Unconventional [Rebirth] - Chapter 32

I didn’t expect him to be Jiang Rui.

Duan Xinrong spun a pen in his hand, watching the boy with a satchel slung over one shoulder walk towards his seat.

Jiang Rui sensed his gaze, looked over, and smiled slightly, just as he had in the store before, acknowledging him.

Zhou Yang wasn’t assigned to the same class as Jiang Rui. Although his grades were good this time, they didn’t meet the requirement for the experimental class. Cui Xiyun had intended to place him in the experimental class, but Zhou Yang refused.

Cui Xiyun could only put Zhou Yang into a class led by her former classmate, ensuring that an old acquaintance could look after Zhou Yang’s studies.

Jiang Rui and Wang Xiaorui’s Class Nine and Zhou Yang’s Class Twelve were separated by one floor. Perhaps due to the excitement of being in a new school, Zhou Yang would run to Class Nine every time class was dismissed. After only one day of official classes, the students in Class Nine not only recognized Jiang Rui and Wang Xiaorui, the two top students, but also remembered Zhou Xiaopang (Fatty Zhou).

The students in Class Nine recognized Zhou Yang because he was Jiang Rui’s buddy. On the other hand, Xie Gaoling, an outsider, was remembered by Class Nine due to his handsome face.

Whenever Xie Gaoling appeared outside the door of Class Nine, he would definitely draw the attention of a large group of girls. Some more outgoing and bolder girls would even approach him for a chat, and Xie Gaoling appeared willing to talk to anyone.

Duan Xinrong, Xie Gaoling, and Jiang Rui had only been in school for one day, but their reputation had already spread from the first grade to the third grade. Many older girls deliberately detoured several buildings just to pass by Class Nine and catch a glimpse of the three of them.

The seating arrangement in the class was arbitrarily assigned by Yao Jilan, not according to ranking. However, Yao Jilan had announced that after the first monthly exam, seating would be arranged according to ranking, like in other classes. Students might even be allowed to choose their seats based on rank, meaning those with lower ranks would be left with the remaining seats.

Jiang Rui and Wang Xiaorui were not seated together this time, but they were very close. Jiang Rui noticed that whenever Xie Gaoling came over, other girls, no matter how reserved, would occasionally peek out the window, but his close friend completely ignored him, even appearing quite impatient.

And aside from the first time Xie Gaoling came over specifically to see Duan Xinrong, his gaze seemed to linger more often in Wang Xiaorui’s direction during subsequent breaks.

These two people…

Jiang Rui looked out the window at Xie Gaoling, who was laughing and chatting with Duan Xinrong, while two attractive girls nearby occasionally tried to strike up a conversation with him.

The usual smile was absent from Jiang Rui’s face, replaced by a slight frown.

He carefully reviewed his memories of Wang Xiaorui from his previous life. He still had no recollection of whom Wang Xiaorui ended up with. After junior high, Wang Xiaorui’s grades definitely qualified her for a good high school, while Jiang Rui’s grades were average. They were never particularly close, and after that, they completely lost contact.

Before Jiang Rui went to prison, he couldn’t even recall Wang Xiaorui as a classmate, let alone know anything about her private life.

So, Jiang Rui was in a bit of a predicament. He didn’t know who Wang Xiaorui’s future husband was. Xie Gaoling seemed unreliable, but he couldn’t be sure that Xie Gaoling wouldn’t be a good partner for Wang Xiaorui. After all, things change, and who can predict the future?

After much consideration, Jiang Rui decided not to interfere in the affairs of Wang Xiaorui and Xie Gaoling, lest his good intentions actually cause harm and ruin his friend’s marriage.

Jiang Rui had already previewed the high school textbooks during junior high. Given his current level of comprehension, reading those obscure and difficult jade slips was no problem, and the textbook knowledge was no harder than that.

Yao Jilan, who taught English, soon discovered that Jiang Rui was exceptionally good at English. His grammar was solid, and his pronunciation when answering questions in class was natural and standard, while she, the teacher, still spoke English with an unshakeable regional accent.

In fact, it wasn’t just Yao Jilan; other subject teachers had similar feelings. A quirky old physics teacher even snatched away Jiang Rui’s textbook and told him irritably, “What are you wasting your time in Grade One for with that brain of yours! Young people really don’t appreciate the value of time!”

Jiang Rui: “…”

That old teacher was an out-of-towner who had retired but was somehow persuaded by the school to return.

The old teacher’s surname was Nan, and his exact background was unknown. Although he mainly taught physics, he sometimes gave open lectures on mathematics or chemistry. The nearly sixty-year-old man had a peculiar temper and a mind sharper than many young people. He managed to keep all the self-proclaimed smart students in his class completely subdued and respectful; there wasn’t a single person who didn’t admire him.

In truth, although Jiang Rui did not suppress his abilities as much in high school as he did in junior high, he was still within the normal range. After all, with the city’s top entrance score, it was reasonable for him to be excellent in all subjects.

However, this old man somehow saw that Jiang Rui wasn’t showing his true ability and pointed it out publicly.

