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

Chapter 240 Little Cicada is dressed so beautifully today

Even with his unwavering Daoist heart, Chen Shi'an took five minutes longer than usual to fall asleep under his sister's soft, fragrant winter quilt.

The next day, Sunday.

Chen Shi'an still gets up at five o'clock every morning.

As we move into mid-to-late November, the average daily temperature has dropped to around 11 or 12 degrees Celsius. For many people, getting out of bed has become a difficult task, let alone getting up this early.

Fat Cat was still fast asleep on the quilt when Chen Shi'an opened his eyes and lifted the quilt.

The cold air instantly swept over his body, but Chen Shi'an did not use his magic to resist it. This chill allowed him to wake up more quickly.

Wearing warm thermal underwear and a thick cotton short jacket, this is Chen Shi'an's daily outfit during winter when he is off-campus.

There aren't many plans for today's weekend; it's mainly to reward Xiao Zhi... oh, I mean, to reward Xiao Zhi for going out to play.

Thinking that the girl probably wouldn't wake up that early either, Chen Shi'an went about his own business.

After washing up, he carried two buckets of meat that had been marinated the previous week to the yard.

These pieces of meat have been marinated for a full seven days, and they are glistening with oil, the aroma of the marinade having completely permeated the meat's texture.

Chen Shi'an inspected the meat, nodded, and was very satisfied.

He went back inside and fetched some smoked ingredients made from a mixture of pine branches, orange peels, and tea leaves, intending to use the smokehouse in the yard to smoke the cured meat.

Although he wasn't from the city, Chen Shi'an had lived there for a while and naturally knew the city's rules. If he let the smoke drift out, he would inevitably get complaints...

That's why I specifically bought this special smoking oven barrel.

He even took it apart to take a look. The design inside was quite ingenious. The bottom was for storing smoking materials or charcoal, there was a thermometer to check the temperature, and two glass windows to observe the changes in the food inside.

The stove is 1.2 meters high. After the pot lid is closed, the smoke can circulate inside. Compared with the traditional method of hanging the pot on the stove for smoking, the smoke utilization rate is higher and the smoking time is shorter.

After a simple trial run to confirm that everything was in order, Chen Shi'an strung the cured pork pieces together with rope.

Half of them were then hung inside the smokehouse.

Chen Shi'an controlled the heat, preventing the incense in the stove from burning completely, thus producing a large amount of smoke.

Once the lid is on, very little smoke seeps out.

He waved his hand gently, and a small, constantly rotating vortex appeared above the furnace, swirling up the seeping smoke and disappearing in the blink of an eye...

Chen Shi'an observed the fire and smoke in the stove and estimated that it would be about three hours to smoke it out.

For the remaining half of the marinated meat, simply hang it out to air dry.

Even the drying process requires some skill. It needs to be well-ventilated and sunny, but direct sunlight should be avoided, otherwise the meat will release too much oil, resulting in a tough texture.

Chen Shi'an brought a simple folding clothes rack and set it up in a well-ventilated and shady spot where the balcony and yard meet. He then hung the meat pieces on it one by one and laid a few scraps of paper on the floor to prevent the grease from dripping and soiling the ground while the meat was drying.

In weather like this, it should take about a week to air dry. Remember to bring the meat indoors at night, otherwise it will get damp and affect the taste.

Chen Shi'an finished his work at just six o'clock, but the dim sky was already beginning to lighten.

The neighborhood remained quiet, with only the soft rustling of a cleaner sweeping the floor in the distance.

The cat, who had been lingering in bed, finally got up, sniffed the fragrance, and trotted into the yard. It found a corner, dug a small hole, and peed.

Although there is a bathroom at home, and Feimo uses it, when there is soil, it still prefers to poop and pee wherever it wants... Anyway, it will bury it, so Chen Shi'an doesn't care.

"Meow~~"

The weather was chilly, and the fat cat's fur was fluffy. It pressed down its paws, raised its big tail, and lazily stretched.

Perhaps because the bottom of the stainless steel smokehouse was warm enough, the fat cat, being quite clever, trotted over and nestled under the stove.

"Fei Mo, keep an eye on these cured meats, don't let the wild cats and birds steal them."

"Meow."

