Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation Chapter 1571 - 860: The Gift Remains_2

Yao Haikuo leisurely put away the money, feeling quite good, not because of the money, but because he had finally found that youthful, passionate self he once was!

"Anyone else?" He pulled out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, but didn’t light it.

The game King of Fighters 97 is very popular in the country. Released in 1997, many players from the 70s, 80s, and even 90s have played this game.

The customers at Yang Fei’s rural tourism, mostly from the 70s and 80s, grew up hanging out in arcade halls, and everyone has bragged about their gaming skills at some point.

However, in a full house of guests, not a single person dared to challenge him.

Lin Zida, who was hanging out at rural tourism and hadn’t yet returned to An City, sat down casually: "Uncle, I won’t go easy on you!"

After that, he selected his strongest lineup: Ba Shen, Shenle, Big Pig.

Yao Haikuo picked a character focused on defense, played with caution, and sent Lin Zida flying whenever he jumped.

Veteran player Lin Zida was unexpectedly sent away after losing all three rounds.

He was stunned for a moment and asked, "Uncle, how did you walk out of the arcade hall back in the day? Didn’t anyone beat you up?"

Yao Haikuo remained calm, being from the 70s, back then he was one of the oldest in the arcade hall. After bullying the younger players, they often dared to be angry but didn’t dare to confront.

He received another twenty yuan and felt even better. Initially planning to just get some groceries for the New Year, he never expected such a windfall!

Yao Haikuo continued to shout, but no one was willing to play against him.

Yao Haikuo thought for a moment, took out his phone, opened Kwai, and shot a video while lamenting: "Getting old, people see me as old and don’t want to play games with me, alas!"

Surrounding guests sneered, two challengers in a row were defeated by Yao Haikuo’s cautious tactics, and one angry player even threw twenty yuan before leaving.

Now there was truly no one left.

Yao Haikuo could only say, "Lost twenty, won two hundred, who’s next?"

As people discussed, a crisp voice sounded: "Uncle, are you sure?"

Following the voice, everyone looked over, it was a little girl.

Yao Haikuo recognized Xue Yuantong, initially astonished, remembering how before, when he and his daughter came to the river dam, they were threatened by the Wu Brothers’ thugs, and if it weren’t for Jiang Ning’s help, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

And the little girl before him had a good relationship with Jiang Ning.

Yao Haikuo thought to himself: ’Since no one else is challenging, I might as well lose to the little girl and consider it a favor returned.’

Having made up his mind, Yao Haikuo cheerfully said: "Little girl, a hero is not judged by age!"

Xue Yuantong took over another arcade machine, and the two machines were linked for a battle.

Xue Chuchu pulled out a wet wipe to clean her joystick and buttons.

Xue Yuantong selected Qian He, Ba Shen, Kyo Kusanagi.

As soon as the characters were selected, someone immediately commented: "Clearly doesn’t know how to play games, isn’t choosing Qian He bound to be countered by that defensive character?"

"It’s over, it’s doomed!" the guest condescendingly pointed out.

Yao Haikuo thought: ’No, I need to act more convincingly, at least I should beat Qian He first!’

Thus, he continued his cautious approach, but ended up being pummeled to defeat by Qian He’s aggressive combo.

A guest laughed: "Hahaha, are you pretending for us, big guy?"

Yao Haikuo frowned deeply, seriously played the second and third character, but ended up losing all three rounds.

He gasped, finding it hard to believe.

The guests clicked in disbelief: "Wow, you really put on a convincing act, let me try!"

He pushed Yao Haikuo aside, took the stage himself, and after losing all three rounds, sulkily lost twenty yuan.

After a few matches, Xue Yuantong earned three hundred yuan.

An older man with a sullen face said: "Little girl, it’s best not to play games anymore."

Xue Yuantong puzzled: "Why?"

Lin Zida said: "Because it hurts adults’ self-esteem."

...

After arriving in Yuzhou, Jiang Ning didn’t go directly back to the River Dam Bungalow; he took out the Spirit Boat and flew toward Qingyu Lake.

Hundreds of meters above, looking into the distance, Qingyu Lake appeared like a copper mirror, and further beyond were misty green mountains.

The Spirit Boat flew over the security patrol zone set by Evergreen Liquid, and passed through the chain link fence, finally reaching above Qingyu Lake.

Though it was winter, Qingyu Lake felt like spring all year round, warm and pleasant.

As the wild ducks in the reeds of the shallow water flew up, they took off in flocks, filling the sky with their flapping wings.

