Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation

Jiang Ning rode up to the bungalow and discovered a black electric scooter parked at the entrance of Xue Yuantong's house.

He found it a bit strange, as the electric scooter belonging to Xue Yuantong's family was not this color.

Had Aunt Gu changed her electric scooter?

However, this scooter seemed quite old, probably three to five years at least, and wasn't very good-looking.

With a sweep of his Divine Sense into the house, he noticed something different; there were two guests in Xue Yuantong's home.

It surprised Jiang Ning since, in the several months he'd been staying at Xue Yuantong's house, he hadn't seen any guests visit.

Jiang Ning walked into the courtyard to find Xue Yuantong brushing her teeth by the sink.

"Jiang Ning, you're back!"

"Your timing is perfect, what a coincidence, I just got up," mumbled Xue Yuantong with her mouth full of toothpaste foam.

"Focus on brushing your teeth; the foam is leaking out," Jiang Ning reminded her.

He then looked towards the kitchen door at a girl standing there.

The girl looked to be about fifteen, around one meter sixty-five tall, very thin, with a pretty face that possessed a stubbornness between her brows, giving her a rather distinctive aura.

Jiang Ning glanced at her clothes, ordinary cotton-padded jackets, with very generic styles, and no trace of any makeup on her face.

She was holding a small English vocabulary book—clearly, a very diligent student.

"Jiang Ning, Jiang Ning, this is Xue Chuchu from our village," Xue Yuantong introduced her after spitting out a mouthful of water.

"Chuchu, this is the Jiang Ning I told you about, a really nice guy." Xue Yuantong grinned foolishly. "He's like my little brother. He does whatever I tell him to!"

Jiang Ning first glanced down at Xue Yuantong, then smiled at Xue Chuchu.

Xue Chuchu nodded in response, her face somewhat reserved. She tried to muster a smile but it came off as rather stiff, as if she was unaccustomed to smiling.

Jiang Ning ignored her and turned to Xue Yuantong, finding her a bit overconfident:

"What did you call me just now?"

"I forgot to tell you, I brought strawberries, pineapples, oranges, and candied haw on a stick."

Like magic, he produced three skewers of candied haw. The reason for the three skewers was that Xue Yuantong always asked for two, so Jiang Ning had almost grown accustomed to buying three whenever he got such snacks.

The moment Xue Yuantong saw the candied haws, her eyes lit up, but then she arrogantly turned her head away:

"So you brought candied haw, big deal. Did you think I would want to eat it?"

"You're really underestimating your sister Xue Yuantong!"

Xue Chuchu, watching from the side, found Xue Yuantong to be really endearing...

"Here, Sister Xue Yuantong, have a skewer," said Jiang Ning.

"Alright, I'll deign to try one." She said, but her hand moved fast enough to scare, grasping the candied haw as if afraid Jiang Ning would change his mind.

Jiang Ning gave one skewer to Xue Chuchu, then handed the remaining skewer to Xue Yuantong.

He didn't care whether he ate one or not.

Seeing that Jiang Ning no longer had any, Xue Yuantong painfully gave her additional skewer to him.

But after finishing her own, she kept eyeing the one Jiang Ning had taken a bite of, and with a laugh that was between tears and amusement, he handed his skewer over to her.

After finishing the candied haw, Jiang Ning finally went into the kitchen.

Aunt Gu, seeing him, smiled kindly, "I heard you guys earlier. It'll be a while before the food is ready, why don't you and Tongtong and Chuchu go to the hall to play? It's smoky in here."

"Don't you need my help?"

He looked towards the cooking range, where a woman in her thirties or forties was sitting in front of a pile of firewood.

Usually, Xue Yuantong's family cooked with a gas stove, only resorting to the clay pot for tougher dishes like clay pot chicken, braised beef, or big fish to ensure the most authentic flavor.

In this case, someone needed to tend the fire by the cooking range, which was quite warm in winter.

Whenever Jiang Ning managed the fire, Xue Yuantong would squeeze in next to him to warm herself, sometimes throwing in a sweet potato.

Thanks to Jiang Ning's excellent control of fire, not only would the sweet potatoes not get burned, but they would also be wonderfully fragrant, making Xue Yuantong ecstatically happy.

"No need, just go have fun," Aunt Gu said.

Once Jiang Ning left, the woman seated by the cooking range spoke:

"Sister Gu, that's the student renting your house, seems pretty young, doesn't he?"

"Yes, Jiang Ning is such a good boy. He was a huge help when I was in the hospital, rushing about taking care of everything," Aunt Gu said, her expression fond and very satisfied when she mentioned Jiang Ning.

Not long ago, she had run into unexpected misfortune and almost thought her household was doomed. She had broken bones and was hospitalized, not even daring to tell Xue Yuantong's grandparents.

The help she received from Jiang Ning during her hospital stay was something Aunt Gu remembered to this day. She had come to see that Jiang Ning handled himself with remarkable maturity, even with tasks like buying orthopedic braces, where he performed better than most adults.

She was more than pleased.

Looking further ahead, Aunt Gu even considered raising Jiang Ning as a son-in-law; her daughter was always happy around him. She knew her daughter better than anyone; she knew what kind of child Tongtong was and what she liked.

But with both children still young, Aunt Gu refrained from broaching the topic too early.

It would be best to wait until after they graduated from high school, meet Jiang Ning's parents, and set things in motion ahead of time.

As for whether Xue Yuantong was good enough for Jiang Ning, Aunt Gu had her thoughts. Her daughter was remarkably intelligent, had good grades, was skilled in many areas, and even had great culinary talent. She was just a little too fond of food.

