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

Chapter 76 Mengqiu, come here and call me Martial Uncle!

Chapter 76 Mengqiu, come here and call me Martial Uncle!
When Lin Ming returned after making the call, Chen Shi'an was already washing the pot.

He neatly put away the used seasonings, bottles, jars, plates, and bowls, and wiped the grease off the stove. Four dishes and a pot of soup were placed on the empty space on the counter. Lin Mengqiu seemed to be starving, and took out a bowl from the sterilizer to start serving rice...

Lin Ming was somewhat stunned.

"Shi'an, have you finished making the stir-fried green peppers and pork and the fried anchovies with eggs?"

"Well, I saw Uncle Lin was busy on the phone, so I just did it for him. Uncle Lin can finish it when he's done..."

"Dinner's ready." Lin Mengqiu gave her father a slightly resentful look, then started serving the dishes after getting her food.

"This makes me feel embarrassed!"

Lin Ming smiled a little embarrassedly, "Director Chen is always so long-winded on the phone. I told him I'd do it when I got back, but I didn't expect to trouble you, Shi'an, to cook. Shi'an, go eat. Just leave the pots and pans for Uncle to wash!"

"It's nothing. Uncle Lin told me not to be polite and to make myself at home. It's just a small favor, nothing to be ashamed of."

Chen Shi'an carried the washed pot back to the stove and took off his apron to hang it up.

When he was about to help serve the dishes, Lin Ming refused to let him work any longer. He smiled warmly, put his arm around the boy's shoulder, and told him to sit down at the table first. Then he brought him a drink and poured him a glass.

Although Lin Mengqiu can't cook, she is very proactive in helping with small household chores such as serving food.

The food was ready, and she brought out four dishes from the kitchen.

As she was about to serve the pot of hot soup, her father took it from her first, telling her to go out and eat as well.

The two of them usually eat together, and the dining table is not a large round table, but a regular rectangular table for six people.

To make it easier to pick up the food, the dishes were placed in the middle of the rectangular table, slightly towards the side. Chen Shi'an and Lin Mengqiu sat facing each other, while Lin Ming sat next to the table, with the little Taoist priest on his left and his good daughter on his right.

"Shi'an's cooking looks pretty good! The shredded pork with green peppers and the fried anchovies smell delicious!"

Lin Ming looked at the two dishes made by Chen Shi'an. Judging from their appearance and aroma alone, he felt that even he, who had been cooking for many years, was far inferior to this junior, Chen Shi'an.

"Let's all start eating!"

Lin Ming gave a signal, and the three of them started eating together.

Chen Shi'an's chopsticks reached for the spiced pork ribs;

The father and daughter both instinctively picked up green peppers and shredded pork with their first bite;
The expression that had been on Lin Mengqiu's face earlier had now shifted to Lin Ming's face.

Lin Ming's eyes lit up as he took a bite of the shredded green peppers and pork. He nodded repeatedly as he ate it with a mouthful of white rice.

"The simpler the dish, the more skill you can see! Shi'an, your stir-fried green peppers and shredded pork is..." Lin Ming gave a thumbs up, "I'm not exaggerating, it's really the best I've ever had!"

Lin Ming isn't a food critic, so he doesn't know how to describe the feeling. In short, everything was just right. The characteristics and aroma of the ingredients were perfectly brought out, as if every seasoning, every stir-fry, and every degree of heat had been carefully calculated and controlled.

The way of eating is also a way. Chen Shi'an has some knowledge of cooking and eating. With his five senses that are far beyond ordinary people, it is hard to find anyone who knows better than him how to make simple ingredients perfect.

"Uncle Lin, you flatter me. Your five-spice pork ribs and chopped chili fish head are also very good."

"Haha, compared to you Shi'an, I'm far inferior, but these two are my specialties, and Mengqiu usually likes to eat them."

Meanwhile, the picky girl who loves spiced pork ribs and chopped chili fish head hasn't touched either of those dishes yet. She's just been alternating between green pepper and shredded pork and silver fish and fried egg with her rice...

Eating at home, Lin Mengqiu was naturally at ease, but she didn't join in the two men's conversation, simply quietly picking at her food and eating.

"~~~"

With each bite of Chen Shi'an's cooking, her legs, hidden under the table, couldn't help but sway gently...

Coming to her senses, Lin Mengqiu noticed that her father had mentioned her. She then picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of spiced pork rib from the plate, and put it in her mouth.

The girl's legs, which were hidden under the table, stopped wobbling.

She suddenly realized she didn't like spiced pork ribs anymore...

Unlike picky eaters who only pick up green peppers and shredded pork and fried eggs with silver fish, Chen Shi'an tried every dish equally, and even picked up the most five-spice pork ribs and chopped chili fish head made by Lin Ming.

