Chapter 123: Chapter 123: I Probably Can’t Get Up Without a Kiss

The field was clean, free of debris. Xue Rui subconsciously assumed that beneath the blanket of white snow, there was only the synthetic track and the grass lawn—nothing that could trip him.

So, he ran recklessly, unafraid of bumping into anything behind him.

However, he’d forgotten about the drainage ditches beside the track...

Still, he wasn’t too worried. As long as he held on tight to Gu Muxue, everything would be fine.

"Ah!" Gu Muxue scrambled to her feet, afraid Xue Rui would get hurt.

But the moment she stood up, Xue Rui lost his support, and they both tumbled to the ground together.

Behind Xue Rui was the soft, grassy lawn, covered by a thick layer of snow, so he wasn’t injured or in much pain when he fell.

The biggest impact, in fact, came from Gu Muxue landing on top of him.

Xue Rui lay flat on his back in the snow. Having been pulled down with him, Gu Muxue was now lying on top of him.

They were now practically face-to-face.

The northern winters were frigid. As Xue Rui panted, white puffs of mist escaped his lips.

This close to Xue Rui, Gu Muxue was equally nervous. Her breathing quickened, and she too exhaled puffs of white mist.

The white mist they exhaled merged, their breaths visibly mixing before they were drawn in with the rise and fall of the other’s chest.

Feeling his breath and heartbeat from so close, her mind went completely blank.

Xue Rui and Gu Muxue gazed at each other for a long moment. ’My heart is racing from exertion,’ he thought, ’but this girl’s heart is beating even faster than mine.’

The snow reflected the moonlight onto Gu Muxue’s face, allowing Xue Rui to see her clearly.

Her face was flushed, and the tip of her nose and her ears were bright red from the cold. She looked so cute he wanted to take a bite.

"Are... are you okay?" Gu Muxue said, averting her gaze.

It was just the two of them on the field, tranquil and serene.

The atmosphere, the proximity... If she moved just a fraction of an inch forward, they would be kissing.

She couldn’t put into words what she was feeling; her mind was just a total mess...

"You’ve crushed me," Xue Rui said shamelessly. "If you don’t give me a kiss, I don’t think I’ll be able to get up."

Gu Muxue was still lost in the moment, worried that Xue Rui had been hurt. But hearing him say something so shameless, she knew he must be fine!

She gave Xue Rui’s arm a light pinch. "Jerk!"

"I’m afraid I don’t have much time left," Xue Rui continued. "Can’t you fulfill this one tiny wish for me?"

Furious and flustered, Gu Muxue leaned over and bit down hard on his shoulder.

But as she bit down, she quickly eased the pressure.

She didn’t know what came over her. Sometimes she just had this inexplicable urge to bite Xue Rui, yet she never wanted to actually hurt him.

Xue Rui was wearing thick clothes today, so she felt no reservations. She could even gnaw on the fabric a little while biting down...

This tangled emotion was now, at long last, finding release.

Xue Rui felt a tickle on his shoulder but didn’t stop her. He simply placed a hand gently on her back and gazed up at the pitch-black night sky.

He never used to understand this kind of behavior, but in college, he’d taken an elective.

He’d signed up for "The Psychology of Love," thinking it would be an easy credit where attendance probably didn’t matter.

But the professor was surprisingly strict... She took attendance every class and didn’t even let students sleep. He’d wondered if she was going through menopause.

In any case, he had actually learned a few things.

In a relationship, many girls like to bite their partners.

It’s similar in principle to giving someone a hickey—a way of announcing to the world that this boy is hers.

In truth, biting is a manifestation of affection and an outward display of possessiveness.

But Gu Muxue was unaware of this. She just figured Xue Rui was so infuriating, making her grind her teeth in frustration every day.

Therefore, it was only natural that she’d want to bite him.

Xue Rui gently patted her back as if coaxing a child, his thoughts gradually drifting away.

Ever since discovering that "confession photo," Xue Rui had been piecing together what happened between him and Gu Muxue in his past life.

He realized that back then, he had been nothing but a foolish, oblivious kid who only knew how to have fun, completely missing Gu Muxue’s feelings for him.

Later, he became completely focused on studying for the college entrance exams, and his contact with Gu Muxue lessened.

Of course, another reason was that Gu Muxue was too proud; everything she did for him was in secret.

Get Gu Muxue to confess her feelings? That was even more impossible.

But why did she disappear after the college entrance exams?

Back then, he had asked around everywhere, only to be told that she had gone abroad to study.

A while ago, he heard from Jiang Wei that the Director of the Municipal Supervision Bureau was being transferred, which meant Gu Qingshan would naturally take his place.

Gu Qingshan was only thirty-six or thirty-seven. To have reached such a position at that age was truly extraordinary.

By the time Gu Muxue was done with her college entrance exams, Gu Qingshan would be almost forty.

Different positions, different ages, and different perspectives on life.

At thirty-six, Vice Director Gu might pick a fight with Xie Jianfeng to bury the hatchet.

But the thirty-eight-year-old Director Gu probably wouldn’t...

So, Xue Rui guessed that Gu Muxue must have had a showdown with Gu Qingshan after her exams back then.

