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

Chapter 223 Teaching My Sister to Play the Flute
Because she had been setting up her stall almost all day, Li Wanyin was closing up early tonight.

Since I got home early, I cooked some noodles for the two of us and our cat as a late-night snack.

As soon as Chen Shi'an opened the door, he smelled the warm aroma of noodles wafting from the kitchen, which dispelled the chill of the autumn night.

He walked to the kitchen door and saw his thoughtful older sister wearing an apron, scooping the cooked noodles into a bowl, steaming hot.

"Is Sister Wanyin cooking noodles?"

"Hey, Shi'an's back! Perfect timing, the noodles just came out of the pot!"

"Sister Wanyin must have cooked it right before I got home, right?"

"How can there be..."

Li Wanyin smiled shyly, skillfully poured the soup into the bowl, sprinkled on chopped green onions, added a fragrant topping, and a little bit of her own chopped chili.

"Go wash your hands and eat it while it's hot!"

"Hmm, has Sister Wanyin taken a shower?"

"I took a shower, but the bathroom light tripped twice for some reason, it scared me half to death..."

"It's probably because the circuitry has aged over time. I'll go take a look in a bit."

"Shi'an, you can do this too!"

"Hehe, I'm studying physics now. When I was learning about circuits a while ago, I watched a lot of electrical engineering videos online."

No wonder people say that if you master math, physics, and chemistry, you can go anywhere in the world without fear. Now that Chen Shi'an has not only mastered math, physics, and chemistry but also has magical powers, he is even less afraid.

When he was studying circuits, he thought he would study the electrical circuits in the house thoroughly. However, having learned from the experience of a week-long power outage at the Taoist temple when he was a child, Chen Shi'an ultimately decided not to mess around. Now that he had the opportunity, he decided to tinker with it. After all, he had the physics knowledge of a high school student, and he couldn't possibly burn down the entire house's electrical circuits again...

"Then be careful... electricity is dangerous!"

"It's okay, it's not high voltage."

"...What are you saying!"

Li Wanyin was convinced; it was as if there was no danger just because it wasn't high-voltage electricity.

Let's eat noodles first~

"it is good."

The siblings sat down side by side at the dining table, and Chen Shi'an picked up his backpack and opened it.

Under Li Wanyin's curious gaze, Chen Shi'an took out the exam paper and handed it to her.

"Huh... is this Shi'an's midterm exam paper?"

"Yes, the results are in. Let's show them to Sister Wanyin."

"Really! What score did you get?"

"Sister Wanyin will know when she sees it."

"Then... I guess you did pretty well on the test?"

"Yeah, not bad."

Hearing Chen Shi'an say this, Li Wanyin was delighted. She put down her chopsticks, moved the soup bowl in front of her away, and wiped up the soup that had accidentally spilled on the table with a tissue before moving Chen Shi'an's papers over and looking at them one by one.

Having been away from high school for many years, I wouldn't say I've forgotten all the knowledge, but I've certainly forgotten most of it.

Li Wanyin was no longer able to answer many of the questions on the test paper, but the moment she saw them, a strong sense of familiarity welled up in her heart.

"Chinese...141!!! Is it possible to get such a high score in Chinese?!"

Li Wanyin was shocked, but what shocked her even more was yet to come.

"Math full marks! English 149!..."

Li Wanyin looked at each card one by one, her expression of shock growing stronger. Finally, she calculated the total score—

"7,723 points?!"

She looked at the theoretical scores for each subject's exam paper in disbelief; they were the same 750 points as her total score for all six subjects back then...

With a total score of 750, and only 27 points deducted from the six subjects combined, how come the total score is 723?!

Seeing his sister's dumbfounded expression, Chen Shi'an smiled as he ate his noodles.

He'd seen that expression on his face countless times today, but you know what? Seeing it on his family's faces felt completely different from seeing it on his classmates' faces.

There's a kind of... well, I feel quite proud.

"So, I didn't disappoint Wanyin, did I? I hope I didn't embarrass her at the parent-teacher conference."

"how come!!"

Li Wanyin couldn't wait to give her proud little brother a good reward.

"If you think it's shameful to get 723 points, then all the other students are doomed... That's outrageous, Shi'an. You... you really only studied for two months?"

"Well, it's alright, the high school curriculum isn't too difficult."

"...You've really hurt my feelings."

Chen Shi'an couldn't help but chuckle and reached out to move Li Wanyin's face back in front of her.

"Let's eat noodles. Sister Wanyin can watch it later, or the noodles will get cold."

"Uh-huh!"

While looking at Chen Shi'an's grades, Li Wanyin ate noodles and had an incredibly good appetite.

She couldn't help but think about what to wear to the parent-teacher conference this weekend...

I hope she won't have to give a speech on stage later!

……

After finishing their noodles, Chen Shi'an went to investigate the problem of the bathroom light tripping, while Li Wanyin cleared the dishes and went to the kitchen to wash them.

Actually, it wasn't a big problem. After checking it, Chen Shi'an determined that the light itself was broken. He guessed that it was autumn and winter, and the water vapor from showering caused the light to short-circuit and trip the circuit breaker.

"Shi'an, can you see where the problem is?"

"Hmm, the light is probably too old. I'll just go for my run tomorrow morning and buy a new one from the hardware store."

"That's good……"

Chen Shi'an clapped his hands, picked up the chair, and went out.

As he passed by the living room, his gaze fell on the bamboo flute on the coffee table. It was the very same bamboo flute he had brought back from his trip back to the mountain to give to Li Wanyin.

"Sister Wanyin, you have time to learn the flute today?"

