Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

Xue Rui looked impressed. Gu Muxue really was skilled in all the fine arts.

He had only whistled a tune, and one from the future at that.

And yet Gu Muxue had somehow even guessed its origin?

"Too what?" Gu Muxue asked, her face full of curiosity.

"I’m so sorry to say, but this is my original composition," Xue Rui said brazenly.

’It’s from Korea anyway,’ he thought. ’They love to steal culture...’

So Xue Rui didn’t feel any guilt.

’How can you call it stealing when it’s for the sake of art? At most, it’s just ’creative borrowing.’’

Besides, Xue Rui figured that since he was the first person to ever whistle this tune, it wasn’t wrong to call it an original.

"Huh?" Gu Muxue’s face was a mask of disbelief.

"It’s true," Xue Rui said earnestly.

"Whistle it again."

"I wasn’t bragging!"

Xue Rui was speechless. ’Why won’t she believe me?’

"I mean, whistle that melody from before again. I want to record it."

"Oh."

Xue Rui took her phone and whistled into it again.

Gu Muxue listened to the recording, then frowned. "You were too close and blew out the mic. Do it again."

"..."

In the end, he had to whistle it several more times before he barely managed to produce a take that satisfied Gu Muxue.

Xue Rui massaged his facial muscles. He felt like his lips were about to cramp up.

Gu Muxue stared directly into Xue Rui’s eyes, which seemed to sparkle with little stars.

"If it really is your original composition, could I use it?"

"I’ve written a song, but I feel like the chorus is missing something. I think your whistled melody would be perfect for it."

Xue Rui rubbed his face. "Sure, you can have it. It’s not like I’m a petty person."

"But I have one condition," Xue Rui said, his expression suddenly turning serious.

"What condition?" Gu Muxue asked, tilting her head.

’What would he ask for? Songwriting credit?’

’Money wouldn’t be out of the question, either.’

"I nearly whistled my lips crooked just now. You’ll have to help me massage them... with your mouth," Xue Rui said nonchalantly.

Gu Muxue froze. ’Just massage his lips? With my...’

’Wait, isn’t that just kissing?’

Gu Muxue’s face instantly turned beet red. How could Xue Rui say something so shameless with such a straight face?

She reached out and gave his lips a light tap with her palm.

"Hiss—" Xue Rui jumped in surprise. He had actually thought she was going to help him.

"In your dreams," Gu Muxue snapped.

She felt she couldn’t give him any slack. Give him an inch, and he’d take a mile.

’He just held my hand, and now he wants to kiss me. He’s pushing his luck!’

"I’m going home," Gu Muxue said coldly.

’This girl really knows how to put on an act,’ Xue Rui thought. ’As if I can’t tell whether she’s actually angry or not.’

Still, it was getting late, so he hailed a taxi from the side of the road.

"Back to the restaurant? Uncle Gu is probably still there."

"Take me straight home."

...

They arrived at an upscale villa community.

"Driver, you can stop here. This is it." Gu Muxue got out of the car in front of a villa.

She took two hundred-yuan bills from her purse and handed them to the driver. "Sir, could I trouble you to take him home as well?"

"Aren’t you going to invite me in for a bit?" Xue Rui teased.

"Nope!" Gu Muxue turned and walked away, deliberately stomping her feet.

Only when she heard the car’s engine start up behind her did Gu Muxue slowly turn back around.

Watching the taillights disappear, the corners of her eyes curved up slightly. She skipped into the villa, her steps light and cheerful.

「In the taxi.」

"Where to?" The driver lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

He’d been wanting to smoke earlier, but seeing such a classy beauty in the back, he felt it wouldn’t be right to light up, so he’d held back the entire trip.

"Brocade Garden," Xue Rui said.

That was the complex where Lin Ruoxi lived. He had to take Da Huang back.

"Here, it won’t be this much." The driver handed one of the hundred-yuan bills back to Xue Rui.

The fare would only be forty or fifty yuan total. Keeping one bill was already charging him double.

In any case, these two kids were locals; he couldn’t bring himself to take both bills.

Xue Rui smiled and took the hundred yuan back.

’Heh... another little kickback.’

"Is that your girlfriend?"

"Sir, couldn’t you tell?" Xue Rui retorted.

"I could." The driver chuckled. It couldn’t have been more obvious.

The two made small talk, and they soon arrived at the foot of Lin Ruoxi’s apartment building.

