Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 145 - 135 My luck is gone!

"Sister Gu, where are you working now?" Hua Fengmei asked.

She had recently been cleaning at a hotel, which involved cleaning guest rooms after the guests checked out and making beds.

She worked alternating day and night shifts, which was exhausting, and it was tough on her back. When women reach middle age without any particular skills, they either stay at home to take care of children or take up jobs like this.

Seeing that Sister Gu looked well, she asked about her job situation.

Xue Chuchu listened carefully; previously, Aunt Gu had visited her house and would chat with her mother about work, but both of their jobs were similar, physically demanding.

Although Xue Chuchu was only in her first year of high school, she understood the hardships of life and paid more attention when it came to money.

Aunt Gu smiled upon being asked about her job, a break from her usual calm demeanor, and spoke with a hint of joy,

"I've been working inside the Yuzhou Building recently."

"Ah, that's a great place, a landmark of our Yuzhou," Hua Fengmei exclaimed somewhat surprised.

She asked, "How is the cleaning salary there, does it reach three thousand yuan a month?"

Aunt Gu: "..."

After more than a decade of friendship, shouldn't she hope for me to have a better job?

But Aunt Gu understood. It was because of their years of closeness that Feng Mei knew her capabilities better than others.

"It's not cleaning; I'm a chef," Aunt Gu said.

"A chef?"

Hua Fengmei agreed with this point. Among women, when faced with Sister Gu's cooking skills, she couldn't help but envy her, surprised that she had found a job as a chef.

"Being a chef must be a lot easier, right?".

"Yes, it is easier. I usually get up around six or seven in the morning and come back by two in the afternoon. I get two days off a week."

Now it was Hua Fengmei's turn to be amazed; that meant eight days off a month, while she only had two days off a month.

"How is the salary, does it include meals?" she asked.

"After deducting the social insurances and housing fund, I take home five thousand yuan, including a meal at noon and gifts on holidays," Aunt Gu replied, then observing the expression on her good friend's face, she actually felt a touch of satisfaction.

In every respect, Aunt Gu was extremely satisfied with the job—good work environment, polite colleagues, tasty food she cooked, and the boss even said he would increase her salary by at least one thousand yuan.

Having found such a good job, Aunt Gu had been happy recently but didn't like to show off by bringing it up herself. Now that her close friend asked, she was not going to hide it.

Hua Fengmei could hardly believe it. Was the treatment really that good?

It sounded almost too good to be true.

For her, someone who had come from the countryside, things like social insurances were mostly secondhand tales; none of the workplaces she had been at had ever mentioned contributing to them.

To prepare for her retirement, she had to buy her own insurance for which she paid quite a lot.

Not to mention a salary of five thousand yuan. In a place like Yuzhou, where the average salary was around two thousand yuan, she was so tired her back ached just to get close to three thousand yuan.

Unless she was like some women who worked at construction sites or in factories doing dirty, exhausting, or physically harmful tasks like welding, she could make over five thousand.

But her daughter was still in Yuzhou.

Unable to help herself, Hua Fengmei asked, "Is your job still hiring? I don't need five thousand, two to three thousand would be fine."

Mainly because of the weekends off and the benefits package, not to mention not having to work night shifts, it would be a huge improvement over her current job.

Aunt Gu said, "I'll ask for you at the company tomorrow."

For Feng Mei, whose family life had been tough, Aunt Gu was more than willing to lend a hand.

Their relationship wasn't one where they wished misfortune on each other; that would be enemies, not sisters!

Aunt Gu had no ill intentions, she genuinely hoped for Feng Mei to have a better life, seeing all the hardships Feng Mei had endured.

Feng Mei was more attractive than her, and she could have remarried back in the day, but she chose not to, opting instead to raise her child on her own.

...

After lunch, when the sunlight was at its warmest,

Xue Yuantong nudged Jiang Ning, who was holding his phone:

"Shall we go fishing?"

