Chapter 389 297: I, Jiang Yuan, Do Not Accept Charity

He gave a casual smile and softly reassured her, "Go ahead, don't worry. I'm pretty tough. It's no big deal if it takes a few tries."

'In reality,' he thought, 'I've already made up my mind. Three strikes and you're out. If she fails two more times, I'm filing a complaint!'

Luckily, his words worked. The nurse calmed down considerably, and she successfully drew his blood on the second try.

"Thank you." The nurse gave Xue Rui a sweet smile. She had been worried this student would put pressure on her, but he turned out to be unexpectedly gentle.

After his blood was drawn, Xue Rui pressed a cotton ball to his arm and motioned for Jiang Yuan to come up next.

"Me?" Jiang Yuan pointed at herself in disbelief. Wasn't Lin Ruoxi supposed to be in front of her?

But since Xue Rui had said so, she thought about her goal of becoming the class monitor. 'How can I show any fear?'

She gritted her teeth and stood in front of Lin Ruoxi.

"Don't worry, go ahead," Xue Rui said to the nurse. "She's tough too. It's fine if it takes a few tries." He then turned to Jiang Yuan. "Right?"

Jiang Yuan gritted her teeth. "Right…"

Their exchange made the people behind them burst out laughing, and the atmosphere grew much more relaxed.

When Jiang Yuan's turn was completed without a hitch, Xue Rui still wasn't completely at ease. He had the silent Zhao Ru, who was standing behind the young lady, go next to give the nurse some more practice.

"You're next," Xue Rui said to Zhao Ru. His tone was level, but it held a hint of firmness that brooked no refusal.

'Me?!' Zhao Ru panicked. 'Xue Rui wants me to go first?'

'I could definitely refuse and avoid this. But should I defy Xue Rui just to delay my blood draw by a minute or two?'

'My relationship with Lin Ruoxi isn't good, and Xue Rui is her boyfriend. Right now, it looks like he's on track to become the class monitor. The class monitor handles a lot of paperwork. College is four years long... I'm afraid he'll make my life difficult later on.'

'I'm all alone studying in a new city. I don't want to make too many enemies...'

"Rui, why aren't you letting me get my blood drawn?" Lin Ruoxi asked curiously.

"We should be courteous to our classmates," Xue Rui said. "Let them go first. Once everyone's done, we can go eat."

"Mm, okay." Lin Ruoxi smiled. 'I knew it. Xue Rui is so kind,' she thought.

A teacher on the side walked over to check on the students, nodding in satisfaction. She was on the phone with Xia Tianjun. He had mentioned that Class 141 didn't have a teaching assistant and was asking her how things were going in their class.

"Don't worry, Teacher Xia. You have a student in your class named Xue Rui who's managing things very well. He's not only courteous to his classmates, but he even ordered breakfast for everyone." As she spoke, she took a sip of her red date soy milk.

Zhao Ru's nose tingled, and she felt a sudden sense of grievance. 'Is even the teacher on Xue Rui's side?'

But she didn't dare to look Xue Rui in the eye and just silently walked in front of Lin Ruoxi.

'This world is so dark!' she suddenly thought.

Only after Xue Rui was sure the nurse had settled down did he let his girl sit down for her blood draw.

After her blood was drawn, the more Jiang Yuan thought about it, the angrier she got. 'Xue Rui actually said he'd "see how I perform"?'

'He had me go first just now. Does that count as my "performance"?'

'But why should I have to perform for him?'

'I'm Jiang Yuan! I've lived for eighteen years and never been wronged like this!'

She whispered in Xue Rui's ear, "It's not over 'til it's over! And I, Jiang Yuan, don't accept handouts."

"Zhao Ru, let's go."

...

After his girl's blood draw also went smoothly, Xue Rui went to the doorway, ready to have breakfast with her.

Several other classes were still inside, and the school bus was nowhere in sight. He remembered starving through this wait in his past life and figured it would be a while.

And why did he remember it so clearly? Because when you're starving, every minute feels like an eternity.

A young body burns through energy so quickly. The hunger was relentless, a feeling that was impossible to forget.