A Spirit Boat slowly descended, landing on the lake’s surface, causing ripples, reflecting the blue sky, white clouds, and green mountains as if one was in a fairyland.

Jiang Ning’s Divine Sense swept through, causing the flowers to bloom in competition, attracting butterflies and bees to seek food. The cold wind became much gentler, and the sea of flowers swayed.

The only thing less beautiful was the distant sound of wild ducks quacking.

In the next moment, the Spirit Boat seemed to glide across a mirror, swiftly sliding to the shallow shore.

A few irritable drakes fought each other, pecking with their beaks, flapping their wings, and kicking their legs, as if the whole of Qingyu Lake was cheering for them.

And on the side, there was a delicate little hen duck watching everything, occasionally grooming her feathers leisurely while looking around for a more valiant drake.

Jiang Ning frowned: "Foolish!"

An invisible hand of Spiritual Power extended instantly, grabbing the fighting drakes, refining them all in an instant!

The environment of Qingyu Lake was too perfect, making the wild ducks too joyful every day. Jiang Ning would slaughter a batch from time to time, sending them to Shao Shuangshuang as employee benefits.

The little hen duck was frightened dumb, looking around bewilderedly, not understanding the situation.

Jiang Ning grabbed the little hen duck: "Demon, causing trouble among the duck flock!"

However, Jiang Ning was always merciful, he was concerned with equality. Even if the little hen duck was a creature of his territory, he still respected her. He was the ultimate ’equality advocate’ in a social sense.

In fairness, Jiang Ning and the little hen duck played rock-paper-scissors. The little hen duck chose paper, while he chose scissors.

The little hen duck, delivered.

Subsequently, Jiang Ning continued to patrol Qingyu Lake in Yuzhou, finding more ducks fighting crazily over territorial disputes: "Ridiculous, under heaven and earth, whose land is it but the king’s!"

He exterminated all these wild ducks.

There were too many ducks, and it was a struggle for Tongtong to eat them all, so Jiang Ning only kept the duck legs, duck feet, and duck wings, sending the duck bodies to Huqishan Villa.

In the Spirit Boat, Jiang Ning set up an open-air copper pot, simply processing, then adding oil, frying the duck legs, feet, and wings until golden and crispy.

During this, he fished out clams from the clear lake water, took fresh bamboo shoots from the mountain forest, and found bird eggs in bird nests.

He then paired them with cooking wine, chili peppers, star anise, bay leaf, cinnamon, and other spices to make a pot of fragrant, spicy, and numbing wild duck casserole.

’Cook it slowly, the more it cooks, the richer the flavor,’ Jiang Ning pondered.

...

River dam.

Xue Chuchu found the arrangement of the strawberry garden in perfect order. She felt she couldn’t assist, so she declined Yang Fei’s invitation.

She always believed there was no such thing as a free meal.

On the way home with Tongtong, she suddenly received a notification on her phone; it was a message from Jiang Ning.

She glanced at it — essentially, Jiang Ning was at the station needing her to pick him up with her electric scooter, but she couldn’t let Tongtong know as he wanted to surprise Tongtong by returning home secretly.

’A scare? Isn’t it more of a surprise?’ Xue Chuchu mused insightfully, also finding it somewhat amusing.

"Chuchu, why are you laughing?" Tongtong asked, puzzled.

Xue Chuchu immediately restrained her smile, resuming her usual cold demeanor.

Without revealing anything, she said, "Tongtong, I’m going to buy something in the urban area later."

Tongtong: "Can you take me with you?"

Xue Chuchu declined gently: "It’s too cold outside."

Tongtong proudly said, "I’m resistant to cold."

Xue Chuchu pursed her lips: "There’s no need."

Tongtong suddenly leaned close, suspicious: "Chuchu, are you hiding something from me? Tell me the truth."

She continued, "If you’re lying to me, there will be something delicious for lunch, and you’re not allowed a single bite."

This was too harsh a promise; Xue Chuchu certainly couldn’t agree, because every time Jiang Ning returned, he always brought delicious food for the first lunch.

Xue Chuchu countered, "If I really don’t eat a bite, would you let me go hungry?"

Tongtong said naively, "I wouldn’t let you go hungry, but would you have the heart to hide something from me?"

Xue Chuchu: "If I do choose to hide it from you, but you find out, would you still let me go hungry?"

Tongtong clapped her small hands, beaming with joy: "So you must be hiding something from me!"