Little Cicada, you know our class monitor?

The meals at Cafeteria No. 1 cost a little more than those at Cafeteria No. 2, and its specialty was noodles.

Many of the students who made a special trip to Cafeteria No. 1 came for those noodles.

"Taoist, what kind of noodles do you want?"

"What's good?"

"I think they're all pretty good! Sour broth saozi noodles, hot oil noodles, and their signature biangbiang noodles are all delicious!"

Cloud Perch locals, including Chen Shi'an, usually ate rice-based meals, but having noodles now and then made a nice change.

No region's eating habits sprang out of nowhere. They were the product of its history, geography, customs, and climate over generations. Food culture could be called the most direct "living fossil" of regional culture.

Chen Shi'an loved food and knew how to appreciate it. He was a pretty good cook, too. Having lived deep in the mountains for years, he had explored eating to its fullest within his circumstances, but geography and the available ingredients had always limited his experience.

Now that he had come down from the mountains to explore the world, he intended to sample every region's delicacies whenever he had the chance.

There were only four noodle counters, and each had a long line. Chen Shi'an and Wen Zhixia stood somewhere in the middle, slowly shuffling forward with everyone else.

Still, the wait wasn't too tedious. Even from a distance, they could watch the three cooks inside making noodles by hand.

A cook bent over the dough, his broad palms pressing it with soft, rustling thuds. Once it was supple, he pressed down and rolled his rolling pin, stretching a fist-sized lump into a thin sheet with rippling edges. His knife rose and fell with rhythmic taps, then his nimble hands pinched the ends of the noodles and pulled them thinner before slapping them down to set their shape. It was culinary art in full, bustling motion.

Wen Zhixia turned sideways to peer into the counter. She loved watching food being made like this, as though the process itself could add to the flavor.

"Taoist, can you cook?" Wen Zhixia turned to ask Chen Shi'an.

"Sure."

"Really?"

"Why would I lie? What would I have eaten in the mountains if I couldn't cook?"

"Then what can you make?"

"Most common dishes. For the less common ones, I can make them after watching once."

"And does your food taste good?"

"I'd say it probably does."

"You make yourself sound so impressive. I'll have to try it sometime and find out whether you're bragging!"

"Sure."

Seeing that the long wait had left her looking a little hot again, Chen Shi'an casually sent a trace of coolness her way.

"What about you? Can you cook?"

"I... I can boil water! And cook rice!"

"Heh."

Chen Shi'an couldn't help laughing. A little embarrassed, Wen Zhixia argued, "I'll know how once I learn! You're a boy and even you can cook, so I'm sure I could learn easily too. Mostly, I just haven't had the chance to cook for myself~"

"Can your friends cook?"

"Ha, some of them can't even cook rice."

Thinking of it that way made Wen Zhixia feel proud. At least her rice-cooking skills put her a step ahead.

Chen Shi'an blinked. Was this an indirect sign of a happy life? After all, in the countryside where he had grown up, teenagers approaching twenty who couldn't cook were quite rare.

At last, their turn came.

Wen Zhixia ordered a bowl of saozi noodles and specifically asked for an extra layer of chili on top. Chen Shi'an stared in amazement. Little Cicada really could handle spicy food.

Chen Shi'an ordered saozi noodles too, along with an extra roujiamo meat sandwich. The noodles cost fifteen yuan and the sandwich five, making twenty yuan in total. That was good value compared with prices outside, but for Chen Shi'an, lunch had gone over budget.

Fortunately, the meal card Uncle Lin had given him came with an eight-hundred-yuan monthly allowance, so he could afford to go over budget now and then.

The two dining buddies found an empty spot toward the back of the cafeteria and sat facing each other. Both were hungry, so neither stood on ceremony before digging in.

Wen Zhixia ate noodles just as slowly as she ate rice, and she had quite a particular method. First, she lifted a small pinch of noodles into her spoon, then used her chopsticks to add some of the topping made with minced meat, daylily buds, shredded tofu, wood ear mushrooms, and other ingredients. Once she had assembled a tiny, complete spoonful of "saozi noodles," she gobbled it all down in one bite.

"Mm, not bad. Having this once in a while really whets your appetite."

"Isn't that spicy?"

"It's fine, it's fine~"

Perhaps because she felt so energetic today, Wen Zhixia's appetite was especially good. Ever since Chen Shi'an had massaged her that morning, she had felt full of energy.

"Then shall we go back to Cafeteria No. 2 for dinner? We can alternate," Wen Zhixia said between bites.

"This afternoon... you might have to eat by yourself."

"Why? Are you going off to damage public property again?"

"...I'm on cleaning duty today. I have to clean up after school."