Chen Shi'an wasn't a picky eater. Although he felt the two dishes weren't perfect, he could still reflect on their imperfections while eating them. Of course, he wouldn't say anything out of politeness. Besides, Uncle Lin also had his own good points. For Chen Shi'an, this was a kind of experience and progress—learning from the strengths of others and avoiding their weaknesses.

"...Has Uncle Lin's house been renovated?"

"Yes, we've lived in this house for over ten or twenty years. It was renovated a couple of years ago, and we've gotten used to living here. How's Shi'an doing at the old house? Are you getting used to sharing with Xiao Li?"

"It's great, the house is very comfortable, and Sister Wanyin is a very nice person."

Sister Wanyin?
Lin Mengqiu blinked as she ate. She rarely cared about the rental of her family's house, but she did know that Chen Shi'an lived in her old house and that he shared it with others.

It looks like your roommate is an older woman.
Not interested in.

I don't care who he lives with, as long as it's not with Wen Zhixia...

Pah, so what if it's with Wen Zhixia? She can't care about them...

"~~~"

The anchovy omelet was also delicious!
While Lin Mingzheng and Chen Shian were eating and chatting, Lin Mengqiu, who had been quiet all along, suddenly pulled out her chair and stood up.

Lin Ming was taken aback: "You've finished eating? There's still soup left, have some soup."

"……without."

Lin Mengqiu got up and went to the kitchen. Then, under her father's shocked gaze, she ladled a bowl of rice and returned to her seat, continuing to eat quietly.

no,

When has our daughter ever eaten two bowls of rice?!

……

Lin Mengqiu had forgotten how long it had been since she had experienced something like this: after finishing a meal, her lower abdomen felt warm and full, and she felt very satisfied and a little happy.

Since there's a dishwasher at home, she doesn't have to wash the dishes herself. After helping her dad put the plates and chopsticks in the kitchen, she went back to the corner of the sofa and lazily leaned back.

She stretched her beautiful long legs slightly towards the coffee table, hugged a small pillow to her chest, and leaned her waist, neck, and the back of her head against the sofa. The feeling of her body being fully replenished and even her icy little hands feeling warm made her let out a long, comfortable sigh.

This was the first time Chen Shi'an had ever seen the class monitor in such a relaxed and languid state.

Perhaps noticing his gaze, Lin Mengqiu subtly adjusted her appearance.

Ah.

Chen Shi'an withdrew his gaze, sat down at the tea table near the balcony, and skillfully replaced the old tea in the pot with a fresh brew.

"Would the squad leader like some tea?"

"..."

"The kind you just drank."

"it is good."

Seeing Chen Shi'an carrying a teapot, Lin Mengqiu sat up straight, picked up a small teacup from the table, and waited for him to pour her a cup of tea.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." "……"

No, whose house is this?!

This tea is really delicious.

Lin Mengqiu finished her tea politely, let out a long sigh, removed the pillow from her arms, and prepared to get up to take a shower first, and then go back to her room to read.

As if sensing her thoughts, Chen Shi'an sat at the tea table, sipping tea, and a single sentence drifted over:

"Eat your fill, rest a bit, drink some tea, and catch your breath."

"..."

Lin Mengqiu paused in her attempt to get up, ignoring his words. She simply removed her small hand from behind the pillow, took the TV remote from the sofa, turned on the TV, and then quietly began watching TV as if nothing had happened.

After putting the dishes and utensils in the dishwasher, Lin Ming came out and returned to the tea table to chat with Chen Shi'an over tea.

Lin Mengqiu's eyes were on the TV, but her ears were perked up, listening to their conversation.

I don't know where Chen Shi'an and her father get so many things to talk about.

They talked about incense making, cooking, and the conversation went deeper and deeper, eventually including Taoist practices, classics, and doctrines.

Chen Shi'an was somewhat surprised.

"Uncle Lin has quite a bit of knowledge about cultivation."

"Compared to you, Shi'an, my views are all rather shallow!"

Lin Ming chuckled and said, "Master Chen is a benefactor in my life. I was fortunate enough to learn from him for a month back then, and I benefited greatly from it."

"Oh?"

The curious Taoist priest became interested. His master had rarely talked to him about those old friends and stories, either because he thought they were too trivial to mention or because he didn't want him to know. So, unless Uncle Lin brought it up, Chen Shi'an wouldn't ask.

Seeing that Lin Ming brought it up, he asked curiously, "Uncle Lin and Master have such a connection?"

Lin Mengqiu, sitting on the sofa, quietly turned down the TV volume. She had always been curious about what kind of past her father had with Chen Shi'an, the master and apprentice, that made him so kind to Chen Shi'an.

That happened almost twenty or thirty years ago!

