Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

But what Xue Rui valued right now were Yu Minlan’s eyes, untainted by the cynicism of the world. They held the unique kindness and simplicity of a college student, making her a perfect fit to interact with Lin Ruoxi.

To be precise, it wasn’t exactly a friendship, because their statuses weren’t equal.

Still, being bound by this layer of mutual interest was a good thing. Yu Minlan’s job was now tied to Lin Ruoxi. As the old saying goes—there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.

When there was nothing else going on, he could also have Yu Minlan take Lin Ruoxi out and about. She couldn’t just stay cooped up at home soldering circuit boards all the time; that wasn’t what a girl her age should be doing.

Besides, he had to go home to be with his family on some holidays, leaving Lin Ruoxi all alone. Having the bank send her gifts for the holidays would be a nice gesture of care.

Then there was his grandmother. Her health was declining by the day, and recently she even needed help just to get downstairs.

Your seventies are a major hurdle. Thankfully, his grandmother had made it through, but her aging was visible to the naked eye, and her physical functions had declined significantly.

His grandmother had mentioned to him before that she was considering moving into a nursing home...

Once they were in college, if anything came up back home, Yu Minlan could run errands for Lin Ruoxi.

...

"Xue Rui likes to eat shrimp, but he doesn’t like the shells."

"He likes to eat the sweetest, center part of a watermelon."

Lin Ruoxi chatted with Bank President Yang for a long time. He didn’t try to steer the conversation, simply letting her talk about her daily life.

Bank President Yang realized Lin Ruoxi was just an innocent little girl, like a child.

’But what is all this nonsense she’s spouting? Who likes eating shrimp shells?’

And since most of the conversation revolved around Xue Rui, he couldn’t help but ask, "What is your relationship with Mr. Xue?"

’One is named Xue, the other Lin. They’re probably not immediate family.’

The girl was so beautiful that Bank President Yang’s first guess was that she was Xue Rui’s girlfriend.

Lin Ruoxi thought for a moment. ’What is my relationship with Xue Rui?’

’Employee and boss? Classmates? Bunkmates?’

She thought for a long time but couldn’t figure it out. But then she remembered this was a bank, and Xue Rui had just called her a little rich girl...

Lin Ruoxi paused. "Um, I’m going to be his sugar mommy."

Bank President Yang was amused, but as a trained professional, he didn’t actually laugh. He suppressed a smile, thinking, ’Who’s the sugar mommy and who’s the sugar baby here?’

’Young couples these days sure are playful.’

"Bank President Yang, how about you have Yu Minlan handle Lin Ruoxi’s affairs from now on? I can see they get along quite well," Xue Rui said with a smile.

Bank President Yang beamed. "No problem. Xiaoyu has a conscientious work ethic. I trust her."

"Help her open an account. A sum of money will be transferred in over the next few days," Xue Rui said to Yu Minlan.

After completing the paperwork, Yu Minlan returned with an identical black card and presented it respectfully to Lin Ruoxi.

"With Mr. Xue’s credit backing her, we made an exception and issued Ms. Lin a Diamond Card directly," Bank President Yang said with a smile.

This client, Xue Rui, had fallen into his lap out of nowhere, leaving him thrilled for a long time. He’d certainly never seen a client with nearly a hundred million in personal savings.

Of course, a premium client like this had to be kept strictly confidential to prevent competitors from poaching him with higher interest rates.

But now it seemed this Yu Minlan girl had a pretty good relationship with Xue Rui. Maintaining the client relationship would depend on her from now on.

"What time do you all get off work?" Xue Rui asked casually.

Bank President Yang said, "Xiaoyu, you can head home for the day. Get your materials ready, and we can process your conversion to a full-time employee tomorrow."

Yu Minlan’s heart hammered. Only now could she be certain she had secured an iron rice bowl. Her parents could finally stop worrying.

"We’re still high school students, and occasionally we have academic questions. We’d like to consult this college student here," Xue Rui said with a broad smile.

Bank President Yang chuckled. How could he not understand the meaning behind Xue Rui’s words?

’A tycoon with a cash flow in the hundreds of millions could find help anywhere. Why specifically seek out an intern from his bank?’

Seeing Yu Minlan’s dazed expression, Bank President Yang couldn’t help but say, "From now on, if Mr. Xue or Ms. Lin need you for anything, you are to help them immediately."

"Okay." Yu Minlan nodded repeatedly.

’Why her? Am I not as pretty as she is?’ the woman behind the manager grumbled internally. She felt that Yu Minlan had just gotten ridiculously lucky.

