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

Chapter 41 Sister's Sweet Soup (Thanks to the patron of Mitian Building)
After parting ways with Wen Zhixia, Chen Shi'an walked a short distance before returning to his residential community.

He took out his phone from his pocket and checked it. It was 10:03 p.m., and the two of them had been walking slowly for more than ten minutes.

The phone still had 42% battery left. The main problem was that the phone was too old, and it used up most of the battery just in standby mode. In fact, he could count on one hand the number of times he checked his phone throughout the day.

However, he doesn't rely on his phone, so he doesn't have battery anxiety.

Chen Shi'an had previously tried to charge a mobile phone using his magic, using his master's Motorola, which didn't even have internet access. The result was that it didn't charge and instead destroyed his master's phone...

Having learned this lesson, Chen Shi'an now dares not casually use his own phone to try things out.

Although he was a Taoist practitioner, Chen Shi'an had never lacked a spirit of inquiry since childhood. He had touched a 220-volt exposed wire with his bare hands, lost control and burned down the old study in the Taoist temple when he first practiced fire magic, and secretly stuffed a flaming talisman into the temple because he thought the bell was not loud enough. As a result, when his master rang the bell that day, the huge sound wave shattered all the windows of the Taoist temple...

Sometimes Chen Shi'an would reflect on whether his own actions were too earth-shattering, which was why he found the mischievous things his peers did boring.

Everyone has a childhood, and Chen Shi'an, who has been practicing Taoism in the mountains since childhood, is no exception;

People grow up, and even Chen Shi'an himself couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when he realized he was no longer a child.

Sometimes I think it's not easy for me to live to be eighteen. Besides being really lucky, I also owe it to my master's tolerance.

"To give birth without possessing, to act without claiming credit, to nurture without dominating." This saying comes from the *Tao Te Ching* by Lao Tzu. During the eighteen years his master raised and nurtured him, he truly embodied this principle.

Chen Shi'an knew that this was true inheritance, not that flimsy certificate proving the master-disciple relationship.

The time he used his magic to charge his master's phone as a child, causing it to explode, his master didn't scold him, and Chen Shi'an didn't think he had done anything wrong. Now, however, he realizes he was wrong. His mistake lay in arrogance and ignorance. Without understanding the properties of electricity or the principles of batteries, recklessly using magic to charge a phone was bound to cause it to explode...

He still needs to study physics properly. The day he successfully charges his phone with magic will be the perfect ending to his foolish childhood.

The WeChat icon has a red notification dot, and the number of dots is 3.

Chen Shi'an knew that this meant he had three unread messages.

Spending too much time in the mountains inevitably leads to a disconnect between one's lifestyle and the times.

Making phone calls or sending messages is roughly equivalent to the supernatural power of transmitting sound over long distances in Taoist magic. With the Taoist cultivation of the master and disciple, the limit for transmitting sound between them was two miles. However, modern technology can easily send information to the other side of the ocean or even to outer space.

Chen Shi'an didn't understand the principle behind it, but he found it very mysterious. He decided to study it carefully another day, as it might inspire his ability to transmit sound over long distances.

Of course, relying on radio waves for information transmission also has limitations. For example, there is no signal in 90% of the mountains. Sometimes, when Master and the cat wander off and disappear, Chen Shi'an will use his supernatural powers to call them back to eat after he has finished cooking...

Chen Shi'an opened WeChat.

He only has two friends on WeChat: Li Wanyin and Wen Zhixia.

Of the three messages, two were from Li Wanyin and one was from Wen Zhixia.

20:36 - Small Echo: [Photo]

20:36 - Little Echo: [What time do you finish evening self-study? I made mung bean sweet soup, let it cool down first, it's in the pot in the kitchen, waiting for you to come back from get out of class so we can eat together [winking emoji]]
Chen Shi'an smiled; exchanging messages like this was quite fun, so he replied to her first:
22:04 - Chen Shi'an: [Almost home]
22:04 - Chen Shi'an: [Panda head with a wicked smile]

These are the emojis he stole from her yesterday. These little emojis are really funny; they can be used in 99% of situations.

