Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 43 Don’t Look Back

Jiang Ning and Xue Yuantong spent ten minutes in the small garden before the crowd on the main campus road gradually dispersed.

"Let's go."

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The two exited the school gate, which was followed by a long road of over two hundred meters lined with a variety of shops: small supermarkets, milk tea shops, stationery stores, spicy hotpot restaurants, breakfast joints—all dazzling to the eye.

The road was relatively spacious, with some modified tricycles parked on the side selling all kinds of snacks, from fried foods to oden.

The place Xue Yuantong wanted to go wasn't this snack street, but another one that connected two nearby schools: Finance University and Commerce Vocational College. That street was several times larger than the one at the gate of Fourth Middle School.

"Jiang Ning, you're heading back pretty late!" Ma Shicheng called out.

He was sitting on a wooden chair outside a small supermarket, holding a glass bottle of cola with a straw in it.

Jiang Ning glanced up at the sign of the supermarket, 'Yucai Supermarket.'

"I plan to check out the snack street; haven't you gone home either?" Jiang Ning chatted with him.

"I'm about to go inside and play some games online," he said in a low voice, pointing inside the 'Yucai Supermarket.'

Near Fourth Middle School were some small supermarkets and restaurants that ostensibly operated legitimate businesses but hid a few computers behind secret doors, for the owners to make some extra money on the side.

This area was close to the school and inexpensive, at two or three Yuan an hour, so many students liked to go there to play games like CF, DNF, LOL, and the like.

To these regular students, the little supermarket affectionately became known as:

'Yucai Internet Cafe.'

"Okay, have fun, we're off," Jiang Ning turned his head to look at Xue Yuantong, the little girl quietly standing by his side.

"Alright, see you next week!" Ma Shicheng waved in a carefree gesture.

He watched Jiang Ning and Xue Yuantong, one tall and one short, walk away, finishing his cola in one gulp. He didn't envy them; to Ma Shicheng, games were his true love.

"Today I'll reward myself with a match as Sword Saint," Ma Shicheng thought to himself.

...

After crossing the long road in front of the Fourth Middle School and walking westward for a while, a bustling street appeared before them.

Xue Yuantong's eyes sparkled as if they hid twinkling stars, and she exclaimed:

"Jiang Ning, I want to eat mooncakes, Qiao's Crispy Pork, Fuding Meat Slices, milk custard, grilled gluten, and Lantern Festival treats—the Hawthorn Lantern Festival ones are super delicious!"

Xue Yuantong listed several snacks in quick succession.

"Can you even finish all of that?" Jiang Ning looked at her disdainfully.

Xue Yuantong retorted confidently, "I can, definitely!"

"What about you? What do you want to eat?" Xue Yuantong had just finished asking when she realized that after her string of orders, she might not have enough money.

"For me, lamb rolls, a cup of rice wine, and then just a little of your crispy pork, meat slices, and Lantern Festival treats."

Xue Yuantong quickly did the math in her head; luckily, she had just enough money.

After deciding, she pulled Jiang Ning to line up—they took turns queuing at different shops and soon bought all the snacks.

Arriving at the Lantern Festival shop, Xue Yuantong still had enough money left for a bowl of Dumpling Soup, so she decisively bought one for Jiang Ning.

The Lantern Festival shop counter was at the entrance, customers lined up in a long queue, and the aunty served the snacks directly into bowls for customers to take to their tables themselves.

The Lantern Festival shop had two floors; the first floor was louder, while the second floor had a better environment.

Xue Yuantong liked to eat on the second floor, but carrying bowls up made her worry about accidentally bumping into someone and spilling them, which always made her nervous.

Hesitating whether to go up to the second floor, torn between her options, her shoulder was suddenly tapped:

"What are you spacing out for? Aren't you going to the second floor to grab a seat? Slow down, and there'll be no tables left."

Jiang Ning had just scanned the second floor with Divine Sense; if Xue Yuantong went up now, she could still grab the last two-person table available.

Xue Yuantong turned and saw Jiang Ning's face; her gaze shifted down, and she saw Jiang Ning hooked the snack bag on his pinky while his index and thumb held the bowl of dumplings, looking very stable.

She pouted, "You sure you've got this?"

"Stop blabbering and go," Jiang Ning urged her.

"Fine, I'll go on ahead," Xue Yuantong took a step forward, then turned back and took the snack bag hooked on Jiang Ning's pinky.

Carrying the snacks, Xue Yuantong said, "I'll wait for you upstairs!"

