Chapter 437 316: How Did I Get Isolated?

Yang Xing chuckled at Xue Rui. "Stand still and take your punishment."

Xue Rui knew, of course, that the little missy would see through his terrible acting. He wasn't trying to make it convincing; he was just creating an opportunity for her to vent her anger.

After Xue Rui had stood feebly under the tree for a few minutes, Gu Muxue sighed from inside the car. She spoke softly, "Get in here. Don't let Xiaobu get wet."

"Alright, leader." Xue Rui hunched over and scurried toward the car.

Yang Xing shook his head. He had noticed Gu Muxue's foul expression long ago. She had most likely gotten into a fight with Xue Rui.

'She went soft after just a few minutes?'

"Muxue, I think he's pretty tough," Yang Xing teased, trying to cheer Gu Muxue up.

"I was just worried Xiaobu would catch a cold," Gu Muxue said with a pout.

"Right, makes sense," Yang Xing chuckled.

It wasn't the first or second time this young couple had fought. Anyway, they'd make up in a few days.

Xue Rui opened the car door and passed Xiaobu into Gu Muxue's arms. Gu Muxue took the opportunity to place Xiaobu on the side closer to Xue Rui, using the pet as a buffer between them.

Seeing Gu Muxue's slightly gaunt face, Xue Rui instantly lost his playful mood. In just three or four days, the little missy had lost some weight. Even her style of dress was no longer as lively as before. She was actually wearing a navy-blue maxi dress, a small blanket covering her legs...

"Muxue, you've lost weight," Xue Rui said instinctively.

"President Zhao hired a housekeeper. If you're not used to living at the school, you could move out," Yang Xing suggested.

"No, it's just that the military training is exhausting," Gu Muxue replied casually.

"My fault. Muxue, you should eat more later," Xue Rui said.

Gu Muxue didn't deny it. "Everyone makes mistakes. As long as you can change, it's fine."

Xue Rui sighed internally. 'The little missy said she would give him an answer, but in reality, he was the one with the power to decide.'

'Her words just now were a hint. She was willing to let this go, but there would definitely be conditions.'

Gu Muxue turned to look out the window. She didn't know what she was trying to see, but the one thing she didn't want to see was the hesitant, conflicted look in Xue Rui's eyes. Raindrops traced watery lines down the glass. She reached out to touch them, only to feel the cold windowpane.

'Lin Ruoxi is pitiful, there's no doubt about that.'

'But isn't she pitiful too? From beginning to end, she was the only one who had been deceived!'

'That was what hurt the most. It was like three friends traveling together, but two of them were closer, keeping secrets from the third...'

'She had always thought Lin Ruoxi was the third person. She had even told Xue Rui to look after her more often...'

She took a deep breath and gave her reflection in the glass a bleak smile. 'She'd never imagined that she would be that person.'

It was just past five in the afternoon, a time when the sun would normally still be hanging high in the sky. But because of the rain, the sky was as dark as if it were seven or eight at night, making Xue Rui feel even more suffocated...

Yang Xing felt the atmosphere was too heavy. 'What in the world happened between these two? They're clearly speaking in code!'

He didn't press the issue, just kept driving to the location Xue Rui had given him.

Xue Rui watched the little missy's lonely silhouette. He looked at the car window, and as his gaze slowly focused, he saw her expression in the reflection.

Gu Muxue's face was devoid of joy or sorrow, her eyes hollow. The raindrops sliding down the glass outside looked like her silent tears.

Xue Rui found it hard to believe this was the Gu Muxue he knew—the little missy who would bite him at the slightest disagreement.

Xue Rui subconsciously rubbed his arms. He couldn't imagine what he was about to face today. He sensed a trace of finality from the girl.

Gu Muxue had been watching Xue Rui from the corner of her eye. She held Xiaobu on her lap, tossed the blanket onto Xue Rui, and reached over to drape it over his shoulders, tidying it up a little.

Xue Rui felt the warmth of the blanket, which still held the lingering heat from her body.

"Xiaorui, am I usually too harsh on you?" Gu Muxue asked with a smile, lifting a corner of the blanket and dabbing it gently against Xue Rui's face.

Xue Rui hastily forced a smile. "Not at all..."

A girl's mood can change in an instant, and today was the day Xue Rui was experiencing this most profoundly.

"Good." Gu Muxue's smile visibly vanished.

Xue Rui swallowed hard. 'The little missy is a complete stranger today!'

Her sudden gentleness made his heart tremble.

'The little missy is the cold-on-the-outside, warm-on-the-inside type, but has she ever been this obvious?'

'She hasn't said a single word to him in days, and now she's suddenly covering him with a blanket?'

'There's always a reason for abnormal behavior...'

