Chapter 3: My White Moonlight? Let Me Cut In Line First
Time in a dream always passes quickly.
Just the blink of an eye, and it was already lunchtime.
"Xue Rui, time to eat!" Qiu Mengze shook Xue Rui awake, then asked with a serious expression, "Honestly, were you secretly at an internet cafe last night behind my back?"
"What's it to you?" Xue Rui cursed, stretching, and then noticed that half the classroom was empty, and Qiu Mengze had already gone to eat with a few other boys from their class.
He looked around, and it seemed no one was planning to go to the cafeteria with him.
After the class reshuffle in the second year of high school, most people still chose to form small circles with their former first-year classmates, so everyone was chatting and laughing with their companions;
Only Xue Rui stood alone, lost in thought. He subconsciously looked for Lin Ruoxi, but the girl who looked like she was wearing someone else's school uniform was also gone.
"I've been ostracized? Did I forget to tell her not to leave after school?" Xue Rui scratched his head, feeling something wasn't quite right. He shouldn't be at the bottom.
"Rui Ge, why haven't you gone to find Gu Muxue yet? I just saw her go to the cafeteria." Someone ran into the classroom to remind him.
Xue Rui was speechless. So, in his previous high school life, he revolved around one person every day? No wonder Qiu Mengze didn't wait for him.
But he had no intention of looking for Gu Muxue. He strode to catch up with Qiu Mengze and his group, then wrapped his arm around Qiu Mengze's shoulder and pressed down hard.
"Who is it!" Qiu Mengze's chest felt stuffy from the jolt. He turned his head and saw it was Xue Rui, looking surprised. "The sun must be rising in the west. You're actually eating with us?"
Listening to the young Qiu Mengze speak a complete sentence fluently and smoothly, without coughing or pausing, Xue Rui couldn't help but marvel at the benefits of a young body. He said with a serious expression, "Smoke less in the future, or you won't even be able to speak clearly."
"Are you also going to say 'play fewer games'?" Qiu Mengze leaned back slightly. He could even guess Xue Rui's next sentence.
"Yes."
"Why are you pretending to be a good kid with me? I'm asking you, are you going to cut in line when we eat later?" Qiu Mengze asked a very realistic question.
"I never cut in line."
Xue Rui waved his hands, smiling calmly. The sun shone brightly above his head, and his smile was sincere and kind, like an angel descending to earth.
He wanted to set a good example for his childhood friend.
Qiu Mengze suddenly felt that Xue Rui was sick, possibly because he had been rejected by Gu Muxue too many times, and his mind was finally starting to break. He sighed inwardly.
The group arrived at the cafeteria. Xue Rui looked at the dense crowd of heads and the endlessly long queue, suddenly regretting the boast he had just made.
"You said you wouldn't cut in line." Qiu Mengze said triumphantly, then turned around and spotted an acquaintance in the queue. He shamelessly squeezed in, moving at least dozens of meters forward.
Xue Rui was left disheveled in the wind.
"I can't even remember the names of my own classmates, whose line am I going to cut?" Xue Rui looked at the queue that was at least half an hour long, with people constantly squeezing in, and felt an inexplicable surge of irritation.
But that wouldn't stump him. As long as he was thick-skinned, what did it matter if he didn't know anyone? As long as others knew him, wasn't that enough?
It was like a scam call: "Brother Wang, I'm Zhang Wei, your elementary school classmate. What have you been busy with lately?"
Anyway, there's always someone who has a classmate named Zhang Wei, and maybe the other person would fall for it? Even if they didn't, there was no loss;
Cutting in line was the same principle.
Xue Rui scanned the cafeteria. He followed the gaze of many boys to the far end and spotted a tall and beautiful figure.
It was the back of a girl with a high ponytail, about half a head taller than the girls around her, walking confidently, calmly, and elegantly.
Suddenly, she turned her face as if looking for something, her gaze paused in Xue Rui's direction, she met Xue Rui's eyes, and then quickly turned her head away.
Although it was just a glance, Xue Rui still saw clearly.
It was an oval face, with clear and soft contours, perfect proportions, thick eyelashes like natural eyeliner, peach blossom eyes that seemed to constantly hold a faint smile, a straight nose bridge, and fair skin sparkling with the unique glow of youth.
The girl chatted and laughed with her companion, her red lips slightly parted, her teeth like shells, and faint dimples appearing.
Xue Rui felt it was a face that, no matter when or from what angle you captured it, you could never take an ugly photo of.
It must be said that people who are beautiful have a different aura about them. Even though they wore the same school uniform, it looked so vibrant and youthful on her, as if she constantly had an idol drama filter on;
While the greasy-haired guy in front of him, who was looking down and memorizing words, had oil stains on his white school uniform and messy hair, looking like a goddamn homeless person.
"She looked at me!" A refined male student with rimless glasses exclaimed in surprise and waved at the girl.
"One of life's great delusions." Xue Rui shook his head and strode towards the beautiful girl.
