Chapter 361 287: Can't Let Her Run Away

Xue Rui saw Lin Ruoxi standing there in a daze and couldn't help but smile. He knew exactly why the man had run off, but the girl, of course, had no idea.

He felt it was necessary to give Lin Ruoxi a glimpse of the real world. He called out to the man in the distance, "Hey, the deaf-mute man! You dropped your money!"

Anyone who heard that would, in all likelihood, subconsciously glance back. Even if they didn't look, they would hesitate for a moment, which would surely give them away.

The passersby who heard this all laughed. What kind of lame joke was this kid telling?

"Young man, you're telling a deaf person they dropped their money?" someone couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"How is that any different from a deaf man hearing a mute say a blind man saw a lame man kick a disabled person?"

"So where is the money?"

However, to everyone's surprise, the man heard that he had dropped his money and subconsciously glanced back, only to see Xue Rui giving him a smug wink and the crowd looking on with shocked expressions.

"He's not deaf? A scammer?" someone muttered in surprise.

'Fuck!' the man cursed inwardly, picking up his pace.

Lin Ruoxi shuddered. 'Isn't he deaf-mute? Why could he hear what Xue Rui said?'

Xue Rui lifted the girl's sunglasses for a peek and, sure enough, saw a pair of big, confused eyes.

"You look too fierce. You scared him away," Xue Rui said with a perfectly straight face.

Yu Minlan's mouth twitched when she heard this. She had been waiting here for half an hour. The man had clearly run off the moment he saw Xue Rui, yet Xue Rui still had the gall to pin the blame on Lin Ruoxi.

Lin Ruoxi knew Xue Rui was just teasing her. She had also caught on by now—the man collecting donations was a scammer.

"There are so many scammers," Lin Ruoxi said with a pout, looking a little dejected.

Xue Rui thought the girl looked absolutely adorable pouting like that. He pinched her cheeks, squishing her lips into an "O" shape, and demanded, "Are you calling me a scammer?"

"Mmph, no, no," Lin Ruoxi frantically shook her head.

"Then you're the scammer," Xue Rui said, tweaking the girl's nose.

"Mhm, I'm a scammer," Lin Ruoxi's voice was muffled.

"Tell me, what did you lie to me about?"

"Hmm, let me think..."

Xue Rui nonchalantly handed his bag to Yu Minlan and fell back to walk and chat with the girl.

Yu Minlan sighed helplessly. The dynamic between Xue Rui and Lin Ruoxi was just too strange. Xue Rui spent all day teasing Lin Ruoxi with his nonsensical antics, and Lin Ruoxi was always the one on the losing end.

The thing was, they were both clearly having fun. What could she possibly say?

It was just the sort of fun young couples have.

"Boss, should we get lunch? Who knows how long it'll take to finish registration," Yu Minlan asked.

"Let's eat first then," Xue Rui said.

For Yu Minlan, there wasn't much to see in Chang'an, but it was a different story for Lin Ruoxi. Everything held a sense of novelty for her.

Chang'an was steeped in history, having once been the capital of thirteen dynasties. It was a quintessential tourist city, and with university students arriving for the new semester, all the attractions were basically packed.

Xue Rui had Yu Minlan drive a loop around a few streets, and they could see many ancient-style buildings along the way.

The girl blinked her big eyes, filled with curiosity about everything.

"I'll skip class and take you sightseeing in the future," Xue Rui said.

"Sk-skip class?" The term was a little unfamiliar to Lin Ruoxi, though Xue Rui had orchestrated her skipping class before...

'Now that I think about it, Xue Rui must have been looking out for me. If we skipped class, we wouldn't run into so many people. I don't like crowded places.'

The group found a lamb paomo shop by the side of the road. It offered the standard tourist trap package: small portions and ridiculously high prices...

Still, the food at these kinds of places was usually decent enough. Xue Rui wasn't too picky, and since there were a lot of university students eating inside, he figured the girl should experience it too.

"Hey, owner! What's taking so long? Are you even trying to run a business?" a middle-aged man grumbled toward the kitchen.

"Coming, coming! Right away!"

A student said in surprise, "Didn't he get here after us? How is his food ready first?"

"Who knows? Maybe it's because our group is bigger, so it's less convenient for them..." someone mumbled.

Xue Rui shook his head repeatedly. If nothing else, university students were definitively the most well-mannered group in society, bar none.

The downside was that their good manners made them easy targets for being bullied and treated with disrespect...

The girl broke the flatbread into small pieces for Xue Rui, listening to the students around them chat about the historical atmosphere of Chang'an.

"Chang'an really lives up to its name as the capital of thirteen dynasties. You can even feel the weight of history in the air," a male student at the next table praised.

Hearing this, the girl gently sniffed the empty air in front of her. She couldn't smell any history.

"What does history smell like?" Lin Ruoxi whispered to Xue Rui.

Xue Rui muttered quietly, "That's how outsiders feel. Locals can't feel it."

"Hmm, but I'm an outsider, too," Lin Ruoxi said, sneaking a peek at the student at the next table.

Xue Rui couldn't help but laugh. "Speaking of history, doesn't your village have an old temple? What's it smell like in there?"

Lin Ruoxi tilted her head, lost in thought. She decided she would go take a sniff next time she went back.

Xue Rui guessed those students were probably from regions with less historical significance. For people like him, who came from the lands of Jin Province, the feeling wasn't nearly as profound...

While Jin Province might be lacking in many respects, its history was absolutely its greatest strength. When it came to historical artifacts and ancient architecture, it was in a league of its own, far ahead of any other province.

"Sigh, the main group chat for our department is all guys. Finding a girlfriend is going to be tough."

"You have no idea how lively the group for the teaching program is. The girls are chattering away constantly, I can't even get a word in..."