Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 1565 - 2: Helping Out

Reminder: This Chapter is from the past life.

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May 2016, the beginning of summer.

Weather: Overcast.

Yuzhou Fourth Middle School, Grade 12, Class 8, third period in the afternoon, self-study class.

In the classroom, desks piled high with books and exam papers, classmates buried in the sea of knowledge, the second hand of the clock on the wall spinning rapidly, with a reminder on the backboard indicating 32 days until the college entrance examination.

Seated together in a group.

A boy with dark skin and a bit of a laid-back charm raised his arm, lightly elbowing Jiang Ning to his left, his smile mixed with a hint of embarrassment: "Brother Ning, got any money? Lend me fifty."

Jiang Ning glanced up from his phone screen, puzzled: "Brother Nan, going online?"

Beside him, Ma Shicheng chimed in: "Brother Ning, don’t lend it to him. He’s not going online, he’s definitely going to waste it."

Guo Kunnan argued: "I’m pursuing my junior, how can you call it wasting?"

Jiang Ning retorted: "Is there a difference?"

Guo Kunnan: "Damn it!"

Ma Shicheng: "Brother Ning’s been speaking tough ever since he stopped chasing Shen Qing’e."

Jiang Ning’s face flickered unnaturally; now Shen Qing’e has a new love, and after a series of blows, he had already lost his spirit.

Ma Shicheng noticed Jiang Ning’s subtle expression and realized he’d misspoken, so he simply patted Jiang Ning’s shoulder: "No worries, the next one will be better."

Guo Kunnan sighed, trying to change the subject: "Hey, did you know? Ever since the accident, Xue Yuantong from our former Class 8 hasn’t been coming to school."

Ma Shicheng’s face showed some peculiarity: "I heard that at the time, students from Class 1 thought she was sleeping, slept through an entire evening study session, and it wasn’t until later after school when the teacher called her that they realized she had fainted."

Guo Kunnan lowered his voice: "Apparently, the students from Class 1 went to the hospital to visit her, and it turns out she has acute leukemia."

Upon hearing this, images popped into Jiang Ning’s head: one of a short, childish-faced little girl, often clinging to a hot water cup, munching on a large biscuit.

The other, the current Xue Yuantong, surrounded by the aura of being the top student in the city, with a graceful figure and pure innocence, admired by many.

Jiang Ning, having long heard of leukemia, instinctively said: "She needs a bone marrow transplant, right?"

Ma Shicheng shook his head: "We’re not sure, leukemia comes in many types, each with different treatment methods."

Jiang Ning: "If Chen Qian were still here, he could offer some insight."

After the class split, Chen Qian joined the experimental class.

As they spoke, class president Huang Zhongfei entered the class, taking a stand at the podium.

Big-mouthed Yu Wen asked: "Class President, what’s the situation?"

Huang Zhongfei furrowed his brows, facing the whole class: "The situation isn’t good."

In the afternoon, he and Mr. Shan went to the hospital to visit Xue Yuantong. Her appearance was still normal, but after consulting the doctors on the specifics, Shan Qingrong went to a corner of the hospital and quietly smoked a cigarette.

Before leaving, Shan Qingrong stuffed three thousand yuan, and Huang Zhongfei also gave three thousand.

Geng Lu said: "Xue Yuantong’s family conditions seem average, should we donate a little, even a few bucks?"

Before any classmates responded, Zhang Chi in the last row grumbled: "Why should I donate?"

Geng Lu, fiery-tempered, retorted bluntly: "If you don’t want to donate, you don’t have to, no one’s asking you to. And I just said, as long as you want to donate, even a few bucks is a gesture. Besides, let me ask you again, Zhang Chi, have you ever copied her homework? Can you swear you haven’t?"

Facing Geng Lu’s barrage, Zhang Chi’s face turned sullen, left speechless, he dropped a line: "Whoever wants to donate can donate, but I won’t!"

Dan Kaiquan cursed: "You’re such a scumbag!"

Zhang Chi looked around, met with disgusted gazes from everyone, and stiffened his resolve: "I just put down fifty bets on One Dollar Treasure, the prize is an iPhone 6s, I swear if I don’t win this time, let’s exchange it for Xue Yuantong’s speedy recovery, okay?"

Wang Longlong: "You’re confused, Chi Zi! You can’t win anyway."

Huang Zhongfei originally intended for the classmates to lend a hand, but unexpectedly, right from the start, there were objections.

What’s more, the purity of Class 8’s bloodline had long faded, with many students joining later. In the end, he gave up.

As the bell for the end of class rang, many students stood up to leave, and Jiang Ning called out: "Yu Zhu, want to go out for dinner?"

Huang Yuzhu looked troubled, thinking of his incompetent brother, and turned down the offer: "Not today, I’ve got something going on at home."

Jiang Ning: "Alright then."

Then, a girl walked over to Jiang Ning’s desk, tapping the pile of books with her finger, looking down from above: "Since you’re going out for dinner, bring me a crispy pancake and a cup of lemon tea." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Jiang Ning’s gaze extended, seeing a pair of fair hands, with a gold ring on the middle finger, making the fingers look even more delicate. It’s a ring given by Shen Qing’e’s ’male friend,’ one Jiang Ning could never afford.

He looked up, meeting Shen Qing’e’s pretty face.

Jiang Ning felt inexplicably repressed, as if this familiar face constantly reminded him of his ordinary looks, average grades, no special talents, nothing but a common boy.

Someone like him could never be part of her world.

Jiang Ning’s lips moved slightly: "My phone screen is broken, I’m going to get it fixed after school, won’t have time to bring dinner."

Shen Qing’e’s eyes squinted, her chilly gaze slowly retracting, she nodded: "Alright."

Then, she mocked: "Your phone screen broke during class when you got caught playing games, and you dropped it in shock, right?"

Jiang Ning paused for a few seconds: "It’s none of your business."

Shen Qing’e eyed his cowardly demeanor, a surge of vexation rising: "There’s only a month left till the college entrance exam, and you’re still playing games? No wonder you get criticized every day."

Jiang Ning suddenly thought of Aunt, the so-called accusations of him playing games are merely one form of oppression.