Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation

"Yo, really?" Jiang Ning feigned exaggeration.

He recalled learning to ride a bicycle as a child, falling many times before finally mastering the skill.

"I learned to ride in elementary school, but it took me several days," Jiang Ning shared his experience.

"Several days? An hour is enough for me," Xue Yuantong boasted, "Just watch!"

She filled a basin with water, washed the little red bicycle, and even brought oil to lubricate the chain.

Pushing the bike outside, the weather was neither too cold nor too hot, and everything was ready for her turn.

Jiang Ning, thinking there were too few spectators, called out to Chuchu, prepared some nut jerky, brewed lemon water, and sat with Chuchu at the doorstep.

Xue Yuantong gritted her teeth in resentment, swallowed her saliva, and began adjusting the seat height until she could touch the ground with her feet when seated.

"How long do you think it will take her to learn?" Jiang Ning spoke.

Xue Chuchu thought for a moment and tentatively offered a number, "Two days?"

"I'm afraid that's not enough," Jiang Ning said.

Xue Chuchu: "Mmm-hmm."

Xue Yuantong mounted the bicycle, feeling very scared, not daring to pedal, she put her feet on the ground, moving forward in a wobbly manner, and the bicycle slowly slid forward.

She continued sliding, then switched to pedaling with one foot while sliding with the other.

After about half an hour, she had fully mastered the sliding movement.

Jiang Ning ate a few nuts and shouted, "Why don't you ride it?"

Provoked by this, Xue Yuantong said, "Ride, I will!"

She pushed off the ground hard, the bicycle moved forward, she gritted her teeth, her feet found the pedals, and just as she stepped on them, the bike started to wobble.

That feeling of losing balance terrified her, Xue Yuantong pedaled harder, the more she pedaled, the more it wobbled, she couldn't control it, "bang" she fell to the ground with the bike.

Jiang Ning couldn't hold back: "Hahaha."

Xue Yuantong, crushed by the bicycle, felt lonely and helpless; the world felt so cold.

"How about I buy you a pair of training wheels?" Jiang Ning suggested.

Xue Yuantong lay on the ground for a while, expecting Jiang Ning would help her up, but all she got was his laughter, she stood up furiously and shamefully.

"I don't want training wheels!"

Training wheels are two small wheels installed on the rear wheel of a bicycle to keep it balanced, Xue Yuantong had only seen them on kindergarten children's bicycles.

Such an underestimation of her!

Xue Chuchu whispered, "Why don't you help her?"

Jiang Ning: Learning to ride a bike, the more you fall, the faster you learn."

After all, with him overseeing, Tongtong wouldn't get hurt.

Xue Chuchu said nothing more.

After falling, Xue Yuantong dared not pedal again, she slid back and forth in front of Jiang Ning, witnessing the two of them enjoying snacks and drinks while she struggled to learn to ride, her gaze gradually became resentful, as if drowning Jiang Ning in it.

Xue Chuchu: "Ahem."

Jiang Ning, helpless, picked up the lemon water, walked to the back of the bicycle, and held the seat:

"Go on, you won't fall."

Seeing him there, Xue Yuantong's little mouth curved into a smile, feeling much safer, she put her foot back on the pedal, initially still wobbling as if about to fall.

Every time this happened, Jiang Ning held the bike steady.

"It's okay, ride without fear, you won't fall," Jiang Ning followed behind the bike.

Once Xue Yuantong was steady, he let go of the bike.

Soon, without Jiang Ning's help, she could pedal with strength and vigor.

At that moment, Xue Yuantong felt the freedom, pedaling fast, the wind blew on her face, lifting her hair.

She joyfully shouted, "Jiang Ning, Chuchu, did you see? I can ride a bike now!"

The tone was full of excitement.

Xue Yuantong pedaled more smoothly, after conquering the bicycle, she found it wasn't intimidating at all, a sense of pride welled up, making her feel extremely uplifted.

Pedaling for a while, Xue Yuantong suddenly realized a serious problem, 'How was she supposed to get off the bike?'

She only knew how to get on the bike, not how to get off!

The more Xue Yuantong thought about it, the more scared she became. In a panic, her movements changed, and all the techniques she had painstakingly learned were thrown out the window.

"Get off, I need to get off!" Xue Yuantong shouted in a flurry as she barreled straight towards Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning reached out his hand: "Ride towards me, I'll help you stop."

