Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 86 - : Forever in Love

Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Forever in Love

Wu Xiaoqi’s arrogant behavior had the classmates shooting him disgusted glances.

Wu Xiaoqi thought to himself, “You guys know nothing, the more you look, the more I’ll play.”

I’ll smack, I’ll smack.

He hummed softly, throwing the ball at the wall with exaggerated movements.

Even by Jiang Ning’s current standards, Wu Xiaoqi’s behavior was unbearable.

Like playing basketball, huh?

Jiang Ning hadn’t played basketball in a long, long time.

He activated his Spiritual Power, transforming it into a giant Spiritual Power hand, reaching for the bouncing basketball.

At the same time, Jiang Ning’s index finger moved slightly, drawing a Spirit Array—it was a soundproofing array. Since his current ability was weak and he had set it up in a hurry, the effect was just average.

But it was enough.

Jiang Ning lightly tapped his finger, and the invisible Spirit Array suddenly split into two. A smaller, circular Spirit Array flew towards the front row, covering Xue Yuantong who was lying on his desk, blocking ninety percent of the sound.

The other, larger Spirit Array acted like a barrier, standing between Wu Xiaoqi and the classroom students, cutting only fifty percent of the sound.

Jiang Ning looked again at Wu Xiaoqi.

Wu Xiaoqi smashed the basketball against the blackboard, and the basketball rebounded higher this time.

Wu Xiaoqi leaped up, arms stretched out, ready to catch.

Under normal circumstances, he would have caught it.

Just as his hands were about to touch the basketball, Wu Xiaoqi was already planning his next move—an aggressive dunk down!

He wanted to slam the ball hard!

At that moment, Jiang Ning drove the giant Spiritual Power hand forward, grasping the basketball like a grinding wheel.

Then, he squeezed fiercely.

Instantly, the basketball exploded, the air pressure inside bursting out.

“Boom!” An extremely loud noise echoed, first sweeping through the class, then reverberating throughout the entire school building.

The basketball exploded!

Wu Xiaoqi was struck down on the spot by the huge sound, his eardrums impacted, his head filled with explosions, disrupting his balance, and he collapsed onto the cement floor.

Not only Wu Xiaoqi but also the other classmates were stunned, and the whole class went into a daze.

Although the Array had cut the sound by half, the sound of the basketball exploding was still too loud, and the students had never seen a basketball explode and didn’t expect it to be so deafening.

Students from the neighboring Class 1 rushed over, and Lin Zida stood at the door, shouting inside:

“Did a gas tank explode?”

“What happened to your class?”

Lin Zida’s heart was pounding wildly; he had been playing games in class, and the loud noise nearly scared him breathless; he dropped his console on the floor.

Due to Jiang Ning’s Spirit Array, Class 8 students were not heavily impacted by the sound and began to collect themselves, one by one snapping out of it, and collectively staring towards the back row.

Dan Kaiquan pointed at Wu Xiaoqi, who was collapsed on the ground:

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“He was playing basketball at the back, and the basketball exploded!”

“That noise earlier was caused by him!”

Wang Longlong quickly added, “Right, everyone was quietly studying, and he was playing basketball at the back.”

Not just the two of them, other students in Class 8 stood up to blame Wu Xiaoqi, pushing him metaphorically against the wall.

Lin Zida exclaimed, “My oh my, someone who can explode a ball, definitely a talent!”

“Is this guy okay?” He looked at Wu Xiaoqi lying on the ground.

Now, Wu Xiaoqi was slowly getting his bearings back, his steps wobbly as he stood up.

His first words were, “Where’s my ball, my ball?”

Dan Kaiquan pointed at a few scraps of torn cover on the ground:

“Right there, take a look.”

“What, what did you say? I can’t hear you! I can’t hear!”

Wu Xiaoqi felt only a roaring noise in his ears, incredibly noisy, and he could only see other people’s mouths moving, completely unable to make out the words.

Wang Longlong interrupted, “It’s over, he played basketball until he made himself deaf.”

Taking advantage of Wu Xiaoqi being deaf, the classmates cursed him out some more, finally feeling a release of pent-up anger.

By then, many students had gathered outside Class 8, even from other floors, drawn by the loud noise.

Outside the windows of the Class 8 classroom, there were crowds of students packed tightly.

Amid the chaos, two male teachers walked in, the lead teacher with a stern face. He pushed through the crowd directly to the back of the class.

