Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

Xue Rui patted the snow off his butt and stood up.

But Gu Muxue, a wide grin on her face, grabbed Xue Rui’s hand. She deliberately let her hips sink, using his body to pull herself up.

Xue Rui leaned his face in. Gu Muxue subconsciously took a step back, thinking he was about to push his luck.

However, Xue Rui pressed his face close to her ear. "Let me pat the snow off for you."

Gu Muxue jumped in alarm and quickly started patting herself down with her small hands. If she didn’t, Xue Rui was going to start patting her butt.

"Jerk!" Gu Muxue cursed through gritted teeth.

"What? Can’t hear you." Xue Rui could tell from her lips that she was cursing him, but he deliberately leaned his ear closer.

Gu Muxue stood on her tiptoes and brought her face to Xue Rui’s ear. "I said, jerk!"

Gu Muxue’s voice was so loud, more deafening than the fireworks outside, that Xue Rui felt his eardrum tingle.

’Since she’s messing with me like this, she can’t blame me for taking advantage a little.’

The two were very close. Xue Rui wrapped his arms around Gu Muxue and slightly lifted one of her fuzzy earmuffs with his hand.

Gu Muxue squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation, bracing herself for Xue Rui’s retaliation. But after a long moment, she realized he wasn’t trying to startle her like she had done to him.

A cunning smile flashed in the corner of the young woman’s eyes, and she bit down on Xue Rui’s shoulder.

Xue Rui felt a piece of his shoulder being bitten, and it seemed like Gu Muxue was saying something, too. At any rate, he could feel the vibrations from her vocal cords.

’This girl is probably muttering some shady things again, or cursing me,’ he thought.

While Gu Muxue was busy making a fuss on his shoulder, Xue Rui slipped a red envelope into her coat pocket.

After a good while, Gu Muxue had finally vented her feelings. She felt that the new year was truly wonderful. She smiled and said, "Happy New Year!"

"Yeah, Happy New Year," Xue Rui replied.

It was already past midnight. She had to get home quickly; she had already secretly hung up on Old Gu twice.

"My dad is rushing me to get back."

Gu Muxue thought for a moment, then took off her earmuffs and put them on Xue Rui’s head. He still had a long walk ahead of him, while she could get home in just a few minutes.

She ran a few steps before realizing Xue Rui wasn’t coming with her. Instead, he was cleaning up the used firework tubes in the wheat field.

’How could I have forgotten about that? Xue Rui is much more considerate...’ she thought with a pang of guilt.

Gu Muxue turned back to help Xue Rui clean up...

...

Humming a little tune, Xue Rui pedaled his tricycle leisurely back to the village, only to find his dad still setting off firecrackers at the entrance.

"Dad, aren’t you tired? I’ve been watching this all night," Xue Rui said, speechless.

His dad had been the one setting off the fireworks earlier. Now it was almost one in the damn morning, and Xie Jianfeng was still at it.

"Here, there are still a dozen or so boxes left. You can help me set them off." Xie Jianfeng lit a cigarette, handed it to Xue Rui, and stared at his son’s fingernails.

Xue Rui casually took the cigarette. Xie Jianfeng nodded in satisfaction. Although Xue Rui accepted the cigarette naturally, his fingernails weren’t stained yellow, which meant he didn’t smoke much.

"Why do you buy so many every year?" Xue Rui complained.

Xie Jianfeng sighed. "This is how many we set off in previous years. If I don’t set off a lot of firecrackers this year, people will think our business is failing. The gossip in the village can be vicious."

Xue Rui’s mouth twitched. His dad was a very worldly person; he only set off fireworks to show off how much money he had.

Because fireworks, no matter the era, were always a minor luxury.

"Then you shouldn’t have set off so many in the first place," Xue Rui said, looking exhausted. He’d spent the whole day setting off fireworks.

"You’re right. Some things, you just can’t set a bad precedent." Xie Jianfeng thought his son had a point.

If he hadn’t been such a show-off when he first got rich, he wouldn’t be stuck setting off fireworks until one or two in the morning now.

He wasn’t worried about his own reputation, but he was afraid the old man of the family would be gossiped about behind his back, with people saying the business was failing and so on.

Xie Jianfeng yawned and went back inside to sleep, leaving Xue Rui alone at the entrance to set off fireworks until one-thirty...

"I’ve actually become the very thing I hate," Xue Rui muttered, stuffing the lighter into his pocket.

He suddenly felt a red envelope. ’Didn’t I just secretly slip one into Gu Muxue’s pocket?’ he wondered.

He felt it slightly; it was thicker than the one he had given.

A line of text was written on the front of the envelope: "Let’s grow up together in the New Year. You’re half a year older than me, so here’s some New Year’s money to ’suppress your age’."

Xue Rui was all too familiar with this handwriting. It was Gu Muxue’s.

Xue Rui shook his head with a wry smile. ’This girl actually slipped a red envelope to me too, and even said it was to ’suppress my age’. Does she want me to age slower?’

But he was so sleepy right now, he just wanted to lie down on the kang bed and sleep.

...

「The next morning.」

After breakfast, Xue Rui’s throat felt hoarse. He had to drink several glasses of water before it started to feel better.

"Grandma, please don’t make the kang so hot in the future. I’m about to dry out," Xue Rui said with a pained expression.

He didn’t know if it was because of the snow, but his grandma had made the kang bed especially hot. Last night, the room had felt like a giant dryer, and his nostrils were aching from the dryness.

He turned his head and saw Xue Yao with tissue stuffed in her nostrils.

