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

Chapter 258 The Method That Descended from the Sky

Seeing that the annoying cicada was lazily lounging on the sofa with her phone connected to a charging cable, Lin Mengqiu had no choice but to give up. Anyway, her phone still had 80% battery left...

The girl was simply a little uncomfortable in such a lively setting.

Unlike Lin Mengqiu, Wen Zhixia was perfectly at ease in such a setting, especially since everyone there was a familiar friend.

She put down her phone, opened the backpack she had brought with her, and took out the script for the skit she was going to rehearse that day.

"Let's practice at the Taoist's house today! Sister Wanyin said we'll have a barbecue after practice, so let's try to get through this quickly!"

"Okay, let's get started as soon as possible...wait, isn't someone missing?" Xiaoyan counted.

“Yes, Xu Zihan hasn’t arrived yet!” Qiu Yufu glanced at the people present.

"We should be here by now," Chen Shi'an said.

As he spoke, Chen Shi'an walked outside the courtyard and, sure enough, saw Xu Zihan looking up and searching for her building number on the sidewalk of the community.

"Zihan, over here—" Chen Shi'an waved and called out to him from across the railing.

Xu Zihan looked over at the sound and then jogged over:

"Damn! Daoist, this neighborhood is so old, the building numbers are all faded, I was wondering why I couldn't find it after looking for ages..."

"Just waiting for you."

"Here we come, buddy! Daoist, can you climb over this railing?"

"I'm fine as long as I'm home. If you search for me when I'm not home, Fei Mo will probably scratch you."

Do you have a cat or a dog at home?

"Meow?"

The fat cat, who was lazily sunbathing on the lawn in the yard, looked up at him and saw Xu Zihan take two steps back and then suddenly hurdle over!
Unfortunately, the guardrail was quite high, so landing was rather awkward; I stumbled several steps and almost fell flat on my face...

Xu Zihan looked up and met the gazes of a group of girls in the room.

Zihan: "..."

The girls: "..."

Boys are just so impulsive!

Despite being outgoing and friendly with his buddies, Zihan becomes incredibly shy and introverted when surrounded by a group of adorable girls.

Chen Shi'an went into the kitchen, brought out the fruit plate that Li Wanyin had just cut, and invited everyone to eat.

"Now that we're all here, Xiao Zhi, what do you think about how to rehearse?"

"It's very simple! Have you all read the script I gave you before? Have you memorized the lines and actions?"

"It's easy, please! I only have two lines! How could I not remember them?"

"Okay, okay, let's go through them one by one. Who wants to go first?"

As soon as director Wen Zhixia finished speaking, everyone's eyes fell on Chen Shi'an.

Chen Shi'an smiled and peeled a slice of orange, ate it, clapped his hands and said, "Okay, I'll go first."

"Chen Shi'an, you should go first! You're the lead actor, we're counting on you!" the girls teased and laughed.

The first act of the script is the intrusion of an 'old classmate'.

In a modern classroom in 2023, Lin Mengqiu's group is discussing a problem when Chen Shi'an, who has traveled from thirty years in the past, suddenly appears from the sky.

To create the desired effect, Chen Shi'an found an open space next to the coffee table, jumped high, and landed freely from the sky as if 'falling from the heavens,' crashing onto the floor with a thud.

I rely on! ! !

Everyone present was stunned to see Chen Shi'an practicing so diligently. Wen Zhixia and Lin Mengqiu were especially startled and stood up in unison, asking instinctively, "Taoist (Chen Shi'an), are you alright?"

Hearing the commotion outside, Li Wanyin, who was in the kitchen, was startled and rushed out. Seeing that Shi'an had fallen to the ground, she quickly went over to help him up.
"Shi'an, are you alright? How did you suddenly fall..."

Chen Shi'an, who was just about to deliver his lines, was speechless, and said with a mix of annoyance and amusement, "Don't interrupt me."

"No, Master Dao, are you alright after falling like that?" Zihan was also stunned. She thought it was just a fake fall, but who would have thought that Master Dao would actually fall!
"I'm fine. I was interrupted. Let me do it again. It's not enough for just me to act. How about we rehearse together normally?"

"...Alright then, but be careful, Taoist priest! You don't need to fall like that!"

"This works well."

After saying that, Chen Shi'an fell down again.

Seeing him fall like that, my heart ached. I wondered if you were putting on a skit or performing acrobatics.
Fortunately, he really fell, which made everyone's surprised expressions particularly realistic.

"Ouch--!"

Chen Shi'an got up from the ground, looked around blankly, and rubbed his forehead, saying, "Where...where is this? Wasn't the school without power and we were studying by candlelight in the classroom? What am I doing here? Ugh...this light! It's so bright! Brighter than the tower crane lights at the construction site next door?"

The skit was all about lighthearted humor, and Chen Shi'an's lines, coupled with his exaggerated expressions, had everyone in the audience laughing out loud. Even Lin Mengqiu, who usually maintained a serious expression, couldn't help but cover her mouth with the back of her hand as she tried to suppress a laugh...

“Stop, stop, stop—!”

Chen Shi'an, speechless, called a halt again.

