Chapter 312 - 269: Romance? Even a Dog Wouldn’t Bother (Part 2)

Creditor: Why was your phone off? Xiaorui, what happened to you?

...

As Xue Rui scrolled down, message after message, the worry between the lines was practically spilling out of the screen.

At the very end, there were a few voice messages.

Xue Rui glanced at Lin Ruoxi beside him, hesitating on whether to listen. In such a confined space, the audio would leak even if he used the earpiece...

Lin Ruoxi nodded, signaling for Xue Rui to listen to Gu Muxue’s message.

Xue Rui tapped to play it, and Gu Muxue’s anxious voice, tinged with the sound of crying, came from the speaker. "Xiaorui, don’t scare me. Call me back as soon as you see this."

"Sister Muxue, don’t worry, my brother..."

Xue Rui frowned. ’Why is my sister’s voice in this voice message?’

He found his chat with Xue Yao and saw that his sister had also sent him many messages, most of which were photos of Gu Muxue. Judging by the background, she was at his house.

There was even one taken in his bedroom. Gu Muxue was hugging the glass jar full of little stars, staring blankly as if in a trance.

Xue Yao: Bro, where are you? Sister Muxue has been at our house all night. Uncle Gu and Aunt Zhao are here too.

Xue Rui took a deep breath and tapped out a line on the screen: Yaoyao, I just turned my phone on. Don’t tell anyone yet. I’m going to video call you. Put in your headphones and answer secretly.

’I need to see what the situation at home is,’ he thought. ’I hope it’s not a big family meeting with a bunch of relatives...’

If that were the case, he really wouldn’t dare go home. He’d become the target of everyone’s criticism...

Xue Yao replied almost instantly: Bro, you’re alive!! Wait, let me find some headphones before I answer.

A dark look crossed Xue Rui’s face. He decisively made the video call. Xue Yao’s face, headphones now in her ears, appeared on the screen.

Xue Rui immediately started scolding her, "What do you mean, ’I’m alive’?"

’Everyone else is worried about me, and the first thing my sister says makes it sound like she thought I was dead?’

Lin Ruoxi whispered, "Don’t be so mean to your sister, okay?"

Xue Rui patted Lin Ruoxi’s hand and whispered back, "This is just how we normally talk. I’m not being mean to her."

"Oh." Lin Ruoxi tilted her head to look at the screen. It was her first time seeing Xue Rui’s sister.

She already knew, of course, that Xue Rui’s sister was very kind; the clothes Xue Rui had given her in the past had all belonged to Xue Yao.

Xue Yao moved to a corner and whispered, "Bro, I figured you were fine, but when Sister Muxue started crying, her nervousness made me nervous too. I thought something had really happened to you. Anyway, I’m just glad you’re okay."

Xue Rui nodded in satisfaction. ’My sister does have a conscience after all.’

"I’m on the train. I’ll be home in about an hour. Grandpa and Grandma aren’t there, are they?" Xue Rui asked.

"Bro, your connection is too laggy. Everyone’s in the living room on the first floor right now. I’ll flip the camera so you can see for yourself. I’m not going to talk anymore."

After saying that, Xue Yao flipped the camera, giving Xue Rui a "live broadcast" of the scene.

Xue Yao knew that if their roles were reversed, she would definitely want to check in with her brother to scope out the situation first. Otherwise, going home would mean walking right into a scolding.

That’s why she hadn’t asked why Xue Rui hadn’t contacted family, only that he had secretly contacted her first.

This was the tacit understanding between brother and sister!

Lin Ruoxi didn’t understand. Xue Yao and Xue Rui hadn’t said much, but it seemed like they had said everything.

Two heads huddled together, anxiously staring at the image on the screen.

「At Xue Rui’s home.」

Gu Muxue was curled up on the sofa. Beside her were Gu Qingshan and Zhao Lizhen, along with Xue Rui’s parents. All eyes were fixed on her...

Xue Rui breathed a long sigh of relief. ’Good, things haven’t gotten too out of hand. It’s just our two families. The grandparents aren’t involved. Otherwise, I’d be in for it when I get home.’

"Xue’er, I’ve already asked someone to look into Xiaorui’s whereabouts. Let’s eat dinner first, okay? You haven’t had a single bite since this morning," Gu Qingshan said in a low voice.

"Muxue, don’t worry. We’ll definitely have news of Xiaorui by tomorrow morning." Ren Qunfang brought over a steaming bowl of noodles.

’At first, I didn’t think it was a big deal. My son often stays out all night,’ she thought. ’But with Lin Ruoxi’s phone also being off... that really does have me worried...’

But Gu Muxue was even more of a wreck than she was. She suppressed her own emotions; she had to take care of the girl first.

"Xue’er, Aunt Ren made this especially for you. Now, eat up," Zhao Lizhen said with feigned annoyance, hoping to coax her daughter into eating something.

Gu Muxue’s eyes were red. She gave Ren Qunfang a polite, haggard smile. Having not had water for a long time, her lips were no longer their usual rosy color, but visibly pale and dry.

"Thank you, Auntie." Gu Muxue took a polite bite and drank a few sips of the broth.

Ren Qunfang’s heart ached seeing her. Gu Muxue cared so much for her son, becoming this haggard after just one day of him being unreachable...

Xue Yao suddenly felt a pang of guilt. She was the only one who knew where Xue Rui was, and now she was covering for him. ’If the family finds out,’ she thought, ’I’ll definitely get a scolding too...’

"Sister Muxue, my brother is actually..." Xue Yao began to say.

Xue Rui coughed lightly from the other end of the line. "Don’t want your game account anymore?"

He would be home in less than an hour. ’And she wants to spill the beans now?’

’Isn’t that just giving the family time to prepare for my "trial"?’

Hearing the voice in her earbud, Xue Yao immediately changed her tune. "My brother... he’s actually like this all the time. It’s normal for him to stay out all night. Back when he didn’t have a phone, sometimes the family couldn’t find him for a couple of days. Then he’d get a beating when he finally came back."

Hearing this, Gu Qingshan shot a fierce glare at Xie Jianfeng, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Xie Jianfeng awkwardly rubbed his nose and turned his face away. Noticing Xue Yao was wearing headphones, he scolded her in a low voice, "How rude. Who talks to their elders while wearing headphones?"