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

Chapter 57 I'll Treat You to Dinner (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)
Lin Mengqiu's words surprised Chen Shi'an.

During lunch, he mentioned to Wen Zhixia that his deskmate was Lin Mengqiu, but how did Lin Mengqiu know that his lunch partner was Wen Zhixia?

While Chen Shi'an was thinking for a short while, Lin Mengqiu didn't wait for his reply. She packed her things and got up to leave her seat.

He only replied when he passed by Chen Shi'an:
"Because it's our turn to be on duty today, I told Xiaozhi not to wait for me to eat."

Ah, little cicada...

That's actually quite fitting.

"Oh."

Lin Mengqiu responded casually, indicating that she understood.

The two walked out of the classroom together.

Chen Shi'an asked her, "Class monitor, how did you know I ate with her?"

"I happened to see it at noon."

That's not surprising. They're on the same campus, and he and Xiaozhi weren't trying to avoid each other while eating together, so it's perfectly normal for them to be seen by chance.

"Class monitor, do you know Xiao Zhi?" Chen Shi'an asked knowingly.

"She and I used to be deskmates."

This frank answer was exactly the same as Wen Zhixia's, and Chen Shi'an gave a meaningful "Oh—".

Lin Mengqiu didn't even turn her head, but glared at him sideways.

Becoming dining buddies with Lin Mengqiu's former deskmate was nothing to Chen Shi'an. Regardless of the relationship between Lin Mengqiu and Wen Zhixia, it wouldn't affect his relationships with either of them.

On the contrary, this relaxed state made him seem exceptionally open and honest. If he were to hide it, it would only make Lin Mengqiu wonder about their relationship.

We're good friends, so why would anyone feel guilty?
It wasn't during the time when classes ended in a concentrated period, and there weren't many people on the stairs. Chen Shi'an and Lin Mengqiu walked downstairs side by side.

The campus at dusk has a unique romance. The radio plays a song by Chen Shi'an whose name I don't know. The sycamore leaves spread golden spots of light on the school path. The evening breeze carries the scent of grass across the track and field, gently colliding with the orange-red sunset on the horizon.

After walking together for a while, Chen Shi'an once again extended an invitation to Lin Mengqiu, who was walking on his right:
"Squad leader, want to have lunch together?"

"..."

Lin Mengqiu didn't speak, but her original plan to turn right and go back to her dorm to shower quietly disappeared. She silently continued walking straight with him for a few more steps, and after missing the intersection leading back to the dorm, she softly said:

"Ah."

Even she herself couldn't understand why she agreed to his request.

She has been eating in the cafeteria since middle school, and has always eaten alone. This is the first time she has been willing to eat with someone like this.

Perhaps, it was because he said before that Wen Zhixia didn't need to wait for him for dinner, and that he chose not to have dinner with Wen Zhixia this time... If Wen Zhixia chose not to have dinner with him, and he 'settled' by coming to have dinner with her, then she would absolutely be too lazy to pay any attention to him...

Seeing that Lin Mengqiu agreed, Chen Shi'an was also very happy and smiled:

"It's a rare opportunity to have a meal with the class monitor, so let me treat you this time."

"Need not."

"Yes, I have to thank you properly for lending me so many books and workbooks."

"..."

At least you still have some conscience!
"You choose the class monitor. Which cafeteria do you want to eat at?"

"Number Two."

"it is good."

The two then went together to the No. 2 canteen, which was contracted by Lin Xiao's fellow villager.

Eating with Lin Mengqiu felt completely different from eating with Wen Zhixia.

Little Zhiliao was chattering away the whole way, even while eating. She would chatter away on her own when Chen Shi'an wasn't talking.

The class monitor remained silent the entire way. It didn't feel like they were eating together; it was more like they had just bumped into a stranger who happened to be standing next to him. If Chen Shi'an hadn't spoken up, he had no doubt that the class monitor would have remained completely silent from the moment he entered the cafeteria until he left.

The evening dining time is not as rushed as at noon, and there is not much of a queue at any of the canteen windows.

Lin Mengqiu stood in front of Chen Shi'an and ordered the food first.

The woman serving vegetables at the window, wearing a mask, was from Lin Xiao's hometown. Lin Mengqiu didn't know how to address these elders, but the woman recognized her.

Upon seeing the girl at the window, the aunt's eyes, which were covered in crow's feet above her mask, curved into smiles.

"Honey, what would you like to eat?"

"This, this, and this too, thank you, Auntie."

Unlike Wen Zhixia, who loves spicy food, Lin Mengqiu ordered dishes that were more light: a stewed chicken with potatoes, a tomato meatball stew, and a garlic bok choy.

"Do you want anything else? Honey, eat more, you're so thin."

"No need, thank you, Auntie."

