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

Chapter 265 Stop Fighting! Stop Fighting! (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?
Although I didn't get a New Year's gift, at least I still have a grumpy class monitor.

That was such a stupid question.

But to be honest, that ugly-cute thing was really hard to recognize as a little rabbit...

Chen Shi'an cautiously poked the girl, but Lin Mengqiu kept her head down, engrossed in her book, ignoring him completely. She was knitting so diligently, yet that stinky Taoist priest couldn't even recognize a rabbit...

Chen Shi'an reached into her desk again to retrieve his New Year's gift, but the girl blocked him with her petite body. She probably felt an itch from his touch and angrily slapped the back of his hand with a red face.
Chen Shi'an had no choice but to do as she did and hand her a small note:

[Class monitor, where's my scarf with the little bunny embroidered on it?]
The girl finally replied to him:
What do you mean by "your line"?
[The class monitor said it was a gift for me; how can you take back something you've given away?]
This is just great.

They couldn't even get the note they had handed over back.

Lin Mengqiu stuffed the note into the table...

Fortunately, there was plenty of draft paper, so Chen Shi'an handed over another sheet:
[I was saying I'd give the class monitor the New Year's gift later too, but I'll give it to the class monitor when the class monitor gives it to me.]
?

Gift?

Even that stinky Taoist priest prepared a New Year's gift for me?
Hearing him say that, Lin Mengqiu was somewhat tempted.

Although she only glanced at the note before stuffing it into the desk, its words kept echoing in her mind.

She continued reading with her head down, but secretly glanced at Chen Shi'an out of the corner of her eye to see if he wanted to share more information.

But this stinky Taoist priest acted as if nothing had happened, tossed her a note to whet her appetite, and then focused on reading his book!

In the end, Lin Mengqiu couldn't hold back any longer. She took out the note she had just stuffed into the desk, picked up a pen, quickly wrote a sentence, and tossed it back to him without making a sound.

What gift?
Finally took the bait.

Chen Shi'an breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the four words on the note.

I wasn't in a hurry to reply to her note.

Chen Shi'an leisurely opened the backpack hanging to the side, and then, in front of Lin Mengqiu, took out a beautiful woven bracelet.

Just like the New Year's gift for Xiaozhiliao, the New Year's gift for the class monitor was also a woven bracelet, but the color and style were completely different.

The bracelet is made of three strands of red and black thread twisted together. The red symbolizes the joy of the New Year, while the black symbolizes the warding off of misfortune and calming the mind. The knot is secured and hidden with a silver metal buckle, and a small mountain spirit coin hangs from the end. This mountain spirit coin is a genuine ancient coin, although there are quite a few in Taoist temples.

The inscriptions and patterns on the Mountain Spirit Coin are unique and exquisite. On each side of the coin are three small beads made of Bodhi root, which contrast with the metal coin, creating a cool and refreshing effect. The overall style is retro but not dull.

Compared to the silver bell bracelet given to Xiao Zhi, this mountain spirit money bracelet is much more understated, but it suits Lin Mengqiu's aloof temperament better.

Sure enough, when Lin Mengqiu saw the beautiful mountain spirit bead bracelet, she couldn't take her eyes off it.

What girl doesn't love such exquisite and beautiful jewelry?
She thought the stinky Taoist priest would give her some kind of wooden carving or other gift, but she never expected it to be such a tempting bracelet. The girl's heart began to pound faster.

The class monitor was quick; her little hand swiftly grabbed the bracelet from Chen Shi'an's palm.

Unexpectedly, Chen Shi'an moved even faster. Just as she was about to grab the bracelet, the stinky Taoist closed his palm, and her cool, slender fingers missed, grabbing his fist instead.

"×!"

[Class monitor, where's my scarf?]
"..."

The girl had no choice but to look around before quickly reaching into the table and pulling out the ugly scarf, which she then quickly stuffed back into Chen Shi'an's table.

She reached out her hand to Chen Shi'an.

Chen Shi'an smiled with satisfaction and placed the mountain spirit bead bracelet in the girl's soft palm.

