Chapter 110: Chapter 110: Despicable Means

Gu Muxue drew eyes wherever she went, even though Table Three was in a corner of the restaurant.

The sight of Xue Rui celebrating Gu Muxue’s birthday had many people turning to look.

Just as the birthday candles were lit, the restaurant staff thoughtfully brought over a bowl of longevity noodles.

"Make a wish," Xue Rui said, gesturing for Gu Muxue to blow out the candles.

He silently thanked his lucky stars. ’Thankfully, this isn’t the era of social media, and smartphone adoption isn’t high yet.’

’Otherwise, with Gu Muxue’s looks, someone would definitely post this online...’

Gu Muxue clasped her small hands together, closed her eyes for a second, then slowly opened them and blew out the birthday candles.

"What did you wish for?" Xue Rui asked with a smile.

"I’m not telling you." Gu Muxue stuck her tongue out at Xue Rui.

She didn’t know what she wanted; she just hoped things would always be like they were now.

’And it’d be great if Xue Rui didn’t make me angry so often.’

But just as she finished her wish, Xue Rui dabbed a bit of frosting on the tip of her nose.

"You jerk!"

Gu Muxue got some frosting on her own fingertip and was about to smear it on Xue Rui’s nose.

"Could you not be so childish?" Xue Rui said with a straight face.

"Huh?" Gu Muxue’s brows shot up.

’Didn’t he start it?’

’How could he have the nerve to say something like that?’

"I don’t care!"

Gu Muxue stood up and chased Xue Rui, trying to get him with the frosting.

"Ah, youth," someone sighed wistfully.

"Happy birthday, beautiful!" a shirtless guy shouted.

In the end, they didn’t waste the cake. Gu Muxue shared it with the other customers in the hot pot restaurant.

"Oh, wait, I think I poked that piece with my finger. Let me get you another one."

"No, no, I don’t mind at all," the man said, happily taking the cake.

"Daddy, the pretty lady gave that to me," a little girl said in a childish voice.

"Eating cake will give you cavities. Daddy will take care of it for you."

...

In the end, Gu Muxue paid the bill.

Xue Rui didn’t have enough money on him. He’d only brought a few hundred yuan and had even haggled with the old lady when buying the teddy bear...

Of course, even if he had the money, he wouldn’t have paid for the little rich girl.

"I’ll take you home."

Gu Muxue, hugging the teddy bear, sat in the back of the Audi and scooted over to make room for Xue Rui.

"No, it’s fine. Qiu Mengze needs me for something," Xue Rui said, making an excuse.

"Oh. Well, get home early then." Gu Muxue waved, a little disappointed.

She wanted to see Xue Rui’s home, especially since he had already been to hers.

She had dropped plenty of hints recently, but Xue Rui had turned her down every time with one excuse or another.

’But it doesn’t matter. I get along great with his sister, Xue Yao. One of these days, I’ll just use visiting her as an excuse to see his house.’

"Sigh."

Feeling the small change in his pocket, Xue Rui suddenly regretted not bumming a ride in Gu Muxue’s private car.

He only had five yuan left, which meant he had to take the bus home.

Xue Rui was worried. He was still short on money for renting a server, and any future changes to the game would cost money too.

Xue Yao’s New Year’s money was in a children’s savings account, and he couldn’t withdraw it without their parents’ permission. He had already tried.

’Ask my old man for money? Completely unrealistic...’

Still, Xue Rui believed that these financial restrictions had their upsides.

Xue Jianfeng figured that if Xue Rui was broke, the most trouble he could get into was surfing the web at an internet cafe.

So, even if Xue Rui didn’t come home, his dad would just assume he was playing games at a cafe, giving him a lot of personal freedom.

It wasn’t like with Xue Yao, a girl they had to worry about, who had a curfew every night.

"What’s this?" Xue Rui pulled out a bank card.

Xue Rui was certain this card hadn’t been in his pocket before dinner.

Neither he nor Lin Ruoxi had a card from this credit union.

He opened QQ on his phone and saw several messages from Gu Muxue.

