Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

"Everyone, line up and head to the plaza in front of the multipurpose building."

Guo Qingqing finished her announcement and looked toward Xue Rui in the corner. "You lead them."

"Me?" Xue Rui muttered, standing up. Only then did he remember he still held the title of P.E. committee member.

Looking at the Gaokao countdown on the right side of the blackboard, Xue Rui knew exactly what today’s event was. The 100-day pep rally, of course.

The number on the blackboard ticked down like a stopwatch. You’d look down, look up, and another day would be gone. The students’ moods fluctuated with each changing digit, and the countdown was about to hit double digits...

Senior year was a pressure cooker with few breaks, so students had little energy to spare for their appearance. Many of the boys wore blank expressions, their upper lips covered in a layer of soft black fuzz—mustaches that had yet to grow in coarse. Their hair was a mess, a consequence of tearing at it in frustration over unsolvable problems...

Even some of the girls had their hair tied back, looking greasy and disheveled.

Xue Rui waved his hand, signaling for everyone to form a few lines and follow him.

Lin Ruoxi had also returned to the classroom by then. Today, she had deliberately worn a clean school uniform and now stood quietly beside Xue Rui.

"I have no idea where this tradition came from," Xue Rui said, shaking his head. He hated this sort of formalism.

’In reality, the diligent students are already diligent. The slackers aren’t even in the classroom anymore. For someone like Yi Bing, it’ll just go in one ear and out the other.’

He thought for a moment. ’Maybe it’s useful for students like Qiu Mengze? But even then, not very. It’s just a temporary shot in the arm. By the time the countdown hits 97 days, the buzz will have worn off...’

Lin Ruoxi, looking down at her phone, said to Xue Rui, "It seems to be derived from the pep rallies ancient armies held before going to battle, to boost morale."

Xue Rui laughed. He hadn’t expected the girl to actually look it up. And now that he knew the answer, he felt even more fucking speechless.

’The university admission quotas for the province are fixed, so what morale is there to boost? It’s just endless, cutthroat competition. Maybe it’s to bump up the school’s average score?’

Xue Rui couldn’t be bothered to overthink it. He smiled and asked, "So what are you doing here? You’re a player who’s already beaten the game."

"Director Wang asked me to give a speech," Lin Ruoxi said.

"He asked *you* to give a speech?"

Xue Rui’s expression was strange. ’Lin Ruoxi’s voice is so soft and timid. How is she supposed to get the students fired up?’

But then again, he thought, ’Lin Ruoxi has such a great image, and she’s basically a shoo-in for the provincial science valedictorian. Director Wang probably just wants lots of event photos with her in them so the school can show her off later...’

"I’m... nervous," Lin Ruoxi said, swallowing. Every time she had to go on a high platform, she would keep her head down, but this time she had to speak.

’Director Wang is really something else,’ Xue Rui thought. ’He’s only thinking about the photos. What if Lin Ruoxi just freezes up there?’

"Everyone’s wearing a school uniform. Just pretend the audience is full of radishes and cabbages you planted in your garden," Xue Rui suggested.

"All of them... radishes and cabbages?" Lin Ruoxi paused, stunned.

"Yep. Picture them as radishes and cabbages. I think you have a pretty vivid imagination," Xue Rui laughed. Introverted kids like Lin Ruoxi often had rich inner worlds; he’d seen it in the way she would draw all sorts of goofy little animals in her textbooks.

At this point, it was the only half-assed idea he could come up with.

"Okay," Lin Ruoxi nodded firmly.

She never doubted Xue Rui’s words.

...

In front of the multipurpose building, the students stood in neat formations facing the flag. Lin Ruoxi saw Director Wang waving at her, and she headed for the podium.

Xue Rui glanced to the side and was surprised to see Hong Zihan standing to his left.

This genuinely surprised Xue Rui. Logically, the school arranged for students to speak based on their exam scores. Lin Ruoxi alone wouldn’t do; she was the school’s mascot and needed someone else to be the real standard-bearer.

Hong Zihan had placed second in the grade on the last exam, and he was male. One boy and one girl—it was the perfect arrangement for the school.

But Hong Zihan was actually standing down here in the crowd?

"Why didn’t the school ask you to go up?" Xue Rui asked curiously.

Hong Zihan replied in a hoarse voice, "My throat... can’t... speak."

It was a short sentence, but several words were "muted" in the middle. Xue Rui read Hong Zihan’s lips, filling in the blanks in his mind.

Hong Zihan meant that his voice was shot, so he couldn’t speak today.

Xue Rui was amused by this oddball. The guy could barely get a sentence out. He’d never seen someone whose voice was *that* hoarse.

However, when he saw Gu Muxue out of the corner of his eye, standing on the podium wearing a red corsage, the smile on his face began to fade.

’If Hong Zihan wasn’t going, then of course it would be Gu Muxue’s turn.’

Xue Rui had been worried about those two appearing together. Why the hell did this kid have to lose his voice *today*?

"What’s with you? You had to get sick today of all days?" Xue Rui whispered. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Hong Zihan chuckled slyly. "I... did it on purpose."

Xue Rui: "..."

Hong Zihan’s goal wasn’t to be second in the grade, or even first. It was to get closer to Gu Muxue.

