Chapter 426 - 312: Lin Ruoxi’s Apology (Part 2)

’If I refuse, will she just frame me in front of the teacher again?’

...

Xue Rui had no idea what the two were discussing. ’Why does the little lass look like she’s being scolded?’

’But the girl doesn’t seem angry?’ In any case, he breathed a sigh of relief after confirming the two hadn’t started arguing.

But when he looked back again, he was stunned by the scene before him. The big guy was shirtless, hunching his shoulders as he handed over his clothes—including his short-sleeved t-shirt...

"Hey, why are your eyes all red? You homesick or something?" Xue Rui asked, completely bewildered. ’Why is this kid crying...’

’Besides, who asks to borrow someone’s inner shirt?’

’Didn’t I just say I only wanted the jacket?’

’And look at the size of him, he must be at least two hundred pounds. He could probably take on two of me without a problem...’

The male student spoke in a choked voice, "My name is Wu Xiaozhuang. My parents said I was lucky to get scouted by the school as a special admission athlete. They told me to study hard in college so I can change our family’s fate."

"My mom’s been sick for as long as I can remember. She’s waiting for me to make money and bring home a wife..."

"Shut up. Look, it’s my bad luck, alright?" Xue Rui had a feeling this was going to be a long story, but he was in a hurry and really wasn’t in the mood to listen.

Besides, he seemed to have scared this chicken-hearted hulk. He pulled two more bills from his wallet. ’Call it compensation for emotional distress.’

He swapped three bills for the jacket in Wu Xiaozhuang’s hands, then reached up, plucked the hat from the guy’s head, and put it on his own.

Xue Rui couldn’t help but marvel, ’This kid’s head is massive. The snap on the back of the hat is on the largest setting and it’s still not big enough. He actually cut it and tied an elastic band in...’

It seemed names were often ironic. Someone named Da Zhuang might not actually be that big, but Wu Xiaozhuang was just ridiculously huge.

Broad shoulders and a thick neck—he looked like perfect material for the shot put.

"Bro, you’re just borrowing the clothes, right?" Wu Xiaozhuang asked worriedly.

’He gave me three hundred yuan? Is this to buy the clothes?’

"I’ll give it back. Just wait," Xue Rui retorted irritably, pulling the hat down to cover half his face as he quickly walked out of the restroom.

To avoid being recognized by Lin Ruoxi and Gu Muxue, he even lit a cigarette for show and held it in his hand. He found a row of shrubs that would hide him and sat down less than five meters away from the two girls, listening intently to their conversation.

Gu Muxue stood with her arms crossed, a half-empty bottle of water in her hand.

She hadn’t expected to run into Lin Ruoxi so soon. She wasn’t ready to deal with the Lin Ruoxi problem yet.

’If Lin Ruoxi has really taken this to heart, my meddling will only hurt her.’

’After all, when you can’t be lovers, you often can’t be friends either. That would just leave Lin Ruoxi all alone here in Chang’an. I want to calm down and slowly untangle this messy ball of yarn, to get our relationships back to normal.’

’Of course, that would require Lin Ruoxi’s cooperation.’

She hadn’t asked any questions just now, only meeting Lin Ruoxi’s gaze in silence. Lin Ruoxi was clearly tense under her stare, lowering her head and occasionally stealing glances at her. The word "timid" was practically written all over her face...

’Faced with such an expression, it’s really hard for me to say anything accusatory. It’s better to stay silent and put a little psychological pressure on her.’

’I want to hear what Lin Ruoxi is thinking so I can decide what to do next.’

Xue Rui also felt a pressure settling on his back. The girl’s invisible aura was too powerful. Even the surrounding cicadas seemed to sense the freezing atmosphere and had obediently shut up.

The girl wasn’t doing anything over the top, just staring at the little lass in silence.

He straightened his back slightly, pushing back against the branches of the shrubs and making a RUSTLING noise...

Xue Rui did it on purpose. He wanted to distract the girl and give the little lass a chance to breathe. He could handle the girl’s aura, of course; all it would take was a bit of shamelessness to break her composure in a second.

But he was afraid the little lass couldn’t take it. ’What if she confesses everything?’

At this thought, Xue Rui grew more and more nervous. A large bead of sweat trickled down from his temple.

Gu Muxue heard the noise and glanced over. She saw a student in a military training cap resting in the shade, a faint wisp of blue smoke drifting up from above the shrubs.

Lin Ruoxi looked up at Gu Muxue, summoned her courage, and said, "I’m... I’m sorry. I hid something from you."

Xue Rui nodded slightly. ’That’s the little lass’s personality, alright. When you don’t know what to say, apologizing is never the wrong move.’

’After all, since the little lass has apologized, the girl probably won’t push her too hard.’

Lin Ruoxi bit her lip, feeling extremely guilty. ’I feel like I’ve deceived Gu Muxue. She must be hurting so much right now, right?’

’I understand that feeling. It’s called heartache, a pain so intense it makes it hard to breathe.’

’But Xue Rui is my medicine. As long as I can just rest against him for a little while, all my unhappiness just melts away...’

’It’s just... does Gu Muxue feel the same way I do?’

’If she does, I wouldn’t mind sharing half of Xue Rui’s embrace...’

’That day, Gu Muxue brought breakfast for their entire class. I added her on QQ and found out from her that Xue Rui was running for class president.’

’Xue Rui only told Gu Muxue. He didn’t tell me...’

’I feel so useless. Even if I had known, I couldn’t have helped Xue Rui with anything. Just making friends with my classmates already takes all my energy. I can’t be as considerate as Gu Muxue. I even forgot to get breakfast for Xue Rui that day.’

Lin Ruoxi could feel it. ’Gu Muxue really likes Xue Rui, too.’

’But... can Gu Muxue accept me?’