Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 668 - 413 Banquet_2

After some thought, I figured out how much money had been spent.

"Now that it’s still early, let’s watch a movie. In September, we probably won’t be in this classroom anymore," he said, "you guys pick a movie!"

Yu Wen chose ’Despicable Me 2’.

Jiang Ning had seen the movie before. Halfway through, he told Xue Yuantong and left the classroom.

He passed by Class 9 on his way, where only a few students remained. Other classes didn’t have a class president like Huang Zhongfei, so after the exams, everyone dispersed.

Class 10 was the same. However, in Class 11 upstairs, under the leadership of Xu Yan, everyone stayed and watched a movie, just like in class 8, but with a difference—they each had a handful of sunflower seeds, watermelons, and spicy strips.

Jiang Ning arrived at the office door where Guo Ran was waiting for him.

"Let’s go. I’ll treat you to something," Guo Ran said as she closed the door.

Jiang Ning took out a small exquisite jade bottle: "Here, for the summer vacation."

Guo Ran reached out to take the bottle, and together they headed off campus.

"What are your plans for the summer vacation?" Jiang Ning asked her.

Guo Ran smiled beautifully, "Well, my college roommate has set up a tutoring class in Nan City, and I plan to work there first to earn some money."

Her white shoes tapped lightly on the garden’s pebble path, her steps becoming more lively, and her every move seemed joyful. She picked a pretty leaf and held it to her nose to smell.

At this moment, Guo Ran did not resemble a teacher, but rather appeared as an innocent and cheerful student.

Passing by the garden pond, the clear water was scattered with lotus leaves, with goldfish weaving through, and at the center of the pond was a lifelike artificial mountain about three or four meters high, from the middle of which a spring bubbled up sparkling droplets.

Guo Ran had only graduated a year ago, her salary as a young teacher was low. Although she had been quite frugal, she had barely saved twenty thousand yuan in a year.

Now, by helping out at the tutoring classes over the summer, she could earn at least five thousand yuan.

"Work for a month, then go to Yunzhou for a visit; I heard it’s cool there in the summer," Guo Ran planned her summer.

After speaking, she asked, "And you?"

"I’ll travel around as well," Jiang Ning said.

"To Yunzhou?" she suddenly asked.

After asking, Guo Ran felt she shouldn’t have.

Jiang Ning replied, "We’ll see, I might go, or I might not."

"That’s like saying nothing at all," Guo Ran quipped.

Laughing and chatting, the two did not look like teacher and student, but rather like a pair of good friends.

Not far away, in the long pavilion with its long wooden seats, Tang Jing was there.

Seeing the two together, she said to the person beside her, Meng Zi Yun:

"Did you see that? The vixen teacher." freёnovelkiss.com

Her words were filled with jealousy and disdain; after all, it was Guo Ran who had thwarted her plans.

Meng Zi Yun looked at the attractive figure of Guo Ran without saying a word.

Ever since high school, Meng Zi Yun had grown increasingly averse to aggressive competitiveness, a complete reversal from her previous "big sister" demeanor.

Tang Jing, with her extreme personality and a need for revenge, wasn’t provoked by others on usual days but would stir up trouble whenever she saw something she disliked, let alone now with Guo Ran having offended her.

Tang Jing held no reverence for teachers and decided to make Guo Ran regret it.

She watched for a while and then said, "Isn’t that Jiang Ning from Class 8, have they gotten together?"

Meng Zi Yun’s eyelashes flickered. She still recognized Jiang Ning, who had broken three records at the school sports meet and was among the top three academically—quite an outstanding student.

Recalling the rumors she had heard, Tang Jing’s mind started to race, and she got an idea.

"So you, Guo Ran, want to mess up my plans? Now it’s my turn to make you suffer!"

Having made up her mind, Tang Jing took out her phone, ready to take a picture.

For her, starting with one picture and fabricating the rest, posting the made-up rumors on forums would surely make Guo Ran regret it!

Smartphone cameras in 2014 hadn’t started their rapid development yet, the quality was quite ordinary, mostly just over 10 million pixels and poorly optimized, far inferior to the later 50 million or even hundred-million-pixel cameras.

Tang Jing’s phone wasn’t a flagship model, and in order to take a clearer picture, she started moving towards Jiang Ning and Guo Ran.

She rushed to the side of the water pond and artificial mountain before it finally became clear.

She targeted the couple with her camera, ready to take the photo, but just as she pressed the button, the screen malfunctioned. No matter how hard she pressed, the shutter didn’t respond.

