Chapter 111: Chapter 111: Offerings Are Meant to Be Shared

Once autumn arrived, the atmosphere in the class was no longer as lively as before.

It was as if the students’ enthusiasm had faded along with the dropping temperature.

In truth, the most dramatic change was in Class 2, though it had a ripple effect on several of the neighboring classes.

Even Xue Rui, who was living his life a second time, hadn’t expected this kind of change.

He remembered the academic atmosphere in his previous life being completely different; the students in the back row had been completely unrestrained.

But now, things were different. The studious atmosphere in their class was so intense that it was on par with the honors classes of top-tier schools.

After the first monthly exam, Lin Ruoxi had placed first in the entire city, and the school held a special all-school awards assembly to commemorate it.

Xue Rui also received the "Most Improved" award and was praised by name by many teachers.

At first, some people suspected Xue Rui had cheated to get his scores, teasing him about the "prodigal son’s return."

But Xue Rui completely ignored the gossip, going to Gu Muxue for tutoring every day and paying more and more attention in class.

Even in the dormitory, he could be found poring over a notebook.

Seeing his childhood friend studying so hard, Qiu Mengze felt a little insecure.

He was Xue Rui’s deskmate and was the most affected, so he also started to study hard, proactively raising his hand to answer questions in class.

When the other underachievers, who had also given up on themselves, saw two of their "like-minded" peers suddenly start studying and getting constantly praised by the teachers, it was a form of immense torture for them.

They wanted to numb themselves with games and entertainment, but the actions of these two were a constant influence.

In the end, although there were still a few students who just couldn’t get interested in studying and often went to other classes to fool around with other students,

even they could be found with their books open when they were in their own classroom.

If they didn’t, they felt like they didn’t fit in, and a strange anxiety would bubble up inside them.

At night, the faint rustling of a roommate turning pages under the covers and the dim, intermittent glow of a desk lamp kept them awake.

...

After the midterm exams.

The results board by the stairwell had been posted for quite some time.

"Lin Ruoxi got first in every subject again?" a female student asked, slightly surprised.

"She’s just too incredible," Hong Zihan sighed again and again.

Lin Ruoxi was an insurmountable mountain. Aside from Chinese language, she had once again achieved a perfect score in every subject.

"Let’s see who dares say Lin Ruoxi is just lucky now."

Someone said with a proud expression, clearly treating Lin Ruoxi as the goddess in his heart.

After more than a month of this building up, Lin Ruoxi had become the "one true god" among the academic geniuses of No. 2 High.

Because Lin Ruoxi wasn’t just first in the school; she was first among the dozen or so districts and counties in the entire city.

Many even privately discussed the possibility that Lin Ruoxi could become the provincial top scorer on the college entrance exam.

More and more eyes were starting to focus on Lin Ruoxi.

Thanks to her improved diet and Xue Rui’s strict insistence that she work on her posture, Lin Ruoxi’s overall aura and physique had undergone a massive transformation.

Lin Ruoxi’s tall stature and stunning looks were further enhanced by her "Academic God" title.

Many people believed that the name Lin Ruoxi was now on par with Gu Muxue.

"When it comes to the school beauty, Gu Muxue is still the best."

A group of male students from the liberal arts track once again pretended to be casually strolling through the science track’s floor.

In reality, they just wanted to catch a glimpse of the two school beauties as they passed by.

"You’re just an old traditionalist. I think Lin Ruoxi is prettier. She’s taller."

As a group of boys passed the Class 2 classroom, they subconsciously slowed down, staring at Lin Ruoxi for a long time.

"Then go confess to her. Lin Ruoxi doesn’t have a boyfriend," the boys around him teased.

The boy’s eye twitched. "I’m afraid the grade director would kill me."

’This jerk of a friend is too much,’ he thought. ’Telling me to confess to Lin Ruoxi?’

Although Lin Ruoxi was also a school beauty, she was completely different from Gu Muxue.

Lin Ruoxi was an ice queen; no one had ever seen a boy make her smile.

The male student body believed no one could win a smile from Lin Ruoxi.

But that wasn’t even the most important part. Director Wang, the head of the second year, was notoriously short-tempered, and everyone had long since discovered that he treated Lin Ruoxi like a precious treasure, often escorting her home after school.

Who would dare poke that bear?

In the Class 2 classroom.

Lin Ruoxi held a box of chocolates, tilting her head to glance out into the hallway.

After a moment’s thought, she started passing them out to her classmates.

This was what Xue Rui had told her to do: if anyone gave her snacks, she should share them with the class.

She never knew who they were from; every time she left the classroom for a short while, some mysterious snacks would appear in her desk drawer.

Xue Rui said these were offerings from the students to the "Academic God."

And offerings were meant to be shared with everyone.

In reality, no one dared to confess to Lin Ruoxi because they were all afraid of being caught by Director Wang.

But the boys always felt like it would be a shame if they didn’t do *something*.

So, many of them secretly left snacks at her desk, hoping Lin Ruoxi might figure out who sent them.

Of course, some girls also gave her snacks, as if making an offering to a statue of Confucius, hoping that if the "Academic God" ate their snack, it would bless them with a good score on the next exam...

"Thanks, Sister Xi," a female student said, taking a piece of chocolate from the box.

