Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

The winter break for high school seniors was very short; school was set to start on the seventh day of the new year.

Over the new year, Lin Ruoxi had chatted with him every day. There wasn’t much for them to talk about, though, and to make matters worse, Lin Ruoxi didn’t know how to use stickers, so she would occasionally send Xue Rui a simple smile emoji.

Every time Xue Rui saw that emoji, the corner of his mouth would twitch. It felt like getting a cold, indifferent glance from Lin Ruoxi herself.

Yu Minlan had given him a report, saying that Lin Ruoxi had spent the whole new year at home playing on her computer, not going out at all.

’Makes sense,’ Xue Rui thought. ’That girl doesn’t have any relatives, so what else would she do besides stay home and play on her computer?’

Before heading to school, Xue Rui planned to swing by the nearby restaurant to grab some pastries for Lin Ruoxi to eat. He knew, after all, how things were run in his own family’s restaurant—it was cleaner than some other place where you couldn’t see what was happening behind the scenes.

As he entered the lobby, he gave his usual greeting to the front desk.

"Whoa—why does that girl look so much like Chen Tingting?" Xue Rui muttered to himself.

The girl was wearing one of their uniforms. ’She must just be a lookalike,’ he thought. ’But when did we hire her?’

He was about to walk past the front desk to grab some food when a familiar voice called out, "Xue Rui!"

Xue Rui was certain it was Chen Tingting. His expression soured, and he turned to leave at once.

"I’ve been waiting for you for days," Chen Tingting said, jogging a few steps to catch up.

"Manager Wang, stop her! Settle her wages and send her on her way. She has school tomorrow."

Xue Rui turned and walked away, his steps quick. ’What is this nonsense?’ he thought.

’Seriously, Chen Shen. What kind of father has his own daughter working during the new year holiday?’

Manager Wang was taken aback. When Chen Tingting first applied for the job, he hadn’t planned on hiring her, thinking she was too young.

But they had been really short-staffed at the time, and Chen Tingting had said she planned to work there long-term...

There were plenty of girls who went to work right after junior high these days, so he hadn’t paid it much mind. Plus, the girl was a quick study, mastering the restaurant’s procedures in just a day or two, and she had an excellent work ethic...

Most importantly, Chen Tingting had a great image; she was sweet and adorable.

Even if she didn’t do any work, just having her in the restaurant was like having a human "lucky cat" to draw in customers.

Manager Wang had already made Chen Tingting a name tag, given her two sets of uniforms, and was even planning to enroll her in social insurance after the new year.

But now, Xue Rui had just said Chen Tingting was starting school tomorrow. They were definitely classmates...

"Chen Tingting, didn’t you say you were here for the long term?" Manager Wang asked, blocking her path. He couldn’t believe he’d been duped by a little girl.

Chen Tingting puffed out her cheeks. "I’ll be back for every winter and summer break from now on. How is that not long-term?"

Manager Wang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This girl was full of twisted logic. And based on what he’d just seen, even Xue Rui was running from her. ’This girl is pretty amusing,’ he thought.

"All right, I’ll settle your wages for the past few days. Just leave the uniforms..." Facing such an adorable girl, Manager Wang felt utterly helpless.

Who could possibly get mad at a girl this cute?

"I’ll be back, so you can pay me then." Still in her work uniform, Chen Tingting ran out. She scanned the street but couldn’t find any sign of Xue Rui, and she stomped her foot in frustration.

"Huh?" Manager Wang was completely baffled.

He’d been in the service industry for years; what kind of person hadn’t he seen? This was the first time he’d ever met someone who refused to take their pay...

...

When Xue Rui arrived at school, Lin Ruoxi was in her usual spot, sitting in the pavilion in the middle of the senior building and carrying out her duties as a student monitor.

Her heart leaped with joy when she saw him. For some reason, a sense of peace washed over her, and the corners of her mouth slowly began to lift.

"Is she smiling?" a male student murmured.