"Oh, okay. Then I won't wait for you for dinner~"

"Do you eat in the cafeteria by yourself?" Chen Shi'an asked curiously.

"No. When I eat by myself, I usually get it to go and take it back to the classroom. I can read while I eat and take my time."

"You're not actually playing on your phone, are you?"

"...Of course not!"

Although she had a high tolerance for spice, when things got really hot, tiny beads of sweat still appeared on the tip of her nose. She found it wonderfully satisfying.

Wen Zhixia took a packet of tissues from her pocket, pulled one out, tore it in half, and handed half to Chen Shi'an. As she ate, she wiped away the sweat brought on by the chili.

"How's your English coming along?"

"Pretty well. I've finished the first semester's seventh-grade textbook, and I'm nearly done with the second one."

"...Huh?"

Wen Zhixia froze, then lifted her little head to look at him.

"When you say you've finished, you mean..."

"I've memorized it all. Your grammar notes were really useful. I more or less understand the rules for forming phrases and sentences now."

"..."

Wen Zhixia fell silent for a long while. She was certain Chen Shi'an wasn't joking, but in a little over a day, starting from scratch, he had... practically memorized all the seventh-grade English material?!

"...Then how many words have you memorized?"

"Five hundred and thirty-eight, I think."

"Over five hundred!!"

She was numb with shock. Forget someone starting from scratch like Chen Shi'an-even she would feel dizzy trying to memorize over five hundred words in a day!

"H-how did you do that?! Did you eat Memory Bread?!"

"Memory Bread? What's that?"

"...Don't make people explain references and lame jokes!"

Wen Zhixia had a younger cousin who had just started eighth grade. She often helped her with English, so she knew her progress better than anyone. Her cousin's grades weren't bad, but if asked to memorize two hundred words in a day, she would drop dead on the spot. A hundred a day was her absolute limit, and even that left her head spinning.

The speed at which someone could memorize words was proportional to the vocabulary they already knew. No matter how she looked at it, Chen Shi'an memorizing over five hundred words in a day was enough to astound Wen Zhixia.

"...Did you only memorize the vocabulary?"

"I memorized the passages while I was at it."

"..."

Wen Zhixia ate her noodles in sulky silence. She didn't want to talk to him anymore!

She had thought she would finally get a chance to make the little Taoist experience the pain of studying. Why had it ended up making her own struggles look worse instead?

No wonder he had dared to join the second year of high school directly. With such an astonishing learning speed, what he might achieve in two years was truly something to look forward to!

"Then... how are your other subjects coming along? Are you only studying English right now?"

"I'm focusing on the core subjects first. Chinese should be fine, and I'm studying math too."

"..."

Stupid Taoist! Stupid Taoist! Stop shattering everything I thought I knew, one revelation at a time! Can't you tell me all at once? I thought you were only studying English, but you're memorizing over five hundred English words a day while studying other subjects too?

And to think she had put so much effort into teaching him how to memorize words quickly over their meal yesterday. Hadn't she been showing off her swordsmanship in front of a master?

Chen Shi'an blinked.

"But I really do owe you. With the memorization methods you taught me and your grammar notes, learning English has been much less of a headache."

"~~~"

At least you have a conscience~

Beneath the table, Wen Zhixia's legs began swinging gently.

"Mm, focusing on the core subjects first is fine. They account for more points, and once you have that foundation, it's easier to improve your scores in the other subjects. So how are you studying Chinese and math?"

"For Chinese, I mostly listen in class. For math, I'm still catching up on seventh-grade material. My deskmate can help me a little."

"That works. You're in the advanced science class, so middle-school math should be a piece of cake for everyone. Who's your deskmate?" Wen Zhixia asked curiously.

After all, there was a whole floor between their classrooms, and she didn't wander into other people's classes for no reason. The one time she had heard the Taoist had enrolled, she had slipped over to take a look, but unfortunately, Chen Shi'an hadn't been there that evening. She didn't even know where he sat.

"Our class monitor."

"Your class monitor?"

"Mm, Lin Meng Qiu."

"Oh... her."

Something in Wen Zhixia's tone sounded a little peculiar, and Chen Shi'an looked up at her.

Her expression was just as peculiar as her tone. Even long after she finished speaking, she continued nodding faintly, as though she were repeating Oh... her over and over in her head.

"Little Cicada, you know our class monitor?"

"Mm, of course I do. She's the top science student in our year. Everyone knows her."

Wen Zhixia nodded, blew on the noodles in her spoon with her little lips, and slowly took a small bite.

"From your tone, it sounds like you know her a bit better than that, though?"

"..."

Wen Zhixia took another bite of noodles before finally nodding and saying:

"She and I used to be deskmates."