"Sure," Jiang Ning put away his phone.

He had just sent a message to Shao Shuangshuang, telling her that Aunt Gu would refer someone to her company tomorrow.

First, to see her culinary skills, and if satisfactory, she could be a chef; if not, then she could handle purchasing and help Aunt Gu.

As a friend of Aunt Gu, Hua Fengmei's character was at least assured, and for daily purchasing and miscellaneous tasks, someone like her was suitable; he wouldn't be too stingy to offer her a chance.

Life is suffering, and occasionally helping someone cross over is no harm.

"Chuchu, will you come fishing? Today Jiang Ning and I are competing at fishing, you'll be in for a treat tonight," Xue Yuantong showed off her cherished fishing rod.

"I'll come to take a look," Xue Chuchu didn't refuse, reasoning that fishing was very quiet anyway, and she could bring her English notebook along to study by the riverside, just a change of scenery for learning.

"Alright, Jiang Ning, get my steed ready!"

Jiang Ning flicked her lightly: "Get your own 'steed;' the river's not far, just walk there with me."

"Jiang Ning, I'm all set; let's head out now!"

"Did you get the bait?" Worms were hard to come by in this weather.

Xue Yuantong said, "I bought some fake bait online."

She showed it to Jiang Ning with a little shiny metal piece on the fishhook.

Jiang Ning praised, "You're really smart."

"Of course!"

The three of them walked to the river dam.

The dam was paved with asphalt, immediately alongside the edge of the Hui River and in front of them lay a plain, about one and a half football fields in size, with quite a few cars parked.

Earlier in the fall, people often camped on the plain, having barbecues and the like. Now in winter, there were fewer people, only on good weather days would people from the urban area come out to play.

Today the weather was nice, so naturally, there were several Fishing Men along the riverbank.

Near the plain, every few paces along the riverbank, there were Fishing Men, some sitting, some standing.

Jiang Ning, holding a fishing rod and carrying a small stool, with the cute-looking Xue Yuantong on his right and the even more exemplary image of youthful beauty, Xue Chuchu, on his further right.

The Fishing Men gave them an extra glance.

"Heh, this young man is not very professional, who brings girls to fish, and two at that? Fishing should be lonely, free, a rare quietude amidst the clamor!"

Fishing Man was not envious at all, but his tone was a bit sour.

Sitting on the fishing throne next to him, the eldest brother sighed leisurely. It seemed that many years ago, he too had a girl by his side. Although she wasn't as pretty as this young girl, she was his youth!

Back then, he was young and did not know how to fish; he was full of energy every day.

The young Fishing Man didn't have many sighs. He picked up a stone, rubbed it, and exclaimed,

"Hey, this stone is quite unique. Big brother, do you know what kind of stone this is?"

The eldest brother's expression brightened, "Now that you mention it, I'm not sleepy anymore. I won't say much about other things, but I know stones the most."

Ignoring their fishing rods, the two huddled together to study the stone.

…

Xue Yuantong found a good spot, and before fishing, said,

"Jiang Ning, let's see who catches more fish today."

"Do you dare?" Xue Yuantong had won several rounds of Chess earlier that day and was feeling a bit cocky.

"Alright then, tonight we eat the fish each of us catches," Jiang Ning suggested.

Xue Yuantong gritted her teeth and agreed, "Yes!"

"Chuchu, watch me catch a big fish for you to eat," Xue Yuantong boasted.

Xue Chuchu was now living in the urban area, and her mom was rarely able to meet with Aunt Gu. Under Aunt Gu's insistent hospitality, they would have dinner at Aunt Gu's house, and after dinner, she would go study at Yu Zhou Second Middle School.

Xue Chuchu nodded, "Mm, I'll wait for you to catch a big fish."

Actually, she thought Xue Yuantong was a bit unreliable. Playing Chess was her misjudgment; she had underestimated Xue Yuantong, who was indeed much better than her at Chess.

