Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 253 - 219 Asking for Punishment

“Oh, I don’t believe it,” Jiang Ning challenged.

“Forget it, let me show you a thing or two.”

“This cake is too disobedient; it won’t let me eat it.”

Xue Yuantong demonstrated: as soon as the cake almost reached her mouth, looking like it was going to be eaten, she moved her hand and the cake immediately ran off; she couldn’t eat it at all.

“Do you see now? It can run away on its own, so I must cast a spell to prevent it from escaping.”

“Only someone like me, who has mastered spells, can eat cake,” she bluffed.

Jiang Ning laughed: “What kind of spell are you trying to cast?”

“The Heavenly Pegasus Meteor Hammer,” Xue Yuantong blurted out.

Jiang Ning, having nothing better to do, continued the conversation:

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“Oh, then what? How will you subdue it?”

Xue Yuantong clenched her tiny fist and declared with conviction, “I’ll knock the little cake out with a hammer to make sure it has nowhere to run.”

“When will your spell be completed?” Jiang Ning inquired further.

“Uh…” Xue Yuantong calculated the time it would take to eat the cake and said, “I will definitely have the spell completed before evening self-study ends.”

Jiang Ning shook his head and sighed, “Too slow; your mana is too weak.”

“Cut it out; are you saying you’re better than me?” Xue Yuantong was displeased, as if Jiang Ning could best her in her own fanciful world!

“Just give the cake to me, I’ll teach you,” Jiang Ning hinted.

Xue Yuantong obediently gave him the cake.

Jiang Ning took the cake and, with a flick of his finger, the wrapper fell off. He brought the cake to his mouth and ate it in two bites, as smoothly as flowing clouds and water.

Witnessing this brutal scene, Xue Yuantong was stunned:

“What?”

Her mouth gaped open, revealing a smile of pain and sadness.

The cake she had treasured for a whole class period was eaten by Jiang Ning!

Chen Siyu was speechlessly choked up, but then she gathered her thoughts and said to Bai Yuxia:

“Do you ever feel that sometimes they both act so dumb?”

She pointed behind her toward the pair sitting at the next desk.

Bai Yuxia picked up her pen and said, “Life is already so tough, some things are better left unexposed.”

…

Geng Lu focused intently on her test paper.

The last evening of self-study was longer, and she finished a whole physics paper and checked it twice carefully.

She had a knack for drawing, but she wasn’t that good with science subjects and could only rely on an abundance of practice to thoroughly understand the question types and achieve high scores.

She had once discussed with her mother, who had told her that if science subjects were too exhausting, she could switch to arts in the future, as her grades in those subjects were slightly better.

Nevertheless, Geng Lu decided to stick with science so that after the division of arts and sciences in her second year of high school, she could still be in the same class and sit behind Jiang Ning.

With this thought, Geng Lu didn’t feel tired anymore.

While she reviewed the test paper, she marked spots that might be errors, planning to ask Jiang Ning about them.

There wouldn’t be enough time tonight; it was almost time for school to end, so she’d ask tomorrow.

She folded up the test paper and tucked it into a notebook. The notebook was blue; she had bought several and given two to Jiang Ning.

The class bell rang.

Geng Lu said goodbye to Jiang Ning and walked to the hallway, where she saw an ambulance parked on the main school path, its blue lights flashing.

Students coming out of the classroom also noticed, and someone from the neighboring Class Nine shouted:

“An ambulance at our school?”

Someone said, “That’s the building for second-year high school classes.”

“Do you think something serious happened? Is there a chance we get a day off tomorrow?” Some students speculated.

“Who cares what happened; why not go take a look?”

At the end of school, students streamed out of the educational building.

Geng Lu still stood at the balcony in the hallway, waiting for her best friend to head back together.

Soon, a girl descended the stairwell. She was quite pretty and slightly taller than Geng Lu, about one hundred sixty-six centimeters.

Though taller, her figure was far from Geng Lu’s, matching the normal standard for high school freshman girls.

The girl carried a red plastic bag.

“Lu Lu, here I am,” the girl approached Geng Lu affectionately.

Geng Lu didn’t dodge; she said, “Qing Tang, remember we planned to go to my house tonight.”

He Qingtang was Geng Lu’s best friend.

They met in their first year of junior high. From the moment they met, they quickly became close friends, and now after more than three years, their bond was incredibly strong.

“I’ll sleep over at your place tonight!” He Qingtang agreed.

He Qingtang’s family lived in a rural area on the outskirts of Yuzhou City, much farther from the school than Geng Lu’s home. Qing Tang usually rented a place to stay here during school days.

“Right, have you seen that ambulance?”

He Qingtang pointed at the ambulance on the main school path; the vehicle was now driving out of the school, seemingly trying to leave the campus before the students did.

“Do you know who’s lying inside?” He Qingtang asked.

“Who is it?”

“Li San from Class 3, Grade 11.”

Geng Lu was stunned, “You mean Li San?”

“Yes, that’s him. You know, I’m quite familiar with the students in Grade 11. It was them who told me. Class 3 was in the middle of a lesson when suddenly a student fainted and couldn’t be awakened, no matter how they tried. The school doctor went over but still couldn’t revive him, so they had to call an ambulance.”