“What was that noise just now?” the male teacher asked harshly.

Wang Longlong recognized him as the Grade 1 head teacher, Mr. Yan, and reported:

“Teacher, this student was playing basketball at the back, and suddenly the basketball exploded.”

He pointed at Wu Xiaoqi, then pointed at the basketball shattered on the ground.

Mr. Yan glanced at Wu Xiaoqi. He knew Wu Xiaoqi from a past incident, and now trouble had surfaced again. If it weren’t for the boy’s parents, he would have expelled him long ago.

“Teacher, it seems Wu Xiaoqi can’t hear,” added Wang Longlong.

Mr. Yan grew serious, “Wu Xiaoqi, Wu Xiaoqi.”

Wu Xiaoqi’s mind still buzzed. He could only see other people’s lips moving, unable to hear any sound.

“Come, follow me to the school hospital,” Mr. Yan did not delay and immediately took Wu Xiaoqi to the school hospital.

As they passed the doorway, he glared at the students outside and yelled,

“Look, look, what are you looking at? Go back to where you belong!”

The students gathering outside class 8 scattered like birds and beasts.

After Wu Xiaoqi left, Geng Lu said,

“It’s really karma!”

Wang Longlong nodded eagerly, “Right, right, causing such a big commotion, I almost dropped Brother Ma’s phone.”

Dan Kaiquan came over, frustrated, “I heard the grade director Mr. Yan is strict, yet Wu Xiaoqi caused such a big issue, and he still remained pleasant. I’m truly baffled.”

Guo Kunnan commented, “No comparison!”

These words provoked diverse expressions among the classmates, all filled with an indescribable bitterness.

Dan Kaiquan cursed, “I really hope he ends up deaf this time.”

Wang Longlong said, “No, if he becomes deaf, he’d make even more noise since he can’t hear anyway.”

“I give up!” said Dan Kaiquan.

“I fucking give up too!” added Dan Xiao, visibly upset.

Dan Xiao looked at the basketball pieces and felt an overwhelming heartache.

That was his basketball!

The last time he nicked Zhang Chi’s basketball, he sold it to a kid from the neighboring village for twenty-five yuan.

Later, finding out the basketball was worth over one hundred, Dan Xiao considered it a great disgrace.

He knew sometimes the stolen goods could even fetch a price higher than the original.

That loss made Dan Xiao melancholic for a long time, even making him think he wasn’t cut out for thievery.

Finally, he resolved his pain and determined to excel at the only thing he did, get up where he fell.

Dan Xiao planned to redeem himself by stealing basketballs to sell at high prices.

However, no opportunity arose until Wu Xiaoqi joined class 8.

Dan Xiao was thrilled, striving not to lose any money. He kept a close watch on Wu Xiaoqi’s basketball, determined its brand, then searched online for the price.

Wu Xiaoqi’s basketball, astonishingly worth 268 yuan, was indeed from the ‘transfer big shot.’

Dan Xiao patiently awaited an opportunity, waiting for Wu Xiaoqi to slip up.

But then the basketball exploded. All of Dan Xiao’s waiting and hopes had gone down the drain.

…

During the last class of the evening self-study, Wu Xiaoqi returned.

The classmates looked over at him.

Wang Longlong greeted him, “Hey.”

Wu Xiaoqi glanced at him, returned to his seat without a word, looking in a very bad mood.

“Can you hear now?” Guo Kunnan asked with concern.

“It’s fine now,” answered Wu Xiaoqi briefly.

The school doctor had said his eardrums were shocked before, but they had recovered. Only his head was still a bit heavy.

Dan Xiao went to the back to throw away trash and joked as he passed by,

“Are you going to play basketball in the future?”

At these words, Wu Xiaoqi thought he was being mocked and instantly his expression darkened. He paused,

“I will never give up my basketball dreams!”

Hearing that, Dan Xiao instantly felt encouraged and said,

“Wu Xiaoqi, you will definitely make it into the pros in the future!”

“Hope to see you one day at the NBA courts.”

His tone was sincere, his expression earnest, not pretending.

Seeing Dan Xiao’s demeanor, Wu Xiaoqi was stunned, initially thinking he’d lose face and be despised. Yet, he found someone in the class still supported his dreams.

He felt moved, his eyes slightly wet,

“I will keep going.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll buy a new basketball, damn it, this time I’m definitely buying an expensive one!”