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

Chapter 31 Why are you staring at me, class monitor?

[STARTER UNIT 1 - Hello!]
[SECTION A -How do you greet people? ]
In the English class of Grade 11, Class 5, the English teacher was reviewing the monthly exam papers on the podium. Chen Shi'an held a reading pen, opened the textbook of the first semester of seventh grade English, and pointed to the parts he didn't understand, having a great time.

Lin Mengqiu: "..."

The girl sitting next to him, who scored 140 on her English test, watched him swiping his reading pen across his textbook and momentarily lost her sense of place...

Ugh... It's one thing to have an extra deskmate, but why is her deskmate so different from everyone else's?

Now, having been through it all, looking at that seventh-grade English textbook that seemed like an introductory reading material, Lin Mengqiu didn't know whether to find it funny or helpless. It was as if Chen Shi'an had only appeared here to break her usual aloof persona...

Chen Shi'an, who was diligently studying English, suddenly turned his head and their eyes met, making Lin Mengqiu feel ashamed as if she had been caught spying on someone.

"Squad leader, why are you looking at me like that?"

"...Keep your voice down."

"Hmm?...Oh, I'm sorry."

Chen Shi'an paused for a moment, then turned the volume of the reading pen down a bit.

This thing can connect to Bluetooth headphones, but he didn't have any, so he just used the speakerphone. However, the volume was turned down very low, so it shouldn't disturb anyone. Since Lin Mengqiu said it was disturbing her, he turned it down even lower!

[Look……]
As Chen Shi'an turned the volume down, Lin Mengqiu really couldn't hear a sound at all—the only sound she could hear when she listened closely was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.

"...What's wrong? Am I disturbing you?" Chen Shi'an turned around, and Lin Mengqiu was staring at him again.

"No," Lin Mengqiu couldn't help but ask, "Can you hear yourself clearly when you turn it so low?"

"I can hear it clearly."

"..."

Whether his hearing was really that good or he was just bragging, Lin Mengqiu decided never to look at him again.

It's strange, really. Even though I'm usually so indifferent to others, I can't help but be curious and want to see what he's doing...

Perhaps she was intimidated by his eager look, wanting to beat her and get first place, and wanted to see where he got the confidence to beat her.
Just kidding... How could that be!

If this loser really gets first place, then all the students at Yunqi No. 1 High School who have studied hard for twelve years will become a laughing stock!

Lin Mengqiu couldn't help but glance at him again.

Chen Shi'an had entered a state of flow, using the almost inaudible reading pen to mark each word on the seventh-grade English textbook line by line. In the short time she was stunned, he had already marked half a page.

Lin Mengqiu didn't believe in her heart that he could absorb the book so quickly... but for some reason, she felt a sense of pressure and urgency because of it.

She finally stopped paying attention to him and turned her attention back to her studies.

……

After two consecutive English classes, the school bell rang for lunch break.

"Alright, everyone, let's go eat~ Remember to hand in your essays to me tonight."

"Thank you, teacher!"

"Thank you, Mom!" one of the monkeys shouted, but it was quickly drowned out by the enthusiasm and noise of the others eating.

She never extends class time—this is one of the things everyone likes most about her, besides her gentleness and kindness.

If Lao Liang's class is the last one, he won't let anyone leave without dragging it out for three to five minutes!
Because he is the homeroom teacher, he never talks about class management in his own Chinese class. He deliberately saves it for after class to talk about it, which shows his sinister intentions!
If someone isn't proactive in their work, there's something wrong with their thinking!
I was really hungry during my student days!
How hungry were we? During the Spring Festival, the coffee table was piled high with candies, cookies, and nuts that no one ate. But if we brought them to the classroom, they were considered delicacies.
He would dawdle and complain about his mother's cooking at home, but if he packed a small portion of crispy pork and brought it to the dormitory, everyone in the dormitory would take turns calling him "Dad."

After a long day of intense mental activity, anyone who isn't hungry is either physically or mentally ill.

Look at Lin Mengqiu next to me. In the classroom, she only leaves her seat to get water or go to the toilet. Otherwise, she sits still in her seat. Now that she hears the lunch bell ring, she is also moving quickly.

Although her movements weren't as chaotic and hurried as those monkeys, they were completely different from her usual style.

Chen Shi'an was also hungry, and like her, she packed her things in an orderly but quick manner.

Although he possessed magical powers, he was still like a normal person, needing to eat and drink. His master said that there were legends of people who could truly achieve the state of fasting.

