Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 699 - 426 Talking Sense_2

Jiang Ning said, "I’m not afraid of growing a beard, I’ll eat as much as I want!"

Xue Yuantong stubbornly said, "You think I’ll be scared?"

Seeing the childish argument between the two, Xue Chuchu smiled lightly, "Jiang Ning, you should compete with Tongtong to see who can eat less."

Xue Yuantong immediately admitted defeat and announced that she had become a loner, even Chuchu had betrayed her.

...

That evening they decided to eat loaches, but they faced a problem, the loaches caught from the pond were wild, lived in the mud, and were very dirty, requiring careful handling.

The best way was to keep the loaches in clean water for a couple of days to let them expel the dirt inside them.

But Xue Yuantong wanted to eat them that same night.

Xue Chuchu said, "You can eat them. Treating them with table salt can make the loaches purge the dirt and also remove the earthy taste."

Xue Yuantong recalled, "I think that’s how it’s handled."

Jiang Ning said, "Don’t worry, leave it to me."

Xue Yuantong was skeptical, "Do you know how to do it?"

Jiang Ning casually said, "Just watch."

With that, he picked up the bucket, poured out half of the loaches, about twenty, enough for three people.

He then poured half a bucket of clean water; the originally muddy loaches became clear and writhed in the water.

The two girls gathered around the bucket, observing his method.

Jiang Ning showed his right hand, a slender hand with distinctive knuckles, strong yet beautifully contoured, conveying a sense of power.

After seeing that, Xue Yuantong shyly hid her tiny hands.

She said, "Stop showing off, just get on with it."

Jiang Ning placed his palm down, pressing on the surface of the water, adopting the manner of a master.

Xue Yuantong scoffed, "Oh, acting all mysterious."

Xue Chuchu perked up, curious about what Jiang Ning was about to do. Normally, he was very dependable and seldom teased them.

Suddenly, a low-frequency "hum" sounded, like a sweeping wave, the entire bucket trembled.

The surface of the water seemed to boil, countless tiny bubbles formed, which different from boiling water, were uniform in size, almost exactly alike.

Jiang Ning exhibited his Spiritual Energy, meticulously controlled it, sending wave after wave of shock through the water, in sync with his penetrating Divine Sense, causing the loaches in the water to tremble frequently.

At the same time, countless bits of dirt overflowed from the loaches as if purging marrow and cutting bones.

Twenty seconds later, Jiang Ning withdrew his hand; the originally clear water had turned murky.

"Change the water," Jiang Ning instructed.

Xue Chuchu snapped out of it and hurriedly changed the bucket.

Jiang Ning repeated the process, and ten seconds later, the water in the bucket was only slightly murky.

"It’s clean now."

He had not only removed the dirt but also eradicated the parasites, bacteria, and the earthy smell.

That scene was too strange, and Xue Chuchu couldn’t help asking, "Jiang Ning, you..."

Jiang Ning said, "It’s a family technique."

Xue Yuantong, disliking his lofty manner, disdainfully said, "That’s nothing, watch this!"

She strenuously moved a bucket, dipped her hands into the water, and vigorously stirred, soon creating a vortex. To show off, Xue Yuantong threw a paper boat, which was immediately swallowed by the vortex.

Xue Chuchu: ...

’Forget it, I don’t care anymore.’

Although Xue Yuantong outwardly resisted Jiang Ning, she indeed produced a lot of dirt; the loaches looked very clean.

To be safe, Xue Yuantong sprinkled some table salt into the bucket, the loaches reacted to the salt as though it were poison, frantically writhing, making a ’clang clang’ sound, Xue Yuantong quickly covered the bucket.

After a while, she poured some cooking wine, then pulled out the loaches, beheaded them, gutted them, and flattened them.

"Tonight, we are having stir-fried loaches!" Xue Yuantong decided.

Jiang Ning had no objections; his only responsibility was to eat. During the mealtime, he leaned back in a small chair, playing with his phone.

Although the summer vacation had started, the class group chat still buzzed with 999+ messages every day, never experiencing a quiet day, showing just how strong the friendship among the classmates was.

Dong Qingfeng: "Planning to visit the South City Museum next week, anyone want to team up?"

Cui Yu: "Not going, maybe next time."

Jiang Yanan: "Is it fun inside?"

After a whole day of moving bricks, Zhang Chi scoffed, "What’s the use of looking at that stuff? Better to buy some food."

