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

Chapter 132 YY? Taoist, are you home?

After finishing two bowls of rice at Chen Shi'an's house, the class monitor returned home satisfied.

Since Chen Shi'an cooked lunch, Li Wanyin wouldn't let him wash the dishes, so Chen Shi'an sat on the sofa and watched TV with Fei Mo.

I snatched Fei Mo's remote control and wouldn't let him change the channel.

The black cat was domineering, and no one except Chen Shi'an could take the remote control from it. Seeing that it couldn't change the channel, Fei Mo simply stopped watching TV and lay sprawled on the sofa, dozing off with its eyes half-closed.

After cleaning up the kitchen, Li Wanyin wiped her hands clean, hung up her apron, and then washed a few green dates before bringing them out.

"Mengqiu went back?"

"Hmm, she said she's going back to take a shower and read a book."

"Shi'an, aren't you studying? I heard from Mengqiu that you guys have your monthly exams coming up soon."

"It's okay, I'll take a break this weekend."

"...Huh, is this racket Mengqiu's?"

Li Wanyin, who had just come out of the kitchen, saw the racket bag on the entryway cabinet and picked it up to take a look out of curiosity.

She had played badminton during her school days, but like most girls, she just played around in an open space, using the cheapest rackets provided by the school. Just by looking at Lin Mengqiu's racket, she knew it must be expensive.

Hearing the sound, Chen Shi'an on the sofa also turned his head.

"It's possible the class monitor forgot. I'll tell her."

He took out his phone and sent a WeChat message to Lin Mengqiu.

Chen Shi'an: [Class monitor, you forgot your racket.]
Ling: [...]
Chen Shi'an: [I'll bring it to you after evening self-study, so you don't have to run back and forth.]
Ling: [Okay]
Chen Shi'an put down his phone and continued watching TV.

Li Wanyin carried the plate of washed green dates over and sat down next to him.

"Shi'an, try these green dates, they're quite sweet."

"Did Sister Wanyin buy this this morning?"

"Hmm, they look pretty good, so I'll buy some to try."

"Was it paid for by public funds?"

"...Um, I guess we don't need that."

"Of course we'll eat together."

"Oh, just eat it, it's my treat. A few green dates aren't expensive."

Chen Shi'an picked up a green jujube, still glistening with water droplets from being washed, and took a bite. It was indeed thin-skinned, crisp, and quite sweet.

"It's delicious, thank you Wanyin, you have a good eye for shopping."

"Not bad~"

Seeing that Chen Shi'an seemed to enjoy the food, Li Wanyin was also in a good mood. So she sat with him on the sofa, eating green dates, chatting and watching TV.

"How's your studying lately? I haven't asked you recently. Have you had any tests?"

"Yes, I got 132 in Chinese and 141 in English on the last weekly test."

"Hmm, that's pretty... Oh?! You got such high scores in both Chinese and English?!"

She had planned to encourage and comfort Chen Shi'an's sister no matter how badly he did on the exam, but when she heard the score, her eyes almost popped out of her head.

"It's so-so. I'll try to improve next time."

"That's incredible! You had no foundation before... Your Chinese is okay, but your English is almost perfect?"

Chen Shi'an was never seen reading at home, so when Li Wanyin heard about his grades, she wondered what she had been studying so hard for all those years...

"What about the other subjects?"

"Zero points."

"..."

That's seriously unbalanced in your studies!
Fortunately, after listening to Chen Shi'an explain his study methods, Li Wanyin felt relieved. After all, if he could improve his Chinese and English scores to this extent in such a short time, he would definitely do well in other subjects as well.

Even though Chen Shi'an had never been to school, his demeanor gave people the impression of being gentle, refined, and erudite. Li Wanyin believed from the beginning that he would definitely excel in his studies, but she never expected his progress to be so rapid, so incredibly fast.

Of course, she was happy for him, and even felt a little proud, just like she felt when she told others how smart her younger sister was in school.

"Shi'an, you need to work hard and keep striving to get into a good university. Don't worry about anything else, I'll take care of it!"

"..."

Chen Shi'an turned to look at her and said with a smile, "Why does it sound like Sister Wanyin is going to support my studies?"

Li Wanyin blushed slightly and jokingly replied, "Sure! You're so good at studying anyway, this is an investment in you! Just remember your sister when you achieve success in the future."

"That's not the case."

Chen Shi'an said, "Even if I don't achieve great success, I will still remember Sister Wanyin."

"Um……"

Li Wanyin didn't dare look at him. She just tightened her legs together, as if her whole body was warm, and crunched on the green dates.

"What time is Sister Wanyin planning to set up her stall tonight?"

"Well, after you finish eating and go to evening self-study, I'll go over and set up my stall."

"Okay, then after evening self-study, if Sister Wanyin is still by the West River, I'll go over and have some sweet soup."

Li Wanyin laughed as she listened: "What if I sell out early and go home, then you'll be disappointed."

"That's even better, it means Sister Wanyin will make a lot of money tonight."

"Thank you for your kind words!"

Having eaten and drunk her fill, Li Wanyin was still thinking about getting tired. She actually wanted to continue chatting with Chen Shi'an, but she had to set up her stall that evening and start preparing sweet soup later, so she decided to take a nap to recharge.

"Shi'an, I'm going to take a nap. You can continue watching TV."

