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

Chapter 125 Fan Meeting

"Shi'an! You're open for business!"

Chen Shi'an successfully sold his first handmade item at his stall, and Li Wanyin seemed even more excited than him.

She heard and saw it all clearly; that little wooden pen holder was sold for four hundred yuan.

Even though she felt it was worth the price, Li Wanyin still found it incredible when she saw Chen Shi'an actually make the deal.

"Four hundred yuan! Just like that, four hundred yuan came into my account! Shi'an, you're amazing! Even if I sold all these sweet soups, I would only earn two hundred yuan at most."

"That's all thanks to Sister Wanyin."

Chen Shi'an smiled and said, "So far, all the customers who have come to my stall have bought dessert from Sister Wanyin first, and only happened to glance at my stall."

"Your stuff is good! It seems there are still quite a few discerning people. That lady and her husband really struck gold. You even gave her a free fortune-telling tip!"

"Hmm, just a quick look, I'll give it to you casually."

Chen Shi'an had only set up the stall to experience life, and he wasn't too excited about making money; his expression remained calm and indifferent.

More rewarding than the wood carvings he had just sold was the novelty of interacting with these customers.

After all, there are countless people in the world, and everyone lives a different life. Chen Shi'an certainly cannot experience every different life. However, getting to know other people's lives through contact with them is a rare pleasure for him.

Chen Shi'an checked the two messages that Wen Zhixia and Lin Mengqiu had sent him on WeChat.

Zhizhi: [Taoist priest, have you set up your stall yet? My cousin and I will go over in a bit!]
Chen Shi'an: [It's out!]
Zhizhi: [Then wait for me, I'm by the West River, let's share my location!]
Chen Shi'an: [How to share?]
System notification: 'Zhizhi' has initiated location sharing.
Chen Shi'an clicked "accept" and was then redirected to the map, where he saw the two people's WeChat profile pictures appear on the map, both of them right next to the river.

His light spot didn't move, but Wen Zhixia's light spot paused for a moment, then quickly moved towards him.

It's quite interesting to be able to determine each other's location using a map cursor and then move towards each other. If Wen Zhixia hadn't suggested it, Chen Shi'an wouldn't have known about this feature.

Since both of them were along the riverbank, they didn't need navigation after determining their direction, and Wen Zhixia exited the location sharing feature.

Zhizhi: [I'm here!]
Chen Shi'an: [...]
Exiting the chat with Wen Zhixia, Chen Shi'an clicked to check Lin Mengqiu's unread messages.

Ling: [Where are you?]
Chen Shi'an: [By the West River]
The class monitor replied just as quickly.

Ling: [I know, I was right by the West River, but I didn't see you.]
Chen Shi'an: [Squad leader, what are you doing by the West River?]
Chen Shi'an was curious. When Lin Mengqiu invited him to her house for dinner that morning, he mentioned that he was going to set up a stall with Sister Wanyin that night. At the time, the class monitor just replied with an "oh," but he didn't expect that she would also come to the West River like Xiao Zhi.

Ling: [Taking a walk. Where?]
Chen Shi'an: [Are you all alone?]
Ling: [Where are you?]
System notification: 'Chen Shi'an' has initiated location sharing.
Lin Mengqiu on the other end of the phone was stunned for a moment, thinking to herself that this stinky Taoist priest with the word "grandfather" in his name was getting more and more fashionable. Even she hadn't realized at first that location sharing was possible, so how did Chen Shi'an know?
Clicked and accepted Chen Shi'an's location sharing invitation.

Chen Shi'an looked at the cursor positions of the two people on the map. Just like Wen Zhixia, Lin Mengqiu was also walking along the river at this moment.

After seeing his cursor position, the class monitor's avatar, which was walking forward, paused for a moment, then turned around and moved towards him.

The two girls stood on either side of the riverside road, one on the left and one on the right. It was unclear which of them reached him first. Chen Shi'an put away his phone and continued carving the unfinished elm wood.