Lin Ruoxi’s almond-shaped eyes curved as her lips tilted gently upward, forming a natural arc. Her gaze, fixed on Xue Rui, was soft and radiant, like a flawless white apricot blossom, like the first ray of dawn piercing the morning mist to drive away the deep winter chill.

The boys passing by froze in their tracks. She was just too beautiful.

In their minds, Lin Ruoxi and Gu Muxue were equally beautiful, but they were used to Gu Muxue’s smile, which they saw every day.

Lin Ruoxi, on the other hand, was rarely expressive. The students were accustomed to facing her cold and merciless gaze. Who had ever seen her smile?

Xue Rui nodded in response. Lin Ruoxi would occasionally smile like this when she was at home.

Seeing that smile, Xue Rui instantly felt a great deal of relief. He began to associate the generic "smile" emoji Lin Ruoxi sent on QQ with this genuine smile.

Now, whenever he pictured that emoji, this new smile would replace it in his mind.

He decided it wasn’t so bad after all.

A male student muttered, "I feel a lot warmer all of a sudden."

"Did spring come early?"

"But who is she smiling at?"

"I think she’s smiling at me," Xue Rui muttered from amidst the crowd.

"Xue Rui, why don’t you go take a leak and look at your own reflection?" someone sneered.

The fact that Xue Rui had grown up with Gu Muxue was already a case of insane luck. Lin Ruoxi too? They refused to believe it.

"Maybe Teacher Lin is just in a good mood today."

Qiu Mengze, who was standing next to Xue Rui with dark circles under his eyes, was also stunned by Lin Ruoxi’s smile.

He sighed. Only he knew that Xue Rui wasn’t just bragging; Lin Ruoxi really was smiling at him.

’Ah, you ignorant fools,’ he thought. ’You have no idea how despicable this beast next to you is, the one who takes everything he can get!’

"Yeah, yeah, you’re right," Xue Rui said, not bothering to argue or explain anything to them.

All he had to do was wave, and Lin Ruoxi would come right over and prove it to all of them.

But he didn’t dare. It would draw too much ire, and besides, he’d have to answer to that girl, Gu Muxue.

"Ahem," Xue Rui coughed loudly.

Lin Ruoxi froze, remembering her role at the school. She had to maintain her stern demeanor.

In an instant, Lin Ruoxi reverted to her usual serious expression, staring blankly at the students passing by.

"Damn, Master Extinction is back!" someone whispered.

"Did I just see Master Extinction smile? Must be a hallucination. The pressure of senior year is getting to me..." someone said, their brow furrowed.

"My heart skipped a beat just now, but it’s dead again."

Someone deliberately clutched their chest as they spoke, drawing a wave of laughter from the others.

...

Back in the classroom, Xue Rui looked up. On the far right side of the blackboard, the words were stark: 119 days until the college entrance exam.

Just moments before, outside the classroom, the students had been laughing and joking, still basking in the joy of the holiday and sharing fun stories with their friends.

But the moment they entered the classroom and saw those words, the atmosphere became strangely solemn.

"Only a little over a hundred days left? Does that mean the pledge rally is coming up soon?" a girl with short hair asked, her tone heavy.

Yi Bing, sitting in the back row, quickly hid his phone. Though physically in the classroom, he couldn’t bring himself to study and felt like an outcast among his peers.

The only people he could really talk to were Xue Rui, Qiu Mengze, and Lin Ruoxi...

At that thought, he picked up his stool and moved to sit next to Xue Rui and Qiu Mengze.

Xue Rui tossed his backpack onto his seat and leaned against the wall, lost in thought.

The college entrance exam was only a few months away, but he wasn’t too worried about his grades. Thanks to Gu Muxue, he had spent the last year and a half reclaiming all the knowledge he’d once "returned to his teachers." Compared to his previous life, his exam score this time should be higher, if anything.

Seeing the two dark circles under Qiu Mengze’s eyes, Xue Rui asked, "What did you do, go rustle some cattle last night?"

