"You skip around, too?"

Xue Rui’s eyes went wide. ’Girls skip around, too?’

"Um... I just skip the unimportant parts," Lin Ruoxi said in a small voice.

"Ahem, you should take care of your health."

"I know... but I’m a girl... so I should be fine," Lin Ruoxi said softly.

She had read online that programmers were prone to hair loss.

But she was good at biology and knew the probability of hair loss was lower for girls.

Xue Rui gave an awkward laugh. What Lin Ruoxi said... made so much damn sense.

Girls were fine...

"Uh... Never mind. I won’t bother you anymore."

He swallowed hard. ’Can’t talk about this topic anymore,’ he thought. ’I’m afraid I’ll lose control.’

"Are you hungry? I’ll go make dinner."

Seeing that Xue Rui was about to leave, Lin Ruoxi somehow found herself saying this.

"I’ve already eaten. I brought you something to eat."

"I’m heading out. Don’t see me off."

Xue Rui placed the snacks he’d bought on Lin Ruoxi’s desk.

As he was leaving, he pulled Lin Ruoxi’s bedroom door closed behind him.

’This girl, honestly,’ he thought. ’Talking about such private things without a bit of discretion.’

Walking home, Xue Rui felt that something was off, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

"A good student is a good student. They learn everything fast," Xue Rui concluded.

She had only gotten the computer a short while ago, yet her growth was astonishing.

She could actually keep up with an "old hand" like him...

Lin Ruoxi stood there blankly. She had thought Xue Rui wanted to discuss some professional knowledge with her.

She didn’t expect him to just ask about her health.

She had assumed Xue Rui wasn’t coming today, and since her grandma wasn’t eating dinner, she hadn’t cooked.

After sitting in front of the computer for several hours, she was now a little hungry.

Lin Ruoxi stuck a grilled sausage in her mouth, turned on her computer screen, and continued to type code.

But then she suddenly remembered Xue Rui saying he liked Teacher Cang’s online courses.

Since it was something Xue Rui liked, she wanted to learn about it too.

’I just wonder which programming language Teacher Cang teaches,’ she thought.

Lin Ruoxi opened a search engine. Recalling Xue Rui’s words, she started typing keywords:

[Teacher Cang]

"Huh?" Lin Ruoxi was a little confused. ’Why aren’t any suggested search terms popping up?’

So, she manually typed [video tutorial].

Lin Ruoxi thought for a moment, then added [classic].

She pressed the enter key. Lin Ruoxi froze. The sausage fell from her mouth and was snatched up in one bite by Da Huang.

The innocent Lin Ruoxi never would have imagined that the Teacher Cang Xue Rui spoke of taught "Japanese."

...

That weekend, Xue Rui had nothing to do.

He wanted to borrow Ren Jun’s bank card to trade crypto, but after careful consideration, he figured using the old woman’s card would be more convenient than using Ren Jun’s.

What if Ren Jun made some demands on him?

The old woman was so old she didn’t understand anything.

The old woman’s card was as good as Xue Rui’s own.

As for getting his friends and family to trade crypto? He had no such intention.

First, he was just a kid, so no one would believe what he said.

Second, even if they did believe him, he had no idea what kind of impact it would have on the future, so he didn’t plan on telling anyone.

On Saturday, Xue Rui went to Lin Ruoxi’s house.

He saw the old woman by the door, organizing cardboard boxes and occasionally stomping on them.

"You shouldn’t be doing this kind of work. What if you fall?" Xue Rui didn’t help.

Many old people didn’t understand this concept of risking a major loss for a small gain, terrified someone might take the cardboard boxes she left by the door.

The old woman didn’t answer, merely continuing to stomp on the boxes.

"A pound of cardboard is worth a few dimes. I heard you spent tens of thousands after a fall last year?"

"Anyway, you should think more about your granddaughter."

Xue Rui said irritably.

The old woman’s hands paused. After a long moment, she sighed. "I’m old..."

She just didn’t want to be useless. She wanted to use what little strength she had to lighten her granddaughter’s burden.

But after hearing what Xue Rui said, the old woman realized that not getting into trouble was the greatest contribution she could make.

Seeing the old woman put down the cardboard, Xue Rui smiled. ’See? She can listen to reason.’

The door to Lin Ruoxi’s room was ajar, and Xue Rui was about to push it open.

But then he thought about it. Lin Ruoxi was growing up, after all. So he knocked first.

"Can I come in?" Xue Rui called out.

"Mm... Come in." Lin Ruoxi took off her headphones, her large eyes filled with confusion.

’Xue Rui is here? Why did he knock?’

’He usually doesn’t do that, does he?’

Xue Rui pulled out his "private stash" from under the bed—almost forty thousand yuan.

"I’m taking the old woman to open a bank account. I need to use it. You come along too," Xue Rui explained.

"Mm... okay." Lin Ruoxi reached for her school uniform jacket hanging on the rack.

Xue Rui frowned and slapped her hand away.

"Why are you wearing your school uniform on the weekend?" Xue Rui said, displeased.

Lin Ruoxi flinched and glanced at Xue Rui.

’But Xue Rui is wearing his school uniform, too.’

She didn’t argue, though. Since Xue Rui told her to change, she changed.

Lin Ruoxi changed into a dress. When she came out of her room, she was about to let her hair down.

