Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Opening an Umbrella Stunts Your Growth

After a long while, the students in the classroom began heading to the cafeteria with umbrellas, and the surrounding noise gradually faded away.

Xue Rui stretched, pulling himself from the ocean of knowledge to catch his breath on the shore.

"By the way, who’s picking you up today?"

Xue Rui suddenly thought of this. ’Did I just make Director Gu wait at the school gate for an hour or two because of me...’

"My driver. I already texted him and told him to wait a while longer."

"That’s good..." Xue Rui breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Let’s go. I’ll walk you."

Xue Rui felt that today had been very fulfilling; he had really learned something.

Since coming back from a fast-paced era, he couldn’t remember the last time he had calmed down and focused on a single task.

It was a nice feeling.

"I don’t... My umbrella is broken," Gu Muxue said.

"It’s fine, we can share one." Xue Rui rolled his neck. He felt like he’d been sitting for too long and was seeing stars.

He returned to Class Two’s classroom to find Lin Ruoxi still there waiting for him, reading an extracurricular book.

Xue Rui tiptoed to his seat and pulled out his umbrella, afraid of being discovered by Lin Ruoxi.

He clearly hadn’t done anything, yet he still felt guilty.

It was like he was having a damn affair.

"Let’s go down that way," Xue Rui said, pointing to the staircase near the teachers’ office.

"Why?" Gu Muxue didn’t quite understand. Taking that staircase meant walking a much longer way.

"Um... too many people use this way. They track in a lot of muddy water, so the stairs are too slippery. It would be bad if you slipped and fell."

Taking the other stairs would lead them past Class Two’s classroom. Xue Rui was afraid Lin Ruoxi would see them. Although it meant nothing, he felt it was better to take a detour.

Gu Muxue nodded somewhat blankly. "Okay."

’He’s so considerate,’ she thought.

In reality, what often moves a girl isn’t flowers or gifts, but the small, inadvertent details in daily life.

As for Gu Muxue, she didn’t really mind. As long as Xue Rui’s reasons weren’t too outrageous, she was fine with doing things without a clear reason.

’Besides... a longer path meant they could walk for a little longer.’

A light rain fell from the sky as the two huddled under the same umbrella.

Many male students on campus were walking with their heads up, hair getting damp, but they didn’t care at all.

In this kind of drizzle, many boys wouldn’t use an umbrella, thinking it was too much of a fuss.

Even so, Xue Rui still deliberately tilted the umbrella more toward Gu Muxue.

"My shoes are soaked," Gu Muxue said suddenly.

"Yeah, let’s walk slower."

Xue Rui matched Gu Muxue’s pace. They weren’t walking fast to begin with, and now they slowed down even more.

Suddenly, a PITTER-PATTER sound came from the surface of the umbrella as the rain grew heavier.

"Get in closer," Gu Muxue said, pulling Xue Rui.

"Oh." Xue Rui was naturally happy to oblige, leaning closer to Gu Muxue.

Their clothes were soon touching, and the tip of Xue Rui’s nose brushed against Gu Muxue’s hair.

Gu Muxue looked down at their reflections in the puddles on the ground, a secret joy blooming in her heart.

"Muxue, in a few days, during the monthly exam, you might only rank second in the grade," Xue Rui said suddenly.

He felt it was necessary to give Gu Muxue a heads-up, lest the girl suffer a blow when the time came.

Gu Muxue was too proud. No matter where she was, she was the recognized number one, as if it was only natural.

Even in physical fitness tests, she was first among the girls.

Xue Rui knew that Gu Muxue had earned all of this through hard work.

To put it bluntly, Gu Muxue was just a smart girl, not some heaven-defying talent. It was just that while others were slacking off, Gu Muxue was secretly working hard.

Xue Rui could tell from the notes in her textbooks.

But... Lin Ruoxi couldn’t be judged by normal standards. She was a genius.

Xue Rui had Lin Ruoxi do a past year’s college entrance exam math paper. Lin Ruoxi finished it in just over twenty minutes and got a perfect score...

Faced with such absolute intellectual dominance, no matter how hard Gu Muxue worked, it was impossible for her to surpass Lin Ruoxi in academic scores.

"Who? How do you know?" Gu Muxue was a bit surprised. Her total score was far ahead of second place, and she’d been in good form recently. How could she not get first?

She was still very confident in her grades.

"Uh... my homeroom teacher let it slip."

"You’ll find out when the time comes. I’m just giving you a heads-up so you can be mentally prepared. It doesn’t really matter whether you get first place or not."

"Is there a transfer student?" Gu Muxue didn’t doubt Xue Rui.

Xue Rui felt he couldn’t say any more. Gu Muxue would find out naturally after the exam anyway.

He changed the subject. "If I’d known you were the one who wrote the notes for me, I wouldn’t have given them snacks. They got to eat so many of my snacks for free without doing any work."

"It’s not like you gave me any," Gu Muxue said with a frown.

"I’ll make it up to you in a few days."

"I don’t want them. I’m not interested," Gu Muxue huffed.

She knew now that Xue Rui was a rich second-generation kid.

’Just grabbing some snacks from a restaurant? There’s no sincerity in that at all.’

"Will you eat them if I make them?" Xue Rui asked.

"You know how?" Gu Muxue looked astonished. ’Xue Rui knows how to make pastries?’

"Of course," Xue Rui said confidently.

The Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, and the restaurant would be making mooncakes to give to customers.

’He might not know how to make other things, but mooncakes? How hard could that be?’

