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

Chapter 264 They're both equally ugly...

Under Wen Zhixia's expectant gaze, Chen Shi'an took out an exquisite woven bracelet.

"Wow--!!"

The girl's eyes lit up the moment she saw the beautiful bracelet.

The person had somehow gotten out of the back seat and was standing next to Chen Shi'an.

The bracelet has a simple and elegant design, yet it is exquisite and beautiful. It is made of three colored ropes in light yellow, pinkish white and light green, woven into a flat knot, with six round peach wood beads and three mini silver bells strung between the ropes.

These are peach wood beads hand-carved by Chen Shi'an, retaining the natural fine texture. The silver bell is only the size of a fingernail, with a tiny "福" (fortune) character carved on the bell body. The clapper is made of fine silver thread, and it makes a clear tinkling sound when shaken.

The bracelet is finished with a small flower knot made of pink and white rope, with a one-inch long colorful rope tassel hanging from the end, and a mini colorful bead tied to the end of each tassel.

"What a beautiful bracelet!!"

Wen Zhixia took the bracelet in her hands, held it in her palms and looked at it, then couldn't help but look up at him and ask, "Taoist! Did you make this yourself?"

"Yeah, I was going to give it to you tonight."

"Hee hee hee!"

"Does Little Cicada like it?"

“I like it~!”

What young woman who loves beauty wouldn't love such a beautiful bracelet, especially one that Chen Shi'an made by hand?

Although the bracelet wasn't made of expensive materials, the girl could tell that Chen Shi'an had put a lot of effort into it.

Indeed, Chen Shi'an put a lot of thought into designing the gift for Xiao Zhile as a New Year's present.

The sound of bells brings good fortune, colorful ropes bring joy, pale yellow corresponds to sunshine, pink and white to happiness, and light green to vitality, just like the character of a young girl. Pearls are lustrous and lively.

"Has it been consecrated, Taoist priest? Has it been consecrated?"

"May the cicadas' bells ring out, bringing good fortune, and may the ropes bring joy. Happy New Year!"

"Thank you, Taoist priest!!"

Wen Zhixia was so happy that she finally couldn't help but open her arms and give the smelly Taoist priest sitting on the bicycle a really big hug.

Chen Shi'an was stunned for a moment.

The girl didn't put the gift in her bag after receiving it; instead, she couldn't wait to put it on her wrist.

This bracelet, blessed by Chen Shi'an, has a bright and vibrant color scheme, and it fits perfectly when wrapped around the girl's delicate wrist twice.

Wen Zhixia raised her hand and shook it, the silver bells jingled softly, and the colorful ropes fluttered, full of youthful energy.

"Taoist priest, is this New Year's gift only for me, or does everyone else receive it...?"

What do you mean by "everyone has it"?

"Well, Wanyin and your class monitor."

"some."

"..."

￣へ￣*!

I knew it!

"However, I know that this style of bracelet is a special gift for you, it's one of a kind."

"Hmph~~"

The girl eventually hummed it out, but she didn't seem angry at all.

Forget it, let Ice Spirit and Sister Wanyin have them, anyway, their bracelets are definitely not as pretty as hers!

Having received the Taoist's New Year's gift, Wen Zhixia decided not to hide her own New Year's gift to him.

The girl turned her backpack around and took out a pair of brown cotton gloves.

The gloves were in an exquisite gift box, tied with a red ribbon in a bow, and inside the box was a handwritten New Year's card.

"Huh? This is a New Year's gift from Little Cicada?"

"Yes……"

Seeing Chen Shi'an's surprised look, Wen Zhixia blushed slightly. After handing him the gift box, she put her hands behind her back, her petite figure trembling shyly, and whispered:

"I knitted it myself."

"Um?!"

Chen Shi'an was even more surprised, and said incredulously, "Little Zhiliao wove this herself?"

"Um……"

"How long did it take to knit?"

"One month..."

"Oh~ that explains why you've been bringing fewer books home from evening study sessions lately. Turns out you've been busy knitting gloves for me every night as soon as you get home!"

"Oh dear, it's so hard to knit! The videos make it look so simple, but I've been trying to knit it myself for ages and still can't get it right. Taoist priest, just say you like it!"

"like very much."

"……real?"

"of course it's true."

"Then you can't complain about how badly I knitted it. This is the first time I've ever knitted something for someone!"

"Okay, okay, I certainly won't mind. I'm honored to receive the first pair of gloves knitted by Xiaozhi."

Chen Shi'an genuinely liked the little gift. He smiled as he looked at the pair of cotton gloves in the gift box, picked them up, and put them on.

It's fine if you don't wear them, but once you put them on, you realize that the tightness of the two gloves is different, and the length of the exposed fingers is also different. They are quite clumsy handmade items...

But alas, this was Xiaozhi's heartfelt wish.

He could almost picture the girl learning to knit gloves late at night by watching a video. It was truly remarkable that she, who had never lifted a finger before, could knit such a pair of gloves.

Seeing Chen Shi'an put on those ugly gloves, Wen Zhixia felt both shy and delighted.

"Oh, Taoist priest, don't wear this out. Just keep it as a keepsake. Otherwise, other people will laugh at you. I'll buy you a new one later!"

