After the sun rose, much of the unease Chen Shi'an had felt toward the big city when he woke that morning faded away.
No matter how his surroundings changed, the sun, moon, and stars remained the same. The sunlight in the city was fundamentally no different from that in the mountains, spilling freely over everything.
Chen Shi'an went downstairs, left the residential complex, and stepped onto the street.
Aside from elderly people heading out to buy groceries or exercise, most of those leaving the complex at the same time were students in school uniforms or parents taking their children to school.
Most office workers didn't leave this early.
Going out in a school uniform for the first time felt rather novel to Chen Shi'an.
The most obvious physical difference was how much lighter he felt. Wearing stretchy uniform trousers and a short-sleeved uniform T-shirt, he could readily feel the breeze against his bare arms as he walked. The uniform really was comfortable, neither tight enough to restrict his movements nor loose and cumbersome like his Taoist robe. It fit just right.
The other differences were obvious too-compared with when he wore his Taoist robe, the number of looks he received from passersby dropped by a full ninety percent!
That actually left Chen Shi'an feeling a little unaccustomed to it. For a moment, he wondered whether he had mastered some Taoist art of invisibility...
Still, it was a pleasant feeling. He could observe other people without being noticed, seeing their most genuine reactions rather than the same curiosity over and over.
Of course, quite a few young women still noticed him.
But their attention was no longer the curiosity of yesterday. It was attraction-
What's wrong with a girl taking a couple more looks at a young, handsome high school boy?
Chen Shi'an found it amusing. None of the people he encountered now would likely imagine that he was actually a Taoist.
Only when he reached the intersection with the traffic lights did someone finally see through the young Taoist's supposedly flawless disguise.
"T-Taoist?"
The voice came from behind him to one side. It was a clear female voice, carrying a little uncertainty, a little surprise, and a great deal of familiarity.
Chen Shi'an turned around. Surprise flickered across his face, then naturally gave way to a gentle smile-
"Little Chatterbox, it's you?"
The girl standing before him in the same blue-and-white school uniform was none other than the one who had chatted with him throughout yesterday's long bus ride!
He had learned yesterday that they attended the same school and were in the same year, but he hadn't seen her since they parted after getting off the bus. He still didn't know her class or her name.
Chen Shi'an had imagined that they might meet again in some corner of the school someday, but he hadn't expected another chance encounter outside school, just like their first meeting.
"I'm not Little Chatterbox!"
The girl objected first, then took a good look at him before finally saying with certainty and surprise, "It really is you!"
"Of course it's me. Didn't we chat the whole way yesterday?"
"Y-you're not wearing your Taoist robe, and you cut your hair! I could barely recognize you! I spotted you ages ago, but I wasn't sure it was you. Why aren't you wearing your robe? When did you get your hair cut? Are you really that Taoist from Year Two, Class Five everyone's talking about?"
Wen Zhixia had been terribly sleepy on her walk to school, but the moment she saw Chen Shi'an, her drowsiness vanished. A string of questions came tumbling out.
Her lovely shoulder-length hair still had a slightly tousled fluffiness to it, its tips tinted light brown by the morning sun. As she spoke, the strands bounced against her shoulders. A few unruly locks fell across her forehead, and she casually brushed them aside with the backs of her fingers, revealing her smooth forehead and sparkling eyes.
The light in those eyes was even livelier than the sunlight falling over her.
"I have classes to attend, so naturally I need to wear a uniform and cut my hair."
"But aren't you a Taoist? Why would you come to our school?"
"To get into university and earn a degree."
"So you really are in Year Two, Class Five now?"
"How did you know?"
"It was all over our year group last night! Everyone was saying a Taoist had joined Class Five!"
Wearing an expression that said, You're so out of the loop, Wen Zhixia continued, "After I heard about it last night, I even went to your classroom to see if it was you. So you changed into a uniform and cut your hair. No wonder I didn't recognize you last night."
"Have you considered the possibility that I didn't attend evening study last night?"
"..."
The girl stalled, but quickly found an answer she liked better. "That explains it. I knew I'd definitely recognize you if you were there."
The light turned green, and they continued talking as they walked.
Wen Zhixia wasn't particularly tall. Beside Chen Shi'an, the top of her head only came a little above his shoulder. He estimated she was around 160 centimeters at most.