"Don't even think about stealing from me!"

"Meow?"

Is it such a philandering cat?
It's only stolen food three, four, five, six, seven, or eight times, how can you be so sure it won't change?
Fei Mo thought to himself that since the wild birds and cats would steal the food anyway, the stinky Taoist priest would blame him for stealing it, so he might as well steal it again. That way, even if he got scolded, he would still have gotten his money's worth.

Chen Shi'an thought that even if the fat cat stole the food, it would definitely not admit it. Luckily, a security camera came with the broadband they got a couple of days ago, so he would put the camera in the yard and catch it red-handed...

Under the puzzled gaze of the fat cat, Chen Shi'an placed a round, eyeball-like object in the yard.

"Meow?"

"This is a telescope; I can see everything that happens in the yard."

"..."

Fat Cat naturally didn't believe it.

If you had cultivated the ability to see a thousand miles, I would have already attained enlightenment and ascended to heaven with you!
So you're just trying to fool this naive little kitten, aren't you? You've really learned all of that old man's tricks. Remember when Chen Shi'an first started elementary school? The old man tricked him like that too, saying he had clairvoyance and could see what was happening at school even from the mountains. As a result, Chen Shi'an was exceptionally well-behaved during those few days at school...

……

Getting up early always gives you a lot more time.

Chen Shi'an returned to the room, took out Li Wanyin's blanket, shook it a couple of times, folded it neatly, and placed it on the sofa. He would switch it back with Wanyin when she woke up.

I'll have some congee with preserved egg and lean pork for breakfast today.

First, I went to the kitchen and started cooking the porridge.

While the porridge was cooking, Chen Shi'an went to the market to buy some meat.

Although there is meat in the refrigerator, fresh meat tastes better when used for porridge; frozen meat always lacks a bit of freshness.

Now that they've moved to the first floor, Chen Shi'an no longer needs to climb the stairs.

Like Fat Cat, Chen Shi'an climbed straight over the yard fence.

Just a fence away is the pedestrian walkway of the residential area.

Chen Shi'an ran all the way to the market and bought some fresh lean meat and pork offal.

By the time he ran back, the porridge at home was almost ready.

Wash the lean meat and pork offal, slice them thinly, put them in a bowl, season them, and marinate them.

The preserved eggs were made by Chen Shi'an himself. After peeling them, he crushed them. At this time, the porridge gradually thickened. He first added the crushed preserved eggs and simmered for a while. Finally, he added the marinated lean meat and pork offal.

The meat was sliced ​​very thinly, and the boiling porridge instantly changed its color.

After simmering for a short while, Chen Shi'an immediately turned off the heat, sprinkled on some chopped green onions, and a pot of fragrant and tender preserved egg and lean pork congee was ready. The fat cat outside smelled the aroma and meowed as it ran in.

It was exactly seven o'clock when the other door in the room opened, and Li Wanyin woke up.

"Sister Wanyin is awake?"

"Mmm! Shi'an, you made porridge?"

"Yes, it's cold, so eating some hot porridge will warm us up."

"Hey... Shi'an, you've hung up all the cured meat!"

"Yes, this half has been hung out to dry, and the other half is still being smoked. It should be ready in about another hour."

Seeing the cured meat hanging in the yard, even though she was in the city, Li Wanyin immediately felt like she was back in her rural home.

Every winter, her mother would make some cured meat and sausages. The cured meat hanging on the clothesline and the winter sun became Li Wanyin's unique and limited memory of this season, and she also had a vague feeling that the New Year was coming soon.

I always thought Chen Shi'an's greatest skill was cultivating Taoism, but now that I think about it, his greatest skill wasn't cultivating Taoism, but living life.

The siblings and their cat were eating porridge together.

Seeing Li Wanyin take out her phone, Chen Shi'an asked:

"Sister Wanyin took the wrong blanket last night."

"...!!"

Honestly, she didn't mean it, and she only saw the WeChat message Chen Shi'an sent last night when she woke up in the morning.

After all, Chen Shi'an's blanket was really comfortable to sleep in. She went to bed early last night and even had a strange, wonderful dream about being held by her younger brother all night long...

But when he brought it up, those dream fragments that she was too ashamed to talk about resurfaced in her mind, and her sister blushed a little.

