Chapter 578 - 369: Redeeming One Gu Muxue

Xue Rui’s heart stirred. ’Did stopping just now make her relax?’

Suddenly, Xue Rui felt something soft on his lips. It seemed the girl had given him a light peck.

Xue Rui rolled over, thinking, ’Alright, now I can make my move.’

"Xiaorui?" Gu Muxue asked, her voice laced with confusion.

"Hm?" Xue Rui replied questioningly.

"I’m sleepy." Gu Muxue reached out and wrapped her arms around Xue Rui’s neck, using her full body weight to drag him down. Then, she quickly rolled over to his other side and gently hugged his neck from behind.

"Muxue, you’ve gotten bold," Xue Rui said, completely baffled. ’It’s like she’s not afraid of me at all. Her actions are getting more and more daring.’

Suddenly, Gu Muxue’s laugh rang out from behind him. "We’re sleeping just like this. If you dare move, I’ll bite your neck off."

"Alright, I absolutely won’t move," Xue Rui replied with a laugh.

In the darkness, a smile touched Gu Muxue’s delicate lips.

’This was the life she wanted. To be completely herself in front of the person she loved, without having to overthink or scheme.’

...

「The next morning.」

"Xixi!"

Xue Rui’s eyes shot open. He’d been dreaming of sleep paralysis—it felt like a huge boulder was crushing his chest. He wanted to get up but couldn’t move, and he didn’t even have the strength to speak. Subconsciously, he tried to call for help from the person beside him.

GASP! Xue Rui heaved for breath, only to discover a pair of small hands wrapped tightly around his neck, pulling him back down.

Xue Rui swallowed hard. He remembered he was in Gu Muxue’s bed.

"Xiaorui, don’t move," Gu Muxue murmured, her eyes still closed.

The corner of Xue Rui’s mouth twitched. ’So that’s why.’

’No wonder I couldn’t muster any strength. Turns out I was being "restrained" by Gu Muxue.’

"Muxue, are you trying to murder your dear husband?" Xue Rui asked, prying her small hands off him.

Gu Muxue let go, then gave his waist a light pinch. "Jerk. Who said anything about marrying you?"

"You almost strangled me," Xue Rui said with resignation.

"Oh? I did it on purpose. Who told you to cry out Ruoxi’s name?" Gu Muxue said coldly.

"..." Xue Rui was suddenly at a loss for words. ’Calling out another girl’s name in bed... that’s a cardinal sin!’

’He really had been calling for Lin Ruoxi in his dream...’

’If you hadn’t been strangling me, I wouldn’t have had a nightmare,’ Xue Rui thought. ’And if I hadn’t had a nightmare, I wouldn’t have called out Lin Ruoxi’s name...’

Of course, he would never, ever dare to say that out loud.

Just as Xue Rui was trying to figure out how to talk his way out of this, the sound of a key turning in the lock came from the hallway, and the door swung open.

Lin Ruoxi nervously poked her head in. "What’s going on?"

Gu Muxue quickly ducked her head behind Xue Rui. "He was talking in his sleep. He called out for you."

Lin Ruoxi’s almond-shaped eyes curved into crescents as she smiled at Xue Rui. "Time to get up and eat. A package came for you."

"For me?" Xue Rui immediately shot up and made a run for it.

He’d been waiting for that package for two days. It was the jar of paper stars Gu Muxue had folded for him back in the day. Today, he was going to make her die of embarrassment.

Gu Muxue looked on, stunned. ’Lin Ruoxi is in such a good mood today. I thought she’d be upset that Xue Rui slept in my room last night...’

Xue Rui tore open the box. Inside was the jar of paper stars from Gu Muxue. He’d seen plenty of girls folding these things back in middle school. Each star was made from a long strip of paper, and you could hide a little secret message inside.

He decided to hide in Lin Ruoxi’s room to open the stars. If Gu Muxue caught him, she would probably fight him to the death to erase this embarrassing Chapter of her past.

His heart pounding with excitement, Xue Rui unfolded a star, eagerly anticipating which message would make the girl so ashamed she’d want to crawl into a hole and disappear...

"You came looking for me after class again today. I stuck a piece of paper with a pig’s head drawn on it to the back of your uniform."

Xue Rui shook his head. ’Too childish.’

...

"I saw a shooting star yesterday. I wished that we would always be in school together."

Xue Rui shook his head. ’Not cheesy enough.’

"How long is it going to take to get through this whole pile?" Xue Rui muttered to himself, pouring the entire jar of stars out. He noticed one pink star that stood out. It seemed to have been deliberately stuck to the bottom of the jar with double-sided tape.