If he was going to cut in line, why choose an ugly one? Xue Rui, with his rich social experience, knew very well that ugly women were the most troublesome;
Beautiful girls, on the other hand, received more preferential treatment and had a better mindset, so they wouldn't fly into a rage just because someone cut in line.
"Keep your voice down, didn't you see Xue Rui was just over there? Be careful he doesn't come looking for trouble." His companion whispered a reminder.
"I heard he had a fight with Gu Muxue, and I heard from classmates in their class that Xue Rui said he's not pursuing Gu Muxue anymore and hasn't gone to Class One all morning." The refined male student felt his opportunity was coming.
His companion grimaced awkwardly, thinking that Xue Rui wasn't bad-looking, yet he pursued her frantically for four years and still didn't succeed. Even if Xue Rui gave up, what made him think he could?
Soon, the refined young man saw Xue Rui's direction and his brows suddenly furrowed. "Didn't he say he wasn't pursuing her anymore? Why is he going to find Gu Muxue again?"
Xue Rui walked closer and found that the beautiful woman was only a few steps away from getting her food.
He quickly sped up and approached. Before he could even speak, the beautiful girl, whose beauty made one's heart tremble, gently moved back a step, making room for one person for him.
"This classmate is truly beautiful and kind-hearted. The school belle should be someone like you. Gu Muxue doesn't deserve it."
Xue Rui thought he had flattered her perfectly, but he suddenly felt that the people around him were looking at him strangely, and even the compassionate beautiful girl in front of him had a hint of anger in the corner of her eyes.
He looked closely and saw the name "Gu Muxue" clearly written on the meal card hanging on the girl's chest.
"Damn it, I put my foot in my mouth. I knew this woman looked familiar up close." Xue Rui felt a bad premonition and coughed awkwardly a few times.
Before he could explain, the serving auntie started tapping her plate, urging, "What do you want, classmate? There's a line behind you."
"I want this, this, and this." Xue Rui pointed to a few dishes at random.
The serving auntie said impatiently, "Card!"
Xue Rui felt his pocket. He hadn't brought his meal card. He pulled out a fifty-yuan bill, but saw the cafeteria auntie frown.
He had intended not to eat, but a slender arm suddenly snaked from behind him, gently brushing past his ear.
"Beep!" The sound of a successful card swipe rang out. Xue Rui, stunned, took his food and turned his head, saying,
"The school belle is truly the school belle; her generosity is extraordinary."
"Muxue, Xue Rui just called you a glutton!" The short girl behind her suddenly said.
Xue Rui glared at the short girl. How could she twist his words like that? But he didn't say more and strode away.
His main goal now was to find Lin Ruoxi.
The aura emanating from Lin Ruoxi was another extreme, quiet and secretive; but to Xue Rui, who had experienced the "Crimson Moon," it was a desperate sense of utter desolation.
Where would such a person sit? Xue Rui thought carefully and went to the farthest corner of the cafeteria to look.
After scanning a few corners, Xue Rui muttered to himself, "Can she crawl into the weak current box to eat? Where is she?"
Suddenly, he noticed the emergency exit door was ajar. It was the stairwell, very hot inside, and basically no one went there.
Xue Rui quietly pushed the door open a crack and indeed found Lin Ruoxi squatting on the steps, eating.
Lin Ruoxi was already incredibly thin, practically skin and bones. Looking through the crack in the door, she appeared even more fragile, like a scrawny stray cat secretly eating in a corner, afraid of being discovered by a strong enemy.
"What is she eating...?"
Even when Xue Rui learned he had been reborn into his second year of high school, he wasn't overly shocked;
But seeing the food in Lin Ruoxi's hand, his pupils trembled violently.
Her slender fingers, with clearly visible knuckles, held a yellowish, large steamed bun like chopsticks, carefully dipping it into seaweed soup.
Lin Ruoxi hadn't bought a single dish. To be precise, she hadn't even bought a staple food. She had only gotten a free bowl of seaweed soup, because that yellowish, large steamed bun clearly wasn't from the cafeteria;
After the seaweed soup had softened and dissolved a layer of the bun's surface, she slowly brought it to her mouth to nibble on the softened part.
Xue Rui kicked the door open, startling Lin Ruoxi so much that she spilled the seaweed soup all over the floor, which slowly flowed down the steps to Xue Rui's feet.
"What the hell are you eating? You don't have a meal card either?"
Xue Rui had lost his appetite just watching. He put his tray on the ground, snatched the bun from Lin Ruoxi's hand, and repeatedly slammed it against the stainless steel handrail nearby with a series of loud thuds.
Even after the stainless steel handrail was dented, the bun remained undeformed, only gaining a few white marks on its surface.
The summer in Hedong was so dry it made people nosebleed. A bun left out for half a day could become hard enough to be used as a hammer and last for several months without spoiling;
But if sealed, it would quickly mold and go bad. This bun must have been left out for a long time, dried to an unrecognizable state.
"It's harder than a brick." Xue Rui frowned.