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

Chapter 20: Is this a test for the Taoist priest? (Thanks to the leader of the Rice Alliance)

Li Wanyin was stunned. This was the first time she had ever so directly experienced how much a hairstyle could change a man's image.

Of course, Chen Shi'an was also handsome before he cut his hair, but his image and temperament were completely different from now. At that time, he wore his hair in a bun, which gave him a stronger classical charm and a refined, calm and composed demeanor; while after cutting his hair, he had more youthful and bright energy, and looked clean and refreshing.

The contrast between the two is truly refreshing.

Not to mention Li Wanyin, even the black cat almost didn't recognize him. It stared at Chen Shi'an for a while, circled around him, and sniffed him before finally confirming that this 'halfway through life' guy was Chen Shi'an.

This made Chen Shi'an a little uncomfortable. He reached up and touched his face, speechless, and said, "What's wrong? I just got a haircut, why don't you recognize me?"

"Because the changes are really too great!" Li Wanyin said with a smile.

"Meow." The black cat also meowed, as if in agreement.

"Does it look bad after the haircut?"

"No, no! I think it's really beautiful!"

Although Chen Shi'an is still a younger brother, he is a handsome young man. Li Wanyin noticed that she had been staring at him for a long time and felt a little embarrassed. She quickly changed the subject and helped him bring the daily necessities he had bought into the house.

"It's okay, I can do it myself."

"You bought so much stuff!"

"Yes, these are all things we use regularly."

"Oh, you also bought oil, rice, soy sauce, and vinegar. I still have some in the kitchen..."

"You'll need it eventually; once you've used yours, you can use mine too."

"Then next time you have time, we can cook together."

Li Wanyin smiled and said, "It's actually harder to cook for one person. It's perfect for two people to eat together. I can cook, so I'll let you try my cooking next time."

"Then I won't be polite."

"Haha, it wasn't actually that delicious, please don't mind..."

"It's possible that they felt Wan Yin didn't make enough to eat."

Li Wanyin found it quite pleasing, thinking to herself, "Did this little Taoist learn all sorts of tricks on the mountain? How come he speaks so sweetly, and he's also good-looking and young? If he went to the street to tell fortunes, wouldn't he fool every girl he meets?"
The washing machine finished washing the clothes and played a musical notification sound. Li Wanyin then took a bucket to take the washed clothes out to dry.

She hand-washes her underwear every day, while storing other everyday clothes for two or three days before putting them all in the washing machine. After all, thrift is ingrained in her bones, and she feels it's too wasteful of water and electricity to only wash two or three items of clothing each time she runs the washing machine.

She didn't tell Chen Shi'an about these details of daily life, but Chen Shi'an could also notice them. It seems that she should hand wash her underwear from now on. As the washing machine is a shared property in a shared apartment, she should take other people's feelings into consideration.

Now everyone lives under the same roof. The living room is warm and bright, the cat is lounging on the sofa, Chen Shi'an is tidying up, and Li Wanyin is hanging clothes on the balcony.

Occasionally, Chen Shi'an would look up at her as she hung out the clothes to dry, and he felt a sense of peace and tranquility.

Even though this was his house, Chen Shi'an always had the illusion that he had mistakenly entered someone else's home and was spying on their life—after all, the situation here was so different from that in the mountains. He seemed to have adapted, but he still needed time to get used to it.

Putting everything else aside, the old men who used to live with us in the mountains have been replaced by gentle and beautiful young women, and the Taoist robes on the clotheslines have been replaced by delicate pink undergarments unique to women. How can this be the same as in the mountains?

Chen Shi'an wasn't a Taoist priest; he was just curious about them. Having seen too many scoundrels, and not looking wouldn't make him a man, he glanced at them to broaden his horizons before looking away.

After Li Wanyin finished hanging up her clothes, Chen Shi'an also finished packing his things.

Like her, Chen Shian also changed into home slippers.

"Shi'an, I've already taken a shower. There's still hot water in the water heater. You can take a shower if you want."

"Okay, no rush. I usually take cold showers."

Do you take cold showers even in winter?