"~~~~~~~~"

Having received her New Year's gift, Lin Mengqiu closed her small hands, brought the bracelet to her face, and then looked down to examine it carefully.

His cool expression seemed unchanged, but his legs under the table were already dangling uncontrollably.

What kind of money is this?
[Mountain Spirit Coins]
Is it an ancient coin?
[Yes, it's a commonly used auspicious symbol in Taoism, believed to ward off evil, avert disasters, and bring good fortune.]
[oh]
Does the class monitor like it?
[~~~~~~~~]
What does the tilde (.) mean...?

Chen Shi'an was completely confused, but he figured it meant she really liked it.

[Red rope warms the body, black rope calms the mind, Bodhi root nourishes the spirit, mountain spirit spends money to ward off evil and bring good fortune, wishing the class monitor peace of mind, smooth sailing, and a Happy New Year!]
[~~~~~~~~]
[Class monitor, what does the tilde (.) mean?]
Happy New Year!
Under Lin Mengqiu's gaze, Chen Shi'an took the ugly scarf out of the table again, rubbed and kneaded it with both hands, and looked it over with a smile.

The girl tensed up and turned her head away from him.

It wasn't until he nudged her arm that Lin Mengqiu noticed the note he had just handed her on the table:

[Class monitor, did you knit this scarf yourself?]
[Um]
How long did it take you to knit?
[Not long after]
[how long?]
[One month]
[So the class monitor was preparing a New Year's gift for me so early!]
Lin Mengqiu felt her ears burning. After the note was passed to her, she stuffed it into the table, as if to end the call.

Unexpectedly, Chen Shi'an handed over a new note.

Thank you for the gift, class monitor. I really like it!
[Very ugly]
Not ugly
Unexpectedly, Chen Shi'an put the scarf directly around his neck.

Lin Mengqiu's eyes widened, and she raised her small hand to cover her flushed face, which was closest to him. She was so embarrassed that she couldn't bear to look at herself...

"~~~~~~~~"

……

Although classes were held as usual this morning, the atmosphere of the school anniversary celebration made the classroom less dull than usual.

Occasionally during class time, you can see some school leaders leading some well-known alumni who have been invited back to the school through the corridor, introducing the current teaching model and showing them the classrooms.

Most of the alumni who were invited were middle-aged people in their thirties and forties, and many of them were alumni from more than thirty years ago before the school was renamed. Seeing the changes in the school today, they couldn't help but sigh.

The students in the class were also quite curious about these alumni, and during breaks they all leaned over the balcony to watch.

It is said that people who are young cannot feel their youth, and young men and women can hardly imagine what they will be like in twenty or thirty years.

As soon as the lunch bell rang, the campus instantly switched to 'anniversary celebration mode'.

What excites the students the most is that they don't have to go to class in the afternoon. Even if they can't leave school early, this rare half-day holiday is a blessing that only comes once every ten years!
Chen Shi'an took out his phone and saw that Wan Yin, who had delivered the food, had sent him a message saying that she had arrived at the school and was already in the No. 2 cafeteria. Chen Shi'an then called the two girls to go with him.

Upon seeing Chen Shi'an, Wen Zhixia couldn't help but start complaining:
"Taoist priest! Your scarf is so ugly! Where did you find it? I've never seen you with it before."

“××××××!”

Those annoying cicadas!

It was definitely intentional!

How dare you shout that out loud? Don't you think those lousy gloves you knitted are ugly too?
Seeing Wen Zhixia launch her attack, Lin Mengqiu wasn't about to be outdone and joined in, criticizing Chen Shi'an as well:

"Aren't you hot? It's already noon and you're still wearing that rag. Is this the kind of garment you use for housework?"

Wen Zhixia: (艹皿艹)#！ ！
Ice cube spirit! Explain yourself! What, is, a, rag?!
To be honest, knitting gloves is much more difficult than your lousy scarf!

Seeing that the two girls were about to fight again, Chen Shi'an was afraid of them and quickly put away the scarf around his neck and the gloves on his hands.

