Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

The Director of Logistics was a cushy job. You weren’t on the front lines of teaching, yet you controlled all the school’s resources.

But the position wasn’t an easy one to hold.

Today, Class One would want this; tomorrow, Class Two would want that.

Resources were limited. If he set a precedent, everyone would start coming to Li Jianfeng for things.

It was one thing if there weren’t enough to go around, but it would also seriously disrupt the logistics department’s normal operations.

Play favorites based on relationships? Even worse.

The teachers at the school were all tenured and stayed for life. Who didn’t know whom?

So playing favorites was out of the question. Otherwise, people would be gossiping behind your back for a lifetime.

No matter who held that position, once the school’s designated replacement period was over, they wouldn’t issue a requisition slip unless there were special circumstances.

But Xue Rui was different. He was going to ask for the slip as a student, so Li Jianfeng would have fewer reservations, making it relatively less difficult.

Xue Rui arrived at the door of Office 107.

Xue Rui first peeked through the window. Li Jianfeng was staring intently at his computer screen.

Sounds came from within the room:

"A pair of twos."

"Pass."

"Come on, hurry up! I’ve been waiting so long the flowers have wilted."

Xue Rui was speechless. He thought Director Li was working. Was he playing Fight the Landlord instead?

Xue Rui waited briefly by the door. Only after hearing the sounds of a completed round of Fight the Landlord did he knock.

"Come in."

Xue Rui pushed the door open and entered, saying with a smile, "Hello, Director Li."

"Xue Rui?" Li Jianfeng was quite surprised. ’What is Xue Rui doing here?’

"Director Li, I just caught a few students secretly smoking. I confiscated their cigarettes and came to turn them over to you."

Xue Rui placed the pack of cigarettes he had just retrieved from his dorm on Li Jianfeng’s desk.

He didn’t bring up the matter of the requisition slip right away, as that might make Li Jianfeng annoyed and wary.

Besides, when asking for a favor, it’s best to bring a small gift.

Since Xue Rui was a student, he chose a reason that Li Jianfeng couldn’t refuse.

Li Jianfeng glanced at the unopened pack of cigarettes on his desk, then gave Xue Rui a strange look.

’Confiscated from students? A whole, unopened pack?’

"Mm, you did well."

Li Jianfeng gave a helpless smile and put the cigarettes in his drawer.

As a teacher, he couldn’t very well give the cigarettes back to a student.

He figured Xue Rui was here to ask for something.

"Is it hot outside? I’ve got water over there." Li Jianfeng pointed to the water cooler.

"Thank you, Director Li."

Xue Rui poured himself a cup of water and sat down to make small talk with Li Jianfeng.

"Director Li, speaking of which, it’s quite a coincidence. My dad’s name is Jianfeng too."

"That’s a common name. Xie Jianfeng? Sounds a bit familiar."

"You know my dad?"

"Doesn’t ring a bell."

...

Li Jianfeng quite liked Xue Rui’s personality and had no intention of kicking him out.

The two of them chatted idly for a while, the atmosphere light and relaxed.

"So, what brings you to my office today?" Li Jianfeng chuckled, steering the conversation to the main point.

"I came with my classmates to repair our desks and chairs, but my desk is just too broken to use," Xue Rui said with a troubled expression.

"I heard from the maintenance man that there are a few last sets of desks and chairs in the storeroom, and I was hoping I could get a new one."

As Xue Rui said this, he glanced left and right.

Li Jianfeng nodded slightly. ’So, he’s here for a desk and chair?’

And Xue Rui was acting like a smooth operator, even emphasizing "the last few sets" and lowering his voice when he said it.

Xue Rui’s attitude made it clear: he knew this wasn’t something to be broadcasted.

Li Jianfeng smiled. "You came with your classmates? It just so happens there are a few sets left. I’ll write you a slip for all of them."

At school, they were teacher and student, but after Xue Rui graduated in a few years, things would be different.

The city of Hedong was small; who knew, they might be friends in the future.

Having reached his position, Li Jianfeng naturally knew how to leverage every available connection.

Besides, the cigarettes Xue Rui had brought showed that his family background was excellent, though Li Jianfeng didn’t know what his family did.

In any case, he was just moving school property from the storeroom to a classroom. It was all part of the normal workflow.

There was no loss for him personally, and he could build some goodwill in the process.

Honestly, he felt Xue Rui was much better to deal with than those teachers.

Those female teachers would come demanding things at the top of their lungs, and worse, they couldn’t keep their mouths shut. A few days later, the entire office would know, and then everyone would come asking him for things, putting him in a difficult position.

If everyone handled it like Xue Rui, he wouldn’t mind approving some things on the side.

In the end, Li Jianfeng readily wrote out a slip for Xue Rui.

"Thank you for your trouble, Director Li."

Xue Rui walked out of the office with a smile and glanced at the slip Li Jianfeng had written.

"Ten sets?" Xue Rui was a little surprised. He had only planned to ask for one or two, mainly to get a replacement for Lin Ruoxi.

The number Li Jianfeng approved was more than enough for all the students from Class Two who were currently in line to get new ones.

Xue Rui had been gone for about twenty minutes, and Lin Ruoxi was still in line.

"Put that down and follow me," Xue Rui said with a smile.

"All of you, put your things down." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

He walked over and repeated this to all the students from Class Two waiting in line.

"Brother Rui, what’s wrong?" a male student asked.

"Getting you all a batch of new desks," Xue Rui said in a low voice.

"Really?"

"Just come on." Xue Rui clapped him on the shoulder.

He found the maintenance man from before and handed him Li Jianfeng’s slip, grinning. "Sir, can we get the replacements now?"

"Huh?" The maintenance man looked incredulous. ’Director Li approved the slip?’

"Old Liu, come take a look at this."

