Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation

Chapter 1837 - 1009: Change of Ownership (Part 2)

Passing through the small grove, the view suddenly opened up. In front of them was a large stretch of grass, dotted with families out camping. The adults and kids were sitting comfortably on mats, enjoying the spring scenery.

Xue Yuantong saw that near the river dam there was a peach grove. She snorted, "I’m a master peach thief," then swung her slender little legs and ran over.

Jiang Ning followed her unhurriedly, gradually catching up with her pace, then walking side by side with her.

Under a peach tree not far away, a few girls all dolled up were posing for photos.

Xue Yuantong stopped where she was, looking at their princess dresses and Hanfu, and suddenly felt that her own little white dress was a bit low-end.

There was even someone she knew: Du Chuan, the Qingbei Mercenary from Yu Zhou Fourth Middle School, holding a high-end camera and pacing around like a hunter.

Jiang Ning strolled over. When Du Chuan saw him, he just casually, politely said, "What a coincidence."

Only then did he let his gaze fall on Xue Yuantong—that nightmare-like, unbeatable opponent!

Looking at Xue Yuantong, Du Chuan thought of all those past years: the principal’s sighs, Hu Hou’s "hate iron for not becoming steel," Class 1’s disappointment... Yet after the last exam, when he became second in the entire city, everything changed. Du Chuan was once again labeled by the principal as "worth every penny," Hu Hou said his "future is bright," and his classmates called him "Master Bro."

Everyone thought he was back!

But only Du Chuan himself knew how enormous the pressure he was carrying really was.

Looking back, at first he’d only been an ordinary student at a district-level elementary school.

Later he started to stand out. In his class of 56, he was ranked first. After entering middle school, in a grade of 24 classes, he was first in the grade.

After the high school entrance exam, with a rank in the top fifteen of the city, he was recruited to Fourth Middle School by Principal Yu. He was a Qingbei seed.

But when he finally beat countless top students from Yuzhou Second Middle School and Tu County No.1 High School, becoming that seed candidate firmly seated for Qingbei and competing for the top scorer, what he saw was not light, but a 48-point gap as unbridgeable as a chasm.

Du Chuan’s expression was complicated.

Jiang Ning walked under a peach tree and reached out to pluck a peach blossom.

"Hi, could you please move aside a bit?"

The few girls dressed to the nines looked over, faces full of smiles. Jiang Ning had stepped into their shot.

On normal days Jiang Ning kept his looks under wraps; the impression he gave was just slightly tall and, at best, mildly handsome.

Hearing them, and seeing they were at least polite, Jiang Ning nodded and casually went back to Xue Yuantong’s side.

Xue Yuantong huffed under her breath, "So what if you’re wearing princess dresses? It’s a public place, it’s not their house!"

She was standing up for Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning didn’t mind. "They’re just trying to take pictures."

"Hmph, and taking pictures is such a big deal? Jiang Ning, next time you wear a skirt and take photos too!" Xue Yuantong deliberately egged him on.

Jiang Ning: "Shut up."

Just then, a Hanfu girl with pearl earrings hesitated for two seconds, then righteously lectured, "Hi, you can’t just pick peach blossoms randomly. Picking the flowers can lead to reduced fruit yield."

Xue Yuantong felt she was meddling way too much. These outsiders were getting cocky! Little did they know, this entire stretch of river dam was hers—she could pick whatever blossom she wanted!

After Jiang Ning was called out, he simply pinched the peach blossom in his hand and said lightly:

"This blossom’s been open for over a week. Pollination is already done. If I pick it, I’m actually helping the tree save nutrients for the good fruit."

The Hanfu girl hadn’t expected the other party to even know that. Her face turned a bit awkward—she hadn’t thought she’d kicked an iron plate.

"Then you just... pick as you see fit. I won’t bother you." she said awkwardly, forcing out a customer-service smile.

