Chapter 171: Chapter 169: She Only Listens to You
After visiting the cemetery, Xue Rui declined Village Chief Hua’s invitation for a meal and returned to the city with Lin Ruoxi and the others.
"Don’t tell anyone about what happened today," Xue Rui told Yu Minlan.
"Okay, I promise." Yu Minlan nodded emphatically. After hearing Xue Rui’s description of that scumbag, she wished she could have gone and pissed on the grave herself.
But alas, she was a woman, so she had to drop the idea...
After returning to Lin Ruoxi’s house, Lin Ruoxi watched as Yu Minlan touched up her makeup in a small compact mirror. Curious, she leaned in for a closer look.
"Do you want to learn? How about I do your makeup for you?" Yu Minlan asked with a smile.
She was nervous around Xue Rui, but it was different with Lin Ruoxi. She saw Lin Ruoxi as a little sister and felt she could talk openly with her about anything.
She looked at Lin Ruoxi’s delicate, flawless face, then at the collection of cosmetics in her bag, and for a moment, she had no idea where to even begin.
Lin Ruoxi had such a simple and elegant quality, it seemed as if any makeup would just disrupt that balance.
It was like trying to add another stroke to a perfect painting—no one would know where to start.
Yu Minlan fell silent. Youth was the best cosmetic; Lin Ruoxi didn’t need makeup at all...
Yu Minlan glanced at Lin Ruoxi’s school uniform and thought her clothes were also part of the problem. A uniform wasn’t suited for makeup anyway. "Okay, how about you change into a different outfit, and I’ll take another look."
"Um, I have a lot of clothes I’ve never worn. Xue Rui said they don’t suit me," Lin Ruoxi said meekly.
Xue Rui watched from the side, a grin on his face. He sometimes had Lin Ruoxi try on different outfits for him, but some of the styles truly didn’t suit her.
’Let Yu Minlan do whatever she wants,’ he thought. ’Lin Ruoxi doesn’t really have any close female friends to talk to anyway. Maybe she can learn a thing or two about fashion from Yu Minlan.’
The two girls went into the bedroom, locking the door behind them.
Yu Minlan looked around Lin Ruoxi’s bedroom in mild surprise. It was her first time inside.
It turned out to be as plain as a man’s room, almost ridiculously so.
There wasn’t a single girly decoration on the desk. Instead, there was an ashtray filled with discarded sunflower seed shells...
Moreover, there were all sorts of strange tools in the corner, and the bed was even a bunk bed.
"Why are there two blankets? And two chairs?" Yu Minlan asked in a hushed voice.
"Because Xue Rui sleeps here when he visits." Lin Ruoxi couldn’t help but sound a little dejected as she said this.
Xue Rui hadn’t slept in her bed for a long time. Her thoughts drifted to the college entrance exams, which were less than two months away.
’There will be so much free time after the exams. Will Xue Rui visit? Will he sleep in my bed?’
A sudden sense of insecurity washed over Lin Ruoxi.
Yu Minlan gasped, covering her mouth in shock. She glanced at the door and whispered, "Have you two... slept together?"
Lin Ruoxi paused. ’Slept together? Does that mean we slept at the same time?’
She nodded. "Xue Rui and I have slept together."
Yu Minlan grew pensive. ’Lin Ruoxi is so naive,’ she thought. ’Her "slept together" might not be my "slept together."’
"Can I take a look?" Yu Minlan asked, pointing to a drawer.
These were Lin Ruoxi’s personal belongings, and she wanted to understand this girl a little better.
Lin Ruoxi nodded. Yu Minlan had been very kind to her, and Xue Rui had said she was a good friend. ’Good friends should be open with each other.’
Yu Minlan took a look and saw it was full of miscellaneous circuit boards. ’What is all this weird stuff?’ she wondered.
...until she unearthed two Durex condoms.
"This..." Yu Minlan froze, stunned. It was just as she had suspected.
Yu Minlan silently cursed Xue Rui. ’Such an innocent girl! He must have tricked her into sleeping with him!’
That crap Xue Rui said about "virgin’s piss" back at the cemetery was probably a lie, too.
"These... Xue Rui won’t use them with me," Lin Ruoxi said quietly.
Yu Minlan’s brow furrowed. ’What kind of scumbag is this guy? He won’t even wear one?’
She thought for a moment. It seemed consensual, and Xue Rui was very good to Lin Ruoxi—he’d deposited tens of millions into her bank account.
By worldly standards, Xue Rui was already an excellent man.
"You have to make him use them. It’s really bad for your body otherwise," Yu Minlan urged earnestly.
Lin Ruoxi’s mouth fell slightly agape. ’Make Xue Rui use them?’
’But how can Xue Rui use them by himself?’
At the thought, Lin Ruoxi’s face flushed crimson all the way to her ears, and her hands began to fidget nervously with the hem of her clothes.
...
Outside the bedroom, Xue Rui sat on the sofa, full of anticipation. What kind of look would Yu Minlan give Lin Ruoxi?
The grandmother sat with a frown, aimlessly clicking the TV remote.
"Have you given any thought to what we discussed?" the old woman asked.
Her health was getting progressively worse, and now Lin Ruoxi had to come home several times a day...
Soon, her granddaughter would be heading off to college. There weren’t any universities in Hedong, so she would definitely have to move away.
She didn’t want to be a burden to Lin Ruoxi, which is why she had discussed it with Xue Rui long ago.
In the past, the old woman likely would have found a rope to "solve" her retirement problems. But circumstances were different now; it was better for everyone if she stayed alive.
"That’s something you have to ask your granddaughter. I’d be perfectly happy to abandon you," Xue Rui said, just as frustrated.