"Oh, you’re welcome," Lin Ruoxi nodded and moved on to the next person.

"Sister Xi, you don’t even study, so why don’t you go home during the activity period every day?" a male student couldn’t help but ask.

They had noticed that Lin Ruoxi never seemed to study. The only thing she did at school was take first place in the city during exams.

The college entrance exam was clearly no big deal for her. If it were them, they definitely wouldn’t just be sitting idly in the classroom.

Lin Ruoxi’s gaze dimmed slightly. It was because Xue Rui was still in the Class 1 classroom, getting tutored by Gu Muxue.

’I feel so useless,’ she thought. ’I can’t even do something as simple as helping with homework.’

She glanced at the time. According to their usual routine, Xue Rui would be heading home with her in about half an hour.

Even though it was to work on the game, she still got to have dinner with him.

The game had already passed review and was in its beta testing phase. Xue Rui had said it could be officially launched tonight.

Lin Ruoxi stared blankly at the clock on the wall, wishing the hands would move faster.

The Class 1 classroom.

Xue Rui went over everything he hadn’t understood recently with Gu Muxue. His new textbook was now filled with neat, red handwriting—the notes Gu Muxue had made for him.

"Got it now?" Gu Muxue asked with a sweet smile.

She felt that whenever he was being tutored, Xue Rui was so quiet he didn’t seem like the Xue Rui she knew. He would listen to whatever she said.

Seeing Xue Rui’s rank on the midterm exam jump by another hundred places gave her a greater sense of accomplishment than getting first place herself.

"Yeah, I got it," Xue Rui nodded.

"That girl in your class, Lin Ruoxi, she’s really pretty."

Gu Muxue said this as if to herself, while keeping an eye on Xue Rui’s expression out of the corner of her eye.

Xue Rui didn’t answer right away, glancing at Gu Muxue’s expression instead.

He noticed that her eyes held a hint of scrutiny, which didn’t seem right.

"In the classroom, I only look at the blackboard. After class, I come find you. I haven’t noticed," Xue Rui said with a calm, unchanging expression.

Gu Muxue was a bit incredulous. "Really?"

’A girl that pretty, even other girls can’t help but stare, and he’s saying he hasn’t noticed?’

Especially with Lin Ruoxi’s fame in the school growing, how could he possibly not know who she was?

"I’m bad with faces and my memory isn’t great. You know that," Xue Rui said casually.

Gu Muxue thought about it, and it was true...

Last weekend, she and Xue Rui had run into their middle school principal, and Xue Rui had shown no sign of recognition, only belatedly greeting him after she did.

She wasn’t particularly upset about not being first in the grade.

Because Xue Rui didn’t care if she was first or not; he still came to her for tutoring every day, and that was enough.

Gu Muxue asked, feigning casualness, "Xiaorui, what city are you thinking of for university?"

In the past, she had always avoided this topic because Xue Rui’s grades made it unlikely he could get into any decent university.

But now things were different. Xue Rui’s attitude was positive and upward-looking, so she could openly discuss the future with him.

Xue Rui fell into a memory. ’Did Gu Muxue ask me this question in my past life?’

He couldn’t remember.

"Where do you want to go?" Xue Rui asked.

Gu Muxue paused for a moment. "I want to go to Jiangnan University. Both my parents graduated from there."

Xue Rui thought for a moment. "I’m planning to go to Chang’an. It seems they’re planning a high-speed rail line for Hedong City, and I heard it’ll only be an hour’s ride to Chang’an. The regions are close, the food is similar, so I won’t have trouble adjusting."

In his past life, he had just randomly applied to a bunch of schools based on the cutoff scores and ended up cluelessly going to school in Chang’an.

Actually, it wasn’t that he’d never lived in a southern city. The pros of southern cities were that they were more prosperous and had a richer nightlife...

The cons were the faster pace of life, the incomprehensible dialects, and needing to order two portions of a meal just to feel full...

But Xue Rui was more focused on maintaining his health now, so those pros were negligible to him.

Chang’an was set for a long period of rapid growth, and its transportation network was also very well-developed.

If he wanted to start a business, there were also many support systems and preferential treatments.

"Is that so?" Gu Muxue was a little surprised.

Xue Rui had really thought things through. Having grown up in Hedong, she found the southern weather a bit unbearable; the summer was so humid it was hard to breathe.

The last time she visited her mother’s hometown, she even broke out in a rash, which seemed to be from not being used to the climate.

Gu Muxue thought for a moment. "I visit Jiangnan every year, and I’ve seen Jiangnan University many times. Actually, I’m not that eager to go there."

"Oh right, the game I made is in beta. I have to get it for my biggest shareholder."

Xue Rui took the phone from Gu Muxue’s bag and installed Happy Elimination.

At the same time, he also returned the bank card to her.

"Try playing it. If you feel like anything is unreasonable, you can give me feedback anytime."

"Okay, let me see." Gu Muxue nodded and took the phone.

She actually hadn’t held out much hope for Xue Rui’s game development project. She had done a lot of research and didn’t think it was something he could pull off.

As for giving him money, she just hadn’t wanted him to be so troubled.

She took a closer look. The game’s graphics were exquisite and gorgeous, no worse than any other game she had played.

Gu Muxue glanced at Xue Rui, her beautiful eyes filled with astonishment.