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

Chapter 87 The Taoist Priest Distributes Candy (Long Chapter, Seeking Monthly Tickets)

With the help of Iron Hand Chen Shi'an, the remaining pine nuts were quickly shelled.

It looked like peeled peanuts, filling a whole plate.

Pine nuts can be eaten raw or cooked. Chen Shi'an and Li Wanyin picked a few to try and found them to be quite delicious. They had a rich, oily aroma and a delicate texture. The combination of this nutty flavor with its mellow and slightly sweet taste created the unique flavor profile of pine nuts.

Although Fei Mo didn't help peel the pine nuts, it did help pick the pine cones!

Seeing that the pine nuts had been shelled, the fat cat didn't hesitate to come over and rub a few on itself.

Awooo, chew, chew!

Seeing Chen Shi'an carrying pine nuts to the kitchen, Li Wanyin and the cat followed.

"Hehe, I've never had pine nut candy before, and I don't know how to make it. I'll learn from you."

"Very simple."

As Chen Shi'an spoke, he prepared the ingredients and kitchen utensils for making pine nut candy.

"The first thing to do is to make the syrup."

Chen Shi'an lit a pot, poured in the maltose and white sugar he had bought that afternoon, added some water, and slowly heated it until the syrup had completely dissolved.

While he was operating the device, he turned around and realized that Li Wanyin had somehow raised her phone to record a video.

"You continue! I'll record a video so I can learn to do it myself later." Li Wanyin smiled as she watched him in the video.

It's really hard to associate someone with so many strange and unusual skills with the age of eighteen.

If we're talking about eighteen-year-old boys and girls, they're mostly students, but Chen Shi'an is mostly everyday life.

"When making the syrup, you need to pay attention to the state of the sugar liquid. At first, there will be many small bubbles. You need to let all the excess water evaporate. You must use low heat throughout the process. High heat will easily burn the bottom, which will produce a bitter and burnt taste and affect the taste..."

While the syrup was being boiled, Chen Shi'an started another pot.

"It's best to roast the pine nuts first, mainly to remove some of the astringent taste from the raw nuts. You don't need to add oil, just dry roast them like this... Roast them until they reach this state, that's about right."

"Wow! It smells so good!"

When the pine nuts were roasted, the syrup was almost ready. Chen Shi'an stirred it quickly, and when the syrup turned amber and all the excess water evaporated, he quickly turned off the heat, then poured the roasted pine nuts into the syrup and continued to stir quickly.

"...You have to be quick. The syrup will solidify rapidly after cooling. If you stir it too slowly, some pine nuts will not be coated with the syrup, and the distribution of the pine nuts and syrup will be uneven."

"Uh-huh!"

Li Wanyin was amazed. Chen Shi'an was indeed very strong. He held the pot with one hand and used the spatula to stir the syrup with the other. Needless to say, the syrup was very thick, but it was very obedient in his hands.

The entire cooking process was skillful and smooth, and coupled with his well-defined profile, he was truly a pleasing young chef!

Once everything was mixed evenly, Chen Shi'an picked up the pot and poured the syrup mixed with pine nuts into two large stainless steel plates that had been lightly greased with oil, then gently pressed it down with the back of a spatula.

"Don't press too hard, or the texture will be too hard."

"You're so experienced!"

"Okay, now let it cool and harden naturally before cutting it into pieces. The steps are actually very simple, just be careful not to burn the syrup."

"Nice!"

After finishing filming, Li Wanyin looked at the video on her phone and was very satisfied with it. Indeed, the most crucial element of photography is still the person!
"Shi'an, I'll send you a copy of the video as well."

"Okay."

Chen Shi'an set the two plates of pine nut candy aside to cool. The amount made was not large, so it cooled down quickly.

While he was at it, he washed the kitchen utensils he had used.

A small hand took the kitchen utensils from his hands.

"I'll do it. Shi'an, you go take a shower first, it'll be too late later."

"Yeah, that's okay."

How long will it take to cut this candy?

"It should be almost done by the time I finish showering and hanging up the clothes."

Chen Shi'an went to take a shower and do laundry, while Li Wanyin, like a child at home when her mother made some delicious snacks, still guarded the candies that were waiting to cool with great interest.

After all, I've eaten a lot of sweets, but this is the first time I've made something by hand at home.

After showering and hanging up the clothes, it was already 11:30.

Chen Shi'an looked at the herbs he had picked in the afternoon and laid them out to dry in a winnowing basket, then put them inside the living room to prevent them from getting wet from the dew at night.