Her petite stature suited her sweet, cute appearance. Her face looked so youthful that, if not for her very ample chest, people might have believed she was a middle school student.
But walking alongside Chen Shi'an revealed the downside of her small stature. At his normal walking pace, her short little legs had to take two steps for every one of his just to keep up.
Her little mouth, however, never stopped-
"So you lied to me yesterday? You're actually a student!"
"I didn't lie. I'm a Taoist, but now I'm a student too."
"Didn't you say you'd never been to school?"
"Does a few days of primary school count?"
"No!"
"Then I've really never been to school."
"..."
Seeing that Chen Shi'an genuinely didn't seem to be teasing her, Wen Zhixia was stunned too. "Then how did you transfer into Class Five? That's the strongest advanced science class in our school!"
"Principal Lin arranged it."
"Oh, so you've got connections..."
Wen Zhixia understood. Of course, she had no prejudice about that. What mattered most for a student was their grades, and connections couldn't add points to those.
"So you're saying you went to primary school for a few days, never went to middle school, skipped your first year of high school, and now you've landed straight in Year Two?"
"Yes."
"And you're going to study with us, take the university entrance exam, and get into university?"
"Yes."
"...Y-you've got to be kidding!"
Wen Zhixia's eyes went round. "You don't even have the basics. How are you going to keep up?"
"I just need to work hard."
"...That's got to be the most arrogant thing I've ever heard."
"Even working hard
counts as arrogance?" Chen Shi'an asked, puzzled.
"Of course! Thinking you can accomplish anything just by working hard-isn't that the greatest arrogance in the world?"
Wen Zhixia's words brought Chen Shi'an to a sudden realization. He hadn't expected a casual remark from this Little Chatterbox to teach him a lesson!
She really was right. Chen Shi'an had always believed there was nothing he couldn't do well, and if there was, working hard would make it possible. Thinking about it carefully now, he realized how arrogant that was.
Enlightened, Chen Shi'an bowed in thanks. "You make a good point! I need to reflect on myself again."
Wen Zhixia burst out laughing. Assuming he was joking with her, she played along. "You're a promising pupil."
Then she changed tack and grew serious. "But you've really missed out on a lot of the fundamentals. Honestly, for anyone else, this definitely wouldn't be something hard work alone could make up for."
"Could I ask you to teach me?"
"Huh?"
Wen Zhixia blinked.
"I mean, when there's something I don't understand, could I ask you? I know nothing about mathematics, English, physics, biology, or chemistry."
"You're looking for a study buddy?"
Understanding dawned on Wen Zhixia.
Now it was Chen Shi'an's turn to be confused. "A study buddy?"
"Someone you study with. You ask each other about things you don't understand."
"Oh...yes, that's more or less what I meant."
Chen Shi'an understood and nodded in agreement. Wen Zhixia readily accepted, partly because she was kindhearted and partly because she had a very good impression of him.
"Sure! Then let's be buddies from now on! But I'm in the humanities stream, and you're in science. I don't understand physics, chemistry, or biology either. Math...uh, let's just say I'm okay. But I should be able to teach you English!"
"You're a humanities student?"
"Yep, I'm in Class Eleven."
Then Wen Zhixia asked curiously, "Why didn't you choose humanities before? If you're starting with no basics, humanities should be easier to get into than science, right?"
Chen Shi'an didn't elaborate. He only smiled and said, "My master chose for me."
"Oh, I see. My dad and the others wanted me to choose science too. They said it would give me more choices of majors and make finding a job easier." Wen Zhixia looked as though she could relate.
How is that the same? Chen Shi'an thought. My master knew science was harder and chose it for me on purpose!
Chen Shi'an didn't know what level of class Class Eleven was, nor how good the girl's grades were. Still, whatever the case, she certainly couldn't be worse than him. And so, their arrangement to become study buddies was settled.
Only now, after first meeting yesterday, did they finally introduce themselves.
"My name is Chen Shi'an. What about you?"
"Ah! They said your name was Chen'an!"
"That's my courtesy name."
"My name's Wen Zhixia. As for my courtesy name..."
"Chatterbox?"
