Chapter 20: Testing My Daoist Heart with This? (Thanks to Alliance Master Mi Fan De Mi)

The door lock clicked softly. Chen Yuanchu pushed the door open, carrying large and small bags. Before he could even put the things down, he felt an unusual gaze sticking to his face.

He subconsciously raised his hand to touch his newly cut short hair and asked somewhat uncomfortably, "Sister Wanyin, why are you looking at me like that? Did I get a bad haircut?"

"No, no! I think it looks really good!"

Su Wanyin waved her hands hurriedly, the surprise on her face not yet fully faded. To be honest, for a moment just now, she almost didn't recognize this as Chen Yuanchu.

The Daoist priest with the hair bun, full of ancient charm, and exuding a calm, immortal air was gone. In his place was a refreshing, sharp, handsome young man full of youthful vitality. Although his foundation hadn't changed, the contrast in temperament was too great, forcing one to marvel at the magic of a makeover.

Not just Su Wanyin, even Little Black lying on the sofa was stunned. It stared with round eyes at Chen Yuanchu for a while, circled him, and moved its nose to sniff, finally confirming that this guy who was "neither worldly nor Daoist" was indeed Chen Yuanchu.

"Meow." Little Black called out, as if expressing some complex evaluation.

"Because the change is really huge!" Su Wanyin smiled. "I was startled when I opened the door just now."

"What? I just got a haircut, how come no one recognizes me?" Chen Yuanchu smiled helplessly.

Although Chen Yuanchu was still a 'younger brother', he was undeniably a handsome young man. Su Wanyin realized she had been staring at him for a long time and felt a bit embarrassed, hurriedly changing the subject to help him bring the purchased daily necessities inside.

"It's okay, Sister Wanyin, I can do it myself."

"You bought so many things."

"Yeah, they're all for daily use."

"Eh, you even bought oil, rice, sauce, and vinegar. I still have some in the kitchen..."

"We'll always need them. When Sister Wanyin's run out, we can use mine together."

"Then next time we're free, we can cook together."

Su Wanyin smiled, "Cooking for one person is actually troublesome, but two people eating together is just right. I can cook; next time, let you taste your sister's cooking."

"Then I won't be polite."

"Haha, actually I don't cook that well, just don't despise it..."

"It might be true that I'd complain if Sister Wanyin cooked too little and it wasn't enough to eat."

Su Wanyin was quite pleased hearing this. She thought to herself, did this little Daoist learn coaxing arts on the mountain? How does he speak so sweetly? And he's good-looking and young. If he went to the streets to tell fortunes, wouldn't he trick every young girl he met?

The clothes in the washing machine were done, and a musical chime sounded. Su Wanyin took a bucket to take out the washed clothes to dry.

She hand-washed her underwear every day, and other daily clothes were accumulated for two or three days before being put in the washing machine. After all, frugality was carved into her bones; she felt it wasted water and electricity to run the machine for just two or three items.

She didn't tell Chen Yuanchu about these life details, but he could notice them. It seemed he should also hand-wash his underwear in the future. As the washing machine was a shared item for co-renting, one had to be considerate of others' feelings.

Now that they were living under the same roof, the lights in the living room were warm and bright, the cat was lazy on the sofa, Chen Yuanchu was packing things, and Su Wanyin was drying clothes on the balcony.

Occasionally, Chen Yuanchu would look up at her drying clothes, feeling a sense of peaceful and quiet times.

Clearly, this was also the house he lived in, but Chen Yuanchu often had the illusion of intruding into someone else's home and peeping into their life—after all, this scene was too different from the mountain. He seemed to adapt, but he still needed time to get used to it.

Not to mention anything else, the old Daoist living together in the mountain was replaced by a gentle and beautiful girl, and the Daoist robes on the drying rack were replaced by unique pink and tender women's clothing. How could that be the same as in the mountain!

Chen Yuanchu was not a frivolous Daoist, just a curious one. Having seen enough of the rogue side, and not looking wouldn't make him a man, he looked a couple of times to gain some knowledge before withdrawing his gaze.

Su Wanyin finished drying the clothes, and Chen Yuanchu finished packing his things.

Like her, Chen Yuanchu also changed into home slippers.

"Yuanchu, I've already showered. There's still hot water in the heater. If you want to shower, you can go ahead."

"Okay, no rush. I usually take cold showers mostly."

"Cold showers in winter too?"

"Not that extreme. Our temple has a big pot; boiling a big pot of hot water is enough for my Master and me."

"Boiling water for a bath... my family did that when I was little too."

"Does Sister Wanyin like burning firewood?"

"Eh, how did you know?"

Su Wanyin recalled her childhood, "I really do like burning firewood, especially in winter. Sitting in front of the stove burning firewood, roasting until my whole body is warm and comfortable. But our pot wasn't big, so for the whole family to use, we had to add water several times back and forth."

"Then when Sister Wanyin burned firewood, did you ever throw a sweet potato into the fire?" Chen Yuanchu asked with a smile.

"You know this too?"

"Haha, because I've done it too."

Common childhood fun made Su Wanyin feel much closer to Chen Yuanchu. When she was in high school and college in the city, many classmates were city people who had water heaters at home since childhood. If she told them about this kind of childhood fun, it would be hard for them to relate, and they might even be surprised that her family didn't have a water heater...

"I thought if you cultivated the Dao since childhood, your childhood would be different from ours..."

"Apart from not going to school, it's actually about the same."

Su Wanyin caught the key information in his words and was stunned. "Yuanchu, you... you haven't been to school?"

"Yeah, I only went to elementary school for a few days, so now I've been placed as a transfer student in the second year of high school to catch up on my studies."

"..."

Chen Yuanchu said it lightly, but Su Wanyin couldn't stay calm listening to it.

Leaving aside how he could transfer to the second year of high school without going to school, or why he needed to transfer to the second year of high school, just the fact that he missed so many years of learning progress, could he really catch up?

Visibly, a look of worry characteristic of caring for a younger sibling appeared on Su Wanyin's face. She didn't say much, just said earnestly, "Then Yuanchu, your study burden is very heavy... But I believe in you. Go for it!"

Chen Yuanchu blinked and nodded with a smile. "Okay."

While talking, Chen Yuanchu took out the half watermelon he bought and cut it into pieces with a small knife.

"Sister Wanyin, I bought watermelon. Let's eat together."

"No need, no need, you eat it."

Su Wanyin almost instinctively waved her hand to refuse, but Chen Yuanchu seemed