Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

Chapter 232: Chapter 230: A Project Worth Hundreds of Millions

Xue Rui didn’t doubt the girl. Since his phone wasn’t even logged into an Apple ID, anyone who guessed the passcode would basically own the phone.

But this girl only wanted three hundred yuan. Even considering its used value, the parts-to-whole ratio for Apple products is ridiculous. Just taking it apart for the display screen would probably be worth more than that.

But the girl was quite firm. Xue Rui put the money away and asked curiously, "Miss, is this your family’s shop?"

"Yeah, my big brother opened it. I help him watch the place," the girl said.

"Let’s exchange contact info. We might have a chance to work together in the future." After saying this, Xue Rui glanced up at the store’s sign.

"Player," the girl sneered, not even deigning to look at Xue Rui. She had found a photo of a nightclub’s entrance on his phone. ’What kind of habit is that?’

She tilted her head up at Lin Ruoxi and asked, "Hey, has he said similar things to you? All that talk about ’working together,’ discussing some project worth hundreds of millions at night?"

Lin Ruoxi hugged her backpack and thought for a moment. Xue Rui had talked about discussing projects. Although they hadn’t discussed specific amounts, it had indeed involved over a hundred million.

"Mhm, he has," Lin Ruoxi nodded.

"So you ’did a project’ with him?" the girl asked.

"Mm, we did," Lin Ruoxi nodded. That time, Xue Rui had made a lot of money trading cryptocurrency.

The girl let out a deep sigh and gave Lin Ruoxi a pitying look. "Sigh, all the good cabbages get eaten by pigs..."

Xue Rui’s face darkened. This girl’s train of thought was going way too fast. Thankfully, Lin Ruoxi had no idea what she was implying; they were on completely different wavelengths.

He cut in, "I wanted your brother’s contact info, not yours."

’This girl must have misunderstood me. She thinks I’m some player who hits on every girl he sees.’

The girl was actually quite pretty, with a slender figure. The flip-flops on her feet flapped with every movement...

’She’s probably been harassed a lot, which would explain her aggressive attitude.’

The girl’s expression froze. She gave Xue Rui a long, hard look. ’This guy is about my age, but he actually has his own business?’

Xue Rui breathed a sigh of relief. She had finally shut up.

However, just as he was thinking that, the girl spoke again. "Are you interested in my brother? No way, no way. He’s the only male heir in our family..."

"I really..." Xue Rui gritted his teeth. ’This girl definitely understood me, but she’s still messing around.’

He really did want to get in touch with people in the recycling industry. He had originally thought this girl was quite upright and had done him a big favor.

But, while the girl’s moral standards were high, her everyday manners were terrible. She propped up a leg, jiggled it, and even shot a suggestive eyebrow raise at Lin Ruoxi. A total delinquent...

’In my experience, southern girls are supposed to be gentler...’

Xue Rui came to a conclusion—you can’t judge people based on stereotypes.

Suddenly, a young guy with dyed-blond hair came in through the back and handed the girl a cup of milk tea. "Here’s your milk tea, ya douche."

With that, he ducked under a table and started taking inventory of the goods.

Xue Rui rubbed his face. He got it now. None of her acquaintances treated this girl like a girl at all.

The girl had had her fun. She tossed Xue Rui a business card. "My brother went home. If you have something to discuss, you can talk to me."

Xue Rui was about to speak, but seeing her delinquent attitude, he suddenly lost the desire to talk business.

Xue Rui casually took a photo of the card, stuffed it into Lin Ruoxi’s bag, and zipped it up for the little lass. "Let’s go."

The girl pulled up a stool for Xue Rui and sat down on a large cardboard box herself. "Hey, don’t go. Weren’t we going to talk?"

Xue Rui sighed. He glanced at Yu Minlan. "Why don’t you go shopping with her for a while? Come back and find me here later."

"Huang Siyue," the girl said with a smile, handing Xue Rui a bottle of mineral water.

"Business has been slow lately, so I was just bored. Joking around," Huang Siyue said with a laugh.

Xue Rui was a little surprised. "Business is slow? The upper floors selling phones are so crowded people are practically stepping on each other’s heels."

"It’s just those few floors. The rest aren’t doing so well. A lot of stalls couldn’t handle the rent and closed down. Some switched to selling cosmetics. This place used to be even more bustling," Huang Siyue said, a nostalgic look in her eyes.

"Yeah, I saw a bit of that," Xue Rui said.

Huaqiang North, to put it bluntly, got its start making knockoff electronics. Now the market is becoming more regulated, and every niche has major manufacturers competing in it. The knockoff business definitely isn’t what it used to be.

"But we’re in the recycling business, so it’s not as bad. The impact on us is smaller..." the girl said slowly.

Xue Rui and Huang Siyue talked for a long time, and he got a basic understanding of the recycling industry.

The project he was currently planning was also a comprehensive service app. Shared power banks were just one method for attracting new users. To monetize it in the end, he couldn’t rely on ads alone; he had to integrate resources from multiple industries.

The recycling industry seemed promising. It was less affected by the overall economy and served all of society.

But building a complete recycling system wasn’t that simple. In the early stages, it would be best to find a recycling partner to cooperate with.

Huang Siyue said slowly, "Worthless phones... I think some people sell them to Southeast Asia, and Africa..."

"Africa?" Xue Rui thought. ’Well, that’s news to me.’

Huang Siyue got bored of the topic after a while; Xue Rui was a complete amateur. She put on a gossipy expression and asked, "A girl named Gu Muxue called just now. Is she your girlfriend too?"

