Chapter 434 315: Two Choices

'She was in a complete panic now. Ever since she'd met Gu Muxue, Xue Rui had become quieter. Although he'd still pat her head like before, she felt like there was less strength in his touch…'

'Was Xue Rui feeling powerless? Or just resigned?'

Xue Rui noticed the girl had suddenly become insecure, seemingly dwelling on what had happened at noon.

'This silly girl,' he thought. 'She wants to bear every burden with me, always just thinking about how to make me happy.'

If this kept up, she would develop a complex over it.

"Xixi, don't overthink it. I'll handle things with Muxue..." Xue Rui said softly.

"Mhm, Rui can do anything."

'Don't kill me with praise! I'm really not that capable!' Xue Rui screamed internally.

The two chatted for a while, then noticed the students had just finished a round of training. They were scattered across the training grounds, looking for shady spots to rest. Some of the students who smoked had circled around to the back of the field, gathering in a group to puff away.

Many eyes were fixed on the girl in the driver's seat of the Jetta.

"That looks like Senior Sister Xigua," someone remarked, raising an eyebrow and motioning for the male student next to him to look.

"Isn't that Old Xue?" Cai Huazhou yelled, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Huh? It really is. That damn slacker. We're here suffering through training while he's out shopping with his girlfriend. I'm gonna go give him a piece of my mind," Zhao Chaojie said, starting to walk toward Xue Rui.

"Exactly. Making a girl drive for him? He needs to be criticized," someone joked, feeling sour with envy.

"You're going to criticize him?" Qian Huabiao sneered. He'd never gotten the upper hand with Xue Rui. Zhang Xuelun had been listless all day yesterday, and that definitely had something to do with Xue Rui. As for Zhao Chaojie, don't even get him started.

Xue Rui saw the guys muttering as they walked toward him, so he opened the car door and got out.

Zhao Chaojie approached with a fawning expression and offered him a cigarette. "Bro, I seriously can't take it anymore. How in the world did you get time off?"

"Weren't you going to criticize him?" someone asked, looking speechless. What happened to that whole "holding him accountable" vibe from a moment ago?

Zhao Chaojie frowned. "He's my brother. Could I possibly criticize my own brother?"

That morning, he'd seen Zhang Xuelun not getting out of bed. After asking around, he found out that Xue Rui had gotten Zhang Xuelun a half-day leave.

It would have been fine if he hadn't seen others getting leave; he could have kept enduring the military training under the scorching sun. But now that a couple of people around him were slacking off, he suddenly felt all his energy drain away.

But when he tried faking an illness to his advisor at noon, the advisor said he needed a doctor's note and that it had to go through two rounds of approval...

He had casually asked if a "UV allergy" would count, only to be dismissed by the advisor with a sneer...

He'd finally figured it out: Xue Rui was truly one of a kind.

"Go find the Secretary. If the Secretary nods, the advisor will approve it," Xue Rui said dismissively, in no mood to deal with these guys.

"How'd you get past the Secretary?" Zhao Chaojie pressed, shoving a cigarette at Xue Rui.

Xue Rui gestured to the cigarette in Zhao Chaojie's hand. "That's how."

"By offering a cigarette to get on his good side?" Zhao Chaojie was skeptical. He subconsciously hid whenever he smoked around teachers. 'Xue Rui went and offered one to the Secretary?'

"Yep. Call me a dog if I'm lying. Look, isn't that the Secretary coming over now?" As Xue Rui spoke, he spotted Secretary Li's figure just getting out of a car.

Xue Rui grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the car and began unwrapping it as he walked, preparing to go and greet Secretary Li.

Zhao Chaojie gritted his teeth. He didn't have time to figure out if Xue Rui was telling the truth. All he knew was that this was a golden opportunity, and if he didn't take it, Xue Rui would.

It was just like Old Zhang's half-day leave—no paperwork involved, just a verbal request.

A teacher would only approve a leave like that for one or two people. Anyone after that would need to go through the proper procedures, no matter the reason—probably to keep other students from trying to copy them.

He felt the cigarettes in his pocket, thinking they weren't high-grade enough. He smiled and took the pack of soft-pack Zhonghuas from Xue Rui's hand. "Old Xue, let me borrow this. I'll replace it tonight."

Xue Rui looked at his empty hand, then at Zhao Chaojie, who was now smiling as he intercepted Secretary Li. The corner of his eye twitched and he cursed inwardly, 'Dumbass.'

As expected, Secretary Li was visibly taken aback when stopped by an unfamiliar student, and a vein throbbed on his forehead.

'Why does our department have so many characters this year?'

From a distance, Secretary Li's scolding voice could be heard. "What's your student ID number? Who's your advisor? Is smoking allowed in public spaces on campus?"

As soon as he said this, the nearby freshmen who had been hiding and smoking quietly stamped out their cigarettes, pretending nothing had happened.

Of course, quite a few people were holding back laughter, thinking Zhao Chaojie had been set up.

Zhao Chaojie's face was a mask of disbelief. 'Xue Rui tricked me?'

'That can't be right. Wasn't Xue Rui about to go up and offer a cigarette too? Was that just a feint to trick me?'

He shot a pleading look at Xue Rui, who simply pointed toward the training grounds, signaling for Zhao Chaojie to run for it.

Zhao Chaojie understood instantly. The Secretary didn't know what class he was in, anyway. He turned and dove into the crowd on the training grounds, disappearing in a flash.

"What is with the students this year," Secretary Li muttered to himself before striding toward the command platform.

Qian Huabiao shook his head. "Old Xue, you're a menace. You really screwed Zhao Chaojie over."

Zhang Xuelun also had a wicked grin on his face. He knew Xue Rui was up to no good.

Lin Ruoxi stuck her head out the car window and explained to the group, "Um, Rui wasn't lying."

Qian Huabiao looked astonished. "You really got the paperwork just by offering cigarettes to get on his good side?"

He knew Lin Ruoxi wouldn't lie.

"Yep, just offered a few cigarettes," Xue Rui nodded. 'Just four hundred of them, that's all.'

In reality, the main reason Zhao Chaojie got yelled at was that he was wearing his student military training uniform. It made him instantly identifiable as a freshman, which reflected poorly on Secretary Li...