Morning reading was already halfway over when Teacher Liang finally arrived. He had come to bring Chen Shi'an some Chinese memorization materials.
Like the other students in the class, Teacher Liang was genuinely taken aback when he saw Chen Shi'an with his new haircut and school uniform.
"Shi'an? I almost didn't recognize you!"
"Teacher Liang, I should be up to regulation now, right?"
"Yes, yes. The uniform fits you nicely."
As he spoke, Teacher Liang handed him the materials. "These cover everything you're required to memorize and will be tested on over all three years of high school Chinese. I was busy yesterday and forgot to print you a copy. Keep this safe. For your regular memorization practice, just focus on what's in here."
Although they were only in their second year of high school, every subject was already far ahead of the standard schedule. There would be no new lessons in their final year; the entire year would be devoted to revision.
"Okay. Thank you, Teacher Liang."
Chen Shi'an accepted the memorization materials Teacher Liang handed him. This time, he didn't turn them down as he had earlier. After all, the previous copy belonged to Lin Meng Qiu, while this one belonged to him. Ownership made a difference. Whether he used it was his own business.
In his view, whether one "sought far away for a path close at hand" or "looked for difficulty where the task was easy," the results were nothing but castles in the air and wasted effort. Only "acting on what came from the heart" could truly build a solid foundation.
As his Chinese teacher, Liang Huiyang hadn't come merely to deliver memorization materials. He lifted the heavy reusable bag in his hand and continued:
"These are middle school textbooks I borrowed from some teachers. There wasn't much time, and they weren't easy to find on short notice, so I've only brought first-year books for now, but all the subjects are here. And English-I borrowed elementary school English textbooks for you too. Just start learning from these for now. It's all foundational material. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me or your classmates."
Chen Shi'an had been wondering where to borrow middle school textbooks. He hadn't expected Teacher Liang to be so efficient and get them for him already. What's more, these were the middle school teachers' own copies, with annotations and detailed explanations of key concepts. Even if they only covered the first year for now, they would be enough to tide him over for a while.
"Thank you so much, Teacher Liang. I'll take good care of them and won't damage them."
"It doesn't matter if you damage them. What matters is that you study hard!"
"Of course."
After giving Chen Shi'an a placement test yesterday, Teacher Liang knew better than anyone how weak his foundations were. Yet even as a teacher, there wasn't much he could do about it. He had his own work, as did the other teachers and the students around him. All he could do was borrow some books for him. The rest would depend on Chen Shi'an studying on his own.
"I've already explained your situation to all the other subject teachers. Shi'an, if you can't keep up or understand what's being taught, that's fine. You can work on your own things, as long as you're studying."
"All right. Don't worry, Teacher Liang."
How am I supposed to stop worrying? Will I ever make it to the other shore?
Teacher Liang sighed. In all his years teaching top classes, he had never had such a headache over a student's abysmal foundations...
Only after finishing his instructions to Chen Shi'an did Teacher Liang notice that the reading around them had somehow grown quieter. The little monkeys were hiding behind their books, eyes wide and ears pricked, sneakily eavesdropping on their conversation, positively brimming with curiosity and a hunger for gossip.
"What are you doing? Where's your reading?"
Only after that sharp reprimand did the voices around them hastily rise again.
Lin Meng Qiu hadn't said a word throughout Teacher Liang's conversation with Chen Shi'an, but she couldn't resist stealing a curious glance at Chen Shi'an's desk.
"Seventh-grade Chinese, volume one." "Seventh-grade mathematics, volume one." "Third-grade English, volume one"...
Those textbook covers were familiar yet strangely distant, utterly out of place in a second-year high school classroom. Lin Meng Qiu's eyelids twitched at the sight. Even her eternally unchanging expression took on an indescribable look-two parts pity, three parts amusement, five parts headache...
Dad, what kind of deskmate have you saddled me with?!
"Were you laughing at me just now?"
"..."
The unexpected voice beside her made Lin Meng Qiu's heart jolt while she was still immersed in those complicated emotions. Her face instantly returned to its expressionless state.
"No."
Lin Meng Qiu was secretly startled. She hadn't expected him to have such sharp eyes. He had actually spotted those three deeply concealed parts of amusement?
"Ohhh-"
Chen Shi'an didn't dispute her answer, but his obviously deliberate, drawn-out tone made her squirm. One point deducted, for starters.
"You're ranked first in the science stream?" Chen Shi'an asked, changing the subject.
"Yes."
"What score do you need to come first?"
"..."
Lin Meng Qiu turned to look at him. His eyes suggested that this wasn't merely a casual question. Instead, he seemed to be measuring the width of a stream to see whether he could jump across it, with an unmistakable eagerness to try.
*?*
What was that supposed to mean?
Someone still cramming elementary and middle school basics wanted to rank first in the science stream at one of the city's top high schools?
He didn't know his limits. Another point deducted.
"Over seven hundred."
Their most recent exam had been the monthly test following their summer supplementary classes-the same set of papers Chen Shi'an had taken for yesterday's placement test.
On the mathematics paper that had left Chen Shi'an completely at sea, Lin Meng Qiu had scored full marks. She was the only student in the year to do so.
Her total across all subjects was 706, a full fifteen points ahead of second place.
When Lin Meng Qiu said that "over seven hundred" would get him first place, she was actually being fairly conservative. Whether an actual score of seven hundred would beat her was uncertain, but it would generally be enough for second.
