Chapter 314 - 269: Romance? Not Even a Dog Would Bother (Part 4)

Gu Muxue said, "Auntie, Xiaorui should be arriving at the station soon. Aren’t you going to pick him up?"

Xie Jianfeng cracked his neck. "I’m not picking him up. That brat has the gall to run all over the country and pull a disappearing act. He can crawl his way back from the station."

Ren Qunfang let out a chuckle. "Oh, forget it. I’ll go get him."

"I’ll go too!" Gu Muxue said, raising her hand.

...

「On the train.」

Xue Rui’s phone reception was poor, so he couldn’t make out the last part of the conversation. The call cut off completely, especially after the train went through a tunnel.

But to his surprise, a train attendant came looking for him.

"Hello. We’ll be arriving at the station soon, so please prepare to disembark," the attendant said politely, looking curiously at Xue Rui and Lin Ruoxi.

"Is something wrong?" Xue Rui found it odd. ’Why is she sizing me up? Could she have heard the commotion we made last night?’

The attendant said in a low voice, "Earlier, my supervisor asked me if you were on the train. Do you have any idea what that’s about?"

This sort of thing was quite rare. The conductor had only asked if he was on board without issuing any orders. She figured it was a personal matter.

Xue Rui frowned. He had just received a text from Xue Yao: "Bro, Sister Muxue knows where you are. She’s staying with me tonight."

"Also, I wasn’t the one who snitched. It was Uncle Gu. So don’t you dare touch my game account."

Xue Rui was astonished. ’Just because one of my texts failed to send, Gu Qingshan had someone check the entire railway system?’

’How had he never realized Gu Muxue was so petty?’

In any case, he needed to get back and apologize to Gu Muxue as soon as possible.

"It’s nothing. My phone was off. It must’ve been a friend trying to reach me," Xue Rui said casually.

’The girl was still right beside him, after all. And though she knew who Gu Muxue was, he still deliberately avoided the word "girlfriend."’

The attendant said in surprise, "Your friend must have some serious pull to get the administration to contact us. They must be very important to you, huh?"

Xue Rui gave an awkward laugh. ’Does this woman ever stop talking?’ he thought.

’Of course, he couldn’t really blame her. After all, who would have guessed he was two-timing...?’

"We grew up together. A childhood friend," Xue Rui said offhandedly.

The attendant smiled. "I’m really envious. You should cherish that. When you get to be my age, you’ll understand—the only ones left who’ll worry about you are your family."

"Yeah." Xue Rui felt the attendant had a point. Even the best of friends don’t constantly worry about every aspect of each other’s lives.

’And the ones who do worry about you constantly,’ he mused, ’even if they aren’t family now, they will be in the future...’

The train slowly pulled into the station, and the attendant went back to her duties.

Xue Rui gently pinched Lin Ruoxi’s cheek. "You’re very important, too."

The young woman smiled and nuzzled his hand. "Rui, please don’t turn off your phone in the future, okay?"

’Xue Rui had turned his phone off to be with her, but the extent of Gu Muxue’s worry... it was far beyond anything she had imagined...’

’She didn’t know how she could possibly face Gu Muxue, but... she couldn’t bring herself to dislike anyone who worried about Xue Rui...’

"If anything’s going on, I’ll tell you right away. A situation like today won’t happen again," Xue Rui said.

’Yes, Lin Ruoxi and Gu Muxue were different,’ he thought. ’Gu Muxue has countless people who care about her. All she has to do is start to cry, and a legion of people will rush to comfort and help her.’

’But who did Lin Ruoxi have to rely on?’

’He couldn’t imagine what would become of Lin Ruoxi if she couldn’t find him.’

As they talked, the train pulled to a stop at Hedong Station.

The two of them exited the station, pulling their various bags. It was already midnight. The area in front of the station was deserted, save for a few taxis parked sporadically at the curb.

Back in his familiar city, Xue Rui once again faced a dilemma.

He had promised Lin Ruoxi he would stay at her place tonight.

But everything that had just transpired was pushing him in another direction: Gu Muxue was still at home, waiting...

Xue Rui put his arm around the young woman’s shoulders, feigning weakness.

"Xixi, about today..."

Lin Ruoxi slowly shook her head. ’She wouldn’t make things difficult for him. She had already had him all to herself for a very long time, after all.’

"Rui, go be with her. She’s really worried about you."

"Your foot is injured. I... I’ll take you home."

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Lin Ruoxi saw a hand reaching out to slap Xue Rui on the back. She subconsciously raised her own hand to block it...