The girl, Gu Muxue, had sounded frantic, asking if Xue Rui was okay. If they weren’t lovers, there was no reason for her to be that nervous.

Xue Rui didn’t want to answer that question. He noticed the little lass wandering back in his peripheral vision and said, "Let’s talk later."

"Alright. I’m about to close up shop anyway." Huang Siyue couldn’t be bothered to care about a player’s life; she was mainly here to make money.

After they exchanged contact information, Xue Rui took the little lass for another stroll. They walked a few steps in the direction Huang Siyue had mentioned and, sure enough, found many stalls selling cosmetics.

Things like overseas purchasing services, one-piece dropshipping...

Xue Rui bummed a cigarette and chatted with some people on the roadside for a bit. It turned out many of the so-called "overseas purchasing agents" online had never even left the country. They were just buying wholesale here in Shencheng. Even the shipping information could be faked to make it look like packages were mailed from abroad. It was a complete industrial chain...

"Want to go take a look?" Xue Rui asked.

The little lass shook her head. She wasn’t interested in cosmetics.

Yu Minlan’s eyes lit up, but Xue Rui cut her off. "If you want to look, go by yourself."

Yu Minlan suppressed her excitement. "Actually, I don’t really want to look that much."

Xue Rui had just sent out another group message, saying he’d found his phone and letting his friends and family know he was okay...

Even so, many people still contacted him.

Now, Ren Qunfang was calling.

A warmth spread through Xue Rui’s chest. ’Mom really does care about me,’ he thought.

"Your wings have hardened, haven’t they? Why didn’t you pick up your phone?" Ren Qunfang scolded.

Xue Rui: "..."

"Why don’t you just go and lose yourself next time? And watch over Xixi!" Ren Qunfang snapped before hanging up.

Xue Rui was completely baffled. He didn’t understand what had just happened.

"Um, Aunt Ren called me. We talked for a long time," the little lass said softly.

Xue Rui understood. So his mom had already gotten the full story from Lin Ruoxi. She’d said all her nice, comforting words to Lin Ruoxi, and while she might have had a few concerned words for him, he’d been talking business with Huang Siyue and had his phone on Do Not Disturb...

Since she couldn’t get through after multiple tries, Ren Qunfang was bound to chew him out.

Just then, Gu Muxue called too.

"Xiaorui, I have relatives in Shencheng. Do you need any help?" Gu Muxue said. She knew Xue Rui had gone to Shencheng on business.

Xue Rui was a little surprised. ’This girl’s family business is ridiculously widespread,’ he thought. ’They even have operations in Shencheng.’

However, Gu Muxue’s family was in traditional industries, like the stone and materials business. There wasn’t much room for collaboration with him.

"No need. It was just a small accident. I can handle it myself." Xue Rui refused the girl’s offer of help.

’It’s better not to ask for help with things I can do myself. If I have to treat Zhang San to dinner today and then thank Li Si tomorrow, when will I ever get any real work done?’

"Alright, then. Let me know if you need anything. You should be careful, being alone in a new city," Gu Muxue said.

She wasn’t sure how to feel right now. A moment ago, when she couldn’t reach Xue Rui, her first instinct had been to call Lin Ruoxi.

But she didn’t have Lin Ruoxi’s phone number. She found it strange. Why was Lin Ruoxi the person she thought of?

She thought back. When she asked Xue Rui what he was up to, the two people he mentioned most frequently were Qiu Mengze and Lin Ruoxi.

She obviously didn’t care about Qiu Mengze, but Lin Ruoxi...

She knew Lin Ruoxi was Xue Rui’s employee, but every time she thought about it, there was always a strange feeling...

"I’m in Shencheng with Yu Minlan and Lin Ruoxi. We’re all from Hedong..." Xue Rui said calmly. He had told her this before; he was just repeating it now.

Gu Muxue sighed. "Stay safe. And don’t talk on the phone while walking."

She could hear a lot of noise on Xue Rui’s end, including car horns, so she just hung up.

She thought for another moment. ’What if something like today happens again?’

’If I can’t reach Xue Rui, I’ll have to contact someone who’s with him.’

Xue Rui smiled at his phone screen. ’She’s actually pretty considerate,’ he thought.

However, just as he was about to turn off the screen, she sent him another WeChat message: Send me Lin Ruoxi’s phone number.

Xue Rui’s smile froze on his face.

’She wants the little lass’s phone number?’

His palms grew slightly sweaty. ’Has it come to this?’ he thought.

Just as he was hesitating, Lin Ruoxi took his hand. "The light’s green. Let’s go."

"Okay." Xue Rui stuffed his phone into his pocket and followed the little lass across the crosswalk.

Xue Rui looked up at the sky. The sun set earlier in Shencheng than in Hedong, and the nightlife was much more vibrant. Even late into the evening, many stalls were still open for business, and the streets were full of people...

"Are you hot?" Lin Ruoxi noticed Xue Rui’s sweaty palms and took out a wet wipe to clean his hand.

"Sigh..." Xue Rui sighed, lost in thought as he looked at the message from Gu Muxue.

’Great. Now the chat history is stuck on this message. Gu Muxue isn’t as easy to fool as the little lass.’

’You can run, but you can’t hide. I’ll have to send the number eventually.’

’I can’t just send her a fake number...’

After his rebirth, he had found the little lass, and he had also discovered Gu Muxue’s feelings for him.

The little lass was cute, innocent, and clingy. Gu Muxue, while a bit feisty, was actually very understanding.

To be honest, he liked them both a lot...

But now, he had the strange feeling that the two girls were about to team up. ’Don’t tell me they’re going to secretly start a group chat behind my back?’