Gu Muxue: This is my New Year’s money from this year. You can borrow it for now. The PIN is my birthday.

Xue Rui: Thank you, Miss Gu!

Gu Muxue: [Grinning emoji]

After sending the message, Gu Muxue buried her face in the teddy bear’s fluff, flopped onto the back seat of the car, and wiggled back and forth.

"You’re not allowed to bully me anymore,"

Gu Muxue said, pointing at the teddy bear’s nose.

She thought for a moment, then corrected herself, "Hmm... you can’t be *too* mean."

The driver glanced at the rearview mirror and sighed helplessly.

He had watched Gu Muxue grow up. The girl had reached that age of budding romance.

...

Xue Rui found a nearby credit union ATM and inserted Gu Muxue’s card.

After going through the motions, Xue Rui checked the account balance.

Staring at the balance on the screen, he was a little dazed.

He had to lean against the screen and count the digits several times before he was sure he hadn’t made a mistake. Then, he sucked in a sharp breath.

’Three hundred thousand in New Year’s money?’

’What the hell is this?’

’Is the gap between people really this huge?’

It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered borrowing money from Gu Muxue, but he never thought a high school student would have this much.

After all, Gu Qingshan looked like an incorruptible official.

But Gu Muxue’s New Year’s money was enough to buy a house in Hedong with cash.

He didn’t plan on using much, though. The preparatory work for the game was almost done; a few tens of thousands more would be enough.

"No wonder Dad told me to pursue her," Xue Rui muttered.

He had still underestimated Gu Muxue’s family background.

’It must have come from Zhao Lizhen’s side of the family. If Gu Muxue receives three hundred thousand a year, Zhao Lizhen must give out at least that much in return.’

’They call it New Year’s money, but it’s really just adults exchanging social favors in their children’s names.’

He only ever got a few tens of thousands for New Year’s, and his dad would just confiscate it anyway.

Xue Rui calculated how much more money he needed.

In the end, after fiddling around for a good while, he transferred one hundred thousand yuan to his grandmother’s card.

Xue Rui was quite surprised that Gu Muxue’s card had no transaction limit.

He guessed her family was probably a major client of the Hedong Credit Union...

"This money... should I pay it back, or not?" Xue Rui hesitated.

’That girl Gu Muxue called it a loan, but in reality, who lends money like this?’

’Handing over a bank card with no limit to a classmate.’

’This goes way beyond the scope of a normal friendship.’

"Whatever. Since she wants to pursue a career in the arts, I’ll just spend it on her in the future," Xue Rui thought with a smile, putting the card away.

Although Gu Muxue’s song wasn’t finished yet, Xue Rui was sure it would be a hit.

The melody itself was market-tested. As for why it was a Korean song, Xue Rui had asked about that too.

The producer said the song’s melody was too different from the current trends in the Mandopop scene.

Xue Rui thought it was a brilliant move. He didn’t have a musical bone in his body, but he knew that in 2012, the Mandopop world was saturated with giants. The competition was fierce, with everyone churning out music like there was no tomorrow.

A total unknown like Gu Muxue wouldn’t have a chance to stand out. It was better to find success abroad first and then bring that fame back home.

Returning to Lin Ruoxi’s house, Xue Rui was in a great mood.

Thanks to Gu Muxue’s money, he no longer had to pinch pennies.

He even bought some snacks for Lin Ruoxi on his way back.

"Let’s pick up the pace. Get ready for an early launch," Xue Rui said with a grin.

"I, I saved you some dinner..."

"I just ate. Let’s get to work."

...

「Soon, it was the first day back at school.」

Xue Rui walked to his seat and found a bag of small cakes on his desk.

"You buy these?" Xue Rui assumed Qiu Mengze bought them and casually picked one up to take a bite.

The little cake was soft and fluffy, and it was packed with nuts and raisins.

"Hm, for once you’ve got good taste."

Xue Rui figured being in love could really change a person. Qiu Mengze used to only buy junk food.

"Really?"

An excited voice came from behind Xue Rui. He turned around and saw it was Chen Tingting.