The critical moment turned into a fiasco, which infuriated Tang Jing. She was not exerting much force, yet frustratingly, she ended up slapping her phone away.

Her phone flew toward the pond, terrifying Tang Jing. She had only bought her phone half a year ago for over a thousand yuan!

She stomped her foot, trying to catch the phone, but missed due to not checking her footing and plunged into the pond.

With a splash, water sprayed everywhere, damaging the lotus leaves, and the goldfish frantically darted away.

Meng Ziyun from the garden was startled and hurried over, just to see Tang Jing awkwardly sprawled in the water.

Meng Ziyun immediately shouted, "Quick, save her, save her!"

Up ahead.

Jiang Ning was chatting leisurely with Guo Ran, his Divine Sense woven around the faux-mountain pond.

For someone like Tang Jing, who resorted to sinister schemes behind the back, he wouldn’t have much sympathy, thus he inflicted a slight punishment.

For a student, losing a cellphone constituted a significant penalty.

Moreover, he planted a Spiritual Sense Imprint on Tang Jing’s body.

Occasionally meting out lessons to others felt quite good.

...

At 7 p.m.

800 meters from the gate of Fourth Middle School was Bai Xiang Restaurant.

On the second floor, the dignified banquet hall.

At the large round table, Xue Yuantong sat upright with Bai Yuxia on his left and Jiang Ning on his right.

Compared to their calm demeanor, she held her breath, immobile, fearing she couldn’t match such a high-end setting.

Thoughts raced through Xue Yuantong’s mind:

’Everything’s carpeted, what if it gets dirty later?

’The table is so big, when the dishes are served, what if the tasty ones are too far from me?’

’In the restaurants on TV, before they eat, the waiter brings a bowl of water to wash hands, what if I mistake it for soup and drink it?’

She tried hard to maintain her etiquette to avoid seeming timid, but Bai Yuxia, who was beside her, had already noticed her nervousness.

Her hand gently rested on Xue Yuantong’s leg, causing Xue Yuantong to jump and become extremely vigilant.

Bai Yuxia gave her a dimpled smile.

Huang Zhongfei was busy looking after his classmates while also coordinating with the restaurant staff.

Still, he remained unruffled and handled everything with ease.

"Everyone is seated now, right? The food will be ready soon, just wait a bit," Huang Zhongfei reassured everyone.

Ma Shicheng shouted, "We’re not in a hurry."

Cui Yu said "The class president looks handsome today!"

Everyone was supportive, even Zhang Chi, who had a smile on his face. He wasn’t unfamiliar with wedding banquets, but this was different from acting stealthily; it was upright and proper.

A restaurant staff member entered carrying a projector case, and Huang Zhongfei helped set up the movie screen.

Yu Wen asked, "Class president, are you showing a movie?"

Huang Zhongfei smiled as he adjusted the equipment and turned on the projector.

He took out a USB drive from his pocket. This time, Huang Zhongfei didn’t let everyone choose a movie but instead opened a document.

Inside the document were many photos and videos. He clicked ’play,’ and the first image that appeared was a picture of Hu Jun jumping up to touch the basketball hoop during military training.

The entire banquet hall erupted in a buzz.

Wang Longlong exclaimed, "Wow, look at Brother Jun’s figure, ridiculously handsome."

Jiang Yanan boasted, "I took it, I took it!"

Then, it was all pictures of classmates in their military outfits – the strikingly heroic Yang Sheng, the stunning Bai Yuxia, the honest old soldier Dan Xiao, and others...

Everyone saw their familiar classmates as if seeing themselves a year ago, or as if conversing with their past selves.

The military training performance, then a video of Wang Longlong and Miao Zhe fighting in the classroom, Miao Zhe holding him by the neck and shaking.

Wang Longlong’s face turned red, "Who took this?"

Chen Siyu shouted out, "Wang Longlong, aren’t you good at commentating? Give us a play-by-play of your own scene!"

Lu Qiqi chimed in, "Do it!"

Wang Longlong chickened out.

Photos and videos rotated through, the English teacher Chen Haiyang under the sun, his head gleaming with reflections, and the previous math teacher lecturing at the podium.

A sense of melancholy surfaced in Hu Jun’s heart.

Scene after familiar scene, documenting everyone’s past year.

The food was ready, and several waiters with trays stepped into the banquet hall, gazing at the screen and then at the group of youthful classmates, they sighed, "Youth is wonderful!"