Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 1613 - 881: The Art of Hospitality (2)

"Jiang Ning, you’re too impulsive..." Xue Chuchu’s tone is gentle, her hands constantly washing the cabbage.

Jiang Ning sits nearby, cracking sunflower seeds; he knows Chuchu’s concern: "Come on, Chu, judge my seven sins."

Xue Chuchu’s tone falters, the words she had prepared suddenly stuck.

"I think what I did was right." Jiang Ning explains: "Do you remember when we asked the price of Ding Ding Candy, there was a little girl in a pink cotton jacket nearby?"

"Yes." Xue Chuchu certainly remembers, if not for the old man’s warning glance, the little girl might have stopped them from buying Ding Ding Candy to prevent them from being ripped off.

Xue Yuantong is cleaning the tomatoes Jiang Ning gave her: "The old man was fierce, I was really afraid he would smash me with a hammer!"

Xue Chuchu praised: "The little girl was quite brave, there are still many kind people in the world."

Jiang Ning said: "This old man must have scammed people before, I kicked him to injury, and now he can never fool anyone again, so I count as doing a good deed, right?"

Xue Yuantong supported: "Last time Jiang Ning did a good deed, he got a banner and one thousand yuan!"

Looking at the two of them, Xue Chuchu’s mood inexplicably dimmed.

Since a long time ago, she wouldn’t voluntarily interfere with other people’s business; once, on the way home from school, she encountered a domestic violence incident and didn’t step in to stop it.

Xue Chuchu recognized her ’shame’, but she would rather have her good friends think she’s a ’shameful’ person. She continued to say:

"Tongtong, but have you thought about it, if you do a good deed and pay with your life, what do you really get?"

Xue Yuantong suddenly froze.

Xue Chuchu continued: "You’d leave behind grieving parents, a shattered family, temporary praise from internet users, and then... a cold tombstone."

Her expression became more serene: "Is it worth it?"

Jiang Ning chuckled: "You’re not saying everything, friends and family could still have a meal at the banquet."

Xue Yuantong raised her hand: "I’m sitting at the kids’ table!"

Xue Chuchu struggled to maintain the serious atmosphere, but it instantly collapsed, she herself couldn’t help but laugh.

However, Jiang Ning’s smile faded, his voice was calm: "That would be the result for most people, but, I’m Jiang Ning."

"If I step in to help, at the very least I’d get a silk banner and a one thousand yuan reward."

Xue Chuchu was helpless, she glanced at Tongtong.

Xue Yuantong understood her too well, as a good sister, she knew Chuchu needed her assistance.

Jiang Ning tempted: "One thousand yuan, Tongtong, if the money was given to you, how much good food could you buy?"

Xue Yuantong swallowed, controlling her impulse.

Her face gradually became serious, she said genuinely: "But, Jiang Ning, what I want is for you to come home for dinner, not a useless one thousand yuan."

...

Xue Chuchu mentally gives Tongtong a thumbs up, brilliantly said, at least Jiang Ning will be a bit moved, right?

The result, Jiang Ning said: "Oh? One thousand yuan is not important? Then can you give me the one thousand yuan you have on you?"

As soon as she heard this, Xue Yuantong was shocked: "How do you know I have one thousand yuan?"

Of course Jiang Ning knew, earlier today Aunt Gu gave her a sizable amount of New Year’s money before heading back to the village. This girl still dares to hide away her private stash from him, how bold.

Jiang Ning knows girls with money easily change for the worse, he questions: "Will you give it or not?"

Xue Yuantong: "Hmph, you think I’m a bank, casually asking for a thousand yuan?"

"Alright." Jiang Ning said: "Actually, I don’t desperately need that one thousand, I just want a show of attitude..." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

At this moment, Xue Chuchu thinks he’s so fake.

"Since you’re unwilling, in the future Dongdong’s labor dividends, I see no need to share them with you. I originally intended to give you 51% of the shares, letting you have veto power..."

Xue Yuantong pouted, taking out her little purse: "Take it, take it."

Jiang Ning happily receives it, congratulates: "Congratulations to Tongtong for becoming the biggest chairwoman of Niu Madong Joint Stock Company!"

Beside them, Xue Chuchu silently complains: ’51% of the shares, Dongdong was clearly subdued by you, Tongtong having more shares is useless!’

...

8th class, the class group is having a heated debate, the trigger being Meng Zi Yun’s post on her friend circle, claiming someone treated her to hotpot.

