Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start
Chapter 231 - 229: You’ve Got a Lot of Girlfriends
"You damn punk, and here I thought you were about to say something profound," the old man said, laughing and cursing.
"Hey! Old Sir, you were just calling me ’handsome’ a second ago," Xue Rui said.
"Punk," the old man said, sticking a cigarette in his mouth and patting himself down, searching for a lighter.
"Call me handsome," Xue Rui said, handing him a lighter. ’This old guy is so down-to-earth,’ he thought. ’He doesn’t seem like someone with assets worth over a hundred million.’
"Not gonna," the old man said with a smile as he lit his cigarette.
’Shencheng is full of hidden masters,’ Xue Rui thought. ’Who would have guessed an old man in flip-flops and a tank top would own over a dozen high-end properties?’
"Handsome," Lin Ruoxi said, her voice soft and sweet.
Xue Rui wanted to hear someone call him handsome, so she did.
"Hahaha, COUGH COUGH." The old man choked on his smoke.
Xue Rui also found the girl incredibly cute for calling him "handsome" so earnestly.
Yu Minlan pinched the bridge of her nose. ’Xue Rui can be so childish sometimes,’ she thought.
Seeing Yu Minlan’s reaction, Xue Rui straightened up and said seriously, "Tourism is about experiencing a city’s culture, history, local cuisine, and the customs of its people..."
A flicker of surprise crossed Yu Minlan’s eyes. Xue Rui’s answer was clearly much more profound.
The landlord listened for a while before interrupting, "Shencheng has none of that. It’s just a city for working and making money. Some of those buildings aren’t even as old as I am."
The corner of Xue Rui’s eye twitched. ’He’s... actually fucking right.’
He pondered for a moment. "It has history—a history of economic development. Shencheng is a microcosm of the entire country, and you, sir, are a living fossil who has witnessed it all."
The landlord chuckled. He was very pleased with the young man’s assessment. Shencheng was his hometown, and it was an undeniable fact that its history was a bit thin.
But this kid Xue Rui not only made it sound good, he even praised the old man in the process, which made him feel delighted.
"If you need anything, just contact property management. Call me if you run into trouble. A bunch of kids like you shouldn’t get swindled." With his hands behind his back, the old man sauntered over and got into his Maybach.
"You got it," Xue Rui said with a smile.
As he watched the Maybach slowly drive away, he suddenly felt like something was missing. "Hey, old man, don’t swipe my lighter! I just swiped that from the airport!"
"Boss Xue, should I go buy another one?" Yu Minlan asked.
"Forget it. Let’s go up and take a look." Xue Rui waved his hand dismissively. He didn’t smoke anyway; the lighter was just for other people to use.
The apartment Yu Minlan had rented was on the twelfth floor. It was quite spacious, with three bedrooms, two living rooms, and two bathrooms.
’He’d actually wanted to find a smaller place, making it easier for him and Lin Ruoxi to squeeze in together, but the areas around smaller apartments were too chaotic and messy. In an unfamiliar city, it was better to find a safer, mid-to-high-end residential community.’
As soon as they got upstairs, the girl started rummaging through her luggage, checking if anything inside was damaged.
Xue Rui stood by the window looking down. On their way here, he’d seen many people in slippers and baggy shorts, living a laid-back life.
’Shencheng really doesn’t have many fun places, but Lin Ruoxi likes electronics. I’ll take her to Huaqiang North this afternoon for a look around.’
’Most of the things the girl usually buys online are shipped from Shencheng. She must be curious about the industrial supply chains here.’
’This apartment he rented wasn’t in the city center, but over in Bao’an, where there are many contract factories. He planned to take Lin Ruoxi to a factory, find a professional team to finalize their previous product’s design, and officially enter the mass production stage.’
’Even with a net worth over a hundred million, he was just small fry in a city like Shencheng.’
’But his assets were all liquid cash, and that was a whole different story.’
