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

Chapter 58 Are you hungry?

At 9:45 p.m., the bell rang to signal the end of evening self-study.

Chen Shi'an exited the flow state and closed the pen cap in his hand.

Turning to look at the class monitor beside me, I saw that the school bell had rung and the class was noisy, but she was still doing her homework as if she didn't notice.

Occasionally, Chen Shi'an couldn't help but admire her. Even with his magical powers, he would inevitably feel tired from such intense daily study, and he wondered how Lin Mengqiu managed to persevere day after day.

Chen Shi'an briefly summarized his current learning situation—

Chen Shi'an has memorized more than 500 English words and is almost finished memorizing the texts in the second semester of seventh grade. It is hard to say about grammar and speaking skills, which are difficult to quantify, but he feels that he has made great progress in these areas.

He has finished learning all the content of the first semester of seventh grade math. He spent most of today doing practice problems. Lin Mengqiu did a whole semester of various workbooks and test papers, and he went through them all in less than two days.

If you were to give him a test based solely on the content of the seventh-grade math textbook, even if it were a bit beyond the curriculum, he would definitely get a perfect score.

Of course, his progress in math is slower than in English. As his English vocabulary grows, this gap may widen further, but there's nothing that can be done about it, as the two subjects are fundamentally different.

Speaking of math alone, in the last two days I've learned a semester's worth of material and done a semester's worth of problems. If this is still slow, then it's really unbearable...

If Chen Shi'an conservatively estimates that he can master junior high school math in a month at most, then he will be able to finish junior high school math in three years and six semesters.

You can even learn faster without doing practice problems, but you can't do math without doing practice problems. The textbook content is too basic and lacks variety. You always need to do a lot of practice problems to produce output and cultivate that kind of mathematical thinking.

Thanks to the fact that school starts on a Wednesday, we only need to attend classes for two more days before having a day off.

In the past, when he was in the mountains, Chen Shi'an didn't have much of a concept of what day of the week it was. Now, after being a high school student for a few days, he has actually started to look forward to the weekend.

"Class monitor, what time do you usually go back after studying?" Chen Shi'an asked Lin Mengqiu while packing his things.

"Ten thirty."

"Walking with the seniors?"

"..."

"I'm leaving now, see you tomorrow."

Chen Shi'an smiled, picked up his backpack, and got up from his seat.

Only after he left did Lin Mengqiu look at his desk.

You rushed off as soon as get out of class ended, not even taking a math notebook home... So lazy, I'll deduct one point from your score!
……

"Ugh, I'm so tired..."

When Chen Shi'an saw Wen Zhixia in the corridor on the first floor, the girl looked like she was about to die.

She walks like a doll whose batteries have been removed, her steps dragging so slowly they leave afterimages on the ground, her backpack strap slinging from her shoulder to her elbow, her long eyelashes drooping like small fans, and she looks like she's about to collapse into a soft, fluffy cotton candy at any moment.

Chen Shi'an thought he was 'tired' in this state, but he didn't expect Xiao Zhi to show him what real exhaustion was.

"Taoist priest, let me lean on you for support..."

"Then go ahead and use it."

"Wow, you're so shameless! I was just testing you, and you actually have the nerve to say that!"

"Hey, didn't you say that first?"

The reserved girl ultimately didn't lean in. She had indeed been joking, but it couldn't be denied that she wavered for a moment when Chen Shi'an agreed.

The two walked side by side along the school road towards the exit. When they passed the still brightly lit senior high school building, Wen Zhixia felt a bit more awake and less tired.

"I heard that many of the top students in the senior year study until midnight," Wen Zhixia whispered.

"Didn't they say that evening self-study ends at 3:30 PM?"

"Please, people can study when they get back to their dorms, otherwise they would really go to bed so early."

"So you'll be like this in your senior year of high school too?" Chen Shi'an asked curiously.

"Anyway, we should try our best."

What constitutes "effort" for you?

"..."

Wen Zhixia thought about it seriously for a while before saying, "If everyone is working hard, I certainly can't not work hard either. I have very high standards for myself. I have to work really, really hard to feel like I'm working hard. Otherwise, I'll feel like I'm just playing around. When I think about how many hours others have studied and how many hours I've studied, I feel very guilty."

"So, does that mean the environment forces you to work hard?"

"Definitely not. Well, while that's part of the reason, I think the more important reason is that I really want to prove myself to be excellent and no worse than others."

