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

From Chapter 23 onwards, we'll be partners (Bonus chapter of 3900 words)
After the sun rose, Chen Shi'an's discomfort with the metropolis when he woke up in the morning dissipated considerably.

No matter how the environment changes, the sun, moon, and stars remain the same, and there is no essential difference between the sunlight in the city and the sunlight in the mountains; both equally illuminate all things.

Chen Shi'an went downstairs, walked out of the residential area, and onto the main street.

At the same time, those who came out of the community with him were mostly elderly people going to buy groceries or do morning exercises, as well as students in school uniforms or parents sending their children to school.

Most office workers don't get up that early.

It was the first time Chen Shi'an had ever worn his school uniform out in public, and it felt quite magical.

The most obvious difference in feel is that it's lighter. The stretchy school uniform pants paired with a short-sleeved school uniform T-shirt allow his arms to easily feel the wind as he walks. This school uniform is indeed comfortable to wear; it's not too tight to hinder movement, nor is it loose and cumbersome like a robe—it fits just right.

Other feelings were also noticeably different—compared to the Taoist robe, after he went out in his school uniform, the number of people looking at him decreased by 90%!
This made Chen Shi'an feel somewhat uncomfortable, and for a moment he wondered if he had cultivated the art of invisibility...

However, this feeling is actually quite good, allowing him to observe others in an unnoticed 'peeping' manner and see their most genuine reactions, rather than the monotonous curiosity.

Of course, quite a few young girls will notice him.

However, this attention was no longer the curiosity of yesterday, but rather lust—

Young and handsome male high school boys, what's wrong with me taking a second look?
Chen Shi'an found it amusing; probably no one he met at that moment would guess that he was actually a Taoist priest.

It wasn't until they reached the traffic lights that someone finally exposed the young Taoist's supposedly flawless disguise.

"Taoist, Taoist priest?"

The voice came from behind Chen Shi'an. It was a clear female voice with a hint of uncertainty, a hint of surprise, and a strong sense of familiarity.

Chen Shi'an turned around, a hint of surprise flashing across his face, which was then naturally replaced by a gentle smile.

"You little chatterbox, is that you?"

The girl in front of him, wearing the same blue and white school uniform as him, was none other than the girl he had chatted with the whole way on the long-distance bus yesterday!

I already knew yesterday that she was in the same school and the same grade as me, but I haven't seen her since we got off the bus and I don't know which class she's in or what her name is.

Chen Shi'an had thought that he might meet her again in some corner of the campus in the future, but he never expected that he would run into her outside the campus just like when they first met.

"I'm not a chatterbox!"

The girl retorted at first, then looked closely at his face, and finally said in a tone of certainty and surprise, "It really is you!!"

"It's me. We chatted all the way yesterday."

"You...you're not wearing a Taoist robe, and you've cut your hair! I didn't recognize you at all! I saw you a while ago, but I wasn't sure if it was you. Why aren't you wearing a Taoist robe? When did you cut your hair? Are you really the Taoist priest from Class 5 of the second year of high school that they were talking about?"

Wen Zhixia was feeling incredibly sleepy on her way to school, but upon seeing Chen Shi'an, her drowsiness vanished instantly, and a barrage of questions poured out like beans.

Her shoulder-length hair was still a little messy and fluffy, the ends of which were tinged with light brown by the morning light. As she spoke, the strands of hair bounced and brushed against her shoulders, with a few playful strands hanging down in front of her forehead. She casually brushed them aside with the back of her finger, revealing her smooth forehead and bright eyes.

The light in his eyes was even more dazzling than the sunlight falling on him.

"I have to go to class, so naturally I have to wear a school uniform and get a haircut."

"But aren't you a Taoist priest? Why are you attending classes at our school?"

"You need to go to university and get a diploma."

"So you're really in Class 5 of the second year of high school now?"

"How did you know?"

"It was already all over the grade last night! Everyone's saying a Taoist priest came to Class 5!"

Wen Zhixia, with a look of 'You're so out of touch,' continued, 'Then last night, after hearing about it, I even went to your class to see if it was you. Turns out you changed your school uniform and cut your hair. No wonder I didn't recognize you last night.'

Is it possible that I didn't attend evening self-study last night?

"..."

The girl hesitated for a moment, but quickly found an answer that satisfied her even more: "No wonder, I was sure I would have recognized you if you were here."

