Chapter 508 342: I Forgive You (Part 2)

Lin Ruoxi took out a thermos and poured its contents—a full container of dry ice—into the fountain.

Instantly, a cloud of mist billowed up from the ground, making it seem as if they were in a celestial palace and drawing gasps of amazement from the onlookers.

Lin Ruoxi wanted to attract a bigger crowd. If there weren't enough people, Gu Muxue would likely refuse to play along for Xue Rui's sake, and everything she was about to do would be for nothing.

"You!" Gu Muxue's voice trembled. Such a flamboyant act—she knew who was behind this.

Gu Muxue watched as the bear pulled a bouquet of pink roses from a nearby cardboard box and offered it to her.

Lin Ruoxi knew Gu Muxue didn't like bright red, so she had chosen a pink bouquet.

"Hey, I asked him if he was hot in that outfit, but he wouldn't talk. Turns out he was waiting for you?" a girl in the crowd said, her eyes filled with envy.

'She had noticed the bouquet in the box earlier. It was probably a love confession, wasn't it?'

Gu Muxue looked at the pink roses and instinctively took a step back. She should have known. There were too many coincidences. It had to be Xue Rui...

'Has he been waiting for a long time in that heavy costume?'

"We're over," Gu Muxue said flatly, putting the flowers back in the box.

She wouldn't be coerced by Xue Rui. She had already accepted their breakup. It was just that... it felt as if she'd lost the ability to love anyone.

She desperately wanted to hug the bear standing before her, but she knew she couldn't. He belonged to Lin Ruoxi now.

The onlookers were shocked. So there was history between these two; it wasn't just a simple confession.

Lin Ruoxi froze. She had no idea what the next step was...

'In any case, since I'm here to present an award for Xue Rui, I should at least see it through.'

She pulled out a stack of poster boards and began flipping through them one by one.

Even though you didn't enter the campus belle competition, in my heart, you're the uncrowned queen.

So I'm here to present your award.

To me, you'll always be the most beautiful girl on campus.

...

The poster boards had been blank; Xue Rui hadn't had time to write on them yet. So, Lin Ruoxi had written what she guessed would be an apology.

Finally, she took out a custom-made trophy and an iPhone shopping bag and handed them to Gu Muxue.

Will you forgive me?

"WOW!"

A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd. Whether it was a confession or an apology, the sheer theatricality of it all was off the charts...

One girl was so invested she could hardly stand it. She urged, "Come on, even if he committed a heavenly crime, you have to forgive him now!"

"Miss?"

"Ugh, this is making me cry. If that were me, I'd feel the same way."

Gu Muxue's eyes were dazed. She touched her face and found the corners of her eyes were indeed wet.

That was her youth, her memories. She even had a jar of paper stars with embarrassing messages written on them at Xue Rui's place.

She could still remember blushing as she wrote each little note.

Her face flushed as she muttered, "You're such a spectacle. Grab your stuff and follow me."

Lin Ruoxi nodded emphatically. 'Is Gu Muxue accepting Xue Rui's apology?'

'Anyway, the right move is to follow her. Xue Rui would do the same if he were here.'

'But wait, aren't I supposed to be pretending to be Xue Rui?'

'My plan was to present the award and then go find Xue Rui for the weekend. Now it looks like I'm stuck...'

Lin Ruoxi followed Gu Muxue to a corner of a grove on campus. But she never expected that Gu Muxue, without any warning, would suddenly strike her.

THUMP!

A dull ache spread through Lin Ruoxi's chest. She gritted her teeth and stayed silent, letting Gu Muxue rain blows and kicks down on her.

"Bastard, bastard!"

Gu Muxue felt her strength drain away. Each "attack" rapidly consumed her stamina until she was utterly exhausted...

Gu Muxue's face was streaked with tears. After beating up "Xue Rui," she felt much better, as if a weight of resentment pent up in her chest had finally been released.

"Bastard, why aren't you begging for mercy?" Gu Muxue said with a pout.

'I was waiting for Xue Rui to cry out in pain, but he's being remarkably stoic today. He must know he screwed up big time, so he's letting me take it out on him.'

By now, Lin Ruoxi was drenched in sweat. She set the box down at Gu Muxue's feet and turned to leave.

'I'm Xue Rui today. I can't blow my cover.'

