Xue Rui’s eyes narrowed. It seemed his aunt had gone out for a meal with Ren Jun today.

That meant Xue Xiaying had ignored that scumbag Ma Hao and chosen Ren Jun.

At least, that ordeal was over.

"Was she pretty?" Xue Rui asked coldly.

"She was," replied Ren Jun from the other end of the line, still lost in the memory of their date. He completely failed to notice Xue Rui’s tone.

"Looking is fine, but that’s it. If you dare get handsy... I guarantee you, my dad and I will break every one of your legs," Xue Rui threatened.

"Huh? I thought you supported us."

Ren Jun was puzzled by how quickly Xue Rui’s attitude had changed.

Xue Rui sneered. ’Support them?’

It was merely a last resort to keep Xue Xiaying from falling into a scumbag’s trap. He had never said he actually approved of Ren Jun.

There was another reason for choosing Ren Jun: their families were already close, so he figured Ren Jun wouldn’t dare do anything out of line.

Otherwise, the image he had carefully cultivated with both families would completely shatter.

Now that things were in motion, Ren Jun would have to face one trial after another.

The overprotective Xue Jianfeng, Ren Jun’s own sister Ren Qunfang...

And, of course, Xue Rui himself.

Xue Rui would never forget whose side he was on. He and Xue Xiaying were family, after all.

’As for Ren Jun... at a time like this, he had to be treated as an outsider.’

"I’ll break your legs, then have my grandpa write a letter of forgiveness. You do the math." With that, Xue Rui hung up.

"Hello?" Ren Jun stared blankly as he listened to the dial tone.

The simple-minded Ren Jun had no idea that things had taken a slight turn. He had just stepped into a hell-level dungeon.

Ren Jun scratched his head. He had actually called Xue Rui about something important, but he hadn’t expected Xue Rui to just unload a pile of threats on him about not touching Xue Xiaying.

Ren Jun was at a lawyer’s office.

He wanted to ask about the necessary paperwork for opening a pet store.

Since everything Xue Rui said always seemed to come true, he felt the suggestion Xue Rui had made a while back had some merit.

’Was the Tibetan Mastiff business really not legitimate?’

He thought about it carefully and had to agree it felt a bit unreal. The money came too easily.

So, he decided to follow Xue Rui’s advice and try investing in a pet store.

"Lawyer Qin, sorry about that. My nephew’s just got a temper," Ren Jun said, a little embarrassed.

He had put the call on speaker because he thought Xue Rui was knowledgeable and wanted to let him talk directly with the lawyer.

But instead, Xue Rui had just chewed him out, which put him in a very awkward position.

"Your nephew certainly knows his law," Lawyer Qin said with a nod.

"What do you mean by that?"

Ren Jun asked curiously. They’d only exchanged a few sentences, so how could the lawyer tell that Xue Rui knew the law?

"Well, if your nephew were to break your legs, and he could obtain a letter of forgiveness from your father, plus the fact that he’s still in high school..."

Lawyer Qin went on to explain in detail to Ren Jun what the legal consequences would be if Xue Rui broke his legs.

Ren Jun’s face went stiff. From what he was hearing, if Xue Rui actually broke his legs, he might not even face any legal consequences...

Ren Jun suddenly grew tense. He had thought Xue Rui was joking. ’Could he have been serious?’

"Lawyer Qin, help me out here. Do you think that kid is serious?"

"Well... that falls into the realm of psychology..." Lawyer Qin paused for a moment. "And that will cost extra."

...

That afternoon, Xue Rui got a call from his internet provider. The technician was on their way to install the broadband and wanted to know if anyone was home.

So, he took advantage of a free period to slip off campus.

’I’ll just skip the evening study session.’

’Besides, a lot of the art students skip it, so one more missing person shouldn’t be a big deal. I won’t stand out.’

Besides, Gu Muxue had also left school early since she didn’t have any more classes.

If Xue Rui stayed for dinner without Gu Muxue there to run interference, he’d be hounded by Chen Tingting.

Gu Muxue also studied art, though it was unclear if she planned to pursue it professionally.

Then again, with her grades, she was ranked number one in their year, so it didn’t really matter.

Lin Ruoxi left the school with Xue Rui as well.

She felt that day students had so much free time. Their classes ended a little after four in the afternoon, and they didn’t have to be back on campus until the next morning.

