Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation

Chapter 1862 - 1028: Perfect Matchmaking (Part 2)

...

April 8th, after school in the afternoon.

There were people playing badminton in the plaza on the first floor, but the star of the show today was no longer Yun Tingting.

Principal Yu was in a great mood today and called a few teachers over to play badminton. Originally Director Yan was supposed to go on, but he wasn’t ready, so he gave the spot to Teacher An Chan.

Principal Yu was already getting on in years. He looked at the young Teacher An Chan and said with a broad smile, "Teacher Xiao An, you don’t need to go easy on me."

Her dad had been thrown into prison, so An Chan had been in a lousy mood lately, and now she heard what Principal Yu said.

Young teachers usually don’t like all that workplace etiquette. She thought to herself, "You said it yourself!"

An Chan usually played quite a bit of badminton, and she immediately switched into serious mode.

Guo Ran was playing Candy Crush in the office when she suddenly noticed Director Yan walking in holding a racket. She greeted him, "You’re not playing with the principal?"

Director Yan kept a straight face. "Mind your own business."

Guo Ran went back to her game. She adjusted the small mirror a bit and, through the reflection, saw that Director Yan was using nail clippers to trim the strings of his racket.

Guo Ran was puzzled for a moment, and then suddenly had an epiphany: in a bit, one smash from the principal and all the strings on Director Yan’s racket would "snap" apart.

"Good one, Director Yan!" Guo Ran felt she had just learned the true way of being an official.

Down in the plaza, An Chan had thought her badminton Skill would let her casually steamroll the principal, but after a few rallies she was surprised to find she simply couldn’t beat him!

This Principal Yu actually knew how to play!

After getting trounced for a while, An Chan proactively admitted she was outmatched. Principal Yu laughed and said, "Young people these days still need to work out more!"

"Before long it’ll be our school’s sports day. You all better not embarrass us!"

Seeing Teacher An step off the court and catching a glimpse of the principal’s cocky look, Yun Tingting immediately shouted, "Principal, let me play two games with you!"

Principal Yu agreed.

And so Yun Tingting took the court—still the true popularity queen of Fourth Middle School. What was An Chan compared to her?

Students ran off to spread the word. In just under a minute, the balconies on the second, third, and fourth floors were packed with students, and most of the boys had their eyes glued to Yun Tingting’s perky butt.

The badminton match was about to erupt.

Xue Yuantong and Chen Siyu were gaming in the classroom. Yuantong wondered, "Why is it so noisy outside?"

Listening to the sounds, Chen Siyu figured it had to be Yun Tingting playing badminton.

"Why is it that the moment Yun Tingting plays, so many guys go watch?" Xue Yuantong asked for guidance.

Chen Siyu thought for a bit, then said, "Because when a big ass rises, all the poor lads rejoice."

Former class monitor Xin Youling was drinking water and immediately choked.

Chen Siyu: "What’s wrong with you?"

Xin Youling’s expression was odd. "I’m fine."

"Good if you’re fine. I thought you were overthinking things." Chen Siyu said on purpose.

Xue Yuantong stood up from her chair and said, "Si Yu, what do you think of my badminton skills?"

Chen Siyu gave her a thumbs-up. "Super strong. You might not be tall, but you’re really awesome."

Xue Yuantong’s brows arched. "What do you mean, I’m not tall?"

The clever Chen Siyu translated, "It means you’re... not all that tall."

The atmosphere got a bit tense.

Xin Youling thought for a moment. She was very good at comforting people—basically a spiritual mentor.

After a brief weighing of words, Xin Youling said earnestly, "Xue Yuantong, height is not the only measure of a person’s worth. Everyone has their own unique charm and value. What matters is your talent and your kindness. Don’t obsess over your height—what’s important is doing what you love."

She smiled, and the little eye bags under her bright eyes maxed out her approachability.

Sure enough, under her reassurance, the look on Xue Yuantong’s face eased up.

"Xin Youling, thank you. Honestly, you really were a great class monitor." she said.

Xin Youling had just been casually comforting someone, but when she heard that title "class monitor," her long-quiet heart actually gave a long-lost thump.

The longer she stayed in Class 8, the more she could feel just how much weight Xue Yuantong’s name carried.

If it were her, casting votes for me, speaking up for me...

A huge surprise crashed down on Xin Youling. Overcome with excitement, she blurted out, "It’s fine, it’s just saying some insincere words once in a while. If you like hearing them, I can say more."

As soon as the words fell, the air went silent.

