Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation

Lu Qiqi, often feeling heartbroken by him, finally couldn't hold it in today. She shouted, "What's it to you? Ma Shicheng, are you out of your mind?"

This statement was rather loud, attracting the attention of half the class.

No one stopped them; everyone was just watching the drama unfold.

Ma Shicheng didn't say a word, he continued to play on his phone.

This only fueled Lu Qiqi's fire: "You're always making a fuss, who do you think you are?"

She glanced down and saw Ma Shicheng's English vocabulary book in his hand, "Oh, are you memorizing words? Hahaha."

Ma Shicheng replied, "I don't want to argue with an idiot."

Lu Qiqi laughed, "But I want to!"

That's what they call, turning the tables.

Ma Shicheng said, "Then you can argue with yourself."

Seeing the situation escalating further, a bigger conflict was brewing.

Upon seeing this, Meng Ziyun's eyes shifted. As a student who transferred to Class 8 later on, she always felt she didn't quite stand out there, like the popular Huang Zhongfei and others who barely noticed her.

So Meng Ziyun proactively said, "Qiqi, there's a question I'd like to ask you, do you have time?"

Originally, Ma Shicheng had no intention to argue; he didn't want to waste time arguing with girls.

Naturally, Lu Qiqi couldn't argue alone, finding a graceful exit as her anger gradually subsided.

Meng Ziyun started, "Someone added me to a QQ group, and then the group owner added me."

Chai Wei asked, "Is it a guy or a girl?"

"It's a guy," Meng Ziyun replied.

In 2014, WeChat hadn't yet surpassed QQ in market share. If you could own a large and active group of hundreds of people and become the group owner, you'd still have some 'status' online.

The group owner was the most prominent existence in the group.

Meng Ziyun continued, "He sent me a selfie, can you help me check how much his watch costs?"

Dan Xiao, who was passing by, perked up his ears instantly, glancing at the picture out of the corner of his eye. Ignoring the person, he recognized the watch brand at a glance, valued at around 100,000 yuan.

In contrast, Lu Qiqi wasn't as quick. She first looked at the person and found the guy in the photo strikingly handsome.

In terms of selfie skills, he was practically on par with her own.

"Very handsome!" Lu Qiqi remarked sourly. Such handsome guys were rare, and in the entire Fourth Middle School, only a few could compete.

Meng Ziyun smiled subtly, "He's nice. He even sent me a game gift before."

Cao Kun listening nearby felt something was off, internally feeling a pang of jealousy, thinking he guarded well in real life. Who would've thought Meng Ziyun could still mess around online?

'Faithless! How could you do this to me?' Cao Kun was furious and shocked.

Soon after, he thought he shouldn't judge his beloved with such thoughts, 'Maybe she was just dazzled by the allure of the world.'

After looking at the person, Lu Qiqi started examining the watch. She had some familiarity with women's luxury goods after cramming herself, but when it came to men's watches, she was a bit lost.

"How about this, I'll help you search with my phone." Lu Qiqi took out her phone and said, "This watch's appearance suggests it's not cheap. You've hit the jackpot!"

Lu Qiqi envied her, thinking if she could meet such an online acquaintance, she could surely snag some money. After all, online boyfriends wouldn't affect her real-life dating.

Just saying a few nice words and sending some photos could net quite a bit of money.

Unfortunately, most of the guys she met were broke, talkative, and very annoying.

Hearing her say this, Meng Ziyun felt pleased in her heart but modestly replied, "We're just friends."

Just as she finished speaking, Lu Qiqi's phone screen switched. She said, "Okay, here it is."

Meng Ziyun leaned forward to look and froze.

Jiang Yanan exclaimed, "Whoa, how did his information also come up?"

Yu Wen added, "The internet is really advanced!"

Lu Qiqi was overjoyed, bursting into laughter akin to a donkey's bray: "Ziyun, you're dating a K-pop star!"

Everyone was ecstatic except for Meng Ziyun, whose face turned a stormy gray.

...

During break time before evening self-study.

The boys' dorm was filled with a unique smell.

Dan Kaiquan was lying down, playing on his phone while Hu Jun was concocting a secret potion on the upper bunk.

