"No... this is yours," Lin Ruoxi refused again and again.

From beginning to end, Xue Rui had stood in front of her, shielding her from all overt and covert attacks.

She knew this money came from Xue Rui reselling her land.

In her hands, the land was only worth a little over two thousand a year, but in Xue Rui’s hands, it was worth ten thousand.

She pushed the money back. Originally, she had only planned to take fifty thousand from Xue Rui, because the land was only worth fifty thousand.

But Xue Rui had actually managed to sell the land for such a high price, and before she could even say anything, he was trying to stuff another fifty thousand into her hands.

"Take it. Otherwise, where will the money for Grandma’s medicine come from?" Xue Rui’s tone was firm.

With this hundred thousand or so, plus her school scholarship, Lin Ruoxi could be considered a little heiress. She wouldn’t have to live such a hard life anymore.

"Th-thank you. I’ll pay you back in the future," Lin Ruoxi said, her eyes red-rimmed.

She wished so much that Xue Rui was truly her "brother," but she knew it was impossible. He was just putting on an act.

"If you can’t pay it back, you can use yourself to settle the debt."

Xue Rui had a mischievous smile on his face as he pinched Lin Ruoxi’s cheek. It was so smooth and soft.

Lin Ruoxi blushed, a little flustered.

By lunchtime, Lin Ruoxi had made lunch for everyone; Xue Rui specifically requested chicken.

Since they were leaving anyway, there was no way to raise the village livestock in the city.

"Where do you plan on having them live? Rent an apartment?" Ren Jun asked.

"That’s not a bad idea." Xue Rui sipped some chicken soup and smacked his lips.

Lin Ruoxi asked quietly, "Won’t that be... very expensive?"

"It’s just for the two of them. It’ll be a little over ten thousand a year at most. We can go look for a place this afternoon," Ren Jun said with a smile.

Housing in Hedong wasn’t expensive, especially the rental prices. A place over a hundred square meters was only a little more than ten thousand a year.

"As long as it’s close to the school is fine." Xue Rui wasn’t too concerned; renting a place wasn’t a big deal.

"I remember your family’s old house is near No. 2 High School, right? I even stayed there for a while when I was in high school. Did your dad sell it?" Ren Jun asked.

"If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would’ve completely forgotten. It’s still fucking empty." Xue Rui’s eye twitched.

He had to be reminded about his own family’s property by Ren Jun...

His family’s old house had been vacant since he was in elementary school. The furniture and items inside had never been moved. His mom had said they should keep it as it was, as a memento, so they could look back on it from time to time.

And yet, in the twenty years since, he couldn’t recall going back even once.

It wasn’t just him; everyone in his family had forgotten it even existed.

’That’s just how people are. They always think there’s some point in keeping old things, but in reality, they just keep them for so long they end up forgetting about them.’

"I... I’m fine in the village," Lin Ruoxi said in a small voice.

Even though she had money now, her grandmother’s medicine cost money, and if she wanted to continue her studies in the future, that would cost money too.

This sum wasn’t nearly enough.

In the village, she still had an income. If she went to the city, that source would be gone, and they would just be eating through their savings until nothing was left.

Ren Jun was taken aback. "What’s going on?"

Xue Rui quietly explained the situation.

"You’ve really done it this time! You’re making someone move without even getting their permission?"

Ren Jun was stunned. It turned out this had been Xue Rui’s wishful thinking from the very beginning.

"Do you think this dilapidated house is still livable?" Xue Rui said, perfectly justified.

"Well..." Ren Jun turned to look.

The cracked walls of the mud-brick house, the roof that was about to give way—he was instantly at a loss for words.

Xue Rui scooted his small stool closer to Lin Ruoxi and said in a low voice, "It’s not up to you whether you go or not. Why don’t you ask the old lady?"

Lin Ruoxi was startled. From start to finish, her grandmother hadn’t said a single word. She didn’t know if her grandma was happy or unhappy.

"Grandma, how about we move to the city?" Lin Ruoxi asked in a gentle tone, as if coaxing a child.

"Okay." The old lady was concise, saying only one word, but her eyes scanned Xue Rui several times.

Xue Rui raised an eyebrow and gave the old lady a thumbs-up. He had already laid the groundwork with her beforehand.

If she didn’t want to be a burden on Lin Ruoxi, her only choice was to go along with him.

