Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

"How about a bite before you go?"

Lin Ruoxi held the chocolate pie up to Xue Rui’s mouth.

She didn’t want to cut the whole pie, but she wanted Xue Rui to have the first bite.

Xue Rui couldn’t help but laugh. ’This girl always gets hung up on the weirdest things,’ he thought. ’She likes to eat her flatbread whole, clutches half a watermelon to eat it, and now she’s doing the same with this chocolate pie.’

He lowered his head and took a huge bite of the chocolate pie.

The pie had just been taken out of the fridge, so the chocolate coating on top was frozen solid. When he bit down, he broke off a large piece, and now a big chunk of chocolate was stuck to his lip.

As the chocolate made contact with his lip, the edges began to melt, and it looked like it was about to fall off.

Lin Ruoxi’s face lit up when she saw Xue Rui take a bite, but her brow furrowed when she saw the piece of chocolate about to fall.

With her hands full, she anxiously stood on her tiptoes and caught the chocolate with her mouth.

Xue Rui’s pupils contracted, and his heart pounded. They were both biting the same piece of chocolate, their lips mere inches apart.

His gaze was fixed on Lin Ruoxi’s face, but her attention was entirely on the chocolate...

After Lin Ruoxi caught the chocolate, her almond-shaped eyes curved up in a smile.

’Good thing the chocolate didn’t fall on the floor.’

In the end, Lin Ruoxi wrapped a scarf around Xue Rui’s neck, loop after loop, and saw him downstairs.

Xue Rui took a deep breath of the outdoor air. The frigid air was mixed with the smell of various fried New Year’s goods, stinging his throat like a drag from a cigarette and clearing his head considerably.

He licked the chocolate from his lips. It was cloyingly sweet.

Just as he reached the corner, he glanced back and saw Lin Ruoxi secretly licking her fingers.

When Lin Ruoxi saw Xue Rui look back, she quickly hid her hands behind her back.

She had just been licking the chocolate off her fingers when she suddenly remembered Xue Rui saying that licking one’s fingers was unhygienic.

Xue Rui shook his head with a wry smile. ’What is this? I haven’t even tried to make a move, so why is it always Lin Ruoxi taking advantage of me?’

’Don’t tell me this girl was born to be my weakness?’

"Forget it, I’m going to be late."

Xue Rui muttered to himself, grabbed the gift he had prepared, and hurried over to Gu Muxue’s house.

As he entered Gu Muxue’s residential community, Xue Rui felt a little apprehensive.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of Gu Qingshan, but that he hadn’t fulfilled the promise he’d made to Gu Muxue.

Last time, during her birthday party, Gu Muxue had made a wish for him to get into the top thirty in their grade.

’Yup, she’d been that blunt about it; it was basically an explicit demand.’

At the time, Xue Rui had confidently agreed, guaranteeing he would do it on the final exams. In his previous life, he really had that kind of ability, so he believed he could do it with a little extra effort.

However, now it was almost the New Year, and the results of the last final exams were out—he had been pushed out of the top fifty.

Xue Rui felt like he had triggered a butterfly effect. His scores had definitely improved a bit compared to his previous life, so getting into the top thirty should have been a sure thing.

But in this life, the students at No. 2 High were just too competitive! Xue Rui simply couldn’t keep up.

However, his total score was still steadily increasing. It was just his ranking within the school that had dropped, which wouldn’t affect the college entrance exams in a few months.

Gu Muxue had spent a lot of energy helping him study. While their classmates were all working hard to raise their own scores, she was worrying about his. Her own rank had even dropped to third in the grade on the latest finals, with Hong Zihan taking second place...

But Xue Rui didn’t have the nerve to use that as an excuse.

"Forget it, I’ll just apologize to Teacher Gu and have a good attitude about it." Xue Rui sighed. ’I really shot my mouth off back then,’ he thought.

At Gu Muxue’s house.

