Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation

Before class started, Dan Kaiquan and Ma Shicheng, among others, entered the classroom together.

Dan Kaiquan was carrying a black bag, which contained the chess set he had just bought.

After lunch, he called Ma Shicheng to the dormitory.

Ma Shicheng was playing games on his phone, while Dan Kaiquan played chess. He dominated Guo Kunnan and Hu Jun all afternoon without losing a single game. At that moment, he was brimming with confidence, feeling like he was the king of chess.

He stood in the hallway, looking to chat with Chen Siyu.

On the surface, Dan Kaiquan was talking to Chen Siyu, but his real interest was in Bai Yuxia.

Sometimes Dan Kaiquan would look for Chen Siyu and other times Jiang Ning, but he never directly approached Bai Yuxia, always careful to hide his intentions, believing he concealed it very well.

He often self-congratulated, considering himself far superior to others in hiding his feelings of love.

Dan Kaiquan's conversations with Chen Siyu were not idle chitchat. On the contrary, he always found new topics to discuss.

Today, he brought the chess set but didn't use it as a conversation starter right away.

For Dan Kaiquan, he classified conversation topics into two categories, one that was timeless, could be brought up at any moment without going out of fashion, like chess, and the other type was more like a news flash, needing to capture the moment. These topics would lose their appeal once the moment passed and wouldn't catch Bai Yuxia's attention.

For this, Dan Kaiquan specifically asked Brother Ma for advice and learned techniques from him.

He checked Yu Zhou Fourth Middle School's online forums and school QQ group chats three times a day—morning, noon, and evening—to gather such information promptly to share with Bai Yuxia.

Today, Dan Kaiquan had got his hands on some "Fourth Middle School News."

"Do you guys know what happened today at our school? The Academic Affairs Office took major action, and many students were caught!" Dan Kaiquan said mysteriously.

His words and expressions paired well, successfully catching Chen Siyu's attention and even getting Chen Siyu's deskmate, Bai Yuxia, interested enough to listen in.

"What happened?" Chen Siyu asked curiously.

Dan Kaiquan, reveling in schadenfreude, said, "Today, our grade leader, along with some teachers and the security department, raided the internet cafes outside and caught students surfing the web."

"Many students who were online were brought back to the school, and I heard their parents were called in."

Ma Shicheng was immensely relieved when he heard the news; if it had been a usual day, he might have gone to play games too.

Going back to the dorm at noon had luckily kept him away.

Dan Kaiquan added, "Shi Qianjin from Class 9 next door got caught. Our class was lucky this time, no one was taken. Otherwise, our homeroom teacher would have definitely scolded us."

Chen Siyu couldn't quite understand people who went to internet cafes to play games. She had never been to one, thinking it wasn't a nice place.

Her impression of an internet cafe was akin to a dim room filled with a few computers, the air reeking of unpleasant cigarette smoke, and grubby students glued excitedly to their screens.

"Is surfing the internet that fun? I see them going to play every day," Chen Siyu said somewhat disdainfully.

Dan Kaiquan immediately made his stance clear, "What's so fun about it? Whatever you can do on a computer, you can almost do on a mobile. It's not much different. I never go to internet cafes to surf the web."

He clearly drew a line between himself and those who went online.

Actually, Dan Kaiquan used to enjoy surfing the internet, but now, in pursuit of Bai Yuxia, he had completely turned over a new leaf. Not only was he studying hard, but he had also stopped going to internet cafes.

After hearing this, Chen Siyu asked Jiang Ning, "Do you go to internet cafes often?"

Xue Yuantong answered for him, "Jiang Ning doesn't go. He has a computer at home, and the casing even lights up. It's super cool."

"Did your parents buy it for you?"

"It was a gift," Jiang Ning said. It was from Shao Shuangshuang.

Chen Siyu thought for a moment and then asked, "Jiang Ning, can you fix computers? If my computer breaks, can I ask you to come over and fix it?"

Jiang Ning refused, "No, I can't."

"Okay then."

Perhaps because the topic wasn't captivating enough, Bai Yuxia continued working on her exam paper, and Dan Kaiquan saw that this wasn't working. His main target was Bai Yuxia, and if she wasn't listening, it was pointless.

Dan Kaiquan then brought up a second topic, "There's another big piece of news. Yan Tianpeng from Class 9 was taken to the school infirmary this noon!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Siyu asked, "Is Yan Tianpeng that tall guy from one of the mountains?"

Yan Tianpeng, standing 1.9 meters tall, was quite recognizable among several classes. Although Fourth Middle School had other students who were 1.9 meters tall, none were as muscular and sturdy as Yan Tianpeng. Not only girls, even many average-sized boys felt intimidated before him, fearing he could go berserk and throw a punch at any moment.

Dan Kaiquan confirmed, "Yes, that's him."

"Is he sick?" Chen Siyu wondered. "Otherwise, how could someone so strong faint?"

Bai Yuxia seemed slightly interested, asking, "Did he get into a fight?"

She wondered, with Yan Tianpeng's formidable size, who could have sent him to the hospital unless he was attacked by a group?

Surely, the spirit at Fourth Middle School had not degraded to that level.

Listening to this, Dan Kaiquan's expression turned bizarre.

He explained, "Yan Tianpeng had a pet hamster in the dorm he took care of every day. Today at noon, his hamster passed away, and he was so devastated that he fainted."

Chen Siyu covered her mouth, giggling, "...teeheehee."

Bai Yuxia also fell silent, feeling she should be sad, but for some reason, it also seemed a bit funny.

...

The first class in the afternoon is usually the time when the sunlight most induces sleepiness.

The Chinese teacher, Dai Yongquan, usually stuttered when speaking, but his intonation was impeccable when reciting classical Chinese texts.