This humble Taoist priest wants to take the college entrance exam.

Chapter 120 Class Monitor, you're very curious!

After watching the movie, Wen Zhixia received a message on WeChat from her aunt, asking her to take Chen Shi'an downstairs for dinner.

After finishing their meal, they went straight to evening self-study, each taking their backpack with them.

Reaching the third floor, Wen Zhixia opened her front door.

Compared to the room where the two sisters lived on the fourth floor, the decoration and layout on the third floor seemed much more old-fashioned, but it also had a stronger sense of home.

In the kitchen, Li Yimei was still cooking, while several sumptuous dishes were already laid out on the dining table.

Unlike Lin Mengqiu's family, Wen Zhixia's aunt's family has more people eating together. There are always five people eating at each meal, and on weekends, including Wen Zhixia, there are six people. Often, some relatives and friends come to visit, so the number of people can easily reach ten.

However, because the chess and card room and the convenience store were both open, it was difficult for the family members to sit together for meals. Whoever was free would eat first, or whoever was hungry would eat first, and there was no particular regard for this.

At this time, besides Li Yimei, only Wen Zhixia's great-uncle and her little cousin Qiao Miaoqing were at home.

Qiao Miaoqing had just returned from eating KFC with her friends and was feeling full. She was lying on the sofa with her legs crossed, playing on her mother's phone. The message from 'Auntie' that Wen Zhixia had just received was sent by her.

Hearing the door open, Qiao Miaoqing turned her head and saw her cousin and a male high school boy wearing the same school uniform as her.

The little girl paused for a moment, then quickly sat up straight on the sofa.

Chen Shi'an wasn't surprised. He had just run into Wen Zhixia's little cousin at the intersection. She looked like a very lively girl. After smiling and nodding to her, he went over to greet Wen Zhixia's great-uncle.

The old man seemed to really enjoy playing chess. There was no one else around, and he was setting up the chessboard and reviewing the game by himself.

Chen Shi'an seemed to have a natural ability to attract older men, and before long, he was chatting with Wen Zhixia's great-uncle. The old man and the young man talked about the chess endgame.

Wen Zhixia sat down on the sofa, and her little cousin shuffled over to sit beside her, nudged her older cousin, and whispered:
"Second sister, is that your boyfriend...? He's so handsome!"

"Don't talk nonsense... We're just ordinary classmates."

"Really?... Second sister, don't worry, I'll keep it a secret!"

"roll roll roll……"

"Is he the guy you mentioned who learns English very quickly?"

"Yeah, some people memorize eight hundred words a day, how about you?"

"Liar! I don't believe it!"

"That person has only been learning English for less than half a month and got 128 points on the weekly test. What about you?"

"...That must mean you taught me differently than you taught him, right? Second sister, you're being unfair to me!"

"I'll teach you more, okay?"

The two sisters are about the same age, one is fourteen and the other is seventeen. They look like they are only three years apart, but they are separated by two stages: junior high school and high school.

Wen Zhixia, who is sometimes childish, also thinks her little cousin is childish. Thinking about it, she finds it strange. She thought to herself that she didn't think she was that childish when she was in junior high school. How come she thinks junior high school students are so childish now that she is a high school student?

"Zhizhi, you guys have to go to class later, you eat first."

"Okay—"

Wen Zhixia got up and went to the kitchen to help serve the rice, then called her great-uncle, Chen Shi'an, and her little cousin to come and eat.

The family runs their own business. Compared to working outside, they have a certain degree of freedom, but also a certain degree of restriction. As long as the shop is open, the family's life rhythm has to follow the business.

No matter where they ate, Chen Shi'an was never reserved. He followed the rhythm of Wen Zhixia's aunt's family and didn't wait for her uncle and aunt. The group casually sat down at the large round table and began to eat.

"Shi'an, don't be shy. It's just home-cooked food. Eat more, otherwise you'll be hungry after studying for so long in the evening."

"Auntie is a very good cook; all her dishes smell delicious."

What did you eat out for lunch?

"We're having barbecue! You know, the kind of all-you-can-eat barbecue. The Taoist priest grilled it for us, and it was incredibly delicious!"

