Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Got the Hang of It?

In the end, Xue Rui went upstairs with a red handprint on his face.

"Hiss—it really hurts."

A fiery, stinging sensation spread across his cheek. He felt like half his face was swelling up.

Xue Rui had taken that slap on purpose.

He knew that if he didn’t take the hit, his mom would probably be too angry to sleep at night.

Lin Ruoxi saw the whole thing from upstairs. She wanted to go down and break up the fight, but Grandma wouldn’t let her.

"Here." Lin Ruoxi handed him a towel. She had gone to get it ready the moment she saw Xue Rui get slapped.

"Mm, so thoughtful."

Xue Rui nodded. When he turned his head, he saw his grandma smiling broadly, a mocking look in her eyes. His anger flared instantly.

"Da Huang, were you just laughing at me? Don’t play innocent, I saw you."

Xue Rui bent down, grabbed Da Huang by the ears, and rapped his knuckles on the dog’s head a few times.

Da Huang had been lying there asleep. Being so violently pulled up by Xue Rui, he was suddenly furious.

"WOOF!" Da Huang bared his teeth, putting on a ferocious display.

However, just as Da Huang was showing his fangs, Lin Ruoxi kicked him.

"Whimper~"

Da Huang licked his lips and wagged his tail, a fawning look on his face.

"Your money."

Lin Ruoxi tried to return the "tutoring fee" Ren Qunfang had given her to Xue Rui.

"I need to borrow your money to make a small game. When we make a profit, we’ll split it fifty-fifty." Xue Rui shook his head, not taking it.

"What kind of game?"

"Come on, let’s play a few rounds first." Xue Rui led Lin Ruoxi back to his room. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

In truth, tile-matching games already existed at this point in time, just not touchscreen versions. There were ancient games like Zuma, for example.

The iPhone changed the interactive logic of mobile phones, and it influenced all game development that came after.

No one had done it yet, and Xue Rui wanted to seize the first-mover advantage.

He had started a company, developed products, and lost a lot of money before. He knew that developing a game wasn’t easy.

A game intended for the market required far too much preparation. It was a completely different concept from a university student’s graduation project.

The former required considering market size, monetization channels, and various legal issues.

The latter just required copying some things from the internet to get past the professor’s inspection.

Lin Ruoxi took out the passbook again. "Here."

"I’ll buy you a phone and a computer tomorrow."

This time, Xue Rui didn’t refuse. He really was in urgent need of money.

"I don’t need a phone. We have a phone at home," Lin Ruoxi said in a small voice.

’It’s too much of a waste of money,’ she thought.

"A phone is a necessary tool for developing software," Xue Rui explained.

"Oh, okay." Lin Ruoxi nodded, thinking what Xue Rui said made sense.

She picked up an apple, peeled it, and placed it in Xue Rui’s hand.

As for herself, she didn’t have the habit of peeling them; she would just chew off any bruised spots and eat the rest.

Xue Rui’s brow furrowed as he watched, because the apple in Lin Ruoxi’s hand already had a bad spot.

The apple in his own hand, even unpeeled, was perfect and flawless.

"Don’t eat that." Xue Rui snatched the apple from Lin Ruoxi’s hand and tossed it straight into the trash.

Lin Ruoxi looked stunned, her eyes glancing at the trash can from time to time.

Xue Rui frowned. ’What is this damn guilt-trip education?’

If Xue Rui didn’t know Lin Ruoxi, he might have even thought this girl was trying to PUA him.

"From now on, if it’s gone bad, just throw it away. There’s no need to be so frugal."

Xue Rui was determined to correct Lin Ruoxi’s habits.

"Look, if you eat a bad one today, another one will go bad tomorrow."

"From start to finish, you’ll only ever be eating bad apples. It’s better to start with the good ones."

Lin Ruoxi thought what Xue Rui said made sense.

"But..."

"But what?"

"Nothing." Lin Ruoxi shook her head.

’As long as she ate the bad ones, Xue Rui could always have the good apples. The result was the same,’ she thought.

...

「The next day.」

At the hole in the school fence.

"So damn extravagant." Ren Jun handed a large bag to Xue Rui.

Xue Rui opened it and saw an iPhone 5, an iPad, and a MacBook Pro.

"What a pain to get. This phone just came out not long ago, and that guy actually wanted an extra thousand for it. And to think we were old classmates..." Ren Jun complained nonstop.

"That’s normal. An extra thousand for this device is actually cheap."

Xue Rui smiled. It was true for this time period; to get the latest iPhone, you had to buy the Hong Kong version, and you had to pay a premium.

"Only people your age are into this stuff. Once you get a little older, it’s not so interesting," Ren Jun said with a sigh.

Xue Rui could relate to some extent, but then again, these weren’t for him.

"Speaking of which, why didn’t you just give this to me at the main gate?"

It suddenly occurred to Xue Rui. A parent delivering something to a student... did they really need to use the hole in the fence?

Ren Jun froze. What Xue Rui said made a damn lot of sense. "Heh heh, old habits die hard."

But since he was already here, he figured he might as well go see Xue Xiaying. He crouched down and started to squeeze through the hole.

"Don’t. If you come in like that, I’m calling security." Xue Rui said with a dark expression, pointing a finger at Ren Jun before he left.

It would be one thing if he were a student, but Ren Jun’s current status was an unemployed member of society. He couldn’t break a rule of principle like this.

"Tch, fine, I won’t come in," Ren Jun sneered.

"That pet store you mentioned a while back—I’ve got most of it ready. It should be able to open soon."

