Chapter 126: Chapter 126: Gu Muxue’s Little Secret

"Muxue, let me do it."

Xue Rui scrambled out of bed. ’If this girl keeps rummaging, she’s going to see Lin Ruoxi’s name.’

Gu Muxue’s brows shot up. What did Xue Rui mean by that? ’Is he implying I can’t even handle something this simple?’

The more Xue Rui tried to take over, the more determined she was to stop him.

"Let go. You’re sick, yet you’re still so strong," Gu Muxue said, her face darkening.

Xue Rui wanted to just snatch the school uniform, but he was afraid it would be too obvious and Gu Muxue would notice something was amiss.

Gu Muxue was surprisingly strong. ’If we keep shoving like this, Lin Ruoxi’s clothes are going to get ripped...’

Suddenly, Gu Muxue’s hands paused, her eyes fixed on Xue Rui’s wrist.

Xue Rui followed her gaze and saw a small, dirty-looking patch of skin on his own wrist.

"Muxue, I am hygienic, you know. It’s not dirt. If I said it was a scar, would you believe me?" Xue Rui said, seizing the opportunity to snatch the clothes away.

"Uh... Let me think." Xue Rui began folding the clothes, racking his brain for the memory.

He had been so mischievous as a kid that he was covered in scars of all sizes.

He vaguely remembered this one. It was a burn from junior high.

"I remember. You got it in junior high," Gu Muxue murmured.

There was a faint scar on Xue Rui’s wrist. It wasn’t very noticeable and would completely disappear under a summer tan.

But now, in the winter, his skin was pale from being bundled up, which made the scar stand out.

"Now I remember! There were a few kids running wild in the stairwell..."

Gu Muxue lowered her head slightly.

She was, in fact, the one who had given Xue Rui that scar.

She and Xue Rui had gone to the same junior high school, which had both an elementary and a junior high division.

Every evening during their self-study session, the younger children from the boarding school would be chasing each other around campus.

One evening, she had a stomachache and went downstairs to get a cup of boiling water. Wanting it to cool down faster, she left the lid off her thermos.

Just then, a group of younger kids ran over to the junior high section to play. As they rushed up the stairs, one of them bumped into her. Some of the water splashed out, scalding her fingers, and she reflexively let go of the thermos.

The thermos slipped from her grasp, falling right toward the group of kids below.

Xue Rui happened to be coming up the stairs right then. He rushed over and caught the thermos, but boiling water splashed all over him.

Fortunately, it was winter, and he was wearing thick clothes.

But even so, some of the boiling water still trickled down his wrist and into his sleeve.

Xue Rui didn’t get a clear look at her. The sharp pain made him drop the thermos and run off, cursing up a storm. The things he said were awful...

"You have no idea. The next day, my arm all wrapped in gauze, I went with Qiu Mengze to the elementary school section to find them. I chewed out the kids I recognized, and then their teacher chewed us out..."

Xue Rui still felt annoyed just thinking about it. ’Shouldn’t kids be disciplined when they do something wrong?’

’Just because I was a troublemaker, the teacher didn’t believe my side of the story. Isn’t that a form of prejudice?’

"What about the girl? Do you want to yell at her?" Gu Muxue asked, her heart pounding nervously.

She had never confessed to Xue Rui. She knew she should have apologized and admitted her mistake, but for some reason, she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

The thought of Xue Rui yelling at her terrified her. She was afraid he would avoid her, afraid he would...

That was when Gu Muxue started secretly taking notes for Xue Rui...

Gu Muxue didn’t want Xue Rui to hate her, so she kept this secret buried deep inside.

"Nah, forget it. It’s been so many years. Why would I hold a grudge against a kid?"

Xue Rui laughed, folding the clothes neatly and setting them aside.

’Looks like I’m in the clear about the clothes,’ he thought.

"Why are you talking like some old man? Who are you calling a kid?" Gu Muxue said with a frown.

In reality, she was overjoyed that Xue Rui didn’t resent her.

She felt incredibly guilty about the faint scar he had. If Xue Rui hadn’t caught the thermos that day, the boiling water might have splashed onto those children’s heads...

If that had happened, she would have been riddled with guilt for the rest of her life. She was so grateful to Xue Rui.

There were many carefree boys like Xue Rui.

But she knew he could have dodged that day. Even after the boiling water hit him, he still used his body to shield the children.

Though the way he was cursing wasn’t exactly refined, she thought Xue Rui had been incredibly cool that day...

"What would a little kid like you know?" Xue Rui said, getting carried away.

"You’re the kid," Gu Muxue retorted, reaching out to tickle him.

Xue Rui prepared to tickle her back, but Gu Muxue played dirty. "No tickling me! Who knows if you’re just trying to take advantage of the situation?"

Xue Rui clicked his tongue. He wasn’t about to listen to that, and reached out to tickle her waist.

"Haha, that tickles! Stop, stop, stop!"

Gu Muxue quickly hopped back a step and sat on the chair, then started folding Xue Rui’s clothes.

"How did you fold that just now? Show me again."

Xue Rui picked up another piece of clothing and demonstrated for her again.

"Got it. Where’s your closet? I’ll put them away," Gu Muxue said.

"Just put them on the side. I’ll need to wear them again later."

Xue Rui gestured for her to just put them on the table.

"You’re so messy. Don’t you ever wash your clothes?" Gu Muxue turned, lifting Xue Rui’s school uniform to her nose and sniffing it gently.

Her eyes widened slightly.