The beauty tea, stomach-soothing tea, and calming tea I promised to send them all contain many of these fresh herbs. Although I also bought some ready-made herbs at the herbal medicine market, I probably won't be able to prepare them tonight. I'll have to wait a few days.

As for the 'trash' he collected to make incense, he disposed of it according to the characteristics of different materials, drying what needed to be dried, shading what needed to be shading, and aging what needed to be aged, leaving it for the time being.

Back in the kitchen, the pine nut candies in the dish had almost cooled down.

The curious older sister was bending over, poking at the syrup in the plate with her finger. It was hard and hot, and she found it quite amusing.

Is that enough?

"Hmm, that's about right. It's too hard to cut if it's too tough."

"Let me cut it for you."

"Let me do it. Don't be fooled by how soft the syrup isn't; it still takes a lot of strength to cut it."

Chen Shi'an, quite experienced, picked up the knife, applied a little oil to the blade to prevent sticking, and then began cutting the candy.

It's called "cutting," but it's more like "slicing."

He pressed the tip of his knife against the 'sugar cake' on the plate, making horizontal and vertical cuts, and the sugar cake turned into rectangular, uniformly sized sugar cubes.

Chen Shi'an counted and found that he had made about sixty-four pieces of pine nut candy. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to satisfy his cravings and give him a taste of something new.

"Wow……"

Li Wanyin's eyes sparkled; girls love sweets, and she was no exception.

"Here, Sister Wanyin, try one."

Chen Shi'an shook the sugar in the plate, and a plate full of sugar was handed to her, allowing her to choose and taste it.

Should I eat the first one?

"This is all thanks to Sister Wanyin for peeling the pine nuts."

"Hehe, then I won't be polite."

Li Wanyin casually picked up a piece of candy and put it in her mouth.

The pine nut candy, which was made not long ago, was still warm. When you took the first bite, the first thing that came into contact with your tongue was the sweetness of the sugar shell. Because of the addition of maltose, it also had a soft and sticky texture. You could feel the sugar coating covering your taste buds, but it didn't stick to your gums and make them feel dry.

As you bite down further, your teeth touch the pine nuts hidden in the sugar, and immediately a rich pine nut aroma wafts out. The unique oily fragrance of roasted pine nuts is very mild, without the astringency of raw fruit. Instead, it has a slightly greasy caramel aroma that cuts through the richness, intertwining with the sweetness of the sugar. The sweetness is wrapped in fragrance, and the fragrance complements the sweetness. With each chew, the aroma of pine nuts becomes even stronger.

Li Wanyin squinted her eyes and nodded repeatedly.

"So delicious! This is my first time trying pine nut candy!"

Li Wanyin didn't know what it would feel like to eat pine nut candy again in the future, but this first experience was something she would cherish for a long time.

Chen Shi'an also picked up a piece of candy and put it in his mouth, not forgetting Fei Mo beside him, and stuffed a piece into its mouth as well.

"Yeah, not bad."

Chen Shi'an nodded, "Next time we go up the mountain, we can pick more pine nuts to make."

"Haha, other people can wander in the mountains for half a day and not find a single thing to eat, but Shi'an, you know how to eat."

"Those who live near the mountains live off the mountains."

Eating too much sugar is eventually cloying, but Li Wanyin still ate two pieces with great enthusiasm.

There were a total of sixty-four candies, and exactly sixty were left. Chen Shi'an kept twenty for Li Wanyin, but he ate most of them himself. He mainly made them to give away.

The remaining forty candies were just enough to be divided equally between Xiao Zhi and the class monitor.

Chen Shi'an spent a lot of time making candy tonight, and by the time he lay down in bed, it was already past midnight.

The amount of sleep he gets is not a big deal for him, as he can meditate to recover his energy. It's just a daily ritual. Eating when he's hungry and sleeping when he's tired makes him feel more like a living, breathing person.

He unplugged his phone from the charger; it contained the video Li Wanyin had just sent him, a video of him making pine nut candy.

Chen Shi'an clicked to take a look. It was quite interesting to see himself from someone else's perspective. The most obvious difference was his voice. It turned out that this was how his voice sounded to others...

Chen Shi'an wanted to share the video on his WeChat Moments, but the video was too large and his phone was lagging, so he gave up.

I turned off the screen, closed my eyes and fell asleep. After about ten seconds, I was in a dream reporting to my master what I had seen and heard during my day on the mountain.

……

The next morning.

Li Wanyin is about to begin her new career journey.

Chen Shian will also begin his new week of study.

I got up at five as usual and went out for parkour to explore the map.

