Chapter 410 - 306: Do You Know She Likes You (Part 2)

As Gu Muxue ate her fried chicken, she recalled their high school days. Whenever Xue Rui’s mother occasionally brought him lunch, he would take her to an empty, unused classroom, glancing around furtively after they entered.

"Xiaorui, we’re just eating. Why do you always have to act like a thief?" Gu Muxue voiced the question that had been on her mind for a long time.

’It was one thing back in high school, but why is he still like this in college?’

The corner of Xue Rui’s mouth twitched. He wouldn’t have thought anything of it if Gu Muxue hadn’t said anything, but now that she had, he suddenly felt incredibly furtive.

"If you hog all the good food for yourself, you’ll get ostracized, Muxue. You shouldn’t do it either. Bring some back for your roommate," Xue Rui offered as a simple explanation.

’High school guys would fight over a single bowl of instant ramen. What do you think would’ve happened if they knew I was hoarding good food? Of course I had to be sneaky about bringing her for a private feast...’

"About the gifts you gave me before... Yaoyao and I compared notes. She said they were all hers." Gu Muxue grew angry just thinking about it.

’From elementary school all the way through high school, all the gifts she’d received from him were childish things for little girls—stuff she herself would have bought back then...’

’She’d thought Xue Rui was just a big kid at heart. It wasn’t until Xue Yao compared notes with her that she realized most of those gifts were things Xue Yao had lost...’

’No doubt about it, Xue Rui must have taken them. Honestly, those two siblings...’

"Ah, I was broke back then. Didn’t have money to buy you gifts," Xue Rui admitted frankly.

...

Outside the window, a cloud was ablaze in fiery red. A cool breeze drifted into the classroom. The beautiful weather put them in high spirits, and they talked for a long time.

Gu Muxue stole a glance at Xue Rui. She felt the time was right. "Xiaorui," she asked nonchalantly, "what did you and she have for breakfast this morning?"

Xue Rui paused. ’This girl is so cunning!’

’Deliberately steering the conversation to the past to create a relaxed, happy atmosphere, then hitting me with a question like that out of nowhere?’

’She didn’t ask who I ate with, but what I ate? It’s like she’s already a hundred percent certain!’

’Anyone else would have been tricked into spilling the beans by now!’

’But how could someone as cunning as him be so easily baited by her?’

’It was definitely not because his memory was so bad he’d forgotten what he ate this morning, which just so happened to buy him some time to think...’

He said calmly, "I had steamed buns with my roommate this morning. You have no idea how packed the cafeteria was..."

’Even though Gu Muxue only asked one question, he’d given two answers, leaving her no room to find fault.’

’And both statements were true. Even a polygraph couldn’t have caught him. After all, he and Lin Ruoxi could technically be considered roommates...’

Suddenly, Xue Rui’s phone rang again. Just as he was about to hit the mute button, he saw her staring intently at his hand.

Xue Rui was suddenly struck with a guilty conscience. If he kept hanging up on calls one after another, it was bound to make her suspicious.

’So, no matter who was calling, he had to pick up this time.’

He pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen: [Incoming call from Ping An Insurance].

’Damn it! How could I be this unlucky?’

’The last few calls he’d ignored weren’t from her, so why did she have to call at the exact moment he decided he had to answer?’

’Why is the universe always out to get me!’

Xue Rui boldly showed the phone to Gu Muxue. "I don’t want to get this."

"Just take it. You have to deal with insurance no matter what business you’re in." Gu Muxue took the phone and tapped the answer button.

Every hair on Xue Rui’s body stood on end. ’She answered her call? On my phone?’

’What do I do?’

’Based on his calculations, she was probably calling to ask if he was coming home for dinner, and what he wanted to eat...’

’The worst-case scenario— "Rui, do you want to eat me tonight?"’

’If they’d planned for this, Lin Ruoxi would have helped him cover for it with Gu Muxue, but how could she know he wasn’t the one who picked up?’

A hundred different ways to die flashed through Xue Rui’s mind. Thinking fast, he had a flash of inspiration and began to speak slowly in the Hedong dialect, "I told you, I’m not buying, I’m not buying. I’m in Chang’an, not Hedong."

Xue Rui deliberately slowed his speech, his pronunciation a mix of local dialect and standard Mandarin. This was to ensure Gu Muxue could make out the words "Chang’an" and "Hedong," so she wouldn’t find it suspicious that he was speaking in dialect.

On the other end of the line, Lin Ruoxi was stunned. ’What is Xue Rui talking about?’

’Of course she knew he was in Chang’an; she just wanted to ask when he’d be back and what he wanted for dinner.’

Lin Ruoxi wasn’t surprised that Xue Rui was speaking in dialect. His grandmother couldn’t speak Mandarin, so they often used dialect to communicate in front of her.

’Ah, Rui is using dialect.’ Lin Ruoxi understood instantly. Xue Rui didn’t want anyone to understand their conversation.

’Right, Xue Rui is very private. He even tears the shipping labels off his packages before throwing them out.’

So, she switched to dialect as well.

From Gu Muxue’s perspective:

Xue Rui: "*@#$!%&@#"

Lin Ruoxi: "@#$!%&#@"

Since Lin Ruoxi came from a rural area, her dialect was far more fluent than Xue Rui’s. Speaking her native tongue, the girl’s words came fast and furious...

Gu Muxue’s head started to hurt from listening, so she simply handed the phone back to Xue Rui.

Hedong was an agricultural city, and most of its residents were recent arrivals from the countryside, so dialects were frequently spoken there. However, Gu Muxue’s social circles provided no such linguistic environment. Even many of her art teachers were hired from out of town. As a result, she was a complete blank when it came to the local dialect.

Xue Rui exchanged a few pleasantries with the girl on the phone, hung up, and casually slipped the phone into his pocket.

He made a silent vow. He’d used up [Ping An Insurance] today. Tomorrow, he’d change her contact name to [Life Insurance]—to bless himself with a long and healthy life.