After Wen Zhixia finished speaking, she tilted her head and asked him, "Taoist priest, have you ever been anxious?"

"Hmm... I don't think there's any anxiety that left a particularly deep impression on me."

"You joined a high school class with zero foundational knowledge and are about to take the college entrance exam. Aren't you anxious?"

"No anxiety."

"really envy you."

The girl pouted. "What I remember most is when I was in elementary school, the teacher made us stand up one by one to recite the text. I was very anxious then, and I would try to recall the text while counting how many people were in front of me..." "So, that's when you decided to work really, really hard?"

"Yes, otherwise, that feeling of being unprepared and facing execution is really anxious and uncomfortable!"

"It seems that Little Cicada has high standards for itself."

Chen Shi'an nodded. He used the word "also" because he could tell that Lin Mengqiu was the same kind of person. It was hard to imagine how much these two girls would get entangled when they sat at the same table...

Wen Zhixia didn't notice the details in his words because the two of them had already walked out of the school gate.

In the dim light of the night, the vast campus behind me resembled a suffocating, cold beast.

Stepping out, Wen Zhixia felt instantly relaxed, her energy surged, she walked with more strength, and spoke with more vigor.

Chen Shi'an was dumbfounded. If he hadn't been certain that the girl had no magical power, he would have thought she had cultivated a more advanced spirit-cultivating spell than him.

"Hehe! Two more days of classes and then one day off!"

"...So you're hoping for this to make a living, right?"

"What else can I do?"

The cool night breeze made Wen Zhixia feel very comfortable walking home with Chen Shi'an on this route that led her away from textbooks and classrooms.

She walked on Chen Shi'an's left and right sides for a while, trying it out on both sides, and then she walked close to his right, which felt the most comfortable.

Taking advantage of this rare moment of leisure, Wen Zhixia accompanied him to practice his spoken English. For her, this was not studying, but a rare opportunity to relax.

What do you usually do when you get home at night?
The girl's pronunciation was very standard, and her soft, sweet voice, like a wind chime, perfectly complemented the scene under the night sky.

Chen Shi'an answered her using his limited vocabulary:

I usually take a shower, do the laundry, and then go to bed.
Wen Zhixia chuckled at his still awkward and clumsy pronunciation, but she still offered him some kind encouragement:
"Very good! You've improved a lot compared to this morning! You still need to practice more."

"Ok."

After saying that, Wen Zhixia realized that she might have been too demanding of Chen Shi'an, considering that he had only been learning English for two days with zero foundation!

Sure enough, it was this stinky Taoist's incredible memory and learning ability that made her unconsciously raise her expectations.

Are you hungry?

Upon smelling the aroma of grilled sausages from the roadside, Wen Zhixia suddenly asked.

"You want grilled sausage again?"

"Tell me quickly, are you hungry?!"

"Hungry."

"Come on, come on, it's my treat!"

"I'll treat you tonight."

"No, no, if you hadn't pinched me this morning, I definitely wouldn't have had any energy all day. That's worth a lot of coffee, so it's on me!"

"?"

Who pinched you?! How can you say that?!

A person who truly wants to treat others will always find a reason to do so. Chen Shi'an couldn't refuse her, so he had no choice but to come to the sausage stand with her.

The stall that sold two grilled sausages to Wen Zhixia for six yuan last night is gone. I don't know if it went out of business.

"Serves them right for going out of business. Other places sell two for five yuan. They have no business acumen!"

"Then why did you buy it yesterday?"

"I thought two would cost five yuan, but it turned out to be six yuan, and then I felt too embarrassed to say I didn't want them..."

"I dare."

"Yes, yes, I know you're shameless~"

After switching to a different sausage stand, Wen Zhixia successfully bought two sausages for five yuan and happily handed one to Chen Shi'an.

"Taoist priest, when are you going to give me the beauty and health-preserving tea you promised me yesterday?"

"Oh, you feel embarrassed with other people, but you feel comfortable with me?"

"Hmph, you said it yourself, it's not like I asked you for it."

"Let's wait until the weekend. I'll go for a walk on the mountain and see what I can find. Don't worry, I never break my promises."

"...You really want to go find it in the mountains yourself!"

Wen Zhixia was dumbfounded.

"Why don't you teach me that invigorating massage technique? I feel like you're definitely holding back. With such a divine skill, wouldn't I be invincible after learning it?"

"You should go to sleep early."

(End of this chapter)