Seeing the expectant looks from her classmates, Lin Ruoxi’s breathing grew more rapid.

She didn’t want the money, and she didn’t want to go to either Tsinghua or Peking University.

’Then where am I supposed to go? Xue Rui never said, did he?’

’I just want to stay by Xue Rui’s side...’

As this thought crossed her mind, Lin Ruoxi looked at Xue Rui, her gaze questioning.

However, when Lin Ruoxi didn’t answer after a long moment, the others started discussing it amongst themselves again.

"Peking University is stronger in the humanities, but Sister Xi seems better suited for the sciences, right? Isn’t Tsinghua’s science program a little stronger?"

They had seen Lin Ruoxi’s exam papers. Her language arts sections were always answered in a formulaic way, completely devoid of her own thoughts—a dry, yet high-scoring, test.

"I think Sister Xi was typing some computer code in the office. The teachers say computer science is a science and engineering major, and Tsinghua’s computer science program is really strong."

Xue Rui nodded. "She is indeed suited for the sciences."

Lin Ruoxi would even build her own toy cars to play with, a clear sign of her interest in the sciences.

A flicker of panic crossed Lin Ruoxi’s face. ’Isn’t Xue Rui taking me with him? Is he going to make me go to Tsinghua all by myself?’

She felt as if her heart had been hollowed out. Any place without Xue Rui was meaningless. The glamorous university campuses she had imagined suddenly turned gray and dull, losing all their brilliance.

’If I have to go alone...’ She suddenly didn’t want to go to college anymore.

Xue Rui frowned. The girl was biting her lip so hard her body seemed to be starting to tremble.

’Did I say something wrong?’

The Route 26 bus slowly pulled up to the stop, and the students began to board.

The Route 26 bus made a lot of stops, so all the students got on.

No one pressed Lin Ruoxi on which one she would choose. After all, they couldn’t get into either of them.

"If I tell people in the future that my classmate went to Tsinghua or Peking University, are they going to think I’m bullshitting?" someone said, finding the thought amusing. Hedong City barely produced a handful of students for those universities each year, let alone from a last-rate school like theirs.

"Then just shove the graduation photo in their face, right?"

The group chatted and laughed as they boarded the bus.

"Xue Rui, remember to hit me up when you schedule the written driving test!" Qiu Mengze yelled, sticking his head out the window after he boarded.

The bus driver yelled, "Get your head back in here!"

"Whoa! Are they hugging?" Qiu Mengze exclaimed in surprise.

"What?" The crowd pressed against the bus windows, their eyes straining to see behind them.

"Driver, can you stop the bus? I wanna get off."

"No," the driver said irritably.

Despite his words, the driver was also curious about the drama. He deliberately delayed pulling away, glanced in the rearview mirror, and sure enough, he saw the young couple wrapped in an embrace.

Xue Rui stood there stunned. Lin Ruoxi had suddenly hugged him, just like that time on the bus when he had teased her.

Except this time, no one had told her to. Lin Ruoxi had initiated the hug herself.

The girl was hugging him tightly, as if trying to knead him into her very being.

He heard a soft, choked voice by his ear. "I’m not going anywhere... I want to... cook for you..."

"Peel your shrimp, tie your shoelaces, do your laundry..."

...

Lin Ruoxi said many, many things. Xue Rui had never heard the girl speak for so long.

Xue Rui reached out and stroked the back of Lin Ruoxi’s head. ’So that’s why she’s been so on edge lately,’ he thought. ’She was afraid I wouldn’t be around?’

’Why didn’t she just ask me?’

"Yeah, just follow my lead when it’s time to apply. We’ll go to the same university," Xue Rui said, comforting her.

As Xue Rui gently patted her back, the girl’s emotions gradually calmed. Her voice became soft and sweet, like a child’s.

"Wash your bedsheets, air out your quilts..."

"I can also work for you. I know many, many scripting languages..."

"Oh, and once I get my driver’s license, I can be your driver."

Xue Rui’s heart was beating very fast. He knew the girl was very attached to him, but he never expected her to say so much in one breath.

’Thankfully, she’s stopped now,’ he thought. ’Any more and I might not have been able to keep my own composure.’

He’d never met a girl like this, one who wanted nothing in return for staying by his side. The things she was murmuring now sounded as if she were listing her own merits, terrified she would be abandoned.

The girl wasn’t just some love-struck fool. It was because her past life had constantly cornered her, leaving her afraid to even imagine a future of her own. She had no family, no social life...

The girl had always lived for others—before, it was the old woman, and now, it was him.

If he told the girl to leave, she would do it.

’But what would become of her if she were all alone?’

"Your... your heart is beating so fast," Lin Ruoxi said suddenly.

Xue Rui flushed. "No it’s not. You’re hearing things. That’s just my stomach growling."

"But we just ate?"

"No one is as painfully honest as you, only ever thinking about food."

"Then I’ll cook for you when we get back."

...

Xue Rui hailed a taxi, gave the driver the destination, and the car slowly pulled away.

The girl still reached over to fasten Xue Rui’s seatbelt, then placed her schoolbag on her right side before fastening her own.

Xue Rui sighed. If this kept up, he was going to become completely useless.

He glanced at Lin Ruoxi, thinking he should tell her to stop doing everything for him. But when the words reached his lips, he found he couldn’t bear to say them.

Lin Ruoxi was also staring at Xue Rui with her wide eyes. The two of them stared blankly at each other for a long time.

The driver sensed the shift in atmosphere and drove on in silence, occasionally glancing into the rearview mirror.