The green light came on, and the two walked and talked.

Wen Zhixia wasn't very tall. When she stood next to Chen Shi'an, she was only a little taller than his shoulder, probably around 1.6 meters.

Her petite stature perfectly matches her cute and sweet appearance; her face looks very youthful, and if it weren't for her ample bust, people would believe she was a middle school student.

However, when walking alongside Chen Shi'an, her short stature became apparent. At Chen Shi'an's normal walking speed, her short legs had to take two steps at a time to keep up.

But the little mouth didn't stop talking—

"So you lied to me yesterday? You're actually a student!"

"I'm not lying to you, I am a Taoist priest, but I am also a student now."

"Didn't you say you never went to school?"

Does attending a few days of primary school count?

"It doesn't count!"

"Then I really never went to school."

"..."

Seeing that Chen Shi'an really didn't seem to be joking with her, Wen Zhixia was also stunned. "Then how did you transfer to Class 5? It's the strongest science class in our school!"

"It was arranged by Principal Lin."

"Oh, so there's a background to it..."

Wen Zhixia understood. Of course, she had no prejudice against it. As a student, the most important thing was still grades, and background couldn't add points to grades.

"So, according to you, you attended elementary school for a few days, then skipped middle school, missed the first year of high school, and now you've parachuted into the second year of high school?"

"Ah."

"Then you have to study with us, then take the college entrance exam, and get into university?"

"Ah."

"...You're kidding, right?"

Wen Zhixia's eyes widened. "You don't even have a basic understanding of academic subjects, how can you keep up?"

"Just work hard."

"...That's the most arrogant thing I've ever heard."

"Is working hard considered arrogance?" Chen Shi'an asked, puzzled.

"Of course it counts! To think that you can accomplish anything just by working hard is the greatest arrogance in the world."

Wen Zhixia's words made Chen Shi'an realize that he never expected that this chatterbox's casual remark would actually teach him a lesson!
Wen Zhixia was right. Chen Shi'an had always thought there was nothing he couldn't do. If there was, he could do it if he worked hard. Now, thinking about it carefully, he realized how arrogant he had been.

Chen Shi'an suddenly understood and bowed to express his gratitude: "You're absolutely right! I really need to reflect on myself again."

Wen Zhixia chuckled, taking it as a joke, and mimicked him, saying, "You're a promising young man."

Changing the subject, she became serious and said solemnly, "However, your foundation has really fallen behind a lot. To be honest, if it were someone else, they definitely couldn't make up for it just by working hard."

"Could you please teach me?"

"Eh?"

Wen Zhixia was stunned.

"If there's anything I don't understand, can I ask you for help? I'm completely clueless about things like math, English, physics, biology, and chemistry."

"You want to find a study partner?" Wen Zhixia suddenly realized.

Now it was Chen Shi'an's turn to be puzzled: "A study buddy?"

"It's about studying together and asking each other questions when we don't understand something."

"Oh...that's roughly what I meant."

Chen Shi'an understood and nodded in agreement. Wen Zhixia also agreed very readily, partly because she was kind-hearted and partly because she had a good impression of him.

"Sure! Let's be partners from now on! But I'm a humanities student, and you're a science student. I don't know much about physics, chemistry, or biology, and math... well, I'm alright. But I should be able to teach you English!"

"Are you a liberal arts student?"

"Yes, I'm in Class 11."

After saying that, Wen Zhixia asked curiously, "Then why didn't you choose humanities before? If you didn't have any foundation, humanities should be easier to get started with than science, right?"

Chen Shi'an didn't say much, but just smiled and said, "My master helped me choose it."

“So that’s how it is. My dad and the others also wanted me to choose science, saying that science would make it easier to choose a major and get a job later.” Wen Zhixia said with a sense of empathy.

Chen Shi thought to himself, "How is this the same? My master knew that science was difficult, so he deliberately chose it for me!"

Chen Shi'an didn't know what level of class Class 11 was, nor did he know how good the girl in front of him was academically, but in any case, she was definitely not worse than him. So the two of them agreed to become study partners in the future.

From their first meeting yesterday until now, it has finally come to an end for both sides to introduce themselves.

"My name is Chen Shi'an, what's yours?"

"Ah! They said your name is Chen An!"

"That's my handwriting."

