Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

Gu Qingshan felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. He didn’t know what to do.

’Is it what I think it is?’

’No, that can’t be right. The door’s still open! Aren’t they even trying to be discreet?’

’That brat Xue Rui is way too audacious!’

With no time to hesitate, Gu Qingshan grabbed a nearby flowerpot from the staircase and stormed in, his face dark.

"Dad, what are you doing with that flowerpot? Are we taking this back to our ancestral home?" Gu Muxue asked in surprise.

Xue Rui and Gu Qingshan’s eyes met, and in that instant, they both understood. Gu Muxue’s earlier cries had made Gu Qingshan jump to the wrong conclusion...

He gave Gu Qingshan an awkward smile. ’Damn, Director Gu is ruthless,’ he thought. ’He came right at me with a flowerpot—a solid one, too!’

’If I’d really tried anything, I’d probably be carried out of here feet first.’

The innocent Gu Muxue, oblivious to the psychological battle between the two men, was still asking Gu Qingshan why he was holding the flowerpot.

"Oh, your grandfather loves his flowers and plants. I saw this one looked nice, so I thought I’d bring it over for him," Gu Qingshan said calmly, shooting a piercing glare at Xue Rui.

The look clearly meant, ’Get your filthy hands off her!’

Xue Rui smiled sheepishly and removed his hand from Gu Muxue’s delicate shoulder.

When Gu Muxue noticed he had stopped, her brow furrowed. "Xiaorui, did I tell you to stop?"

Xue Rui shot Gu Qingshan an innocent look, as if to say this really wasn’t his fault.

Gu Qingshan took a deep breath. "Xue’er, let’s head back to the village once you’re about done packing."

"Okay, I’ll be ready in a minute," Gu Muxue nodded.

After getting her confirmation, Gu Qingshan left the bedroom. ’If Xue Rui stays with my daughter any longer, I’m going to lose my mind!’ he thought.

’He’s already massaging her shoulders. What’s next? A little bit of contact here, a little there... eventually, things will get out of hand!’

He had been young once, too. He knew you couldn’t always blame young people; hormones made them do impulsive things.

"Xiaorui, I’m celebrating the New Year in my village this year. I heard my dad say our villages aren’t that far apart, are they?" Gu Muxue said.

She felt a pang of regret. Why hadn’t she ever talked to Xue Rui about their families back when they were at school?

If she had known, they could have spent their New Year holidays playing together as kids.

"They’re not far. My dad even paid your grandfather a visit last year," Xue Rui said with a smile.

Gu Muxue gritted her teeth in frustration. She felt it was all Xue Rui’s fault for describing his family as being so poor!

She had never felt comfortable asking about his family, afraid she would damage his pride.

The more Gu Muxue thought about it, the more annoyed she became. She turned and gave his wrist a light bite.

"Oww! That hurts!" Xue Rui yelped.

Startled, Gu Muxue gave him a light slap and whispered, "What are you shouting for? I didn’t even bite you that hard."

’If my family hears, they’ll think I’m bullying him!’

Gu Qingshan, who had just stepped out, heard Xue Rui’s yelp...

"Not a single good one in that whole Xue family..." Gu Qingshan muttered under his breath.

Zhao Lizhen saw her husband coming downstairs with the flowerpot and asked, surprised, "You’re bringing that, too?"

"Yeah, let’s bring it," Gu Qingshan said curtly.

Xue Rui and Gu Muxue came downstairs as well. Xue Rui glanced at the girl’s tote bag and saw it was stuffed with a thick stack of study guides.

Xue Rui was speechless. "Muxue, the holiday is only a few days long. You don’t really need to bring these, do you?"

"Hmph. I brought them for you. I’m going to make sure you do your review problems," Gu Muxue said, looking smug.

She had discovered that Xue Rui would instantly wilt whenever the topic of grades came up, which made him very easy to manage.

"..." Xue Rui had actually suspected as much.