"Cattle rustling? My old man pulled me aside to go over the accounts all night," Qiu Mengze said with a pained expression.

Suddenly, Qiu Mengze gritted his teeth. "You remember that banquet I went to in your village a few days ago, right?"

"Yeah, I remember," Xue Rui replied. ’What does that have to do with anything?’ he wondered.

"Well, that day, someone gave a one-thousand-yuan cash gift in my name, and my relative told my dad."

"Then my dad asked me why I was putting on airs by giving a thousand when he only gave eight hundred. He demanded to know where I got the money and asked if I stole it from his stall."

"Where the hell would I get a thousand yuan? If I had that kind of cash, I’d be at the internet cafe, not giving it away as a gift!"

Qiu Mengze rattled off his complaints.

"Maybe someone just wrote it down wrong?" Xue Rui said with a smile. He was the one who had given the money.

"That’s what I said! And you know what my dad said?"

"What?"

"He said, ’Who makes a mistake when giving a gift? That’s a thousand yuan!’ My relative even double-checked the ledger, and it was definitely a thousand."

"Besides, the surname Qiu is already super rare, and for them to have the same given name as me? The person taking the records even noted that it was from a ’relative.’"

"Anyway, I proved my innocence. Now I’m just dying to know who the hell gave that money in my name," Qiu Mengze said indignantly.

Xue Rui’s stomach hurt from trying to hold in his laughter. That day, Gu Muxue hadn’t wanted to be a freeloader, so she’d asked him to give a cash gift. He hadn’t felt right using anyone else’s name, so he’d just added a bit more money and put it under Qiu Mengze’s name. He never thought it would cause such a mess.

Seeing Xue Rui’s gloating expression, Qiu Mengze’s eyes narrowed. He suspected it was Xue Rui who had given the gift for him, but he had no proof.

How could he not know how many coins Xue Rui had in his pockets? They had grown up together, hanging out at the corner store every day. He knew exactly what his friend was worth.

Back in their first year, he was the one paying for Xue Rui’s time at the internet cafe, and Xue Rui would bring him some cigarettes in return. Even though Xue Rui was the son of a rich family, he was convinced his childhood friend couldn’t possibly cough up a huge sum like one thousand yuan. The most Xue Rui ever had in his pocket was a few hundred.

"Well, it’s a good thing in the end, isn’t it?" Xue Rui laughed.

Qiu Mengze looked at him strangely. "How is this a good thing?"

"Haven’t you considered it? The gift was in your name, so when you get married, that relative will have to give you a gift in return," Xue Rui explained with a smile.

"Get married?" Qiu Mengze thought about it. Xue Rui actually had a point.

When he gets married... He started to fantasize about his future wife...

At this thought, a look of longing washed over Qiu Mengze’s face, and his expression went a bit slack...

Yi Bing looked up and saw his good friend sporting two dark circles, his eyes unfocused, and a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Holy shit! He’s possessed!" Yi Bing yelled, slapping Qiu Mengze across the face.

The crisp sound of the slap echoed through the classroom. The rest of the class stared, dumbfounded.

Those two were so close. Why were they suddenly fighting?

"Yi Bing, what the hell are you doing?!" The slap brought Qiu Mengze back to reality.

"You were possessed! I was saving you!" Yi Bing said with an innocent look. A moment ago, Qiu Mengze had looked like his soul had been sucked out by some evil spirit; he was on the verge of becoming a drooling idiot.

"I heard from my elders that a good slap across the face is the cure for this kind of thing. It saves lives."

Qiu Mengze gritted his teeth. "I just didn’t get enough sleep. You think this is a game, huh?"

"Alright, alright. I see you’re not acting right either. Let me give you a cure too."

"Hahaha..."

The gloomy atmosphere that had settled over the room was instantly scattered by the pair’s roughhousing.

’What a fucking pair of clowns,’ Xue Rui thought.