Chapter 512 344: More Than Friends

THUD. Lin Ruoxi tumbled off the bed.

Gu Muxue's actions had startled her so badly that she scrambled out of the room. "Fine… you had your way, but don't do that again."

Gu Muxue was so hot and cold, completely unpredictable. Lin Ruoxi was terrified of what she might say next.

"You get some rest. I'm going back to my room." Lin Ruoxi glanced at Gu Muxue, who had buried her head under the covers, and gently closed the door.

She unconsciously touched her lips. She was the one who benefited from proximity—Xue Rui always gave her everything first.

Lin Ruoxi knew Xue Rui would kiss her. She wouldn't even have minded if Xue Rui had been kissed by Gu Muxue. But for Gu Muxue to kiss her directly…

Lin Ruoxi couldn't understand it and decided to just chalk it up to Gu Muxue being sick. One had to be more tolerant with patients.

In any case, she just had to get through to tomorrow morning, and then she could go back to Xue Rui. Gu Muxue had promised her a two-day break.

Meanwhile, Gu Muxue had her face buried deep in her blankets, her mind completely dazed.

She savored Lin Ruoxi's gentleness. She didn't have to hide anything from her. When she was forceful, Lin Ruoxi became pliant. When she was vulnerable, Lin Ruoxi would never laugh—instead, she would care for her tenderly.

For instance, when Lin Ruoxi was teaching her to cook, she was like a big sister. But when she was thinking of Xue Rui, she was like a little girl who had yet to grow up.

The pitiful way she had just pouted was such a huge contrast to her usual self. Gu Muxue had found it adorable and had only meant to tease her a little. 'How did it end up like this?'

'Anyway… she'll be back to her usual self tomorrow morning.' Gu Muxue decided not to dwell on it. In her heart, she already trusted Lin Ruoxi unconditionally.

But Lin Ruoxi's earlier words, "don't do that again," left Gu Muxue feeling a little upset.

...

「The next morning」

Lin Ruoxi was up bright and early. The kitchen was already filled with the fragrant aroma of cooking, as she had prepared plenty of food in advance.

She wanted to leave enough food for Gu Muxue for the weekend, and she also needed to make breakfast to take over to Xue Rui.

She had told Xue Rui to sleep at his own place last night, so he probably wasn't awake yet.

Hearing the sounds from the living room, Gu Muxue rubbed her eyes. The sky outside was just beginning to lighten; it was probably around six o'clock…

'In such a hurry?' Gu Muxue sighed faintly and slowly pulled on her clothes.

Lin Ruoxi couldn't wait to go see Xue Rui, which meant she, Gu Muxue, would be alone for the next two days.

When she stepped out of her room, she heard a CLATTER and a CLANG from the living room. Curious, she peeked over and saw that Lin Ruoxi had dropped a kitchen spoon in front of the sofa. It looked like she'd just dashed out of the kitchen…

Now, she was hastily zipping up her backpack, obviously trying to hide something…

Gu Muxue glanced at the bulging backpack. She could just make out a cylindrical shape inside. It was obviously a lunch box.

"Stop hiding it. I saw everything." Gu Muxue held out her hand, palm up. She intended to demand Xue Rui's breakfast and eat it herself.

"Uh, here…" Lin Ruoxi reluctantly unzipped the bag.

In the next instant, however, Gu Muxue changed her mind. She pouted. "I don't want it. Let him eat till he bursts."

'What's the point of taking it?' she thought. 'Lin Ruoxi would just make him another one. Throwing a fit now would only exhaust Ruoxi and wouldn't annoy Xue Rui at all.'

"I put all the meals for today in the fridge. When you're hungry, just take one out and heat it up. Don't eat it cold."

"Oh, and Xiaobu's cat food is on the top shelf, but I was worried you wouldn't be able to reach it, so I already brought it down."

"Um, also, I already watered the plants on the balcony, so you don't have to water them tomorrow…"

...

Gu Muxue propped her chin on her hand, listening to Lin Ruoxi list off one instruction after another. Even her own mother wasn't this much of a nag.

It was as if Lin Ruoxi wanted to handle every little thing for her.

"Mm, is that all?" Gu Muxue asked. Just as she'd expected, Lin Ruoxi didn't bring up last night, acting as if nothing had happened.

Lin Ruoxi pulled a small cloth bag out from under the coffee table. "This is your medicine. I took off the outer packaging and wrote the dosage for each meal on the labels."

'There's only one pill organizer at home, and I'll be gone for two days. It's better to just give her all the medicine now. Otherwise, she glares at me every time I give her a dose…'

'Besides,' she thought, 'Gu Muxue seems much better recently. She was all smiles this morning. I don't need to worry about her overdosing.'

Seeing the rows of pill bottles on the coffee table, Gu Muxue suddenly felt a pang of panic. Lin Ruoxi had arranged so much for her, and now she was handing over all the medicine at once. 'Is she giving up on me?'

"Just give me enough for two days," Gu Muxue said, looking away. She felt a strange sense of disappointment.

'Just yesterday I was thinking about how to get rid of her,' she thought. 'But now that she's really leaving, I can't bear for her to go…'

Lin Ruoxi shook her head and held one of the bottles in front of Gu Muxue's face. "I wrote it very clearly. Look, right here…"

Gu Muxue didn't even glance at it. "I'm not looking," she said with a sly grin. "Whatever you leave is how much I'll take. If you leave a whole bottle, I'll take the whole bottle."

'You used to control my medicine as an excuse to stay with me. You think you can just up and leave now?'

Now, she was turning that dynamic back on her.

Lin Ruoxi jumped in alarm and quickly hid the medicine behind her back.

'This is exactly what I was afraid of,' she thought. 'Taking all this medicine at once would be a disaster…'

Lin Ruoxi gently cradled Gu Muxue's head. "Muxue, what's wrong? Did I… Did I do something wrong?"

Gu Muxue was upset again, but this time, Lin Ruoxi had no idea why. She could only assume it was her own fault.