Chapter 4: High Toxin Resistance
Xue Rui’s mood was very complex; the leftover food bins in the cafeteria were piled high, and who would have thought that in the same place, someone else was gnawing on a bun as hard as a stone.
He casually threw the bun on the ground, and it rolled far away with a “rumble.”
Lin Ruoxi hugged her knees, her body tensed, sitting still, not daring to move, her eyes fixed on the dust-covered bun in the distance.
Xue Rui noticed this detail, kicked the dry bun away, out of sight, out of mind.
Lin Ruoxi’s lips parted slightly, wanting to say something, but seeing Xue Rui was in a bad mood, she buried her head again.
“Are you mute?” Xue Rui was annoyed by communicating with such a reclusive child; he didn’t have that much patience.
He brought the freshly served meal in front of Lin Ruoxi and said grumpily, “Eat it.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of guilt. Wasn't the reason Lin Ruoxi was hiding here to eat precisely because she was afraid of being discovered by others?
The girl in front of him also had self-respect; she was probably afraid of being laughed at or pitied.
And his current actions were undoubtedly a condescending act of charity.
Xue Rui thought for a moment, then put on a roguish, dissolute face and said in a ruffianly tone, “The cafeteria food is like pig slop, and they don’t even allow waste. What kind of bullshit rule is that?”
“There are duty students by the leftover food bins taking names. If you leave too much, the class points will be deducted, and I don’t want to be lectured by the Class Teacher, so you’d better eat it quickly, otherwise…”
To encourage students to save food, the school arranged several students each day to supervise by the leftover food bins with notebooks.
If a student left too much, the class’s quantitative points would be deducted, and ultimately, the person who wasted food would be lectured individually by the Class Teacher. This was the excuse Xue Rui found for himself.
But, could the school’s method of having students supervise students really be effective?
With Xue Rui’s “prestige” among students, even if he poured a whole plate of food into the trash can, no one would record his name.
However, Lin Ruoxi naturally didn’t know about such things, because she never left any food.
At this point, how could Lin Ruoxi not know she was being coerced? Her hand trembled slightly as she took the tray.
“What? Do you want me to feed you?” Xue Rui said grumpily.
“I… I’ll eat, you… you don’t get angry.” A soft, sweet voice came, very pleasant to hear.
Lin Ruoxi picked up her chopsticks and nibbled at the braised pork in small bites, occasionally stealing a glance at Xue Rui. When she saw Xue Rui supervising her, she quickly stuffed a few more mouthfuls into her mouth, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster.
In the end, she really couldn’t eat anymore and still left one whole bun.
“Yours.” Lin Ruoxi mustered her courage and offered a clean bun.
Whole buns could be taken out of the cafeteria and saved for the next meal, but this was bought by Xue Rui, so she had to return it to him.
“Who wants that? If you can’t eat it, just throw it away.” Xue Rui didn’t take it and slammed the door as he left.
Looking at the bright and clean cafeteria, he finally got rid of that oppressive feeling and muttered to himself, “Damn it, this is 2012, not 1912.”
Xue Rui found it hard to imagine that in this era of abundant resources, there would actually be students so thin and sallow from hunger.
After cursing a few times, Xue Rui suddenly forgot what he came to the cafeteria for. Wasn’t it to ask Lin Ruoxi why she had suicidal thoughts?
His face darkened; with Lin Ruoxi’s conditions, did he even need to ask? If it were him, he would also feel that this world was meaningless.
If it were “President Xue” twelve years later, the money that slipped through his fingers would be enough to sponsor Lin Ruoxi until she graduated from university.
But now, Xue Rui’s identity was just a high school student, and his only asset was the fifty yuan Gu Muxue gave him that morning. He really didn’t have the means.
…
Because he gave his lunch to Lin Ruoxi, Xue Rui decided to buy something to eat at the snack shop.
Seeing students walking by with popsicles in their hands, Xue Rui quickly followed the direction these students came from and found the snack shop.
However, the things sold inside really upset his stomach.
All kinds of spicy strips, squid shreds, Tang Seng meat… most were fifty cents a pack. Xue Rui had no appetite, but other students ate them with relish.
There were also various kinds of instant noodles, bread…
All junk food.
