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

Chapter 228 Am I worried about Xiao Chen?
When Chen Shi'an and Wen Zhixia arrived at the school, Wen Zhixue and Li Yilan had already parked their car and gotten out.

It was still early, and not many parents had arrived yet. Regardless of their professions, they had all dressed up and looked quite formal.

Wen Zhixue was wearing leather shoes and a belt, his shirt was tucked into his pants, and his hair was styled with gel and combed into an executive slicked-back look, making him look quite energetic;
Li Yilan is usually a housewife at home, but today she is wearing high heels and a skirt, and the vegetable basket she was carrying has been replaced with a delicate little bag.

"Uncle Wen and Aunt Lan."

"Dad! Mom!"

When they stood in front of the two elders, Chen Shi'an was poised and confident, while Wen Zhixia looked guilty.

The girl was certain that her mother had at least seen her riding in the car. As for whether her mother had misunderstood... oh dear! She was completely innocent!

While speaking, Wen Zhixia secretly glanced up to see her parents' reactions.

Fortunately, her mother only glanced at her and didn't say or ask any questions about what had just happened, which put the girl at ease.

"Ha ha……"

Wen Zhixue laughed heartily, pressing his hands on the belt buckle, and tucking back the bits of shirt that had accidentally been pulled out into his trousers.

"Shi'an, long time no see! Did you come to school today too?"

"Yes, the parents will come to the class to help out."

"The Taoist priest is the top science student in the whole school! He'll be giving a speech on stage later, just like me!" Wen Zhixia added.

"Really!"

Hearing their daughter say that, Wen Zhixue and Li Yilan looked at Chen Shi'an with even brighter eyes.

"Uncle Wen and Aunt Lan are here so early today?" Chen Shi'an asked with a smile.

"Yes, it's quite a long way. I was worried about getting stuck in traffic and being delayed, so I decided to come early. I didn't expect the journey to be so smooth. Shi'an, do you usually ride your bike to school with Zhizhi?"

"Yes, it's convenient to have a bicycle. It's also on the same route as Xiaozhi. We used to walk together, but now I ride my bike to and from school to pick her up."

Chen Shi'an spoke frankly, while Wen Zhixia lowered her head shyly, tormenting herself by rubbing a small blade of grass with the tip of her shoe.

"That's great! Thank you so much, Shi'an, for making the trip to give Zhizhi a ride!"

Li Yilan, who was listening nearby, thought to herself, "You didn't see how your daughter rode in the car just now!"

When Xiao Chen came to our house last time, my mother already knew what her daughter was thinking. She never expected her to be so bold when her elders weren't around.

Seeing Xiao Chen's calm and innocent expression, Li Yilan knew all too well who was the one messing around between the two of them...

"The client was very satisfied with the design of that batch of timber we produced last time based on your suggestion, Shi'an. I haven't had a chance to properly thank you yet!"

"Uncle Wen, you're too kind. Let's walk and talk. Uncle Wen and Aunt Lan, have you had breakfast yet? If not, our school cafeteria is still serving breakfast this morning."

"I've already eaten, I've already eaten..."

The four of them walked and talked together as they entered the campus.

It's only a little past eight o'clock, and the parent-teacher meeting doesn't start until nine.

Many parents who arrived early were strolling around the school.

The parents were the largest group gathered in front of the honor roll in the school building.

When they strolled to this spot, Wen Zhixue and Li Yilan also came over to take a look.

The honor roll was just updated two days ago. It lists the names and scores of the top 100 students in both arts and sciences. The top ten students are the most prominent, occupying two large lines at the top of the list. In addition to their names and scores, they also have their own two-inch personal photos.

The photo was also newly taken, and Wen Zhixue and Li Yilan immediately spotted their daughter, who ranked first in the liberal arts category.

"Wen Zhixia, Class 21, Grade 11, total score: 682."

Wen Zhixue put his hands behind his back and read it aloud softly.

Wen Zhixia looked a little proud, swaying her shoulder-length short hair and raising her chin, waiting for praise.

"Your score is a bit lower than the last monthly exam?"

"...Hey! This test was super hard! I scored way more points than the second-place student, okay?!"

"Hehe... Is that so? My Zhizhi is so amazing."

"That's~"

Besides their own daughter, what attracted the most attention from the parents was Chen Shi'an, who ranked first in science.

"Xiao Chen got first place!"

Looking at Chen Shi'an's photo, name, and score on the honor roll, Li Yilan exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

For the elders, there is no more direct personal evaluation than academic performance. Chen Shi'an's score and ranking are right there. He doesn't even need to say anything. In the eyes of the parents in front of the honor roll, he is already the epitome of excellence, the "other people's child" and someone to "learn from".

"723 points?"

Wen Zhixue and Li Yilan didn't have a very specific concept of scores, but by comparing them with the scores of other students on the list, they knew that these were extremely outstanding results.

After all, there are only two scores starting with 7 on the entire list: one is Chen Shi'an, and the other is Lin Mengqiu, Zhizhi's former deskmate.

Lin Mengqiu's excellence was evident to Wen Zhixue and Li Yilan. Back in her first year of high school, during the high school entrance exam, Mengqiu outperformed Zhizhi and won first place in the grade.

