Chapter 345 281: Xiaorui, Let Him Go

"Mei Lili, want me to put your luggage up for you?" Xue Rui joked.

Mei Lili pouted. "No thanks, I can do it myself."

With that, she found an empty spot and struggled to lift her suitcase. Gu Muxue shot Xue Rui a glare. "Are you just trying to provoke her? Go help her out."

Xue Rui reached out, placed the suitcase on the luggage rack, and said, "Don't force it if you can't manage. What if you dropped it and hit someone?"

Mei Lili didn't say anything. She just squeezed into her seat and mumbled a quiet, "Thanks."

However, just as Xue Rui was about to sit down, he noticed a female student nearby dragging a large suitcase. She was staring blankly at an empty spot on the luggage rack, while Qiu Mengze stood to the side, hesitating.

'I might not be as tall as Xue Rui, but I can still lift a suitcase,' Qiu Mengze thought. With that, he grabbed the girl's suitcase. "Let me get that."

'That suitcase looks heavy,' Xue Rui thought, seeing Qiu Mengze struggling. He went over to give him a hand.

However, the girl behind them said coolly, "I have a boyfriend."

Xue Rui couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath. 'Why are there so many idiots in this world?' he thought. 'Qiu Mengze and I were just being nice and trying to help. Why did you have to bring that up?'

Before Qiu Mengze could figure out what was happening, he heard Xue Rui say, "Mengze, put it down. Didn't you hear? She has a boyfriend."

Qiu Mengze and Xue Rui exchanged a look. 'So she thinks we're hitting on her? And she's already decided she's too good for me?'

If he went ahead and put the suitcase up now, Xue Rui would probably laugh at him for the next six months. He set the suitcase down. "Alright then. Let your boyfriend do it."

The female student shot Xue Rui an irritated glance.

Xue Rui winked at Gu Muxue and held out his arm.

Gu Muxue let out a small laugh. She knew what Xue Rui was up to. She gently took his arm and said to the other girl with a smile, "He has a girlfriend."

As she said this, she noticed many people were looking at her, and her cheeks instantly flushed...

Xue Rui glanced at Gu Muxue, then at the stunned female student, and shook his head repeatedly.

Everyone around could see it. Whether in terms of looks, figure, or overall presence, Gu Muxue completely outshone the other girl.

The female student's face turned beet red. She said things like that all the time, but she never expected someone to be so blunt and humiliate her in return.

"Hey, you already lifted it up. Why'd you put it back down?" a male student asked.

'This world is full of simps,' Xue Rui thought. 'Girls like her are spoiled by them. It's one thing not to say thank you, but to be all passive-aggressive about it?'

He said to the male student who had spoken up, "If you want to help her, go ahead. I'm not doing it."

"I... never mind. Forget I said anything." Seeing the mocking looks from Xue Rui and Qiu Mengze, the boy instantly decided it was better not to get involved. It was clearly a thankless task.

"Where's her boyfriend?"

"Probably didn't come..."

Someone whispered.

The girl sat awkwardly in her seat, placing her suitcase sideways in front of her in a very strange position. A passing attendant even reminded her to put her luggage away.

In the end, another student's parent helped put the girl's suitcase up.

"Th-thank you, Uncle," the female student stammered.

The man shook his head helplessly. "Young lady, what does having a boyfriend have to do with someone else helping you?"

"Right..."

"You need to be polite."

"Mhm..."

...

The small incident passed, and the train slowly began to move.

Watching the astonishing speed displayed on the LED screen at the end of the car, and the scenery rushing backward outside the window, Qiu Mengze couldn't help but marvel, "High-speed rail is so fast! We'll be in Chang'an in just fifty minutes. Will it get even faster in the future?"

'The trains are at their fastest right now because many of the stations in between haven't opened yet,' Xue Rui thought. 'Once more stops are added, it will get slower and slower...'

Xue Rui took some snacks out of his bag to share with the group. The two in the front seats turned around from time to time to chat with those in the back.

"Muxue, our university has a shuttle bus arranged. We'll have to split up once we get to the station," Mei Lili said.

Gu Muxue squeezed Xue Rui's arm. "Xiaorui, after you drop me off, have Uncle Yang take you to your school. The earlier you get there, the easier it is to fit in. Isn't that what you said?"

'What a princess,' Xue Rui thought. 'She even has a full-time private driver for school.'

'Unfortunately, I didn't even bring my acceptance letter, so I couldn't go even if I wanted to. Besides, it doesn't really matter if I go early or late. I'm already as familiar as I can be with my future roommates...'

