Chapter 492 - 336: The Teacher Needs to Keep Working Hard (Part 2)

Xue Rui nodded and whispered, "What’s mine is yours."

"Mm-hm!" Lin Ruoxi smiled and nodded, her nose tingling as her eyes welled up. The sight of Xue Rui before her began to blur.

She had always believed that she and Xue Rui were inseparable, that he felt the same way, and that was why he’d put his assets in her name.

But hearing Xue Rui say it himself still made her want to cry.

"Um, there’s also..."

Lin Ruoxi paused. She suddenly didn’t want to say any more. ’It’s enough that she and Xue Rui know.’

Lin Ruoxi blinked rapidly, trying to will the tears away so she could see Xue Rui’s face clearly.

Teng Wenbo pinched the bridge of his nose. ’I make millions a year; I’m a big shot anywhere I go,’ he thought. ’I can’t believe I just got humbled by my own student. Even the best of us stumble sometimes...’

’The worst part is, they were so vague about it. Were they trying to spare my pride?’

’Yes, my meager assets are probably nothing to them.’

’No wonder so many of Lin Ruoxi’s projects are hardware-based, like the kind of things an electronics factory would need...’

"Just forget I said anything." Teng Wenbo sighed and sat up straight. This was the first time he had tried to show off to a student, and it had backfired spectacularly. He was in a terrible mood.

Xue Rui adopted a didactic tone with Lin Ruoxi. "We’re still a long way from Professor Teng’s level. He makes money with real technical expertise. We don’t have any engineers working for us, do we? The professor controls a scarce resource. His future value is immeasurable."

Lin Ruoxi blinked. ’I don’t think we’re lacking at all.’

’Hmm... Xue Rui said that when we’re out, we should say what people want to hear.’

Lin Ruoxi quickly added, "You’re right, we’re not on the professor’s level..."

The other students, who had just set foot on campus, couldn’t possibly understand these subtleties—some of them couldn’t even recognize all the icons on a computer desktop. Hearing words like "engineers," "scarce resources," and "future value," they couldn’t help but shoot looks of admiration toward Teng Wenbo.

"Oh?" Teng Wenbo was a little surprised. ’Why do I get the feeling Xue Rui wants to talk business with me?’

’Xue Rui doesn’t even know what my company’s main business is. What’s all this talk about "future value"?’

Still, the admiring gazes from the surrounding students felt good. He nodded in satisfaction. "If you have something to discuss, let’s talk after class. It’s time to begin."

Teng Wenbo struck just the right pose of detached authority, making it clear that Xue Rui would have to come to him.

’After all, Xue Rui has to come to class every day. There will be plenty of opportunities to discuss a partnership.’

Xue Rui whispered to Lin Ruoxi, "Sometimes you have to play along with people, just like how you play along with me."

"Yes, Master..." Lin Ruoxi nodded earnestly.

Once class began, Xue Rui found it as boring as ever, so much so that he struggled to stay awake. The other students, however, were quite diligent. Occasionally, those who didn’t understand something would turn to ask Lin Ruoxi.

But without exception, Teng Wenbo intercepted them. Deep down, he valued talent and didn’t want Lin Ruoxi’s time wasted on such trivial, repetitive questions.

However, Teng Wenbo soon discovered that Lin Ruoxi was truly just there to keep Xue Rui company. She would occasionally feed Xue Rui a snack, or lean her head over for him to pat...

’Even a genius can’t escape the clutches of love,’ Teng Wenbo thought, smiling to himself.

...

Lunchtime arrived after the two long morning lectures. Lin Ruoxi, using her "course exemption" as an excuse, left early to buy lunch for Xue Rui. She found a secluded, shady spot where they could eat together.

"Why aren’t we going to the cafeteria?" Xue Rui asked. Lin Ruoxi always liked to find somewhere deserted to eat. ’Is it just a habit?’

He could never forget the image of that little girl hiding in the emergency stairwell, secretly gnawing on a steamed bun.

Well, this was great. Instead of him changing her, she was now dragging him into corners to eat. He felt like a fugitive!

"I don’t like other people looking at you," Lin Ruoxi said.

Whenever they ate in public, people would always stare at her and Xue Rui, which made her feel very uncomfortable...

"You were planning to change your major before, weren’t you? What were you thinking of switching to?" Xue Rui asked casually. ’The little lass has already changed her mind, so there’s no harm in asking now.’

"Microelectronics," Lin Ruoxi said quietly.

"What’s that? It sounds like it’s related to semiconductors." Xue Rui wasn’t certain, but it sounded familiar.

"Chip manufacturing. I want to save some money... Buying chips is too expensive."

Xue Rui was silent for a long time, unsure how to respond.