Agile, she climbed the stairs and upon seeing the last remaining table, breathed a sigh of relief.

Xue Yuantong wiped down the table and chairs with napkins, then arranged the bags of snacks on the table.

Sitting in her chair, she realized that she no longer needed to carefully carry the Lantern Festival treats herself, nor did she have to worry about it, because someone else would carry the bowl for her.

She was no longer alone.

In an instant, Shen Qing'e felt a tingly numbness emerging from her forehead. Her heart seemed to be filled with something—steadfast, touched, happy.

Various emotions intertwined, bringing her indescribable comfort.

Even though she herself didn't know why she felt this way.

It was like when she was a child, once her mother fell ill and didn't cook breakfast, leaving her so hungry that she cried out of frustration.

After seeing her tears, her mother, despite feeling unwell, got up to make rice soup, fried a couple of pieces of flatbread, and even stir-fried a dish of green peppers and shredded potatoes.

After her mother had prepared the meal, she continued to sleep, while Shen Qing'e stood in front of the small dining table, just standing there, stunned.

The feeling now was very similar to that time.

She still remembered that day there was no salt at home, so the green peppers and shredded potatoes were unsalted, but that was the most delicious meal Shen Qing'e had ever eaten, bar none.

Jiang Ning placed two bowls on the table and, seeing Shen Qing'e's dazed expression, waved his hand in front of her face.

"Are you bewitched?" muttered Jiang Ning.

Shen Qing'e shuddered and snapped back to reality, retorting,

"I'm not!"

"Alright, alright, let's eat!" She took a bite of the hawthorn-stuffed dumpling. Sour and sweet—the taste remained unchanged.

Then she poked the crispy pork with a bamboo skewer. The surface of the crispy pork was sprinkled with spices; crispy on the outside, tender on the inside—so delicious that she squinted her eyes in enjoyment, a blissful little expression on her face.

Seeing how deliciously she was eating, Jiang Ning's appetite was aroused. He too picked up a bamboo skewer and poked at the crispy pork, unexpectedly good.

He ate several pieces in a row, prompting Shen Qing'e to roll her eyes as he threatened to finish all of her crispy pork.

'Qiao's Crispy Pork' was an old shop that, until Jiang Ning's graduation from college, was still in business and thriving.

In the future, when most shops joined online delivery platforms, 'Qiao's Crispy Pork' still insisted on only serving offline, as the owner worried that delivery would affect the taste and never went online.

The same serving of crispy pork, once seven Yuan, would later increase to ten Yuan, and then to fifteen Yuan.

During his high school days, Jiang Ning loved eating 'Qiao's Crispy Pork.' However, the price of seven Yuan per serving made him hesitate, and each time he ate it, he felt the pinch.

In fact, there were many delicious snacks on this street, but Jiang Ning's allowance was not much to begin with, and he often had to buy various things for Shen Qing'e.

With the money left over, he had to pinch every penny.

His dream in high school was to one day walk into this snack street without worrying about money, to eat his fill, and to thoroughly satisfy his cravings.

Unfortunately, during his high school years, this dream never came true.

Years later, after graduating from college, Jiang Ning returned to Yuzhou City and walked this street again. By then, he had savings and didn't care as much about the cost of these snacks.

Clutching his plump wallet, he looked at the snack street, as bustling as ever, and reminisced about days gone by.

That naive boy, that poor boy, those unaffordable snacks, all the yearnings of the past—they were all history.

"I can eat whatever I want now!"

"No one can stop me!"

Jiang Ning ate his way from one shop to another.

However,

after consuming only two or three snacks, he couldn't eat anymore.

Had the taste changed?

No, those old shops were still highly praised.

What had changed was his state of mind.

Entering society, various pressures bore down on him, and the harsh realities stood before his eyes at all times—housing prices, employment, the future, constantly reminding him that he must struggle, must engage in cutthroat competition, must not lay back, or else he would be surpassed by others.

Just to become an ordinary person, he had to give it his all.

That day, standing in front of the long street, Jiang Ning quietly finished his leftover food, casually tossing the wrappers into the trash can.

Then he turned and left, striding forward into the long road of life ahead.

While behind him, that struggling boy stood in front of the snack stand, chewing the food enthusiastically, smiling happily, a smile that would never grow old.

...

"Desire to buy sweet-scented osmanthus and share a drink,

But it will never be,

Like my youthful adventures."

Back then, Jiang Ning thought he could never return.