"Bro, you’re sleeping by the wall tonight," Xue Yao said, her face dark.

"Got a nosebleed?" Xue Rui gloated.

The house in their old hometown had never been rebuilt; Grandpa thought it was a waste of money. As a result, there was never enough space during the New Year. He, Xue Yao, and Xue Xiaying were all squeezed onto one kang bed. Xue Yao had foolishly taken the spot against the wall, which was the hottest part.

"Grandpa, let’s rebuild the house. My dad said he’ll pay for it," Xue Rui said.

He wasn’t a kid anymore. He couldn’t keep squeezing in with two young women. Besides, what would happen when he got married in the future?

Sooner or later, the house wouldn’t be big enough.

"What’s the point of spending that money? It’s not like we can’t sleep by squeezing together. We just have to make do for a few days during the New Year. You guys don’t come back normally anyway." Grandpa waved his hand, dismissing Xue Rui’s suggestion.

He felt that his son and grandson didn’t know how to manage their lives properly. ’What if something happens in the future?’

In any case, he had saved all the money Xie Jianfeng gave him. He planned to give it all back to his son and grandson if things went south in the future, considering it a safety net he could provide for the younger generation while he was still alive.

"That won’t work. Haven’t you thought about what I’ll do when I get married?" Xue Rui complained.

"Hiss~" Grandpa lit a cigarette and smacked his lips on the holder, falling into thought.

After hesitating for a moment, Grandpa said, "We’ll build the house after you find a wife."

Xue Rui said calmly, "By the time I find one, it’ll be too late."

"Then bring one back for me to see, and I’ll start building right away," Grandpa said with a chuckle. ’The boys in my family are all so sensible, planning for their lives so early,’ he thought.

"You promise?" Xue Rui said, tilting his head.

"I promise!" Grandpa patted his chest.

Xue Rui turned his head with a grin and called Gu Muxue. "Muxue, how about you come to my village and pick me up? I bought a ton of poppers. We can go get revenge on those kids."

"Really? I’ll come get you right now," Gu Muxue shouted joyfully.

She had long been annoyed by that gang of little brats. Every year, it was the same group of kids chasing her around, either scaring her with firecrackers or threatening to wipe their snot on her...

As the call ended, Grandpa felt something was off. ’What was that phone call just now about?’

"Dad, I won’t be home for lunch," Ren Qunfang said with a smile, greeting Xue Rui’s grandpa.

"Go on, go on." Grandpa smiled, not paying it much mind. It was just one meal.

Xue Rui thought, ’Mom’s mahjong addiction is really something. She plays from the first day of the New Year to the fifteenth.’

Ren Qunfang noticed her son’s somewhat disdainful gaze, and her face immediately darkened. She pulled Xue Rui outside the main gate. "Why didn’t you spend the New Year with Xixi this year?"

Xue Rui was speechless. How could he go every single year? Would his grandparents be happy about that?

"I went yesterday," Xue Rui said.

’Yu Minlan is definitely with her this New Year, so Lin Ruoxi won’t be that lonely,’ he thought.

"I’m going to Xixi’s place for lunch and will be back tonight. Let your grandma know." Ren Qunfang dangled her car keys and left with a flourish.

Xue Rui stood at the entrance watching his mom leave. But just as Ren Qunfang drove off, an Audi pulled up in front of his house.

The driver was someone he didn’t recognize; he must be from Gu Muxue’s grandfather’s household.

"Xiaorui, hurry up! I just saw those kids. If we’re late, we might not be able to find them." Seeing Xue Rui not moving, Gu Muxue got out of the car and pulled on his arm.

"Don’t be hasty. My grandpa is still in the courtyard. I’ll just say goodbye to him before we go." Xue Rui clamped Gu Muxue’s arm under his.

Before Gu Muxue could even react, she was already standing in the courtyard of Xue Rui’s house.

Her eyes went wide. ’I’m... inside Xue Rui’s family home?’

Although she often went over to Xue Rui’s house, visiting his rural family home was a completely different matter. It had a special significance, as if he were introducing her to his family...

Grandpa was smoking when he saw Xue Rui leading a young girl back and nearly choked. "Fangfang?"

This girl looked so much like his daughter-in-law when she was young, it gave him the illusion that time had gone backward.

But seeing the person standing next to her, he could confirm that the girl only looked similar.

"Hello, Grandpa. I’m... Xue Rui’s classmate," Gu Muxue greeted Xue Rui’s grandfather generously.

However, she secretly reached out and pinched Xue Rui’s waist.

’Why didn’t you tell me you were going to introduce me? I specifically wore a practical tracksuit to get revenge on those little brats, and I didn’t even bring a gift!’

"Hello, hello. Whose child are you?" Grandpa asked in his clumsy Mandarin. This girl was clearly a city girl, with her fair skin and standard Mandarin accent.

"Grandpa, stop asking. She’s just my classmate, and we’re going out to hang." Enduring the pain in his waist, Xue Rui left with those words and walked out.

Grandpa muttered to himself. Xue Rui had said they were classmates, but their mannerisms suggested they had been together for many years. The girl had pinched Xue Rui’s waist and was holding his arm...

"Old woman, get out the family passbook. We’re building a new house after the New Year," Grandpa said as he walked into the room.

"Dad, you’ve come around?" Xie Jianfeng asked in surprise.

"Yeah. Enough about that. Xiaying, when are you planning to get married?" Seeing his daughter and then thinking of his grandson, Grandpa suddenly flared up with anger.

If Xue Xiaying delayed any longer, the family’s generations were going to get all mixed up!

...

"Jerk! Jerk! You did that on purpose!"