It reminded him of middle school, during that last period right before lunch. Classmates would keep glancing back at the clock, counting down the minutes until they could bolt from the room and fight for a spot in the lunch line.

"Old Xue, hurry and eat," Cai Huazhou said, handing him a few meal boxes.

Xue Rui took it and casually asked, "Has everyone eaten? Is there enough?"

Cai Huazhou pointed at the box. "Plenty. Old Zhang ate enough for three people by himself, and we still have all this left."

"But two of the girls said they aren't hungry."

Xue Rui looked in the direction Cai Huazhou indicated. Of course, it was Jiang Yuan and Zhao Ru.

He could guess why Jiang Yuan wasn't eating. It was a matter of pride.

As for Zhao Ru, it was likely because of her issues with Lin Ruoxi, and the fact that he was Lin Ruoxi's boyfriend.

Lin Ruoxi saw there were still plenty of meal boxes left. She grabbed a couple and walked over to Jiang Yuan and Zhao Ru. "Come on, eat."

Xue Rui didn't stop her. Even if Lin Ruoxi hadn't done it, he would have. After all, despite their little tiff, he wasn't about to bicker with a bunch of kids.

People should eat when it's time to eat. He didn't want it to look like he was bullying them.

"Thanks," Jiang Yuan said, a little embarrassed.

In truth, she had regretted refusing Cai Huazhou a moment ago. Xue Rui may have been manipulative, but his intentions were good. This wasn't the time for anyone in the class to be antisocial, especially not her, since she was trying to become the class monitor.

She knew she'd made a mistake and was just about to swallow her pride and go grab one herself when Lin Ruoxi brought it over.

Lin Ruoxi handed the other meal box to Zhao Ru. She gave Zhao Ru a careful look and said softly, "Here you go. Time to eat."

After being forced by Xue Rui to get her blood drawn early, Zhao Ru's heart had felt ice-cold. It was as if the ancient Chang'an City, a place that had stood for a thousand years, had no room for a single, small girl like her.

Her roommates knew about her conflict with Lin Ruoxi, and since they were all still just getting to know one another, no one besides Jiang Yuan had offered her an out. But Jiang Yuan hadn't taken breakfast either.

Xue Rui's influence was growing. As she watched her classmates laughing and eating the breakfast he'd provided, she suddenly worried that she was going to be ostracized.

'Did Xue Rui put Lin Ruoxi up to this?'

'Is this a good cop, bad cop routine? The stick and then the carrot?'

'No, no, no, Lin Ruoxi…'

'I haven't been around her much, but I can tell Lin Ruoxi isn't that kind of person.'

Lin Ruoxi was half a head taller than her. Standing there in the sun, her soft hair was touched with a golden-yellow light, giving her a holy, angelic glow. In that moment, Zhao Ru felt an endless warmth wrap around her, and a wave of emotion made her throat tighten.

'An angel is right here beside me… but how did I treat her before?'

A pang of guilt shot through her at the thought.

"Thank you. About before… I'm sorry." Zhao Ru's voice was a little choked up.

Seeing that the two of them were eating, Xue Rui took his own meal and squatted down beside Jiang Yuan.

Zhao Ru gave him a polite smile, and Xue Rui nodded in return. He had been watching them, and he could tell how the conversation had gone just by looking at their faces as Zhao Ru and his girl talked.

'Since Zhao Ru is willing to apologize, I'll let it go,' he thought. 'It's not like my girl lost out on anything, anyway.'

Xue Rui looked around, then asked Jiang Yuan in a low voice, "Weren't you not hungry just now?"

Jiang Yuan glared at Xue Rui resentfully. "I was up and busy at 6 in the morning. You tell me if I'm hungry or not!"

Xue Rui knew Jiang Yuan wasn't the petty type. He said nonchalantly, "I seem to recall someone saying they don't accept 'handouts'?"

Jiang Yuan's face flushed crimson. She desperately wanted to dump the meal box right on top of Xue Rui's head!

"Is it good?"

Jiang Yuan clenched her jaw and, with all her might, forced out two words: "It's. Good."