"Taoist priest! I'm the director!" "I'm talking to you, Little Cicada. You're the director, and you're leading the laughter? Hurry up and cooperate with the rehearsal!"

"Pfft, hahaha... let me laugh for a moment first..."

Everyone was laughing uncontrollably. Li Wanyin, who was standing to the side, was both amused and distressed. She patted Chen Shi'an's clothes and asked, "Shi'an, are you alright...?"

"It's okay, that's enough, let's do it again."

Chen Shi'an had no choice but to fall a third time. Seeing how hard Chen Shi'an was trying, the others finally stopped laughing and held it in.

Wen Zhixia stepped forward and took Chen Shi'an's arm, reciting her lines: "Classmate, your outfit... you've come to the wrong set, haven't you? We haven't arranged any period dramas here."

Lin Mengqiu also took a step forward and asked seriously and calmly, "Where did you fall from, classmate? Which class are you in?"

As Chen Shi'an sat on the floor, preparing to continue reciting his lines, he noticed the different expressions on the two girls' faces. A sudden surge of amusement welled up in his heart, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Kakaka-!"

"Taoist priest! What are you laughing at!"

"I'm sorry, I don't know why, but seeing you guys like this suddenly makes me laugh..."

This laughter seemed contagious; just moments before, everyone had been rehearsing quite well, but suddenly they were all bursting into laughter again.

Even the most professional actors sometimes can't help but laugh during rehearsals, let alone young boys and girls rehearsing for the first time.

Fortunately, after several rehearsals, everyone finally became a bit more professional. The purpose of a skit is to make the audience laugh, so what does it matter if the actors themselves laugh like muggle!

Li Wanyin found it interesting too, so she simply took out the bowl of meat that wasn't skewered properly, sat down on one side of the living room, and watched their rehearsal performance while skewering the meat.

Although it was very unprofessional, often resulted in laughter, and occasionally involved shifting blame, it was still very youthful and fun.

When she was with them, even Li Wanyin herself felt like she had returned to her high school days.

After all, it was just a short skit of less than fifteen minutes. After several rehearsals, everyone was already performing quite well.

"Yes, yes, that should be enough to pass the preliminary selection," Director Wen Zhixia nodded.

"It'll pass," Lin Mengqiu said lightly.

"Passing the preliminary selection is not our goal. When we have time, we still need to rehearse more."

Chen Shi'an turned to look at the time; it was already past three in the afternoon.

"Shall we call it a day for today's rehearsal? Let's go have a barbecue together."

"it is good!!"

Rehearsals are fun, and barbecues are fun too. Although it was still early, we were all a little hungry after playing around for a while.

Everyone helped carry the barbecue ingredients to the yard, while Chen Shi'an set up the smokeless barbecue grill.

Li Wanyin had become familiar with everyone by now, chatting and laughing with the girls as she moved tables and chairs out and set out snacks and drinks.

The home barbecue grill is small and can only grill a limited amount of food at a time, but the advantage is that it's still early, so Chen Shi'an can grill slowly while the nine people and the cat eat slowly.

Wen Zhixia, Lin Mengqiu, and Li Wanyin had all tasted Chen Shi'an's barbecue skills before, and now they all tacitly gathered around the grill, their eyes filled with anticipation.

Xiaoyan and the others were seeing this for the first time, and they gathered around with curiosity.

The charcoal fire quickly blazed up, and Chen Shi'an skillfully brushed on oil, turned the charcoal over, and sprinkled ingredients.

The grease dripped onto the charcoal fire, making a sizzling sound, and the rich aroma of barbecue instantly filled the entire courtyard.

The enticing aroma, like an invisible hand, firmly grasped everyone's attention.

"Wow!!!" Xiaoyan couldn't help but exclaim first, her eyes fixed on the chicken wings on the grill that were gradually turning golden and crispy.

"It smells so good!!" Yu Fu, Ye Ye, and Ya Tong exclaimed in unison, sniffing the air.

"Master Dao! Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?!"

"Chen Shi'an, you're so good at grilling! Whoever dates you in the future will surely get fat sooner or later!"

Someone shouted this, which caused the girls to burst into laughter.

The first batch of grilled chicken wings and meat skewers were devoured as soon as they left the grill.

"Ugh! It's so hot... but it's so delicious!" Xiaoyan was panting from the heat, but she still couldn't wait to take a bite. A satisfied smile instantly bloomed on her face. For the first time, she felt like she was benefiting from Zhizhi's kindness.

"This sauce is amazing!" Qiu Yufu's eyes lit up after taking a bite. "It's even more delicious than the barbecue from the street vendors!"

He Yeye and Shen Yatong nodded repeatedly as they ate, saying indistinctly, "Shi'an, it's such a waste that you don't open a shop with your skills..."

Hey! Leave some for me!

"Hey Zhizhi, you've eaten this so many times, can't you let your sister have some happiness too?"

Xu Zihan was too busy eating to talk, and kept her head down, muttering between bites, "Mmm... Daoist Master... awesome! Daoist Master is awesome!"

The small courtyard was filled with the enticing aroma of food and the soft crackling of charcoal fire.

The crisp laughter, and the rare warmth in winter that seemed to melt everything.

(End of this chapter)