Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

Chapter 224: Chapter 222: I Can Beat You Even While on My Phone

For a brief moment, Lin Ruoxi tensed up, then she slowly moved to stand in front of Xue Rui.

She knew she hadn’t done anything wrong, but she had no idea what Xue Rui had done. Xue Rui had spoken with that store manager for a little while...

After Xue Rui talked to him, the man had given her a lot of things. She was terrified that Xue Rui would be arrested for "extortion," which carried a minimum sentence of three years...

She knew Xue Rui sometimes tricked people. It was fine if he tricked her, but tricking others would lead to legal punishment.

As the police officer approached, she bit her lip and slowly raised her head, only to realize she recognized the man. She used to see him often by the "doggy door" at school. It was Chen Tingting’s father.

"Hello, Uncle Chen. Thank you for helping us," Lin Ruoxi said, handing over the teddy bear.

Xue Rui was a little surprised. Lin Ruoxi had actually stepped in front of him.

"Hello, hello," Chen Shen said with a smile. He remembered this tall girl; she was often with Xue Rui.

He took a closer look. ’This girl really is getting prettier and prettier. No wonder Xue Rui rejected my daughter so firmly.’

’But why is she giving me a stuffed animal? My daughter already has one.’

Chen Tingting was currently hugging her own stuffed animal, propping its body up with her little belly as if it were very heavy.

This endearing, clumsy posture made Chen Tingting look all the more adorable.

He smiled and patted Chen Tingting’s head. ’Xue Rui really has a way with girls,’ he thought. ’My daughter is having a great time.’

However, just as he was thinking this, Chen Tingting turned her head, a displeased look on her face.

"Dad, you lied to me!" Chen Tingting pouted.

With that, she shoved the stuffed animal into Chen Shen’s arms and stomped off to the car, still pouting.

"What’s gotten into her?" Chen Shen scratched his head, completely unaware that Chen Tingting had discovered the little tricks he used to use to placate her when she was a child.

"Uncle, I went to the claw machines with my classmate Chen Tingting and Xue Rui..." Lin Ruoxi explained what they had just been doing.

Chen Shen nodded slightly. He had assumed Xue Rui had bought the stuffed animals for the two girls. He hadn’t expected Lin Ruoxi to have gotten them from the shop owner through her own skill...

"That’s really impressive," Chen Shen praised.

"Xue Rui couldn’t get a single one. I won all of them," Lin Ruoxi said earnestly.

Xue Rui was a little startled. ’Is she showing off?’

Chen Shen didn’t know exactly what had happened, but everything the girl said was about herself, clearly trying to cover for something. Plus, there was the way she had just handed him the stuffed animal...

He glanced at Xue Rui and said, "Xiaorui, you’d better explain."

"I’ll return them..." Lin Ruoxi quickly stepped in front of Chen Shen again, looking terrified that Xue Rui was about to be taken away.

Chen Shen smiled. He had only been testing the waters, and sure enough, the girl couldn’t hide it.

He said, exasperated, "The owner gave them to you voluntarily. Xue Rui didn’t trick him."

Hearing that Xue Rui wasn’t in trouble, Lin Ruoxi instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

After a brief chat with Xue Rui, Chen Shen went to console Chen Tingting.

Lin Ruoxi had just said she’d taken his daughter to the claw machines. Now he understood why Chen Tingting was upset...

Xue Rui grinned and pinched the girl’s cheek. He hadn’t even thought of that possibility.

No wonder she had been so talkative today and had insisted on standing in front of him.

"You actually thought I broke the law?" Xue Rui said, still pinching her cheek.

He thought his image was that of a law-abiding citizen, but he never expected this was how the girl saw him—thinking he had extorted two stuffed animals.

Was his image really that bad?

Well, on second thought...

The first time they met, he’d scared her by threatening to "buy" her, and later he’d led her to sell clothes using some shady methods...

It really wasn’t a fucking great image.

"Ow, that hurts," the girl mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut.

"If I really had broken the law, you’d be breaking the law too by covering for me," Xue Rui said jokingly.

The girl stammered in a panic, "I... I..."

Xue Rui let go of her cheek. "Alright, let’s go."

The girl knew right from wrong, but she became irrational whenever it came to him.

Lin Ruoxi placed the stuffed animal in Xue Rui’s hands and said softly, "It’s for you."

Xue Rui was taken aback. A grown man like him takes a girl out for fun, and he’s the one who ends up carrying a big stuffed animal home?

Isn’t this backward?

Both in the past and now, the girl’s room had never looked like a girl’s room. It was too plain.

What cute girl doesn’t like plush toys?

"You don’t like it?" Xue Rui asked.

Lin Ruoxi slowly shook her head. "I like giving it to you."

Xue Rui’s heart skipped a beat. ’This girl really knows how to give my heart a jolt now and then,’ he thought.

But seeing her determined expression, he had no choice but to accept it.

"I want to go see Grandma," Lin Ruoxi said in a small voice.

Xue Rui nodded. They would be leaving Hedong City in a few days, and he had already had Lin Ruoxi ship her things ahead of them.

It was normal for her to want to see the old woman now. It would also be a good chance to tell the old woman about his plans.

...

After arriving at the nursing home, Xue Rui placed the stuffed animal in a corner of the old woman’s room while he watched the old men playing chess at the entrance.

"Grandma, this is a video call. If you call me with this, you’ll be able to see me," Lin Ruoxi said, holding up her phone.