"That's not the case. We have a big pot in our temple. Boiling a big pot of water is enough for my master and me."

"Boiling water for bathing, that's what my family did when I was a child."

"Does Sister Wanyin like starting a fire?"

"Hey, how do you know?"

Li Wanyin recalled her childhood, "I really liked lighting a fire, especially in winter. Sitting in front of the stove and lighting a fire would make me feel warm and cozy all over. However, our pot wasn't very big, so we had to add water several times if the whole family was using it."

"Did Sister Wanyin throw a sweet potato into the fire when she was starting it?" Chen Shi'an asked with a smile.

"You know this too?"

"Haha, because I've done it too."

Shared childhood memories fostered a sense of closeness between Li Wanyin and Chen Shi'an. She had spent her high school and university years in the city, surrounded by many city dwellers who had grown up with water heaters at home. Sharing these childhood joys with others was difficult for them to grasp; they would often be surprised that her family didn't even have a water heater…

"I thought that since you've been practicing Taoism since childhood, your childhood must have been different from ours..."

“Apart from the fact that I never went to school, we’re pretty much the same.”

Li Wanyin caught the key information in the words and was stunned for a moment before asking, "Shi'an, you...you never went to school?"

"Well, I only attended primary school for a few days, so I've now transferred to the second year of high school to catch up on my studies."

"..."

Chen Shi'an spoke casually, but Li Wanyin could not remain calm.

Putting aside the question of how someone who has never been to school can transfer into the second year of high school, and why they should transfer into the second year of high school, can they really catch up after missing so many years of schooling?
Visibly, Li Wanyin's face showed the worry unique to those who care for their younger siblings. She didn't say much, but said earnestly, "Shi'an, you have a lot of studies to do... but I believe in you, keep going!"

Chen Shi'an blinked, smiled, and nodded: "Okay."

As he spoke, Chen Shi'an took out half a watermelon he had bought and cut it into several pieces with a knife.

"Sister Wanyin, I bought a watermelon, let's eat together."

"No need, no need, you can eat it."

Li Wanyin almost instinctively waved her hand to refuse, but Chen Shi'an seemed to have already seen through her craving and directly took the largest piece and stuffed it into her hand.

"eat."

"...Well, thank you, Shi'an." "Sister Wanyin, you're welcome. I couldn't finish it all by myself. How was it? Sweet, right?"

"Mmm, so sweet, you have such good taste in shopping..."

Li Wanyin ate very elegantly, holding the melon in her right hand and cupping her left palm to catch the melon seeds she spat out. The melon was very juicy, but she didn't let a single drop fall to the ground.

"This is the first watermelon I've eaten this year," Li Wanyin said, her big eyes crinkling with sweetness.

"That's unfortunate, me too."

The two sat together on the sofa eating watermelon. Chen Shi'an asked, "Wan Yin, your grades must have been pretty good when you were in school, right? Uncle Lin said you just graduated this year?"

Li Wanyin nodded. "Yes, I just graduated in June. But I wasn't very good at studying; I only have a junior college diploma."

"College?"

"Correct."

Li Wanyin's voice was much softer, but thankfully the watermelon was sweet, which neutralized some of the bitterness in her words. "When I was in my senior year of high school, my parents were in a car accident. My dad passed away, and my mom had no one to take care of her in the hospital. My younger sister was still young, so I took a break from school for more than half a year to take care of her at home. When I returned to school, my grades couldn't keep up, and I only got into a third-tier university in the college entrance exam. The tuition was very expensive, so I chose a junior college..."

When she talks about these past events now, her tone is still relatively calm, but Chen Shi'an can imagine the darkness she experienced that year.

"How is Auntie feeling now?"

"She's recovering quite well, but she can't do heavy work. She found a manual job in a small factory in our town, which is enough to get by."

After finishing the watermelon, the dejection on Li Wanyin's face vanished, as if her earlier gloom had been merely Chen Shi'an's illusion. She regained her energy and continued, "My thoughts are simple now: find a job as soon as possible, and then... um, save two hundred thousand!"

"You need to save up that much money?"

"correct."

"So, what does Sister Wanyin plan to do with the money after she saves it up?"

