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

Chapter 24 Is it true? (Additional update)
As the strongest science class, Class 5 has its own teaching management requirements. For example, during morning reading and evening study sessions, students arrive at the classroom a full fifteen minutes earlier than the school's regulations.

Chen Shi'an left home at 6:10 and arrived at the classroom at 6:27, three minutes earlier than scheduled.

It's almost time; most of the students in the class are already in the classroom.

It wasn't time for the official morning reading session yet, and the classroom was noisy. Some were chatting, some were eating breakfast, some were getting water, some were rushing to finish their papers, and some were wandering around aimlessly...

But this chaos came to an abrupt end after Chen Shi'an 'broke' into the classroom.

The first student to catch a glimpse of him showed a hint of surprise, which then spread like ripples to the faces of the other students, engulfing the entire class in a moment.

Hey buddy, who are you?

Is it from our class?!
Do you even know where you've been?!

People are now so blatant about switching classes?!
Old Liang! Where's Old Liang? Come out and clean up the mess!
Wait a minute…! This looks familiar! This looks familiar! Have we met somewhere in a past life? あなたの名前は？ (What is your name?)
"Master Dao!"

"Holy crap! It's Daoist Master!"

When this guy, who was both a stranger and a familiar face, walked past the podium and went straight to the empty seat next to Lin Mengqiu, everyone finally realized—wasn't this Chen Shi'an, who had just joined the class yesterday? The 'Taoist Master' from Jingchen Temple, who had practiced Taoism since childhood and whose courtesy name was Chen'an!
My apologies! The Taoist priest put on his clothes... no, he changed his clothes and I almost didn't recognize him!

Who would have thought that Chen Shi'an's image would change so much after he put on the school uniform and cut his hair short? We only spent a short time together when he came to class to introduce himself yesterday, but after just one night, he seemed like a completely different person. No wonder everyone was so surprised.

"Fellow Daoist, have you mastered the art of disguise?!"

"Oh no, my status as the most handsome guy in the class is in jeopardy."

"I suddenly understand why there are no ugly men or women in cultivation novels."

"What do you know? I actually think Daoist Master's previous attire was more stylish..."

"Alright, alright, I know you're into Taoist robes."

"Aesthetic appreciation is subjective, isn't it?"

"That's all just self-comfort! If there's no consensus, why do we all think the class monitor is good-looking, while Zou Xiaokun is as sleazy as a paparazzi?"

"You're the fucking paparazzi! I'm a legitimate journalist!"

After a brief silence, the whispers in the class resumed as Chen Shi'an's identity was revealed.

However, no one took the initiative to talk to Chen Shi'an.

It wasn't that she was afraid of the Taoist priest punishing her, but rather that she was afraid of displeasing the Taoist priest's tablemate—Lin Mengqiu only needed to sit down, and without her saying a word, the entire area around her would automatically fall silent…

She's beautiful and aloof, never smiles and is very serious. She's not only the class monitor but also the principal's daughter. Rumor has it that she has a little notebook for deducting points from people. Who would dare to mess with her!

Her presence was like a cell phone signal jammer; no matter how noisy the class was, her area was always quiet.

Chen Shi'an also noticed his classmate's passive skill, and he was happy to have some peace and quiet.

Unlike him, who arrived at the classroom just in time, Lin Mengqiu was already sitting in her seat. No one knew what time she arrived, but she was quietly doing her homework.

She was still wearing her blue and white school uniform, her long, black hair falling naturally down her back. Her expression, devoid of any emotion, was exactly the same as when they first met. Even her sitting posture and the way she held the pen were exactly the same as before Chen Shi'an left yesterday.

If Chen Shi'an hadn't looked down and noticed that the edge of her socks peeking out from her delicate ankles was a different color than yesterday, he would have really suspected that Lin Mengqiu had been sitting in her seat all night.

"Not bad, she can sit still and calm down." Chen Shi'an nodded to himself, thinking that if she was interested in cultivating Taoism, he wouldn't mind taking her as his disciple.

Hearing the chair next to her being gently pulled out, Lin Mengqiu didn't look up at him, but she couldn't help but glance down at him out of the corner of her eye.

What catches the eye is a brand new pair of school uniform trousers, no longer the hem of yesterday's Taoist robe;
The shoes were no longer the same pair of 10-square shoes, but a pair of ordinary black canvas shoes.

Yesterday she thought Chen Shi'an's Taoist robe was just trying to attract attention, but today he changed his outfit.

After looking at his lower body clothing, Lin Mengqiu's gaze finally slowly moved upwards, landing on his brand-new short-sleeved school uniform, and finally settling on his face.

The girl's expression remained unchanged, but her eyes seemed to brighten slightly.

Just then, Chen Shi'an looked over and smiled naturally, "Good morning."

"morning."

Lin Mengqiu replied in a flat tone, her voice so soft that she wasn't even sure if she had actually said "good morning" to him.

When Chen Shi'an hung up his backpack and looked back at her, she was already quietly continuing to do her homework.

Unlike others who were amazed by his transformation, there was no gossip or curiosity. Her cold expression, seemingly frozen on her pretty face, remained unchanged for eternity, making it impossible to read her thoughts. It was as if she were wearing a sign around her neck that read, "Studying, Do Not Disturb."

Chen Shi'an wouldn't be so bored as to force a conversation when he had nothing to say. Seeing that she was quiet, he didn't bother her.

He took out the class schedule that Teacher Liang had given him yesterday from the drawer and looked at it.

Compared to the rural primary school I attended for a few days back then, the teaching pace at Yunqi No.1 Middle School is much more intensive.

