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

Chapter 224 Slow and Steal

The next morning, when Chen Shi'an arrived at the classroom, he talked to Lin Mengqiu about the school uniform.

"Class monitor, I forgot to ask you for my school uniform last night. Did you bring it today?"

"……Um."

Lin Mengqiu nodded, but remained hunched over the table writing her test paper, making no other movement.

Chen Shi'an waited for a while, then couldn't help but remind him:
"Then...can you bring it to me?"

"...It's not like I'm not going to pay you back, why are you in such a hurry?"

The class monitor frowned, then looked around reluctantly, took out his backpack, and handed the neatly folded school uniform back to Chen Shi'an.

"Thank you monitor."

"..."

Chen Shi'an picked up the school uniform jacket, touched it, and smelled it. Suddenly, his expression became a little strange.

He blinked and looked at Lin Mengqiu again; the girl's expression also looked quite unnatural.

"Monitor..."

"……What's wrong?"

Perhaps because she felt guilty, the girl herself didn't realize that her tone of voice had risen when she replied.

Why does my school uniform smell like you?

"...You smelled me?"

"No, I was just smelling my school uniform."

"Then why did you say your school uniform smelled like me..."

"It's because my school uniform smells the same as the class monitor's."

"...You smelled me!"

"Um... the class monitor is wearing my school uniform?"

The girl was already flustered with shyness, and Chen Shi'an's direct question made her face turn even redder with embarrassment.

You stinky Taoist priest! What a dog's nose! Shrimp head! Shrimp head!

"...You yourself said you'd lend it to me that night."

"Didn't the class monitor wash up?"

"washed."

"Then how..."

"It was cold last night, so I covered myself with your school uniform."

"Oh, oh. Should I cover myself on top of the blanket or inside?"

"XXX!"

Lin Mengqiu was furious with him. Her face turned bright red, and she didn't answer his question. She reached out to snatch his school uniform.

"If you don't like it, I can wash it for you."

"No need for that, I don't mind."

Chen Shi'an grabbed the school uniform and dodged away, quickly putting it back into his backpack.

When she looked up again, the bottle of milk that had been on the table was gone, but a corner of the milk carton was vaguely visible inside the girl's desk...

Oh no, I carelessly lost my breakfast milk!

I should have drunk the milk first before asking.

……

According to the 24 solar terms, the Beginning of Winter is just a few days away, and the temperature drop will become more and more obvious.

It's understandable that he might use his school uniform as a cover-up because there weren't enough blankets available when they were sleeping...

After all, starting today, the school's morning exercises have been canceled and moved to the second period, turning them into recess exercises.

On the first day of formal classes at the beginning of each month, the school does not conduct morning exercises, but instead uses the time for a monthly summary meeting.

The entire student body stood on the playground listening. The person in charge of speaking was the most talkative Vice Principal Zhou. Standing there for more than twenty minutes listening to Vice Principal Zhou speak was truly a monthly torture, just like my period...

Fortunately, Chen Shi'an doesn't have to stand there doing nothing today.

Because he ranked first in the science stream, he, along with Lin Mengqiu, Wen Zhixia, and other students who ranked in the top ten in both arts and sciences, went to the academic affairs office to have a two-inch blue background photo taken to be posted on the honor roll.

The top ten students in both arts and sciences are mostly from Class 5 and Class 11. Occasionally, students from other key classes will emerge, but it is extremely rare for them to make it into the top five.

It's as if there's some kind of fixed class structure. No matter how the top ten rankings change each month, it's mostly the same familiar faces. In particular, Lin Mengqiu and Wen Zhixia have always held the number one spot, as if it were an unchanging theorem.

But this time it's different.

Among a group of familiar faces waiting to take photos, Dao Ye appeared. In fact, upon his arrival, he wasn't ninth or tenth, but first.

It was Chen Shi'an's first time taking photos here, and he seemed quite curious, standing at the entrance of the Academic Affairs Office and looking inside.

The place to take photos should be the white wall at the very back. There is a blue cloth hanging on the wall, a chair in front of the blue cloth, and a mirror for tidying up one's appearance next to it.

The person in charge of taking photos was a teacher from the Academic Affairs Office, a female teacher wearing glasses, who was fiddling with the camera in her hand at the moment.

Having been enrolled for so long, Chen Shi'an is now familiar with the responsibilities of various departments in the school. Many miscellaneous matters are handled by the Academic Affairs Office.

Everyone was still waiting outside the office corridor. They were all familiar classmates, chatting and laughing together.

"Taoist priest, please check if my clothes are messy."