However, he had already explored the area within a two-kilometer radius. Exploring further outwards would result in a larger circumference, which he couldn't cover in a short time. So, Chen Shi'an changed his approach from a carpet-like exploration to a grid-like exploration, visiting one area today and another tomorrow.

Having spent eighteen years in the mountains, this kind of exploration helps him quickly familiarize himself with the urban environment, preventing his vision from always being limited to a two-point line and developing a one-sided understanding of urban life.

The so-called travels in the human world are nothing more than broadening one's horizons and experiencing all things. Only by rolling around in the mortal world can one see oneself, see the world, and see all living beings.

My master often said that there are four levels of worldly experience.

The first level is knowing how high the sky is and where the top of the world is;
The second level is knowing how deep the earth is, knowing where the deepest pit in the world is; in fact, many people can't do this level, because dark places cannot be viewed from afar, you need to walk down into them with your own hands, into impoverished places, into the dark hearts of people.

The third level is knowing where you are. The sky is 30,000 feet high and the earth is 30,000 feet deep. A person's body is less than seven feet tall. Our position is also dynamic and changing. To understand where you are, you often have to look down from a higher perspective. Otherwise, you will only be confused by what is in front of you.

The fourth level is knowing that heaven and earth also have left and right; the world is not just about the high sky and the vast earth, but also about insects, fish, birds, beasts, flowers, trees, mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, wind, rain, thunder, and snow. They are all myriad forms and appearances, and they are not above or below, but more about left and right. Only by seeing them and understanding them can one be considered to have reached a truly great realm.

Although the trip down the mountain was short, Chen Shi'an felt he had gained a lot. After all, he was born and abandoned on the mountain, and without testing his own 'path,' how could he claim it as his own? Only now did Chen Shi'an realize that he had not yet stepped out of his own 'path.' Whether it was the methods, knowledge, or his worldview from the first eighteen years of his life, they were all bestowed upon him by his master and the experiences of those who came before him.

"What is my own path...?"

Chen Shi'an, who is eighteen years old this year, started to ponder the question that his master had only begun to consider when he was seventy-eight years old.

Black Cat never ponders such profound and brain-taxing questions. The so-called Tao is nothing more than getting something to eat!
Feimo has stopped doing parkour with Chen Shi'an lately; it has its own things to do now.

Just like Chen Shi'an entered the mundane world, Fei Mo also entered the cat world.

Within a two-kilometer radius, all the stray cats, whether male or female, or even male cats without testicles, now have a unified cat leader: Fat... Shimo!
To feed all these cats, Fei Mo is very busy every day. He either takes the cats to find food or fights with the stray dogs in the neighborhood for territory. He knows better than the delivery guys which takeout shops have the most rats.

……

6:15 a.m.

When Chen Shi'an saw Wen Zhixia at the intersection, the girl was leaning against a lamppost, dozing off, carrying a lot of things.

Chen Shi'an found it amusing, wondering just how tired she must be to take a nap anywhere like that.

He deliberately slowed his pace, then took a piece of candy from his bag and quietly walked up to her.

In her dazed state, Wen Zhixia made no discovery.

I just inexplicably caught a faint, sweet scent...

It also seems to contain a unique pine resin...

Her cute little nose twitched unconsciously, and she inexplicably swallowed...

Chen Shi'an suppressed a laugh and simply put the pine nut candy in his hand to her lips.

The candy touched the girl's soft lips, and Wen Zhixia finally opened her eyes, still half-asleep.

"Hey... Taoist priest!"

Before her stood the sullen, stinky Taoist priest, who couldn't help but chuckle, and a pine nut candy pressed against her lips. Wen Zhixia was completely bewildered by the strange dream that had suddenly occurred to her: "falling into a pile of candy in a pine forest."

Her little face immediately flushed red, and she raised her little hand to slap him in embarrassment and annoyance.

Chen Shi'an couldn't help but laugh.

"So sleepy, you fell asleep right next to the lamppost?"

"I wasn't asleep, I just took a nap."

"Then you didn't even know I came."

"Who knew you walked so quietly!"

Playing around with him like that dispelled her drowsiness, and Wen Zhixia finally woke up.

"Did you make these pine nut candies?"

"Yeah, doesn't it smell good? I saw you swallowing your saliva just now."

"I didn't."

Wen Zhixia didn't stand on ceremony with him, took the candy from his hand, and chewed it.

The sweetness and rich pine scent filled her mouth, her large eyes narrowed, and her shoulder-length hair swayed as she savored the aroma for a while before raising her bright eyes to look at Chen Shi'an:
"Delicious!"

