Chapter 517 - 346: You’ve Thrown Away All of Muxue’s Dignity

Gu Muxue sighed to herself. She’d lost count of how many times she’d heard that Lin Ruoxi always waited for the other person to hang up first.

But this time, she wanted to talk to Xue Rui...

’Should I hang up?’

’If I don’t hang up, it’ll seem like I have an ulterior motive. But if I do, what excuse can I use next time?’

The innocent Lin Ruoxi didn’t realize that Gu Muxue had used the "hickey" as a pretext to find a way to speak with Xue Rui.

As Lin Ruoxi watched the seconds tick by, she suddenly realized something: Gu Muxue seemed to have more to say...

’If it was about the two of us, she wouldn’t have to say it right now.’

So, Lin Ruoxi whispered tentatively,

"Muxue, do you... do you want to talk to Xue Rui? I’ll give him the phone."

"Hello? Are you listening?"

...

On the other end of the line, Gu Muxue was blushing beet red. She knew Xue Rui was listening, but there was no way she could answer. So, she just pretended she’d forgotten to hang up.

"Forgot to hang up?" Xue Rui murmured to himself. Taking the phone from Lin Ruoxi, he held his breath and listened intently. He could hear faint breathing—the phone was still in Gu Muxue’s hand.

"MEOW~"

A meow came through the phone.

Xue Rui grinned; he had an idea. He would give the girl an out. "Xiaobu, want some canned food?"

She gently pinched Xiaobu’s ear and held the phone to its mouth.

Xiaobu: "MEOW~"

"If you want some, bring your owner over," Xue Rui said, smiling.

"MEOW~"

The corners of Gu Muxue’s lips curved upward. ’Xue Rui still gets me...’

With Gu Muxue’s continued prodding, another flurry of meows came through the phone, and Xue Rui began his one-man show.

"You want me to deliver it? What’s the address?"

"Alright, you talk, I’ll write."

"Xiaobu, slow down. Let me get a pen and paper."

Xue Rui winked at Lin Ruoxi. She looked completely stunned. ’Can Xue Rui understand cats?’

But she didn’t question him, obediently fetching a pen and paper.

After taking the pen and paper, Xue Rui scribbled as he spoke, "Okay, okay, I got it. Xiaobu, what flavor do you want?"

"MEOW~"

"You want the dog-meat-flavored kind?"

...

"No need to thank me. What’s a little formality between us? I’ll bring it over another day," Xue Rui laughed.

The SCRITCH-SCRATCH of writing accompanied Xue Rui’s mumbling. Gu Muxue heard every bit of it clearly and couldn’t help covering her mouth to hide a laugh. As she rocked back and forth, her lounge chair let out a faint CREAK...

She tilted her head back to look at the azure sky, her fingers tapping lightly on her phone. This moment felt like they were children again. Whenever Xue Rui made her cry, he would be so scared she’d tattle to the teacher that he would try every trick in the book to cheer her up.

But as she laughed, unbidden tears suddenly began to fall...

’She missed Xue Rui so much, too.’

"Xiaobu, go get Muxue. I have to let her know; otherwise, you won’t be able to open the door," Xue Rui’s voice came through the phone again.

Right at that moment, Xiaobu lifted its head and let out a soft whine at Gu Muxue.

Gu Muxue brushed the cat hair from her hand, took a deep breath to compose herself, stood, and paced a few steps. Then, feigning anger, she said,

"Xiaobu, who told you to give him our address?"

Xue Rui’s breath hitched. He had only wanted to make Gu Muxue laugh, but her response went far beyond his expectations.

The implication was not only that she had forgiven him, but that he could even go to her home...

"Xiaobu, I’m coming to bring you your canned food right now," Xue Rui said, testing the waters.

"Don’t... Don’t come! I won’t open the door for you."

Gu Muxue said hurriedly, her heart pounding. A moment ago, she had been so eager to respond to Xue Rui that she’d completely forgotten the consequences of saying something like that.

Lin Ruoxi’s beautiful eyes were filled with astonishment. Curious, she picked up the paper she had given Xue Rui and saw it was covered in nothing but a mess of doodles. There was no way to discern Gu Muxue’s address from it.

’Xue Rui might fool around, but Gu Muxue too?’

’How could a person understand what a cat is saying?’

Lin Ruoxi pointed at the paper, stared blankly at Xue Rui, and mouthed the words, "The address?"

Xue Rui poked Lin Ruoxi’s forehead. "You have it."

Lin Ruoxi’s eyes widened in realization. ’So Gu Muxue meant she’s forgiven Xue Rui, and that I should bring him over?’

’Why do these two always have to be so cryptic? She still preferred to just tell Xue Rui what was on her mind directly...’

"Sigh, but I already made a promise to Xiaobu," Xue Rui lamented.

Gu Muxue puffed her cheeks and stomped on the ground twice. She had forgiven Xue Rui for all of two seconds, and he was already pushing his luck by asking to come over. ’The nerve of him.’

She glanced back at the empty room and swallowed unconsciously. ’She was actually... looking forward to it...’

’She really had changed so much.’

"For National Day... I don’t want to go home," Gu Muxue said, changing the subject.

Xue Rui was taken aback. "Muxue, you’re not going back for your birthday?"

He suddenly remembered that Gu Qingshan had called him last night, asking if he was with Gu Muxue and when they were coming home for National Day.

At first, Xue Rui had just assumed Gu Qingshan was doing a routine weekend check-in, but now that he thought about it, Gu Muxue had definitely been acting strangely recently.

After suffering such a huge blow, Gu Muxue’s first instinct was to run home to escape. Xue Rui had thought she would start going home to visit every week, but in reality, it was already the end of the month, and she hadn’t returned to Hedong even once.

The long National Day holiday was just a few days away—a full seven-day break, which also included Gu Muxue’s birthday. And she wasn’t planning on going home?

In truth, many university students didn’t go home. The freedom one had at university was incomparable to being at home; no one would ask where you went if you stayed out all night at school, but there were far more restrictions back home.