His curiosity piqued, Xue Rui unfolded the strip of paper.

"This coupon is redeemable for one (1) Gu Muxue. —Effective starting 2018."

Xue Rui froze for a second. ’What’s so special about 2018?’

"It’s 2014 now. 2018 is when we’ll graduate from college. I’ll be twenty-two then." Xue Rui smiled and shook his head. He carefully folded the paper strip and tucked it into the back of his phone case.

’Graduation marks the end of our school years. And by then, he’d be of legal marrying age.’

’Redeemable for one Gu Muxue?’

’Does that mean marriage?’

’Since it doesn’t take effect until 2018, I guess I’ll just have to wait.’

...

Meanwhile, Lin Ruoxi and Gu Muxue were sitting across from each other at the dining table. The seat at the head of the table was still empty.

"Xixi, eat up." Gu Muxue smiled as she peeled an egg for Lin Ruoxi.

Lin Ruoxi quickly raised her bowl to accept it, then sat back down obediently, waiting.

"Why aren’t you eating?" Gu Muxue asked, a little confused.

"He hasn’t started eating yet," Lin Ruoxi said.

Gu Muxue was dumbfounded. ’What kind of bizarre rule is that?’

"Why are you so happy today?" Gu Muxue asked with a smile. Earlier, she had even heard Lin Ruoxi humming in the kitchen.

Lin Ruoxi glanced timidly at Gu Muxue and whispered, "Because Xue Rui dreamed of me. I heard you say he called my name in his dream."

"That’s it?" Gu Muxue burst out laughing. Lin Ruoxi looked a little scared, as if afraid she would get angry.

’Since she had accepted both Xue Rui and Lin Ruoxi, she wasn’t going to get angry over something so trivial. It didn’t matter whose name Xue Rui called out in his dreams.’

’Of course, as long as it was limited to her name and Lin Ruoxi’s.’

Xue Rui came to the dining table, a strip of paper in hand. He sat down in his seat and, holding the note with both hands, showed it to Gu Muxue.

"Xiaorui, it’s been twenty days of summer break since I’ve seen you. I miss you so much."

The instant Gu Muxue saw the note, she snatched it, furiously tore it to shreds, and threw the pieces into the trash can. Her face flushed red as she said:

"Hand over the rest! I wrote those when I was young and naive. They don’t count!"

Xue Rui wagged a finger at her. "It’s in black and white, how can you go back on your word? Are you saying that whole jar of stars was fake?"

Gu Muxue chewed on her chopsticks for a moment. "At most, only one of them is real."

"That’s good enough for me," Xue Rui said with a satisfied smile. He knew she was talking about the star from the very bottom of the jar.

Lin Ruoxi stared blankly at them, having no idea what they were talking about.

"That Yaoyao," Gu Muxue grumbled. "I asked her to send me the jar the other day, but she sent it to you instead. The traitor."

Xue Rui said nonchalantly, "What do you mean, traitor? She’s my little sister. Of course she’s on my side."

"Oh, school starts this afternoon. So tonight, are you two..." Gu Muxue asked, trailing off hesitantly.

She wanted to know if Xue Rui and Lin Ruoxi would still come back here after school started.

Just then, Xue Rui’s phone rang. It was a call from Yu Minlan.

"Boss, I’m here with Da Huang, but no one’s opening the door. Where did you all go so early in the morning?" Yu Minlan’s confused voice came through the phone.

"Hm?" Xue Rui’s brows furrowed. He didn’t remember asking her to do this.

Lin Ruoxi spoke up timidly. "Yaoyao said she’d return him to me after the National Day holiday. Da Huang’s getting old, and I want to keep him with me. Please have Sister Yu bring him over."

"Oh? So he’s ’Brother Da Huang’ now, is he?" Xue Rui teased.

Lin Ruoxi quickly shook her head. "N-no... You’re the master."

Gu Muxue laughed at that. For Lin Ruoxi to bring her pet here... the implication was perfectly clear.

Xue Rui spoke into the phone, "Xiaoyu, I’ll send you an address. Just drop Da Huang off and head back to the bank. Your parents said they want you to stay home, and I actually agree. You could occasionally go visit the old folks at the nursing home..."

"No, please don’t! Boss, I’m begging you! I’ll be your workhorse, I’ll do anything, just please don’t make me go back to Hedong!"

"During the week-long National Day holiday, my parents set me up on more than ten blind dates! They were all either total duds or complete bores. What’s worse, one was even divorced with a kid! I’ve never even been married before!"