He could feel it in the air—the scent of youth, of hormones.

’Are these two about to kiss?’

’It’s just that, the boy across from that girl... no matter how I look at him, he doesn’t seem good enough for her, does he?’

’Her eyes are still so clear,’ Xue Rui thought. ’Every time our gazes meet, I’m always the first to look away.’

Lin Ruoxi had thought for a long time. She had asked many people, watched many TV shows, and looked up information online.

Some people said that when you’re near someone you like, your heart beats fast.

But she had secretly tested this many times at night and had never felt that way.

But just now, when she thought Xue Rui was going to leave, her heart beat so, so fast.

’I think I understand what it means to like someone now,’ she realized. ’Not wanting to leave them... that’s what it is.’

"I... I think I like you," Lin Ruoxi said.

Xue Rui’s heart skipped a beat, and his breathing grew much heavier.

’Has she learned how? Or did she finally figure it out?’

’If she keeps dropping bombs like this on me, I’m going to have a heart attack...’

The driver had a look of astonishment. He hadn’t expected the girl to be the one to confess.

He glanced in the rearview mirror. ’This kid sure is lucky,’ he thought. ’Ah, to be young.’

Xue Rui froze. ’Is this what it feels like to have someone confess to you?’

It wasn’t that no one had confessed to him before. With a persistent pest like Chen Tingting, he just felt a headache. But Lin Ruoxi was different.

He couldn’t describe his current mood. There was a trace of nervousness mixed in with his joy.

He swallowed, formulating his words in his mind.

"C-can I pursue you?" the girl asked, suddenly growing nervous.

Xue Rui’s eyes widened slightly. ’What kind of question is that?’

How could a classic player line come out of Lin Ruoxi’s mouth?

First asking for permission to pursue someone... it wasn’t a real confession, so it gave the other person no grounds for refusal.

He couldn’t just say, "No, you can’t."

But pursuing someone is a one-sided action; it doesn’t really have anything to do with the other party.

For a moment, he thought the girl had become scheming.

But looking into her utterly clear eyes, he couldn’t connect her with the image of a manipulative girl.

Lin Ruoxi lowered her head slightly, her eyes holding a pleading look.

"Of course you can," Xue Rui said with a smile.

’This girl is so earnest about everything,’ he thought. ’Is she planning on learning how to date from square one?’

Lin Ruoxi’s face lit up with joy. She opened her phone and started searching online again for how to pursue a boy.

But the answers were all too generic.

There was even an answer that said: A girl should be reserved and just wait for the man to come to her.

Lin Ruoxi was very dissatisfied with this answer, so she changed her search term: How to pursue someone you like.

Xue Rui’s eyebrow twitched. ’Yep, still the same girl. She hasn’t changed one bit.’

’Who makes their plans right in front of the person they’re about?’

"Do you like flowers?" Lin Ruoxi asked. This was the answer she had just found online: give flowers to the person you like.

Xue Rui put a hand to his forehead. "No."

’She even asks for my input on her plans...’

’Isn’t that basically me pursuing myself?’

Just as the girl was about to hold up her phone to ask his opinion, Xue Rui interrupted, "Don’t ask me. You figure it out."

"Mm..." Lin Ruoxi nodded in agreement and turned her phone away.

Just as she did this, Xue Rui got a little curious again. He leaned his head over to take a look.

The search bar read: "How long does it take to pursue someone?"

"..." Xue Rui pinched the bridge of his nose. ’University needs to start already,’ he thought.

High schoolers always dated in secret, only daring to hold hands under the cover of night. Those were the kinds of classmates the girl was used to seeing.

But college students were much more open, making out in front of the dorms without any regard for who was watching.

On weekends, they’d go through the standard routine: dinner, a movie, getting a room...

’Yep, perfect.’

’Getting led around by a girl to do all that...’ The thought was actually a little exciting.

...

The taxi slowly pulled up to the apartment complex. The driver watched them get out, his eyes full of envy. He’d driven countless passengers, but this was the first time he’d seen a young couple like them—the girl carried the boy’s bag and was even the one to confess...

Xue Rui had planned on going up to sort through the old woman’s belongings and find a place to donate them in the coming days. After all, both he and Lin Ruoxi would be leaving town soon.

But then his mom called.

"Xiaorui, what are you planning to do now that the exams are over?" Ren Qunfang asked.

"Get my driver’s license," Xue Rui said.

"And after that?" Ren Qunfang asked again.

Her son wasn’t short on money or time now, and Ren Qunfang worried he would go looking for thrills with his classmates. Every year, there were stories of recent graduates drowning while swimming in reservoirs...

Xue Rui laughed. "After that? Of course I’m staying home."

He decided to try some reverse psychology. He would voluntarily stay at home. If he was constantly under his mom’s nose, it wouldn’t take more than a few days for Ren Qunfang to kick him out herself.

"Oh?" Ren Qunfang’s tone was surprised. She hadn’t expected Xue Rui to be so well-behaved.

"Mm, then come home early. In a few days I’ll take Xixi to handle some paperwork and give her that apartment. It’ll be useful when you have kids in the future." Ren Qunfang hung up after speaking.

Xue Rui was stunned. ’Gifting an apartment? Having kids?’

’His mom was already planning that far ahead?’

’And that old, small, run-down place is in a good school district...’

Lin Ruoxi heard that Xue Rui had to go home. But this time, she didn’t feel sad to see him go; in fact, she was happy.

Because Xue Rui had already told her what their plans were.