Now their names were close on the rankings, but he had surpassed Gu Muxue—a result he also couldn’t accept.

How could he steal Gu Muxue’s spotlight? So he had spent a good while howling like a banshee on the school grounds the night before until he’d screamed his voice away...

The result was that there weren’t many other outgoing students among the top scorers, leaving Director Wang with only one choice: Gu Muxue.

As the red flag rose, the students’ gazes followed its upward drift.

This was followed by the opening speech from the school administration.

"There are one hundred days until the Gaokao..."

On the podium, Gu Muxue smiled at Xue Rui and secretly stuck out her tongue.

As for Lin Ruoxi, her gaze was even more blatant, staring at him unabashedly.

Lin Ruoxi and Gu Muxue were standing a short distance apart. If he looked at one, the other would notice. So he turned away, pretending to talk to Qiu Mengze.

But, he discovered the kid’s eyes were glued in the direction of the liberal arts classes.

’Four people, four different lines of sight...’

"And now, for the student representative speeches..."

Hearing this, Xue Rui breathed a sigh of relief. ’Finally, we’re at this part of the program.’

All eyes turned to the podium. The reason was simple: these two were the prettiest girls in school, and today they were even presenting together.

Gu Muxue stood on the podium with poise and grace, her gaze fixed forward. She had been in this kind of situation countless times and felt nothing special under the crowd’s stare.

Lin Ruoxi, however, met the crowd’s gaze and felt so nervous that her ears started ringing and her vision swam. She instinctively lowered her head.

She was used to getting looks, but it was usually just from a few people at a time, which she could pretend to ignore. And when boys did meet her gaze, they’d typically turn away, too polite to stare.

But today was different. The students had a legitimate reason to look at her. Too many eyes were fixed on her face, and no matter where she looked, she would meet someone’s gaze.

"What’s wrong? It’s our turn to speak," Gu Muxue noticed something was off with Lin Ruoxi and whispered a reminder.

Gu Muxue leaned in close, only to hear Lin Ruoxi muttering, "Radishes and cabbages..."

"??" Gu Muxue gently patted Lin Ruoxi on the back.

Lin Ruoxi lifted her head and looked in Xue Rui’s direction...

Xue Rui nodded at Lin Ruoxi, giving her an encouraging look.

Lin Ruoxi’s vision swam. For a moment, it was as if Xue Rui was the only person in the world, and the classmates in their school uniforms around her really did seem like radishes and cabbages.

"It actually works," Lin Ruoxi murmured happily to herself.

"Lin Ruoxi, read the script," Director Wang called out softly from below the stage.

"Oh..."

Lin Ruoxi opened the speech script the teacher had just given her.

Gu Muxue also opened her clipboard, only to find the first page was missing.

’Lin Ruoxi has already wasted a good few seconds up here,’ Gu Muxue thought. ’If I screw up too, that would be...’

Lin Ruoxi didn’t dare to speak first. She was waiting for Gu Muxue to start so she could just follow along.

Gu Muxue looked down and quietly signaled for the teacher to give her another copy of the speech.

If she were speaking alone, it would be no problem; she could improvise without a script.

But this was a two-person speech, and the introverted Lin Ruoxi beside her wouldn’t be able to keep up. Besides, it was her fault—she hadn’t looked after it properly. It was probably lost in some corner below the stage...

"There aren’t any more," Teacher Guo mouthed back. ’I only printed two. There’s no time to go get another one now!’ she thought.

Lin Ruoxi waited blankly for a moment. When Gu Muxue didn’t start speaking, she glanced to the side and saw that the script in Gu Muxue’s hand only had the second page.

She walked over to Gu Muxue and scanned the paper line by line with incredible speed.

Gu Muxue was stunned by Lin Ruoxi’s actions. ’A script she just got, and she’s trying to memorize it on the spot?’

But looking at how nonchalant Lin Ruoxi seemed, she really wasn’t so sure...

"Respected teachers, fellow students, I am Gu Muxue from Class One, Year Three. It is my honor to represent..."

After Gu Muxue finished, Lin Ruoxi took a deep breath. "My name is Lin Ruoxi."

’As I thought, she didn’t memorize it,’ Gu Muxue thought. She sighed, preparing to raise her voice and draw the students’ attention back to herself.

However, Lin Ruoxi continued, "On the occasion of this 100-day Gaokao pep rally, we..."

Lin Ruoxi had run through the entire text in her mind. She saw no way to cut anything from the rest, so she had no choice but to recite it all.

Gu Muxue’s face was a mask of astonishment. ’She was certain Lin Ruoxi hadn’t even opened the script before getting on stage. Did she really memorize it in just a matter of seconds?’

But her surprise lasted only a moment before her expression returned to normal.

Giving a speech is a skill. It requires a high level of verbal intuition from the speaker—certain sentences subconsciously call for a raised tone, to be delivered with cadence and passion to stir the crowd’s emotions.

But Lin Ruoxi sounded like a primary school student reciting a text. Although she didn’t miss a single word, her delivery was excessively flat...

At the end, when it was time to lead the entire student body in a cheer, Lin Ruoxi couldn’t even get a single word out.

"Ten years of diligent study, one hundred days of hard training..."

Gu Muxue’s resonant and confident voice echoed from the speakers, completely drowning out Lin Ruoxi’s.