Wen Zhixia stood in front of Chen Shian. The girl took photos every month and was already used to it, but since the photos were to be posted on the honor roll, she naturally had to make sure she looked good.

"No, it's very neat."

As Chen Shi'an spoke, he naturally reached out and helped Xiao Zhi adjust the hoodie hoodie at the back of her collar.

Such a close interaction with nature drew knowing glances and snickers from many of the other students.

"XXX!"

Lin Mengqiu was also watching, but her pretty face was tense, and she glared at the two of them with annoyance.

She instinctively raised her arm to touch the back of her head—

That was the hairstyle Chen Shi'an had styled for her in the classroom just before she came here. It was exactly the same as the one she wore at the school sports meet, and she used the bamboo hairpin he had given her.

When taking individual photos, students are required to wear school uniforms and not have their hair down. Lin Mengqiu used to always wear her hair in a ponytail.

She even styled her hair up for the photoshoot today; Wen Zhixia knew perfectly well what this ice-cold girl was thinking.

Soon, the teacher from the academic affairs office finished setting up the camera, walked to the door, and called out:

"Everyone, get your appearance ready and take turns having your picture taken. Let's start with the science students. Who wants to go first?"

"Master Daoist! Master Daoist, you go first!"

"Okay, teacher, I'll go first."

Everyone said so, so Chen Shi'an wasn't shy at all. He walked into the office with a smile and, guided by the teachers in the Academic Affairs Office, sat down on the chair in front of the blue cloth.

"There's a new face in this photoshoot! I didn't expect it to be Master Chen," the teacher said with a smile.

"Oh, teacher, you know me."

"Yes, everyone in the school knows Master Chen."

"Thank you for your attention, teacher."

"What rank did Master Chen get this time?"

"First."

"……what?"

The teachers in the academic affairs office don't teach, and they were taken aback when they heard Chen Shi'an say he got first place.

"You actually beat Mengqiu in the exam! Master Chen is amazing. Keep up the good work next time!"

"Thank you, teacher."

"Come on, sit here, look at the camera—"

"it is good."

Chen Shi'an, with a sense of ceremony, swept the dust off his sleeves, straightened his collar, sat upright with his hands naturally placed on his knees, and looked at the camera in the teacher's hand with a faint smile.

"Three, two, one..."

A flash of light captured a moment of personal photograph of Chen Shi'an, wearing the Yunqi No.1 Middle School uniform, standing atop the honor roll for the first time.

Looking at the boy in the photo, the teacher was very satisfied. It was a perfect photo of a model student, the kind that could be printed in the school brochure or student handbook as an example of good appearance.

"Alright, when the honor roll is updated next month, the photos will be taken down. If you need them, you can come to the registrar's office to pick them up and take them home as souvenirs."

"Okay, thank you, teacher." "Okay, go out and call the next student in."

Chen Shi'an walked out of the office and called Lin Mengqiu in.

Soon, Lin Mengqiu finished taking her picture. When she came out, she was holding a photo in her hand. It was the photo of her that was displayed on the honor roll last month. Basically, everyone would take it home as a souvenir.

Because the honor roll is separated by a glass window, and the personal photos are placed in special small compartments instead of being pasted, even though they were not protected by plastic wrap, they were still well preserved after being hung for a month.

"Is the class monitor done filming?"

"Ah."

"Can I see that photo of yours?"

"...You've already seen them all."

"have a look."

"..."

Lin Mengqiu handed him the two-inch photo in her hand.

Chen Shi'an held the photo and looked at it with great interest for a while before returning it to her.

"...Aren't you going back after you're done filming?"

"Squad leader, you should go back first. There's nothing else to do anyway. I'll see how Xiaozhiliao takes pictures."

"×!"

Lin Mengqiu stormed off in a huff.

See? You're wasting your time here. I'll beat you next time!
Soon, the top ten science students were all photographed, and then it was time for the top ten humanities students.

Since all her classmates were there, Wen Zhixia felt embarrassed to keep coming over to talk to the Taoist priest. Seeing that the other students from Class 5 had left and only Chen Shi'an was left, she skipped over to him.

"Taoist priest, aren't you going back to the classroom and waiting for me?"

"Yes, I'm waiting for you."

"Hehe, wait for me a little while, I'm going to take a picture first!"

"Well, let's go."

After Wen Zhixia finished speaking, she quickly walked into the office.

Soon, she finished taking her photo and, like the other students, received her picture that had been displayed on the honor roll last time.

"Let's go, Taoist priest, do you want to go to the restroom together?"