After helping Gu Muxue load her luggage into the trunk, he got into the car with her, all under Gu Qingshan’s hostile glare.

"Uncle Gu, I’m heading back to my village, too. Mind giving me a lift since it’s on the way?" Xue Rui said brazenly.

"Sure, let’s go," Zhao Lizhen said. She didn’t mind; the two villages weren’t far from each other anyway.

Hearing her voice, Xue Rui glanced over and was surprised to see Zhao Lizhen in the driver’s seat. Gu Qingshan was sitting comfortably in the passenger seat, looking completely accustomed to the arrangement.

’So the woman is the driver in the Gu Family?’ Xue Rui thought. ’That’s a rare sight.’

He shot an envious glance their way. ’Gu Qingshan’s had a damn good life,’ he thought. ’To have such a great wife.’

It had just snowed a few days before the New Year, and the roads were slick. The car moved slowly, taking half an hour just to leave the city limits.

"We spent last year’s holiday in Jiangnan, and this year we’re celebrating in the village..." Gu Muxue patiently explained to Xue Rui.

Xue Rui listened intently. ’Gu Qingshan’s arrangement is pretty fair,’ he thought. ’He’s not favoring one side of the family over the other.’

Once they were out of the city, the scenery became much more beautiful.

Hedong was a basin surrounded by mountains. The peaks rose in overlapping layers, and wisps of smoke curled up from the villages nestled at their feet. With the recent snowfall, the world was a blanket of white, like a breathtaking ink wash painting created by the heavens themselves.

Gu Muxue stared dreamily at the scenery. She cracked open the window and took a deep breath of the crisp, fresh air.

Xue Rui, lulled into drowsiness by the car’s heater, suddenly felt a sliver of cold wind on his face. He turned his head to look.

"Muxue, do you know what that is?" Xue Rui asked, pointing to a vast, snow-covered field.

"I don’t know." Gu Muxue shook her head. She had noticed similar fields along the way, with hints of emerald green peeking through the snow, but she had no idea what was growing there.

"Those are chives," Xue Rui said, spouting nonsense with a perfectly straight face.

"How could they be chives? I think the little green tips look more like scallions."

"Maybe I misremembered. It must be scallions, then," Xue Rui said with a grin.

Gu Qingshan sighed helplessly. "See? This is the ’excellent’ daughter you raised. She can’t even tell one crop from another..."

Knowing she was on the losing side of this argument, Zhao Lizhen just listened quietly.

"Xue’er, those are wheat shoots. Winter wheat," Gu Qingshan corrected.

Gu Muxue’s brow furrowed. ’So Xue Rui was just teasing me? Trying to make me look foolish on purpose?’

"Jerk!" Gu Muxue muttered, pinching him on the waist.

Xue Rui clutched his side. ’So the girl really doesn’t know what wheat looks like...’

"Has no one ever told you?" Xue Rui chuckled.

"I can’t really understand the local dialect in my village, and the other kids always used to scare me with firecrackers, so I just stayed home during the holiday," Gu Muxue mumbled.

"Just you wait. This year, I’ll go to your village and get revenge for you," Xue Rui declared gallantly.

Xue Rui figured that since she spent most of her time in the city and traveled during her holidays, she rarely had a chance to interact with the people in her village.

He guessed that because of her family’s status, the villagers were overly polite and distant, and rarely talked to her about village life.

As for the kids, it was just mean-spirited fun.

As the car reached the entrance to Xue Rui’s ancestral village, Gu Qingshan said, "Stop the car."

"Uncle Gu, this isn’t quite right, is it?" Xue Rui spoke up. He was still a good walk from his house. Given Gu Qingshan’s relationship with Xie Jianfeng, he definitely knew where his family lived.

"It’s perfectly right. Young people should get more exercise," Gu Qingshan said with a grin.

Xue Rui was speechless. He had no choice but to get out of the car.

Gu Muxue was completely lost. ’What are they talking about?’ she wondered.

As the car slowly pulled away, Gu Muxue’s phone buzzed. It was a text from Xue Rui.