’As long as Grandma learns how to make video calls, I’ll be able to see her often.’

"What a curious gadget. This name here... Xue Rui, is that him?" the old woman said, fiddling with the phone.

...

The stone table by the door was carved with the "Chu River and Han Border." Every so often, an old man would slap a chess piece onto the stone table with a sharp CLACK.

Xue Rui watched for a bit, found it boring, and went back to scrolling through his QQ Space on his phone.

He usually chatted with Gu Muxue on WeChat, as he was used to it. However, at this time, people their age didn’t post much on their Moments feed; they usually posted updates on QQ Space.

He casually opened his feed. Like Gu Muxue had told him, the photos from the recent trip with her mother were all posted on QQ Space.

The girl and Ren Qunfang had taken a lot of photos together. The posts were public, and there were comments underneath.

[Is that your mom next to you? Everyone in your family is so beautiful.]

[+1]

...

Xue Rui also posted a "+1."

On her end, Gu Muxue saw that Xue Rui had actually commented on her QQ Space. She opened it and saw—a "+1"?

After thinking about the context for a moment, she immediately understood.

She thought, ’It’s one thing for other people not to know, but why are you jumping on the bandwagon?’

Xue Rui then scrolled to a post from Qiu Mengze, which was just a bunch of boring game results...

His QQ account had hundreds of friends, most of whom he’d added back in middle school. He had deleted most of them by now, since he didn’t remember who they were, and many didn’t even have nicknames saved...

Suddenly, a QQ message popped up: "You there? What have you been up to lately?"

Xue Rui glanced at it. The profile picture was a classic, edgy internet girl photo. He checked the person’s QQ screen name—a long string of Martian Script. It was probably an old female classmate.

With these kinds of people who haven’t contacted him in a million years, it was either a hacked account or they were about to ask for money. He sneered and deleted the contact without a second thought.

Just then, one of the old men watching spoke up. "Young people these days. Few of them know how to play chess. They can’t even understand it by watching. All they do all day is stare at their phones."

Xue Rui thought, ’I just stood here for a minute and I’m getting dissed for no reason?’

’Alright, alright. So that’s how we’re gonna play, huh?’

"Who says I don’t know how? I just didn’t want to crush your spirits," Xue Rui said brazenly.

"Not very old, but you’ve got a big mouth. Why don’t you sit down and try?" the old man snorted.

The other old man made room for Xue Rui. His opponent smiled and said, "The horse moves in an L-shape, the elephant moves two squares diagonally..."

Xue Rui cut him off. "I know the rules. Believe it or not, I can beat you even while I’m on my phone."

The old man’s brow furrowed. ’This kid is really full of himself,’ he thought. He said aloud, "I won’t bully you. I’ll give you a two-rook handicap."

Xue Rui’s eye twitched. Anyone who dared to say that had to be skilled. He had only played a long time ago and only knew the basic rules. Even with a two-rook handicap, he probably still couldn’t win.

These old men had been playing Chinese chess for half their lives. How could he possibly beat them?

Xue Rui sat up straight and made a welcoming gesture with his hand. "My teachers taught me to respect the old and cherish the young. Let’s just play a normal game. You go first."

As he spoke, he glanced at his phone screen. The Chinese chess app had already finished downloading.

He wasn’t planning to play against the old man himself; he was going to make the old man challenge a computer.

In 2014, a tactic like this was like an attack from a higher dimension—completely overwhelming.

CLACK! The old man started with a central cannon attack, slapping the piece down hard.

Xue Rui glanced at the board and mirrored the old man’s move on his phone...

Then, the computer on the other end quickly decided on its move.

Xue Rui followed the computer’s lead, making whatever move it made.

The old man was shocked. ’This kid actually knows how to play!’

’He’s not even looking at the board, just giving it a few glances?’

’That aura of seeing the whole board at once... Is he really a chess master?’

As time went on, captured pieces piled up next to both of them.

Xue Rui was a little surprised himself. ’This old guy is amazing. He can last this long against the computer on Hard mode? They’re really going at it, back and forth.’

’This can’t go on. I’m suddenly losing faith in the computer.’

He captured another one of his opponent’s pieces and urged him on, "Hurry up, will you? I could’ve watched flowers bloom and wilt waiting for you."

A thin layer of sweat broke out on the old man’s forehead. It wasn’t that his opponent’s moves were so brilliant, but that he played at an incredible speed, as if he wasn’t even thinking.

And on top of that, he was being rushed, which put a lot of pressure on him.

After Xue Rui had hurried him a few more times, the old man finally made a mistake.

"Check!"

His phone screen flashed red, displaying a single large word: "DEFEAT."

Of course, this defeat wasn’t his; it was the old man’s.

The corners of his mouth slowly turned up. "How about that?"

The old man hissed through his teeth, scratching his head frantically.

"I made the wrong move. I should have gone here," the old man said, full of regret.

He couldn’t accept losing to such a young whippersnapper.

"Again!" the old man said.

"Bring it on. Who’s afraid of you?" Xue Rui started setting up the pieces, occasionally glancing over to see how the old man was arranging his.

"Young man, your horse is in the wrong spot," another old man chimed in to remind him.

He found it very strange. ’If Xue Rui could beat Old Liu, how could he be so clumsy at setting up the pieces?’

"Oh, I didn’t see that," Xue Rui said calmly.