Chapter 311 - 269: Romance? Even a Dog Wouldn’t Bother

When Xue Rui heard that Gu Muxue had contacted Lin Ruoxi, he quickly turned to look.

From Gu Muxue’s perspective, Lin Ruoxi was a science genius, an excellent employee...

Besides, something Lin Ruoxi had said in the past had caused a misunderstanding. Gu Muxue probably thought he didn’t like Lin Ruoxi, but that Lin Ruoxi insisted on sticking by his side...

So, he was worried that Gu Muxue, acting as his girlfriend, would say something harsh to Lin Ruoxi and hurt her feelings.

But on second thought, that girl was always so polite to strangers. How could she possibly say something vicious?

He took the phone and looked. From start to finish, the messages were only about her concern for his and Lin Ruoxi’s safety.

When he saw the last message, three jarring words pricked at his nerves.

Xue Rui gasped. Gu Muxue had actually said, "I’m begging you"!

He was on good terms with the Gu Family and often went over to bum a meal and chat. He had heard plenty of stories about Gu Muxue from Zhao Lizhen.

The girl was naturally competitive and incredibly stubborn. She had never begged anyone for anything—not even her own parents. She always had a habit of acting first and asking for permission later...

’But now, she was begging Lin Ruoxi?’

He never thought the word "beg" would ever come from Gu Muxue’s lips.

From just those three words, Xue Rui pictured the young woman huddled in a corner, crying all alone.

’During my disappearance, Gu Muxue must have been a complete mess inside. Otherwise, she never would have said something so out of character.’

Xue Rui clutched Lin Ruoxi’s phone, momentarily at a loss for what to do...

"Rui, you... you should call her back," Lin Ruoxi said softly, her hand tugging at the hem of his shirt.

From the time he boarded the train yesterday until now, Xue Rui’s phone had been off for over thirty hours.

Her thoughts turned to herself. ’If Xue Rui were to disappear from my world for over thirty hours... No, forget thirty hours. If I didn’t hear from him for even a dozen hours, I wouldn’t know what to do with my future...’

’Gu Muxue... must be very worried about Xue Rui, too.’

"She... She’s very worried about you." Lin Ruoxi took Xue Rui’s phone and resolutely pressed the power button.

Xue Rui watched the Apple logo light up on the screen. He suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion.

’Gu Muxue had even tracked down Lin Ruoxi. That means she must have gone through all my friends and relatives...’

’I can only imagine how many unread messages I have...’

He looked at Lin Ruoxi quietly, realizing she was even more nervous than he was. The tips of her fingers, pinching the hem of his shirt, had turned pale...

"What are you so nervous about?" Xue Rui asked with a smile.

"Uhm, I... I don’t know. I was just thinking, if I were Gu Muxue, or Aunt Ren, and I found out you were missing, I’d be frantic..." Lin Ruoxi murmured.

Xue Rui sighed. ’I used to worry that Lin Ruoxi and Gu Muxue would get jealous and fight over me. How ridiculous that seems now. Lin Ruoxi is so gentle she’s actually empathizing with her own "love rival"...’

Lin Ruoxi unlocked Xue Rui’s phone and started searching for Gu Muxue’s name. When she couldn’t find it, she simply typed in Gu Muxue’s phone number directly. A name popped up: "Creditor."

Xue Rui wasn’t nervous anymore. He had already come clean with Lin Ruoxi, so there was no need to hide anything on his phone.

Lin Ruoxi froze for a second. ’Why would Xue Rui save Gu Muxue with a name like that?’

She remembered Xue Rui mentioning he felt indebted to Gu Muxue. ’Is this an emotional debt?’ she wondered.

But she didn’t hesitate, pressing the call button immediately.

Xue Rui quickly snatched the phone back. He jabbed the end call button and switched on airplane mode.

Lin Ruoxi tilted her head, her eyes filled with confusion. ’Isn’t the most important thing to reassure Gu Muxue and his family?’

’Why did Xue Rui turn on airplane mode?’

’That’s no different from his phone being off. Gu Muxue still won’t be able to reach him.’

She connected his phone to her personal hotspot so he could get online.

However, how could a girl as innocent as Lin Ruoxi possibly understand what was on Xue Rui’s mind?

Xue Rui was busy sorting through the flood of messages on his phone. He wanted to figure out everything that had happened while his phone was off so he could come up with a plan.

He opened his text messages. His screen was filled with concerned messages from friends and family, most of them asking where he had gone.

He checked the group text he’d sent. It showed [DELIVERY FAILED]...

’Gu Muxue must have asked all those people about my whereabouts. Her approach was correct, but only Yu Minlan and the people in Shencheng knew I was returning to Hedong. Gu Muxue wouldn’t have been able to find out anything from anyone in Hedong...’

It was the same story on QQ and WeChat. He focused his attention on his chat with Gu Muxue.

Seeing the [99+] notification, Xue Rui’s heart leaped, but he also felt a surge of warmth.

’I only call my family occasionally; I never thought so many people would notice if my phone was off for a day.’

’This is the first time I’ve ever experienced something like this, with everyone looking for me...’

He scrolled all the way to the top and started reading the messages from yesterday, one by one.

Creditor: Where are you? [Angry]

Creditor: Going to bed this early?

...

[Message retracted]

Creditor: You bastard. Good night.

Then, at 6:00 a.m. the next morning, Gu Muxue sent another message.

Creditor: Get up, you lazy pig. You went to bed so early, how are you not up yet? [Furious]

Creditor: Are you mad I didn’t get you a Qixi Festival gift?

Creditor: You bastard! I’ll give it to you when you get back! Just answer me!