Although it was a high-end villa district, it was exceptionally deserted during the New Year. Hedong was a late-developing city, and most of the wealthy people had come from rural areas, so they returned to their villages for the holiday.

When Xue Rui went inside, he found the Gu Family’s main door wide open. He saw Gu Qingshan and Zhao Lizhen packing things up.

"Uncle Gu, Aunt Zhao, are you two heading out?" Xue Rui asked in surprise.

This was also his first time coming to Gu Muxue’s house on New Year’s Eve, so he didn’t know what the Gu Family’s plans were for the holiday.

’Are they leaving for Jiangnan now?’

"Xiaorui, are you here to see Xue’er? You should’ve just come, no need to bring gifts," Zhao Lizhen said with a smile as she welcomed Xue Rui inside.

She often went shopping with Ren Qunfang; the two families were very close.

Besides, her own daughter was always running over to Xue Rui’s house. Although she always said she was going to play with Xue Yao, how could a mother like her not see the truth? Was she really going to see Yaoyao?

But her daughter didn’t have many friends, so she allowed it. The main reason, however, was that Xue Rui was mature enough and acted with propriety, so she wasn’t worried about her daughter’s safety.

"I mainly came to see you and Uncle Gu," Xue Rui said with a smile, carrying the gift into the house.

Gu Qingshan frowned. He wasn’t sure what to say right now.

He didn’t approve of Xue Rui’s attitude, but the kid was indeed much more capable than his peers, especially when it came to life skills.

From what he knew, Xue Rui had earned at least thirty to forty million this year and was already financially independent.

"Uncle Gu," Xue Rui said with a smile.

He had never told Gu Qingshan to keep his money-making a secret because he felt he didn’t need to. Gu Qingshan knew what was appropriate and wouldn’t blab about it to outsiders.

Moreover, Gu Qingshan definitely wouldn’t mention it to his father. Wouldn’t that be like praising him indirectly? It would only make Xie Jianfeng push his luck.

So, quite a few people knew about his net worth now, like Bank President Yang from the Agricultural Bank, Yu Minlan, and Gu Qingshan...

But for various reasons, they all kept their mouths shut.

"Xiaorui, the college entrance exams are in a few months, right? I have an old friend in the United Kingdom. I can write you a letter of introduction. You should go study abroad there. The international rankings are even higher than Qingbei’s. I’ve already talked it over with your dad," Gu Qingshan said cheerfully.

Xue Rui’s eye twitched. ’Why is Gu Qingshan still thinking about this?’

For anyone else, this would be a golden opportunity, but Xue Rui could see it for what it was: a blatant attempt to separate him and Gu Muxue, to exile him to a foreign land.

"Uncle Gu, my English is too poor, and I’m afraid of traveling far from home," Xue Rui replied, rejecting the offer.

Zhao Lizhen was taking stock of the gifts and was a bit surprised to hear Xue Rui’s reply. "Don’t worry, Xiaorui. Auntie has relatives over there. You can just board with them. And poor English isn’t a big problem."

Xue Rui sighed and said with a serious expression, "Actually, that’s not it. I have a deep love for this land. I want to contribute to the construction of our motherland. The younger generation can’t all just run off to other countries."

Xue Rui had suddenly elevated the topic to a whole new level, making Gu Qingshan’s eye twitch again.

But, as he mulled over Xue Rui’s words, he realized his tone and expression didn’t seem like he was joking.

Since Xue Rui had gone so far as to say something like that, what more could he say?

"Fair enough," Gu Qingshan sighed. ’If only every young person thought that way,’ he thought.

To be honest, he was very gratified to hear Xue Rui say that.

"Go on, Xue’er is upstairs packing," Zhao Lizhen said with a smile and a wave of her hand. ’The two kids have such a good relationship,’ she thought. ’I wonder if Ren Qunfang and I will end up as in-laws.’

"Alrighty," Xue Rui agreed with a nod.

After Xue Rui went upstairs, Gu Qingshan shot his wife a glare. "Letting the wolf into the house! Don’t you know how old they are?"