Unexpectedly, even the incredibly talented Mengqiu, Principal Lin's own daughter, failed to outperform Xiao Chen this time, and was even surpassed by Xiao Chen by a full thirteen points...

The first place is always the most eye-catching, not to mention Chen Shi'an's unbelievably brilliant score. Almost half of the parents gathered in front of the honor roll had their eyes on his ranking, while the other half weren't ignoring it, but had just finished being shocked by what they saw...

"723 points... That's more than 40 points higher than Zhizhi's!"

Wen Zhixia: "?" Chen Shi'an found it amusing and said using the girl's previous analysis: "Uncle Wen and Aunt Lan, it's not calculated like that. It's harder to score in humanities than in science. Xiao Zhi is already very good. I might not even be able to get as high a score as Xiao Zhi in humanities."

"That's it!"

"You actually believe Xiao Chen's modesty? I bet if Xiao Chen had taken the humanities exam, you would have lost your first place."

Despite saying that, Chen Shi'an's humility and praise for Zhizhi still pleased Wen Zhixue and Li Yilan.

Following the rankings, Wen Zhixue and Li Yilan's gaze fell upon the photo of Lin Mengqiu, who was second:

"Mengqiu is still amazing. She scored over 700 points this time, far ahead of the students behind her. She used to be Zhizhi's deskmate. I see Mengqiu is in Class 5 now. Xiao Chen, you're in Class 5 too, you should know her, right?"

"Yes, we know each other. We were even deskmates."

"Ah? What a coincidence!"

When her parents praised the Taoist priest, Wen Zhixia felt very proud; but when they praised Lin Mengqiu, the girl looked disdainful.

Looking up at Lin Mengqiu in the photo, she had tied her long hair up with a bamboo hairpin given to her by Chen Shi'an, and surprisingly, she even showed a faint smile when this solo photo was taken.

Wen Zhixia felt that the ice spirit's smile was somewhat arrogant, as if she were right in front of her, watching her laugh.

Ahhhhh!

You didn't smile when you got first place, but you smiled when you got second. Keep smiling, but don't even think about getting first place again!
The chatter of the four attracted the attention of other parents in front of the honor roll. When they turned around, they saw Chen Shi'an and Wen Zhixia from the photo standing there.

The parents looked at the real people and then at the photos, and exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, are you two Chen Shi'an and Wen Zhixia from the photos?"

“Yes.” Chen Shi’an nodded.

"...Classmate, are you still that 'Chen Shi'an' who's really popular on Douyin, always talking about traditional culture and Chinese classics on the street?!"

"Yes, it's me too."

"Hey! No wonder! When I watched the video and listened to the audio, I thought you, Master Chen, were very knowledgeable and insightful. Sure enough, your achievements are remarkable!"

"you flatter me."

Seeing that other parents were about to gather around, looking like they wanted to ask him for advice on study methods and experiences, Chen Shi'an quickly made his escape.

"Uncle Wen, Aunt Lan, I need to go back to my class to help out, so I'll head over now."

"Okay, Xiao Chen, if you're free later, how about we come over for a meal?"

"No, Aunt Lan, I've already told Xiao Zhi that I have something to do today. I'll come visit you next time I have time."

"Okay, then Xiao Chen, you go ahead and get busy. We'll just wander around on our own."

Chen Shi'an left first.

Wen Zhixia and Li Yilan also left, and went to the restroom on the way.

Only Wen Zhixue remained at the honor roll, while his elderly father, beaming with pride, shared his educational philosophy with the other parents…

The mother and daughter walked to the bathroom arm in arm, like sisters.

Without Xiao Chen and Lao Wen present, it was only then that the elderly mother whispered a private question to her daughter:

"How did you get in the car just now, hmm?"

"...Wh-how do I get here?"

"Don't pretend you don't know what's going on with Mom. Mom saw it all. You're just riding in the car, why were you putting your hand in Xiao Chen's pocket?"

“…No way!”

“I saw it all. You put your hands in Xiao Chen’s pockets.”

"...My pocket! When did I put anything in my pants pocket?!"

"Heh, didn't you just say that?"

My cunning mother!
Wen Zhixia realized she had fallen into a trap, and then stammered:

"It's cold... my hands are cold... anyway, it's just putting it in my pocket, it's nothing..."

"You're a girl."

"That's right, that's why I never let Taoist priests put things in my pockets."

"???"

Is that what your mom meant?

But on second thought, seeing my daughter stuffing her hand into Xiao Chen's pocket is definitely easier to accept than seeing Xiao Chen stuffing her hand into my daughter's pocket...

"You and Xiao Chen, are you... um?"

"What? Oh my god, we really don't have anything going on. We're just good friends, nothing more. Didn't I tell you that last time?"

"...Mom is telling you, don't do anything reckless, you're still so young."

"What? Oh my god, you don't trust the Taoist priest, but you don't trust your own daughter? You know me best."

"..."

I'm worried about Xiao Chen! I'm worried about you!

The elderly mother sighed, realizing the two of them were on completely different wavelengths and she didn't know how to explain it to her...

(End of this chapter)