……

"Hey, why aren't we heading towards the cruise ship dock?" Uncle Lin asked curiously.

"...Let's go take a look over the bridge."

"Sure, it's all the same whether we take a walk or not."

Lin Ming sighed, "It's not good to stay at home all the time. It's nice to have some free time in the evening, eat a good meal, and then go for a walk!"

Lin Mengqiu: "..."

The father was quite surprised that after dinner together tonight, the girl, who usually prefers to stay at home, actually suggested going for a walk along the Xijiang River.

How long has it been since the father and daughter took a walk together like this?
Going for a walk with my patriotic and concerned father is a very boring thing...

Along the way, Dad kept marveling at the development here, talking to her about things like urban road planning, school districts, the economy, and people's livelihoods...

Lin Mengqiu rolled her eyes, thinking to herself, "Is it because I don't usually talk? Dad, how am I supposed to respond to what you're saying?"

She had originally planned to sneak out for a stroll along the West River to see what Chen Shi'an was up to, but no sooner had she been about to leave than her bored father followed her...

"...By the way, is Shi'an busy tonight? How about we call him out for a late-night snack later?"

He's setting up a stall.

"……what?"

Lin Ming was taken aback. "Set up a stall? Set up what kind of stall?"

"His roommate seems to be setting up a stall to sell sweet soup, and he went over to help her out."

"Oh! Little Li, is Little Li this diligent? I remember she just found a job not long ago, yet she still manages to find time to set up a stall. But young people these days definitely face a lot of pressure, especially with the street vendor economy here..."

Again!
Lin Mengqiu ignored him. After learning Chen Shi'an's location, she subconsciously quickened her pace.

Lin Ming looked at the dazzling array of vendors on the side and talked to himself for a long time. When he turned his head, his daughter was nowhere to be seen.

Looking up, I saw that they had all walked to the very front!
Then he hurriedly jogged to catch up.

Where do Shi'an and his group set up their stall?

"Right on the banks of the Xijiang River."

"Oh...where exactly?"

"The other side of the bridge."

"..."

The old father finally understood.

So this girl came to the West River for a walk tonight, and just now she did a complete 180-degree turn, all because she was thinking of finding Chen Shi'an!
……

It's already around nine o'clock at night, the busiest time of the year for the West River.

Because Chen Shi'an had just posted that Douyin post, many fans who lived nearby came to the scene to see it after seeing the post.

It's mainly out of curiosity!

I'm curious whether this [Chen Shi'an] is really as handsome as he appears in the videos, or if he's just unattractive in real life.

I'm curious whether he's really a Taoist priest;

I'm curious why he has so many skills at such a young age;

I was curious about what he was selling;
People are most proactive and enthusiastic when satisfying their curiosity.

Most online celebrities don't dare to show their faces in person, so when Chen Shi'an was so open about meeting his fans, those who lived nearby made a special trip to see for themselves. Fortunately, Chen Shi'an wasn't a big influencer, and only a limited number of his fans lived nearby and happened to see his posts; only about a dozen people came over.

Nine out of ten of them are female fans...

There were young girls in their teens and twenties, young women in their early thirties, and women in their forties and fifties.

In fact, Chen Shi'an's back-end data shows that 40% of his fans are male, but women are more enthusiastic about joining in the fun than men.

Although there weren't many fans, their presence quickly filled Chen Shi'an's stall.

"Chen Shi'an! You really are Chen Shi'an!"

"Wow, he's even more handsome than in the video..."

"Chen Shi'an! I've been following you for a long time! I've been following you ever since that Eight Pieces of Brocade video. Can we take a picture together?"

"Chen Shi'an! Can I take a picture of you?"

"Chen Shi'an, what are you selling? Did you make all of this yourself?!"

"Do you have pine nut candy? I watched your video of making pine nut candy before, and I've been wanting to eat it ever since!"

"Chen Shi'an, is Chen Shi'an really your real name?"

The young female fans were very bold, and since there were many people around, they weren't shy at all. They came up to him one after another to talk to him or take photos with him.