"Tie it up," Xue Rui snapped.

"Um... I..." Lin Ruoxi hesitated as she got to the door.

Ever since middle school, she had been harassed by all sorts of boys. From then on, she always walked with her head down, a habit that had stuck with her to this day.

Only when she was in the village would she show her face.

The people there had watched her grow up, so she was used to them...

"Come with me." Xue Rui yanked Lin Ruoxi out and kicked the door shut behind them.

He didn’t have time to correct her slowly. The best solution was to face it head-on.

"Grandma, I’m taking you to get a bank card." Xue Rui took the old woman’s arm and helped her downstairs.

As they walked down the street, they periodically drew surprised glances from those around them.

"That girl is so pretty."

"But something feels... off about her..."

Many passersby quietly discussed the unbelievably beautiful girl with their companions.

Under the sunlight, Lin Ruoxi’s skin glowed. Her delicate features, coolly and exquisitely beautiful, seemed out of place on the bustling street.

But this stunning girl had a vacant gaze and walked unnaturally, her feet shuffling along like a machine. She didn’t look like a living person.

’Dammit, why does it look like I’m herding a zombie?’ Xue Rui cursed inwardly.

Lin Ruoxi looked this way entirely because of his demands.

He had told her to walk with her head up and chest out, and especially to keep her back straight.

And... this was the result.

Her head-turning rate was even higher than Gu Muxue’s last night.

Still, he was quite satisfied. Every journey begins with a single step, after all.

He moved to Lin Ruoxi’s left side, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with her.

There were several banks right next to the residential complex. On a red and white sign, the big letters "ICBC" were particularly eye-catching.

"Lin Ruoxi, you’re well-read. Do you know what ICBC stands for?" Xue Rui asked with a smile.

"Industrial and..."

After just a moment’s pause, Lin Ruoxi recited the bank’s full English name.

Xue Rui was surprised. ’What kind of normal person remembers that?’

He pointed at the letters on the sign. "They say it stands for ’I Can’t Be Concerned.’"

"I think their attitude is terrible," Xue Rui added.

Lin Ruoxi paused for a second, and then, after understanding what Xue Rui meant, she suddenly burst out laughing.

Xue Rui stared, a little stunned, because Lin Ruoxi rarely laughed.

"Then... should we go next door?" Lin Ruoxi pointed to the ABC bank next door.

"Yeah... it’s all the same." Xue Rui led the old woman into the ABC bank.

The process of opening the account was tedious. When Xue Rui requested to set up online banking, the teller gave him a surprised look.

"Sign here..."

"Can the old woman write?" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

...

As for Lin Ruoxi, she stood waiting at the entrance the whole time.

Following Xue Rui’s instructions, she stood with her head up and chest out, her gaze fixed forward, completely still.

Two little boys stood by the roadside, curiously sizing up Lin Ruoxi.

They thought the girl standing at the bank’s entrance was too pretty to be a living person.

"You think she’s a mannequin? I don’t think her eyes are even moving," one of the little boys said.

"I dunno. Wanna go check?"

The little boys’ curiosity got the better of them, and they began to creep slowly toward Lin Ruoxi.

Lin Ruoxi grew nervous, her hands slowly clenching into fists.

’What are they doing? Are they coming for me?’

’What do I do?’

"She’s probably real. I think I saw her hand move."

"Don’t scare me. Then why isn’t she talking?"

"Should we... touch her to find out?"

The two boys were nervous as well. They felt this mannequin was too realistic—so realistic it was a little scary.

Xue Rui happened to walk out of the bank just as the two little boys were reaching for Lin Ruoxi’s arm.

He didn’t intervene, because he had no idea what was going on.

Just as they were about to make contact, Lin Ruoxi moved, taking a step back.

"AH! SHE’S ALIVE!"

One of the boys screamed and ran away like crazy, dragging the other with him.

You couldn’t really blame the two boys. Lin Ruoxi’s behavior was truly not that of a normal person...

"..." Xue Rui was speechless.

What the hell was that?

"Just copy me," Xue Rui instructed.

On their way back, Lin Ruoxi continued to attract a lot of attention.

A young man was walking with his head turned, his eyes fixed on Lin Ruoxi.

BANG! The young man walked right into a utility pole and squatted down, clutching his forehead.

Xue Rui glanced over, his cold eyes filled with disgust.

Lin Ruoxi tilted her head and looked at Xue Rui. She felt that kind of look was too impolite.

However, after a brief moment of hesitation, she turned her head and mimicked Xue Rui’s expression, giving the young man a look.

The young man looked up, his gaze meeting Lin Ruoxi’s.

Lin Ruoxi’s brow was slightly furrowed, her cool eyes holding a look of utter indifference.

In a daze, the young man thought he detected a hint of disgust.

A pang of hurt shot through his heart. Being looked at that way by a beautiful woman was too painful.

He avoided Lin Ruoxi’s gaze and hurried away.

"Oh?" Xue Rui’s lips curled into a smile.

Lin Ruoxi was already expressionless, and when you added the cold glare...

...it naturally created an aura that kept people at arm’s length.

"Well done. Keep it up," Xue Rui praised.

"Mm." The corners of Lin Ruoxi’s eyes lifted slightly as she nodded obediently.