Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 671 - 415: Take It Away

South of the river dam, on the large open space in front of a row of bungalows, Uncle Zhang rubbed his hands together, his tone displeased.

"Even when hitting a dog, you should look at the owner. And here I am, the owner, standing right next to you, watching my own dog get beaten. Does that seem right to you?"

No, it doesn’t!

Just before, Xiao Jiang hit the dog, sending it flying 2 meters with a single slap. It looked scary, but Uncle Zhang was a pig killer.

Every day, he dealt with things ordinary people didn’t, and back in his busiest days, with a knife in his hand, he could slaughter six pigs in one day.

Then there was the cleaver he wielded, chopping bones and meat. His life’s skill was all in his arms.

As for his diet, it was good. Pig offal, pig intestines—he never ran short of them. Uncle Zhang ate heartily, and his arms were, frankly, bigger than others’ thighs.

The mass of muscle even spread to his face. According to others, he exuded a deadly aura that could make children cry.

"Wanna wrestle?" the old man from next door, sitting on the benches by his doorstep, called out.

Upon hearing this, he immediately offered advice without asking, "Xiao Zhang, how old are you to be squaring off with Xiao Jiang?"

Uncle Zhang, with sharp eyes and a loud voice, replied, "I’m not. I just noticed Xiao Jiang has some strength and thought I’d test his arm."

"If he doesn’t study well in the future, he can learn to kill pigs from me and never worry about a living."

Xue Chuchu had a strange look on her face, watching the distinguished Jiang Ning by her side; she simply couldn’t imagine him in the act of slaughtering pigs.

Jiang Ning patted Xue Yuantong and told her, "If your brother starts killing pigs in the future, you’ll have more pork than you can eat every day. Happy about that?"

Xue Yuantong fantasized for a moment, her eyes sparkling with longing:

"I want to eat the pig tail. Save one for me after you finish slaughtering pigs!"

Once, as a child, her mother had made braised pig tail, which was not the least bit greasy, chewy, and delectable beyond words.

Unfortunately, when she later asked her mother to buy it, she couldn’t find any in the market. If Jiang Ning learned to slaughter pigs, wouldn’t she be able to eat it every day?

Hearing Xiao Xue’s remark made Uncle Zhang chuckle, "Alright! I’ve got a pig tail at home. Xiao Jiang, let’s arm-wrestle. If you can hold out for 10 seconds, I’ll bring it right over to you."

Saying so, Uncle Zhang shook his immensely strong arms, which seemed rather intimidating.

For men, comparing who has more strength, arm-wrestling is a fine way to do it.

The old man next door, seeing it was just an arm-wrestling match, didn’t intervene anymore. After all, they were neighbors—fighting would only hurt the harmony, whereas arm-wrestling was quite acceptable.

In fact, the old man next door was also curious. He knew Jiang Ning and his extraordinary strength, having seen him help with the stone roller in the fields before.

Today again with the dog incident, it was clear that his strength was exceptional.

As for Xiao Zhang the pig killer, well, that went without saying.

Xue Yuantong got excited about the pig tail for a while, but soon after, a hint of concern crept into her clear eyes.

Arm-wrestling didn’t seem like a big deal, but she remembered the last time her mother had broken a bone and was hospitalized. A patient in the same ward had fractured his arm from arm-wrestling too forcefully, suggesting the activity carried certain risks.

She could do without eating, but it was unacceptable for Jiang Ning to get hurt.

She sized up the strong Uncle Zhang, then tugged at the corner of Jiang Ning’s clothes.

Jiang Ning turned and gave her a reassuring look, then said to Uncle Zhang, "Fine, let’s give it a go and see if I have the opportunity to become a pig killer."

Uncle Zhang, pleased with his agreement, was thrilled inside. Having had his dog hit by him, he had to show Xiao Jiang a bit of color and make him realize who was the boss of the River Dam Bungalows!

Uncle Zhang’s eyes swept around the surroundings and spotting the stone roller in the distance, he felt it was a good platform for arm-wrestling, walked over, tipped it over, and rolled it his way.

Xue Yuantong was still worried, already thinking about how she would take care of Jiang Ning if he were to break a bone.

Xue Chuchu, noticing Tongtong’s concerns, gently grasped her hand and reassured her in a soft voice, "Don’t worry, Jiang Ning knows his limits."

Xue Yuantong asked, "How do you know he knows his limits?"

Why did it suddenly feel as though Chuchu understood Jiang Ning better than she did?

Xue Chuchu explained, "He doesn’t do things he’s unsure of."

In the time they’d spent together, she deeply realized that Jiang Ning rarely showed the immaturity of other boys his age; instead, he was mature, calm—nothing like a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy.

It was undeniable that being by his side created a sense of security.

But sometimes, he would also do things that seemed risky, that felt exhilarating.

The memories of Jiang Ning floated through Xue Chuchu’s mind, and then, dismissing the clutter, she couldn’t help but laugh at herself, ’What am I thinking about?’

The old man next door brought over two wooden stools, and Uncle Zhang and Jiang Ning sat opposite each other, facing the stone roller between them.

Now, the gray stone roller stood up.

Uncle Zhang looked at the stone roller’s uneven surface and declared, "Xiao Jiang, your arms, not used to labor, will hurt if they knock against this."

While saying so, he extended his bulky arm, "Unlike me, I’m not afraid."

Jiang Ning smiled breezily, "No problem."

The old man next door stood by the side to watch. The commotion had attracted other residents of the same row of bungalows, one of whom, a fifty-year-old teacher named Qian, came over.

Upon seeing the scene, Teacher Qian said, "Brother Zhang, picking on Xiao Jiang isn’t right. What’s your profession and what’s his? Aren’t you just bullying the boy?"

In his words, he took this as just a bit of fun.

Uncle Zhang, irked at the sound of his voice, found Teacher Qian annoying. This Mr. Qian was all talk and no action, always droning on about grand things, acting tougher than anyone else, but at crunch time, he was incredibly stingy, always looking for petty advantages.

"I want to teach Xiao Jiang how to kill pigs, what’s it to you?" Uncle Zhang said impatiently.

Teacher Qian, adept at reading the room, fell silent observing the mood.

Finally relieved of the noise, the two men clasped hands. Uncle Zhang’s muscles quivered; he was used to arm-wrestling and could usually judge his opponent’s strength as soon as he gripped their hand.

Uncle Zhang declared firmly, "Xiao Jiang, your spirit is commendable!"