Because Zhang Chi had a bad reputation and was brusque, his comments were ignored by everyone.

Yu Wen: "My older sister plans to go next week, I’ll go with her."

Dong Qingfeng: "Then let’s plan a meal together, I know a private kitchen restaurant."

Duan Shigang backed his buddy Zhang Chi, "With that kind of money, it’s better to play games at the internet cafe."

Dong Qingfeng wasn’t someone to be trifled with, and retorted, "The money you spend at the internet cafe could get you into all the museums in the province."

Duan Shigang refused to give in, "Do you go to internet cafes?"

"Not anymore," Dong Qingfeng replied.

Seizing the opportunity, Duan Shigang pressed on, pointing out the critical issue, "Then have you visited all the museums in the province?"

Dong Qingfeng: "I’ve visited them all, so what?"

Duan Shigang: ...

Jiang Ning happily exited the group chat.

A message from a sinister-looking clown avatar came in, and Jiang Ning outright ignored it.

He searched through the school’s large group, stopped at a familiar name, and it was Ding Shuyan’s social media account.

A smile appeared on Jiang Ning’s face, thinking about the barbecue stall that night, Wei Zishan and Lin Zida were with Zhuang Jianhui.

Presumably, Ding Shuyan must know Wei Zishan.

An interesting idea came to his mind.

As he thought, he acted—clicking on the screen to add her as a friend.

The next second, Jiang Ning’s smile froze as the screen showed a notice [The user has banned friend requests].

...

Xue Yuantong held the cooking spoon, flipping the ginger, garlic, and small chili peppers in the pan while stir-frying the previously fried loaches, filling the kitchen with delightful aromas.

As she cooked, she swallowed her saliva, looking overly silly.

Xue Chuchu was making griddle cakes and cooked unleavened bread patties while a rice cooker steamed some green bean tea.

Jiang Ning contributed two tomatoes, which he had picked from his garden in Hu Qi Mountain. After Xue Chuchu sliced them, she mixed them with granulated sugar, and a dish of cold tomato salad was ready.

Dinner was one meat and one vegetable dish, eaten by the three of them as the evening wore on, the kitchen growing stuffy.

Jiang Ning turned on the door light and moved the dining table to the hall, close to the outdoor space.

Uncle Tang, who was cooling off with a fan, greeted, "Eating dinner at this hour?"

After chatting for a bit, the dishes were served.

Xue Yuantong didn’t start with the loach, but her chopsticks aimed for the tomato—these were brought back by Jiang Ning!

Xue Yuantong had been craving them for a long time, her chopsticks unstoppable, taking three pieces in quick succession.

She thoroughly enjoyed herself, but it was tough for Chuchu, who didn’t understand why Tongtong ignored the stir-fried loach and just focused on eating tomatoes.

Jiang Ning, noticing Chuchu’s restraint, said, "Don’t mind her, just eat."

Then Xue Chuchu finally picked up a piece of loach. Tongtong’s culinary skills were as excellent as ever, spicy and savory, deliciously flavorful without any fishy smell.

She chewed the loach, crispy and fragrant, even the bones were crispy.

Next door, Uncle Tang grabbed a handful of fried broad beans, looked at them, and said, "You three are cooking together all the time now?"

Xue Yuantong: "I cooked the meal!"

She moved her chopsticks toward the stir-fried loach.

Uncle Tang chuckled, his hand trembling a bit, and some broad beans fell to the ground. He quickly bent down to pick them up, not minding the dirt, dusted them off, and continued eating.

Seeing Xue Yuantong and the others looking over, Uncle Tang chuckled, "Don’t underestimate these few broad beans. During our era, it wasn’t easy to get your hands on fried broad beans!"

Xue Chuchu agreed wholeheartedly, "My grandfather too. Once when transporting peanuts home, some spilled on the way, and my grandfather stopped the car to pick them up."

Uncle Tang found the young girl sensible and chatted more, "A few here and a few there add up, it’s quite something. There’s a saying, ’Without accumulation of steps, there can be no thousand miles; without accumulation of streams, there can be no rivers and seas.’"

Xue Chuchu nodded lightly.

Uncle Tang was delighted and praised himself, "Our generation, used to hard times, knows best how to appreciate what we have!"

Xue Yuantong scoffed, "Last month you lost 50 playing mahjong, and I heard you sighing outside for quite a while. That 50 could buy you how many broad beans?"