The next day, Xue Rui woke up bright and early.

"We agreed yesterday. You’re leading the morning exercises for me."

Xue Rui shook Qiu Mengze, who was still fast asleep.

"I know, I know, just let me sleep a bit longer." Qiu Mengze didn’t even open his eyes as he shoved him away impatiently.

Xue Rui just smiled. This was only a reminder.

The previous night, Xue Rui had conned Qiu Mengze into taking over his duties as the sports representative.

He told him that showing his face during the morning exercises was a great way to attract girls’ attention.

Qiu Mengze thought it was a bit embarrassing.

But Xue Rui had assured him that since everyone was still half-asleep, they wouldn’t even remember who was leading the exercises.

Qiu Mengze figured Xue Rui had a point. He decided to give it a try—after all, he had nothing to lose.

In reality, Xue Rui was the one who didn’t have time for the morning exercises.

There were still just over twenty days until the date of Lin Ruoxi’s suicide from his past life.

Although Xue Rui had inserted himself into Lin Ruoxi’s life, he couldn’t guarantee that some accident wouldn’t befall her in the meantime.

After all, this was his first time experiencing something like rebirth.

Lin Ruoxi had gotten a day student pass so she could go home and take care of her grandmother.

Even though the walk from her home to the school was short—only ten minutes—Xue Rui still felt uneasy. He had to keep a close eye on her, at least until the day of her suicide had passed. Then he could relax.

So, for the time being, he had taken on the role of her "Flower Guardian," escorting Lin Ruoxi to and from school every day.

When he reached the "dog hole" in the school fence, Xue Rui paused.

Previously, he would have just coolly vaulted over the fence.

’But now... For safety’s sake, I’d better just crawl through the dog hole Ren Jun left,’ he thought.

Lin Ruoxi was waiting for Xue Rui at the entrance to her residential complex, and he spotted her from a distance.

He waved to Lin Ruoxi. "Morning."

Lin Ruoxi looked a little nervous as she handed Xue Rui a lunchbox.

"I was making this for my grandma... and I made some for you, too," Lin Ruoxi said softly.

"Thanks." Xue Rui patted Lin Ruoxi’s head.

Lin Ruoxi followed behind Xue Rui with her head down. The large backpack she wore looked a size bigger than her entire frame.

When they reached the morning market by the side of the road, Xue Rui stopped at a stall.

"Sir, ten hand-grabbed pancakes."

"Boss, twenty shumai."

"And remember to double-bag them!"

...

’I already brought breakfast for Xue Rui. Why is he buying so much more?’ Lin Ruoxi stood there, stunned.

’Is he buying it for his classmates again?’

She recalled Xue Rui saying he wanted her to run errands for him. ’This huge backpack... it must be for carrying breakfast.’

With his hands behind his back, Xue Rui strolled leisurely from stall to stall. Lin Ruoxi stood to the side, her eyes following his every move.

"All set, young man!"

"Great, here’s the money." Xue Rui smiled, taking the large order of breakfast and stuffing it into Lin Ruoxi’s backpack.

"Come back next time, student! I’ll give you a discount."

Many of the morning market vendors greeted Lin Ruoxi with beaming smiles.

Lin Ruoxi was bewildered. ’I haven’t said a single word. Why are all these vendors greeting me and offering discounts?’

In reality, the vendors had long since figured out that Lin Ruoxi was the day student who picked up the food, because she had a day student pass hanging around her neck.

As for the discounts? A regular customer with such large orders was hard to come by...

"Let’s go." Xue Rui took Lin Ruoxi’s backpack off her and slung it over his own shoulder with one hand.

Lin Ruoxi was embarrassed, feeling she should be the one to carry it, but Xue Rui had taken it without giving her a chance to protest.

"I... I can carry it," Lin Ruoxi tested weakly.

"Carry what? We’ll talk when we get to the school gate," Xue Rui retorted.

In her current physical condition, Lin Ruoxi wasn’t suited to carrying something so heavy.

He wondered if he should get Lin Ruoxi a bicycle to make it easier for her to transport things in the morning.

When they were near the school, Xue Rui handed the backpack to Lin Ruoxi, then crawled back through the dog hole himself.

Lin Ruoxi felt apprehensive as she walked onto campus with the huge backpack.

As she passed the security office, a guard called out, "Student Lin Ruoxi?"

"Good morning, sir." Lin Ruoxi nodded.

She was extremely nervous. The school had a rule that outside food was not allowed on campus.

She was clearly breaking that rule now and was terrified the guard would stop her and inspect her backpack.

