Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 157 - 146 Outsider Turns Out to Be Me

The 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month, sunny.

Today was the day to go to school to collect report cards.

Xue Yuantong didn't linger in bed. As soon as Jiang Ning entered the kitchen, he saw her perched on a small stool, eyes fixated on the pot on the stove.

Aunt Gu lifted the lid, and steam rose, spreading the fragrance of dough. Xue Yuantong wanted to reach out but was afraid of getting burned.

"Jiang Ning, you're here," Aunt Gu greeted.

Jiang Ning nodded. He had nearly all his meals at Xue Yuantong's house this term. Jiang Ning wasn't just freeloading; he often bought groceries, which Aunt Gu or Xue Yuantong would cook, and he was in charge of washing the dishes.

He asked, "Aunt Gu, you're not working today?"

"I'll go later," Aunt Gu said and continued cooking.

The morning's meal was simple: water pancakes, fried string beans with salty meat, and rice soup with dates.

In the kitchen, the three of them sat around a small table. The steam from the bowls rose and floated in front of Xue Yuantong's face.

Amid the steam, she held a hot, soft water pancake in one hand and with a flip of the other hand folded the round pancake into a semi-circle.

She picked up some salty meat and beans with her chopsticks, placed them evenly on the pancake in a long strip, and carefully rolled it up.

This way, with one bite, she could enjoy both the dish and the pancake—a special treat.

Xue Yuantong looked left, her mother had already rolled one up, and then looked right, Jiang Ning was eating dates.

"Jiang Ning, I'll give you this pancake I rolled with so much effort!" Xue Yuantong generously offered.

"That's so nice?" Jiang Ning was a bit surprised. Normally during meals, it was good enough if she didn't compete with him for food, but today she was being very generous.

He questioned dubiously, "Has the sun risen from the west?"

"Just say if you want it or not!"

"I want it." Jiang Ning took it.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Xue Yuantong noticed his odd gaze. "Hurry up and eat."

Jiang Ning took a bite. The water pancake was chewy and delicious.

Xue Yuantong's eyes curved into a smile. Having received her grace, now when they returned after getting the report cards, she'd have an excuse to use the computer in Jiang Ning's room.

Rightfully so!

After finishing the meal, Jiang Ning planned to wash the dishes, but Aunt Gu insisted on washing them herself since there was hot water and urged the two to go to school.

Jiang Ning, seeing Aunt Gu's insistence, went out to push the bike.

As he pushed the bike outside, a young man of about eighteen or nineteen, who had returned from working outside, called out to Jiang Ning:

"Bro, where are you headed?"

"Going to school to get my report card," Jiang Ning replied.

"I thought you guys were already on holiday," the young man said, then with a knowing tone added:

"Studying is good; it has prospects."

It was a bit awkward to respond to that, so Jiang Ning didn't answer.

The young man, finding interest in conversing, said, "If I weren't so old now, I'd really like to go back to school."

"It's pretty good now, too," Jiang Ning replied.

The young man wanted to continue talking, but Xue Yuantong came out of the house and called out:

"Jiang Ning, let's go."

"Let's go," Jiang Ning replied, leaving behind a word as he went to join Xue Yuantong.

…

Four Middle School.

Ma Shicheng walked along the main path of the campus.

Ma Shicheng had gotten up very early, though he didn't know why he had felt the need to rise so early.

Perhaps it was because his parents had nagged him about his grades last night, disturbing his peace, or maybe, he cared about his grades, after all, he was a student.

Ma Shicheng was still hopeful about the grades for this final exam.

Then again, Ma Shicheng felt incredibly foolish; he had played throughout the term, handing in his papers early during the unified exams. How could he expect good grades?

But deep down, he always hoped for a miracle.

Although in the math exam, he had only done the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions and the first three major questions, what if he got them all correct?

Just with math alone, he could score over one hundred points!

Or perhaps, his essay in Chinese this time scored full marks?

If Longlong could create miracles, then so could he.