She sighed. Now that Yu Minlan was attached to a client of this caliber, she would never be able to order the intern around again.

"Xiaoyu, bring in the sign from the entrance," a veteran employee in his thirties said.

Yu Minlan instinctively moved to carry the huge advertising stand, but Bank President Yang spoke up. "Don’t you people have hands?"

Everyone was taken aback. ’What’s gotten into the president? Sticking up for an intern?’

"I’ll get it." The manager chuckled and, with the security guard, carried the sign inside.

Bank President Yang pointed at Yu Minlan and announced, "From now on, she is a full-time employee."

After the group was escorted out of the bank, Yu Minlan subconsciously followed in Xue Rui’s footsteps. It was still working hours, but the president had told her she could leave for the day. She didn’t know where to go or what to do.

Breathing in the biting air and gazing up at the high, distant late-winter sky, Yu Minlan sobered up a little. The entire afternoon had felt like a dream.

"Why are you following me?" Xue Rui asked with a laugh.

"I don’t know. What am I supposed to do if I’m not at work?" Yu Minlan looked completely lost.

"You didn’t catch what your bank president meant?" Xue Rui said, suppressing a laugh.

Yu Minlan unwrapped a White Rabbit creamy candy, but Xue Rui snatched it away and popped it into Lin Ruoxi’s mouth. "What Bank President Yang meant was that you don’t have to be at your desk anymore. Whenever you want to skip work, just say Lin Ruoxi needs you. Then you can go shopping or do whatever you want."

Yu Minlan was dumbfounded. ’Is that even allowed?’

She thought about it. If it was really a personal deposit of thirty million, her performance numbers alone would surpass those of many others. There really was no need for her to be at her desk.

"In that case, I can tutor Classmate Lin. I am a Tier 1 university student, after all." Yu Minlan felt she needed to maintain a good relationship with Lin Ruoxi. Xue Rui had just said that what he valued was her status as a college student.

’A college student’s brain is practically rusting over,’ Xue Rui thought. ’How could it compare to Lin Ruoxi’s brand-new one?’

He patted Lin Ruoxi’s head. "Tell her what you usually score on your tests."

Lin Ruoxi, chewing the creamy candy, mumbled, "You told me not to talk while eating."

Xue Rui chuckled. "But you just spoke, didn’t you?"

Lin Ruoxi paused for a second. "Oh, right. I score 747."

"..." Yu Minlan was lost again. ’This girl is a top student? Just three points away from a perfect score? Doesn’t that mean she’s a shoo-in for Qingbei?’

’And I just boasted about being a Tier 1 university student...’ she thought. ’That backfired quickly.’

’Then what value did she have? Why did he choose her?’

"I won’t be holding back when I need you to run errands in the future," Xue Rui said roguishly.

"You..." Yu Minlan subconsciously hugged her arms to her chest. ’So this is how the world really works,’ she thought.

’A woman has to pay a steep price to climb the ladder. If I refuse, I’ll lose this local job opportunity.’ She thought of her aging parents, and how she was their only daughter...

Xue Rui could tell what Yu Minlan was thinking with a single glance. He leaned on Lin Ruoxi’s shoulder and pinched her cheek, which smelled faintly of cream candy. "Do you really think I’d be interested in you?"

Yu Minlan looked at Lin Ruoxi’s delicate, flawless face, so beautiful it made her own heart tremble slightly.

She gave an awkward laugh and breathed a long sigh of relief internally. "Right..."

"I’ll just have you run some errands in the future. Don’t stress about it," Xue Rui said with a smile.

That’s just how kind people are. If he didn’t give Yu Minlan some clear expectations, she would constantly worry and overthink things.

「Meanwhile, at the bank’s entrance.」

"President, what does that young man’s family do? How does he have so much money?" the manager couldn’t help but ask.

Bank President Yang sighed. "His family is quite wealthy, but that has nothing to do with his savings. He earned that money himself."

"Seventeen years old, and he earned a hundred million? What line of work is he in?" The manager’s breathing grew heavy.

"Xue Rui didn’t hide it from me. He said it was from video games, and a bit of dabbling in cryptocurrency. Anyway, I looked it up online. When it drops, it drops harder than the A-shares market. I definitely don’t have the guts for it. He deserves to make that money. Young people these days are truly incredible..."

"..."

"In any case, keep Xue Rui’s affairs strictly confidential. From now on, let Yu Minlan do whatever she wants. Don’t meddle with her," Bank President Yang instructed.

"I understand..."