"Okay, let's go then."

"Then let's go around from this side—"

On the other side of the playground, the other students were still standing listening to Vice Principal Zhou's rambling, while the teaching building was empty.

Walking with Chen Shi'an down the deserted corridor, the girl seemed quite at ease, chattering away to him, her shoulder bumping against his.

"Little Zhi, where are your photos from last time? Let me see them."

"You've already seen them all!"

"have a look."

"Here~"

Wen Zhixia took the photo out of her pocket and handed it to him.

Although both are individual photos, the two girls appear completely different.

The class monitor had a cold and unsmiling face, but in the photos taken at the beginning of last month, she was already wearing a blue and white school uniform jacket, wrapping herself up early.

Xiao Zhiliao had a bright smile on her face, and her shoulder-length short hair was refreshing and charming. At that time, she was still wearing a short-sleeved summer school uniform, full of youthful vigor and vitality.

The small two-inch photo was clean, with no clutter except for the portrait, which Chen Shi'an found interesting.

"How was the shoot?"

"Yeah, it looks good."

"Then I'll give it to you!"

"Hmm? Little Cicada is going to give me this photo?"

"Do you want it? If you do, I'll give it to you~"

Wen Zhixia said generously.

"So generous! Then I won't stand on ceremony."

"hey-hey--"

Seeing that the Taoist priest had accepted the photo she gave him, the girl revealed her true intentions: "I've already given you the photo, so when the rankings are changed next time, you have to give me the photo you took this time as well."

"Are you really that stingy?"

"Give it to me!"

"Okay, okay, I'll give it to you then, consider it an exchange between us."

"Humph~"

Zhizhi was secretly delighted!
After using the restroom on the second floor with Chen Shi'an, the two walked side by side down the corridor in front of the classroom. After passing Class 5, Wen Zhixia ran upstairs from the stairwell.

Just then, the class monitor, who was sitting in his seat, picked up his water cup to drink and saw the two people who had taken a detour back from the direction of the restroom.

Puff! Cough cough cough!
Lin Mengqiu almost choked to death on the water she sprayed out.

Thankfully, the stinky Taoist priest hasn't come back yet, otherwise all the water would have sprayed all over him.

Hurrah!

Taking a photo can be like going on a date, with them strolling around outside?!
Why do those annoying cicadas have so many clever ideas?!
Not having time to figure out where the two of them had gone, Lin Mengqiu quickly grabbed a tissue and wiped the water droplets off the table and Chen Shi'an's chair.

"Even the squad leader can choke while drinking water on the spot?"

Chen Shi'an stood by the desk, watching the girl busy cleaning up the crime scene. He had just seen and heard Lin Mengqiu cough and spray water.

"..."

"Squad leader, there's still a little bit left on the back of the chair."

"×!"

Lin Mengqiu, clutching a tissue, blushed and glared at him. She wiped the last bit of water off his chair before shamefully crumpling the tissue into a ball and tossing it into the nearby trash bag.

Chen Shi'an pulled up a chair and sat down. He took out the two-inch photo that Wen Zhixia had given him from his pocket and placed it on the table. Then he reached for a book, intending to tuck it inside to preserve it and prevent it from getting wrinkled.

Lin Mengqiu blinked, naturally noticing the photo he had put down.

In the photo, the annoying cicada laughs arrogantly.

Lin Mengqiu felt increasingly uneasy as she looked at it, and couldn't help but nudge Chen Shi'an and ask:
"...How did you get Wen Zhixia's photos?"

"This?"

Chen Shi'an picked up the photo, casually opened a book, and tucked the photo into the pages.

"Little Cicada just gave it to me."

"...What do you need this for?"

"Keep it as a souvenir."

"..."

The class monitor took action and placed the photo he had just brought back on Chen Shi'an's desk.

Chen Shi'an was stunned.

"Didn't the class monitor just show it to me?"

"...I'll give it to you."

"Ok?"

"You don't want it?"

"I'll definitely accept it if the class monitor gives it to me, thank you class monitor."

Unexpectedly, he got another photo. Chen Shi'an was very satisfied. He picked up the two-inch photo of the class monitor, looked at it, and then carefully tucked it into the book, next to the photo that Xiao Zhi had just given him.

Lin Mengqiu looked at him, her face slightly flushed, and whispered, "I don't know what you're thinking."
"Could you send me the photos from next time?"

"No."

"...Why not?"

"I've already promised Xiaozhi that I'd give it to her, so if the class monitor is in line, it'll be the month after next."

“×××××!”

(End of this chapter)