Several maintenance men gathered around to look. After confirming the handwriting was indeed the director’s, they all sized up Xue Rui with strange expressions.

’This kid was gone for less than half an hour and came back with a signed slip?’

Some teachers had come looking for Li Jianfeng several times and still failed to get a slip from him.

One of them took the slip and called out to Xue Rui, "Follow me."

Then, the students from Class Two followed the maintenance man toward the school warehouse.

"How did you manage that?" the maintenance man asked, his face full of curiosity.

This kind of thing only happened a few times a year, if that.

"It’s nothing. Maybe Director Li just thought I was handsome," Xue Rui joked casually.

"You kid," the maintenance man cursed with a laugh.

He didn’t press the matter, figuring the student probably just had a good relationship with the director.

The school warehouse was huge, storing all sorts of teaching equipment.

As for the student desks and chairs, they were stored in the very back room.

"Brother Rui, I’ll go get a desk for Sister Xi. You guys take a break," a male student said.

He knew it was all thanks to Xue Rui that they were getting new desks, so he didn’t mind doing a little extra work.

Lin Ruoxi was about to refuse but swallowed her words obediently when Xue Rui shot her a glare.

Lin Ruoxi felt a little guilty, her eyes darting to the side.

Xue Rui had found out about her suppressing her scores, and she was afraid he would scold her when they got home.

"This is so weird. What the hell is this, some damn law of conservation of gray-tricity? It was working just fine a moment ago."

A young maintenance worker cursed.

He slapped the computer tower a few times, glancing at the monitor periodically.

Xue Rui was speechless. The guy couldn’t fix the computer and was already resorting to voodoo.

He watched as the man took the case apart again, pulling out the power supply and motherboard.

The monitor lit up, and the computer booted into the operating system.

He shook his head, put the components back into the case, then pressed the power button. The computer didn’t react at all.

Lin Ruoxi watched with curiosity.

Xue Rui’s mind raced as he analyzed the possible hardware failures.

"The jumper is bad," Lin Ruoxi reminded him in a small voice.

Xue Rui’s train of thought was broken. He looked at Lin Ruoxi. "What did you say?"

"That computer... I think... the case jumper is broken," Lin Ruoxi said, a little uncertain.

Xue Rui was astonished. He hadn’t even reached a conclusion yet, and Lin Ruoxi was saying the jumper was broken?

With a ’might as well try’ attitude, Xue Rui said to the maintenance man, "Sir, let me try."

The maintenance man was already annoyed, and being interrupted suddenly, he stepped aside and said irritably, "You think you can do better? Be my guest!"

Xue Rui reached out, unplugged the case jumper from the motherboard, and used a screwdriver to short the two pins.

The fan spun to life, and the brand logo lit up the monitor.

"..." The maintenance man fell silent. He scratched his head. "It was that simple? It was just the case that was broken?"

He was at a loss for words. It was a rare issue, so he hadn’t suspected the case jumper was the problem.

"You really know your stuff, huh?" The man looked at Xue Rui in surprise.

Xue Rui’s eye twitched. "A little."

He had been about to brag a little. After all, he was a hardcore enthusiast who had been building computers for years.

But the shock he had just received was too great. He was in no mood to boast to the maintenance man.

He had only taught Lin Ruoxi once. She had zero practical experience, yet she had managed to diagnose a computer’s malfunction in such a short time.

’What kind of monster is she?’ Xue Rui wondered.

"How did you know how to do that?" Xue Rui couldn’t help but ask.

"Um... you taught me the other day. I looked at the manual and researched some stuff afterward," Lin Ruoxi explained softly.

"..." Xue Rui didn’t really want to talk to Lin Ruoxi anymore.

’How can there be a girl who knows how to fix computers, gets such good grades, and is also this beautiful? Is she trying to make the rest of us feel useless?’

As a veteran enthusiast, to be surpassed by a complete beginner in just half a month... a sense of defeat washed over him.

Especially since he was the one who had taught her, and now she was making it sound so simple, as if she’d just glanced at a manual...

While Xue Rui was sighing in dismay, the students from Class Two emerged with their new desks and chairs, their faces beaming with happy smiles.

"Let’s head back."

Xue Rui shook his head. ’I’ll have to properly question Lin Ruoxi later,’ he thought. ’What else is she hiding?’

As the group was walking back to their classroom, a female teacher stopped them.

"Which class are you from? Did Li Jianfeng approve these desks and chairs?"

The teacher’s attitude was hostile. She had argued with Li Jianfeng last time and had assumed that no teacher would be able to get anything from him.

Unexpectedly, someone had actually managed to get what they wanted today, which made her feel it was deeply unfair.

"Who’s Li Jianfeng? When we went over, we just happened to run into the logistics staff cleaning out the warehouse. They gave us the extra desks and chairs."

Xue Rui feigned a moment of confusion, putting on an ignorant expression.

"Is that so?" the female teacher muttered.

Xue Rui didn’t break his stride, continuing toward the classroom.

Lin Ruoxi stared at Xue Rui’s back. ’He’s amazing,’ she thought. ’He can lie without even blushing or his heart skipping a beat.’

There were clearly still so many desks and chairs in the warehouse, yet Xue Rui said these were the last few, and even that teacher believed him.

Just then, Xue Xiaying was passing by after work and saw students from her class carrying a line of new desks and chairs toward the academic building.

"Xue Rui, where did the new desks come from?"

Xue Xiaying asked curiously.

Xue Rui leaned in and said in a low voice, "I got them from Director Li."

Xue Xiaying gave Xue Rui a long, deep look. ’This kid is really something else,’ she thought.

She had just gone to ask a few days ago, only to be turned away with polite excuses by the director.

’And here she was, the homeroom teacher, having to rely on Xue Rui to get things done...’