Unconventional [Rebirth] - Chapter 18

Sun Guifen regretted her words the moment they left her mouth, but spoken words are like spilled water and cannot be taken back. Seeing people, both acquaintances and strangers, pointing fingers at her, the deep-seated frustration of never being better than He Fulan surfaced again! Why should He Fulan be feasting gloriously today while she and her son were being ridiculed? Her Cheng Cheng was clearly more diligent and hard-working than Jiang Rui!

Sun Guifen immediately threw caution to the wind and shouted, “He Fulan! Don’t you try to bully me just because you have a crowd here! Everyone, with or without children, knows that this year’s entrance exam was the hardest in years. Everyone here knows exactly what kind of grades your Jiang Rui usually got in school; how could he possibly score first place in the entire city? If Jiang Rui’s scores weren’t inflated, then how could my Cheng Cheng, who gets first place in the whole school every time, score less than him?”

Jiang Rui was currently keeping his Aunt He Fumei company. Although he couldn’t clearly hear the content of Sun Guifen’s shouting from outside, he could guess it wasn’t anything good.

He Fumei, who had been feeling tired and was resting, frowned and wanted to get out of bed to see what was happening. Jiang Rui was afraid that if Sun Guifen made a scene, she might bump into his pregnant aunt, so he quickly stopped her. “Auntie, at most, it’s just a small argument between guests outside; it won’t be anything serious. Please don’t go out. If things get chaotic and you fall or hurt yourself, it’ll be big trouble.”

He Fumei had never acted like an elder in front of her nephew, especially since their relationship had grown closer over the past year; she practically did whatever Jiang Rui told her. This time, she acquiesced to him. “Alright, I won’t go out. But I thought I heard your mother’s voice. Hurry up and go see; don’t let outsiders bully your mother.”

Jiang Rui nodded, covered her with a summer blanket, and closed the door as he left.

In the courtyard, Jiang Jianjun stood aside with a dark expression, his fists clenched. It was clear he was holding back his rage only because Sun Guifen was a woman.

He Fulan didn’t care about that. She rushed forward and slapped Sun Guifen, and before Sun Guifen could react, she grabbed her hair and forcefully slapped her in the face again and again.

Those nearby who reacted quickly rushed over to pull them apart, though most were clearly favoring He Fulan. Aunt Liu, who was strong, immediately went and grabbed Sun Guifen, firmly holding her arms so she couldn’t fight back. He Fulan seized the chance to kick Sun Guifen a few times, loudly cursing Sun Guifen for being immoral and insisting that her son’s first place was due to genuine ability, asking why she was wrongfully accusing him.

Jiang Rui saw the situation and had a rough idea of what had happened. This was the first time he had ever seen He Fulan get physical with someone. While He Fulan appeared shrewd and capable, half of Jiang Rui’s good temper came from her. Conversely, the seemingly honest Jiang Jianjun was terrifying when he lost his temper. In his previous life, when Jiang Rui came out as gay, Jiang Jianjun nearly beat his legs until they were crippled, leaving him with minor lasting effects.

When Sun Guifen tried to fight back, Jiang Rui subtly intervened, slowing down her movements so He Fulan could dodge. Once his mother had vented most of her anger and felt satisfied, he stepped forward and stood between the two women.

Sun Guifen was plump but lacked strength as she didn’t do physical labor year-round. She couldn’t hit Jiang Rui or push him away. After the encounter, she was disheveled and battered, with palm prints on her face and aching all over her body. In contrast, Mother Jiang’s hair wasn’t even messy!

Jiang Rui stood straight-backed in front of Sun Guifen and stared directly at her. “Aunt Sun, I heard about Brother Cheng’s poor performance this time, and I can understand how you feel. But Brother Cheng not doing well doesn’t mean I, Jiang Rui, couldn’t have an exceptional performance. Putting everything else aside, everyone here today is a neighbor from the village. Who doesn’t know what my character and grades were like growing up? If you feel my score is fraudulent, then please provide some evidence. If you can’t offer any proof, then please apologize to my mother in front of everyone. I am the junior and shouldn’t accept the insult, but my mother cannot tolerate being wronged for no reason.”

Sun Guifen had just suffered a beating and felt humiliated. Now, hearing that she had to apologize to He Fulan, she was so angry her vision blurred. Yet, she had absolutely no evidence to prove Jiang Rui’s score was fake. She could only continue to argue nonsensically. “You little brat, stop pretending! Your original scores weren’t even as good as my Cheng Cheng’s. How could you suddenly score so well? If you didn’t cheat, then what did you do?”