"Alright, alright, hurry up and go. Sister Wanyin brought food. Whoever walks slowly won't get any."

As Chen Shi'an spoke, he walked briskly forward on his own.

The two girls behind him exchanged a glance, gave a silent snort, and then stood on either side of him, following closely behind.

As Wen Zhixia spoke, she shook her wrist intentionally or unintentionally.

Hearing a soft, silvery sound, Lin Mengqiu looked over without making a sound.

Sure enough, I saw the very beautiful seven-colored silver bell bracelet on Annoying Chan's fair wrist.

She knew perfectly well that this was a New Year's gift from Chen Shi'an.

What's so interesting about all that fancy stuff? Can it compare to my Mountain Spirit Flower Bracelet?
Lin Mengqiu casually took her small hand out of her pocket and deliberately rolled up her sleeves, revealing her bracelet.

This, of course, did not escape Wen Zhixia's notice.

It's all black and dull; only someone with a low sex drive would like this style. It's definitely no match for my own bracelet.

Fortunately, the similar yet different New Year's gifts didn't cause any dissatisfaction. On the contrary, compared to each other's gifts, I felt that my gift was better...

We arrived at Cafeteria No. 2.

Chen Shi'an immediately spotted Li Wanyin sitting at the back of the cafeteria.

With an invitation from Lin Mengqiu, my sister successfully sneaked into the campus today and joined the three of them for the school anniversary celebration. Looking at her so young and beautiful, students who didn't know her might have thought she was a top student from some year.

As the three approached, Li Wanyin, who was sitting in her seat, also saw them and raised her arm to wave from afar.

"Did Sister Wanyin arrive very early?"

"No, I just arrived. I made the food, changed my clothes, and came over because I was afraid the food would get cold before you finished class."

"Wow! What a feast!"

Seeing the Taoist priest sit down opposite Sister Wanyin, Wen Zhixia quickly sat down next to Chen Shi'an.

Lin Mengqiu was a step too slow, so she had no choice but to sit down opposite the annoying cicada in a huff.

"Yes, it's the last day of 2023, so I specially prepared some good food, and we'll have an extra meal together today~"

"Thank you, Sister Wanyin!"

Chen Shi'an and Li Wanyin busied themselves opening the lunch boxes they had brought, while Wen Zhixia and Lin Mengqiu helped set them out.

Out of habit, Wen Zhixia stretched her leg forward and bumped into someone's leg.

Lin Mengqiu's expression froze, and she glared at her.

Wen Zhixia also felt a chill and quickly pulled her leg back.

As Li Wanyin rolled up her sleeves to pick up some food, she also noticed the beautiful bracelets on the two girls' fair wrists.

"Zhizhi, your bracelet is so pretty! I've never seen you wear it before, is it new?"

"It was a gift from the Taoist priest..."

Wen Zhixia was delighted when Li Wanyin praised her bracelet for being beautiful. In front of her sister, she hesitated for a while before honestly whispering that it was a gift from a Taoist priest.

"Shi'an gave it to me! It's so beautiful..."

After speaking, Li Wanyin looked at Lin Mengqiu's bracelet.

"Mengqiu, your bracelet is so beautiful, it really suits your temperament. Was it also a gift from Shi'an?"

"~~~~~~"

As expected, Sister Wanyin has a better eye than this annoying cicada!
Like Wen Zhixia, the girl felt a little guilty when faced with Wanyin's question, after all, she was eating the food Wanyin had cooked, but she still nodded honestly...

Seeing that her two younger sisters both had such beautiful bracelets, it was impossible for the older sister not to feel envious.

Li Wanyin didn't say anything until the very end, when she finally turned her slightly resentful gaze to her bratty younger brother in front of her.

The meaning in their eyes was self-evident:

Shi'an, then... does your sister have any?

Chen Shi'an: "..."

Why are you all already asking for gifts before the New Year has even arrived?!
(Seeking monthly votes at the beginning of the month~ Also, a book club has been created. Those who want to join the group can do so through the introduction or the link below.)

(End of this chapter)