Xue Chuchu felt a bit disheartened, as she hadn't expected to encounter such a rival today.

But fishing was different from playing Chess; fishing really tested one's temperament, and it took patience to catch a fish.

Xue Yuantong clearly didn't seem like the steady type. On the other hand, the somewhat reticent Jiang Ning seemed like a very patient person.

Xue Chuchu saw Jiang Ning casually flick his wrist, completing the cast, and she had to admit, it was very cool.

New n𝙤vel chapters are published on novelbuddy.cσ๓.

Visiting Xue Yuantong's house today, Jiang Ning left the deepest impression on her.

After a brief interaction, she realized that this boy was handsome, composed, used an iPhone, wore branded clothes, and most importantly, he treated Xue Yuantong really well, like an elder brother.

Xue Chuchu was very observant, Jiang Ning seemed to always be looking out for Xue Yuantong, whether intentionally or not.

Xue Yuantong made a casting gesture, a flamboyant one that almost sent her into the river. Xue Chuchu, with quick reflexes, pulled her back.

"Tongtong, you," Xue Chuchu was both amused and concerned.

Xue Yuantong felt a scare, her face turning pale, a mishap indeed.

"I'm fine, actually, if you hadn't held me, I wouldn't have fallen, I have super good balance."

Jiang Ning praised, "Right, she's really talented."

Xue Chuchu was speechless, unsure whether Jiang Ning was mocking Xue Yuantong or complimenting her.

"I'm going to start fishing now."

Xue Yuantong dropped the statement and sat down on a small stool, starting to fish seriously.

Jiang Ning also sat on a small stool.

As for Xue Chuchu, she stood in place, holding a small notebook, memorizing words.

After enduring for three minutes with no activity, Xue Yuantong looked at her and said,

"Chuchu, you are so beautiful."

Xue Chuchu heard this, did not deny it, but said,

"Tongtong, you will be prettier than me in the future."

"I think so too," Xue Yuantong was very confident.

Xue Chuchu just smiled; honestly, she'd rather be a bit uglier, at least not as beautiful as she was now.

Although she was studying at the best high school in Yuzhou, Second Middle School, her outstanding appearance still caused her quite a bit of trouble.

There were often boys who expressed their feelings for her in various ways.

She was just annoyed; all she wanted to do at this stage was to study hard to change her family's impoverished situation.

Actually, Second Middle School was much better than the middle school in town she had attended before, where she had been blocked on the road twice by people who wanted her to be their girlfriend, luckily her mother came just in time.

At least over these years, compared to the harms her appearance had brought her, the benefits were extremely rare.

Xue Yuantong had been guarding for an hour and a half, the sun had shifted, and she hadn't caught a single fry, going from full of hope to full of disappointment.

She was tired.

On the contrary, the quiet Jiang Ning next to her kept catching one fish after another, filling up a lot, and constantly boasting to her.

Xue Yuantong thought, 'Destroy me.'

Jiang Ning said to her, "Yo, where are your fish? Don't tell me you didn't catch even one?"

Xue Yuantong said pitifully, "My luck was taken away by you, I want to go home."

"But you didn't catch any fish, you have no fish to eat tonight."

"I, I'm not eating," Xue Yuantong said dolefully.

"Why not wait a bit longer, you can definitely catch some fish."

"No, I've lost all hope," Xue Yuantong was disheartened.

"So, the fish you catch later will count as mine?" Jiang Ning proposed.

"Count them all as yours; my spot today was just unlucky, yes, it must be the spot," she consoled herself.

Just as she finished speaking, a fish took the bait on her rod.

Jiang Ning used Spiritual Power.

Xue Yuantong's eyes widened, "It must be luck!"

She recast her line, nonchalantly, and yet another fish took the bait.

'These fish are too stupid, aren't they?'

Yet, she kept casting, and the fish kept biting aggressively.

Jiang Ning added, "Xue Yuantong, you said it, the fish you catch are mine, don't go back on your word."