Thirteenth High had no precedent for skipping grades, and Jiang Rui had just started Grade One. Even if he were to skip a grade, the school leadership would need to observe him for a period and administer a formal assessment.

No matter how much Old Man Nan objected to Jiang Rui “wasting time” in Grade One, he still had to abide by the school’s rules.

The story of Jiang Rui being half-praised and half-scolded by Old Man Nan in physics class soon spread throughout Thirteenth High.

The most conflicted person was Nan Hechao.

Old Man Nan was Nan Hechao’s grandfather. He originally didn’t want to tell anyone about this relationship for fear of causing trouble. But he trusted Jiang Rui’s character and didn’t want to hide such a thing from his buddy, lest it cause a rift between them later, so Nan Hechao had told Jiang Rui about it from the beginning.

Nan Hechao deeply understood his grandfather’s strange temper and felt terribly apologetic that his good buddy was innocently caught in the crossfire this time.

Jiang Rui didn’t take the matter to heart. Old Man Nan’s peculiar temper reminded him of the master who taught him jade carving in his previous life, Master Xue Hening.

It seemed that talented people all had peculiar tempers; his master was also an odd person. Although only in his forties, he always adopted the demeanor of an old man.

In daily life, Master Xue was most stringent with Jiang Rui, always finding fault and constantly trying to make things difficult for him. Yet, in the end, Jiang Rui was the one who learned the most comprehensive set of his skills.

Before Master Xue passed away, knowing Jiang Rui was short on money, he only left some years of jade carving experience notes to his other disciples, bequeathing all his proudest works to Jiang Rui. Not only that, he publicly declared that the true inheritor of the Zhuoyu School’s unique art was only his youngest disciple, Jiang Rui.

This step was originally a path Master Xue wanted to leave for his young apprentice—if Jiang Rui couldn’t make a living in other industries later on, jade carving would be his fallback.

But Master Xue’s painstaking efforts were ultimately let down by him.

Originally, Jiang Rui never understood why his master, who clearly disliked him, the apprentice who only dedicated three-tenths of his mind to jade carving, would still care for and protect him so much.

While in prison, Jiang Rui missed his kind master and repeatedly pondered this question. After thinking about it for a long time, he finally figured it out.

Whether Master Xue Hening scolded or protected him, it all came down to one phrase: tough love (literally, ‘deep love, severe responsibility’).

In Master Xue’s heart, no one could ever surpass the position of his young apprentice.

Such a simple thing, yet it took Jiang Rui many years to realize.

Jiang Rui finished his cultivation in the secret realm and took a shower in the bathroom. Unless he was injured, he disliked soaking in the Spirit Pond. Although the Spirit Pond water was flowing water, Jiang Rui was still unaccustomed to bathing in the water source he used.

He checked the time; it was only five in the morning.

“Jinnan, you didn’t call me right at my school time, did you? You never come without a reason. Speak, what is it?” Jiang Rui laughed.

Xiao Jinnan didn’t mince words and said directly: “The goods were stolen.”

Jiang Rui’s hand, which was drying his hair, paused. The smile was still on his face, but his voice cooled: “What happened?”

“You know that although it seems I took the lion’s share of Wenyinghui’s lucrative business, I couldn’t actually swallow much of it. Many people were secretly jealous of the deal I took on near the border of Country R this time.”

Jiang Rui nodded: “I understand. Do you need my help with this?”

Xiao Jinnan hesitated slightly.

Jiang Rui knew him; his brother would never be a hesitant person. For this incident to make him hesitate, his situation in Jinlin Province must have become quite dire.

Therefore, Jiang Rui didn’t wait for Xiao Jinnan to make a decision. He switched the phone to his other hand and chuckled softly: “Jinnan, tell me your exact location, and wait for me to get there.”

Jiang Rui didn’t tell Xiao Jinnan when he would arrive. In fact, he had no intention of traveling to Jinlin using ordinary means.

After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, cultivators could cover a thousand miles in an instant with just spells, without needing external tools like flying swords.

On the same night, after his parents went to sleep, Jiang Rui cast a spell to travel from Qingshi to the border of Jinlin Province, where he located Xiao Jinnan’s position.

It wasn’t cold in Qingshi in September, but here in Jinlin Province, a chill had already set in.

Many trees in the forest had begun to shed their leaves.

Jiang Rui’s steps rustled on the fallen leaves.

This border forest was vast and easy to get lost in. Villagers living below the mountain, or hunters who frequently worked in the woods, dared not venture too deep.

However, for Jiang Rui, two-thirds of the entire forest was covered by his spiritual consciousness, making the possibility of getting lost negligible.

Xiao Jinnan and his men were inside a wooden cabin in the forest.

In the morning, after Xiao Jinnan went out to contact Jiang Rui, he was spotted by the people watching them. His arm was hit by a bullet during his escape. The owner of the wooden cabin they were using—an old hunter—always had some gauze and wound medicine ready. Furthermore, the old hunter was elderly and had spent most of his life on the border, having seen plenty of turmoil, so a mere gunshot wound was truly nothing to him.

When the cabin door was suddenly knocked upon, the dozen or so people inside immediately tensed up, their bodies rigid.