Lin Ming poured Chen Shi'an a cup of tea, a look of reminiscence on his face:
“That year, I was about the same age as you, Shi’an. I was studying in another city when my mother suddenly suffered a heart attack. I took a train and a long-distance bus all night to get back to the village, but she was already lying in the mourning hall. Just then, Master Chen was traveling in our village and took pity on us, a widow and her orphan. He performed the ritual for my mother for free. It was Master Chen… who allowed me to see my mother one last time. If it weren’t for that, I’m afraid I would never have peace of mind for the rest of my life.”

[I was allowed to see my mother one last time.]
Chen Shi'an naturally understood the deeper meaning behind those words.

Lin Mengqiu, however, couldn't tell.

She had actually heard her father talk about her grandmother's story. Just as her father said, she was an orphan raised by her grandmother alone.

Lin Mengqiu had never met her grandmother, but from her father's words, she knew what kind of mother her grandmother was to him.

It wasn't until her father brought it up that Lin Mengqiu realized the Taoist priest her father mentioned who had buried her grandmother was Chen Shi'an's master.

……

After all, many years had passed, and Lin Ming had long since let it go. Seeing the quiet atmosphere, he adopted a relaxed tone.

"Later, Master Chen stopped by our village to rest, and that's when I followed him and learned Taoist magic for a month."

"Master Chen is a true Taoist who has achieved great success. The gains I made in that month are enough to benefit me for a lifetime. I have come to understand many principles and seen many things. He is the true benefactor in my life."

"When Master Chen called me, I was on a business trip out of town and was already on my way back, but I still couldn't make it to see him off. This is my biggest regret. I hope that when you are performing the ritual, Master Shi'an can put in a good word for me. I hope he won't be offended..."

"Uncle Lin, there's no need to be too harsh. Master won't blame you. A virtuous person is respected by all, blessed by Heaven, and followed by good fortune. Master has always been fond of making good connections. Whether the connection is deep or shallow, it doesn't matter in formal farewells. We've troubled Uncle Lin a lot with our studies this time, and Master and I are too grateful to have even a chance to thank you."

"Pshaw, this is nothing, it's all trivial."

"Whether something is big or small depends on who sees it and from what perspective. Perhaps what Uncle Lin cares about is just a small matter for Master. Since Uncle Lin has formed a good relationship with Master, and Master is willing to guide Uncle Lin for a month, then Uncle Lin must have the qualities that Master recognizes. Uncle Lin doesn't need to express his gratitude. On the contrary, I think I should call Uncle Lin 'Senior Brother'."

The more Lin Ming interacted with Chen Shi'an, the more he understood why the old Taoist master Chen had only taken on Shi'an as his disciple in his life. Such wisdom and mindset truly made Lin Ming feel inferior. How could an ordinary young man say such a thing?
Seeing that Chen Shi'an really intended to call him "senior brother," Lin Ming blushed with embarrassment! How could he possibly be worthy of being called "senior brother"!
Can a personal disciple and a nominal disciple be the same thing?

Although Lin Ming dreamed of becoming a direct disciple, he knew his own limitations and only dared to think about it in his heart.

"Shi'an, don't make fun of your uncle! The generations are all mixed up!"

"Look, Senior Brother is concerned about formalities again."

"oops……!"

Lin Ming scratched his head and ears, his old face blushing with embarrassment at being called "senior brother." He knew that Chen Shi'an was probably just making a joke to lighten the mood, but he still felt both pleased and incredibly ashamed.

"Mengqiu, come here and call him Martial Uncle!"

"???"

What the hell are you two doing?!
Is that tea or wine you're drinking?! Are you all out of your minds?!
He even calls me "Master Uncle"... I'd call that stinky Taoist a pig's head if I wanted to!
……

Having eaten and drunk his tea, Chen Shi'an decided not to linger any longer.

It was already dark outside, and he prepared to get up and go back.

Lin Ming had no reason to let him go back empty-handed. Even if Chen Shi'an had brought gifts, or even if he had just brought a mouth, Lin Ming would make sure that Chen Shi'an left with his hands full of gifts.

Lin Ming packed two large bags of things like fruits and snacks, insisting that Chen Shi'an carry them back.

"Thank you, Uncle Lin."

“We’re all family, Shi’an, don’t be shy. Whenever you have time, just let me know and you can come over for a meal.”

"Okay, then I'll go back first."

"Uncle will take you."

"It's alright, Uncle Lin, I know the way."

"Then, Mengqiu, Mengqiu—"

"?"

"You see Shi'an off."

"..."

After deducting five points from her father's score, Lin Mengqiu was forced to continue working.

Seeing that Lin Mengqiu was the one giving him a ride, Chen Shi'an dropped his initial politeness and even gave a teasing smile.