“One-yuan bread?” Xue Rui picked up a poorly packaged bread and couldn’t help but frown, tossing it back casually.
Eventually, he bought a six-yuan bread and a bottle of cola. These were among the few “expensive” items in the snack shop.
He took a bite of the cream bread, and it was so sweet it made his throat ache, with an indescribable cheapness.
“These students have really high toxin resistance.” Xue Rui sighed, looked at the production date: August 28, 2012.
He wasn't sure if it had expired, so he asked a student nearby, “Classmate, what’s the date today?”
The student was clearly stunned for a moment, then raised his wrist to look at his watch: “August 27.”
Xue Rui: “…”
The good news was that the bread hadn’t expired. The bad news was that today was the 27th, but the bread was produced on the 28th.
Xue Rui crumpled the bread into a ball and threw it into the trash can, then gargled fiercely with cola, spitting it into the green belt nearby. He had actually bought bread “produced tomorrow.”
Xue Rui usually scrolled through short videos and often saw “nostalgic snacks,” with many people in the comments complaining about “missing the flavor” and disliking that it wasn’t the taste of their youth.
Now Xue Rui had really bought the “authentic version,” but he couldn’t be happy about it.
Having frequently visited various high-end restaurants, Xue Rui’s palate had long become incredibly picky, and the high school food was difficult for him to swallow.
…
Xue Rui, with an empty stomach, slept for another afternoon, waking up several times from nightmares. Each time, it was Lin Ruoxi lying tragically in a pool of blood, staring at him intently.
Originally, he only dreamed of Lin Ruoxi once every three to five days, but after returning to high school and frequently interacting with her, perhaps due to the saying “what you think about by day, you dream about by night,” Lin Ruoxi’s appearance in his dreams had significantly increased.
Lin Ruoxi was a tragic girl, and Xue Rui knew he shouldn't blame her.
But he had been tormented by Lin Ruoxi’s jump for so many years, and his sudden death was very likely due to poor sleep quality. If Xue Rui had no complaints at all, that would be impossible.
“I’m going crazy!” Xue Rui looked at Lin Ruoxi’s thin back, and an unprovoked fire rose in his heart, probably due to waking up on the wrong side of the bed.
It was already afternoon, time for activities.
No. 2 Middle School did not implement militarized management like other schools, so from four in the afternoon until the evening self-study at seven, this period was free activity time.
“Slap!” Suddenly, Xue Rui’s shoulder was heavily patted by a small hand, startling him.
“Damn…” Xue Rui subconsciously got up to retaliate, turned his head, and saw it was the little girl who had choked him up in the cafeteria at noon, with thick braided pigtails and a few freckles on her face.
This was Gu Muxue’s little follower, a whole head shorter than Xue Rui.
Xue Rui looked down for a long time but couldn’t remember her name, even though he remembered they used to be very close. But now he only remembered the nickname “Dwarf Winter Melon.”
“This young lady seems unfamiliar. May I ask your name? And what pleasant matter do you inquire about?” Xue Rui picked up a fan made of folded homework books and said leisurely.
A hint of doubt flashed in the girl’s eyes, but she reacted quickly, bowing slightly:
“Greetings, Young Master Xue. My name is Mei Lili. Why does Young Master not seek Gu Muxue today?”
Xue Rui’s brows unconsciously furrowed when he heard the three words “Gu Muxue.” He closed his fan:
“No, I’ve been chasing her for so many years and haven’t caught her. I can’t increase the sunk cost anymore. I need to cut my losses in time.”
Mei Lili was clearly stunned. She never expected such words to come out of Xue Rui’s mouth. She threatened, “Aren’t you afraid she’ll be won over by another boy?”
“If I can’t catch her, who can?”
Xue Rui sneered. Gu Muxue was a hell-level dungeon. Want to clear it? Not that easy.
Mei Lili looked around and gestured for Xue Rui to lean his ear closer.
Xue Rui leaned in curiously, only to hear: “Muxue went to the restroom three times this afternoon.”
“You remember such trivial things? You have the potential to be a spy.” Xue Rui had a strange expression.
“Why are you so stupid? Guess why she went to the restroom?”
“Three visits to the outhouse? Frequent urination, urgency, incomplete emptying.” Xue Rui said, counting on his fingers.