Pondering all these, Ma Shicheng's confidence gradually returned. Although he had been engrossed in gaming all term, his foundation from middle school was still there, and even without much studying, he could at least place somewhere in the middle of his class, right?

He had not performed well last time, ranking in the bottom ten of his class, but this time, Ma Shicheng was absolutely confident that his ranking would be better than before.

He had ranked fifth from the bottom last time, and now with the addition of Wu Xiaoqi and Song Sheng, who had just been discharged from the hospital, with two people cushioning the bottom, his ranking would inevitably rise to seventh from the bottom, assuming his grades remained unchanged.

Moreover, Ma Shicheng thought back to the final comprehensive exam that day and felt that he might have done quite well.

Ma Shicheng continuously cheered himself on, using various reasons to motivate himself; gradually, he almost believed it himself.

With confident strides, Ma Shicheng approached the front of the academic building.

He saw the square in front of the academic building scattered with a dozen students gathered around.

Though Ma Shicheng often stayed up late playing games on his cell phone, he had a good foundation and had not developed nearsightedness.

He immediately spotted the slightly tilted display board standing on the ground, its edges adorned with two big red flowers, giving it a festive appearance.

The display was covered in many white forms.

It was the results display board. The school had also publicly displayed the results to all students during the first monthly test.

Ma Shicheng clenched his fists, his legs trembling with nervousness as he took a deep breath, and his forehead pimples blossomed anew.

He was the unbeatable Brother Ma!

Such trivial grades, a piece of cake!

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

He held his head high and strode over to the display board.

His imposing presence was overwhelming, and the two female classmates beside him couldn't help but clear a space for him.

Ma Shicheng stood in front of the display board like a king surveying his territory.

He skipped the grade-wide rankings and went directly to the class rankings of Class 8.

"This time, let's see where I rank!"

Ma Shicheng was filled with grand aspirations and ambitions.

He looked up and scanned from top to bottom: first place in Class 8 was Xue Yuantong, second place Jiang Ning.

After seeing just two names, Ma Shicheng paused to think.

"Searching for my name from the front to back means my ranking will keep dropping, and my disappointment will grow;

But searching from the back to the front means my rank will get increasingly better, and surprises will grow."

"Life's wisdom, counts backwards!"

Ma Shicheng felt enlightened and moved his gaze to the bottom ranks of the Class 8 results, a warm smile on his face.

His eyes followed, bright and filled with a captivating brilliance, like the formidable king of a hundred beasts.

But as soon as he looked, Ma Shicheng froze, then checked again, and a thunderous buzz filled his mind:

"What's going on, why am I last?"

"I'm the last in Class 8!"

"That's impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"What about Wu Xiaoqi and Song Sheng?"

"Are they making fun of me?"

Ma Shicheng perked up again and counted from the bottom up, and soon found Song Sheng in ninth place in the class.

Then, in third place, he located Wu Xiaoqi.

What the hell?

How could they rank so high?

Weren't one always playing basketball instead of attending classes and the other hospitalized for months?

Ma Shicheng was in disbelief, countless thoughts flashing through his mind.

But, that was the reality; he could only accept it—last place was last place.

Ma Shicheng stood numbly in place, the bright light in his eyes gradually dimming.

His still figure, like the silently standing display board.

A person and a board, facing each other, speechless, like a couple whose relationship had broken down, trapped in a cold war.

As time passed, more students came to check their grades, and Ma Shicheng's prominent position blocked others' views, prompting someone to urge:

"Classmate, you should be done by now, can you please move aside?"

Ma Shicheng silently moved aside.

Then, others again occupied space in front of the display board, and the students viewing their grades swelled like a tide.

Ma Shicheng was pushed aside, and he shifted further out until he was finally outside the crowd.

He watched the crowd, watched their expressions, lively, joyful, showing off, confident—all that had nothing to do with him, as if he was an outsider.

Though Ma Shicheng stood in the light, his whole being was covered in gray.

That year, at sixteen, he stood before the results board, looking like a mere minion.