"It seems like I accidentally took the wrong one; I didn't pay much attention at the time..."

"I put Wanyin's blanket on the sofa, I'll change it back later."

"it is good!"

"I used Wanyin's blanket last night. If you mind, I'll take the blanket cover to wash it later. The weather is fine, so it will dry quickly."

"No, no! I don't mind at all!"

"..."

After breakfast, Li Wanyin began preparing the materials for her stall today.

Sunday was originally her scheduled day off, but she had been busy moving these past few days and hadn't been able to work as much as she wanted, so she decided to make up for it by working today.

Setting up a stall and making it feel like a workday is truly something else.

It just so happens that Shi'an also made plans to go out with Zhizhi today.

Li Wanyin didn't join them when they went out to play, just like Zhizhi and Mengqiu didn't join her last time. If she wanted her to go with them, the girl would have mentioned it to her last night. In this respect, the older sister is quite sensible.

The meat in the smokehouse was almost smoked, so Chen Shi'an turned off the fire and didn't rush to take it out, letting it continue to warm in the oven.

Looking at the time, it's almost 8:30. I wonder if Wen Zhixia is awake or not.

Just as Chen Shi'an was about to send her a message to ask, he saw the girl walking quickly towards him from outside the community through the fence.

It was obvious that the girl had dressed up specially for today, which was completely different from her usual school uniform attire.

Today, Wen Zhixia was wearing a fluffy lamb wool coat with soft fleece trim at the collar that swayed gently in the wind. She was also wearing a beautiful short skirt, which was a first for her. White tights clung to her legs, outlining their shapely lines. She wore a pair of school-style leather shoes. The winter sun shone on her, making the lamb wool glow with a warm and cozy light. She looked fresh and lively, and when she appeared in sight, Chen Shi'an was immediately struck by her beauty.

When Chen Shi'an saw her, she clearly saw him too, so she quickened her pace, walked to the outside of the railing, waved to him through the fence, and smiled sweetly.
"Taoist priest--"

"Little Cicada is dressed so beautifully today?"

"No way...!"

Wen Zhixia felt a sweet warmth in her heart after being praised so directly and without any finesse by Chen Shi'an, and she even blushed a little shyly.

"Hey, why are you staring at my legs... you little rascal!"

"This is the first time I've seen Xiaozhi wearing a short skirt. Are those stockings? Aren't you cold in this weather?"

"It's not cold at all. These are pantyhose, they're warm! There are two layers of fleece inside."

"real or fake."

"I won't show you a fake one!"

"I didn't say I wanted to watch it..."

Chen Shi'an couldn't help but marvel at how diverse girls' outfits were, how they could dress both beautifully and warmly, while boys seemed to only have a few pieces of clothing.

"Why did you come so early? I was just about to send you a message to ask, and then I came to your house to find you later."

"Come over when you wake up, let's go out and play!"

"They're not even staying in bed anymore?"

It's not just that they don't stay in bed.

Even though it's the weekend, Wen Zhixia would normally stay in bed until at least 10 a.m., but today she got up at 7 a.m.

I rummaged through my closet to find clothes to match, and changed into five or six outfits in front of the mirror before finally settling on this one. I also carefully washed my hair and used a hairdryer to make it fluffy and soft, and now the ends of my hair have a faint fragrance.

She had to attend evening self-study sessions, and time was precious, so she didn't wait for Chen Shi'an and simply came to find him herself.

"Hurry up, Taoist priest, are you done yet? If you're done, come out soon."

"Wait for me a moment, I'll put on my shoes and grab my bag."

Soon, Chen Shi'an went back inside to change his shoes, grabbed his bag, and then, as if hurdling, stepped over the yard fence and stood next to the girl.

"what!"

Wen Zhixia exclaimed in surprise and slapped him lightly in an annoyed tone:
"You're so eager to come play with me, but you won't even use the main gate!"

"Isn't it because the young lady urged us to do this?"

"You're in a hurry—"

"Okay, okay, I was in a hurry—"

(Thank you so much, Cangcang Jianjiaxian, for the generous donation of 100,000! May you prosper! Thank you so much for your continued support!)
(End of this chapter)