"Shi'an, you can cook? These days, it's rare to find a young person who can cook!"

"Yes, when we were in the mountains, I was the one who did most of the cooking."

"Second sister, you guys had barbecue for lunch? Why didn't you invite me?"

"You're still not awake. If you were awake, I would have called you."

"Shi'an, eat, eat, make yourself at home, don't be shy. Let's play a few games of chess another time. The move you just taught me to checkmate is so brilliant, the more I think about it, the more ingenious it seems..."

"Oh right! Taoist priest, would you like a drink? There are some in the fridge!"

"Second sister, I need this! Get me a bottle of coconut juice!"

"Why do you drink so many beverages? You drink beverages all day long, I never see you drink water. People online are saying that drinking too many beverages..."

Chen Shi'an ate his meal with a smile and chatted with everyone. This was the first time he had ever experienced such a scene of the whole family eating together.

No wonder Xiao Zhi eats so slowly; how could he possibly eat quickly like that?
……

Because they had to rush to evening self-study, Chen Shi'an and Wen Zhixia didn't stay at home any longer. After finishing their meal, they took the initiative to put their bowls and chopsticks in the kitchen sink, told their aunt, and then quickly carried their schoolbags downstairs together.

The sunset was brilliant just after six o'clock. After dinner, the two strolled leisurely, as if taking a walk, with Wen Zhixia chattering away to him.

Unconsciously, they arrived at the school gate. To Chen Shi'an and Wen Zhixia's surprise, they ran into Lin Mengqiu, who was also on her way to school for evening self-study.

In the morning, the two girls went out for a bike ride together, but now that they've met again, they acted as if they hadn't seen each other at all.

Lin Mengqiu had just come out of her home after dinner. In addition to the backpack on her shoulder, she was also carrying three books in her arms, all of which were related to writing.

"Squad leader, what a coincidence."

Unlike Wen Zhixia, Chen Shi'an didn't pretend not to see her and naturally greeted her.

"Ah."

"Did you have meal?"

"Ah."

"Did Uncle Lin make this?"

"Ah."

"So late today?"

"Ah."

Lin Mengqiu didn't go into details about the reason. Mainly, she took a nap after riding her bike home in the afternoon. Seeing that she hadn't woken up yet, her father didn't wake her up. It was rare to see his daughter go out to play, and she hadn't been studying on the weekend, so he let her sleep a little longer until it was time to eat.

Chen Shi'an glanced into her arms, wondering what kind of books the class monitor had. When he suddenly saw the word "composition" on the cover, his curiosity immediately stopped him from asking.

Unexpectedly, Lin Mengqiu handed the three books on improving Chinese reading and writing skills that she was holding to Wen Zhixia right in front of him.

"...Class monitor, what's this?"

"Here you go, to improve your Chinese writing and reading skills."

The volume wasn't loud, but it was enough for Wen Zhixia to hear clearly.

"By the way, Taoist priest, did you bring the composition book I gave you this afternoon? Don't forget it at my house."

As if reminded of this, Wen Zhixia suddenly remembered it and asked.

Chen Shi'an: "..."

Didn't you see me put it in my backpack?
"Brought it."

After replying to Wen Zhixia, Chen Shi'an took the book from Lin Mengqiu and said, "Thank you, class monitor."

Chen Shi'an turned his backpack around and put Lin Mengqiu's book and Wen Zhixia's book together.

Lin Mengqiu also turned her backpack around, rummaging through it.

Soon, she handed Chen Shi'an a new, unopened pack of tissues.

"Tissues? For me?"

Chen Shi'an was about to reach out to take it, but Lin Mengqiu's small hand dodged away and was still reaching out to his right.

Wen Zhixia suddenly remembered something: when they went to the restroom together that morning, she had lent this ice-cold person a tissue...

No, you have to return the tissues too?!
Seeing that Wen Zhixia didn't take it, Lin Mengqiu spoke up:
"Here you go, thank you for the tissues this morning."

"...Never mind, it's just a tissue."

"..."

Lin Mengqiu didn't speak, but her hand still showed no sign of retracting, stubbornly remaining outstretched.