Let's take another look at the post Wen Zhixia made.

22:01 - Zhizhi: [Arrived home!]
22:01 - Zhizhi: [Take a bath and go to sleep~! Don't oversleep tomorrow! [The little green dinosaur is sleeping peacefully]]
22:04 - Chen Shi'an: [I'm home too]
22:04 - Chen Shi'an: [The little green dinosaur is sleeping peacefully]

Wen Zhixia didn't reply to him, probably because she went to take a shower, but Li Wanyin did reply to him.

Little Echo: [Did you bring your keys?]
Chen Shi'an: [I brought it]
By the time he replied to this message, he had already gone up to the ninth floor and reached his front door.

The hallway lights came on with the sound of footsteps, and he used the light to insert the key into the lock and open the door.

The lights were on inside, and the television was playing.

Chen Shi'an glanced around but didn't see Li Wanyin. Instead, Fei Mo, a cat, was lazily lying on the sofa watching TV.

"Meow?"

Hearing the door open, the black cat turned its head and saw Chen Shi'an's ill-intentioned gaze, making Fei Mo feel a little guilty.

What's wrong? There are no mice in the house and I'm bored. What's wrong with me watching TV?
"Fei Mo, did you sneak out this afternoon?"

"..."

The black cat turned its head back to the television, pretending to be deaf and unable to hear.

It's not like it doesn't know its way home. What's wrong with going out for a stroll? It just so happens that a kind person gave it some food. Isn't that normal? No way it's trying to freeload!

Chen Shi'an thought it had run out of cat food and was just going out to freeload, but when he looked into its bowl, there was still more than half left.

"You haven't eaten anything? You ate perfectly fine this morning..."

"Meow."

As Chen Shi'an was looking at the cat food, Li Wanyin came out of the room upon hearing the noise.

She had already finished showering and was wearing casual shorts and a T-shirt. When she walked out of the room in her slippers, the first thing she showed was her legs extending from the cuffs of her shorts.

Li Wanyin has naturally fair skin. She usually wears long pants when she goes out, which makes her legs even more fair and tender. After taking a bath, her skin is moist and bright, with a faint pinkish tint to her fair skin, as if she is wrapped in a layer of soft light.

"Shi'an, you're back?"

"Um, when does Sister Wanyin get off work?"

"I got back around 6 p.m., then bought some mung beans and rock sugar, and made some mung bean soup. It's cooled down now, so it's perfect for a late-night snack."

Compared to their initial meeting yesterday, Li Wanyin was significantly more familiar with her new roommate. Since she was a graduate and working woman, while he was just a high school student, there wasn't much of the awkwardness or discomfort that often exists between men and women of similar age. Yesterday, Chen Shi'an treated her to dinner and watermelon; Li Wanyin is the kind of girl who appreciates kindness.

She had to go to work, and Chen Shi'an had to go to class, so the two of them could only meet at home in the evening. They thought they would make some sweet soup and eat it together.

"I saw the photos of the sweet soup you posted, Sister Xie Wanyin."

"Hehe, you're welcome. I'll cook another meal when I'm free this weekend to celebrate our time living together."

As Li Wanyin spoke, she walked into the kitchen. She picked up a spoon and a bowl, first scooping a little sugar water into the bowl to taste the sweetness, and then took another bowl, scooped out two bowls of mung bean syrup, and brought them out.

"Sister Wanyin, I can do it myself."

"It's okay, it's okay, try it and see if it's too sweet."

Chen Shi'an took the bowl from her hand and stood there taking a sip.

I just had grilled sausages with Wen Zhixia, and my mouth was so dry. This mouthful of mung bean soup was so refreshing and made me feel completely satisfied and happy.

