Chapter 588 Academic Exchange Group

"Give yourself to me as payment?"

Xue Rui smiled and ruffled Lin Ruoxi’s hair. Hearing her say that made him feel much better.

"Mhm." Lin Ruoxi nodded obediently.

"No matter how you look at it, you’re the one getting the better deal. So clever." Xue Rui twirled a strand of her soft hair around his finger. ’You’re thirsty for me every day,’ he thought, ’so this is kind of a moot point.’

"It’s not the same..." Lin Ruoxi bit her lip. To her, it really wasn’t the same, but she had her own little secret.

Her grandmother often blamed herself on the phone, apologizing for not being able to save up a dowry for her, afraid she would be wronged at Xue Rui’s side.

Lin Ruoxi would always console her grandmother, but she also felt her grandmother had a point—a dowry gave a woman a sense of security.

Lin Ruoxi decided she would save up a dowry for herself.

"Um, I’ll write you an IOU," Lin Ruoxi said with a serious expression.

"Alright, write one for me during the class meeting." Xue Rui wasn’t that concerned about money; he had never once doubted Lin Ruoxi.

If it had been any other woman, she would have probably taken the tens of millions in cash and run, but Lin Ruoxi only ever thought about their day-to-day life at home, still living frugally.

He thought about the slip of paper for "redeeming" Gu Muxue still tucked behind his phone case. If Lin Ruoxi wrote him another one, he could redeem two at once.

When it was time for the class meeting, Lin Ruoxi went to a corner to write the IOU, while Xue Rui and Jiang Yuan stood at the lectern taking attendance and handling registration for the new semester.

Jiang Yuan handed a box of power banks to Xue Rui. "Count them."

"No need. I trust you to handle things," Xue Rui said without a single glance.

Jiang Yuan sighed, speechless. "Tell Lin Ruoxi not to leave in a hurry today. Some senior students are doing an official attendance check. It’s usually not a big deal, but since it’s the first day of school, they’re definitely checking. You’ve already lost two points."

"Then help me check how many points Lin Ruoxi has left," Xue Rui said helplessly. He was the one who always handled her class skipping. According to the rules, if you lost more than 20 points in a semester, you’d be called in for a talk with the Party secretary and the academic advisor. Anything more serious could lead to a warning or being put on probation.

"She’s lost five points," Jiang Yuan said, looking at her notebook.

"Let me see... losing five points a month for four months is exactly twenty points, and then it’s vacation. The points reset next semester," Xue Rui said with a laugh.

"I can’t guarantee it will only be five points a month," Jiang Yuan said, exasperated, and tossed the notebook at him.

’A class president’s power is just too limited,’ Xue Rui sighed internally. If an unfamiliar administrator or someone from the student union did the attendance check, he wouldn’t be able to cover for her when reporting it.

Lin Ruoxi was practically never in class. For her to graduate smoothly, he would have to put in more effort to maintain his relationships within the department.

"Easy for you to say. Have Lin Ruoxi join a club or the student union. That can offset some of the point deductions," Jiang Yuan said with a wry smile, shaking her head.

If it were any other student, she could just go and threaten them, but Lin Ruoxi was a special case. Several professors had already granted her exemptions from their classes, and she was, after all, the class president’s girlfriend...

"Her?" Xue Rui pictured it. With Lin Ruoxi’s submissive personality, she would probably be taken advantage of a lot.

Some student union officers got a little power and let it go to their heads, acting like they were local tyrants. There was no way he’d let his girl go there and get bullied.

"If that’s the case, then I’ll just have to make a little sacrifice," Xue Rui said, clutching his chest as if he had been greatly wronged.

Jiang Yuan’s brow twitched. Xue Rui was being so ridiculous. She asked, "What are you going to do?"

Xue Rui grinned. "Hey, do you know if there are any departments in our school run by pretty senior girls who are always pulling the ’unspoken rules’ thing? I need to know so I can avoid them. After all, with my good looks, I’m an easy target."

"Holy shit, Old Xue, you read my mind! That’s the exact reason I haven’t gone to any of the club recruitment drives," Qian Huabiao chimed in, nodding emphatically.

"Yeah, me too," Zhao Chaojie added.

"Hahaha." The girls in the class couldn’t help but laugh. No matter how they put it, it sounded like they actually wanted to go, right?

"Class President, I joined the dance club. I’m just letting you know, so if there’s an activity, I won’t be coming to the evening self-study sessions," Du Miaomiao said, raising her hand.

"Okay. Can you ask if your dance club is still recruiting?" Xue Rui said with a nod.

"Class President, why don’t you do a backbend for me first?" Du Miaomiao said, batting her eyelashes.

"Do a backbend, Class Prez!" Zhao Chaojie started to heckle.

"AHEM. The class meeting will now begin." Xue Rui put on a serious expression and tapped the lectern a few times with the blackboard eraser.

They called it a class meeting, but their academic advisor was incredibly hands-off. The entire Software Engineering Class of ’141 was basically self-managed. Most of the time, a document would be sent directly to Xue Rui, who would then forward it to Jiang Yuan...

Xue Rui had Jiang Yuan continue the meeting according to the document’s instructions while he went to sit in the corner and whisper with Lin Ruoxi.

Lin Ruoxi had written out an IOU, but she got stuck on the loan amount.

"Can... can I borrow three hundred thousand?" Lin Ruoxi asked timidly.

Xue Rui shook his head slightly. What could she do with such a small amount?

He wanted to build a team for Lin Ruoxi. He couldn’t let her do all the menial work herself; it was too inefficient.

A sharp pang shot through Lin Ruoxi’s heart. Being rejected by Xue Rui felt awful.

"Didn’t I tell you that you’re priceless? Use as much as you need. Don’t cut back on efficiency just to save money," Xue Rui said in a low voice.

"Mhm!" Lin Ruoxi’s eyes reddened. Xue Rui would never lie to her.

She stole a glance around and saw that the students were either listening to the meeting or playing on their phones...

Then, Lin Ruoxi quickly planted a kiss on Xue Rui’s cheek.