Xue Rui stopped in his tracks. ’Ren Jun actually listened to my advice?’

In his past life, Ren Jun had been used to making a quick buck. After losing money on the Tibetan Mastiff business, he kept looking for other schemes to make it back.

But how could such opportunities come along every day? Ren Jun muddled his way into his late thirties and still had nothing to his name.

"What changed your mind?" Xue Rui asked with a smile.

"It’s for Xiaying, isn’t it? I want something more stable too," Ren Jun said, scratching his head.

"Okay. Remember to invite me to the grand opening." Xue Rui nodded.

When the time came, he planned to give Ren Jun some suggestions. The pet industry was a blue ocean market. Riding the wave of the internet, they could market pet supplies and things like that, creating their own brand.

When he got back to the classroom, Xue Rui handed the items to Lin Ruoxi.

"Your task for today is to play on the phone. When you get home, play on the iPad and the computer," Xue Rui instructed.

He also quickly showed her how to insert the SIM card.

Getting a card was easy back then. You could buy an unregistered SIM card without even needing an ID.

"Oh..." Lin Ruoxi tilted her head, a flash of delight in her eyes as she watched the colorful images appear on the small screen.

Xue Rui smiled. So Lin Ruoxi actually liked this kind of stuff.

"Play lots of games."

Xue Rui added silently in his head: ’Just don’t turn into a gaming addict like Xue Yao.’

This was the necessary hardware for game development. Otherwise, if she didn’t even understand the operating logic of a smartphone, how could she possibly develop a game?

These few items alone had already cost thirty thousand yuan.

Excluding the "tutoring fee" Ren Qunfang gave him last night, Xue Rui had about 130,000 yuan left.

The technical aspect was actually the easiest part. It wasn’t very difficult to begin with, Xue Rui had development experience, and Lin Ruoxi was a very fast learner.

The difficult parts were finding an artist, registering a wordmark trademark, and so on.

He wasn’t sure if the funds would be enough. If not, Xue Rui was prepared to trick Xue Yao out of some of her New Year’s money.

Registering a company was also a problem.

Just as Xue Rui was worrying about this, Gu Muxue walked past the back door of Class Two.

’I have to find Director Gu. We’re sister organizations, after all,’ he thought.

Xue Rui muttered to himself.

The Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, which was the perfect time to visit and give mooncakes.

But... Gu Qingshan was as wary of him as he would be of a thief, terrified that he would steal his daughter away. How could he possibly get a gift to him?

"Sister Xi? Is that an iPhone?"

When Yi Bing passed by and saw the phone in Lin Ruoxi’s hand, his eyes lit up.

"Mhm," Lin Ruoxi nodded. She still hadn’t figured out how to use it.

Xue Rui looked back and saw Lin Ruoxi earnestly "playing" with the phone.

If it were any other kid, you’d just have to hand them the phone and not worry about a thing. A child’s natural instincts would push the phone’s gaming capabilities to their fullest.

But Lin Ruoxi, after being given the task by Xue Rui, was solemnly studying how to play, which was actually inefficient. She just kept swiping back and forth on the home screen.

Xue Rui sighed. "Yi Bing, teach her how to use it."

"You got it! Sister Xi, let me tell you, our classroom can piggyback off the Wi-Fi from the office downstairs..." Yi Bing took the phone and downloaded a whole bunch of games for Lin Ruoxi.

"Oh, thank you."

...

For the entire afternoon, Lin Ruoxi was immersed in the world of games.

A teacher saw her at one point but just told Lin Ruoxi to move to the back so she wouldn’t disturb the other students...

When it was time for the afternoon activity period, Xue Rui walked over and asked, "Have you figured it out?"

"Not really." Lin Ruoxi shook her head.

"Go find Director Wang to take you home, and you can take your time playing there."

Xue Rui had just seen Director Wang pass by. He had something else to do today.

"Okay." Lin Ruoxi slung her bag on and went to find Director Wang.

As for Xue Rui, he had already thought of a way to deliver his gift.

The breakthrough with Gu Qingshan would have to be found through Gu Muxue.

He went to the Class One classroom and expertly sat down in the seat next to Gu Muxue.

"Why didn’t you bring your books today?" Gu Muxue frowned.

Usually, at this time, Xue Rui would ask her for help with his homework. But today, he came over empty-handed, and from the look on his face, he was up to no good.

"Muxue, didn’t I say I’d make you a snack a few days ago? Let’s go make mooncakes today," Xue Rui said earnestly.

"Really?" Gu Muxue’s voice unconsciously rose a pitch. Noticing her own reaction, she added flatly, "Go now?"

She was a little excited at the thought of making mooncakes with Xue Rui.

"We leave right now."

"Okay, I’ll contact my driver."

"By the way, what kind of filling do Aunt Zhao and Uncle Gu like?" Xue Rui asked casually.

"Hmm?"

Gu Muxue let out a soft sound of surprise. ’Shouldn’t Xue Rui have asked what kind of filling *she* liked first?’

Still, she thought for a moment and answered seriously, "My dad likes five-nut mooncakes, and my mom doesn’t like mooncakes."

Xue Rui nodded. "I don’t like mooncakes either, especially the five-nut kind."

"Then why are we making mooncakes?" Gu Muxue was even more confused.

"Because the Mid-Autumn Festival is the day after tomorrow. We’ll make some mooncakes today so I can bring them to your house," Xue Rui said truthfully.

"You’re coming to my house?" Gu Muxue’s cheeks flushed red.

’Are we going to meet the parents already?’

’But... I’m not ready yet.’