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

Chapter 38 The Taoist Master Shows Off His Strength! (3800 words)
Eraser shavings were scattered on the table.

With a gentle sweep of her small hand, Lin Mengqiu wiped away all the dust from the little rabbit...

Looking back, the 'unruly' Taoist priest finally 'became sensible,' no longer asking her any questions, and continued to do his homework obediently.

To be honest, if Chen Shi'an hadn't shown it to her, even Lin Mengqiu herself would have forgotten when she had drawn this adorable little bunny pencil drawing in her workbook, and it was even 'crying'...

So many years have passed that even she herself can't recall whether she drew the "crying little rabbit" because she couldn't solve a problem or because she missed her mother.

Perhaps it's all of those things—when I couldn't solve a problem, I sadly thought of my mother.

When people mature and look back on their past, they often feel naive and are ashamed to mention it.

Her affected words and blunt emotional expressions were all different from her current understanding of 'maturity'.

She didn't actually feel ashamed of not being able to solve the problem, nor did she feel ashamed of missing her mother. What she was ashamed of was that she had expressed such vulnerability back then, and when they met again after many years, she felt a disconnect between her "past self" and her "present self".

Now seventeen years old, she still has questions she can't answer and times when she misses her mother, but she will never draw a crying bunny again.

This survival strategy of burying and hiding one's inner emotions has somehow become an instinct for her.

Lin Mengqiu felt this was great; it was what her mother meant by 'growing up.' — She would never be vulnerable again, and she would never need anyone to worry about her.

I drifted off into thought without realizing it.

She stared blankly at the blank space in the draft paper, her pen moving across the paper, and a simple cartoon drawing of a 'little rabbit' made with a ballpoint pen appeared on the paper.

Muscle memory from years ago makes her subconsciously draw a few "crying" marks on the 'little bunny's' face.

But when he put pen to paper, the pen tip suddenly stopped.

Then came a flurry of random lines, completely covering up the adorable cartoon bunny sketch with black ink.

Chen Shi'an heard the heavy sound of the pen tip scraping against the paper and glanced over out of the corner of his eye.

I don't know what she was writing or drawing, but she has already torn up that page of draft paper, crumpled it into a ball, and thrown it into the trash bag hanging next to the table.

Looking at the girl's face again, it seemed even colder than usual.

Lin Mengqiu seemed to sense something and looked at him.

Chen Shi'an reacted even faster than her; he had already looked away almost as soon as she turned her neck.

Master, oh Master! Women are far more difficult to understand than any problem! Your disciple is walking on thin ice!
The young Taoist priest clicked his tongue in surprise. He could sense that Lin Mengqiu was in a bad mood, but he didn't know what was going on with this sudden emotional fluctuation. However, he was smart and knew that the best thing to do at this time was to pretend that he didn't know. If he went up to care for her, he would definitely do something bad with good intentions!
Chen Shi'an subtly conveyed a sense of tranquility.

Very effective.

The inexplicable irritation that had arisen in Lin Mengqiu gradually dissipated, and she picked up her pen and continued to work on her problems quietly.

Chen Shi'an breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't understand what was wrong with Lin Mengqiu all of a sudden, he felt responsible for comforting her since the matter was caused by him. Besides, the booklet he was using was the one that she had specially brought over to borrow from him.

After working through the questions three times and flipping through several pages, Chen Shi'an's gaze narrowed slightly.

Next to one of the difficult problems, he found a little rabbit crying in pencil.

This time, however, he was smarter and didn't ask her. He even hid it from her, not wanting her to notice...

Isn't it cute? It's such a waste to wipe it off...

Chen Shi'an also picked up a pencil and drew another little rabbit next to the simple drawing of the "crying little rabbit"—[The little rabbit pats its head, don't cry, don't cry]
Ha ha.

Your drawing is not as good as mine.

……

The last chemistry class ended, and the school bell rang.

The class became lively, and Chen Shi'an also pulled his attention away from doing the problems and closed the exercise book in his hand.

To briefly summarize today's learning outcomes: I gained a general understanding of the scoring rules for modern high school exams in Chinese; I memorized 346 words in English; I self-studied the three major chapters of the seventh-grade first semester math textbook; and this last lesson was spent reinforcing my understanding with workbook exercises, having only completed less than a third of the three major chapters.