Xue Yuantong stared, dumbfounded. "You...?"

...

Like the rich variety of life in Class 8.

After the phone explosion incident, Xiao Shaoxiong was running laps alone on the track. He ran one lap after another, until the brilliant sunset at the edge of the sky began to fade.

It was almost dark.

Xiao Shaoxiong was exhausted. His mouth was dry and his tongue felt parched. Leaning against the podium, he looked at the youthful, beautiful dance team on the field.

He’d heard the girl in the red dress leading them was called Sister Ai; she really was as fiery as a flame.

Originally, he could’ve used his noble dual-curved-screen Samsung S6 to take photos for them and then share them with his classmates at the town middle school. Unfortunately, his phone had exploded.

The line of Xiao Shaoxiong’s back suddenly looked a lot lonelier.

The money on him wasn’t even enough to buy a phone, and he couldn’t even contact his sister to ask her for a little Gold Coin.

His eyes grew a bit dazed.

Just then, a boy in a worn-out school uniform with an honest-looking face appeared in front of him.

"Xiao Shaoxiong, have you been running on the track this whole time?" Dan Xiao asked.

Xiao Shaoxiong remembered him. He was so tired, but it was like a lion still hid in his eyes, unwilling to admit defeat. "Yeah, a dozen laps or so. It’s okay."

Dan Xiao wasn’t shocked. He simply took out a bottle of Mizone, his tone sincere. "Then you must be thirsty."

Xiao Shaoxiong was stunned. It was the first time he’d felt warmth in the cold Fourth Middle School.

"Thanks." He took the bottle of Mizone.

He twisted the cap off and took a big swig, then suddenly realized that inside this Mizone bottle wasn’t Mizone at all, but plain old purified water.

Xiao Shaoxiong felt a little angry, a little dissatisfied. He snapped, "The hell, you trying to fob me off with water?"

Dan Xiao looked a bit embarrassed. "Bro, my cup broke and I don’t have money for a new one. I’ve been using this to fill water lately."

"Haha, you little—" He broke off halfway through his laugh.

Because looking at Dan Xiao’s face, Xiao Shaoxiong’s fury suddenly vanished. At the same time, he saw the other boy’s worn-out uniform, his weathered features, and that most genuine human sincerity.

Xiao Shaoxiong was silently shaken to the core; his scalp tingled.

He suddenly hated himself. He remembered that when he was a kid, he used to fill water like this too. How come now that he’d grown up, he’d stopped seeing it? What the hell had happened to him?

Why is it that the older you get, the more awkward it all feels—you can’t stand tall, but you can’t fully lie down either, like a soda bottle scalded by boiling water.

After reflecting, Xiao Shaoxiong forced out a smile and slung an arm around Dan Xiao’s shoulders. "Bro, thanks. The water’s great!"

In that moment, he dropped his psychological defenses against Dan Xiao.

The two of them leaned against the podium, chatting. Dan Xiao had dipped his toes into quite a few Domains, and he shared some targeted campus gossip with Xiao Shaoxiong. The air was filled with men’s laughter.

Toward the end, Xiao Shaoxiong also talked a bit about his current situation.

Dan Xiao’s smile was genuine and simple. He fished a few crumpled bills and some coins out of his pocket and, with difficulty, scraped together 37 yuan and 50 cents.

"Brother Xiao, take this money first. You’re so far from home, you really can’t go without a phone. Put some more together and go buy a second-hand one from our class’s Zhang Chi to use for now."

Xiao Shaoxiong was deeply moved. "Thank you!"

Dan Xiao said honestly, "Hope everything goes smoothly for you."

...

Evening self-study.

Xiao Shaoxiong’s SIM card had already been reissued. He went to Zhang Chi intending to buy a phone, but he disliked how crappy the second-hand one was, so he just rented one for now.

Tonight he was going to ask that good-for-nothing sister of his for money to buy a better phone.

Before that, though, he had one more thing to do.

He logged into QQ and saw that his good bro Wu Tie had sent him a ton of messages asking why he wasn’t replying.

Xiao Shaoxiong glanced at Zhang Zhaodi next to him, and something stirred in his heart.

He’d burned Zhang Zhaodi and still hadn’t paid her medical bills. These last couple of days, Lu Qiqi kept helping her ask for the money.

A crafty idea flashed through Xiao Shaoxiong’s mind: if he could get Zhang Zhaodi back together with his good bro, wouldn’t that save him a chunk of medical expenses?

Perfect. Time to get to work!