Jiang Ning didn’t care. He casually tucked the peach blossom between Tongtong’s hair, then led her away from there.

Tongtong pouted and huffed, "Jiang Ning, you even know that kind of thing?"

Jiang Ning thought of that frail boy from his previous life, scanning peach blossoms with his phone, and a faint smile flashed in his eyes. "More or less."

On closer thought, it was actually pretty interesting. Sometimes when you’re down, you end up gaining something else instead.

After Jiang Ning left, the pearl-earring Hanfu girl adjusted her state, then posed under the peach tree.

But after her friends took a few shots, she was not very satisfied.

At that moment, Du Chuan, wearing glasses, hugging an expensive camera, with a bit of a wooden air about him, walked over to the girls. "Hi, I’m a rookie photographer. Want me to take some photos for you?"

The pearl Hanfu girl was intimidated by his gear and quickly said, "Thank you."

Du Chuan’s smile was sincere. "No need to thank me."

...

On the dam, An Yue sat in the van. The beautiful scenery outside the window did nothing to improve his mood.

Leaning on his official environmental-protection connections, he went around cracking down on battery dealers who violated regulations. Normally, anyone with sense would immediately hand over some batteries and be spared punishment.

If they didn’t have sense, he’d slap them a few times to help them wise up. It worked every time.

Yet yesterday, he’d actually been pinned down and humiliated by a dog! Damn it!

So after An Yue went back, he called up a few people he knew to have them go catch the dog. The call ended up getting transferred all the way to Captain Zhou.

Captain Zhou had once helped Director Han try to catch a dog, but in the end there was nothing he could do—the dog ran into the Evergreen Liquid ecological park.

Every time Captain Zhou thought about it, his teeth ached.

Faced with Captain Zhou’s refusal, a small fry like An Yue had no way.

Forget him—even his little uncle up the chain couldn’t get someone from the city-level detachment like Captain Zhou to lift a finger.

Unable to swallow his anger, An Yue found a lackey and had him drive his Mercedes, taking cash to go buy the dog.

Bungalow.

Mr. Qian was at the doorway slurping noodles. Xiao Ben was sprawled beside the dog bowl sunbathing, glancing sidelong at Mr. Qian from time to time.

Even with Mr. Qian’s temperament, he was furious; he’d actually seen contempt in a dog’s eyes.

Then again, it made sense. He was the stingiest one in the whole bungalow area; even someone as capable as Xiao Ben couldn’t get any food out of him.

A man in a suit walked past the bungalow and saw the Black Back Wolf Dog.

The man in the suit glanced at the Rolex on his wrist, then nodded repeatedly in admiration. "Nice dog, very nice!"

The man in the suit asked, "Whose dog is this? Anyone here?"

No one answered.

The man in the suit pulled out a cigarette and handed it to Mr. Qian. "Uncle, do you know whose dog this is?"

Having received a little benefit, Mr. Qian’s brain turned and he replied, "It’s my dog. What’s up, young man?"

The man in the suit was stunned. He remembered Brother Yue saying the dog belonged to some young guy.

So how did it become some old man’s now?

He couldn’t quite be sure. "It’s really yours?"

Mr. Qian pretended to get angry and scolded, "Would I lie? My dog’s usually wild as hell!"

After getting confirmation again, the man in the suit finally relaxed and said politely, "Uncle, is the dog for sale?"

Mr. Qian: "Sure, how much are you offering?"

The man in the suit was very generous. "Twenty thousand!"

Mr. Qian’s eyes went wide. Damn, a lousy dog worth twenty thousand!

Mr. Qian: "No way, no way. I can’t stand this dog either. Just give me two hundred yuan and we’ll call it even!"

The man in the suit thought, That cheap?

Looks like this dog really isn’t liked. He readily pulled out two hundred yuan and handed it to Mr. Qian.

Mr. Qian took the money and waved his hand. "Alright, it’s yours from now on. Young man, go ahead and carry it away!"