Chapter 275 - 256: A Romance for Lin Ruoxi Alone (3)

Right now, his biggest worry was that Gu Muxue wasn’t replying to his messages.

Xue Rui lowered his voice and asked Yu Minlan, "What’s going on? Has the package I had you send arrived yet?"

"I took care of it this morning. The courier said it would arrive by noon at the latest."

Yu Minlan’s expression remained unchanged, though she silently cursed him. ’Greedy bastard.’ She showed the tracking information to Xue Rui.

Xue Rui glanced at it. The package had arrived in Hedong City yesterday, but it still hadn’t been signed for.

He opened his chat with Gu Muxue and casually sent her a cute cat sticker.

Xue Rui figured the girl was angry and was deliberately giving him the cold shoulder for a day.

’As for not seeing his messages? That’s impossible.’

Because starting this morning, her name in his chat window had effectively changed from "Creditor" to "...is typing." It was a clear sign the girl had been staring at her phone the whole time.

But no matter how long she typed, a message never actually came through.

Xue Rui couldn’t help but bury his face in his hands. ’This girl is so proud and stubborn. If she finds out I’m with Lin Ruoxi, I’m really done for.’

「Meanwhile, in Hedong City.」

Gu Muxue was sprawled on the sofa, clutching her phone in her small hands, eagerly awaiting a message from Xue Rui.

"Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!"

Gu Muxue typed the words on her screen, then furtively deleted them. ’I can’t be the one to break the silence,’ she thought. ’I have to wait for Xue Rui to apologize. He’s showing no sincerity at all right now. He’s really dead set on not celebrating the Qixi Festival.’

But she wasn’t an unreasonable person. If Xue Rui really was busy with something, then she would just be throwing a tantrum. In that case, it was better to just ignore him.

Gu Muxue had intended to make Xue Rui stew for a bit, but she ended up getting herself all worked up first.

"Xue’er, why are you in such a huff today? Is it because of Xiaorui?" Zhao Lizhen teased.

"Mom, Xiaorui said he doesn’t want to celebrate the Qixi Festival," Gu Muxue said with a pout.

She hadn’t been that angry at first, but today was Saturday. Both her parents were home from work. ’So what kind of job does Xue Rui have that he has to work today?’

She wanted to know, but she didn’t want to be the one to ask him. Asking would feel like caving, so she chose to remain silent.

When Gu Qingshan heard the words "Xiaorui" and "Qixi," the hand holding his newspaper subconsciously tightened, poking a small but noticeable hole through the page.

Gu Muxue heard the sound of tearing paper and couldn’t help but ask, "Dad, what’s wrong?"

"It’s nothing. This newspaper is just terrible quality." Gu Qingshan crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it in the trash.

Zhao Lizhen covered her mouth and whispered to Gu Muxue, "Your dad’s angry."

"Oh," Gu Muxue replied quietly.

’She didn’t know what was up with her dad, either. Sometimes it seemed like he supported her being with Xue Rui, and other times it seemed like he didn’t. He was even more conflicted than she was today.’

’But as long as her mom was supportive, that was enough. It didn’t matter whether Old Gu objected or not.’

"Mom, how come you and Dad don’t celebrate the Qixi Festival?" Gu Muxue asked quietly.

"Your dad never celebrates holidays. Besides, what’s there for an old married couple like us to celebrate?" Zhao Lizhen said.

She knew her husband; he was just too proud.

Gu Muxue shook her head. ’Mom definitely still wants to celebrate,’ she thought. ’She even made a special dessert this morning.’

Her parents had a great relationship, so she wasn’t worried about how they celebrated. All she knew was that her own holiday was ruined.

Just as Gu Muxue was silently cursing out Xue Rui in the chat window, a call from an unknown number suddenly came in.

"Hello, this is SF Express. Are you Ms. Gu Muxue? A Mr. Xue Rui has sent you a gift," the courier said.

Gu Muxue shot up from the sofa and tapped a message into her phone: "Hmph! So you do have a conscience."

This time, she didn’t delete it. Instead, she hit send.

Just then, Xue Rui saw the message from Gu Muxue. ’The package must have arrived,’ he thought, and immediately called her.

However, Gu Muxue rejected the voice call and started a video call instead.

"Oh, crap," Xue Rui cursed under his breath. He scrambled out onto the bedroom balcony, locking the door behind him.

Just then, Lin Ruoxi happened to come out of the kitchen. Seeing Xue Rui in a panic, she assumed he’d been frightened by a bug again and started to go over to take care of it.

"Is there a bug?" Lin Ruoxi asked, looking down to carefully inspect the floor.

Yu Minlan snorted. "Looks like someone has a guilty conscience."