Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

They held hands and wandered aimlessly for a long time as the sky gradually grew dark.

The corners of Gu Muxue’s lips curled up. She had completely forgotten about the "ten minutes."

Although the streets were still bright, looking up at the darkening sky made her feel much more at ease.

She felt a secret delight, a thrill of excitement, and a tinge of worry that someone she knew might recognize her.

The air was filled with the aroma of street food.

Fried skewers, grilled sausage, stinky tofu...

Xue Rui stopped walking. "Muxue, want some?"

Gu Muxue frowned. She never ate this kind of food; her family didn’t allow it.

Besides, she thought it was unsanitary.

"Didn’t we just eat?" Gu Muxue asked.

"How can you compare snacks to a proper meal?"

Xue Rui thought, ’Gu Muxue really doesn’t know how to enjoy life. This is the kind of thing you’re supposed to eat at night.’

’You have to eat some once in a while, get a taste of the real world.’

Gu Muxue frowned. Remembering her mother’s warnings, she said hesitantly, "I don’t really want any."

"You have to eat. If you don’t, how can I?" Xue Rui said with a completely serious expression.

Gu Muxue’s eyes widened. ’So he’s the one who wants to eat?’

She thought, ’If you want to eat, just say so. Why be so indirect about it?’

"I want that squid."

"You got it."

"And that grilled sausage."

"Done."

"Stinky tofu."

"Absolutely not!"

...

Xue Rui dragged Gu Muxue on a tour of the food street.

Her hands were soon full of plastic bags stuffed with all sorts of snacks.

"I hope you eat till you burst!" Gu Muxue grumbled, puffing her cheeks out.

Xue Rui had bought a huge pile of snacks, enough to be a full meal.

While buying the food, Xue Rui kept his right hand holding Gu Muxue’s and his left holding the dog’s leash. He simply said, "My hands are full. You carry these."

They could have just let go of each other’s hands, but to his surprise, the girl actually agreed and ended up carrying everything he bought.

In reality, Xue Rui had money in his pockets. On top of that, Xue Yao had secretly stuffed two hundred yuan into his hand before he left.

Still, Xue Rui preferred to spend Gu Muxue’s money.

Gu Muxue had paid for everything they bought that day.

They sat on a park bench. Not far away, a group of aunties were square dancing.

An evening breeze blew past, feeling exceptionally cool and refreshing.

Gu Muxue took a deep breath, closing her eyes and savoring every moment of the night. Unconsciously, the corners of her delicate lips curved into a slight smile.

She had never been to places like this at night. She’d always thought they were pitch-black and terrifying.

But tonight was different. There was an indescribable sense of peace and security.

Da Huang, bored out of his mind, was sprawled to the side with his head resting on the ground.

Gu Muxue mustered her courage, reached out a finger, and leaned over to gently poke Da Huang on the forehead. She was ready to retract her hand in an instant, afraid he might snap at her.

When Da Huang didn’t react, she tried petting his head, and he didn’t resist that either.

She suddenly realized, ’Maybe dogs aren’t so scary after all.’

"Hurry and eat it before it melts," Xue Rui said, handing her an ice cream cone.

However, he had taken a bite out of both cones, so now neither had its pointy tip.

Gu Muxue tilted her head. "You took a bite out of both of them. How am I supposed to eat this?"

"One is strawberry and the other is mango. If you eat them together, it tastes like banana!"

Xue Rui licked his lips, feigning surprise.

"Really?" Gu Muxue asked dubiously.

She took the half-eaten cone from him and took a small bite. Then she leaned over and took a bite from the one still in his hand.

And then, Gu Muxue realized she’d been tricked.

But she played along, feigning her own surprise. "It’s true!"

Xue Rui stifled a laugh. "The top student in the grade actually fell for that?"

"Hmph. Childish," Gu Muxue said, shooting him a sideways glance.

They always say a girl in love has an IQ of zero.

In reality, she’s just happy to be fooled by that special someone.

Just then, a slovenly-looking young man swaggered by. A cigarette dangled from his lips, his shirt was rolled up to expose his stomach, and his arms were covered in large tattoos.

As he passed by Gu Muxue and Xue Rui, his eyes landed on Gu Muxue, and he did a double take. ’Damn, she’s gorgeous.’

"Hey, beautiful~"

The young man winked at Gu Muxue and blew a low whistle.

Gu Muxue’s skin instantly crawled. It was disgusting.