The grandmother wanted to move into a nursing home, but every time she mentioned it, Lin Ruoxi would pretend not to hear.
He agreed that the grandmother’s situation was a problem. Lin Ruoxi couldn’t possibly keep looking after her once she went to college, could she? Freshman year was stressful enough; she wouldn’t have time to be running back and forth.
Hiring a caregiver was an option, but the main problem was finding someone reliable. The old woman needed insulin shots and help walking...
Ultimately, a nursing home was the better option. It would be safer under the supervision of a large institution, and the grandmother would have people her own age to talk to instead of being cooped up at home watching TV all day.
But he was too embarrassed to bring it up with Lin Ruoxi, lest it look like he was trying to get rid of this "burden"...
But the old woman wanted him to be the bad guy. The thought made Xue Rui’s anger flare. "Why are you making me out to be the villain?"
The grandmother looked him in the eye. "She only listens to you now."
At these words, Xue Rui fell silent.
The grandmother was right. Lin Ruoxi only listened to him now. In Ruoxi’s eyes, her grandmother’s old age made her like a child who needed constant care, and her words were to be treated like a child’s as well.
As for Lin Ruoxi herself? The girl never had a strong will of her own.
To put it bluntly, he was the only one in this household who could make the final decision.
"Fine. I’ll find a chance to talk to her soon," Xue Rui said, clenching his jaw.
’What a pain...’
Xue Rui looked down at Da Huang by his feet, grabbing his two ears. "Da Huang, you want to go to college? Grandma can’t go, but you can go be a ’doggy upperclassman’."
It was easier to bring a dog to a university than a person. You could just leave it with the guards at the security booth.
"WOOF!" Da Huang snarled, pretending to bite Xue Rui’s wrist.
Just then, however, Lin Ruoxi emerged from the bedroom.
She wore a black trench coat paired with slim-fit casual pants. Large sunglasses hid her eyes, leaving her straight, elegant nose exposed. Her delicate lips were painted a vibrant, almost true red...
In that moment, Lin Ruoxi looked like a completely different person. She exuded a cold, aloof aura that screamed, "Stay away," and the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees in her presence.
Xue Rui stared at Lin Ruoxi in disbelief. He had never imagined her in this kind of style. It was so mature.
’Hey beautiful, who are you?’
If Lin Ruoxi went out dressed like this, especially with a few luxury accessories, very few guys would dare to hit on her.
Da Huang was also taken aback by the sight of her. Unsure if this person was its master, it trotted over for a sniff, then shamelessly began rubbing its face against her leg.
However, Lin Ruoxi hadn’t taken more than a few steps before she walked right into the doorframe.
"Ow, that hurts." Lin Ruoxi clutched her head, her characteristically soft and timid voice returning.
Xue Rui stifled a laugh. ’No matter how cool her style is,’ he thought, ’it can’t hide her inner dork.’
"Guess you can’t see very well wearing sunglasses indoors, huh?" Xue Rui chuckled.
Lin Ruoxi took off her sunglasses and moved closer to Xue Rui. She picked up the glass of water in front of him and took a sip, only to notice she’d left a red lipstick stain on the rim.
She pressed her lips together and subconsciously tried to wipe her mouth, smearing the lipstick with the back of her hand...
"Never mind. I guess makeup just isn’t for you," Yu Minlan sighed in resignation.
"I’m going to make dinner." Lin Ruoxi glanced at the clock on the wall, expertly tied on an apron, grabbed some vegetables from the fridge, and headed into the kitchen.
The girl was completely oblivious to the red smudges around her mouth.
Xue Rui didn’t seem to mind, either. He picked up the glass Lin Ruoxi had just used and took a drink himself.
Yu Minlan pulled Xue Rui aside and whispered, "Boss Xue, please don’t hurt her, okay? Lin Ruoxi is just too innocent."
Xue Rui gave her a strange look. "And which of your eyes told you that?"
"Both of them," Yu Minlan replied, her expression completely serious.
Xue Rui couldn’t be bothered to ask what she was talking about. He glanced toward the kitchen and said quietly, "Do me a favor and find out which nursing homes in the city have the best services. Money is no object."
Yu Minlan glanced at the grandmother, who simply nodded, her expression unreadable.
"Ruoxi, I’m heading out now," Yu Minlan called out.
"You’re not staying for dinner?" Lin Ruoxi asked, her lips still vividly red.
After seeing Yu Minlan off, Xue Rui went into the kitchen to lend Lin Ruoxi a hand.
"I can handle it," Lin Ruoxi said frantically. The kitchen was full of knives and flames; she was afraid Xue Rui would get hurt.
Xue Rui ignored her and started washing the vegetables himself. He wanted to bring up the topic of her grandmother, but when he saw the gentle look in her eyes, he just couldn’t bring himself to say the words.
"The college entrance exams are in two months," Xue Rui said casually, hoping to gently broach the subject of her grandmother.
"I don’t want to graduate," Lin Ruoxi said softly.
"Why not?" Xue Rui asked.
"I want to go to the same university as you," Lin Ruoxi said meekly.
She had wanted to intentionally score lower on the exams, but Xue Rui wouldn’t let her. He’d said Director Wang hadn’t acted like her lackey for two years for nothing; she had to get a high score and bring honor to the school.
She didn’t know what Xue Rui meant. Was he telling her to aim for Qingbei?
But Xue Rui’s scores weren’t high enough for that...
At this thought, tears began to well up in her eyes, threatening to spill over...
"The exams and actually going to college are two different matters."
Xue Rui had carefully prepared what he was going to say, but when he met the girl’s tear-filled eyes, his heart softened once again...
