Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

"A video conference?" Qingfeng repeated Xue Rui’s words.

"You know how to use QQ video chat, right? Isn’t that faster than running back and forth? The contract can be signed electronically," Xue Rui said.

Many years later, video conferences would become mainstream, and e-signatures would be commonplace. While they existed at this point in time, not many companies used them.

From a legal standpoint, both methods were equally valid; it was just that many companies still stuck to traditional procedures.

Qingfeng glanced back at his colleague, unsure if Xue Rui’s proposed solution was feasible.

The woman from the legal department nodded. "Qingfeng, it’s possible."

Someone thought for a moment. If they used video recording software to document the meeting process, it might even be more efficient.

Qingfeng gave a helpless smile. "You young people really think outside the box. Talking with you makes me feel like I can’t keep up with the times. What is it that you want?"

Xue Rui smiled calmly. "I want a forty percent revenue share."

"What?" Someone was shocked. Xue Rui’s appetite was far too big. Asking for forty percent right off the bat was way above the industry-standard profit-sharing ratio.

Qingfeng also frowned repeatedly. "That’s a very difficult demand for us to accept."

Xue Rui laughed nonchalantly. "Why don’t you hold a meeting and discuss it? How will you know my bottom line if you don’t try to haggle?"

Everyone was speechless. Xue Rui was talking about such a major acquisition as if he were buying vegetables at the market.

"Lin Ruoxi, bring the laptop over."

Xue Rui took the laptop, connected its screen to the TV in the private room, and began his pre-prepared presentation.

"We’ve conducted surveys, and the majority of our users are female..."

"Currently, our paid user conversion rate has reached 6%. The rate for the Android version is on the lower side, but as the internet economy develops, revenue streams can be diversified. Even free users can be monetized, for example, by integrating ads..."

"The logistics systems in smaller cities are starting to improve. This is a graph of the growth of online shoppers in recent years. Once mobile payments become mainstream, the barrier for users to make payments will be lowered..."

Lin Ruoxi stared at Xue Rui, her eyes shining with admiration.

Xue Rui had stayed up all night preparing these plans. She couldn’t understand any of it, so all she could do was serve him tea and water on the side.

’Coding is so much simpler,’ she thought. ’And soldering circuit boards is fun, too. Those are things that follow clear rules. Interacting with people is so hard and troublesome.’

The team from Le You asked questions from time to time, and Xue Rui answered them one by one.

They all nodded repeatedly. The feasibility of the plan Xue Rui proposed was clearly higher, and it was detailed down to the specifics.

Although the PowerPoint presentation wasn’t perfectly polished, it was incredibly information-dense. It covered a wide range of industries and demographics, showing a broader perspective than even their own.

After listening, Qingfeng felt invigorated. The market analysis done by this supposed layman, Xue Rui, was remarkably similar to his own plans. It even aligned perfectly with the strategies of some top internet tycoons, and he found it immensely beneficial.

Xue Rui noticed Qingfeng’s reaction. ’There are so many capable people in this world,’ he thought. ’I’m looking back from the future, yet this guy can get on the same page as me instantly. He’s a real talent.’

Qingfeng raised his hands and applauded. He was more interested in Xue Rui as a person than in the game itself.

He joked, "You’d probably get along well with the top figures in the internet industry. Staying in this small city is a waste of your talent. If you were to join our company, you’d have plenty of opportunities to meet them."

Xue Rui felt a bit thirsty after talking for so long, and at that exact moment, Lin Ruoxi handed him a cup of tea.

Xue Rui picked up the cup and drained it in one go. He could tell the other party was still trying to recruit him. He pinched Lin Ruoxi’s cheek and said, "Do you have beauties serving drinks? Are they as tall as her? Do they have..."

"Alright, alright." Qingfeng waved his hands dismissively.

’This kid is an absolute scoundrel,’ he thought. ’He’s perfectly normal when discussing the proposal, but the moment it turns to small talk, he becomes completely unpredictable.’

"Let’s call it a day. I’ll contact headquarters tomorrow morning and try to get a proposal ready within the next two days." Qingfeng sincerely extended his hand and shook Xue Rui’s.

The idea of recruiting Xue Rui was basically dead in the water, but he was more than happy to make a friend of him.

After the dinner party broke up, the woman from the legal department said, "He’s a tougher nut to crack than I expected."

"Yeah, I thought he was just some greenhorn kid, but I didn’t expect his ambition to be so huge. The reason he’s not making the game himself might be because he’s already preparing to enter the next big race," someone remarked with a sigh.

"But this restaurant is pretty nice. The rooms are comparable to a five-star hotel."

"Duh, the prices are five-star too."

"Well, I’m on a business trip as per company orders. Sister Li, you have to reimburse me."

"It was President Xue’s people who brought us here. Who knows, maybe President Xue already paid for it?"

...

It was already dark when the party ended. As Xue Rui was walking through the first-floor lobby, the receptionist called out to him.

"Young Master, who is Chen Tingting?" the young woman at the front desk asked with a beaming smile.

Xue Rui’s expression changed. ’How does even the receptionist know Chen Tingting?’

"She’s a hooligan. Why, do you know her?" Xue Rui asked.

The young receptionist brought out a cake and pointed to the card. "A young lady delivered a birthday cake for you today. But didn’t you just celebrate your birthday a few days ago?"

Xue Rui glanced at it. The familiar handwriting, the familiar tone, and that glaring line: "With love, from your Chen Tingting."

"This one’s for my lunar birthday. You guys can have it."