"So my candy has an energizing effect?"

"Is this the only one? Are there any more? Give it to me quickly."

"Here, I didn't make much, this bag is for you."

"Hehe, thank you! Did you really make this yourself? Did you make it last night? What time did you finish?"

The two walked and talked. Chen Shi'an was already used to Wen Zhixia's way of asking a series of questions, and usually only needed to answer the last one.

"A little after midnight."

"I was reading until midnight last night, and you were making candy until midnight!"

"So who do you think is working harder?"

"He who takes a bribe is bound to be obligated to serve it," Wen Zhixia said with a smile, "You've worked hard, you've worked hard."

She looked down and opened the bag of candy Chen Shi'an had handed her. Apart from the one she was eating, there were nineteen candies left inside.

"Did you pick a lot of pine nuts in the mountains? How much candy did you make?"

"Exactly sixty-four. What, you want more?"

"I'm not that greedy. Of course, if you're willing to give me more, I'd be happy to accept it."

Seeing the girl's longing look, Chen Shi'an smiled and said, "I'll pick more pine nuts next time and give you more. I haven't eaten much myself; I made them all to give away this time."

"Who are you going to give it to?" Wen Zhixia blinked.

“My roommate, the class monitor, give her some too.”

"Oh oh..."

Wen Zhixia nodded.

His roommate's older sister went to help with the mountain hike, so naturally she should get a share, but...

"Your class monitor has one too?"

"Yes, the class monitor lent me a lot of study materials."

"We should send some to them."

Chen Shi'an's candidness, without any sense of guilt, pleased Wen Zhixia, as it at least showed that he didn't have any ulterior motives towards Lin Mengqiu.

Anyway, I got to eat the candy first~
The candy in her mouth tasted sweet again. Wen Zhixia opened the bag, pinched off a piece, and handed it to Chen Shi'an.

"what?"

"Didn't you say you didn't eat much? I'll treat you to some."

"Alright, you can keep it for yourself. I've eaten way too much since I was a child."

"Eat one, eat one."

"well."

Seeing that he had eaten the candy, Wen Zhixia carefully put the rest of the bag of candy into her backpack and hid it away.

She, who is usually very generous, is quite stingy when it comes to these candies.

Oh! My deskmate! My dearest Xiaoyan! I'll buy you some pine nut candy next time!

I'm sorry!

……

At 6:27, Chen Shi'an arrived at the classroom with soy milk.

Sure enough, a bottle of milk appeared on the desktop.

While Chen Shi'an bent down to hang up his backpack, Lin Mengqiu, as always, sized him up.

My gaze has automatically drifted away from that cup of soy milk that doesn't look very appetizing.

She remembered that last night, before the end of evening self-study, Chen Shi'an told her that he would give her pine nut candy.

But I didn't see any candy in his hand.

Is it in the backpack...?

He was searching...

Lin Mengqiu had never eaten pine nut candy before, but she had eaten the dishes made by Chen Shi'an and was very curious about what his pine nut candy tasted like.

If Chen Shi'an didn't give it to her, or if he just mentioned it casually last night and then forgot about it, she wouldn't ask him for it.

But even now, she couldn't help but sit up a little straighter, her eyes involuntarily glancing into the open opening of his backpack...

The girl's pupils fixed—

A small, transparent plastic bag came into view.

As Chen Shi'an took out his candy, pieces of pine nut candy came into her view.

Even though she knew he would be taking her away soon, she couldn't help but look away during the brief moment, lowering her head to look at the questions, pretending she knew nothing.

The title is not written.

I was already thinking about how to reply to the sentence, "Class monitor, I'll give you the pine nut candy I promised you."

Should I make a surprised expression and say "Thank you, thank you," or...?

despair--

With a soft click, Chen Shi'an furtively placed the bag of pine nut candy on her desk, accompanied by his hushed voice:

"Class monitor, remember to collect the candy. I didn't make much, and if the other students see it, there won't be any left to give..."

"..."

Like two criminals exchanging goods, upon hearing this, Lin Mengqiu's heart tightened. She quickly swept the bag of candy into the drawer and then looked around fearfully.

Seeing that no one had noticed Chen Shi'an secretly slipping her candy, Lin Mengqiu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Eh……

wrong!

It's one thing for him to do things secretly, but what am I doing doing things secretly?!

They must have been scared by him!

(A long chapter of 5400 words, please vote with monthly tickets. There will be another long chapter this afternoon.)
(End of this chapter)