Seeing that Lin Mengqiu wasn't ordering any more dishes, the server added a little more to each of the dishes she had already ordered, filling the plate to the brim with the three dishes.

With so many dishes, Lin Mengqiu definitely couldn't finish them all. Faced with the hospitality of her 'family,' the girl felt a little helpless, thanked them again, and accepted the plates.

The lady serving the food pressed the price on the card reader. Lin Mengqiu habitually took out his own meal card to swipe it, but Chen Shi'an beat him to it and stuck his meal card on the machine first.

Upon seeing the teacher's meal card, which was different from the student's, Lin Mengqiu finally realized—you're using the meal card my dad gave you to treat me to a meal?!

"I'm here because I promised to treat you to dinner."

"……Thanks."

Lin Mengqiu rolled her eyes at him, and her "thank you" sounded like she was gritting her teeth.

The auntie serving the food noticed their interaction and was curious. She had never seen Mengqiu eat with other classmates before, so she figured this young man must be on good terms with her.

"Young man, what would you like to eat?"

"I want this, this, and this. Thank you, Auntie."

Chen Shi'an casually ordered some dishes he wanted to eat, and thanks to Lin Mengqiu, the amount of food on his plate this time was more than ever before.

When he left the window with his tray and looked back, Lin Mengqiu had already walked away on her own. She didn't get any soup, and after taking her chopsticks and spoon, she went to find a seat in the back. She didn't seem to care about waiting for him just because she was eating with him.

Chen Shi'an didn't mind. He came over to get the soup first, and helped her get a bowl. Then he took his own utensils.

He carried one bowl of soup in his left hand and placed the other bowl on the plate in his right hand, as if he had many years of experience as a waiter. He walked with such a steady and fast pace.

Although Lin Mengqiu didn't wait for him outside, she didn't pick up her chopsticks after sitting down.

It's clear that she rarely eats with others. Sitting alone in her seat, watching the food in front of her but not touching her chopsticks, makes her feel quite uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Chen Shi'an didn't keep her waiting too long. After she sat down, he brought the bowl of soup he had prepared for her to her plate.

Seeing that he had taken the chopsticks and spoon himself, the girl subtly withdrew her hand, which was about to hand out a set of chopsticks and spoons.

"Hey, you got me chopsticks and a spoon?"

"I just grabbed it."

"Thank you, class monitor. I'm sorry, I didn't see it just now."

As Chen Shi'an spoke, he put down the chopsticks and spoon he was holding. Before the girl could finish putting her hands down, he naturally took the chopsticks and spoon from her hand and used the ones she was holding.

"~~~"

Lin Mengqiu's expression remained unchanged, and the slight annoyance that had inexplicably arisen in her heart inexplicably vanished.

"Here you go, class monitor, your soup."

"……Thanks."

Don't you usually make soup?

"Rarely." Actually, Lin Mengqiu doesn't really like drinking soup.

Perhaps because her family drinks too much soup, her father always felt that she wasn't getting enough nutrition. He has always loved to make soup for her since she was little. Even now that she lives in a dormitory by herself, whenever her father has time to cook at home, he will specially bring her a pot of soup in a thermos.

My health hasn't improved much; in fact, I've gotten tired of drinking it.

The soup in the cafeteria was nowhere near as good as the soup at home, so Lin Mengqiu almost never got soup. Although she was reluctant to admit it, the girl was indeed a bit picky about food.

Lin Mengqiu took the soup that Chen Shi'an had helped her prepare and took a sip with the spoon.

"Yam and corn soup has the effect of strengthening the spleen and improving appetite, and it's good to drink a little bit occasionally."

Chen Shi'an suddenly spoke up, and like her, he took a sip of soup, but instead of using a spoon, he picked up the bowl and drank directly.

The soup contained yam and carrots, and the corn was just ordinary corn, not sweet. If it were sweet, it would have been scooped up by everyone long ago.

Lin Mengqiu didn't know why he suddenly brought this up, and considering his habit of 'talking to himself,' she felt that she didn't need to answer him.

The girl didn't wait for him to start eating; she began eating as soon as he sat down.

Lin Mengqiu ate in a very refined manner, with her legs together under the table, her body slightly leaning forward, but her back straight. She didn't speak or look around during the meal, seemingly only having eyes for the food in front of her. She ate very quickly, with her chopsticks and mouth never stopping.

Occasionally, even during such a smooth meal, she would pause, precisely picking out the scallions from the stewed chicken with potatoes, removing the vegetable leaves with wormholes, and refusing to eat the chicken skin, which she would tear off with chopsticks and place on the side of her plate.

The girl, who was eating, suddenly changed her expression, glanced at Chen Shi'an with some embarrassment, and seeing that he didn't seem to be paying attention, she hurriedly spat out the piece of ginger disguised as a potato from her mouth...

