Chapter 249: Chapter 242: Picked-up Roses
The next afternoon, Xue Rui waited for it to cool down before getting ready to go out.
His luck was actually pretty good. The summers this time of year were deathly hot, but it had turned overcast by the time he headed out. A quick glance at the weather forecast showed it was cloudy, turning overcast.
He found a shop that sold electric vehicles and bought a cute little e-scooter. Its two round rearview mirrors looked like ears, and the entire body was pink.
"Is it a gift for someone?" the shop owner asked.
"Can’t I ride it myself?" Xue Rui said, hopping on and taking it for a spin in front of the plaza.
He hadn’t gotten his driver’s license yet, so he either had to take a taxi or bum a ride from someone to get around. If he really wanted his own mode of transport, an e-scooter was the most suitable option.
’According to the new regulations from the future, isn’t this kind of scooter called an electric motorcycle?’
But it didn’t matter. The main thing was that this model would let him and Gu Muxue share a seat.
"You’re going to ride this color?" The shop owner chuckled.
"This is called manly pink," Xue Rui said with a smile. He wanted to get a pink helmet to complete the set, but unfortunately, the shop didn’t have any.
"Alright, tough guy, here’s your certificate of conformity and your receipt." The owner put the documents in a clear plastic bag and stuffed it into Xue Rui’s hand.
Xue Rui opened the bag and inspected the contents meticulously, even taking pictures with his phone.
The owner looked puzzled. ’What’s this kid’s deal? Who in their right mind actually looks at these documents?’
After looking for a moment, Xue Rui spoke up, "Where’s the invoice?"
The owner’s expression instantly soured. He hesitated before saying, "How about I give you a discount?"
Xue Rui gave a sly grin. "Just get me two pink helmets."
The owner thought to himself, ’So the guy’s not that uptight after all.’ He said, "Would another color work? I have..."
Xue Rui cut him off. "A real man’s gotta wear pink."
"Fine, fine..."
Resigned, the owner went to the surrounding shops to find two pink helmets, and only then did he manage to send Xue Rui on his way.
Xue Rui rode his little e-scooter to pick up Gu Muxue, making a special detour past No. 2 High School to take a look.
As expected, No. 2 High had ostentatiously displayed the science stream’s top scorer. They had even put up a standalone ID photo of Lin Ruoxi by the entrance, with a short bio underneath written by who-knows-who.
It would add another achievement to the teachers’ resumes and serve as an enrollment ad for the school.
If things went as expected, thanks to the lass’s star power, No. 2 High’s entrance exam cutoff score for next year could very well jump by several dozen points.
But then another problem arose. Why the hell was her ID photo so big?
’And what’s the deal with the flowers underneath?’
Xue Rui felt it was bad juju; it looked like a funeral portrait. He went over and swiped the largest bouquet.
A security guard rushed out. "Hey? What’s that kid doing?"
Xue Rui realized he knew the person, so he didn’t bother running. Instead, he casually offered the guard a cigarette. "Sir."
"It’s you, kid?" The old security guard laughed.
"What’s with all these flowers?" Xue Rui asked, pointing at the bouquets next to Lin Ruoxi’s picture.
It was only when he got closer that he realized No. 2 High had actually printed out photos of all the high-scoring students with some well wishes written on them. His photo was also among them, but you couldn’t see it unless you were right up close.
"Oh, Director Wang said just having photos didn’t look good, so he had some potted plants moved out from the principal’s office to fill it out. Then people started leaving flowers one after another. That bouquet just arrived this afternoon..." the guard explained.
Xue Rui wore a look of utter despair. ’Isn’t this the same as university students leaving offerings in front of a statue of Confucius?’
There was nothing wrong with the national top scorer receiving flowers, but the problem was, the lass was still alive! Why were people leaving flowers for a photograph?
Thankfully, they were mostly red roses.
"It’s bad juju. I’m taking them," Xue Rui said.
"Sure. They were for your girlfriend anyway," the guard said magnanimously.
Xue Rui nodded. "You’re right."
’No idea who sent them to the lass.’
’It’s all the same if I give them to Gu Muxue.’
’Either way, it counts as giving them to my girlfriend.’
「At the same time.」
Gu Muxue had finished getting dressed and was waiting on a swing chair downstairs, wearing a long, cream-colored dress. A pair of strappy sandals adorned her fair ankles, her little feet swinging back and forth.
She didn’t know what was wrong with her. She had only been apart from Xue Rui for a month, yet she was feeling more nervous than expectant?
"Muxue, your father asked me to follow you," Yang Xing said, pulling the car over.
He had heard that Xue Rui got his license. Young people tended to be impatient drivers, so he had to keep an eye on them.
"Mm," Gu Muxue replied, her eyes fixed on the entrance to the residential community.
Suddenly, a splash of pink entered her vision—an electric scooter. ’What a gaudy color,’ she thought. ’But the body is so rounded, and there’s a pink storage "turtle shell" on the back... It’s actually kind of cute.’
When she looked up, she was stunned to see that the rider was Xue Rui.
Seeing Xue Rui in his pinkish helmet, Gu Muxue couldn’t help but let out a "PFFT" of laughter.
She knew that men tended to go bad after getting rich, fooling around everywhere. But Xue Rui seemed different; he was always so playful.
Xue Rui waved and honked the horn twice. "Muxue, I’m taking you for a spin!"
Gu Muxue’s face flushed when she saw a bouquet of roses at Xue Rui’s feet. ’He’s giving me roses?’