"Haha, get lost~ I don't even like talking that much!"
They were around the same age, and with the girl's cheerful, warm personality, their conversations always had a pleasant atmosphere.
"Zhixia-as in 'knowing' and 'summer'?"
"Yep!"
"It's a lovely name. It really suits you."
"Hehe, but I really can't stand the heat."
As she said this, Wen Zhixia noticed something strange again. The whole walk had felt rather hot and stuffy, yet after coming alongside Chen Shi'an, she inexplicably felt refreshed, exactly as she had on the bus yesterday.
"Why aren't you staying at school?" Wen Zhixia asked curiously.
"I brought my cat. Staying in a dorm wouldn't be convenient."
"Oh, right! Where's the kitty?"
"Lounging at home."
"I'm so jealous of the kitty. No classes, no exams."
"Yesterday you said you were jealous of Taoists, didn't you?"
"Not anymore. Turns out Taoists have classes and exams too."
Seeing the girl's guileless, slightly goofy expression, Chen Shi'an couldn't help laughing.
Then he asked her the same question.
"What about you? Why aren't you staying at school? Your home is over in the county town, right?"
"Yep. I'm staying at my youngest aunt's place. It's better than the school dorms."
"Is it convenient?"
"Yep, it's only a ten-minute walk or so. My aunt and my mom are really close. I often stayed at her place when I was little too, and when I have time, I help my niece with her homework and stuff."
"So your grades must be pretty good?"
"Oh, they're nothing special~~"
Despite her modest words, a smug smile clearly curled the girl's lips, and she puffed out her already well-developed chest a little further, making the young Taoist's heart skip a beat.
Some people really did have a reason for finding the heat unbearable.
"Then that works out perfectly!" Wen Zhixia thought for a moment. "You're living around here now too, right? Since we're going the same way, how about we become walking buddies too? We can head home together after evening study."
"Sure."
Chen Shi'an disliked noisy crowds, but he disliked loneliness too. The walk wasn't long, but having someone to chat with would be nice.
"Well, since we're buddies now, here's a little buddy fee. Here~ I happened to grab an extra cup of soy milk. It's yours~"
As Wen Zhixia spoke, she took a cup of soy milk from the huge assortment of breakfast food she was carrying and held it out to Chen Shi'an.
"You can eat that much?" Seeing all that breakfast food, Chen Shi'an was astonished. Good thing his master hadn't brought home a junior sister with an appetite like hers, or she would eat the Taoist temple out of house and home sooner or later.
"What the heck! Obviously it's not all for me!"
Flustered, Wen Zhixia hurried to explain, "I don't eat much! I've been dieting lately, so I'm eating even less. I'm bringing breakfast for my classmates, okay!"
"You're really kindhearted, then."
"Ah, what can I say? My aunt runs a breakfast shop, so I'm helping bring her some business~ Take it, take it. Your buddy fee."
Since she insisted, Chen Shi'an didn't stand on ceremony. He accepted the soy milk in its sealed, transparent cup. It felt pleasantly warm in his hand.
"What's a buddy fee?"
"See, you don't get it. It's paying for emotional value. Same idea as hiring someone to play games with you."
"Even playing games costs money?"
"Mm-hmm~"
Wen Zhixia's "buddy fee" was probably mostly a joke intended to get him to accept the soy milk, but her words still gave Chen Shi'an something to think about.
They chatted as they walked and soon reached the school gates.
Chen Shi'an, who had caused a stir at school yesterday, had changed into a uniform and cut his hair today, and no longer attracted much attention.
That feeling of fitting in made the change in his identity truly sink in.
As he passed the security guard, Chen Shi'an smiled and nodded at him-they had chatted a little when the guard took him to see Principal Lin yesterday.
But now the security guard looked utterly bewildered. He stared at the vaguely familiar face and thought for a good while, yet still couldn't remember who it was...
The security guard wasn't the only one.
After Chen Shi'an said goodbye to Wen Zhixia, walked down the corridor outside Class Five, and entered its classroom,
everyone in Class Five was dumbfounded-
Seriously, who the fuck are you, man?!
Does being handsome mean you can just barge into someone else's classroom?!
(An extra 3,900-word update! Another bonus chapter tonight at midnight!)
Before you continue