After Lin Ruoxi finished checking her packed luggage, he, Yu Minlan, and the others decided to head out on foot.
Driving to the city center was definitely slower than taking the subway, and parking was a hassle. It was better to let Lin Ruoxi experience various forms of transportation.
Lin Ruoxi had never been anywhere, so everything she saw was a new experience. Even riding the subway could be considered tourism for her.
The group arrived at the subway station, and the girl proactively went to buy tickets for everyone.
"Ugh, this is so troublesome. Why can’t we just pay with our phones?" Lin Ruoxi said.
She had just bought water nearby by scanning a QR code with her phone, which was much more convenient than constantly using cash back in Hedong.
Xue Rui thought for a moment. "You will be able to in the future, by scanning a code or using your phone’s NFC function."
’This was the trend of the times. The technology wasn’t hard to implement; the difficulty lay in promoting widespread adoption.’
’Once the big tech companies start pushing for mobile internet integration in public services, I could consider making related products like smart wristbands and ride their coattails to get a piece of the action.’
"Mhm, I was thinking the same thing," Lin Ruoxi said.
Yu Minlan listened, completely baffled. ’What are these two discussing? How come I don’t understand a single word?’
The group walked out of the subway station and followed the flow of the crowd for a few steps. They were surrounded by small shops, all related to the digital industry. Many of the signs displayed technical jargon that he couldn’t make sense of at all.
Skyscrapers were all around them. The girl had a dazed look on her face; she had never seen so many tall buildings before.
But these buildings also looked a bit old...
Mainly, there were just too many people, and the noise was deafening. In front of the SEG Building, many people were pulling flatbed carts, walking quickly with their heads down.
This was also Xue Rui’s first time in a place like this. Based on his usual experience, wherever the girl went, countless eyes would follow.
Especially in a southern city, Lin Ruoxi’s height in this era surpassed that of most men...
However, the people here were all in a hurry. They would merely glance up to appreciate her for a second before lowering their heads and getting back to their own business.
"Mining rigs?" Lin Ruoxi said.
"Pretty lady, you even know what those are?" a young delivery guy teased, pulling his cart into the building.
Someone was struggling to carry a suitcase into a small shop on the roadside. He unzipped it and began stuffing cell phones into a safe.
Yu Minlan stared, dumbfounded. It was a suitcase full of iPhones, each wrapped only in a transparent plastic bag...
Xue Rui was also quite surprised. No wonder the man was struggling so much with the suitcase. Turns out it was packed solid; a whole suitcase of phones must weigh over a hundred pounds.
The work pace here was fast, but there were also people squatting in rows by the entrances, leisurely smoking.
All in all, this place had all sorts of people, and they were all very young.
Lin Ruoxi watched the bustling crowd, then reached out and gently took Xue Rui’s hand.
Xue Rui’s expression froze for a moment. He had just been thinking of taking the girl’s hand, but he didn’t expect her to make the first move.
"I’m afraid you’ll get lost," Lin Ruoxi said in a small voice.
Yu Minlan winked at Lin Ruoxi. ’Lin Ruoxi has made a lot of progress lately. She’s even learned to take the initiative.’
Xue Rui saw Lin Ruoxi’s slightly flustered expression. ’Who’s the one who’s really afraid of getting lost here?’ he thought.
’If the girl got lost in a strange city, would she hide in a corner and cry secretly?’
’Just the thought of it made his heart ache.’
The group followed the crowd into a large building. Inside was a dizzying array of extremely specialized electronic products, more chaotic than a northern wet market. It gave one the illusion that phones and computers were sold by the pound.
The people greeting customers were almost all young women. It seemed to be a business custom here to have pretty girls man the counters.
Xue Rui was completely lost, but the girl browsed with great interest, occasionally buying some accessories to take with them.
’Not long ago, he’d taken the girl to a shopping mall, and she didn’t buy a single thing. But she gets all excited in a place like this?’