Xue Rui got the feeling that the driver, a man in his forties, had something on his mind that he was hesitant to say.

The driver glanced at Xue Rui in the rearview mirror and asked, "You live here?"

He’d dropped the girl off at a luxury community, but he was taking the boy back to an old, run-down complex. It was probably worse than his own place.

"What about it?" Xue Rui asked.

"Young man, take it from someone who’s been there: if the gap between your families is too wide, it’ll never work out."

The driver said, his expression full of pity.

Xue Rui gave a wry smile. ’So he’s a man with a past.’

He didn’t bother to explain, though, and simply got out of the car.

As he walked up to the apartment, he saw an old woman piling garbage bags outside the door.

The old woman saw Xue Rui approach but ignored him, simply heading back inside on her own. However, she didn’t lock the door.

Xue Rui let out a mischievous chuckle and led Da Huang through the door.

Xue Rui instinctively headed toward Lin Ruoxi’s room, but Da Huang was faster, darting ahead of him.

Lin Ruoxi was engrossed in a tutorial video, alt-tabbing to type out some code, occasionally glancing down at her keyboard.

Suddenly, Da Huang burst through the door, whining incessantly. His tail wagged like a propeller, and he had a look of utter grievance on his face.

Da Huang rubbed his head against Lin Ruoxi’s legs, then rolled onto the floor and exposed his belly, as if waiting for her to pet him.

"Da Huang?" Lin Ruoxi said, surprised.

’Does that mean Xue Rui is here, too?’

She panicked slightly and quickly turned off her monitor.

’When it comes to programming, I’m just a beginner. I can’t help him with anything yet, so it’s better if he doesn’t know.’

’If I end up not being able to learn it, I’ll just get his hopes up for nothing.’

The moment Xue Rui walked in, he saw Da Huang’s attitude completely change.

"WOOF!" Da Huang bared his teeth and stared at Xue Rui, looking like he wanted to tear him apart.

Xue Rui’s eye twitched. ’This damn mutt,’ he thought. ’He was perfectly fine a second ago, and now he pulls this.’

Lin Ruoxi frowned and gave Da Huang a light kick.

Da Huang’s gaze instantly cleared up, and his tail began to wag back and forth.

Xue Rui looked up at Lin Ruoxi and felt that the atmosphere was a little strange.

This girl wore her heart on her sleeve. Xue Rui was sure Lin Ruoxi was hiding something from him.

Lin Ruoxi felt inexplicably guilty and didn’t dare to meet his gaze, her eyes darting over to the monitor from time to time.

Xue Rui smiled knowingly. He walked over and touched the bottom of the monitor; it was warm. The computer tower was still humming faintly.

’That meant the computer was still on, and she had just turned off the display.’

’In other words, Lin Ruoxi was hiding something from him.’

Lin Ruoxi saw Xue Rui reach for the monitor, his finger moving toward the power button...

Her heart leaped into her throat, and she clenched her small hands into tight fists.

’Doesn’t want me to see?’ Xue Rui wondered.

’What on earth was she doing on the computer? Why is she so nervous?’

’This is her first time really using the internet. What could she be doing? And why can’t I see it?’

Xue Rui’s mind went to all the inappropriate ads online, which could easily lead an innocent kid astray.

’In 2012, online moderation wasn’t very strict...’

’Could it be... something dirty?’

’If that’s the case... I should at least let her keep some dignity.’ So he moved his hand away.

"It’s all because the textbooks are so superficial," Xue Rui sighed.

The biology textbook just glosses over the topic of human anatomy.

That leads students to inevitably self-study certain..."subjects" online in private.

Lin Ruoxi’s eyes filled with astonishment. ’Did he guess?’

’Programming books really aren’t as detailed as video tutorials,’ she thought. ’There are so many compiler functions the books don’t even mention.’

"Yeah, you have to watch the videos," Lin Ruoxi said, a little embarrassed as she lowered her head.

Xue Rui’s eye twitched. ’Videos?’

’What does she mean by that? Is she admitting it?’

"Which teacher do you like? I think Teacher Cang’s work is a classic."

Xue Rui was probing, not entirely sure if she was talking about *that* kind of video.

"Um... I watch on double speed... and skip around, so I didn’t catch the teacher’s name." Lin Ruoxi’s face instantly turned bright red.

’The online course is free, and I didn’t even bother to notice the teacher’s name,’ she thought, feeling a little guilty.

"You skip around too?"