Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation

"You don't even come home, and you still know to call 'Mom'?"

Aunt Gu glanced at her daughter with annoyance. Tongtong usually went to bed late, often playing with her phone until the wee hours.

Aunt Gu seldom discouraged Tongtng's playful nature, as long as she was happy while playing.

When it came to staying up, she had to admit she couldn't compete with her daughter, which meant that Aunt Gu often went to bed earlier than her girl.

That morning, when she woke up and went to her daughter's room, she found it empty, which almost scared Aunt Gu.

Then she remembered that Tongtong had run off to Jiang Ning's room to play on the computer last night. Could it be that she hadn't come back?

So she hurried over to check and sure enough, her daughter was still in Jiang Ning's bed!

Xue Yuantong scratched her head and leaned in, saying, "Mom, do we still have rice in the pot?"

"No."

"Then can you make me some egg fried rice? I remember there was leftover rice from yesterday," Xue Yuantong suggested.

Aunt Gu claimed there was no rice left, which was just to tease her daughter. Hearing her unabashedly asking for egg fried rice, naturally she wouldn't refuse:

"Come home with me, fill your stomach, and then go paste up the couplets."

"Alrighty!"

Xue Yuantong closed the door of Jiang Ning's house behind her. She didn't lock it; the neighbors in the vicinity were familiar with each other, got along well, and there weren't any shady thieves around.

...

In Hui Province, Chinese New Year's was set for New Year's Eve at noon.

That noon, any family that lived a decent life would put together a luxurious spread of gourmet dishes. Beef, lamb, crabs, seafood—foods they'd normally hesitate to eat—all would be placed on the table on this one day.

At around eleven in the morning, the sound of firecrackers starting popping and cracking all around the bungalows.

Xue Yuantong sat at the front door, eagerly inhaling the aromas wafting from the kitchen.

At her strong insistence, her mother had made 'Eight Treasure Rice.'

This dish, made of glutinous rice and mixed with ingredients like candied pumpkin, red beans, dates, lotus seeds, longan meat, melon seeds, and candied fruit, was steamed to perfection.

It tasted sweet and sticky, but not too rich.

'It's a shame Jiang Ning isn't here, or else I'd let him taste it; he would've been thrilled.' She couldn't help but feel regretful.

Then, Xue Yuantong thought, 'It's best that he's not here—more Eight Treasure Rice for me.'

Finally, as lunch was about to be ready, Xue Yuantong went to fetch plates and serve the rice.

Before eating, she held a string of firecrackers and rushed outside, pressing the lighter with a 'click,' and flames leapt up.

As soon as they were lit, she ran.

Accompanied by the sound of firecrackers, it was New Year.

...

New Year's Eve, afternoon.

In Wen City, at the staff dormitory of the Evergreen Liquid company.

Jiang Ning was the only one in his room.

His parents went back to the company to hustle after lunch, perfecting plans for expansion in the upcoming year.

Jiang Ning sat on the couch to rest, taking out his phone, receiving numerous New Year's greetings on QQ and WeChat.

He ignored the mass messages and replied to each of the others in turn.

Then he opened the chat group of Class 8, where the conversation was hot.

Since the holiday had started, the class group had been exceptionally active. By noon today, almost every student had shared photos of their family's meal.

At this moment, Ma Shicheng posted a picture in the group.

The photo shown a KFC fried chicken bucket and two drinks.

The caption read: Out for New Year's fun.

Ma Shicheng wasn't usually active in the group, but his appearance stirred many boys' and girls' hearts—there were many who adored or despised Ma Shicheng in the class.

Wang Longlong typed, "You got two drinks. Brother Ma, are you on a date?"

Dan Kaiquan, "Fake, right? Brother Ma got a girl?"

Guo Kunnan, "(Surprised)."

Ma Shicheng replied, "A friend of my mom's came to visit our house, and she brought her daughter. I'm currently accompanying her daughter shopping."

Cui Yu, "!!! Is she pretty?"

Guo Kunnan, "Brother Ma is shining bright this spring."

Dan Kaiquan asked, "She must be good-looking, right?"

Wang Longlong, "Brother Ma, do you still love me?"

Hu Jun, "A friend of your mom? Elaborate."

At the KFC, Ma Shicheng took a bite of fried chicken and looked up at the girl sitting across from him, who was cute and had a slightly frail character. His mother had instructed him yesterday to be on his best behavior.

Ma Shicheng just felt it was a hassle, taking away from his gaming time, but he had performed poorly on his end-of-term exams, and any more backtalk to his mother would only lower his status at home.

Seeing the group asking about her looks, Ma Shicheng didn't want to let his bros down. He typed casually,

"She's quite pretty, I think. A bit better looking than our class's Jiang Yanan. Mainly because her eyes are bigger than Jiang Yanan's, and she doesn't chase after celebrities and isn't brainless. She's the type that's small and clingy."

As soon as this was said, Jiang Yanan, who was lurking in the chat, immediately jumped out:

"Ma Shicheng, can you not be a douchebag for once on New Year's Day? Can't you stand it?"

Dan Kaiquan, "Damn, she's that pretty? For real?"

Wang Longlong, "You doubt my Brother Ma? When has he ever lied? Brother Ma's taste is top-notch."