"You’re right," Xue Rui finally said, affirming her idea.

Xue Rui knew that many of Lin Ruoxi’s projects had been hamstrung by the chip monopoly. All the profits were eaten up by procurement costs, and the little lass was very unhappy about it.

’Lin Ruoxi’s words were blunt, but her reasoning was sound. Making your own chips would certainly save money, but what if you couldn’t pull it off?’

’The sunk costs would be enormous.’

’It’s good to have a dream, but this particular dream was a massive cash furnace.’

’He could help with the money. The market was a fixed pie. The people who got a slice weren’t necessarily doing anything productive with it. Pouring money into semiconductors, even if it yielded no product, would at least provide valuable experience for the entire industry.’

’Starting a business himself was risky. He understood the business models for many industries, but without the right connections and resources, actually executing was another story entirely...’

’It would be best to act as an angel investor. That would free up his own time and energy.’

’It’s 2014. Pinduoduo hasn’t even been founded yet.’

’I should find out where Boss Huang is...’ Xue Rui decided.

For now, though, Lin Ruoxi was wiping his mouth before pulling him toward the car to rest for a bit.

"Mmm, let’s cuddle for a bit..." Lin Ruoxi turned on the air conditioning and, without another word, flopped into Xue Rui’s arms.

’The life she wanted was just this simple.’ She admitted she was unambitious; she just loved eating with him, sleeping with him...

Xue Rui looked down at Lin Ruoxi as she contentedly buried her face in his chest, only lifting her head reluctantly to take a breath when she absolutely had to...

’It seemed like Lin Ruoxi had his entire daily schedule planned out. She didn’t even spare his lunch break.’

Xue Rui felt like he was her pet, one she kept by her side at all times so she could get her "fix" whenever she needed it...

"Alright, come lie on my lap and get some sleep." After cuddling Xue Rui for a while, Lin Ruoxi sat up, content, and patted her thighs, beckoning for him to use them as a pillow.

"So this is the real reason you bought an SUV, huh?"

Xue Rui lay down almost without hesitation. ’How could he possibly refuse such an enthusiastic invitation?’

He felt that Lin Ruoxi was constantly switching between two different modes.

One moment, she’d be burying her face in his chest like a little girl begging for a hug;

the next, she’d be gently letting him rest his head on her lap, her hand softly stroking his face as if he were the child who needed doting on.

Xue Rui turned his head and nuzzled against her long legs. ’Either way, he liked them both.’

Lin Ruoxi watched as Xue Rui’s breathing grew deep and even, and she smiled in satisfaction.

’This was the college life she wanted. Everything was just as she had dreamed.’

But she knew this was all possible only because Gu Muxue had yielded her place.

’Her happiness was built upon Gu Muxue’s pain. She felt incredibly guilty, but when she was with Xue Rui, she was so happy she forgot everything else...’

’She felt like a heartless, awful woman, just like her grandmother used to say—with nothing on her mind but Xue Rui...’

She took out her phone and sent a message to Gu Muxue: "We’ll be there early."

Gu Muxue had a therapist appointment, but Xue Rui had said she would definitely get there early to secretly gather information...

So, Xue Rui’s plan was to also arrive early, so they could "coincidentally" run into Gu Muxue.

’Deep down, Lin Ruoxi didn’t want Xue Rui and Gu Muxue to meet. She found herself growing more and more possessive of everything related to Xue Rui.’

’If she could, she would keep him all to herself.’

’Xue Rui hadn’t forbidden her from "tipping off" Gu Muxue, so she had decided to tell her after all.’

’Does Gu Muxue actually want to see Xue Rui or not?’

’If not, why is she so concerned about him?’

’If she does, why won’t she see him?’

’She couldn’t understand Gu Muxue’s pride and her internal conflict.’

’As long as she could hold Xue Rui every day, she would pay any price.’

’Perhaps that was the biggest difference between her and Gu Muxue.’

’Lin Ruoxi didn’t care what others thought, but Gu Muxue would carefully maintain all the social relationships surrounding Xue Rui.’

’Lin Ruoxi knew that in many ways, she couldn’t compare to Gu Muxue.’

’Xue Rui liked the version of her that he could have whenever he wanted, but he also liked the independent and opinionated Gu Muxue.’

’In the end, Lin Ruoxi had left the decision of whether to meet Xue Rui up to Gu Muxue.’

’Lin Ruoxi hated owing people. Her memory was excellent, but she still wrote down every debt on paper to constantly remind herself.’

’The ledger between her and Xue Rui was already a mess; she had chosen to spend a lifetime repaying it.’

’But as for her debt to Gu Muxue... she had no idea how she could ever repay it...’