Xue Yuantong, in sync with the bike, shot forward like an arrow leaving the bow, unstoppable once set in motion.

She was speeding up, almost zooming right in front of Jiang Ning.

Xue Yuantong twisted the handlebars sharply, turning right and heading straight for the wall.

In an emergency, Jiang Ning raised his hand, lifting Tongtong off the bike; the bike crashed into the wall with inertia, making a "bang" sound.

He set Tongtong down, puzzled: "I told you to ride towards me, why did you turn?"

Xue Yuantong lowered her head and said softly, "...I was afraid of crashing into you."

Hearing this, a chord in Jiang Ning's heart was plucked, stirring an inexplicable emotion. He rubbed Tongtong's hair, speaking gently: "You wouldn't have."

...

Xue Yuantong spent the whole morning learning to ride a bike, with Jiang Ning's assistance, she made quick progress, but she still needed some practice before hitting the road.

After the exhausting bike learning, lunch would be prepared by Chuchu.

Jiang Ning grabbed a net and walked to the water tank in the yard. After a flood, he caught a lot of river fish, and since they couldn't finish them then, he kept them in the tank. Now, they were just right for a meal.

He netted some fish and put them in a basin.

The clear basin contained crucian carp, grass carp, pike fish, perfect for a mixed fish dish.

Xue Yuantong squatted by the basin, watching the small fish swim back and forth. As the fish moved, the water surface rippled and shimmered.

These fish had been kept for seven or eight days, still lively and energetic, showing no signs of decline.

It amazed her quite a bit.

Because Jiang Ning had imbued some Spiritual Power into them, the fish had been living quite well recently, though their good days were numbered.

Xue Yuantong reached her hand into the basin, waving it around as the fish darted around her hand, the sensation very pleasant.

"The pike fish looks different from the other fish. Is it because it swims really fast?"

Compared to the crucian and grass carp, the pike fish was slim and long.

Jiang Ning: "It's indeed faster."

"Last time I was catching fish, these ones leapt right up." Xue Yuantong said.

She looked at Chuchu, feeling regretful: "Chuchu, it's a pity you weren't home. You would have seen how great I was at catching fish!"

Chuchu didn't quite believe it, but Jiang Ning's agreement made Chuchu a bit puzzled.

After playing with the fish for a while, Xue Yuantong added: "These fish are so silly, swimming against such a strong current, but with Jiang Ning and my net, none of them escaped."

Xue Chuchu commented: "Swimming against the current is a fish's natural behavior. I watched a TV show last time; there's one type of fish that's really extraordinary, they can even leap several meters up waterfalls when swimming upstream."

"What fish is so amazing that it could jump several meters?" Xue Yuantong was shocked. If there had been a flood the other day and they encountered such a fish, wouldn't it have jumped up and slapped Jiang Ning in the face?

"Salmon," Xue Chuchu replied, recalling a TV program she once watched, "Salmon can live both in the ocean and in freshwater, with an incredibly strong Life Force."

"They swim from the ocean to the mouth of the river, then upstream, needing to constantly leap, sometimes facing cliffs and waterfalls, often jumping three meters high, and along the way, avoiding predators like hungry bears, ultimately reaching the rivers."

Xue Chuchu explained, the salmon's journey upstream is about adapting to their environment, spending their whole life swimming against the current. When she watched it on TV, she was moved by the spirit of these fish.

After listening, Xue Yuantong was amazed: "That's incredible! Swimming back from the sea into the rivers, and they can even jump up waterfalls."

Talking about this, she fell into deep thought.

Xue Chuchu thought about the salmon's upstream journey, and then about her own situation. To improve her grades, she was also facing challenges head-on, constantly working hard, conquering problem after problem until she could get into college, alleviating her family's burden, making it so her mother wouldn't have to work as hard.

Many times, what pushes Xue Chuchu forward isn't the faint glimmer of dreams ahead, but the overwhelming reality of the Abyss behind her.

Suddenly, Xue Yuantong said: "Salmon work so hard..."

Xue Chuchu was about to respond, to tell Tongtong that if salmon didn't work hard, they'd probably be eliminated by nature early on.

But Xue Yuantong said: "The salmon swim so diligently, their flesh must be firm and compact. They must be very delicious."