Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

Too much to spend! There’s simply no way to spend it all!

Even in his last life, when Xue Rui had an eight-figure balance in his bank account, he’d never done something this ridiculous.

Who tops up their phone with ten thousand yuan of credit?

That same amount, ten thousand, in a bank account would just make people scoff.

But if you say you have ten thousand in phone credit, anyone who hears it will be forced to admit you’re a baller.

...

Xue Rui spent the entire Chinese New Year holiday mired in the boring activity of visiting relatives.

Of course, when he had nothing better to do, he’d text with Gu Muxue.

After all, she was the "sugar mama" who paid for his phone credit.

Texting was still a luxury at one mao per message, but Xue Rui didn’t feel the sting at all...

As for Lin Ruoxi? Xue Rui barely chatted with her, just offering a few perfunctory replies.

Lin Ruoxi was like a closed book and never discussed anything interesting with him. Every day on QQ, she’d just send, "Morning," "Good night," or "Have you eaten?"

From time to time, she’d even send Xue Rui a [Smile] emoji, which made the corner of his mouth twitch.

From his perspective of more than a decade in the future, the smiley face emoji was loaded with sarcasm.

But in this era, the smiley face was apparently still a "positive" emoji.

Lin Ruoxi’s chatting skills were exactly like those of a dense, straight-laced guy who’d been single since birth.

If a guy asked those same questions every day, the other person would probably just reply, "I’m gonna go take a shower."

Even though Xue Rui knew this was just Lin Ruoxi’s personality, he still had no idea what to talk to her about.

He and Lin Ruoxi spent a lot of time together every day, but they barely spoke.

When they weren’t busy, the two of them would just sit together in silence.

...

「At his maternal grandmother’s dinner table.」

"Why are we eating these meatballs again?" Xue Yao whined, her face long.

"And pig’s head meat again?"

"And aspic again?"

Xue Yao’s constant complaints made many of the relatives smile wryly.

Xue Rui stuffed a steamed bun into Xue Yao’s mouth. "Just eat. We’ll be home in a couple of days."

This was how Chinese New Year was celebrated in the rural north.

All the food would be prepared before the new year began, and every household bought pretty much the same things.

Rather than a celebration, it was more like eating various pre-made dishes from the first day of the new year to the fifteenth.

From Xue Rui’s perspective, he was eating leftovers every single day.

This nightmare of leftovers didn’t end until the eighth day of the new year, when school started.

「In the classroom at school.」

"Here. Last time, I meant to grab my phone but took the remote control by mistake. I’ll come over for dinner tonight." Xue Rui stuffed the TV remote into Lin Ruoxi’s schoolbag.

He really missed Lin Ruoxi’s cooking and was looking forward to a decent meal.

At Lin Ruoxi’s place, every meal was freshly made, and she would always cook a variety of dishes for him.

The dishes Lin Ruoxi made weren’t like those from big restaurants, where the flavor was almost identical every time for the sake of quality control.

Lin Ruoxi would adjust the flavors according to Xue Rui’s preferences, making every dish perfectly suited to his palate.

Actually, there were leftovers sometimes, but Lin Ruoxi and Da Huang would take care of them...

"Mm, okay."

She had already made a new one, but now Xue Rui had returned the remote.

「At the school gate.」

"Uncle Yang, did you pick it up?" Gu Muxue asked.

When she got off the plane this morning, she received a call from the lab technician. She had asked her driver to pick up the DNA test report in advance.

"Here." The driver handed the manila envelope to Gu Muxue.

He was actually very curious and wanted to open it. He’d never seen a report like this before.

He had no idea who Gu Muxue was testing, or if there was any gossip to be had.

Gu Muxue took a deep breath. She just wanted an answer, but now that it was in her hands, she hesitated.

’What if it really is Lin Ruoxi’s hair?’

’What is their relationship?’

’But what is my relationship with Xue Rui?’

Gu Muxue’s heart was pounding with anxiety.

"Muxue?" the driver called out.

Gu Muxue had been staring into space for quite a while.

Snapping back to reality, Gu Muxue steadied her breathing and forcefully tore open the seal on the envelope.

Inside was a thick stack of documents, along with a separately placed report sheet.

Gu Muxue picked up the report and stared at it for a long time, her breathing growing more and more ragged.

Her beautiful, almond-shaped eyes gradually grew moist, and a single tear fell onto the report.

The three samples came from the same person. It was all Lin Ruoxi’s hair.

"Xue Rui, you lied to me again!"

Gu Muxue cried her heart out, tears dripping onto the paper.

The driver sighed helplessly and handed Gu Muxue a pack of tissues.

He rolled up the windows, got out of the car, and left Gu Muxue alone to cry in the Audi.

’He could tell this had something to do with that kid, Xue Rui, again.’

Gu Muxue mumbled to herself as she picked up the teddy bear from the back seat, a birthday gift from Xue Rui.

She pinched the bear’s ear, bit down on it, and ground her teeth back and forth.

She had once asked Xue Rui about his relationship with Lin Ruoxi, and he’d said they were just classmates.

But why did he always have Lin Ruoxi’s hair on him?

His sweater was worn under his school uniform. How could it possibly have gotten her hair on it?

All the signs pointed to a very close relationship between Xue Rui and Lin Ruoxi.

And yet, at school, Xue Rui spent most of his time by her side.

If Xue Rui and Lin Ruoxi were always together, there would definitely be rumors flying around.

