Rebirth: The Comeback of the Girl
Chapter 227 - 226 One, Two

Chapter 227: Chapter 226 One, Two

Cao Zhixin was grabbed by Zhen Yan and struggled but couldn’t break free. He could only watch helplessly as his friend sat next to Zhen Yu. His face, puffy like a bun, turned red with anger, yet he was helpless. All he could do was lower his head and glare at Zhen Yan resentfully, only to be met with an even fiercer glare.

He then realized that this man was Zhen Yu’s older brother! With his thoughts racing, he awkwardly sat next to Zhen Yan, draping an arm around him and said, "Lao Qi! I,"

"Shut up! I don’t want to hear it!" Zhen Yan awkwardly interrupted his third senior brother’s words. It was obvious he meant no ’good intention’!

Cao Zhixin was instantly struck dumb, "Uh..."

Feeling the awkwardness, he was relieved when Wang Lin and other senior brothers arrived.

"Master!"

"Sit!"

"Master..."

"Sit, everyone sit down then let’s talk!"

"..."

Amid the intermittent greetings, Cao Zhixin suddenly realized that he had just made a ’huge’ mistake!

He sneakily glanced at his master, only to be caught red-handed by Xu Lin! His master threw him a look that conveyed a message for him to reflect on his own, then he stopped paying attention to Cao Zhixin.

"You little rascal! I’ll deal with you later!"

After understanding his master’s intention, Cao Zhixin felt miserable inside, but he also knew it was too late for anything now and he could only wait to be punished later.

"Sigh..."

Zhen Yan witnessed all this and felt quite vindicated.

"Letting everyone eyeball my little sister like that! Hmph! I won’t bring Xiao Yu to hang out with you guys again!"

While Xu Lin and his disciples were exchanging pleasantries, Lu Huai was also not idle.

"Zhen Yu, I really didn’t expect you to come!" His tone carried a slight hint of excitement as he leaned over to speak to Zhen Yu.

Zhen Yu didn’t utter a word and completely ignored him.

Seeing this, Lu Huai just smiled and didn’t say much else, but his eyes kept stealthily glancing at her.

For Lu Huai, being proactive in talking to a girl was a first.

He is a junior high student, and neighbors with Cao Zhixin. In school, he’s quite a notable figure.

With good grades, good looks, and slick gaming skills! Although somewhat aloof, he is popular among his classmates and many girls fancy him.

But Lu Huai neither cared for them nor thought about early romantic relationships, so to avoid any misunderstandings, he rarely interacted with girls.

Zhen Yu, this girl...quite interesting. Before her, he had never lost a King of Fighters match, whether against girls or boys.

Lu Huai was eager to find out besides gaming, what else she might excel at!

—

When everyone had arrived, Xu Lin began to arrange the dishes for the meal.

Since the disciples are high school and junior high students, and minors, alcohol was out of the question; Xu Lin ordered various flavored drinks, and specifically asked for a hot coconut juice for Zhen Yu.

"Come on, pour out the drinks! Our Martial Arts Hall has grown a lot this year, with quite a few newcomers! All thanks to Xiao Yu, for bringing us all together! Let’s drink to that!"

Upon hearing this, everyone stood up and raised their glasses, Lu Huai couldn’t help but look towards Zhen Yu. "Thanks to her? Haha, even recruitment at the Martial Arts Hall can be linked to her? I’m growing more curious about her!"

After everyone had eaten a few bites, Xu Lin spoke again, "Let’s all introduce ourselves so we get to know each other better! No matter if we’re in the same class or not, we are all Xu Lin’s disciples, we must unite when outside! Linzi, you go first!"

"Wang Lin, vocational high school! This year I’m in my Senior High School, I’m the eldest senior brother!"

"..."

"Cao Zhixin, from First High School, freshman this year, I’m the third apprentice!"

"..."

"Zhen Yan, from First High School, freshman this year, I’m the seventh apprentice."

"..."

"Lu Huai, from Qi University Affiliated Middle School, the ninth grade this year."

"..."

After everyone finished introducing themselves, Zhen Yu was surprised to find that her brother’s six senior apprentices were not ranked by age! A college sophomore was ranked after a high school freshman...

"Brother, are those six senior apprentices arranged based on the order they joined?"

"Yeah! I was the seventh to come, so I’m Lao Qi! Nobody even asked my age back then, remember?"

"Ah, just remembered." Zhen Yu recalled the scene when her brother became an apprentice and nodded in response.

There are only seven Direct Disciples who have ranking; the other seven ordinary disciples don’t use apprentice titles. It seems Xu Lin is quite mindful of this.

Direct Disciples were mostly seated around Xu Lin, while the newly accepted disciples sat mostly on the sides and across, filling a big round table with sixteen people.

It was lively, but Zhen Yu always felt like there was a deep chasm in the middle of the table. Disciples on both sides didn’t mingle at all, each keeping to themselves.

However, Lu Huai here didn’t act like a conscious new disciple at all. From time to time, he tried to strike up a conversation with Zhen Yu, completely ignoring her cold demeanor.

Cao Zhixin also wanted to talk to Zhen Yu by bypassing Zhen Yan, but unfortunately, Zhen Yan was vigilant and Zhen Yu ignored him, making Cao Zhixin unsuccessful.

——

After three rounds of drinks and five courses of dishes.

Xu Lin called for attention, indicating everyone to listen to him. "The New Year is almost here! Our Martial Arts Hall’s classes will stop from next week. Classes will resume on the 16th of the first lunar month. As your master, I’ll give you some New Year’s money in advance, not much but it’s the thought that counts! Don’t look down on it!"

"Oh! New Year’s money!"

"Who would look down on that, Master! I’m happy to receive anything!"

A group of teenage boys noisily crowded forward, all of them being Direct Disciples. The newly recruited disciples were too embarrassed to move, though they were eager inside, still pretending to be calm on the surface.

Seeing this, Xu Lin suddenly gestured to Zhen Yan, "Lao Qi, come here! Help Master distribute these!"

As Master commands, one must obey. Zhen Yan immediately got up, took the red envelopes, and handed one to each new disciple.

It was just this moment! Cao Zhixin quickly swapped places with Zhen Yan, switching their bowls and dishes.

"!" Zhen Yu turned her head in shock upon hearing the noise. She had a "You’re nuts" in mind, unsure whether to say it out loud or not.

Seeing Zhen Yu looking at him, Cao Zhixin, with a dumpling-like face, wished he could smile like a steamed bun, "Zhen Yu! Let’s play a game together after dinner!"

"No!" Zhen Yu refused without mercy.

Cao Zhixin’s smile froze on his face, after a while, he asked somewhat unwillingly, "Why?"

Zhen Yu did not want to answer that question. Why should she go? Are they close?

Just as the atmosphere was getting a bit tense, Zhen Yan returned.

He didn’t even call him ’Third senior apprentice brother’ or ’Third brother’ anymore, directly shouting, "Cao Laosan! Go back to your own seat!"

Cao Zhixin spun around and grabbing the back of the chair, started acting coquettishly, "Not going! Didn’t you see I was chatting with your sister!"

Zhen Yan blurted out, "Chat my sister!"

Zhen Yu: "..."

Lu Huai: "..."