He Qingtang relayed it to her.

“Lu Lu, you’re really lucky, you know? I was actually planning to find someone from Grade 11 to warn Li San, and now he’s been hospitalized.”

He Qingtang was Geng Lu’s best sister. Furious when she heard about the harassment from Li San, she had intended to stand up for her best friend. However, this unexpected incident had occurred.

Now that Li San was directly taken to the hospital, it seemed like a relief for everyone. If this person were to die, He Qingtang wouldn’t even have a shred of sympathy.

‘Li San…’

Geng Lu was puzzled in her heart.

It was too coincidental. How could it be such a coincidence?

She still remembered that before the evening self-study session began, Jiang Ning had said to her that the issue had been resolved. At the time, she thought it was too soon.

She hadn’t seen Jiang Ning make a move.

Who knew, right after the evening self-study, Li San was taken away in an ambulance.

Could it really be a coincidence? Geng Lu couldn’t help but have her doubts.

Immediately, she dismissed these thoughts.

Even if Jiang Ning was behind it, what of it? No matter what he did, Geng Lu would definitely support him.

After all, he was standing up for her.

“Qing Tang, let’s go home. My mom’s car will be at the school gate soon,” she said.

“Mm-hmm, my parents came to the city today to buy fertilizer and brought me some things. I’m carrying them over to your aunt,” He Qingtang said, holding a red plastic bag in her hand.

“It’s got dried flat beans and salted duck eggs inside. Last time, I saw that your family bought salted duck eggs. Well, my family has a surplus of homemade ones, so I brought some especially for you.”

“The salted duck eggs are the kind with a rich, oily yolk,” He Qingtang said with a smile.

Perhaps for two high school girls, talking about this might seem a bit rustic.

After all, popular topics in school nowadays are always about grades, campus gossip, fashion, or dreams and aspirations.

But here she was, talking about salted duck eggs. How old-fashioned!

He Qingtang didn’t mind being old-fashioned, and Geng Lu was equally delighted,

“My parents love to eat those a lot.”

“As long as they’re happy.” She took Geng Lu’s hand, “Let’s hurry so we don’t keep your aunt waiting.”

The two girls made their way to the school gate.

He Qingtang looked at her sister beside her and felt very good about it. Meeting Geng Lu was the luckiest thing that had happened to her over the years.

Not only was Geng Lu great, but her whole family was incredibly kind.

He Qingtang’s family was very poor, with an older sister and a younger brother.

She used to be introverted, silent, and friendless.

Geng Lu was her first friend in middle school, and she was the reason behind her change in character.

She remembered that summer in her second year of middle school, when she went to the city to visit Geng Lu.

Geng Lu mentioned she wanted to buy clothes, so Geng Lu’s mother took them both to the mall, and they bought two skirts.

Back at home, when trying on the skirts, Geng Lu mentioned one was a bit too long and couldn’t be returned, so she should just wear it.

He Qingtang received a skirt rather bemused and took it home.

That was the only skirt she got that year.

Now two years have passed, and the original skirt has become much too small, but He Qingtang has kept it well preserved.

Later, there were similar instances, like when Geng Lu bought shoes that were too big and gave them to her as an excuse.

That’s when she realized that Geng Lu’s family was taking her feelings into consideration when giving her clothes.

Now He Qingtang couldn’t repay Geng Lu and her family. What she could do was to protect Geng Lu from harm, including in matters of the heart.

…

At night.

The breeze at the river dam was cool.

Xue Yuantong told Jiang Ning to stop the car. Once the car was parked, she hopped out from the back seat onto the asphalt road.

She walked ahead of Jiang Ning with little steps.

Jiang Ning, pushing his mountain bike, quickly followed and caught up to walk alongside her.

Xue Yuantong hummed a tune, gazing at the cold moon in the sky. Noticing Jiang Ning catching up, she quickened her pace to shake him off.

Jiang Ning caught up once again.

Xue Yuantong didn’t believe it and tried to walk faster, but Jiang Ning still leisurely passed her by.

She was out of tricks.

“Jiang Ning, do you realize what you did wrong?” Xue Yuantong started an interrogation process late at night.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” said Jiang Ning.

“Fine, you won’t admit your fault, so you can walk me home then!” She intended to coerce Jiang Ning this way.

She had been looking forward to the small cake for so long, and Jiang Ning ate it in two bites right in front of her!

Xue Yuantong couldn’t stand it. He was completely disregarding her.

It was a blatant provocation and an offense committed right in front of her!

Was she, Xue Yuantong, not worthy of respect?

‘This is outrageous! Jiang Ning is getting too bold!’ fumed Xue Yuantong.

“Do you really intend to walk home?” Jiang Ning asked her.

“To torment you? This is nothing.”

Xue Yuantong walked against the night breeze but didn’t feel chilly at all.

“But you’ve forgotten something,” Jiang Ning reminded her.

“What is it?”

Jiang Ning said matter-of-factly, “I can ride a bike.”

He sat down on the bike seat, pedaled with his feet, took hold of the handlebars, and prepared to ride home alone.