Inwardly comparing himself with Jiang Yanan, Guo Kunnan came up with an approximation and found indeed she must be a pretty girl.

He said, "Go Brother Ma, get that girl."

Cui Yu, "Yanan, calm down, Ma Shicheng didn't mean it."

Meng Gui, "Yanan, don't argue with Ma Shicheng; he didn't mean any harm."

Meng Gui thought to himself that he sounded more affectionate than Cui Yu, which meant he had won this round.

Hu Jun asked quietly, "What about her mother?"

Ma Shicheng's comment sparked a lengthy discussion in the group. After a while, Ma Shicheng didn't say anything but when he appeared again, he posted another picture.

The empty fried chicken bucket, accompanied by the caption:

"I'm already full, just watching her eat."

"She's pretty cute when she's eating."

"Guys, it's my first time taking a girl out, what should we do later?" Ma Shicheng asked for everyone's opinion. Although reluctant, he knew he had to play the gentleman today.

Dan Kaiquan replied, "Stop using your phone now. You should be chatting with her. Only through conversation will she feel that you're paying her attention, not that you're busy chatting in the group."

Dan Kaiquan offered his guidance like some sort of love guru.

Guo Kunnan suggested, "You guys could go to the carnival amusement park later, I heard it's really lively and girls usually like it there."

Cui Yu agreed, "Yes, go to the carnival."

Wang Longlong said, "Buy her a milk tea and when you're walking, try to hold her hand."

The guys in the class gave Ma Shicheng advice, as if they were the ones on a date.

Ma Shicheng said, "Let's skip holding hands; we are just friends."

"Don't read too much into it."

The more he said this, the less his classmates in the group chat believed him, thinking there was more to the story.

Cui Yu said, "Seal the deal with her earlier!"

Guo Kunnan exclaimed, "I have high hopes for you, treat us to a meal when it's a done deal."

Ma Shicheng replied, "We've already finished eating, and I'm planning to take her shopping."

"See what's fun around."

"I'll get back to you guys after I'm finished."

"Gotta go, guys, wish me luck."

After sending this message, Ma Shicheng disappeared from the class group chat.

Dan Kaiquan remarked, "He's gone on a date with the girl."

After this comment, Dan Kaiquan felt a sense of loss, realizing that even Ma Shicheng had a girl now.

Meng Gui said, "Ma Shicheng is really something."

"I bet Ma Shicheng can pull it off today; from what he said, he seems pretty familiar with the girl's parents, I'm envious." Guo Kunnan stated.

Cui Yu commented with a tinge of jealousy, "Brother Ma is going to have a significant other."

As the guys chatted and reflected, Ma Shicheng suddenly re-emerged, bombarding the chat with several photos.

A counter filled with smartphones, a close-up of a smartphone's front, a close-up of its side.

Ma Shicheng exclaimed, "Holy crap!"

"Yuzhou actually has such an awesome phone store!"

"Holy crap, this is the Xiaomi 3! You can't even snag one online, and they have it in stock here!"

"Instant phones available, just pay and take it home."

"This Xiaomi 3, the Unicom version, uses a Qualcomm 800 processor. You guys might not know what this means, so let me tell you, its performance is currently the strongest in the Android camp, without equal!"

Then he posted another photo:

"There's also the Meizu MX3 for the Mobile network, with 128GB of built-in storage. Even without a memory card, installing dozens of games is no problem!"

"The Meizu's performance is slightly inferior, but the design is really sleek. Just look at those bezels, they're so narrow."

Photo added.

"The little dot navigation is freaking convenient and elegant."

"The store has other rare models too."

"This is just too awesome!"

Ma Shicheng's excitement was palpable, and it transmitted through the screen to the other boys in the class.

Guo Kunnan asked, "Do you want to look at what you're saying?"

Dan Kaiquan couldn't hold back his frustration, "Dude, you're supposed to be on a date with a girl, did you really just head to a phone store?"

"Hurry up and scram."

Ma Shicheng replied, "Just let me touch it for a bit longer."

"She's waiting outside."

Cui Yu: "?"

Meng Gui: "?"

Yang Sheng: "?"

Ma Shicheng marveled, "It's too cool!"

"The feel of the Meizu MX3 is just too amazing!"

"It absolutely murders the Xiaomi in terms of build quality and aesthetics; it's heartbreakingly beautiful with the screen off."

Dan Kaiquan, watching him ignore the date, urged him impatiently, "Stop playing with that damn phone and go find the girl."

"Are you even on a date anymore?"

Wang Longlong exclaimed, "Brother Ma, are you out of your mind?"

A while later, Ma Shicheng finally appeared:

"I'm done looking; I've decided that the next time I switch phones, I'm definitely coming here to buy."

"I'm off to find the girl, I promised to accompany her shopping."

"Oh."

"The girl... seems to have disappeared."

"No, seriously, she's gone!"

"My mom is definitely going to be mad, and now the time for me to get a new phone is going to be pushed back again!"

This time, even the usually silent, good students in the class group chat were stirred.

Dong Qingfeng: "6."

Chen Qian: "I've never seen anyone so outstanding."

Yang Sheng: "That's so you."

(Fake) Chen Siyu: "A role model for my generation."