Guo Kunnan was furiously copying a math test on the lower bunk. Tonight, Gao Heshuai randomly picked on unlucky students, and if caught, they faced severe punishment.

He was writing so fast that his wrist felt uncomfortable, occasionally shaking it.

Zhang Chi, sitting nearby, was playing on his phone. Midway through, he picked up a thermos and poured himself a glass of water.

The dorm room was in harmony.

Suddenly, the world seemed to freeze for a moment. The energy-saving lamp above abruptly lost power, plunging Guo Kunnan's view into darkness.

Exclamations echoed in the dormitory: "Whoa, is there a power outage?!"

"The power's really out!"

Not just in Guo Kunnan's dorm, next door, Yan Tianpeng and Shi Qianjin also ran to the balcony.

Indeed, all they could see was darkness.

In mid-November Yuzhou, it got dark very early. Without electricity, it was like losing the light.

Guo Kunnan was delighted, "If there's a power outage, does that mean I don't have to write the test?"

His words, though spoken, were drowned in the dormitory's noise.

Yan Tianpeng took Shi Qianjin's boombox and played a high-energy song, swaying to the beat and shouting loudly outside.

Many students ran out of their dorms to join them in swaying outside.

One after another, tens and hundreds of students stood in the corridor, shouting in merriment, mixed with curses towards Director Wang and Director Yan.

The scene was pure chaos.

Guo Kunnan was swept up by the atmosphere, throwing his test paper to the ground, "Write, write, write, I write a damn thing, I'm not writing anymore!"

Dan Kaiquan, equally hyped, smashed the water pipe beside his bed on the ground, "Let's get hyped!"

Hu Jun jumped off his bed, kicking over a basin filled with dirty clothes, "Why am I even washing these clothes!"

In a group, people are easily influenced by the mood—Zhang Chi got carried away, smashing the empty thermos on the ground, yelling, "I'm not drinking this water anymore!"

With a "bang!" the thermos smashed into pieces.

The power outage was very short; the power came back on in five minutes, and light returned to the world.

Dan Kaiquan picked up the water pipe, Hu Jun collected the clothes, Guo Kunnan retrieved his test paper, but Zhang Chi was left staring blankly at the shattered pieces.

Guo Kunnan pointed at him and burst out laughing, "Haha, Chi, you fool, we can pick ours up!"

He laughed with such glee, it was impossible to stop, almost dying from laughter at Zhang Chi.

Until Zhang Chi said, "Brother Nan, I broke your thermos, didn't I?"

...

Compared to the commotion in the boys' dorm, Class 8 was much calmer.

The previous power outage didn't affect them much.

The students, despite being excited, remained composed.

For example, Chen Qian, who loved studying the most, continued reading in the dark. Even if the world was plunged into eternal darkness, he would be the sole torchbearer.

Xue Yuantong slept soundly in the darkness, blissfully unaware of the world around.

Chen Siyu said to Bai Yuxia, who was sitting at Geng Lu's seat, "Jiang Ning just went out, and now the power's back on. He mentioned buying some snacks. Even if he buys them now, we can't eat them!"

Looking at the bright lights on the ceiling, her small face showed a hint of worry. With a few minutes left until class, Jiang Ning had just left, and by the time he returned, class would likely start.

The first class was Gao Heshuai's, and who dared to eat in his class!

The snacks and sodas Jiang Ning bought would surely go to waste, wouldn't they?

Bai Yuxia also felt something was off after hearing this.

She thought Jiang Ning's intentions were good, but unfortunately, the school's power came back on too quickly.

Worried, Chen Siyu's eyes suddenly lit up as she saw Jiang Ning's phone on the desk.

She quickly reached out, bit her lip, and hardily propped her arm up.

Once she grabbed Jiang Ning's phone and sat back down, her clothes slightly disheveled, her cheeks flushed from the earlier exertion.

Chen Siyu, full of excitement, opened the dial page and swiftly input Jiang Ning's number.

While dialing, she cheerfully said to Bai Yuxia, "Luckily we have his phone here, I'll call him back right now!"