Xue Rui: "I’ll take you to see the fireworks tonight."

Gu Muxue sent back an angry emoji, then typed: "Didn’t you say last year that your village had no cell service?"

Xue Rui paused for a second before replying: "Don’t underestimate the speed of our infrastructure development. Just because we didn’t have it last year doesn’t mean we don’t have it this year."

Gu Muxue hesitated for a long time. If they went to see fireworks at night, would Xue Rui use the darkness as an opportunity to scare her again?

But she really wanted to go. After a moment of indecision, she texted him back a confirmation.

As Xue Rui walked home, he heard chatter coming from the village entrance’s "information bureau."

"Whose kid is that? He’s gotten so tall."

"I don’t know. He has Jianfeng’s eyes, I think."

"Which Jianfeng? You mean Old Xue’s boy?"

’Unbelievable,’ Xue Rui thought. ’This bunch of old folks nearly traced my entire family tree with just one glance.’

"Hello, Uncles," Xue Rui greeted the villagers in the local dialect.

"Well, hello there! Have you eaten? This kid’s got good manners."

"I have, thanks. What are you all growing in the greenhouses this year? How are the prices?"

"Here, Uncle, have a cigarette."

...

Xue Rui chatted with the villagers for a while and quickly picked up a lot of inside information: whose daughter was back home, who’d been on how many blind dates this year, which family’s girl got into a good university...

But that wasn’t important. His main goal was to borrow a tricycle so he could go to the nearby town and buy some fireworks in bulk.

In a village like this, as long as you mentioned your family name, no one would refuse you.

The old man who lent him the tricycle couldn’t stop praising him, saying he was much more sensible than those other kids who came back from the city.

After getting home and greeting his family, he went to buy the fireworks. Later that evening, after having dinner with his family and watching a bit of the New Year’s Gala, he began the strenuous ride on the tricycle over to Gu Muxue’s village.

Gu Muxue stood at the deserted village entrance, glancing down at her phone every so often. ’Why isn’t Xue Rui here yet?’ she wondered.

Looking up, she saw a figure approaching on a tricycle.

Xue Rui screeched to a halt, panting heavily. He rubbed his hands together and pressed them against his ears to warm them up.

There was no moon on New Year’s Eve, but in the villages of Hedong, every household kept their outdoor lights on for the holiday. The streets were adorned with all sorts of colorful little lightbulbs, a perfect embodiment of the festive spirit.

She was wearing an off-white wool coat, with boots encasing her long, slender legs, and a pair of fluffy white rabbit-ear muffs. Stamping her feet under the streetlight, her delicate features made her look like a pixie, completely at odds with the rural backdrop.

With the area so brightly lit, Gu Muxue had the home-field advantage.

Xue Rui felt it was a real shame he couldn’t tease her a little...

Seeing how red Xue Rui’s nose was from the cold, Gu Muxue reached out and gave it a gentle squeeze. Then, she took off her own fluffy white earmuffs and placed them on his head. "Here, borrow these for a while."

"So, where are we setting off the fireworks?" Gu Muxue asked.

’Do we really need to pick a spot?’ Xue Rui thought. ’Can’t we just find any open wheat field?’

"I want to try riding it," Gu Muxue said, pointing at the tricycle.

Xue Rui’s eye twitched, and he quickly waved his hands in refusal.

A pedal-powered tricycle is tricky. If you don’t get the hang of it, you’ll either flip over or just spin in circles. He and his dad had learned that the hard way...

"If you crash this thing, your dad will kill me," Xue Rui said after a moment’s thought. The consequences would be dire.

"Don’t you trust me?"

Gu Muxue frowned. What hadn’t she tried before? She could ski and surf, so how could a tricycle possibly be a challenge?

Xue Rui knew that when Gu Muxue set her mind on something, there was no talking her out of it. ’Just let her ride,’ he thought.

"Hurry up and get on!" Gu Muxue said, poised and ready.

"I don’t dare..."