"Okay, Sister Wanyin, go to sleep."

Li Wanyin went back to her room for a nap.

Chen Shi'an turned off the TV.

He usually substitutes his lunch break with meditation at school, but now that he has some free time on the weekend, he plans to take a nap.

Instead of going back to his room to sleep, or lying on the sofa to sleep, Chen Shi'an moved a chair to the balcony, naturally stretched out his legs, leaned back in the chair, and closed his eyes.

The bright sunlight outside shone a warm red through his eyelids, and his thoughts drifted gently outwards. He could feel the breeze blowing on his face and hear the world's sounds like a lullaby.

A cat curled up on his lap, and Chen Shi'an placed his hand on the cat.

……

When he opened his eyes again, the afternoon sunlight had shifted slightly, and it was already 1:30 PM. He had just taken a 40-minute nap. He didn't feel groggy after waking up. Chen Shi'an felt that his mind had recovered well from this natural sleep. He stood up and stretched.

The cat fell off his lap, jumped onto the edge of the balcony, and continued sleeping on its back, basking in the sun.

For Chen Shi'an, who is not addicted to his mobile phone, contacting him via WeChat is purely a matter of chance.

It wasn't until the WeChat call rang that Chen Shi'an finally noticed the message Wen Zhixia had sent half an hour earlier.

Without even checking the news, he answered the girl's WeChat call first.

"Hey? Taoist priest, are you home?"

"Yes, what's up, Xiao Zhi?"

"You didn't reply to the messages I sent you while you were at home."

"I was just taking a nap."

I'll come to your house to find you!

"What are you looking for me for?"

"How about we study together? My aunt just bought some durians today, and she opened up a lot of them. I'll bring you a box to try. Have you ever had durian before?"

"Not yet, I heard it smells terrible?"

"It tastes delicious!"

"Then come here."

"Can I have lunch at your house this afternoon?"

"Sure, come on."

"Okay! I'll change my clothes and head over. After we have dinner at your place tonight, we can go to evening study together!"

"Okay."

"So, which building and floor do you live on?"

"Building 1, ninth floor."

"Okay, that's settled then. Wait for me, bye~"

"Bye-Bye."

Chen Shi'an hung up the WeChat call.

While waiting for Wen Zhixia to arrive, Chen Shi'an didn't rest either. He took out the 'wooden cicada' he hadn't finished carving before and continued carving it.

On weekdays, he can carve small wooden sculptures for fun, which usually takes him two or three hours to complete.

However, since this one was intended as a gift, Chen Shi'an put more care into carving it, and his work was much slower than usual.

First, carve out a rough outline, and then refine it little by little based on the scene in your memory and the feeling at that time.

The most important aspect of spiritual practice is cultivating the mind. Whether it's traveling, making wood carvings, incense, or paintings, it's all a process of cultivating the mind and practicing spiritual cultivation.

The mystery and vastness of the Tao determine that it cannot be comprehended through empty talk; it must be put into practice. External practice is a tool for cultivating the mind. By doing things, the abstract cultivation of the mind becomes operable and perceptible.

Everyone talks about seeking the Tao, but in fact, the core of "attaining the Tao" has never been "possessing the Tao," but rather "becoming a part of the Tao." At this moment, every thought and every action is in harmony with the profound and vast Tao, and this is what it means to attain the Tao.

Being fixated on the specific form of attaining enlightenment, such as what special abilities or realms one will achieve after attaining enlightenment, is seeking enlightenment with a utilitarian mindset. This deviates from the essence of cultivating the mind, leading to increasing frustration and ultimately resulting in obsession.

For ordinary people, cultivating the Tao is something too ethereal and elusive.

Unfortunately, with the Taoist methods lost today, even Chen Shi'an, a genius in cultivation, can only practice, comprehend, and explore little by little on his own.

Twenty minutes later, there was a gentle knock on the door.

Chen Shi'an stopped what he was doing and got up to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, Wen Zhixia appeared, carrying a backpack, wearing a school uniform, and holding a box of durians.

"My goodness... there's no elevator on the ninth floor! Climbing up here is exhausting!"

Why are you sweating so much?

"It's so hot outside! I walked really fast, and now I have to climb nine floors! Quick, quick, do you have any iced cola? Get me a bottle..."

"Then I'll get it for you. You can just put your backpack anywhere."

"Do you want to change your shoes?"

"No need to change."

Compared to Lin Mengqiu's reserved demeanor, Wen Zhixia was clearly much more at ease at Chen Shi'an's home.

She took the backpack off her shoulder and placed it on the entryway cabinet. Her eyes caught sight of the tennis racket, which was also placed on the entryway cabinet.

The girl blinked and curiously took out the racket to examine it.

"……Taoist priest!"

"Ok?"

Did you buy this racket?

Chen Shi'an took a bottle of iced cola from the kitchen refrigerator and looked at the racket in Wen Zhixia's hand, replying:

"No, class monitor."

"You borrowed her racket?"

"No, we played badminton this morning, and she left it with me. I'll take it back to her tonight."

"...You guys went to play badminton this morning!"

The girl's cheeks puffed out. This ice spirit had actually taken advantage of her sleeping this morning to secretly use her ball racket!

I asked Chen Shi'an yesterday if he had any plans for today, and he said no. So it must be Lin Mengqiu who launched the sneak attack.

hateful!