Chen Shi'an looked at Wen Zhixia, then at Lin Mengqiu, and then at the delicate white hand that was placed in front of him.

For a moment, I didn't quite understand what the two girls were doing.

Seeing that the situation was about to fall into another stalemate, Chen Shi'an sensibly gave them a way out.

"You don't even want tissues? Then give them to me."

Just as Chen Shi'an was about to reach for the tissues, Wen Zhixia beat him to it and finally took the pack of tissues from Lin Mengqiu.

Lin Mengqiu then withdrew her outstretched hand, secretly relieved. She never liked owing people things; if anyone else had lent her this tissue, she wouldn't have cared, but it was Wen Zhixia who lent it to her…

The thought of having lent her a tissue and then competing with her for it made me feel inexplicably guilty...

Now that's good, she not only returned the tissues to Wen Zhixia, but she also returned a whole pack for every one she borrowed, which finally eased her slight sense of indebtedness.

Logically speaking, they should be even, but when I think of the small helping hand Wen Zhixia extended at the crucial moment... never mind, I'll give her one point!
Only after receiving this tiny bit of approval in her heart, and adding it to the list of annoying cicadas, did Lin Mengqiu finally feel at ease.

Upon seeing the composition books belonging to Wen Zhixia in Chen Shi'an's backpack, Lin Mengqiu's expression turned cold, devoid of any sense of guilt...

You stinky Taoist priest! I told you last week I lent you my composition book, and you still had to borrow it from her! I'm deducting a point from your score!
……

Tonight's evening self-study session still requires a weekly test.

No need for next week. Next week is the last week of September, and the school usually schedules monthly exams in the last three days, which will be right before the National Day holiday.

As soon as Chen Shi'an, with his keen sense of smell, entered the classroom, he caught a faint floral fragrance in the air.

Tomorrow is Teacher Ye's birthday, and the whole class chipped in to buy her a bouquet of flowers. Qiu Yufu was in charge of this, and since it was the weekend, she had already bought the flowers in advance. They would present the flowers to Teacher Ye's mother during English class tomorrow morning.

Many students in the class also prepared their own gifts for Teacher Ye. This was not mandatory and depended entirely on personal sentiment. Moreover, the gifts were anonymous and delivered by Qiu Yufu.

The gift cannot be worth more than twenty yuan. It can be a small card or something you made yourself. Otherwise, Teacher Ye will definitely not accept it.

Before class started, Chen Shi'an took out the handmade incense he had prepared as a birthday gift for Teacher Ye from his bag.

He made the incense holder himself from spotted bamboo, and he also rubbed the incense inside himself. Although it was definitely worth more than twenty yuan, it was all handmade and he didn't break any rules.

Chen Shi'an was well aware of the value of what he made. Whether it was medicine, tea, incense, wood carving, or recipes, by worldly standards, all of these things he made were certainly quite valuable.

However, Chen Shi'an never considers these factors when giving gifts; he only gives according to his own feelings and personal affinity, and he gives gifts whenever he feels like it.

The class monitor was very pleased to see that Chen Shi'an was preparing incense as a gift for Teacher Ye instead of a wood carving.

However, she was still very curious about what kind of wood carving Chen Shi'an had given her mother that Wen Zhixia had mentioned last time...

"Class monitor, what gift are you going to give Teacher Ye?"

Greeting cards.

"you made it yourself?"

"Ah."

Can I take a look?

"..."

Lin Mengqiu took out the prepared greeting card from her bag. Since Qiu Yufu would see it anyway if she gave it to her, she didn't mind showing it to Chen Shi'an as well.

Like most of her classmates, Lin Mengqiu also liked Teacher Ye very much.

Perhaps it was because she didn't have a mother. Teacher Ye knew about this and usually took good care of Lin Mengqiu. She would often go to the teachers' dormitory and bring her some dumplings or snacks that she had made herself.

Who doesn't like Mother Ye?

I wanted to give Teacher Ye an expensive gift, but I knew she would never accept it, so I just made a greeting card for her, like most of my classmates.

It's a pity her crafting skills are lacking; otherwise, Lin Mengqiu thought it would be nice to make a small clay rabbit doll as a gift for Teacher Ye.

