Chapter 292 - 262: We Go Home

Xue Rui glanced at the girl in surprise. ’What in the world is wrong with her?’ he wondered. ’She’s changed so much since we made things official!’

He turned off his screen, then used his fingerprint to unlock Lin Ruoxi’s phone as if it were his own.

While the girl was busy picking up some food, he opened her friends list and glanced at it, but didn’t see Gu Muxue’s familiar cat profile picture.

A question suddenly popped into his mind. ’Did Lin Ruoxi not see it?’

’But this is even better,’ he thought. ’It saves me from worrying about what the two of them might talk about. A few extra words and the cat would be out of the bag!’

Feeling relieved, Xue Rui’s appetite improved considerably. He took large bites of a steamed bun while playing on his phone.

Just then, Yu Minlan overheard the two of them chatting casually. ’Looks like there won’t be any embarrassing scenes now,’ she thought. ’I don’t have to stay locked in my room. Perfect time to go take out the trash.’

As she walked past Xue Rui, she secretly glanced at him. Xue Rui, however, instinctively angled his phone screen slightly away, a habitual motion to protect his privacy.

Yu Minlan shook her head helplessly. ’To think Xue Rui is the one being kept in the dark by Lin Ruoxi.’

There was an information gap between Xue Rui and Lin Ruoxi now. Xue Rui thought Lin Ruoxi was still the same naive, dorky girl, while Lin Ruoxi was shouldering everything alone, still pretending to be that sweet, adorable girl in front of him...

Yu Minlan sighed inwardly. ’I’ve actually become a double agent!’

For Xue Rui’s sake, she had to hide the truth about Gu Muxue. But she wouldn’t tell Lin Ruoxi everything either, as it would only hurt her and wouldn’t change a thing.

For Lin Ruoxi’s sake, she had to hide the fact that Lin Ruoxi had already discovered Xue Rui was two-timing...

Suddenly, a call came in on Xue Rui’s phone. It was from Gu Muxue.

He instinctively stood up and walked toward the balcony. "I’m going to take this call."

Just now, Gu Muxue had asked if he was busy, and he had said no. Who would have thought she’d call less than a minute later.

But Xue Rui felt he needed to *be* busy now. Out of the corner of his eye, he had just noticed that something seemed off about the girl.

"Muxue, I’m sorry, something urgent just came up," Xue Rui said in a low voice.

"Oh, then go ahead and get to it."

The voice on the other end of the line sounded a little unhappy, but for the most part, she was still compliant.

Lin Ruoxi watched Xue Rui’s back through the window. She knew he was on the phone with Gu Muxue. A flicker of sadness crossed her eyes, and her head unconsciously drooped.

When Xue Rui turned to come back inside, she quickly composed herself and gave him a sweet smile.

Xue Rui looked down and met the girl’s gaze, noticing that her eyes were no longer as crystal clear as they used to be. It was as if they were veiled by a faint layer of exhaustion.

Something was wrong with her.

"What’s wrong?" Xue Rui rushed to Lin Ruoxi’s side and gently put his arm around the girl’s shoulders.

Hearing the concern in Xue Rui’s low voice, the emotions Lin Ruoxi had just managed to control came flooding out...

She collapsed into Xue Rui’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably, her tears flowing like a small stream...

Xue Rui’s scalp prickled with anxiety. He couldn’t handle the girl’s tears!

"Xixi, Xixi, what’s wrong? Tell me, okay?" Xue Rui hugged the crying girl tightly, his mind racing as he tried to piece things together.

However, a moment later, he stopped trying to figure it out. He had already asked her. ’The girl would never lie to me.’

Lin Ruoxi wrapped her arms tightly around Xue Rui’s waist, terrified that if she let go, she would lose him.

After crying in Xue Rui’s arms for a while, she felt much better. ’If I just cry all my tears out now,’ she thought, ’then I won’t have any left to cry later.’

"Sniff... I was just feeling homesick," Lin Ruoxi said softly, lifting her head.

’I don’t know how to lie. There are just some things that would make Xue Rui unhappy if he knew, so I’ll just hide them. That doesn’t count as lying... right?’

But Xue Rui cared about her so much. She thought she had hidden it so well, but he still noticed something was wrong.

’I won’t lie to Xue Rui, but I can lie to myself. I just have to believe that I didn’t find out anything last night.’

’Only then can I keep being the naive Lin Ruoxi he knows.’

’Besides, Xue Rui is my home. So I’m not lying.’

"How about we head back in the next day or two? We can take the train you wanted to ride." Xue Rui wiped the girl’s misty eyes and looked at her with complete sincerity.

After being washed by her tears, the girl’s eyes were now much brighter, as crystal clear as they had always been.

"Rui, let’s go home."