Free Web NovelChapter 184: Chapter 182: The Child Won’t Go Hungry
Xue Xiaying pressed her palm to her forehead. She had a massive headache right now.
Lin Ruoxi’s short sentence contained way too much information! Her brain could barely keep up...
She had asked why there were two comforters, intending to question who they were for and if that person was sleeping in the same room as Xue Rui.
And what was the result? Lin Ruoxi said Xue Rui wouldn’t let them sleep under the same comforter?
What kind of answer was that?
’Do all geniuses have brains that are wired differently?’
’So they prepared two comforters because they couldn’t sleep under one?’
Moreover, Lin Ruoxi made no attempt to hide her expression or tone, which were clearly full of disappointment.
’But why?’
’Why are *you* the one who’s unhappy? Shouldn’t it be the one who’s a toad lusting after a swan?’
Xue Xiaying couldn’t make sense of the situation. She shook her head. "Girls shouldn’t live with boys before getting married. You’ll sleep with me tonight."
Xue Rui, who was eavesdropping by the door, thought to himself, ’My aunt is so old-fashioned. No wonder she’s been single for so many years.’
Lin Ruoxi pouted and said weakly, "Miss Xue, you also said we’re not allowed to hit people."
"Yes, what about it?" Xue Xiaying asked. Lin Ruoxi’s train of thought was too erratic; she was having a hard time keeping up.
Lin Ruoxi looked into Xue Xiaying’s eyes. "Then why did you pinch Xue Rui, Miss Xue?"
Their gazes met. The girl’s eyes were clear and bright, without a trace of impurity, which actually made Xue Xiaying feel a little guilty.
’And was that a hint of accusation in Lin Ruoxi’s tone?’
’Was it just her imagination?’
"I..." Xue Xiaying was momentarily at a loss for how to answer Lin Ruoxi’s question. She *had* said not to fight...
But as Xue Rui’s aunt, wasn’t she allowed to give him a pinch or two when he annoyed her?
’Practicing what you preach is a teacher’s most basic quality, but no one is a saint. Who can guarantee that their every word and deed aligns with everything they’ve ever said?’
’Weren’t Lin Ruoxi’s standards a little too high?’
"Miss Xue, you’ve kicked Xue Rui’s butt in the classroom before, and you’ve twisted his ear..." Lin Ruoxi listed, one by one, every single thing Xue Xiaying had ever done.
A thin layer of sweat broke out on Xue Xiaying’s forehead. If a misbehaving student had asked her this, she would have kicked them long ago for asking such nonsense.
But now...
Xue Xiaying suddenly felt the living room was incredibly hot. Her pajamas were about to stick to her back.
She didn’t know how to answer Lin Ruoxi. The girl’s earnestness was beyond the scope of a normal person.
She had only wanted to lecture Lin Ruoxi and tell her to have some self-respect.
Why had the tables suddenly turned? It felt like *she* was the one being lectured.
Leaning against the back of the door, Xue Rui thought, ’This girl is amazing. She answered a question with a question and actually managed to silence Xue Xiaying.’
’Thank goodness Lin Ruoxi never questions me on logical inconsistencies. Otherwise, I’d never be able to justify myself...’
The girl trusted him unconditionally and would never raise any doubts.
In other words, as long as he sounded firm enough, Lin Ruoxi would even believe that the rooster’s crow makes the sun rise.
"Miss Xue..."
When Xue Xiaying heard Lin Ruoxi speak again, she felt as if she were surrounded by steel needles; one wrong step and she’d face a barrage of questions.
Gritting her teeth, she pushed open the door. "Rui, your aunt was wrong. I shouldn’t have hit you in the past."
After saying this, she felt a sense of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted.
Of course, Xue Xiaying felt zero guilt toward Xue Rui. She just didn’t want to face any more of Lin Ruoxi’s questions.
Xue Rui sat sprawled in a chair with his legs crossed, looking like a king on his throne.
He picked up a glass jar and took a sip of water. "It’s fine. I’m not one to hold a grudge, really."
In that moment, Xue Rui realized something—for a person with a conscience, innocence was truly a deadly weapon.
Xue Xiaying gritted her teeth so hard they squeaked. She really wanted to beat Xue Rui up again right now, but Lin Ruoxi was watching from behind her.
"Are you hot, Miss Xue? Your clothes are all wet." After speaking, Lin Ruoxi went into another room.
Xue Rui guessed she was going to turn on the air conditioner for Xue Xiaying.
Seeing Lin Ruoxi leave, Xue Xiaying snatched the glass jar from Xue Rui’s hand and drained it in one go.
"Haaaah..."
She let out a long breath and collapsed into another chair. Her hand moved to pinch Xue Rui out of habit, but she suddenly remembered something and pulled it back, looking worriedly toward the living room...
"Is she always like this?" Xue Xiaying asked.
"More or less," Xue Rui said nonchalantly.
Now that Lin Ruoxi was in his home, she tended to talk more and be a bit bolder whenever she was on her own turf.
If they were out somewhere else, the girl probably wouldn’t ask so many questions.
Xue Xiaying scoffed. "You’re really in for it in the future."
Lin Ruoxi was a genius in the conventional sense, there was no doubt about that. But when it came to anything outside of academics, she found it really hard to evaluate what kind of person Lin Ruoxi was...
Xue Rui wasn’t concerned in the slightest. ’The girl isn’t like that with me,’ he thought.
Hearing the sound of running water from the bathroom, Xue Rui guessed Lin Ruoxi had gone to draw a bath for Xue Xiaying.