"Hehe, I haven't decided yet~ Anyway, saving money first is definitely the right thing to do. My mom doesn't earn much money either, and my sister's schooling also costs money."

It was obvious to the naked eye that when talking about her younger sister, Li Wanyin's face showed an extremely proud expression: "My sister is very sensible. She is much better at studying than me. Her grades are the best in the school. She will be taking the high school entrance exam next year. The teachers all say that she can get into the best high school in our province."

"So, as the older sister, I need to work harder. My mother's health isn't good, and my younger sister is preparing for the crucial high school entrance exam. I don't want them to worry too much."

"..."

Chen Shi'an and the cat were listening, and looking at the woman in front of them with her seemingly overflowing tenacious vitality, neither of them could say a word.

"...Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you believe me?" Li Wanyin asked with a smile.

Chen Shi'an came to his senses and smiled, "No, of course I believe that Sister Wanyin can do it. I'm just a little envious of my younger sister for having such a good older sister."

"I'm so envious of you!"

"Envy me?"

"Yes, the idea of ​​living a secluded life in the mountains sounds very appealing. No worries, no pressure. I used to not understand why some people would want to live in seclusion in the mountains, but now I do. When I have money in the future, I also want to find a mountain, build my own little courtyard, raise chickens, grow vegetables, and live a carefree life."

Chen Shi'an chuckled and said, "Then Sister Wanyin will be disappointed. Being a Taoist priest has its troubles too. I've come down the mountain to study, haven't I?"

"Haha, I'm sure studying won't be a problem for you. Shi'an, you're just as smart as my sister!"

"That's a very high compliment."

Li Wanyin thought of something and took out her phone: "Shi'an, let's add each other on WeChat. It'll be easier to contact each other if needed."

"WeChat? Then wait a minute, Sister Wanyin, I'll download it."

"...You don't have WeChat?"

"Yeah, there's no one I need to contact normally."

"You're not connected to WiFi yet, are you? Shi'an, connect to your home WiFi. Using WiFi at home saves on data usage."

WiFi?

Chen Shi'an realized what this meant, "Sister Wanyin, did you turn on the internet? Then we'll include the internet fee when we split the rent."

"No need, no need. Uncle Lin has been keeping the internet on all the time; he's already included it in the rent. Just search for it; the name is 901, and the password is lwy0709... Click this, click this."

Chen Shi'an knows how to use a mobile phone, but he is obviously not as skilled as Li Wanyin. Seeing that he was clumsy and couldn't find the WiFi settings for a long time like an old man, the gentle older sister came over and used her finger to tap his screen to help him operate it.

The two were very close to each other.

Although Li Wanyin wasn't much older than Chen Shi'an, she was already a graceful young woman.

Having just finished showering, his sister carried the unique fragrance of shower gel and shampoo. Chen Shi'an's gaze involuntarily fell on her profile. As she spoke, her voice trembled, and the faint fragrance emanated from her slightly trembling, fair neck, lingering around his nose...

It was an indescribable fragrance. Its owner was warm and gentle, without any makeup, yet the fragrance subtly, softly, and almost imperceptibly captivated the young Taoist's heart.

For a fleeting moment, Chen Shi'an couldn't help but imagine burying his face deep in that neck and inhaling that scent...

Such frivolous and reckless thoughts made his Dao heart suddenly feel unsteady, as if it had lost its weight.

Order now! Order it for me!!

Fortunately, his eighteen years of arduous training had not been in vain; in just a moment, his eyes quickly regained their clarity.

so close……

No wonder my master told me to be careful when experiencing the mortal world; he actually used this to test my resolve!

I almost fell for their trick!
"Okay, it's installed. Now, please log in and register."

"...Okay, thank you, Sister Xie Wanyin."

Fortunately, Li Wanyin didn't notice his momentary daze, assuming he was just staring blankly and hadn't reacted yet.

Uncle Lin is right, Shi'an is truly a virtuous and trustworthy Taoist priest...

(Thanks to the rice patron! Boss, you're so generous! May you prosper! I love this little fishing village! (*σ`)σ)

(End of this chapter)