In reality, this was a misconception unique to the student ranked second in her grade.

Other day students could only leave campus after the evening study session was over.

The top students, however, had a few special privileges.

「At Lin Ruoxi’s Home」

The broadband technician ran the cable and even threw in a free landline telephone.

After the technician left, Xue Rui began to assemble the computer.

He had bought all the individual components, planning to assemble it himself.

Since he didn’t plan on gaming, he didn’t need to buy a dedicated graphics card; the integrated one would be enough. It only cost him a little over four thousand yuan.

He used to be a real PC-building enthusiast, but a burnt-out enthusiast is an exceptionally rational one.

He now bought electronics based only on his actual needs.

Lin Ruoxi cut up some fruit and watched him quietly from the side.

Xue Rui was assembling the computer in her room.

Without a care for his image, Xue Rui flopped down onto the floor and started inspecting the components.

Lin Ruoxi squatted down, tilting her head to watch him, her large eyes filled with curiosity.

’She’d never seen any of these things before, and they certainly didn’t teach this in school. How does Xue Rui know all this?’

At home, Lin Ruoxi had tied all of her hair back, leaving her beautiful face completely unobstructed.

Xue Rui found the view quite pleasing and kept glancing over, causing Lin Ruoxi to shyly duck her head every so often.

After a while, she realized he was just teasing her, so she decided to be bold and just let him look.

’She remembered her grandmother telling her to be more poised.’

"Want to learn how?" Xue Rui asked casually.

"Mhm..." Lin Ruoxi nodded.

Xue Rui was a little surprised. He had only been making small talk.

Any other girl would have probably found these strange components incredibly boring, but Lin Ruoxi was watching with rapt attention, her almond-shaped eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"This is the RAM stick. See this notch here? It’s a fool-proof design..."

"The power switch jumper goes here..."

"This is called a PE..."

After about half an hour, Xue Rui got the machine to power on, and a sense of accomplishment washed over him.

Of course, his explanation had been very rough and off-the-cuff; he didn’t actually expect Lin Ruoxi to learn it all.

After all, very few girls were into tech.

’More importantly, if girls knew how to do this stuff themselves, what excuse would a guy have to come over to their house?’

Seeing the familiar Windows 7 logo on the screen, he clapped the dust off his hands. "Still got it."

Most computers back then didn’t use routers and still connected to the internet via dial-up, but Xue Rui had bought a wireless router in advance.

Not that his Nokia could connect to it, anyway...

"Money sure goes fast..." Xue Rui muttered.

He’d been planning to buy a smartphone, but he dismissed the thought when he remembered Lin Ruoxi’s grandmother might need the money later. One iPhone cost more than a month’s worth of the old woman’s medical bills.

But now that Village Chief Hua said the paperwork for her poverty-stricken household status would be processed soon, he was feeling tempted again.

"Here." Lin Ruoxi held out a bank passbook with both hands.

She thought he had run out of money and wanted to give him the passbook to use. After all, whenever he spent money on her, he never gave her any room to refuse.

’She felt that there was no real difference between her money and his anymore.’

’If he wanted to use it, then he could...’

Xue Rui gave her an odd look. "All my money is under your bed. Didn’t you see there’s still over thirty thousand yuan there?"

Buying the computer, paying for the medical check-up, getting Da Huang neutered, and so on had cost a little over ten thousand yuan in total.

"I... I didn’t look," Lin Ruoxi said quietly.

"It’s right here."

Xue Rui pulled a shoebox from under Lin Ruoxi’s bed. It was filled with tens of thousands of yuan.

High school graduation was still a long way off. This much money wasn’t going to be enough.

Xue Rui was even thinking about starting a business in college, which was why he’d bought a computer. He was preparing to earn some money online.

In his past life, he had muddle-headedly chosen software engineering as his major. He’d skipped classes every day and never ended up working in the field, though.

However, he figured that since he had managed to complete his final project on his own, he must have at least some basic skills. If he brushed up on them, taking on some freelance work shouldn’t be a problem.

After all, 2012 was the golden age of the mobile internet boom. The Android ecosystem was flourishing, and there was a major shortage of programmers on the market.

Most importantly, the technical requirements weren’t particularly high.

If he waited until after college graduation... the market would start to become saturated, and making money wouldn’t be so easy.

Full of anticipation, Xue Rui opened a copy of *C Programming: From Novice to Master*.