Xue Rui shot the young man an annoyed glance. ’Scumbags like him can’t help but try their luck when they see a pretty girl.’

But then an idea came to him, and a sly smile spread across his face.

Xue Rui mimicked the man’s whistle, his expression even more lecherous, and then he shot a flirtatious wink at the man.

"Fucking gross," the man muttered. He suddenly felt his skin prickle and edged away from Xue Rui.

Gu Muxue suddenly shot to her feet, her expression terrifyingly dark. "Who are you cursing at?"

Xue Rui was stunned. ’Since when is Gu Muxue this bold?’

’What girl her age wouldn’t be terrified of a punk like this?’

Then again, he thought, ’Considering Gu Muxue’s family background... this punk could be in a jail cell by tomorrow.’

Not that Xue Rui thought that was a good thing.

’His plan was just to gross the guy out and leave it at that, but now Gu Muxue was escalating the provocation.’

’The last thing you wanted when dealing with trash like this was to escalate things and get dragged into a never-ending conflict.’

"So what, little bitch? What are you gonna do about it?" the man snapped, his temper flaring as he swaggered toward them.

Xue Rui gave Da Huang a light kick on the rump, pointed at the man, and yelled, "Da Huang, get him!"

The moment Da Huang heard his name, his ears shot up.

To Xue Rui’s astonishment, Da Huang suddenly lunged forward, baring his fangs with a vicious look in his eyes and letting out a low growl at the tattooed man.

"GRRR..."

The sudden appearance of a vicious dog made the man stumble backward in fright, and one of his slip-on loafers flew off his foot.

The leash in Xue Rui’s hand was pulled taut, looking as if Da Huang would lunge and attack the second he let go.

Da Huang was not a small dog. As he strained against the leash, the little white flower tucked behind his ear was shaken loose, making him look completely like a vicious beast.

His eerie eyes seemed to glow green in the darkness, a truly unsettling sight.

"I’m gonna let go of the leash, you know," Xue Rui said with a grin.

"Shit... If you have... have any guts, don’t you run!" the man yelled, fumbling to put his shoe back on before turning tail and fleeing, tossing one last empty threat over his shoulder.

Xue Rui knew that even if he let go, Da Huang wouldn’t have actually bitten anyone.

Da Huang was a guard dog, whose main skill was intimidation. He was fierce on a leash but became docile the moment he was let off it.

Watching the man flee in a panic, Da Huang licked his chops, his eyes once again clear and bright, as if nothing had happened at all.

"Such a big guy, and he’s scared of a doggy," Gu Muxue said, laughing so hard she was shaking.

She gave Da Huang an affectionate pat on the head, a wide grin on her face.

"Let’s get out of here. What if he comes back?" Gu Muxue said, pulling Xue Rui to his feet.

"He won’t be back," Xue Rui said, waving a dismissive hand.

’There was no real conflict between them, and the park was full of people. The man was a thug, not an idiot.’

"Good job, Da Huang," Xue Rui said, ruffling the dog’s fur.

He’d only yelled it on a whim, so he was genuinely surprised when Da Huang actually went for it.

Seeing Gu Muxue’s worried expression, Xue Rui whistled at her. "Hey, beautiful~"

Gu Muxue lowered her gaze, then reached out with two slender fingers and pinched Xue Rui’s lips shut.

"Stop that. You sound like a punk."

Xue Rui was unfazed. "Whistling can be beautiful, you know."

Gu Muxue took a bite of her ice cream. "I don’t believe you."

Xue Rui didn’t bother explaining. He just started whistling.

Xue Rui took a deep breath, and a stream of air flowed past his lips.

A light and lilting whistle tune echoed through their corner of the park.

Gu Muxue’s mouth fell slightly open, her gaze turning distant. The melody Xue Rui whistled was simply captivating.

She stared blankly at Xue Rui, her fingers gently tapping out a rhythm on her dress.

When Xue Rui finished, she asked with an excited look on her face:

"What song’s chorus is that? A chorus with whistling... It sounds like... K-pop?"

Xue Rui paused. ’What song was that?’

He thought hard. ’It’s a theme song from a K-drama, I think.’

’Descendant’s Sun?’

’No, wait, Descendants of the Sun?’

"Des..." Just as Xue Rui was about to say the name, he realized something.

He had watched that drama back in college, sharing a pair of headphones with a female classmate in the library.

But... it was only 2012 right now. That drama hadn’t been released yet. The song probably hadn’t even been written...