Seven hundred! Surely anyone would blanch at that score?!
Yet Chen Shi'an showed no particular reaction to the number "seven hundred." There was no special reason-he simply had no real frame of reference for it.
But in Lin Meng Qiu's eyes, his placid expression was outright provocation! Look at him, giving another meaningful "Ohhh-"!
No self-awareness. One point deducted!
Aiming far beyond his reach. One point deducted!
Being snide. One point deducted!!
While Chen Shi'an was still pondering how difficult it would be to score seven hundred, he had no idea that his seemingly quiet, silent deskmate was furiously docking him points in her head...
The bell rang, ending morning reading.
The Athletes' March followed. It was time for morning exercises.
The school adjusted exercise time according to the season. In hot weather like this, it came after morning reading; in cold weather, they did their exercises during the break after second period.
"Time to line up, time to line up." Xu Zihan, the sports representative, called out twice, though he was still joking around with a classmate in his seat. Naturally, the others didn't take it seriously either. They lingered at their desks, chatting and laughing, before slowly heading out to assemble.
Chen Shi'an closed his textbook and stood up, pushing his chair back under his desk.
"Where does our class line up?" Chen Shi'an asked Lin Meng Qiu, who was still sitting in her seat.
"In the middle of the field. Just follow everyone else." Lin Meng Qiu didn't even lift her head. She disliked morning exercises. Although she normally handled things swiftly and decisively, she would still drag her feet when faced with something she disliked. Unlike the others, who stalled by fooling around, she stalled by reading and doing practice questions, which conveniently soothed her conscience about procrastinating.
Chen Shi'an didn't procrastinate. Fundamentally, "dragging one's feet" and "being unhurried" were two different things. Although he walked slowly and spoke slowly, when it was time to do something, he did it right away.
He left his seat and stepped into the corridor outside the classroom.
Most of the boys in the class had gathered there.
When Chen Shi'an was sitting beside Lin Meng Qiu, her intimidating presence had kept everyone from talking to him. Now that he had come out, the monkeys swarmed over as if they'd spotted a banana, full of curious questions and gossip.
"Master Daoist! Were you really a Daoist up in the mountains before?"
"Yes."
"Can you cast spells?"
"I know a few little tricks."
"Show us a couple!!"
"This isn't really the right occasion."
They were all young people of the modern age, so naturally they didn't take Chen Shi'an's words seriously. Most of their questions were jokes anyway. Seeing that he was neither embarrassed nor annoyed, and wore a friendly smile, they realized that their Daoist classmate was easy to get along with.
That was usually how boys made friends. It wasn't about how awesome you were, but whether you clicked. Otherwise, why would they keep dragging someone into games every day when they knew he was hopeless, cursing him out while playing together?
Chen Shi'an's background struck everyone as novel and cool. At first, plenty of classmates hadn't believed he was a real Daoist. They had even searched online for technical questions to ask him. To their surprise, he answered flawlessly, whether the questions concerned doctrine, scriptures, or the details of spiritual practice. He even had a Daoist certificate-the strongest proof of his identity. In the end, they had to admit he really was a bona fide Daoist.
"That's badass! Badass!"
"Who cares about having an internet celebrity for a classmate? I've got a fucking Daoist master!!"
"Bro Shi'an, I saw Liang bring you a whole bunch of books just now. What were they?"
Chen Shi'an didn't consider his lack of academic foundations embarrassing, so he answered honestly, "They're middle school textbooks. I need to catch up on the basics."
"Huh? Middle school textbooks?"
"Bro Shi'an, did you... never go to school before? Were you cultivating in the mountains all this time?"
"That's right."
After Chen Shi'an answered, everyone fell silent for a moment. Then they grew excited again, even more animated than before-
"Badass! Badass!!"
"Nine years of compulsory education casts such a tight net, and Bro Shi'an still slipped through! Fucking legendary!!"
"Shit! How'd you manage it, Bro Shi'an? I skipped class once in middle school and my mom nearly beat me to death!!"
"Zihan, your mom was still hitting you in middle school? Last time she was in our group chat saying we were a bad influence on you. Turns out you're the bad influence on us!"
"Listen to you. Little Kun, are you saying your mom never hit you?"
"My mom only tried to get rid of me once. It didn't work."
"Fuck! You're the tadpole that slipped past the condom?!"
"Bro Shi'an, are you taking disciples? I want to cultivate instead of going to school too!"
Chen Shi'an: "..."
Listening to their bizarre banter, Chen Shi'an couldn't find anything to say for a while. Was going to school really so stifling these days...?
Sure enough, even after all these years, he still didn't fit in with the monkeys...
While they were chatting, Lin Meng Qiu finally emerged after lingering in the classroom for ages.
Lin Meng Qiu was taller than Wen Zhixia, probably around 167 centimeters, but she wasn't as well-endowed and didn't fill out her uniform with the same rounded curves.
Her most striking feature was still her long legs, their proportions almost exactingly balanced. Her trouser legs fell into tiny folds at her ankles, revealing a slender stretch of fair skin only when she walked. Her steps weren't large, yet they landed soundlessly, and when she turned, her waist traced a soft curve, like the brushstroke of a willow branch swaying in an ink painting.
Chen Shi'an was shooting the breeze with the monkeys and didn't notice her, but Lin Meng Qiu spotted him unmistakably among that bunch of boys.
Hmph. Falling in with that pack of idiots... another point deducted!
Before you continue