"You two sleep in bunk beds?" Xue Xiaying demanded.
When Xue Rui heard this, his brow furrowed.
The bed had always been here. Lin Ruoxi wasn’t in the top bunk before he fell asleep, and by the time he woke up, she had already made breakfast.
To be precise, he wasn’t sure if Lin Ruoxi had ever slept in the top bunk at all.
But he always had a feeling that she had.
Thinking of this, he walked over to the top bunk to take a look.
Xue Rui reached out and ran his hand over the bed, then picked up the pillow and sniffed it...
He found a few stray hairs that had fallen out naturally, but he couldn’t smell any particular scent.
"Pervert!" Xue Xiaying’s eyes narrowed unconsciously as she watched Xue Rui’s every move. Her expression was grim.
Xue Rui was instantly displeased. ’Were his actions really that bad? Enough to be called a pervert?’
’If sniffing a pillow makes me a pervert, then what does that make Lin Ruoxi?’
’All the things that girl does to me after I fall asleep...’
But Xue Rui didn’t argue. Who would believe him if he said it out loud?
It would be like a toad opening its mouth and saying, "That swan is after my good looks."
"Whatever you say," Xue Rui said helplessly.
Before they could exchange many more words, Lin Ruoxi walked into the room holding a bath towel. "Miss Xue, I’ve run the water for you. You should go wash up."
Xue Xiaying took the towel with a smile. The water in the bathroom was still running, SPLISH SPLASH, as if urging her to hurry over.
She had the feeling she was being rushed to take a shower...
In the shower,
Xue Xiaying took off her pajamas, tested the water temperature, and hesitantly stepped under the showerhead.
"It’s just right?" Xue Xiaying was a little surprised. Usually, she had to spend ages adjusting the water temperature, but the water Lin Ruoxi had set was perfect...
She taught science; it was common knowledge that people of different heights used different water temperatures.
Lin Ruoxi was quite a bit taller than her, which meant... did she adjust it specifically for her height?
’What a thoughtful girl.’
When she was done washing up, Lin Ruoxi even came over to blow-dry her hair.
Xue Xiaying glanced at the bathroom counter and saw a razor...
Looking closer, there was clearly a set of toiletries belonging to Xue Rui, which made her brow twitch again.
"Have you two... done anything you shouldn’t have?" Xue Xiaying asked tentatively.
Lin Ruoxi froze for a moment, an inexplicable feeling of guilt washing over her...
’When Xue Rui slept over at her place, she would go into his room to check on him every night. Did that count as something she shouldn’t have done?’
Xue Xiaying saw Lin Ruoxi’s reaction in the mirror and thought, ’Xue Rui, you animal!’
’Then again,’ she reasoned, ’a well-behaved girl like Lin Ruoxi, who can’t even stand to see someone get hit, how could she possibly agree to... *that kind of thing* with Xue Rui?’
This made her feel much better. She decided to sleep with Lin Ruoxi tonight and take the opportunity to probe just how far the two of them had gone.
"You’re sleeping with me tonight," Xue Xiaying said.
"Okay." Lin Ruoxi didn’t overthink it and nodded in agreement.
’It was the same when she slept with her grandmother. After her grandmother fell asleep, she could still sneak over to Xue Rui’s room for a look, sleep for a bit in the top bunk, and then get up to make him breakfast before he woke up.’
Xue Rui rocked slightly in his chair, holding a book of past exam papers.
He wanted to use the next few days to get back into the groove. What if he could remember the types of questions from the exam in his past life? Wouldn’t that be an easy way to pick up a few extra points?
But no matter how hard he looked, he just couldn’t remember what was on his last college entrance exam...
He caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of Xue Xiaying pushing Lin Ruoxi into a room, then turning back to shoot him a fierce glare.
Xue Rui shut the door irritably. Xue Xiaying misunderstood him way too often.
But as he closed the door, Xue Rui felt it was too smooth... something was off about this door.
He opened and closed it again. Why was the door of this old house so silky smooth? It was smoother than a bar of Dove chocolate.
It opened and closed fluidly. The old stiffness was gone, and it no longer made that annoying "CREEEAK" sound.
’Did Lin Ruoxi use some kind of lubricant?’
He walked curiously around the room and, in the corner where Lin Ruoxi kept her tools, he spotted a can of WD-40.
"Whoa, she’s got a full set of gear," Xue Rui couldn’t help but praise. Lin Ruoxi must have lubricated the hinges of every door in the house, and even the doorknobs.
Ever since Lin Ruoxi moved in, the old house seemed to have been given a new lease on life. The furniture and appliances were still the same, but the girl kept them looking brand new. Lin Ruoxi had fixed all the old problems with the electronics, and even the rattling of the outdoor AC unit was much quieter.
After looking at the past exam papers for a while, Xue Rui yawned. "The more I read these books, the sleepier I get."
Without Gu Muxue around, his study efficiency dropped by at least half.
He felt that Gu Muxue had the potential to be a top-tier tutor. She broke down every problem into small, interesting parts. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
In the other room,
Xue Xiaying and Lin Ruoxi were lying in bed. Lin Ruoxi stared blankly at the ceiling.
Xue Xiaying turned her head to look at Lin Ruoxi’s chest and couldn’t help but gulp.
’We’re both lying down, so why is her outline still so visible?’
She looked down at her own chest, which was completely flat now that she was lying down. A wave of cup-size grief washed over her. freeweɓnøvel.com
"Sigh..." Xue Xiaying thought, ’Lin Ruoxi’s future children definitely won’t go hungry.’