Yu Minlan was also carrying a bunch of miscellaneous things, all purchased by Lin Ruoxi.
Xue Rui gave a helpless smile and followed slowly behind Lin Ruoxi, protecting her from being bumped by others.
After walking for who knows how long, Xue Rui was exhausted. He casually reached for his phone, only to find his pocket completely empty.
"Holy shit! My phone was stolen," Xue Rui couldn’t help but curse.
’All his attention had been on Lin Ruoxi; he’d completely neglected himself...’
The people around them were only momentarily surprised before going back to their own business, as if this sort of thing happened every day.
Someone offered a piece of advice: "Once it’s gone, it’s gone. You should hurry and report everything on your phone as lost."
Yu Minlan quickly took out her phone, thinking she should contact the bank manager.
"What do we do?" Lin Ruoxi asked, a look of bewilderment on her face. She had never encountered anything like this before.
Xue Rui sighed. ’It’s so crowded, we’d never find the thief even with surveillance cameras.’
’Besides, the electronics industry here is so developed. There are countless ways to fence a stolen phone.’
’Losing the phone wasn’t a big deal, but he wasn’t sure if he could get a replacement SIM card in a different city.’
Xue Rui glanced at the people around him and suddenly noticed that everyone was wearing their backpacks on their chests, with the opening facing forward...
Thank goodness, the girl usually liked to wear her backpack like that. Today, to avoid getting bumped in crowded places, she was also wearing it on her front.
He tapped Lin Ruoxi’s forehead. "You watch your phone. I’ll just go buy a new one..."
Lin Ruoxi hummed in agreement. There were lots of places selling phones here; she decided she would buy one for Xue Rui.
However, the phone she was holding tightly suddenly vibrated. She had received a text message.
[Your friend lost his phone. Come to Stall 12 on the 1st floor to get it.]
Lin Ruoxi broke into a smile. "Someone found it."
She held up her phone screen and waved it in front of Xue Rui and Yu Minlan.
Xue Rui was a bit surprised. ’There are still good people in the world after all,’ he thought.
’But the text looked like it was a group message. Now everyone in his contacts knew he’d lost his phone...’
He pinched the bridge of his nose. ’He had only just arrived in Shencheng, and this kind of thing had already happened. What a headache.’
The group followed the address in the text and found a small shop that recycled and disassembled phones. A young woman was sitting behind the counter, playing on her phone.
She looked up, glanced at Xue Rui, then at Lin Ruoxi.
The woman bounced her leg, sizing Xue Rui up. "Hey handsome, you’ve got quite a few girlfriends."
Lin Ruoxi tilted her head. ’Xue Rui has a lot of girlfriends?’
’She was with him every day, how did she not know?’
Xue Rui was slightly taken aback. He realized the woman was scrolling through his phone’s photo album...
’That’s right. It didn’t just have photos of Lin Ruoxi, but Gu Muxue too. He had photos with both of them.’
’He rarely took casual photos, so a quick glance was enough to get the whole story.’
He suddenly felt creeped out, as if he was being spied on, and reached to take his phone back.
This woman across from him was like some kind of rogue. The way she looked at him was completely brazen, like a hoodlum staring at a pretty girl.
"Three hundred yuan," the woman said, pulling her hand back.
’Three hundred for hush money?’ Xue Rui thought. ’That’s not much. I was planning to give a reward anyway.’
He counted out five hundred yuan from his pocket. "Thanks a lot. But how did you know my passcode?"
"Oh, six zeros. That’s the industry’s default passcode. I just tried it out of professional habit," the woman said, handing the phone back.
The corner of Xue Rui’s eye twitched. He’d set it that way precisely because ’0’ was the easiest number to tap. He never expected to run into an industry norm.
The woman held the three bills up to the light to check if they were real, then handed the remaining two back to Xue Rui. "I paid two hundred to forcefully buy this off a petty thief. I’m taking one hundred for milk tea. You can have the rest back."