His heart skipped a beat. 'This might be Gu Muxue's hint to him.'

'The person Gu Muxue might be targeting next isn't him, but Lin Ruoxi.'

...

Xue Rui had chosen a restaurant in the city center for its convenient location. The drive from Jiao University only took about ten minutes, but in those ten minutes, Xue Rui had seen several different versions of Gu Muxue.

'He really couldn't understand the girl now. Could it be that her grief had reached a breaking point and her personality was starting to warp...?'

When they arrived at the restaurant, Xue Rui saw Lin Ruoxi waiting at the entrance with a few old classmates.

"Lin Ruoxi, you're so pretty. The line of people confessing their love to you must stretch from Chang'an all the way to Huashan, right?" a female classmate teased.

"How could that be..." Qiu Mengze started to say, but then he suddenly remembered Xue Rui was two-timing and quickly shut his mouth.

"Huh? Even I've had people confess to me. Lin Ruoxi must have lost count," Mei Lili said, patting Lin Ruoxi's back.

"You? Don't be ridiculous. Never saw it happen in high school, but it suddenly happens in college?" Qiu Mengze bickered with Mei Lili as usual.

Lin Ruoxi didn't join their discussion, merely staring at the passing traffic.

'She was the one who sent Xue Rui to find Gu Muxue. Xue Rui had asked her to come early and show their classmates the way.'

Suddenly, Lin Ruoxi's eyes lit up. She saw a familiar figure in the back of a car and opened her umbrella, about to go and get Xue Rui.

When Gu Muxue saw Lin Ruoxi, she couldn't help but give a bitter smile. She sighed, "Get out."

"Uh..." Xue Rui got out of the car, feeling helpless.

Gu Muxue didn't ask Yang Xing to escort her, but instead asked him for an umbrella and walked out on her own.

"Xue Rui, over here! We were just waiting for you two," someone called out, waving.

"Coming." Xue Rui had no choice but to follow Lin Ruoxi forward. Feeling the girl's smooth wrist, the hair on his body stood on end.

'Lin Ruoxi was linking her arm with his!'

He glanced back out of the corner of his eye. The little missy was strolling alone in the rain, a placid smile on her lips.

Lin Ruoxi kept her eyes on the ground, trying to help Xue Rui avoid the puddles. When she looked up, she noticed Mei Lili staring at her hand with a puzzled expression.

"Oh... I shouldn't be hogging him." Lin Ruoxi realized her mistake. She quickly let go of Xue Rui's arm, turned her head, and nodded at Gu Muxue, wanting her classmate to come join them.

But classmate Gu Muxue just smiled at her, brushed past the two of them, closed her umbrella, and walked into the restaurant hand-in-hand with Mei Lili.

Mei Lili even deliberately turned her head back to give Xue Rui the middle finger.

'Lily, I can't thank you enough for this great kindness!' Xue Rui thought gratefully.

Even though Mei Lili had flipped him off, Xue Rui gave her a thumbs-up, which left Mei Lili a bit confused.

It was only when Xue Rui turned his thumb straight down that she gave a satisfied smile.

'Yes, that's more in line with Xue Rui's usual style.'

When they reached the private room on the third floor, Xue Rui saw that everyone looked familiar. They were all his classmates from high school, and he could name most of them.

"Have a seat, quick. The waiter said the food will be out soon," Qiu Mengze said, ushering everyone to their seats. He couldn't help but sweat for Xue Rui.

Xue Rui glanced at Lin Ruoxi beside him, then quickly looked over at Gu Muxue not far away.

Right now, he really wanted to post on a forum: [How do you pick a seat when you bring two girlfriends to a class reunion?]

[Waiting online, it's urgent!]

'Actually, in his opinion, the best solution was to have one sit on each side. Gu Muxue on his right, because she's left-handed, so it wouldn't matter if their chopsticks clashed. He would just have to serve her more food.'

And that's what he was prepared to do. Today, he was going to risk it all!

But before he could act, he saw Gu Muxue reach out and grab Lin Ruoxi.

"Lin Ruoxi, let's sit over here," Gu Muxue said, taking Lin Ruoxi's wrist and sitting down with her.

"Oh, and Lily, you sit on my right."

Gu Muxue's voice was cheerful. To an outsider, it looked just like she was gathering her two best friends.

Lin Ruoxi was completely taken aback. 'Classmate Gu Muxue was actually holding her wrist.'

She glanced timidly at Gu Muxue, then secretly shot Xue Rui a sweet smile. 'Does classmate Gu Muxue want to be good friends with her? She was so happy.'

Xue Rui's expression was dumbfounded. 'And here he was, still trying to figure out how to handle the pressure!'

'He'd been isolated by the girl and the little missy?'