Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation

"Not too late, didn't you just finish eating not long ago?"

"Pfft."

"Come on, I'll take you shopping for clothes." Jiang Ning jingled his mountain bike keys.

Xue Yuantong was secretly pleased but pretended not to care, "What clothes are we buying?"

Jiang Ning said, "Kids' clothes."

Xue Yuantong stopped in her tracks and was immediately furious; even Jiang Ning was teasing her.

Is the world ever going to get better!

She was tired and didn't want to go anymore; she just wanted some peace and quiet.

Jiang Ning, pushing his mountain bike, passed in front of her, "Come on, get on."

Xue Yuantong still got on the bike.

"Today's expenses are on you."

She had initially planned to split the costs with Jiang Ning, but now that he was being so presumptuous, Xue Yuantong vowed to make him feel the pinch.

The department store's pedestrian street was the biggest in Yuzhou City, and it was extremely crowded on weekends.

To prevent overcrowding, this pedestrian street had been specially widened to twenty-five meters.

Xue Yuantong looked at the long, winding queue at the stinky tofu stall and asked:

"Jiang Ning, do you dare to eat stinky tofu?"

Jiang Ning: "I dare not. Do you?"

Xue Yuantong was somewhat eager, but the queue was way too long.

As they walked along the pedestrian street, they reached nearly halfway when a young man, about 1.8 meters tall and hefty, stood in the middle of the road.

The young man held a stack of flyers and, upon seeing Jiang Ning, immediately came over enthusiastically to block his path.

"Bro, need a haircut? We have a special offer, free haircut."

The young man smiled, pointing to a spot around the corner of the street, "Our shop is just over there."

Saying this, he glanced at the little girl, then back.

Then he stretched out his muscular arm, trying to lead Jiang Ning by the shoulder to the haircut.

Jiang Ning waved his arm off and said coolly,

"Back off."

The young man recoiled as if electrified, his wrist to shoulder tingling with pain.

He first glared fiercely.

Jiang Ning, with calm eyes, said, "Better watch out who you try to trick next time."

Upon locking eyes with Jiang Ning, the young man's heart skipped a beat, and his fierce expression vanished.

Jiang Ning, taking Xue Yuantong with him, continued to stroll the pedestrian street.

After walking a bit, Xue Yuantong asked, "Were they scammers?"

Jiang Ning answered, "Yes."

Behind them, another young man in denim joined the hefty one, smoking a cigarette and asking,

"What happened just now?"

"Nothing, just ran into a tough one, damn, my arm still feels numb." The hefty young man rubbed his arm.

The denim-clad young man looked back at Jiang Ning's retreating figure then turned away, saying,

"You stay aside, I'll take over pulling in customers."

They indeed cut hair, but it wasn't free.

Feigning enthusiasm halfway, many customers who were shy and thought they were getting a bargain couldn't refuse.

They would then take the customers to their barbershop, where during the haircut, they'd apply some hair treatment, boast about high-end care, and charging three to four hundred yuan wasn't excessive, right?

Dare not to pay?

Want to see how many hefty guys we've got in our shop?

…

Xue Yuantong craved stinky tofu and wanted to try it but dared not tell Jiang Ning. If Jiang Ning knew about her desire to eat stinky tofu, how would he look at her?

He would definitely tease her mercilessly.

Xue Yuantong bought a serving of pan-fried tofu, which the vendor cooked on a griddle before sprinkling cumin chili powder and scallion leaves over it.

At only three yuan a bowl, it was cheap and delicious.

She tasted two pieces, then skewered another with a bamboo stick and offered it to Jiang Ning's mouth.

After finishing the tofu, Xue Yuantong spotted another snack stall selling candied cherry tomatoes, which had a sugar coating over the tomatoes.

Jiang Ning bought her a portion, and Xue Yuantong bit into it; the outer sugar coating was crispy, and the inside was tangy~

Xue Yuantong was very satisfied, having treated herself to a free meal from Jiang Ning. She pondered how to repay Jiang Ning.

They walked by a lottery scratch card stall, where the staff wore red uniforms and many customers were gathered scratching cards.

Jiang Ning led her over.

Xue Yuantong was a bit resistant; she never played such gamble-driven games and disliked the feeling of loss.

But since Jiang Ning went, she begrudgingly followed.

"Wanna try one?" Jiang Ning asked.

"Not at all, not at all." Xue Yuantong quickly waved her small hands to refuse; a scratch card cost ten yuan a try, which she found too expensive. Just now, her pan-fried tofu and candied cherry tomatoes together hadn't even cost ten yuan!

"I'll play one then." Jiang Ning's "Divine Sense" pierced through the lottery scratch card.

He took out ten yuan, pointed out the one he wanted, and asked the staff to retrieve it.

"You do the scratching." Jiang Ning said.

"No no no, I'm afraid I won't win." Xue Yuantong was reluctant; she feared ruining Jiang Ning's luck.

Jiang Ning gave in, saying, "Okay, I'll scratch half, and you do the other half."

Xue Yuantong thought for a moment before agreeing.

The staff member, a young guy, watched their interactions, almost wanting to laugh. Over just a scratch card, was it worth being so hesitant?

Anyway, it wouldn't win.

"It's your turn now." Jiang Ning handed her the remaining half.

Xue Yuantong carefully scratched it off, then she was stunned. She couldn't believe it, checked again, and excitedly exclaimed,

"Jiang Ning, I won, five hundred yuan!"

"What?" The staff member came over, checked, and, dang, she really won.

Ten yuan for five hundred, what luck!

Jiang Ning nodded, "You scratched well."

Xue Yuantong modestly said, "You picked well, hehe."