Li Wanyin followed his gaze, a slightly embarrassed smile appearing on her face:

"Well, I closed up shop early today, and since I hadn't practiced with the one you gave me before, I took it out and practiced a bit."

She picked up the smooth Xiangfei bamboo flute, gently stroking the body with her fingertips, clearly liking it.

"How's Wanyin's practice going?" "Hehe... Not so good. It's far worse than when you played it last time. I practiced for a long time but couldn't produce a decent sound."

"Learning a musical instrument takes some effort."

Chen Shi'an took the bamboo flute from her hand: "If Sister Wanyin wants to learn, I can teach you some basics now?"

"Now? Won't that take up your time? You haven't showered yet..."

"It won't make a difference if we wait a little longer. Come on, Sister Wanyin, sit down."

Li Wanyin sat down as instructed, straightening her back, appearing somewhat reserved yet earnest.

"Won't it disturb other people this late?"

"It's okay, I'll soundproof it. Sister Wanyin is practicing with my instructions, so it won't disturb anyone."

"Soundproofing...? What soundproofing..."

Li Wanyin didn't understand, but she did whatever Chen Shi'an told her to do.

She has always loved music, and the bamboo flute that Chen Shi'an gave her is her only decent musical instrument.

She was also thinking of practicing the bamboo flute well so she could play a beautiful tune for Chen Shi'an.

Chen Shi'an stood beside her and took the bamboo flute from her hand.

"First, you need to know how to hold it steady."

As he spoke, he placed the flute horizontally below Li Wanyin's lips and adjusted the position of her hands.

"Left hand on top, right hand on the bottom, fingers naturally curved, fingertips pressing the holes, fingertips not sticking up, relax a bit..."

Li Wanyin tried her best to adjust her posture according to his instructions, her fingers clumsily covering the flute holes.

When Chen Shi'an grabbed her hand, her heart started racing.

Her beautiful cheeks gradually flushed pink, but she dared not be too distracted, afraid that Chen Shi'an would think she was stupid.

"Hmm, something like that, then try blowing air out, with your lips slightly pursed, like this..."

Chen Shi'an demonstrated the mouth movements: "When blowing into the blowhole, the breath should be steady and focused, don't use too much force."

Li Wanyin took a deep breath and blew hard into the blowhole—

"puff!"

A short, lisping sound rang out, and she couldn't help but laugh, her face turning even redder and more embarrassed.

"Oh, this..."

"It's okay, it's always like this at the beginning."

Chen Shi'an smiled patiently, "Your breath is too strong and too scattered. Relax, try again, and exhale gently."

Li Wanyin adjusted her breathing and tried again. This time her breathing was gentler, but she still couldn't create a stable airflow.

"Woo..."

A faint, trembling sound was barely uttered before it disappeared again.

"That's better. You need to concentrate your airflow a bit more and purse your lips a little more."

Chen Shi'an leaned down slightly and gently touched her lower lip with his finger:
"Here, reduce the volume a little more. Don't rush to think about how loud you can play; first, find the feeling of airflow that makes the flute vibrate."

He touched her lips, and Li Wanyin's pretty face turned even redder, her legs tightening.

"Then how about I demonstrate for Sister Wanyin?"

"Okay, sure..."

Chen Shi'an took the bamboo flute from Li Wanyin's hand. She had just played it, and Chen Shi'an didn't mind. He just grabbed a tissue and wiped it casually.

Before Li Wanyin's wide eyes, Chen Shi'an brought the bamboo flute that had just touched her lips to his own.

Then, several standard basic sounds rang out.

"Did you see clearly, Sister Wanyin?"

"I saw it clearly..."

"Then let's try again, Sister Wanyin."

Chen Shi'an pulled over a tissue to wipe the flute, then handed it back to her.

Li Wanyin naturally didn't mind!

Under his meticulous guidance, Li Wanyin tried practicing several more times.

Finally, during a careful and relatively steady playing, the flute produced a faint but clear and continuous [woo-] sound.

"Ah! Is the pitch right this time?"

Li Wanyin quickly looked up at Chen Shi'an, her eyes filled with joyful excitement.

"Right, that is it."

Chen Shi'an smiled and nodded affirmatively.

"Sister Wanyin, remember this feeling. Your breath must be steady. This is the fundamental tone. All other notes are derived from this foundation through variations in fingering. Sister Wanyin, you can increase your breath slightly more, but don't rush, keep it steady..."

Li Wanyin tried to do it, and sure enough, the tone became clearer and more stable.

She tried loosening one finger, and her tone changed noticeably.

She looked at her fingers and the flute holes with delight, as if she had discovered a new continent.

"Sister Wanyin is indeed very musically talented."

"Hehe, it's all thanks to your teaching, Shi'an~ I'm actually quite stupid."

"It's good to practice blowing and breath control today. Practice breath control and blowing whenever you have free time, and your fingers will naturally relax."

"Ok!"

Li Wanyin happily agreed and carefully played a few more basic notes.

Although still a bit raw, it seems that I am getting closer and closer to my dream of playing a beautiful tune for Chen Shi'an.

……

The autumn night wind swirled outside the window, while the living room inside was bathed in warm light.

Chen Shi'an was taking a shower in the bathroom, Li Wanyin was practicing the flute, and the fat cat was fast asleep in the corner of the sofa.

As Chen Shi'an took off his school uniform jacket, it suddenly occurred to him—

broken.

He forgot to ask her for the school uniform that the class monitor had washed for him before.

I just snatched first place from her today, I'm afraid I won't be able to get my school uniform tonight if she ends up in my hands...

(End of this chapter)