Xue Rui left with Lin Ruoxi, not surprised that Chen Tingting knew about his family’s restaurant. After all, Chen Shen knew.

After Xue Rui left, a few of the girls started whispering again. "The girl with Xue Rui is so pretty, too. I wonder what their relationship is."

"Who knows? Aren’t all rich kids like that? You know Boss Li, the one in the sand and gravel business? He showed up with a new mistress again today..."

...

Xue Rui breathed in the cool night air, feeling how quickly time was passing.

It was already the end of April, and summer vacation was just around the corner.

Back when he had just returned to his high school days, his mental age was much older, making him feel out of place with everyone around him. Every day felt like a year.

But now that he was fully immersed in his studies and work, every day felt fulfilling, and time flew by.

Of course, it would be even better if Chen Tingting stopped harassing him.

"What do you want for your birthday today?" Lin Ruoxi asked again.

The day was almost over, yet she had only prepared a single cake.

Xue Rui pinched Lin Ruoxi’s little face. "Did you not hear any of the discussion just now? They’re going to spend over ten million to buy our game."

A seventeen-year-old high school student was about to have an eight-figure sum in his bank account.

Although this was all part of his plan, he was still thrilled now that it was actually happening.

If he had a different partner, they would have started discussing how to "split the loot" long ago.

But Lin Ruoxi acted as if nothing had happened, continuously worrying about his birthday.

Lin Ruoxi thought for a moment, then said seriously, "Over ten million. That’s a lot of money."

"I want to eat noodles made by you," Xue Rui said with a smile. ’Lin Ruoxi really doesn’t care about money.’

"Then why didn’t you eat just now?" Lin Ruoxi asked.

Xue Rui smiled and patted Lin Ruoxi’s head. ’You never get a proper meal at these business dinners,’ he thought. ’But you, you little rascal, you just buried your head and scarfed down food. Now your little belly is all puffed up.’

"Their food isn’t as delicious as yours," Xue Rui said.

Hearing this, a faint smile appeared in the corners of Lin Ruoxi’s eyes. The fact that Xue Rui liked her cooking was what made her happiest.

Xue Rui sighed helplessly. ’If it were Gu Muxue, she would have definitely handled every detail with grace. Gu Qingshan’s presence here today was probably also due to Gu Muxue’s urging.’

This girl, Lin Ruoxi, though gentle and considerate, still couldn’t handle situations with lots of people. She didn’t dare to look up, so naturally, she didn’t notice when someone was trying to get food.

"In the future, when we’re eating, glance at them once in a while. Don’t spin the lazy Susan when someone is trying to take food," Xue Rui instructed.

"Mm, okay." Lin Ruoxi thought for a moment. ’So that was the problem?’ she wondered.

In truth, Lin Ruoxi had made many blunders during the dinner. Xue Rui just picked the biggest one.

’As for the others? She probably wouldn’t learn even if I taught her. It’s better to just let her bury her head and eat. People will get used to it over time anyway.’

’This girl just can’t learn the ways of the world. If I let her go out on her own, I can’t imagine how much she’d suffer.’

Lin Ruoxi had suffered silently many times back in her village. But fortunately, rural areas are societies built on personal relationships. Generations lived in the same place, so even the most malicious person wouldn’t dare to blow things out of proportion, or they wouldn’t be able to show their face in the surrounding villages.

All in all, the moral baseline in the countryside was much higher than in the city. Even if there was a conflict, the worst that could happen was a brawl involving relatives. It was precisely because of this that Lin Ruoxi’s innocence had been preserved.

But the city would eat you alive and not even spit out the bones. Many people, without even realizing it, would end up losing their fortunes and their lives.

"Also, don’t curse at people anymore."

"But you told me to," Lin Ruoxi said weakly.

There were always people leaving negative reviews for the game Xue Rui designed. She got angry every time she saw them but didn’t know what to do.

But Xue Rui had told her before that if someone made her unhappy, she should curse back at them, so she did.

Xue Rui was at a loss for words, not knowing how to answer Lin Ruoxi’s question.

He had indeed said that, but when Lin Ruoxi cursed at people, it was more like she was pouting. It had zero aggression; cursing was the same as not cursing at all.

"Then I won’t curse anymore," Lin Ruoxi said obediently.

"You really have a screw loose, don’t you? Come on, let’s go back and eat cake." Xue Rui put his arm over Lin Ruoxi’s shoulder, and the two of them swayed as they walked back.

Lin Ruoxi tilted her head, trying to make it more comfortable for Xue Rui to rest his arm on her.

Xue Rui always said she had a screw loose. She had searched online for a long time but still couldn’t figure out which screw she was missing.

Still, Lin Ruoxi thought whatever Xue Rui said was right.

「Lin Ruoxi’s home.」

Lin Ruoxi made a bowl of noodles for Xue Rui according to his usual preferences. Then she remembered it was his birthday, and on one’s birthday, one should eat longevity noodles.

So, she made the entire bowl with just a single noodle.

Xue Rui never bit through his noodles when he ate, but today he found that this noodle was extraordinarily long. Half of it was already in his stomach, and he still hadn’t finished slurping up the part in his mouth.

"Is there only one?" Xue Rui couldn’t help but ask.

"Mhm, I read online that longevity noodles are supposed to be a single strand," Lin Ruoxi nodded.

’I should just hurry up and finish it,’ Xue Rui thought. ’It can’t be easy to pull a single noodle this long. A non-professional wouldn’t be able to do it. Lin Ruoxi must have practiced for a long time.’

"Do you... do you want to see me in black stockings? I read online that boys like seeing that."