’This isn’t how it smelled last night.’

She remembered Xue Rui’s scent clearly—a pleasant, floral laundry detergent.

But this uniform had been washed with laundry soap. Although it was also fragrant, it had a strangely cheap scent to it.

’This is definitely not Xue Rui’s uniform.’

Thinking back, Xue Rui’s reaction just now had been a bit strange.

She thought for a moment and decided she was overthinking things. ’He probably wore his roommate’s clothes by mistake. After all, it’s so baggy on him.’

As she put the uniform down, she noticed a few long strands of hair stuck to Xue Rui’s sweater.

Gu Muxue plucked the strands off, held them up, and asked, "Xiaorui, why do you always have a girl’s hair on you?"

Xue Rui forced himself to stay calm. ’Gu Muxue has the makings of a secret agent!’ he thought.

"It’s a sweater, it’s bound to pick things up. Besides, some people just love to cling to me," Xue Rui said with a grin, leaving the rest to her imagination.

Sure enough, Gu Muxue fell into deep thought upon hearing his words.

Staring at the jet-black strands, Gu Muxue muttered, "No, my hair isn’t this nice."

’So what other girl is always around Xue Rui?’

’Mei Lili? No, not her.’

’Chen Tingting has short hair, so it can’t be hers.’

’Could it be Xue Yao?’

’Aunt Ren? Teacher Xue?’

’They’ve dyed their hair...’

Gu Muxue eliminated the candidates one by one in her mind.

Suddenly, she realized these strands looked identical to the hair she’d pulled from Xue Rui’s pocket on her birthday.

’It’s not like no one else has hair this nice, but for it to appear on Xue Rui on two separate occasions?’

It made her suspect that the hair from both times came from the same person.

Suddenly, a figure flashed through her mind—Lin Ruoxi.

That girl had beautiful long hair.

More importantly, she was gorgeous—and even taller than her.

She felt threatened.

But should she ask Xue Rui directly?

She had asked him about it before, but every time, he had just brushed her off.

Besides, she’d heard from Yi Bing and Qiu Mengze today that Xue Rui and Lin Ruoxi weren’t close, that they were just regular classmates.

She felt she shouldn’t doubt Xue Rui, that she was just being too sensitive. And yet, she couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling in her gut.

’If it’s true, why is Lin Ruoxi’s hair still showing up on Xue Rui, months later?’

Gu Muxue peeled a banana and handed it to Xue Rui. "Xiaorui, you get some rest. I’m heading home."

"Leaving already?" Xue Rui murmured, taking a bite of the banana. It was a little sweeter than the ones he usually ate at Lin Ruoxi’s house.

"Lady Finger bananas?" Xue Rui muttered to himself.

It wasn’t that his family was short on fruit, but he ate at Lin Ruoxi’s house more often. ’Lin Ruoxi would never splurge on such expensive fruit,’ he thought. ’I’ll buy some in a couple of days and bring them over for that girl to try.’

Gu Muxue stepped outside and breathed in the icy air, feeling much better.

Gu Muxue stood by the side of the road, absent-mindedly kicking the curb with her small boots.

"Muxue, it’s cold out here. Get in the car," the driver said, opening the door and waving her over.

Gu Muxue walked with her head down, occasionally kicking at the snow on the ground.

After getting in the car, Gu Muxue thought for a long time before finally asking, "Uncle Yang, is there anywhere in the city that does DNA testing?"

She’d seen enough TV shows to know that hair could be used for DNA testing. If Xue Rui wouldn’t admit it and Lin Ruoxi wouldn’t talk, then this was her only option.

"Why are you asking about that?" the driver asked, taken aback. That wasn’t the sort of question a kid should be asking.

"I’m asking for a friend," Gu Muxue said.

"Well... it’s best not to get involved in other people’s business," the driver advised.

He’d heard that nothing good ever came from DNA tests. Regardless of the result, the act itself was bound to disrupt a family’s peace.

Besides, he’d heard that the rate of non-paternity revealed by these tests was alarmingly high...

So, no matter the outcome, Gu Muxue was likely sticking her neck out for nothing.

Gu Muxue ignored him. She just wanted to clear up her own doubts.

"Everything will be closed for the New Year’s holiday. We can look into it later," the driver said with a smile.

"Then we’ll go to a private clinic that isn’t closed," Gu Muxue insisted, her tone firm.

The driver sighed and turned the car around.

He knew the young miss’s temperament. Once she made up her mind, no one could stop her. Even telling Director Gu would be useless.

The two of them arrived at a private DNA testing clinic.

Gu Muxue told the driver to wait outside while she went in alone to speak with the lab technician.

"Hello, can I help you find someone?" the young woman at the reception desk asked.

She figured a girl this young was here for one of two reasons: she’d walked into the wrong place, or she was looking for someone.

"I want to find out whose hair this is," Gu Muxue said, getting straight to the point.

A technician came out, saw it was just a young girl, and shook his head.

He figured she’d been watching too many TV dramas and paid her no mind.

What could you possibly do with just a few strands of hair? Besides, DNA testing was extremely expensive; he doubted a little girl like her could afford the fee.

Gu Muxue noticed his dismissal. She casually pulled a few thousand yuan in cash from her bag and frowned. "So, can you do it or not?"

"Yes!" The technician scrambled to pour her a glass of water. Only then did he notice that the handbag in her hands was worth tens of thousands...

When you meet a client who’s clearly loaded, you say yes whether you can do the job or not. This was a sale!