Chen Shi'an naturally saw it, but he pretended not to, because it was too uncomfortable to hold back his laughter.

It has to be said that Jiang is truly a master of disguise in the food world; even the picky class monitor can fall for it.

While eating, Chen Shi'an wasn't as talkative as Wen Zhixia, but he wasn't as silent as Lin Mengqiu either. He asked while eating:
"Class monitor, when did you and Xiaozhi become deskmates?"

"First year of high school."

"I thought you always sat alone, class monitor."

"..."

"So how do you feel about your deskmate?"

"..."

Lin Mengqiu kept her head down and ate her food, ignoring him.

But there always seemed to be a gaze fixed on her from the front. As always, this stinky Taoist priest would keep staring at her until she answered.

After deducting one point from him, Lin Mengqiu spoke.

"My deskmate."

"anything else?"

"...She has good grades, a cheerful and enthusiastic personality, is very smart, gets along with everyone, and is very thoughtful."

After saying that, Lin Mengqiu looked up at him, her eyes conveying a clear message: [Are you satisfied now?]
Chen Shi'an was both surprised and unsurprised by Lin Mengqiu's answer. When describing her, his words were full of praise, just like Xiao Zhi's.

Faced with such identical comments, Chen Shi'an didn't even need to think about how to reply. He seemed not to notice the girl's 'forced to perform' little expression and chuckled, "It seems you two have a good relationship, you're only saying compliments."

"..."

That's weirdo! You deadbeat Taoist priest! You stinky Taoist priest! Two points deducted from your score this time!!

Lin Mengqiu was also quite curious. In her memory, Wen Zhixia was indeed warm and cheerful, but she usually kept her distance from boys. When they were in the same class in high school, they preferred to eat at separate tables rather than have Wen Zhixia eat with anyone. She never expected that she would eat with Chen Shi'an, who was in a different class...

She couldn't understand what Wen Zhixia was trying to do; she couldn't even figure out why she was inexplicably concerned about such a thing.

However, since Chen Shi'an had brought up the topic so openly and proactively, Lin Mengqiu followed up by asking the question that had been lingering in her heart—

How did you two meet?

When she asked the question, she didn't look at Chen Shi'an, but kept her head down and ate, as if she didn't care at all and it was just a casual question.

"We met on the long-distance bus when I came to register for school."

"Then you two are quite destined to meet."

"If that's what you mean, then all the acquaintances between people in this world are fate, and so are you and me."

"..."

Lin Mengqiu wanted to refute, but his words were impeccable, leaving her with no room for denial.

His reply was even more pleasing and satisfying to her than if he had simply said "yes".

"Is she also your study partner?"

"Correct."

"That's good. Her English is really good; learning from her should be a great help to you."

"I also owe a lot of help to the class monitor in math. I still need to continue doing my workbook during evening self-study later."

"~~~"

Lin Mengqiu put down her chopsticks; she had finished eating.

Although there was still a lot of food on the plate, she finished the entire bowl of soup that Chen Shi'an had served her.

When she looked up, Chen Shi'an still had nearly half of the food left on his plate. He maintained his steady and slow eating pace and did not speed up because she was eating quickly.

Lin Mengqiu took out a tissue, tore off a sheet, and handed it to him.

Chen Shi'an took the tissue, and before Lin Mengqiu could tear off a second one, he had already torn the tissue in his hand in half and handed it back to her.

Lin Mengqiu was stunned. Did this Taoist priest who had just come down from the mountain also have the habit of sharing his tissues with others?

"No, I have it."

"Here you go. Neither of us has big mouths, and this tissue is so big, half of it should be enough to wipe our mouths."

"……Thanks."

Lin Mengqiu blurted out something subconsciously, only realizing afterward that she should thank him for giving him a tissue!

"You're welcome."

"..."

The girl glared at him fiercely, thinking she had never seen such a shameless person in her life.

"Squad leader, do you usually eat this fast?"

"It's because you're slow."

After wiping her mouth, Lin Mengqiu noticed that Chen Shi'an wouldn't finish eating anytime soon, so she started tidying up her own plate.

"I'm going back to my dorm to shower first. You can eat slowly."

After saying that, she picked up her plate and stood up.

Chen Shi'an naturally didn't mind; on the contrary, he was quite impressed by the girl's strong independent thinking and self-reliance.

Lin Mengqiu turned to leave her seat, when suddenly his voice came from behind her—

"If you have a sensitive stomach, you should chew your food slowly and thoroughly. It's best to rest before taking a shower when you get home."

"..."

Is he talking to himself again?

Probably not.

Because her stomach really isn't very good.

But how did he know?
Lin Mengqiu turned her head, and Chen Shi'an was still leisurely eating his meal in his seat...

(End of this chapter)