The entire seventh-grade math textbook consists of six chapters, ranging from rational numbers, algebra, polynomials, and linear equations in one variable to the basics of geometry, with the difficulty gradually increasing.

Chen Shi'an was well aware that learning quickly now did not mean he could learn just as quickly later.

The key is to consolidate what you've learned, which means constantly doing practice problems. Only in this way can you cultivate the mathematical sensitivity and thinking ability to apply what you've learned to new situations and to see the big picture from small details.

He wasn't sure how long it would take to catch up with the current pace of the math class, but with a long time until the college entrance exam, Chen Shi'an wasn't in a hurry. He wanted to solidify his foundation first.

As for physics, chemistry, and biology, let's leave them for now. Don't try to do too much at once; take it one subject at a time.

There's evening self-study class to attend. It's 5:10 now, and I have one hour and twenty minutes of free time before evening self-study starts at 6:30.

But in reality, there isn't that much 'freedom'. For boarding students, eating takes about fifteen or twenty minutes, right? Taking a shower or doing laundry takes about fifteen or twenty minutes, right? Subtracting these times, there are only forty or fifty minutes left.

Chen Shi'an didn't know what to do yet, so he planned to go get some food first.

I got up, left my seat, walked out of the classroom, and went downstairs.

He has a lunch buddy. He made an appointment with Wen Zhixia for lunch. If they need to eat together, he will wait for her in the corridor on the first floor. If she hasn't arrived after ten minutes, he can leave first, or he can leave if he has something to do. She will know when he is not there.

Chen Shi'an liked this kind of agreement; it was clear, nostalgic, and free, providing each other with enough personal space while ensuring companionship.

Compared to lunchtime dismissal, the stairwell is not as crowded during afternoon dismissal.

Chen Shi'an went to the first-floor corridor to wait for a while. Before he saw Wen Zhixia, he saw Xu Zihan rushing down the corridor with a basketball in his arms.

"Dao Ye! Let's play basketball! Gou Zhe's team has already taken over the court!"

"I can't."

"Hey, what's the big deal! They're all noobs except me. We'll get the hang of it after a few games together! Come on, we're just short of players!"

After thinking for a moment, Chen Shi'an followed Xu Zihan to the basketball court to see what was going on, just to experience high school life.

The basketball court isn't far away; you can just walk through the track and field.

Liu Zhuoran, Zou Xiaokun, Wang Yuze, and Li Kai, who had come to reserve half the court, were already there, their backpacks casually tossed aside next to the basketball hoop.

As students in the top class, their athletic abilities weren't particularly outstanding. Apart from Xu Zihan, the sports committee member, who played decently, the others varied in skill level, but each of them felt that the others were worse than themselves.

"Master Dao!" "Master Dao, are you here to play ball too!"

"Six people is just right, let's split into two teams and play half the court!"

"Does this Taoist master know how to play basketball with Taoist magic?!"

"Master Daoist! Show me your skills!"

Most of the boys' relationships developed while playing games, playing ball, or squeezing onto the balcony during breaks to watch girls. When they saw Chen Shi'an coming to play ball, they were all very welcoming and curious, and they all wanted Chen Shi'an to show off his skills first.

"Master Dao, catch!"

Suddenly, several people threw the basketball at him.

Chen Shi'an reached out and caught it steadily.

Any basketball player, upon receiving the ball, would first dribble it a bit to get a feel for it. But Chen Shi'an was different. After catching the ball, he just held it like that, walked a few steps with the ball in his arms, put his backpack aside, and then smiled somewhat embarrassedly, saying, "I don't know how to play basketball. How do you play this? Do you throw the ball into that hoop?"

Xu Zihan and the others were stunned. Dao Ye's incongruous posture after receiving the ball was exactly like that of someone who had never played basketball before. Had Dao Ye overcame drugs? He didn't even bounce the ball once!
"Master Dao, you really don't know how?"

"No, we didn't. Back in the mountains, our Taoist temple didn't have basketballs either. This was probably the first time we'd ever played with one."

"Holy crap! 99%! A rare find!"