Therefore, she concluded that Xue Rui was with Lin Ruoxi outside of school.

After venting for a long time, Gu Muxue composed herself. She opened the car window, intending to throw the teddy bear out.

But the moment the window was open, she panicked, clutched the bear to her chest, and slowly rolled the window back up.

「A long while later.」

Gu Muxue checked her appearance in the mirror and put on a delicate, fake smile.

"Uncle Yang, I’m heading to school now," Gu Muxue said, a faint smile on her lips.

The driver sighed. The more she acted like this, the more it meant her mood had hit rock bottom.

But at least her ability to keep up the fake smile proved she hadn’t had a complete breakdown.

The light in Gu Muxue’s eyes had dimmed, but she still politely nodded and smiled in response to the greetings from those around her.

"Gu Muxue smiled at me!" one male student said excitedly.

"Doesn’t she smile at everyone like that? Now, if you could get her to curse you out, that would be a real achievement," his friend next to him laughed.

"Would it kill you to shut up?"

...

As Gu Muxue passed by Xue Rui’s classroom, she secretly peeked inside.

"Xue Rui, Gu Muxue’s here," Qiu Mengze said, nudging Xue Rui’s arm.

"So what if she’s here?" Xue Rui said irritably.

’This guy’s moods are all over the place. I wonder what’s gotten into him.’

"On Valentine’s Day, I sent Qin Tong a ’you there?’ message, and she replied with a smiley face," Qiu Mengze whispered, his face beaming with excitement.

Xue Rui furrowed his brow. "Look at you, so pathetic."

Qiu Mengze was copying the way Xue Rui used to pursue Gu Muxue, running errands and buying things for Qin Tong every day.

Xue Rui had tried to warn him, telling him that simps never win.

But Qiu Mengze didn’t see it that way. He believed Xue Rui’s close relationship with Gu Muxue was inseparable from all the errands he used to run for her.

In reality, Xue Rui had already explained it to Qiu Mengze.

His special relationship with Gu Muxue was built on years of bickering and goofing around together.

But Qiu Mengze was obstinate, choosing to deceive himself.

"Usually she only replies to me once every three to five days. Why would she message me on Valentine’s Day of all days?" Qiu Mengze was lost in his own fantasy.

Xue Rui really felt that his childhood friend needed to go to a foot massage parlor and get some real-world experience.

’See how those beautiful women bow their heads to wash your feet? The arrogance of someone in love? Ridiculous.’

"Did anyone even celebrate Valentine’s Day this year?" Xue Rui muttered.

In this day and age, the mobile internet wasn’t widespread, and the rat race among simps wasn’t as intense. Especially in a small, undeveloped city like Hedong, there was almost no sense of ceremony for holidays.

Plus, Valentine’s Day happened to fall on the fourth day of the Chinese New Year this year, so most people were still immersed in the New Year atmosphere...

So he hadn’t felt anything special about Valentine’s Day. To be precise, he hadn’t even realized it was Valentine’s Day.

However, on the evening of the fourth, Gu Muxue had sent him a strange text: Happy New Year!!!

’She already sent one on the first day of the New Year, why send another on the fourth?’

Xue Rui checked a calendar and only then realized the fourth was Valentine’s Day. He replied to Gu Muxue: Happy Holidays!

’That little minx was definitely aware of the holiday,’ Xue Rui thought, ’but she chose to hint at it with a New Year’s text since we hadn’t broken through that final layer between us yet.’

’She said Happy New Year, but she was secretly reminding him that it was Valentine’s Day.’

...

The first day of school usually didn’t have any classes. It was mostly for handing out textbooks and holding a class meeting, after which students could go back to their dorms to organize their things.

Xue Xiaying stood at the podium, talking for a long time.

"Settle down, everyone. You’re about to be third-year high school students."

"Time flies. By this time next year, you’ll be in the final hundred-day sprint."

"And for those of you in relationships... I won’t name names here." Xue Xiaying’s gaze swept across the classroom.

Many of the female students looked down, some guiltily, some shyly.

Qiu Mengze also lowered his head, a blush of youthful innocence on his face.

Xue Rui was speechless. He really wanted to jump up and slap the guy.

"Was she talking about you? What the hell are you lowering your head for?" Xue Rui cursed under his breath.

"I’m not forbidding it, but I absolutely don’t encourage it. What happens if your grades suffer, and you end up in different schools, or even different cities?" Xue Xiaying said.

"The teacher’s right."

"Exactly."

Most of the class was silent. Only a few of the more energetic boys chimed in from time to time, acting like her damn hype men.

"So, you must seize the time..."

"High school is tense, but once you get through it to college..."

"College life is great. You can do whatever you want then, so why be sneaky about it now?" Xue Xiaying added, repeating another classic teacher line.

"Mmm..." Xue Rui nodded slightly.

Qiu Mengze was stunned. If there was anyone in school who had no right to agree, it was definitely Xue Rui.

In his eyes, there was no bigger scumbag than Xue Rui, who was two-timing the two best-looking girls in school.

Qiu Mengze gritted his teeth. "Mmm, my ass."

"I think she has a point," Xue Rui said seriously.

"What point?"

Xue Rui leaned close to Qiu Mengze’s ear. "College girls are experienced but kinda loose. The tight ones are all in high school. A very astute summary."

Qiu Mengze mulled it over for a long moment. The words were the same, but with a slight change in punctuation, the meaning was completely different.

His pupils trembled violently, and he couldn’t help but give Xue Rui a big thumbs-up.