"Xue’er runs over to Xiaorui’s house every day. If Xiaorui is a wolf, it’s already too late," Zhao Lizhen said, beaming.

"..." Gu Qingshan was speechless. He lowered his head and went back to organizing the gifts.

Inside Gu Muxue’s room.

Gu Muxue was holding a small teddy bear, a birthday gift from Xue Rui. She had developed a habit of hugging it to sleep every night.

’Now that I’m going back to my family’s old home for a few days, will my relatives laugh at me for being childish if I bring the teddy bear?’

She was very conflicted. She hugged the bear and rubbed it against her face.

The girl thought for a moment, then decided to put the teddy bear in her suitcase. She used the built-in straps to secure it, then pinched the bear’s cheek and whispered a curse: "Jerk!"

"Hm? I’m here," Xue Rui responded.

"Ah!?" Gu Muxue jumped in fright and hurriedly shut the lid of her suitcase.

She looked up to see Xue Rui leaning against the doorframe with a beaming smile.

"When did you get here? What did you see?" Gu Muxue asked, her cheeks puffed up in anger.

’If Xue Rui saw all that, how embarrassing would that be?’

Xue Rui put on an innocent look. "I didn’t see anything. I was just playing with it."

As he spoke, Xue Rui scooped up a pure white cat from his feet.

"Xiaobu, you have to vouch for me," Xue Rui said to the cat.

"Meow~" Xiaobu cried out delicately.

"I speak cat. It says I just arrived," Xue Rui said with a deadpan expression.

"Meow~"

"What? You’re saying you want some fish?"

...

Watching Xue Rui talk to himself and a cat, Gu Muxue couldn’t help but laugh. ’Xue Rui is so interesting,’ she thought. ’He can even chat with a cat for ages.’

The girl’s smile was radiant, the joy blooming in the corners of her eyes like peach blossoms in early spring, dyeing the whole room pink.

Looking at the bright and cozy bedroom, Xue Rui thought to himself, ’This girl is still quite childish at heart. There are so many toys and crafts that I don’t recognize.’

’Most of them are the cute kind, though.’

"Xiaobu, I haven’t asked if you’re a boy or a girl yet." Xue Rui lifted the cat above his head, searching for two non-existent things.

"Not there, so it’s a girl?" Xue Rui muttered to himself.

Gu Muxue’s expression changed instantly. She was both embarrassed and angry. Even though it was just a cat, Xue Rui’s behavior was so rude!

She snatched Xiaobu away from him and rubbed the cat’s head in her arms.

"Meow~" Xiaobu cried out again.

After Gu Muxue put Xiaobu down on the floor, the cat ran right back to Xue Rui’s side and rubbed its little head against his leg, as if trying to curry favor.

"Xiaobu seems to like you a lot," Gu Muxue said with a smile.

However, after the words left her mouth, she realized something felt off about them and quickly corrected herself, "Xiaobu said that. I actually understand cat language too."

Xue Rui held back his laughter. ’Has this girl’s tsundere level really reached this point?’ he thought.

Seeing the grin on Xue Rui’s face, Gu Muxue suddenly felt a surge of anger. "You promised me last time that you’d get into the top thirty in our grade."

’Trouble,’ Xue Rui thought. ’We’re on this topic again.’

"Teacher Gu, it’s the New Year. Can we not talk about this?" Xue Rui walked over to Gu Muxue’s side with an appeasing look and reached out to massage the girl’s shoulders.

Xue Rui felt guilty. He had bragged so much last time, but in the end, he didn’t even make it into the top fifty.

"Mm, your attitude is good," Gu Muxue said, trying hard to suppress a smile. ’So you have days like this, too,’ she thought.

"A little to the right."

"Alrighty~"

"Hiss~ Ouch, be gentler," Gu Muxue chided playfully.

Gu Qingshan had just reached the second floor when he heard his daughter say that. He felt like his world was collapsing.