The only two middle-aged men in the room seemed more interested in the works and objects he had displayed, and they both squatted down to look at them.

Most of the middle-aged men who pay attention to Chen Shi'an have some understanding of Taoist culture or traditional culture, or at least are very interested in it. The two uncles looked at the wood carvings, handmade incense, calligraphy and paintings, and their expressions of surprise became more and more intense.

Meeting so many fans at once didn't make Chen Shi'an feel awkward. He stopped carving and stood up to chat with everyone.

It was the first time the fans had seen him in person, and it was also the first time he had seen these fans in person. He found it quite novel and interesting; the avatars and IDs on the screen had become living, breathing people in front of him.

"Where did you all come from?"

"Haha, I was just shopping nearby and heard you were here, so I came over to check it out!"

"I came from Qihe Street!"

The answers varied widely; some said they happened to be nearby, while others said they had come specifically for the occasion.

"My older sister made some sweet soup. A bowl of mung bean sweet soup costs three yuan, and a bowl of taro sago pudding costs six yuan. If you're thirsty or hungry, you can buy some to eat."

"They've already started reaping fans so quickly!"

"It's delicious, you won't regret trying it."

Chen Shi'an smiled generously and started doing business.

The fans were very supportive and gathered around Li Wanyin to buy her dessert.

"It actually tastes pretty good!"

“Delicious!”

"Are you really Chen Shi'an's sister? Why do you two look so different?"

"Yes, yes, thank you everyone for your attention to Shi'an."

Thanks to Chen Shi'an, Li Wanyin started selling sweet soup with great enthusiasm, and also helped maintain the enthusiasm of his fans as his "older sister".

A dozen or so fans gathered around, drinking sweet soup and chatting and taking photos with Chen Shi'an, which also attracted many passing tourists who came over to see what was going on.

"Master Chen, how much are these handmade incense sticks?" asked the middle-aged man who had been watching for a long time.

"Six hundred for one tube."

The middle-aged man remained silent, but a passerby who had been watching the spectacle exclaimed, "So expensive!"

Is this the scent of medicine?

"Yes, the tube you're holding has the effect of invigorating qi, calming the mind, and soothing the nerves."

"Then I'll buy one tube to try..."

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth, paid six hundred yuan, and bought a tube of incense.

Another middle-aged man spent four hundred yuan to buy a piece of calligraphy by Chen Shi'an.

"Master Chen, did you make this paper yourself?"

"Yes, I made the paper and ink myself. When I have time, I can record a video of making paper and ink for you all to see."

As long as you have popularity, you won't lack business. In the eyes of discerning people, Chen Shi'an's seemingly expensive works are actually not expensive at all.

Many passersby who were strolling around also gathered around, and Li Wanyin's dessert stall became very popular.

"This painting...!"

A retired man in his sixties was immediately drawn to the colorful ink painting depicting a mountain morning.

On the rice paper, the morning mist, like light ink, spreads from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside, tinged with a faint bluish-gray hue, as if veiling the rugged rocks with a thin veil. In the foreground, a few pine needles stand out with bold strokes, their tips tinged with light indigo and malachite green...

The ink tones in the painting complement each other, with colors not overpowering the ink. The blue, ochre, pink, and gold colors exude a warm and gentle charm in the morning mist, as if the crispness and warmth of a mountain morning have been blended into the brushstrokes.

"Young man, your painting..."

Before the old man could finish speaking, a cheerful and familiar middle-aged male voice suddenly rang out from the side.

"Shi'an! Sell this painting to me! I want it!"

The person speaking was Lin Ming, who had just squeezed into the crowd.

Not far away, Lin Mengqiu was looking at Chen Shi'an from outside the crowd.

That stinky Taoist priest, his business is booming!

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar figure jogging towards me...

Lin Mengqiu crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow, and subconsciously straightened up.

Isn't it already autumn? Why are there cicadas everywhere I go?

(End of this chapter)