The greeting card was unsigned; it was an agreement among everyone that gifts should not be signed.

However, judging from the handwriting, it is still easy to tell who sent them.

Lin Mengqiu was not good at socializing, and the birthday greeting card had a simple sentence on it. However, Chen Shi'an could tell that the cartoon drawings on the card were all hand-drawn by Lin Mengqiu herself. They were a beautiful bunch of little butterflies, like baby's breath.

"The class monitor drew very well."

"~~~"

"Has the class monitor studied drawing before?"

"Ah."

There are many types of painting, but Chen Shi'an is most skilled in traditional Chinese painting. Although different painting styles have different techniques, they share the same underlying logic, such as understanding structure, using perspective, and composition awareness.

If he had brushes, ink, and Xuan paper, Chen Shi'an would paint traditional Chinese paintings; if there were walls, he would paint murals; if there were chalk, he would draw chalk pictures; and when he first started learning to paint, he even used charcoal from the stove to draw the most primitive sketches...

"You can do that too?" Lin Mengqiu asked.

"I know a little," Chen Shi'an said.

Lin Mengqiu glanced at him sideways.

She didn't know how good Chen Shi'an's painting skills were, but since that annoying cicada praised his wood carvings so much, she figured his painting skills must be pretty good too. Although carving and painting are different, aesthetics are universal.

"The class monitor draws so well, why doesn't he continue practicing drawing?"

"Just a hobby."

"Is the class monitor good at this kind of cartoon comic?"

"Ah."

"The little butterfly on the greeting card is drawn so well."

"~~~"

It seems that our class monitor is not only good at drawing rabbits, but also at drawing butterflies.

"Then I'll take it to Qiu Yufu for you."

"……Thanks."

Chen Shi'an, carrying his handmade incense and Lin Mengqiu's greeting card, walked over to the first group and handed them to Qiu Yufu.

"Chen Shi'an, this incense looks very expensive. Teacher Ye probably won't accept it. How much did you pay for it?"

"I made it myself. The incense holders and spices were all picked from the mountains. I didn't spend any money on them."

"You...you did this yourself?!"

"correct."

Qiu Yufu looked at it carefully and indeed there was nothing like a trademark.

She had heard of handmade incense before, but she never expected that Chen Shi'an could make it himself. She was quite surprised, and several of her classmates were also curious and wanted to see the incense that the Taoist master made himself.

"I reckon Ms. Ye will know who sent it as soon as you deliver it. Nobody in the class knows how to make this except you. But I think Ms. Ye will really like it; it smells really unique..."

……

After handing out the small gifts, Chen Shi'an returned to his seat.

As Chen Shi'an sat down, the wind that blew in his face carried his scent.

Lin Mengqiu was stunned when she smelled the fresh, rich scent of shower gel in the air, which had a hint of lavender and milk fragrance.

What happened?
She had never smelled a strong shower gel scent on Chen Shi'an before; at most, when she accidentally fell into his arms, she would catch a whiff of clean soap or some kind of herbal or pine scent...

Where does this obviously strong fragrance come from?
Just as Lin Mengqiu was contemplating whether to fall down and take the opportunity to smell clearly, Chen Shi'an turned to speak to her first:
"Squad leader, what did you and Xiaozhi do in the bathroom this morning?"

"Go to the restroom."

"You borrowed tissues from her?"

"...Are you curious?"

"curious."

"Then keep wondering."

Lin Mengqiu looked at him with a stern expression, as if she would stab him to death with her pen if he kept gossiping, so Chen Shi'an stopped asking questions.

Unexpectedly, after he started the conversation, Lin Mengqiu, who was doing her weekend homework, stopped writing and turned to ask him a question:
"You went to her house to watch a movie this afternoon?"

"Ah."

"Did you have dinner at her house after watching the movie?"

"Ah."

"...Then what else did you do?"

"Class monitor, are you really curious?"

“××××××!”

Seeing the Taoist priest's mocking expression, Lin Mengqiu finally stopped asking questions.

He stopped asking questions, but the doubts in his heart continued to accumulate...

That annoying cicada must have done something shady with him!

How dare you?

I'm furious!

(End of this chapter)