

Xue Rui lit one and placed it in Lin Ruoxi’s hand.

A brilliant little firework bloomed at Lin Ruoxi’s fingertips, and the corners of the girl’s eyes bloomed along with it.

Xue Rui thought to himself, ’She’s so easy to please. I bet I could have made her just as happy even if I had only bought the small ones.’

As one Fairy Wand was about to burn out, the corners of Lin Ruoxi’s eyes began to droop slightly again.

Xue Rui touched another one to the tip of the dying firework, and soon, the brilliance flared up once more.

"In this world, most beautiful things can have unlimited refills, as long as you’re willing to spend the money," Xue Rui said with a smile.

Lin Ruoxi asked meekly, "How much were the fireworks?"

In the past, she had only ever secretly watched others set them off. Having lit so many today, she couldn’t help but start estimating the cost in her head.

Seeing the frown on Lin Ruoxi’s face, Xue Rui couldn’t help but want to slap his own mouth.

But he felt that Lin Ruoxi was now a little rich girl raking in tens of thousands a month; she couldn’t always be agonizing over such small amounts of money.

He corrected her, "Fairy Wands are only a few yuan a box. Besides, with the money you’ll be making, you could set off fireworks 24 hours a day. You could even light them during the day if you wanted."

Lin Ruoxi rubbed her hands together, took out her phone, and opened Taobao.

"Don’t bother searching. You definitely won’t find fireworks," Xue Rui said with a laugh.

Lin Ruoxi still lacked some common sense. These kinds of flammable and explosive items could only be bought offline; they weren’t allowed to be sold online.

But then he thought about it. It was only early 2013, and e-commerce was still in a chaotic state. ’Maybe you really could buy them?’

Xue Rui leaned his head over to look as well.

Lin Ruoxi typed "Fairy Wand fireworks" into the search bar. After hearing what Xue Rui said, she deleted the word "fireworks," leaving only "Fairy Wand."

Xue Rui felt there was something wrong with that search term, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

When Lin Ruoxi pressed the search button, the screen didn’t show any fireworks. Instead, rows and rows of blush-inducing adult toys appeared...

"What are these?"

Lin Ruoxi looked curious. Just as she was about to tap to see the details page, Xue Rui snatched the phone away.

"What the hell is this?"

Xue Rui thought to himself that Lin Ruoxi was really unlucky to stumble upon such an obscure search term for adult toys.

’Sometimes, you really can’t blame the kid!’

Lin Ruoxi stared blankly at Xue Rui, not understanding why he had suddenly taken her phone.

"Light another firework, I’ll take a picture of you." Xue Rui redirected her attention while also deleting the search history.

’Knowing Lin Ruoxi’s curiosity, she might search for it again after I leave, but that won’t be my problem...’

"Oh..." Lin Ruoxi was very nervous in front of the camera, her eyes darting away from time to time, her face flushing red.

She had barely had her picture taken her whole life and always felt tense in front of a camera, as if countless people were staring at her.

Her shy reaction made Xue Rui wonder, ’Did she actually understand what those products were?’

Lin Ruoxi kept looking away from the camera, so Xue Rui couldn’t find a good angle at all.

If the model doesn’t cooperate, it doesn’t matter how amazing the photographer is.

"Let’s take a selfie together," Xue Rui said, flipping the camera around, thinking they should take a picture to commemorate the moment.

"Mm." Lin Ruoxi nodded emphatically.

The phone’s camera resolution was terrible back then, so the selfie came out blurry.

In the viewfinder, Lin Ruoxi looked up at the phone screen, then subconsciously averted her eyes again.

Just as Xue Rui pressed the shutter button, Lin Ruoxi looked at him with a gaze full of affection.

In the photo, Lin Ruoxi was holding a lit Fairy Wand, its light illuminating her stunning face from below, creating a soft and serene image.

The grainy photo gave Lin Ruoxi a unique, hazy beauty, making her look just like a Photoshopped picture from the internet.

And Xue Rui in the photo? The bad lighting made his skin look dull and drab. He was just some random bystander who shouldn’t have been in the picture, ruining its beauty.