"My name is Wen Zhixia, and my courtesy name is..."

"A chatterbox?"

"Haha, get lost! I don't really like talking anyway!"

The two were of similar age, and the girl had a cheerful and enthusiastic personality, so their conversations always had a good atmosphere.

"Is 'zhi' the 'zhi' of cicada and the 'xia' of summer?"

"Uh-huh!"

"It sounds nice; your name suits you very well."

"Hehe, but I hate the heat the most."

As she was saying this, Wen Zhixia noticed something strange again. She had felt quite stuffy and hot all the way here, but after standing next to Chen Shi'an, she inexplicably felt refreshed, just like she did in the car yesterday.

"Why don't you live at school?" Wen Zhixia asked curiously.

"I brought my cat with me, and it's inconvenient for me to stay in the dormitory."

"Oh right! Where's the cat?"

"I'm lying at home."

"I really envy cats, they don't have to go to school or take exams."

"You said yesterday that you envied Taoist priests?"

"I'm not envious anymore. I didn't know Taoist priests also have to attend classes and take exams."

Seeing the girl's innocent and naive appearance, Chen Shi'an couldn't help but chuckle.

Then he asked the same question.

"And what about you? Why don't you live at school? Your family must live in the county town, right?"

"Yes, I'm staying at my aunt's house, which is better than living in the school dormitory."

"convenient?"

"Yes, it's only a ten-minute walk away. My aunt and my mom are very close. I used to stay at her house a lot when I was little, and I would help my cousin with her homework whenever I had time."

"So it seems you get good grades?"

"So-so~~"

Although she said it was nothing special, a smug smile clearly appeared on the girl's lips, and her already well-defined chest stood out a bit more, making the young Taoist priest's heart pound with fear.

There's definitely a reason why some people are afraid of the heat.

"That's perfect!" Wen Zhixia thought for a moment, "You live around here now, right? We're going the same way, so how about we hitch a ride together after evening self-study?"

"sure."

Chen Shi'an dislikes crowds, but he also dislikes loneliness. Although the road is not long, it's nice to have someone to chat with.

"Since we're teaming up now, I'll pay you a little something for it. Here, I just got an extra cup of soy milk, please have it."

As Wen Zhixia spoke, she took out a cup of soy milk from the large pile of breakfast she was carrying and handed it to Chen Shi'an.

"You can eat so much?" Chen Shi'an was quite surprised to see such a huge pile of breakfast. Luckily, his master didn't bring back a junior sister who could eat so much, otherwise the Taoist temple would go bankrupt sooner or later.

"What the heck! I definitely didn't eat all of it!"

Wen Zhixia felt embarrassed and quickly said, "I eat very little. I'm on a diet recently, so I eat even less. These are all breakfasts I brought for my classmates!"

"You're really kind-hearted."

"Oh well, there's nothing I can do. My aunt runs a breakfast shop, so this is basically me getting some customers for her. Here, take this as your commission."

Seeing the girl's insistence, Chen Shi'an didn't stand on ceremony and took the cup of soy milk, which was in a transparent cup with a seal, and held it in his hand. It was warm.

What is a "partner fee"?

"You don't understand, do you? It's about paying for emotional value. It's the same principle as hiring someone to play games with you."

"You even have to pay to play games?"

"Hmm~"

It's likely that Wen Zhixia's "friendship fee" was mostly a joke, intended to get him to accept the soy milk. However, her words still made Chen Shi'an thoughtful.

The two walked and talked, and soon arrived at the school gate.

Chen Shi'an, who caused a sensation at school yesterday, changed into his school uniform and got a haircut today, and no longer received much attention.

This sense of belonging allowed him to truly experience the shift in his identity.

As Chen Shi'an passed by the security guard, he smiled and nodded at him—the two had chatted briefly the day before when the guard took him to see Principal Lin.

But the security guard looked completely bewildered, staring at the somewhat familiar face, but after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't remember who it was...

The security guard was no exception.

As Chen Shi'an bid farewell to Wen Zhixia, walked through the corridor in front of Class 5, and entered the classroom of Class 5.

The students in Class 5 were all stunned—

Hey buddy, who the hell are you?!
Just because you're handsome doesn't mean you can just barge into other people's classrooms!
(Bonus chapter of 3900 words! Another bonus chapter at midnight tonight!)

(End of this chapter)