Chapter 300 - 265: Love You Very, Very Much (Part 2)

Xue Rui suddenly felt his heart sink. He’d finally been found out for two-timing, yet the girl’s actions...

Instead of pressuring him, she was actually making his life more and more comfortable...

Xue Rui opened the bathroom door. Seconds later, he heard someone trotting down the hallway. Just as he pulled the door open, the girl appeared, ready to help him.

He thought for a moment, then quickly lifted his "injured" right foot and dutifully played the part of a patient.

The girl helped him wash his hands and wipe his face, then guided him back into the soft sleeper compartment and locked the door from the inside.

Looking at the bright red bedding, Xue Rui felt like they were newlyweds on their honeymoon.

’This girl and her little schemes. Who did she think she was fooling?’

He felt too guilty to meet her gaze. The girl, meanwhile, had her own agenda and was subconsciously avoiding his eyes as well.

The train had started moving by this point, the scenery rushing backward outside the window.

Suddenly, Xue Rui’s phone began chiming with a series of notifications...

Xue Rui took a look. Yu Minlan had sent a flurry of photos. She’d gone to a ticket agency and bought out the soft sleeper berths in the two adjacent compartments.

Xue Rui replied to Yu Minlan with an "OK," thinking, ’Yu Minlan is so damn efficient.’

「Meanwhile, at a train ticket agency in Shencheng.」

When Yu Minlan saw Xue Rui’s message, she couldn’t help but smile, patting her chest and letting out a long sigh of relief.

The owner of the ticket agency had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, a long cylinder of ash drooping from the tip, looking as if it would fall off at any moment.

He gave Yu Minlan a strange look. "What’s your deal? Afraid the train will run empty, so you’re donating to the railway?"

’This girl had been in such a panic,’ he thought, ’making me buy tickets for subsequent stops, insisting on specific soft sleepers. And I had to use a bunch of random ID cards to do it. She was just throwing money at the railway. I have no idea what she was thinking, acting like the world would end if she were one minute late...’

"The romance of the rich is something we’ll never understand," Yu Minlan said, shaking her head.

The owner wiped the sweat from his forehead, spat out the long-extinguished cigarette, and brushed the ash from his leg, cursing, "Fuck if I understand it, but buying a damn ticket has never gotten my blood pumping like this before!"

"Anyway, the total is 5,800. Cash or QR payment?"

"Uh... do you take cards?"

...

「Aboard the train to Jin Province, inside the soft sleeper compartment.」

Xue Rui and Lin Ruoxi sat cross-legged on the bunk with its red sheets. The compartment was quiet, save for the low RUMBLE of the train.

The air conditioning on the train was blasting, but the bright red bedding cast a warm, reddish glow throughout the compartment. Combined with the strange atmosphere, it made Xue Rui feel a little hot.

The girl wasn’t faring much better. Her cheeks were flushed.

’My little plan is about to be completely exposed. Xue Rui is so smart; he must have figured it out ages ago...’

Her reasoning was that the poor signal on the train would reduce how often Xue Rui could chat with Gu Muxue.

Most importantly, until they reached their destination, Xue Rui would be stuck with her in this confined space...

For these thirty-three hours, Xue Rui would belong only to her.

Xue Rui glanced at the opposite bunk, where both of their bags were piled.

’This girl...’ he thought. ’She seems dead set on sharing a bunk with me.’

He knew her secret but didn’t let on. He simply played along obediently with her little plan.

"They say people from Jin Province are stingy," Xue Rui joked. "This train must be running at a loss. I haven’t seen many people in the soft sleepers. The compartments next to us are empty, too. I doubt anyone else will be getting on."

It was the railway’s off-season, but to be on the safe side, he had still bought out the two adjacent compartments. That way, even if someone bought a last-minute ticket, they would be assigned a berth much farther away, ensuring no one would disturb them...

Xue Rui glanced at the timetable. They wouldn’t arrive in Hedong until the middle of the night, and he realized he’d completely forgotten to arrange for a ride...

He chuckled bitterly to himself. Two people, yet they’d bought over a dozen tickets. He supposed he could just chalk it up to a donation to the railway’s infrastructure fund.

When Lin Ruoxi heard that the surrounding compartments were also empty, she couldn’t help but smile, her eyes crinkling at the corners.

Xue Rui noticed Lin Ruoxi seemed to be staring at his phone, a slight look of disappointment in her eyes. ’She can’t possibly think I’m chatting with Gu Muxue, can she?’

’The girl planned this train trip for so long. If I just keep staring at my phone, it’ll break her heart...’

So, he sent a mass text to his friends and family: "I’m on a long-distance train with a poor signal. If you need anything, please contact me in a couple of days."

After sending it, he turned his phone off right in front of her and casually tossed it into his bag.

"I think it’s good to disconnect from the internet sometimes," he said with a smile. "It’s the best way to truly appreciate the journey."

He didn’t plan on turning his phone on for the next two days. After all, he’d already notified the other girl... even if it was a rather one-sided announcement.

But she wasn’t an unreasonable girl; she would probably understand. At worst, he could just apologize when he got back.

When Lin Ruoxi saw Xue Rui turn off his phone, she felt, for some reason, incredibly touched...

’It was as if his action was saying, "I’m going to spend this time with you, and only you. No one will bother us."’

A lump formed in the girl’s throat. She didn’t know how to respond to him. In the end, she simply copied him and turned her own phone off as well...

Lin Ruoxi said in a soft, hesitant voice, "Um, the train is always moving, so the phone’s battery drains quickly from frequently switching cell towers. And the radiation is relatively higher, too..."

Xue Rui couldn’t help but laugh. ’Is she trying to hit me with some obscure trivia now?’ he thought.