[Master, if you reach the state of fasting, will I be able to cook for one less person?]
[...That won't do. You still have to cook for your teacher.]
[Pshaw, I thought I could go without food and water, but it turns out that even fasting requires eating and drinking?]
[Being able to go without food and drink is one thing, but eating and drinking are quite another. Joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, hunger, thirst, sight, and hearing are all our real feelings as we interact with the world. This is life. If we are without emotion, desire, fear, or wants, what difference is there between us and death?]
[Alright, alright, I'll go cook now. What are we having for dinner today?]
The toon sprouts are growing well this year...
There is a Chinese toon tree next to the wall of the Taoist temple.

Every spring, when the gentle breeze blows, the Chinese toon tree awakens from winter, and clusters of dark red buds sprout from its branches, with a hint of green at the edges. At this time, the dish of stir-fried Chinese toon with eggs becomes one of the few seasonal delicacies that the master and apprentice crave.

Fei Mo, who had been hiding all winter, was also quite plump. It would nimbly climb up the branches of the toon tree and use its claws to hook down the tender green toon buds. Chen Shi'an was responsible for picking them up under the tree with a bamboo basket. After picking enough for one meal, they would go and get a few eggs laid by the chickens raised in the mountains. The uneducated master would sit cross-legged on a large rock, looking at the greening mountains in the distance, reciting his self-composed spring poems, looking very busy, but actually just waiting to eat... Thinking about this, Chen Shi'an felt a little hungry for toon scrambled eggs.

Unfortunately, it's already September, and there's no toon sprouts available. Even if there were, the school cafeteria probably wouldn't serve them, and even if they did, they probably wouldn't taste the same as I remember.

"Did you go to the cafeteria to get a meal card?" Lin Mengqiu asked him without looking up as she put her water bottle into her backpack.

"Uncle Lin gave me one, saying it was a meal card for faculty and staff."

After Chen Shi'an finished speaking, he asked her curiously, "Do you have one?"

Lin Mengqiu: "..."

The girl was speechless, wondering whose father this was.

I remember when we first started high school, Lin Ming told her that he was afraid people would gossip if she used his meal card, but then he turned around and gave his meal card to Chen Shi'an to use.
Fortunately, she was already living in the teacher's dormitory room that her father had been assigned at the school. The teacher's dormitory only had one room. If there were another room, wouldn't she have to invite Chen Shi'an to live with her as well?

If this were in ancient times, she probably would have wanted to marry this young Taoist priest as well!

Lin Mengqiu's expression was strange; she felt increasingly that something was wrong with her father...

My dad has always been grateful for kindness. When he was in college, the villagers chipped in five or ten yuan for him. Now that he's made it big, it's one thing for the school cafeteria staff, sanitation workers, and security guards to be from the same village, but did Master Chen Shi'an save your life? Why are you being so nice to him?
Thinking of this, Lin Mengqiu couldn't help but ask Chen Shi'an curiously, "Can I ask you a question?"

"please say."

Do you know what happened between your master and my father back then?

"I don't know."

"Didn't you ask my dad?"

“Generally, if my master hasn’t told me something, it’s either because he doesn’t want me to know, or it’s too trivial for him to talk about. If you’re curious, you can ask Uncle Lin.”

Chen Shi'an paused for a moment, then added, "And remember to let me know."

Lin Mengqiu: "..."

I thought you weren't curious! If my dad had told me, would I have needed to ask you?

"Uncle Lin said you live alone in the teachers' dormitory?"

"Ah."

"Where do students like me who commute to school rest at noon?"

"Classroom break. No one in the class is a day student except you."

"Want to eat together?" Seeing that she had finished packing her things and was about to get up, Chen Shi'an also stood up from his seat, pushed his chair under the table, and made room for her.

"I packed some to take back to my dorm to eat."

Lin Mengqiu got up and left the classroom first.

Classes end at noon and start again at 1:30 PM, leaving only an hour and a half for lunch and rest in between.

Since day students could only rest in the classroom, Chen Shi'an didn't take his backpack downstairs. He took out his meal card and turned to walk out of the classroom.

It was right at the time of school dismissal, and the stairwells on both sides of the school building were completely blocked. No wonder all the students in the class rushed over so fast...

Fortunately, Class 5 was only on the second floor, so it didn't take Chen Shi'an long to slowly queue up and go downstairs.

Yunqi No.1 Middle School is very large, and the canteen is a certain distance from the teaching building. When he walked to the spacious campus area, he saw many people running.

Chen Shi'an thought to himself, if all the school uniforms were replaced with disaster relief clothes, the grand scene of the imperial court distributing disaster relief grain could not have been more impressive.

I wonder if Fei Mo has finished its cat food. Letting it go hungry for half a day to help it lose weight isn't a bad thing...

Just as he was thinking, a small hand gently patted his shoulder.

"Hey! Taoist priest!"

When Chen Shi'an turned around and saw the girl's face, a smile naturally appeared on his face.

"Little cicada, it's you again!"

(End of this chapter)