The group immediately became very surprised. Even though there were quite a few boys in the class who didn't play basketball, surely it wasn't like Dao Ye, who was only touching a basketball for the first time in his life!
"Does this Taoist priest know the rules of basketball?"

"You score by putting the ball into the hoop, right?"

"(⊙o⊙)...Um, sort of, but the rules are a bit more complicated. For example, Dao Ye, your current position is outside the three-point line. If you throw the ball in from there, it's a three-pointer, or...Holy crap!!"

Before Xu Zihan could finish speaking, Chen Shian effortlessly pushed the ball outward from his chest with both hands, like a cannonball being fired. The basketball traced a perfect parabolic trajectory in the air and swished through the net!

A swish! A swish that made no contact with the rim or backboard except for the net! And it was shot with this completely haphazard 'beginner' shooting form, with the ball even released two meters beyond the three-point line!
Basketballs have some weight to them, and most people jump slightly and exert force when shooting from beyond the three-point line, let alone beginners. But Chen Shi'an didn't move an inch. It felt as if he gently sent the ball out with both hands, and then the ball flew half a court away...

What happened? I didn't see it clearly! You must have just guessed!
"This Taoist priest has some skill!"

"Master Dao, let's try casting again!"

Does that count as a score?

"Let's see! Let me try another shot!"

Zou Xiaokun ran over, picked up the ball, and threw it towards Chen Shi'an.

The ball was passed a little crooked, but Chen Shi'an jumped up lightly, stretched out one hand, and steadily controlled the ball in flight.

"Holy crap!! Daoist, are you pretending to be weak to fool others? You can catch a ball with one hand now?! And you have this jumping ability?!"

As Chen Shi'an released the ball with his novice shooting form, the basketball swished through the net once again!

If the first time was luck, then the second time speaks volumes.

"I am not alone in my ways!"

Xu Zihan shouted, patted Chen Shi'an on the shoulder, and said eagerly, "I didn't expect there to be another expert in our class besides me! In such a large Yunqi No.1 High School, only you and I, Dao Ye, are outstanding!"

"You're such a pain, Zihan! I've never seen you make a three-pointer, how can you compare to Master Dao?"

"Does Daoist know how to dunk? Let me show you how!"

The others no longer believed Chen Shi'an's claim that he couldn't play basketball, and they all urged him to demonstrate his skills.

This made Chen Shi'an a little embarrassed: "I'm really not very good at this..."

"This Taoist priest always makes fun of his buddies, who would believe you can't do it! I'll go first!"

Xu Zihan took the basketball, dribbled it while sprinting forward, and then jumped up suddenly!
With a loud thud, the ball flew away...

The rim was shaking; it was his hand slapping it...

Xu Zihan slammed her hand against the rim, wincing in pain but not uttering a sound.

"Hey Daoist, give it a try! We're about the same height, and judging from your jumping ability and hang time, you're a 100% sure you can dunk!"

"Deduct one, deduct one!"

"...Just deduct it, right?"

"Yes! Slam as hard as you can!"

Seeing the crowd cheering, Chen Shi'an had no choice but to take the basketball, walk to the basket, and then leap up—

A standing dunk?!
Xu Zihan and the others were stunned. The scene before them seemed to slow down. They saw Dao Ye leap into the air, seemingly suspended in mid-air. He reached out his right hand, grabbed the basketball, and slammed it down on the hoop in front of him...

boom--!
After a loud bang, countless cracks instantly spread from the center of the transparent glass backboard, shattering the glass from transparent to white crystal!
Then, with a loud crash, shattered glass, a basketball, and Chen Shi'an fell to the ground together...

The basketball bounced on the ground with a thud, and the empty backboard, with only the rim still wobbling precariously...

Xu Zihan and the other four were dumbfounded, feeling as if they were in a dream and hadn't come back to their senses.

An eerie silence fell over the air.

It wasn't until quite a while later that the monkeys let out a heart-wrenching scream—

"Fuck!!!"

"Master Dao slammed the rim to pieces!!!"

"Damn, this is a total explosion!!!"

"Taoist Basketball!! This is Taoist Basketball!!"

“Awesome!!!”

"A school-wide announcement is required! This must be announced school-wide!!!"

(End of this chapter)