’Although... it’s very likely Lin Ruoxi will be mine in the future anyway.’

But the old lady didn’t really have a choice.

It wasn’t that the elderly were shortsighted; it was that they couldn’t see the future.

Making Lin Ruoxi’s life better right now was the old lady’s only wish.

Lin Ruoxi’s beautiful eyes widened, filled with astonishment.

Just last night, her grandma had told her to stay away from Xue Rui, but today she was speaking up for him.

But since her grandma was willing, she had no reason to refuse.

After the meal, Lin Ruoxi tidied up the house, seeing what they should take with them.

"You’re not taking the award certificates?" Xue Rui asked. ’Those are all honors!’

In his eyes, the only things of value in this house, besides Lin Ruoxi herself, were those award certificates.

"No, I’m not taking them. There are a lot that I haven’t even put up," Lin Ruoxi said, shaking her head.

Xue Rui sighed. ’For Lin Ruoxi, maybe the award certificates are the most worthless things of all, because they couldn’t be exchanged for her parents’ praise.’

While Lin Ruoxi was packing, he grabbed a stack of cash and a pile of empty red envelopes.

Following the contents of Lin Ruoxi’s diary, he prepared red envelopes for the fellow villagers who had helped her in the past.

It’s easy to add to abundance, but hard to provide aid in times of need.

Although the total amount was only a few thousand yuan, debts of kindness had to be repaid.

In the red envelopes Xue Rui prepared, each one contained a bit more than what was owed, never less.

Moreover, he also broke open a few cartons of cigarettes, adding one pack to each red envelope.

In fact, the money being repaid was worth less than the cigarettes.

But the etiquette had to be perfect.

It was just that Lin Ruoxi had to deliver them herself.

"Go. Pay back this money. I’ve written a name on each envelope. One pack of cigarettes for each person."

Xue Rui gave Lin Ruoxi another task.

How would a naive girl like Lin Ruoxi understand these social customs?

She slung a backpack over her shoulder and went from door to door to repay the money.

She had actually planned to pay it back anyway, but Xue Rui had already thought of everything in advance.

A smile played on her lips as she delivered the red envelopes and cigarettes to each family.

"Xixi, you’re moving to the city? Who knows when we’ll see you again! Come in and sit for a while?"

"Aunt Wang, I still have things to do," Lin Ruoxi refused apologetically.

"Be sure to come back and visit often!"

...

Normally, she wouldn’t be able to resist their warmth and would probably end up chatting for a long time.

But today, Xue Rui had given her a strict order to be back within an hour, so she could only force herself to refuse everyone.

If she came to a house where no one was home, she would just slip the envelope under the door.

Because of this, repaying the money didn’t take an hour at all; it only took half an hour.

"Hm, you didn’t dawdle," Xue Rui yawned.

The reason he had given Lin Ruoxi such an order was simple.

Because Lin Ruoxi didn’t know how to say no. She had a classic people-pleaser personality.

Faced with such kindness, she wouldn’t refuse and would just go with the flow. If she delivered the envelopes like that, it would take her three days to finish.

But by giving her a strict order, he forced Lin Ruoxi’s subconscious to make a choice between two things: "refusing others" or "making Xue Rui angry."

Choosing the lesser of two evils, Lin Ruoxi would choose to refuse others.

Lin Ruoxi herself didn’t even realize that she was different today. She just didn’t want to make Xue Rui angry.

"See if there’s anything else you need to bring," Xue Rui asked.

"Nothing else." Lin Ruoxi shook her head.

"If there’s nothing else, then let’s go." Xue Rui picked up Da Huang and started to leave.

Da Huang bared his teeth, pretending to bite Xue Rui, but Xue Rui simply grabbed his snout.

"Da Huang can come too?" Lin Ruoxi was a little surprised. She had originally planned to give Da Huang to one of the villagers to raise, as she’d heard keeping a dog in the city was a lot of trouble.

"You were going to leave Da Huang behind?"

Xue Rui looked at her strangely. ’How could you abandon such an obedient dog?’

"Lin Ruoxi, where did Da Huang come from? Is there some deeply moving backstory? How else could he be so smart?" Xue Rui ruffled the dog’s head.

Lin Ruoxi was lost in thought for a moment before answering, "Umm... I bought him at the market for five yuan."

"Nope. That story’s too boring. Make up a new one for me."