The sweet soup was only made tonight. To save time, Li Wanyin used a pressure cooker to press the mung beans until they were soft and mushy, and she also carefully skimmed off any excess floating mung bean skins with a strainer.

It doesn't use white sugar, but rock sugar, which is actually a reddish-brown cane sugar block. It has a richer and sweeter taste than white sugar, and it also has the effect of nourishing blood and replenishing qi.

Don't be fooled by the simplicity of making mung bean soup; without experience, you can't achieve such a refreshing, sandy, non-sticky, and non-greasy result.

Chen Shi'an stood and took two sips, then sat down in the dining chair while still drinking, nodding repeatedly and praising it highly:

"It's delicious. Sister Wanyin's cooking skills seem to be really good."

"No, it's just making some sweet soup."

Li Wanyin said this, but she was still very happy to hear Chen Shi'an's praise.

Praise alone is not enough; she saw Chen Shi'an drinking it in big gulps, and that was the greatest affirmation for a cook.

"Be careful, it's hot... It would be better if you could freeze it, but it's too hot to put in the refrigerator."

"It's alright, this is fine. Mung beans are inherently cooling, and freezing them would make them too cooling. People with sensitive stomachs are prone to acid reflux if they eat too much. When I used to live in the mountains, I always drank mung bean soup warm like this."

"You even know these things!"

Li Wanyin was somewhat surprised. She ate much more politely than Chen Shi'an, sitting in a dining chair and slowly scooping up her drink with a spoon.

"When I was little, my mom would pick some wild vegetables and put them in when she cooked mung bean soup. What was it called again..."

"Dog liver vegetable?"

"Hey! Right, right! And compared to just boiled mung beans, the taste is more unique, it's really delicious! You actually knew that too!"

Li Wanyin was even more surprised. Not to mention young people like Chen Shi'an, many adults had never even heard of dog liver vegetable.

“I often add it when I cook mung bean soup. There are many of them growing on the steps and roadside of our Taoist temple. They can clear liver heat, cool the blood, and relieve summer heat. They also have a good flavor with a unique herbal fragrance.”

"Yes, yes, I haven't seen dog liver vegetables in a long time. They're not available in the city either, and I probably wouldn't recognize them if I saw them."

"Then next time I see them, I'll pick some to make mung bean soup for Sister Wanyin."

"Then we'll have to savor the flavors from our childhood."

Li Wanyin talked about her childhood experiences in the countryside, but Chen Shi'an was able to easily follow along with her. It had been a long time since they had had such a pleasant conversation.

As the two were eating, the black cat came over with its bowl, its meaning clear: give it some too.

Remembering something, Li Wanyin said to Chen Shi'an, "I just got home from get off work and saw that Shimo had finished its cat food, so I poured some more for it."

Chen Shi'an was stunned for a moment: "So that's why there was still cat food in the bowl. It turns out that Sister Wanyin poured it out."

"Yeah, look how hungry it is, it's about to faint on the sofa. Other cats eat their cat food one kibbles at a time, but this one gulps it down."

"..."

The chatterbox, his deskmate, and Fatty Mo are all misbehaving; it's definitely Sister Wanyin and him who are the most honest.

"Shi'an, can cats eat mung bean soup?"

"Meow."

"I don't know if cats can eat it, but pigs definitely can."

"Meow?"

As Chen Shi'an spoke, he poured the remaining third of the mung bean soup in the bowl into Fei Mo's bowl to mix with cat food.

"Sister Wanyin, is there still sugar water in the pot?"

"Yes, I cooked a lot."

"Then I'll go get another bowl."

"Uh-huh!"

(Thank you so much, Master Mitian, for being the patron! You're so generous, boss! May you make a fortune! May your new book soar to new heights!)

(A long chapter of 5,000 words will be updated tonight! Thank you everyone for your support with rewards and monthly tickets!)
(End of this chapter)