Cao Kun saw it and felt deeply provoked, so he commented in the group: "Giving gifts is not always a happy affair, sometimes after giving a gift, the other person’s response makes you feel it wasn’t worth it."

Guo Kunnan: "Many girls don’t post on social media after receiving a gift."

This statement resonated with Cao Kun, and he kept praising it.

The master in the group, Lu Qiqi, made a bold remark: "Seriously, who are certain people in the group being sarcastic with? Are your gifts so expensive that I must post them on social media? Dozens or hundreds of yuan worth of gifts, and you still want me to post them? It’s a joke, right?"

After a strong outburst, Lu Qiqi found no one refuting her, so she asked back: "What’s wrong, cat got your tongue?"

Still, no one refuted.

Lu Qiqi returned to the list and noticed that her QQ space had been updated. She clicked to see that it was Xue Yuantong showing off her newly bought succulents, with the caption: [Jiang Ning took me to the flower and bird market and bought them for me (grinning face)]

Cao Kun commented: "Nice."

Guo Kunnan: "Support!"

Lu Qiqi was at a loss for words. Normally, she would criticize, but now she couldn’t say anything, given that Jiang Ning and the others helped her out last night.

As the leader of Class 8, any post from Xue Yuantong quickly drew much attention.

For instance, Chen Qian.

Chen Qian was in his bedroom studying, staring at the screen showing Xue Yuantong’s photo of the succulents.

Even though it was winter break, since Xue Yuantong was the strongest student at the Fourth Middle School, Chen Qian considered her a rival and had been secretly observing her.

Xue Yuantong’s social media was quite lively. Today she had grilled fish, tomorrow strawberries, the day after duck stew, and then hot pot...

Now she was posting about succulents; she seemed to be living a life of pleasure, with no awareness of impending danger!

Chen Qian suddenly laughed sincerely.

Studying is like rowing upstream. If you don’t advance, you fall behind, and what is winter break for? It’s for working hard!

While Xue Yuantong was playing around, he was diligently studying. Everything would change once school reopened!

Chen Qian picked up his Chinese textbook and started reciting classical essays.

Today being the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, it was a day for visiting relatives, and there was a knock on Chen Qian’s house door. After his parents opened the door, two relatives with a child walked into the living room, quickly livening up the house.

Nowadays, many young people are somewhat averse to visiting relatives, be it visiting them or having them over.

The visitors today were from his maternal uncle’s family, known for being stingy. During this big festive season, they only brought a box of milk, and it was just the most ordinary Mengniu milk, before stepping onto the freshly mopped floor wearing shoes.

The young cousin, only a few years old, was quite a handful, looking everywhere as soon as they entered, while Chen Qian’s parents busied themselves finding snacks to serve.

His aunt asked, "Qianzi, are you out playing?"

At this moment, Chen Qian, holding his textbooks, walked out of his room.

His aunt said, "Qianzi, I see you studying every day; how did you do on this final exam? Our neighbor’s kid is attending Yu Zhou Second Middle School and scored six hundred and something in the city-wide test, they say that’s good enough for a prestigious university!"

Some relatives just love to compare.

Chen Qian responded indifferently: "I got six hundred thirty-five."

This statement froze the atmosphere momentarily.

His aunt quickly said: "Ah, that’s not bad, but still a bit far from getting into Qingbei..."

Chen Qian glanced at the young cousin making a mess with snacks in the house, recalling how this cousin previously spilled a drink on his computer keyboard, ruining it.

His aunt excused it saying he was just a kid, so Chen Qian let it slide.

Now, Chen Qian asked: "Is he still as mischievous as before, how’s his performance? The kids beside our house score one hundred every time."

His aunt’s face darkened: "He’s still young..."

Chen Qian: "TV always says you must start training kids early."

After speaking, he took out his phone and shared some negative parenting examples in the family group and specifically tagged his aunt:

"Four signs your child will be unfilial in the future, the second one must be corrected immediately!"

"If parents have these four traits, the child is likely to be unfilial when they grow up"

"Why isn’t your child filial? You made a mistake from the first day of vacation!"

His aunt’s face turned even darker with anger: "You know so much, your grades are so good, fine, you help me look after the kid!"

Thus, the studious Chen Qian called over the mischief-making cousin and taught him to recite "Record of Yueyang Tower."

Quickly, the living room resonated with the sound of reading aloud.

The young cousin looked bewildered, wasn’t he here to have fun?