Aunt Gu didn't have lofty ambitions and never dreamed of marrying Tongtong into a wealthy and prestigious family. She had seen enough TV dramas to know how troublesome such families could be.

All she wanted was for Tongtong to find a healthy, happy young man.

"The kid is indeed not bad, tall and slender," Hua Fengmei said. "How are his grades?"

"Fourth in his grade at Fourth Middle School, not too shabby," Aunt Gu mentioned, without much concern.

Her own daughter had always been the top student, except for that brief period during the middle school exams. Therefore, she wasn't too concerned about other children's academic performance, as her Tongtong had never been beaten in that regard.

Even if Jiang Ning's grades weren't good, it wouldn't matter much. With Jiang Ning's character and social skills, he would do well in whatever he chose to do in the future.

After hearing Aunt Gu, Hua Fengmei responded, "That's pretty good."

Seeing the expression on Sister Gu's face, she actually felt a bit regretful for not having rented her house earlier.

The two of them had moved to Xue Village around the same time, and since they lived close to each other, they would often visit and became good friends.

It was just that both families had their share of misfortunes. Sister Gu's husband had fallen ill and passed away a few years back, but luckily he had some capabilities and had bought a couple bungalows nearby Yuzhou.

As for Hua Fengmei's family, their situation was more tragic. Her husband drove a tractor to the town to drink, and on his drunken drive back, he crashed into a ditch and died, leaving behind a family in utter poverty.

After the middle school exams ended, Xue Chuchu was admitted to Yuzhou Second Middle School. Hua Fengmei didn't feel comfortable letting her daughter attend school alone, as she was the only child and her hope for continuing on.

She rented out the few acres of land they owned and decided to rent a place in Yuzhou City, find a job, and accompany Chuchu through her three years of high school.

Originally, Sister Gu had suggested renting the small bungalow next door, but Hua Fengmei had been too proud to agree.

She rented a room in an older district of the city instead. Though it was a bit closer, it was in many ways inferior to Sister Gu's bungalow; having lived in the countryside before, she really couldn't get used to urban housing.

Her reason for coming this time was twofold: she wanted to catch up with Sister Gu, and she wanted to see if the house next to hers was still available for rent. If it was, she intended to rent it.

But seeing Sister Gu's demeanor, she knew that her chance had completely vanished.

...

In front of the bungalow, the sunlight was splendid.

Xue Yuantong sat on a small stool, playing a game on her phone horizontally.

"Carrot Defense 2?" Jiang Ning observed the game screen.

"Yep," replied Xue Yuantong, continuing to tap on her screen without looking up.

After a while, she passed the level, first glancing at Jiang Ning, who was engrossed in his own phone.

Then she turned to Xue Chuchu silently studying vocabulary words beside her.

Xue Yuantong felt Chuchu was somewhat out of place. How could anyone study on such a beautiful day?

"Chuchu, do you play games usually?"

Xue Chuchu shook her head. "I don't play games." She didn't even have a phone.

Her mother worked very hard to make money, and a phone cost quite a bit, furthermore adding on the monthly bills.

Upon hearing this, Xue Yuantong moved her small stool next to Chuchu:

"Chuchu, let me tell you, this game is really fun!"

Holding her phone, she played the role of the enthusiastic promoter.

Unfortunately, Xue Chuchu wasn't interested at all.

Xue Yuantong felt a little disappointed. Chuchu was from her village, and they used to play together as children. Sadly, Chuchu had changed as she grew up; she became immersed in her studies and seldom played with her.

Xue Yuantong, feeling more distant from her once close friend, found it hard to understand. How could Xue Chuchu study all the time? Wasn't most of that knowledge something you could grasp with just a casual glance?

"Jiang Ning, shall we play Chess?" Xue Yuantong moved over to him.

Jiang Ning thought for a few seconds and, figuring he could probably beat Xue Yuantong, replied,

"Sure, let's play a couple of rounds."

Xue Yuantong ran to Jiang Ning's room to fetch the chessboard, and they set it up on the table to play chess under the sun.

Xue Chuchu glimpsed over at them, feeling a bit tempted to join.

She knew how to play Chess and wasn't bad at it, but she needed to study. Only through diligent learning could she get into a good university and find a good job in the future, allowing her mother to live comfortably and not have to work as a waitress in a restaurant.

"Checkmate! Hahaha!" Xue Yuantong burst into laughter.

"You think you can checkmate me?" Jiang Ning challenged her.

"Why not?" Xue Yuantong didn't understand. She was clearly about to win; Jiang Ning had to be trying to cheat.

Jiang Ning rubbed his eyes. "Got some sand in my eye. Could you blow it out for me?"

Xue Yuantong studied Jiang Ning's eyes.

No wind, so where could the sand have come from?

She was confused when Jiang Ning said, "Never mind, it might have come out."

"Then let's continue with the game," said Xue Yuantong, lowering her gaze to the board. Upon looking, she noticed something was amiss.

"It seems like I really can't checkmate," she muttered to herself.

Jiang Ning replied calmly, "Yes, you saw it wrong. Your eyes must be tired from playing on the phone in the sun."

"Ah, I lost again," Xue Yuantong sighed.

She had thought she could win a round against Jiang Ning, but now her hopes were dashed.

Xue Chuchu, who was next to them, gave Jiang Ning a deep look. This boy was too despicable.

Just now, he had swiftly switched the chess pieces when Xue Yuantong wasn't looking, then convinced her that he was winning the game.

That was really poor sportsmanship!