"Found them. If you don’t want them, I’ll just toss them," Xue Rui said, holding up the flowers.
Gu Muxue pouted. She thought he was about to confess his feelings, but he claimed the flowers were just something he’d found?
She didn’t believe it for a second. Xue Rui had to be joking.
Xue Rui noticed something was a little off about the girlie’s expression. She had lost her usual fierce demeanor. While she was as beautiful as ever, it was a little unsettling for him.
After the girlie took the flowers, her face clearly reddened. She fiddled with the blossoms for a moment and actually pulled out a card from within.
Xue Rui’s eyes widened slightly. ’How could I have forgotten about that?’
"So you really did find them," Gu Muxue said, her beautiful eyes narrowing as she shot Xue Rui a glare.
She actually saw Lin Ruoxi’s name. The bouquet was for the "star student." It must have been taken from the school entrance. She had made a detour past the school on her way back and had seen some flowers and small snacks there.
But she wasn’t too bothered. That was just how Xue Rui was. He had once given her stickers that belonged to Yaoyao. Later, she’d checked with Xue Yao and found out that many of the "gifts" she’d received were actually Xue Yao’s toys...
If anyone else had done that to her, she would have been furious, but coming from Xue Rui, it was a different story.
In her eyes, the gifts Xue Rui gave never put any psychological burden on anyone.
Gu Muxue stared at the ground and asked nonchalantly, "What about Lin Ruoxi?"
"She’s working in Guangdong Province," Xue Rui said.
Gu Muxue was surprised. ’She’s that far away?’
Xue Rui had also just come back from Guangdong Province, but he had actually left a girl there all by herself?
She couldn’t quite put her finger on what she was feeling. Was it... relief?
"She’s our classmate. You should take care of her while you’re out there," Gu Muxue said.
Xue Rui thought to himself, ’I’ve taken more than enough care of her. That lass is way too clingy. I’ve only been gone a day, and she’s already at the point where she can’t eat or sleep properly. We were on the phone all night while she slept...’
"Our? What do you mean by that?" Xue Rui chuckled.
The girlie usually spoke that way, and he never nitpicked. But today, to avoid bringing up the issue of the other lass, he decided to go on the offensive.
Gu Muxue’s gaze immediately became unnatural. ’Why is Xue Rui so hung up on a word like that today?’
Back in school, when they played games and moved around in groups, the word "our" seemed to be used to distinguish one clique from another;
But now that they were out of school, using the word felt a bit... intimate.
Angrily, she rapped him on the helmet, which made her little hand sting, then she gave his arm a pinch.
"Hiss~ That’s more like it," Xue Rui said cheekily.
"Hmph." The corners of Gu Muxue’s mouth turned up slightly. The sense of distance from not having seen each other for a month instantly vanished. She naturally sat sidesaddle on Xue Rui’s e-scooter.
"You bought this scooter?" Gu Muxue asked.
She often saw parents picking up and dropping off their kids on electric scooters. To be precise, she had never ridden on one before.
"Yeah, my license hasn’t come through yet, so we’ll have to make do with this for now," Xue Rui said with a smile.
"I’ve wanted to ride one for ages," Gu Muxue said, bouncing on the seat a few times. She was now faintly looking forward to the scooter starting up.
Watching the girlie’s lively demeanor, Xue Rui thought that for Gu Muxue, two wheels were more fun than four.
’What is the definition of romance?’
Romance was simply about taking the person beside you to experience a different kind of life. For the poor, it was splurging once, going to a restaurant they normally couldn’t afford, buying flowers.
Most people had average financial means, and with the deliberate marketing from capitalists, many believed that romance could only be found in high-end establishments.
In reality, romance was about experiencing something new. For a family like Gu Muxue’s, those expensive places were just an everyday occurrence.
"Here, put on your helmet." Xue Rui took out the other pink helmet and placed it on the girlie’s head.
Yang Xing’s brow furrowed. ’Why doesn’t this Xue Rui kid play by the book?’
He had been planning to teach the kid the rules of the road, but he came on an e-scooter?
And he even had a helmet on. Something about it felt off, but he couldn’t find any fault with it.
"Ride slowly and be safe. I’ll follow behind you," Yang Xing said, resigned.
"Muxue, it’s not safe to sit sidesaddle," Xue Rui said.
Gu Muxue said, dissatisfied, "But I’m wearing a dress. You want me to straddle it?"
"Aren’t you wearing safety shorts?"
"Hey! Don’t pinch me!"
...
In the end, Gu Muxue obediently sat behind Xue Rui, her small hands firmly pressing down on the hem of her dress.
"Jerk!" Gu Muxue cursed.
She had wanted to go home and change, but she hadn’t expected Xue Rui to just start the scooter and take off. Now, to keep her dress from blowing up, she had no choice but to hold it down with her hands.
"Muxue, I’ll teach you a trick. If you sit closer to me, you can keep the dress down," Xue Rui said shamelessly.
Gu Muxue blushed. She knew Xue Rui was up to no good. Wasn’t he just trying to take advantage of her?
She refused to let him, and even deliberately scooted backward a little.
Xue Rui snuck a peek in the rearview mirror. ’This girlie is too smart,’ he thought. ’She saw right through my dirty little plan. Not like the other lass, who’s so easy to fool. I can take whatever advantage I want with her.’
He smiled faintly. As they reached the speed bump at the community entrance, he abruptly squeezed the brakes.
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