Jiang Rui couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Aunt Sun, your words are amusing. I’m number one in the whole city. Who would I copy from?”

This comment drew laughter from everyone present.

Indeed, they thought, if he’s number one, who could he possibly have copied from?

Sun Guifen realized her blunder and quickly changed tack. “If you didn’t copy others, then you might have copied a book, or maybe your teachers told you the answers beforehand. Yes! They must have leaked the questions to you! It must be a leak!” The more Sun Guifen spoke, the more convinced she became, even threatening to report the Ningping Town No. 1 Middle School to the city authorities for leaking exam questions.

Hearing this, everyone around, including Jiang Rui, felt that Sun Guifen had gone mad in her desperation to smear the Jiang Family.

Jiang Rui said calmly, “That’s even funnier. There were people from the village in the same examination hall as me that day. You can go ask around to see how strict the supervision was and if there was any chance to cheat. As for your claim about leaked questions, what kind of exam is the Senior High School Entrance Exam? Aunt Sun, do you think it’s like the exams at No. 3 Middle School, where answer sheets fly everywhere? The entrance exam security is no less strict than the college entrance exam. Where would our school get the ability to obtain the exam questions? You are no longer just wrongfully accusing me; you are wrongfully accusing our entire Ningping Town No. 1 Middle School, and the City Education Bureau! If there were leaked questions for the entrance exam, the primary responsibility would fall on the Education Bureau. Aunt Sun, we’ll treat your words as a joke, but if this reaches the ears of the Education Bureau leaders, don’t expect a peaceful resolution.”

Hearing this, Sun Guifen finally realized the severity of her words. With so many people present today, if her words really spread…

“Don’t try to frighten me! The sky is high and the emperor is far away. Can the Education Bureau control what I say? I just spoke without thinking.”

With Sun Guifen losing her composure and showing fear, the people around, some of whom had harbored initial doubts, now fully understood the situation.

Jiang Rui saw that none of her claims could hold up, and his tone suddenly became firm. “Since Aunt Sun cannot provide evidence, then apologize to my mother. That will conclude this matter today. Otherwise, to prove our innocence, our Jiang Family will have no choice but to take Aunt Sun to the Public Security Bureau for a trip and let them investigate the ‘exam leak case’ that Aunt Sun spoke of.”

Sun Guifen was surrounded by the Jiang Family and their supporters. She wanted to say, ‘No way will I apologize!‘, but she couldn’t force the words out.

None of the people who had come with her spoke up to help her. Standing alone among the crowd, being scrutinized and judged, she looked both infuriating and pitiable.

He Fulan had already vented most of her anger, and her son had refuted Sun Guifen’s claims so thoroughly that she couldn’t stand her ground. Now that she had calmed down, her anger had mostly dissipated. Thinking of Sun Guifen’s son, who had cried during the exam, she felt sorry for the mother and son.

“Forget it, Sun Guifen. I can’t accept your apology anyway. You are dishonest, but we in the Jiang Family cannot be as unkind as you. Let this matter end here. Our Jiang Family is too small to contain a great Buddha like you. Don’t ever step foot in my Jiang Family’s door again. Rui Rui, escort her out,” He Fulan said coldly.

Sun Guifen sneered, “No need to escort me, I’ll walk myself out.”

With her departure, the farce finally ended.

The good-natured and articulate neighbors helped smooth things over for the Jiang Family, and everyone returned to their seats to continue the banquet.

Jiang Rui found an excuse to return to his room, pulled out his phone, and saw a text message: [Someone will pick you up in Qing City tomorrow to bring you to Xiangcheng. We’ll talk when we meet. Also, congratulations on winning the top prize in the entrance exam.] Jiang Rui sighed. He knew that Rong Jingtang was likely looking for him because he had stopped providing the flowers. In fact, he had stopped that business with Yang Feng after he sold the gold he held. He hadn’t intended to get rich by selling the flowers anyway.

The flowers he sold had been cultivated in the Mystic Earth, but they were not naturally spiritual flowers. After a long period away from the Mystic Earth, the ling qi would gradually disappear, and they would revert to ordinary flowers. He had told Rong Jingtang this and had promised him that he would move the flowers back to be re-cultivated periodically.

Jiang Rui had started selling the flowers because he urgently needed money. Now that he had some cash, and considering the high price he charged, he felt he had already sold Rong Jingtang quite a few. To continue the business was unnecessary and made Jiang Rui feel uneasy.