In short, students must stay at school from 6:30 a.m. until 9:45 p.m.

Chen Shi'an frowned slightly.

No wonder I often see people online saying that high school life is tough. Even if you don't count the spare time, you still spend at least ten hours in the classroom.

It's even harder than when he was cultivating Taoism on the mountain! You know, when he was on the mountain, he was only a little busy in the mornings. He would have lunch, take a nap, and wake up around three or four in the afternoon. Then he would go to the mountain stream to catch fish, pick mushrooms, water the vegetables, and start thinking about what to eat for dinner...

It's just studying, does it really need to take up so much time...? Hold on, hold on, be modest. Anyway, I'm a student now, and I still need to follow the school rules.

Moreover, he has fallen behind in his basics, so even if he doesn't find learning difficult, it will definitely take him a considerable amount of time to catch up.

The morning reading time has arrived, and the noisy chatter in the classroom is gradually replaced by the sound of reading aloud.

Unlike in elementary school where everyone reads and memorizes together, this time it's more flexible for each student to read and memorize on their own.

However, there are subject requirements; this morning's reading session was Chinese.

Chen Shi'an pulled out his first-year high school Chinese textbook from his desk.

Lin Mengqiu glanced at the textbook he took out.

But he didn't say anything.

Her father had already called her last night and briefly explained Chen Shi'an's situation. When she heard that he had never been to school, Lin Mengqiu was so shocked that she couldn't speak for a long time...

As for her father's request to teach Chen Shi'an more, Lin Mengqiu felt that she didn't have the ability... How could she teach someone who had never been to school?
But now it seems... he can still read.

But this is high school. Is just being able to read really useful? She didn't know where her dad got so much confidence in her; even she thought it was a pipe dream.

Perhaps he just came down from the mountain to experience life? Well... as long as he and his dad are happy.

Chen Shi'an had no idea what Lin Mengqiu was thinking. He had already opened the sixth lesson and started reading. He had already read the first six lessons when he was at home. He wouldn't say he had a photographic memory, but he remembered most of them. He only needed to read them again to remember them firmly.

Most people were reading aloud, but Chen Shi'an didn't. He just watched silently, or rather, he was memorizing. Reading aloud would slow down his reading speed, so memorizing directly while reading was the most efficient method for him.

Lin Mengqiu, who was standing next to her, also didn't read aloud, but what she was holding in her hand was not a textbook, but a stack of printed and bound materials, which were all the content that must be tested and memorized in high school Chinese.

Chen Shi'an noticed that all his classmates seemed to have such materials, and almost no one recited the text directly like him.

"Are there some articles in the book that don't need to be memorized?" Chen Shi'an asked his classmate.

"Yes," Lin Mengqiu replied quickly.

Which ones do we need to memorize and which ones don't?

"..."

Lin Mengqiu's answer was slower this time, not because she deliberately didn't answer, but because she couldn't explain it clearly in one sentence.

So Lin Mengqiu, who values ​​efficiency, asked in return, "Didn't Teacher Liang give you any Chinese memorization materials?"

Is this the one you have?

"Ah."

"No."

"...I'll make a copy for you later, you can memorize this one first."

Without waiting for Chen Shi'an to accept it, Lin Mengqiu placed the memorization materials she was holding directly on his desk.

Chen Shi'an blinked. Sure enough, Uncle Lin was right. Mengqiu was cold on the outside but warm on the inside. She spoke coldly, but did things very kindly.

He picked up the memorization materials Lin Mengqiu had given him. She had marked many key words and phrases in red pen, and there were also explanations written in small characters for some points that needed attention. Her handwriting was good, just like her personality, elegant yet sharp.

After a quick glance, Chen Shi'an noticed that many of the phrases were taken from several articles he had almost memorized, so he turned to ask curiously:

"Are these memorization materials all taken from the Chinese textbook?"

"Ah."

Lin Mengqiu gave him her Chinese recitation materials, and she had already taken out her English recitation materials. As for whether or not she should read English during morning reading, it didn't matter to a top student like her; even if she continued to ponder her math problems, the teacher wouldn't care.

"I thought some of them were outside of the textbook..."

Chen Shi'an smiled and, under Lin Mengqiu's puzzled gaze, handed the memorization materials back to her.

"Thank you. Since I have the textbook, I can just memorize the text. Otherwise, if I give you the materials, I won't have anything to look at myself."

"..."

Since Chen Shi'an had returned the materials, Lin Mengqiu didn't say anything more. She just couldn't understand why, with such a poor foundation and limited time left, wouldn't it be more efficient to directly memorize these excerpted essential exam content? Why go to the trouble of memorizing the textbook instead of the more convenient method?

Could it be that the boy's pride is getting the better of him, and he's trying to show off again?
It's really not.

The main difference is that Chen Shi'an's attitude towards learning is fundamentally different from that of most students.

He didn't study just for exams. Even though the entire Class 5 was filled with the atmosphere of exam-oriented education, he still felt that since he was learning Taoist teachings and studying doctrines in the mountains, he should understand them thoroughly and truly gain something from them. This was his true intention.

Admittedly, memorizing materials directly is more efficient for exams, but extracting words and phrases in isolation is disjointed and cannot provide the same benefits as reading a complete article.

He wanted to know the whole article, to understand the author's state of mind when writing those words and phrases, rather than just 'this sentence will be on the test, I have to memorize it'.

It's just a matter of watching it a couple more times; memorizing it all isn't difficult.

That's not human language.

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(End of this chapter)