However, Gu Qingshan, having been in a high position for years, was used to his word being law. To keep Gu Muxue away from him, he had decided on her behalf to send her abroad.

But there was another problem. As proud as Gu Muxue was, she was equally stubborn.

She was the type to want to "destroy the evidence" of even a secret message she’d once written on a photo. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Would she really have accepted being suddenly sent abroad by Gu Qingshan?

And even if she had, so what? With her personality, she would have definitely run back.

But in ten years, Gu Muxue never returned. No one could contact her. Her QQ profile picture went gray and stayed that way.

The only explanation Xue Rui could think of was something beyond her control—a natural disaster or some terrible accident...

He couldn’t bear to think about it anymore. The more he did, the more his thoughts spiraled...

In any case, Xue Rui no longer cared about the reasons for what happened in the past.

The most important thing was that Gu Muxue was in his arms right now. That was more important than anything else.

Xue Rui freed his hands, raising them behind Gu Muxue’s back and rubbing them together.

When Gu Muxue felt his arms tighten, she thought he was about to hug her. She wanted to get up and leave immediately, refusing to let him take advantage of the situation. If she gave him an inch, he’d take a mile.

But she was conflicted; she knew that deep down, she didn’t actually want to leave...

After rubbing his palms warm, Xue Rui gently cupped them over Gu Muxue’s ears. "They must be freezing."

With her ears covered, Gu Muxue couldn’t quite hear what he said, but they felt wonderfully warm.

Even though it was more than ten degrees below zero outside, lying in his arms with him warming her ears, she felt even cozier than she did indoors.

After a while, a clamor arose in the distance. There were even boys whooping and hollering on campus, and Xue Rui realized the evening gala had ended.

"Alright, get up. You’re going to crush me," Xue Rui said.

Gu Muxue was being exceptionally quiet today.

After an hour of playing in the snow in the dead of winter, Xue Rui was inevitably starting to get cold. Even if Gu Muxue could handle it, he was reaching his limit.

"What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying I’m heavy?" Gu Muxue frowned.

She had only been resting the upper half of her body on him.

"I don’t care. You broke me today. Now how am I supposed to find a wife?"

"I’ll go lie down at your front door in a couple of days and refuse to leave. I’m going to make Director Gu compensate me with a wife," Xue Rui said brazenly.

"Jerk!" Gu Muxue patted his back, brushing off the clinging snow.

What Xue Rui said was just too shameless. She felt he was growing more brazen by the day.

Now he was even talking about extorting her father.

’But... when he said that, was he trying to "extort" me away?’

’And all this talk about wives?’

’Was he talking about me? Is this his confession?’

Gu Muxue could feel her cheeks burning.

On the way back, Gu Muxue remembered how Xue Rui had leaped over her head. She still hadn’t gotten her revenge for that.

She trotted a few steps ahead of Xue Rui and started stomping all over his shadow with her thick boots...

Xue Rui chuckled. The girl was adorable, always holding onto the strangest grudges.

And yet, he still owed her one hundred thousand yuan, and she had never mentioned it once.

When they reached a more crowded area, Gu Muxue reverted to her usual polite and poised self, as if putting on a subconscious performance.

Xue Rui marveled at the change. A moment ago, she was acting like a seven-year-old, but now her composure was more mature than most college students, and she radiated an air of elegance.

’Just as expected of someone from a prestigious family.’

"Don’t you get tired of the act? Putting on that fake smile every day," Xue Rui asked curiously. Her performance was excellent, but he could see right through it.

Gu Muxue thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I think I’m just used to it."

As they walked toward the school gate, Gu Muxue suddenly said, "It’s too cold. You should head back to your dorm."

"We’re almost there. Come on," Xue Rui said with a smile.

"Just go back!" Gu Muxue insisted.

She had been so reluctant to leave his embrace that she’d let him lie in the snow for far too long. She regretted it now. What if he got sick because of her?

"Alright." Xue Rui nodded and turned to leave.

He could tell she was genuinely upset, so he didn’t insist on walking her home.

With a wry smile, Xue Rui muttered to himself and turned to head to the cafeteria to find Lin Ruoxi.

Lin Ruoxi was at school today, too, and he had to see her home.

Besides, he seemed to have left his chair in the cafeteria...

Without his chair, what would he sit on tomorrow?

"Brother Rui," a passing classmate called out, "Sister Xi already took your stool back, so you don’t need to go to the cafeteria."

"Okay." Xue Rui nodded with a smile. ’She’s so thoughtful,’ he thought.

’As for Gu Muxue’s stool?’

’There were plenty of simps at school; someone would surely take it back for her. He didn’t need to worry about it.’

His classmate had just said Lin Ruoxi took his stool, which meant she was definitely not in the cafeteria.

Lin Ruoxi didn’t live on campus, so where would she be now?

Xue Rui figured she might be waiting for him in the classroom. After all, she would have had to go there to drop off his stool.

But after taking a few steps, he suddenly had a gut feeling that she wasn’t in the classroom.

The intuition seemed to come from nowhere, but for some reason, the closer he walked to the classroom, the stronger the feeling grew.

Acting on a whim, he headed for the hole-in-the-wall on the outskirts of the school.

He just had a feeling she would be there.