’Just put the prepared dough into the mold and press. Anyone with hands can do it.’

"I’m afraid you’ll poison me. I’ll have to supervise you."

"No problem."

...

Their steps were very slow, so slow that a five-minute walk took them a good ten minutes.

When they reached the school gate, Gu Muxue saw a small puddle, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

SPLASH!

Gu Muxue lightly stepped into the small puddle, splashing water all over Xue Rui’s pant leg.

"Hee hee!" Gu Muxue giggled and ran out from under the umbrella.

Xue Rui frowned. ’This girl really holds a grudge.’

He used to tease Gu Muxue often, and now she had finally found a chance to get back at him.

’So childishly cute,’ Xue Rui chuckled to himself.

He held up the umbrella and chased after her. "Don’t get wet."

The rain was indeed a bit heavier now.

"No, you’re definitely trying to stomp on me!" Gu Muxue thought Xue Rui was trying to get revenge and hurriedly backpedaled a few steps.

However, Gu Muxue completely failed to notice the stone block at her feet and fell backward.

Xue Rui quickly jogged a few steps and grabbed Gu Muxue’s collar. In her panic, Gu Muxue grabbed Xue Rui’s arm.

With a RIIIP, a tear appeared in Gu Muxue’s collar.

From Xue Rui’s perspective, it was a magnificent mountain range.

But Gu Muxue reacted too quickly and immediately covered her collar. Xue Rui thought it was a real shame...

"I’m going home," Gu Muxue said, clutching her chest as she fled.

The driver saw Gu Muxue emerge in the rearview mirror and quickly got out with an umbrella to greet her.

Before the driver could open the door, Gu Muxue dove into the back seat of the Audi, zipped up her jacket to the very top, and buried half her face in the high collar.

’Her cheeks felt so hot.’

"So frustrating!" She clenched her fist and punched the back of the front passenger seat.

THUMP!

The impact jarred her hand, and tears of pain welled up in her eyes.

She felt so wronged. Why was it always so easy for Xue Rui to tease her?

But when she finally got a chance, she ended up making such a fool of herself!

It was as if she had been teased by Xue Rui all over again.

But... this time she was the one who had teased him first, and he had even saved her.

She knew she shouldn’t blame Xue Rui, but she was still so angry.

"Did Aunt Liu not give you an umbrella this morning?" the driver asked with a smile.

’Why was a male classmate walking Gu Muxue out? So strange.’

"My umbrella broke," Gu Muxue answered casually.

...

Xue Rui smiled, patted his pant leg, and walked back onto campus.

He had planned to walk Lin Ruoxi home directly, but he suddenly remembered his books were still on Gu Muxue’s desk, so he went to Class One’s classroom first.

Arriving at Gu Muxue’s seat, Xue Rui subconsciously reached into her desk drawer, ready to grab a snack.

However, he pulled out a transparent umbrella.

"Hm?"

Xue Rui examined it, saw nothing wrong with it, and simply opened it.

With a POP!, the umbrella opened perfectly. There was nothing wrong with it.

Just then, Mei Lili walked into the classroom after her meal and said coldly:

"What are you doing opening an umbrella indoors? It’ll make you stop growing."

"Superstition," Xue Rui sneered.

’It’s always the short people who believe in this kind of nonsense.’

"What do you know? It’s better to believe it than..."

Xue Rui approached Mei Lili with the open umbrella, a mischievous smile on his face.

"Stay back!" Mei Lili felt Xue Rui was up to no good; he was probably going to put the umbrella over her head.

"This is Muxue’s umbrella. If you don’t want it, I’ll just toss it on the floor."

Xue Rui made a motion as if to throw it.

Mei Lili froze. ’That’s the goddess’s umbrella?’

She took a closer look, and it really was!

She was afraid of not growing taller if she held the umbrella, but she was also afraid Xue Rui would break Gu Muxue’s umbrella...

"I! Want! It!" Mei Lili said through gritted teeth, choosing the latter.

Xue Rui nodded and handed the open umbrella to Mei Lili. "Here you go."

"You bastard!" Mei Lili cursed as she closed the umbrella.

「Class Two Classroom」

Lin Ruoxi was still staring absent-mindedly at a book.

Xue Rui walked over, casually flipped it, and the cover read: *Analog CMOS Integrated Circuit Design*.

"..."

’Lin Ruoxi is straying further and further from the path. How did she end up on hardware now?’

Xue Rui thought for a moment, then spoke, "Start with software development. iOS."

In the future, every industry would need mobile software.

Xue Rui had been doing market research for a long time.

The iPhone 4S had been out for a long time. At this point in time, making Apple software was the most profitable venture.

The Android ecosystem was too chaotic right now. There were no unified development standards, and more importantly, no monetization channels.

You’d have to wait until mobile payments became widespread and WeChat and Alipay were household names for the Android ecosystem to become profitable.

It wasn’t that hardware was out of the question—Xue Rui had plenty of ideas—but the initial costs were too high.

He didn’t have enough capital right now, and if he failed, the cost of trial and error would be steep.

"Mm... okay," Lin Ruoxi nodded.

She didn’t know what she should be studying either; it was just that Xue Rui had never mentioned it before.

"You really are..." Xue Rui was silent for a long time, not knowing how to describe Lin Ruoxi.

Finally, he sighed helplessly. "Let’s go back."

"What do you want to eat today?"

"Let’s have fish. Grandma can eat it too."

"Okay..." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"I think we should buy another computer."

"Mm..."