The train soon arrived at Chang'an Station. At the exit, many students were holding signs for various universities, guiding the arriving students.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Xue Rui saw a familiar face: Qian Huabiao, his university roommate from his past life.

The memories of his university roommate weren't that distant. After all, they had lived together for a long time in college. Plus, he was already eighteen now, so his features were mostly set. He didn't look much different from the person in his memory, which was why Xue Rui recognized him at a glance.

What surprised him, however, was that the guy wasn't heading toward the sign for the University of Posts and Telecommunications. Instead, he went over to the one for Chang'an Jiaotong University.

He suspected he might have mistaken him for someone else, so he shouted ahead, "Old Biao!"

This had been Qian Huabiao's nickname since childhood. He figured that if it was the same person, he would definitely react.

As he expected, Qian Huabiao turned and glanced back in confusion, but he couldn't find where the voice had come from.

Qian Huabiao shook his head and jogged a few steps to catch up with a tall girl in front of him. "I think I was just hearing things. It sounded like someone called my nickname."

Xue Rui sucked in a sharp breath. He couldn't help but think of the butterfly effect.

'What did I change?' he wondered. 'How did my roommate end up getting into Chang'an Jiaotong University?'

'Could it be that playing Happy Elimination early gave his IQ a second-stage boost?'

'How strange. Are my university roommates going to be different in this life?'

He shook his head, deciding not to overthink it. In any case, he would find out tomorrow when he got to school.

Qiu Mengze looked back curiously. "Were you calling me?"

Xue Rui said casually, "I said 'bro.' It's a common term in Southern China."

"Anyway, I've found the people from my school, so I'm gonna go," Qiu Mengze said. He was feeling both the excitement of starting school and a sense of unease about Qin Tong.

The upperclassmen welcoming the new students, especially the male ones, all had their eyes fixed on Gu Muxue at that moment.

"I hope she's going to our school," someone muttered.

This was the thought on most of the male students' minds. Proximity breeds opportunity, after all.

But in the end, the ridiculously pretty girl didn't go to any of the groups. Instead, she followed a boy and started walking away.

"Hey, what university are you from? I can help you find your group," a male student asked, blocking their path.

Gu Muxue replied politely, "Hello, I'm from Chang'an Jiaotong University."

"We are too! The university has arrangements over here. Come with us," the male student said with a smile.

"Thanks, but someone is here to pick us up." Xue Rui waved his hand dismissively and started walking toward Yang Xing.

"Muxue, the car is just outside," Yang Xing said, taking the suitcase from Xue Rui.

But the upperclassman wouldn't give up. He called out to a few people behind him, saying he could arrange this and that.

"I'm her boyfriend," Xue Rui said.

The upperclassman stopped in his tracks, the disappointment on his face unconcealed. He recovered quickly, though, and hurried back to the university's gathering spot to chat with another new female student.

Gu Muxue was a little surprised. 'Xue Rui said he had to keep an eye on me, and it turns out this many people really would hit on me...'

"What's he doing?" Gu Muxue asked curiously. She thought these people were being a little too enthusiastic.

Xue Rui, on the other hand, thought it was perfectly normal. He had welcomed new students before, too. He explained, "Pretty girls always get pulled aside for a longer chat. Of course, the main reason is that they get a commission for selling cards."

"What kind of cards?" Gu Muxue asked, tilting her head up.

"All sorts of cards. SIM cards, water cards, things like that," Xue Rui said with a laugh. "It's really about the profit. If it were just about finding a girlfriend, they wouldn't have this much energy."

Yang Xing smiled faintly. "You sure know a lot, kid. You and Muxue wait here for a moment, I'll go get the car."

However, just as Yang Xing left, a short man walked up to the two of them and reached out to grab Gu Muxue's wrist.

Xue Rui reacted instantly, grabbing the man's wrist.

Gu Muxue frowned and took a step back. She glanced at the man and saw that he was trying to tie a red string around her wrist.

Looking closer, she saw the words "Charitable Donation" written on the box he wore on his chest. He was holding a large handful of red strings and other trinkets, each with a small wooden charm on it. She had seen classmates wear similar things during her college entrance exams; they were supposedly for praying for good luck.

Just as she was about to ask something, she saw a sign in the man's hand that said he was deaf and mute, and something about a "charitable donation of twenty yuan."

Gu Muxue sighed and pulled a hundred-yuan bill from her bag.

"Xiaorui, he's just trying to get by. Let him go."