"No need, I think it's fine."

"Hehe..." "Let's go, let's go, we'll be late if we dawdle any longer."

"Oh, right!!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the girl climbed back onto his back seat, put her hands in his pockets, and buried her rosy cheeks in his back.

……

Today is the 20th anniversary of the school.

The school started making preparations yesterday.

Many colorful flower baskets were placed at the school gate, and above them was a red banner with slogans about the school's anniversary.

As you walk into the campus, the camphor trees on both sides of the main road are also tied with red and gold ribbons, and banners with the school emblem and the words "[20th Anniversary]" are strung between the trees.

The words "[Yunqi No.1 Middle School]" were spelled out on the lawn with colorful flowers, and the bulletin board was also updated with new content, filled with reprinted group photos of alumni from previous years and old photos of the campus.

Despite it being the school's anniversary, the campus remained remarkably orderly in the morning, as classes were still scheduled.

Students in blue and white school uniforms walked briskly towards the teaching building, carrying their books. Occasionally, the sound of students reading aloud could be heard in the corridor, creating a wonderful contrast with the staff preparing for the school's anniversary celebration on the main road.

"Wow! The school looks so beautiful today! It's much more lively than the school sports meet!"

"Ah."

Chen Shi'an nodded in agreement, "After all, it's the school anniversary."

Wen Zhixia said regretfully, "It would be great if we didn't have classes in the morning."

Chen Shi'an thought to himself that in such a lively atmosphere, even if classes were to proceed normally, everyone would inevitably be distracted.

Before parting at the stairwell, Wen Zhixia took out soy milk for him, and Chen Shi'an didn't forget to remind him:
"Sister Wanyin will bring lunch at noon, and we'll eat together then."

"Uh-huh!"

The girl ran upstairs, and Chen Shi'an returned to his classroom.

……

Lin Mengqiu was already seated.

Seeing Chen Shi'an pull out a chair, the class monitor, who seemed to be engrossed in reading, raised his eyes and secretly glanced at him.

Good morning, class monitor.

"morning."

As Chen Shi'an sat down, the girl's small hands, which were warmed by a hand warmer, began to move—she took out a bottle of milk from the pocket of her tightly wrapped school uniform jacket and placed it on Chen Shi'an's desk.

"Thank you for the milk, squad leader, it's so warm!"

"~~~"

Hmph, that goes without saying.

"Class monitor, have you seen the decorations on campus? They're so beautiful!"

"Ah."

While talking to him, Lin Mengqiu blinked and noticed the 'cheap gloves' on Chen Shi'an's hands. She wondered where he bought them; she guessed they were from Pinduoduo...

They don't learn their lesson from the exploding power banks; they can't even buy better ones.

So ugly.

Her eyes were fixed on his gloves, but her mouth was asking something else:
Why are you so late today?

"Oh, I was delayed a bit by exchanging gifts with Xiaozhi on the way."

"...?"

Exchange gifts?
What gift should I get...?

Those gloves are so ugly they're almost unbearable to look at...

"She gave it to you?"

"Yes, Little Cicada wove it herself."

"XXX!"

really!

I knew it! What factory could possibly knit such ugly gloves? Turns out, they were a gift from that annoying cicada!

Just then, the class bell rang. The class monitor, who always followed classroom rules, remained silent but handed a note to Chen Shi'an's desk:
There's something for you in your desk.
[You can read it after school.]
Perhaps inspired by these ugly gloves, Lin Mengqiu, who was originally too embarrassed to tell him, couldn't help but take the initiative to tell him now.

With his schoolbag hanging next to the table, Chen Shi'an didn't take anything out of the desk after sitting down. If it weren't for the two sentences on the girl's note, Chen Shi'an wouldn't have noticed that there was something inside.

He completely ignored the second sentence of the note.

Chen Shi'an reached his hand into the underside of the table—

I touched something soft.

He blinked, feeling the weave patterns and shapes through his fingertips, and vaguely guessed that it must be a scarf.

Take it out and take a look.

It really is true.

This scarf is also hand-knitted. The beige cotton yarn exudes a gentle warmth. The knitting technique is about the same as the gloves, with crooked and uneven patterns and stitches that are sometimes sparse and sometimes dense. The material used is indeed thick and substantial. At the hem of the scarf, a small pattern is embroidered with several shades of white thread. The stitches are crooked and gathered together, and you can barely make out a fluffy outline...

With its crooked ears, round body, and clumsy, endearing appearance, it was undeniably ugly yet adorable. Chen Shi'an stared at it for a long time but couldn't recognize what it was, so he cautiously asked:

"Class monitor, is this a little rabbit?"

“×××××!”

Lin Mengqiu never expected that Chen Shi'an wouldn't even recognize such a 'lifelike' little rabbit!

Seeing him staring at the rabbit pattern for a long time, looking like he couldn't figure out what it was, the girl's face turned bright red with embarrassment.

She swiftly reached out her little hand and snatched the scarf back from Chen Shi'an's hand.

I'm not giving it to you!

I'm not giving it to you!

You can forget about getting my New Year's gift again!
(End of this chapter)