The guard glanced at Lin Ruoxi’s backpack. It was bulging and looked heavy.

"It’s... uh... books," Lin Ruoxi explained, stammering several times.

This was what Xue Rui had instructed her to do: if anyone asked, she should say the backpack was full of books.

But the guard hadn’t even asked yet, and here she was, volunteering an explanation. It was too deliberate.

The guard chuckled. ’Books?’

’If it were really books, you’d be able to tell from the outside.’

’A backpack full of books would be squarish.’

’But Lin Ruoxi’s backpack was a round, lumpy bundle. You didn’t need to guess to know it was filled with prohibited items.’

"Go on in," the guard said with a smile.

Students brought in food all the time; it wasn’t a serious offense. The guards just did occasional checks and offered a few words of criticism, enough to satisfy their superiors.

There was always some unlucky soul who’d get caught to help them meet their quota.

Besides, this girl, Lin Ruoxi, had even brought them food before. It’s hard to punish someone who has fed you, so they let her be.

Lin Ruoxi scurried to the academic building, her little heart still pounding violently—THUMP-THUMP, THUMP-THUMP.

She had never broken a rule before, but this morning, Xue Rui had made her break two in a row.

She’d brought outside food in violation of school regulations, and she’d lied to the security guard...

The silly girl had no idea she hadn’t fooled anyone.

She waited on the staircase for a while. A few teachers passed by, and seeing Lin Ruoxi with her massive backpack, they couldn’t help but give her a second look.

"Lin Ruoxi? What are you doing standing here?" a male teacher asked as he walked past.

Lin Ruoxi was a famously good student, so the teacher was just making casual conversation.

But Lin Ruoxi was terrified.

"It’s books..."

With Xue Rui’s words being the only thing in her mind, she panicked and repeated the line he’d given her.

The moment the words left her mouth, she realized something was wrong. The teacher hadn’t even asked her what was in the bag.

"I’m a day student," Lin Ruoxi added after a moment’s thought.

"Oh." The male teacher didn’t think much of it. He knew Lin Ruoxi wasn’t very talkative to begin with.

RING-RING-RING~

Hearing the bell that signaled the end of the break, Lin Ruoxi finally breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the classroom with the backpack.

Inside the classroom, students were twisting and turning, stretching lazily as if they had just woken up, their eyes gradually regaining their sparkle.

Xue Rui gestured for Lin Ruoxi to stand on the teacher’s platform. The moment he opened the backpack, a wave of heat washed over them, carrying the scents of the morning market.

"No need to go to the cafeteria for breakfast today! I have an announcement!" Xue Rui shouted, grabbing everyone’s attention.

"From now on, our class has a day student, too." He gently pushed Lin Ruoxi in front of him.

Seeing everyone looking at her, Lin Ruoxi quickly lowered her head. She was not used to this kind of attention.

"This breakfast is a treat from Lin Ruoxi for everyone."

Xue Rui pulled out the huge pile of breakfast food.

"Whoa!" one student exclaimed in surprise, triggering a chorus of cheers.

"I want a hand-grabbed pancake..."

"I want this one..."

...

The students swarmed forward in an instant, picking out their favorite items from the pile of breakfast foods.

"Thanks, Sister Xi!" a male student yelled.

A smile played on Xue Rui’s lips. He had expected this scene.

"Y-You’re welcome," Lin Ruoxi replied politely.

She was surprised. Nothing had changed—she still had her hair down—but her classmates’ attitudes had done a complete one-eighty.

They were even calling her "Sister Xi," as if they’d known her for years.

Lin Ruoxi was already tall, and standing on the platform made her even taller. As the male students came and went to grab breakfast, one of them inadvertently caught a glimpse of her face.

"Sister Xi, you’re... so pretty," a boy with messy hair murmured.

His gaze seemed to want to pierce through her waterfall of hair to get another look.

Lin Ruoxi felt so uncomfortable under his stare that she practically tried to shrink her neck into her school uniform.

Xue Rui shot the boy a glare, which made him obediently go back to eating his breakfast, though his eyes still flickered toward Lin Ruoxi from time to time.

’He knew this couldn’t be hidden forever. Lin Ruoxi couldn’t spend her whole life with her head down,’ Xue Rui thought. ’It’s better to let her get used to it. Students at this age are simple and kind, so it’s the perfect time for her to start interacting with her peers. Once they get a little older, there will be people with ill intentions around.’

"Sister Xi, this is my breakfast money for tomorrow. I’d like some beef offal."

A male student handed Lin Ruoxi a 20-yuan bill.