The reason she came in Xue Rui's place was simple. She was afraid he would do something drastic and provoke Gu Muxue, whereas she could keep things in check.

Seeing the bear turn to leave, Gu Muxue's heart lurched with panic, and she instinctively threw her arms around it.

The moment she hugged the bear tightly, she remembered this was probably another one of Xue Rui's tricks—this push and pull that always made her miserable.

She'd lost again. She could never withstand Xue Rui's relentless persistence. Even knowing it was a ploy, she couldn't stop herself from walking right into it.

'I should have known the moment I saw the bear costume. Who am I even trying to kid?'

As for their complicated relationship, for a fleeting moment, she no longer wanted to dwell on it. She just wanted to enjoy the here and now.

'Was I being influenced by Lin Ruoxi? Becoming this pathetic?'

However, as she held the person in the costume, Gu Muxue was stunned to realize it wasn't Xue Rui. The body was much slimmer than his.

Gu Muxue's face instantly turned deathly pale. 'Xue Rui didn't come in person?'

'Then who did I just beat up?'

She hurriedly let go and stepped in front of the bear. "I'm sorry, I don't know who you are. I'm so sorry about just now. I'll compensate you financially..."

'That bastard Xue Rui, why didn't he come himself?'

'He sent someone else to take a beating for him?'

'Well, this person must have just been paid to do this. I just need to give them money, and it'll be fine.'

'So, I got found out after all...' Lin Ruoxi sighed to herself.

"It's okay, as long as you could let off some steam." Lin Ruoxi took off the costume's head, gulping down fresh air as she reached out to pull Gu Muxue into her arms.

Gu Muxue was too weak to resist Lin Ruoxi's embrace. She tilted her head up, looked at Lin Ruoxi with dazed eyes, and said with a trembling voice, "It's you?"

Her mind went blank. She never would have imagined that the person inside was Lin Ruoxi.

Logically speaking, no girl would tolerate her boyfriend going after another girl, let alone help him do it. She had never considered that possibility.

Lin Ruoxi bit her lip, lost in thought. 'I just took a beating, and Xue Rui said that getting beaten up was proof that she's starting to forgive him.'

Lin Ruoxi said softly, "So... so have you forgiven him?"

"I know you want to see him, and he's been waiting for you, too."

Gu Muxue's emotions had just been on a roller coaster. Now, held by Lin Ruoxi, she suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of peace.

With Lin Ruoxi, she felt she could do anything, no matter how embarrassing, without feeling the slightest bit of pressure.

She knew this girl genuinely cared for her, with an almost boundless indulgence.

Gu Muxue shook her head. "I forgive you. Let's go home."

...

「Meanwhile, Xue Rui was chatting with some friends, completely unaware of what Lin Ruoxi was up to.」

Just then, a trending post shot to the top of the campus forum's homepage.

For the students who ran the campus social media page, this type of news was prime content.

Posts were sorted by popularity, so anything that hit the front page was guaranteed to have a high level of engagement, making it valuable data for them.

"This bear really fits the current aesthetic. We could use something like it to generate buzz for our events. Boss, what do you think? Should we order a custom batch?"

"Oh? Let me see." As Xue Rui took the phone, he saw the photo and nearly dropped it right into the hot pot...

'Order a custom batch? I'm the one who ordered it!'

'That girl is way too impulsive. Did she really steal my costume and go find Gu Muxue just like that?'

But judging from the comments in the thread, it seemed like everyone assumed the person in the costume was a guy.

'So Lin Ruoxi really went to present the award and apologize for me. But I wonder how it went?'

「Meanwhile, at Gu Muxue's home.」

Lin Ruoxi sat meekly on the sofa, craning her neck to peek into the kitchen every so often. Gu Muxue's mood swings were so fast she couldn't keep up with what was happening.

'After getting home, Gu Muxue actually started cooking, and she told me to just sit on the sofa and not move...'

She texted Xue Rui about everything she couldn't figure out. According to him, voluntarily cooking was a form of "apology."

'An apology for what?'

'And who exactly was she "forgiving" just now?'

Just as Lin Ruoxi was lost in thought, she suddenly heard something fall to the floor in the kitchen. She rushed in to find that Gu Muxue had cut her index finger with a kitchen knife. A bead of blood was welling up from her pale fingertip...

Lin Ruoxi hesitated for a moment, then grabbed Gu Muxue's finger and put it in her mouth.