Chen Tingting had been hiding behind the door of Class Two, waiting for Xue Rui.

She thought Xue Rui was being ridiculous. She could never find him on weekdays, so her only chance to catch him was on the Monday after a weekend.

"Is it good?" Chen Tingting asked again and again, flashing a bright-toothed smile.

Xue Rui pounded his chest. The shock of seeing Chen Tingting had made him choke.

’I regret it so much now. Why did I have to be so grabby?’

’If I’d known Chen Tingting made these cakes, I wouldn’t have eaten one for anything in the world.’

But he was choking now and had no choice but to take the cup Chen Tingting offered him.

"Phew~" After washing the food down, Xue Rui let out a long breath.

He had almost choked to death just now.

"So, is it good?" Chen Tingting asked, her big eyes shining as she put on a pitiful look.

Xue Rui wanted to say it was terrible.

But then he saw the bandages wrapped around her fingers and what looked like a burn mark on her wrist.

’She probably wasn’t used to baking and hurt herself.’

"It’s okay, I guess," Xue Rui said noncommittally.

Xue Rui had wanted to make a harsher comment, but looking into those big, watery eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

He didn’t have any feelings for Chen Tingting. To be precise, he only saw her as a cute little sister.

Chen Tingting wasn’t tall, about 160 cm, with short hair and an adorable smile.

There was no shortage of boys at school who were after her.

But Xue Rui found her too immature. Mostly, it was her clingy personality. If he got involved with a girl like that, his freedom would be over for good.

"My dad was just praising you at home a few days ago," Chen Tingting said, jumping onto Xue Rui’s back.

Xue Rui frowned in annoyance. This girl had no sense of personal space.

"Ooooh~" The other students in the class started hooting.

The two of them were acting as intimately as a young couple.

"Get off!"

Xue Rui could feel the softness against his back, but he was in no mood to take advantage of the situation. He wanted to pry her hands off, but the many cuts on them made him hesitate.

Qiu Mengze couldn’t watch anymore. Wanting to help Xue Rui, he said urgently, "The dean of students is here!"

"Who? Bald Uncle Wang?" Chen Tingting laughed.

"Uh..." Qiu Mengze threw up his hands in resignation, as if to say he’d done his best.

He had tried to scare Chen Tingting off with the dean, but who knew she wasn’t afraid of him at all.

Actually, it wasn’t like Xue Rui hadn’t tried telling the teachers, but there was simply nothing they could do about Chen Tingting...

Lin Ruoxi sat at her desk, her eyes fixed on Chen Tingting and Xue Rui.

Watching them fool around, she felt a strange discomfort in her heart, like she’d eaten an unripe orange—sour and bitter.

"Quick, go to Class One and get Gu Muxue!" Xue Rui shouted.

"Oh." Qiu Mengze nodded and hurried out of the classroom.

"Don’t you dare!" Chen Tingting said coldly.

Qiu Mengze stopped in his tracks. He thought of Chen Tingting’s father and feared he might get arrested too.

"What the hell are you thinking? Go!" Xue Rui cursed.

"Oh..." Qiu Mengze decided he was overthinking things.

Seeing Qiu Mengze run off to Class One, Chen Tingting reluctantly climbed off Xue Rui’s back.

She was, in fact, a little afraid of Gu Muxue, and not just because Gu Muxue was such a stark contrast to her.

More importantly, last week, the female vice principal, who rarely made appearances, had specifically sought her out, reprimanded her, and punished her with cleaning duty for the entire academic building.

When she complained to Old Chen about it, he even said the principal was right...

She was sure it was Gu Muxue’s doing. Her methods were just too despicable.

Xue Rui rolled his neck and came up with a half-hearted excuse to reject her. "I’m not into girls who are younger than me. You can go now."

He had originally thought about tricking her into going to fix a car, but then he considered that the girl might get hurt and decided against it. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Lin Ruoxi’s expression had been glum, but when she heard Xue Rui say that, her gaze sharpened, and she pursed her lips lightly.

She... was a few months older than Xue Rui.