Lady Lin's First-ever Journey to Immortality

The maximum temperature in Rong City can reach 29 degrees centigrade during days in June. The heat doesn’t have a great impact on office workers, but many parents with teenage children in Rong City, even around the nation, worry a lot about it.

As a family of cultivation, the Lins is no exception. On June 11, Lin Luodong, the only junior middle school student in the family, will take the Unified Provincial Senior Middle School Entrance Examination in Chuan Province——or in shorter words, the Middle School Entrance Examination.

Apart from this, the Lins also need to take care of Huang Weijian who is also going to take the Middle School Entrance Examination. In Mrs. Lin’s words, Huang Weijian doesn’t have any relatives. Although he can afford his tuition fee, he desperately needs other people’s care.

The kitchen is filled with a fresh scent. Mrs. Lin has been making chicken soup for a long while. She puts ginkgo and bitter gourds into the soup, then skims the oil on the surface to make the soup less greasy. The bitter gourds with Yin characters neutralize the chicken soup with Yang characters. The soup is specially prepared for the two examinees. The free-range chicken is raised by Mrs. Lin. The ginkgo and bitter gourds are harvested by Lin Luoran from two ginkgo trees in her space. They are all organic.

“Their exams in the morning will end soon. Send the soup to them quickly.” Mrs. Lin says for several times and gives the thermos cup containing the chicken soup to Lin Luoran. As Mrs. Lin’s daughter, Lin Luoran is obligated to run errands like this.

Lin Luoran takes over the chicken soup and meets Mr. Lin around the corner, “Dad, are you still looking at the skeleton boat?”

Mr. Lin laughs, “Yuan Ye is checking it. We were too busy to make the boat beautiful. Yuan Ye and I both agree to dismantle and rebuild it.”

At Lins, only Mrs. Lin doesn’t know how dangerous it was when Mr. Lin and Yuan Ye fought against the monster in the sea. It is natural for them to treasure this boat as their trophy. It’s easy to tell that the skeleton with a bit of Reiki is a good material for refining weapons. Unfortunately, Lin Luoran’s ability to refine weapons is too low. Otherwise, she can refine the skeleton boat into a “spirit boat”.

The two kids are both allocated to take the exams at their home school, so they don’t need to worry about the venue. This is a great advantage for major exams. Lin Luoran also doesn’t need to go to two schools to give them soup. Lin Luoran knows there will be many parents like Mrs. Lin waiting anxiously outside the gate of the school. Parking lots will be all full, so she gets out of the Custom Street and takes a taxi.

As Lin Luoran expected, there are a lot of parents in front of the gate. They are all worried about their children’s performance in the exam. The sun is burning in the sky. Although the parents use umbrellas to block the strong sunlight, it still makes them suffer a lot. Lin Luoran sees many mothers and grandmothers sweating profusely.

This is how parents care about their children, right? When she took major exams, Mr. and Mrs. Lin were also worried about her like them.

Lin Luodong and Huang Weijian are waiting for her in the shade of the tree. Lin Luoran smiles, “You two seem to have done well in the exam”.

They did more than well. The first subject of the exam is Chinese. Huang Weijian is a descendant of Confucian cultivation. It will be extremely humiliating if he doesn’t know the fundamental knowledge of Chinese. Lin Luodong has also learned a lot from Rong Donglin in the past two years. The Chinese exam is the easiest one for them.

Lin Luoran takes Lin Luodong and Huang Weijian to a restaurant and lets them drink Mrs. Lin’s chick soup first after they sit down. Lin Luodong sees that it is not greasy and pours a bowl of the soup to Huang Weijian. The scent of the soup makes other parents and examinees in the restaurant look at them frequently. Unfortunately, the soup is brought by Lin Luoran. They can’t buy it in the restaurant.

Lin Luodong takes a bowl of the soup and eats a few pieces of the chicken. He is very satisfied, “My mom is a really good cook. By the way, sister, do you know what the title of this year’s Chinese composition is?”

The composition test of the Middle School Entrance Examination? Lin Luoran hasn’t been a student for many years. When she took the exam, the composition test was just writing an article about “your most unforgettable experience”. The questions of the composition tests in recent years have become more and more complicated. How can she know what it is?

Huang Weijian wipes his mouth slowly, “We were asked to write about how we think of the fairies in the legends, or in other words, the cultivators.”

Lin Luoran coughs and almost spits out the tea she is drinking. No wonder both of them are confident. The composition test takes up major scores of the exam. It’s hard to believe the topic of the test is about cultivators…… It seems that the authority of Huaxia has officially responded to Lin Luoran’s proposal of combining cultivation and technology.

Are they going to start the reform from the composition of the Middle School Entrance Exam and exert the government’s guiding role in public opinions?

Lin Luoran stares at them and asks: “What did you write?”

Lin Luodong is eating the rice, “Sister, don’t you often say that cultivation doesn’t have a nationality, but cultivators do? I wrote about this.”

Needless to say, the subject Lin Luodong chose for his composition is surely going to bring him a high score.

Seeing Lin Luoran looking to him, Huang Weijian says voluntarily: “I wrote that cultivators may be around us every day.”

Lin Luoran wants to cough again. The two half-grown children in front of her are too clever. They almost exposed their identities as cultivators, but they didn’t.

Excellent grades are conducive to fostering a person’s confidence. In terms of cultivation and schoolwork for ordinary children, Lin Luoran will not discourage Lin Luodong and Huang Weijian when they are trying to do better. She thinks for a while and makes the gesture of a spell with her right hand. It is the Spell of Focusing. Only cultivators pass the first stage of Laying Foundation can use it, but Lin Luoran gives it to Lin Luodong and Huang Weijian.

It is easy to get sleepy at noon, but the two boys both feel refreshed.

They don’t know the meaning of the spell until they take the math test in the afternoon. Their minds are peaceful. Their logic is clear. They can think of more ways to solve one mathematical problem. The last question of the math test of the Middle School Entrance Examinations is always the most difficult one. People say that this question makes good students stand out from others. To answer this question, being good at math is not enough. You have to be extremely good at it.

Considering Lin Luodong and Huang Weijian’s usual performance in maths exams, it is not impossible for them to solve the last question. However, they feel more confident than ever today. The reasoning of their argumentation is clear. They avoid the detours that many students usually get into. Lin Luodong and Huang Weijian list a dozen of equations and successfully solve the problem.

There are still 40 minutes before the exam is over. Why do they have such good conditions today? Lin Luodong spends the extra time checking his answers.

Huang Weijian feels similar to Lin Luodong. He sensed the disturbance of Reiki when Lin Luoran cast the spell. He knew that the sister of the Lins was secretly helping them. When Huang Weijian puts down his pen and begins to check his answers, he smiles unconsciously.

The boy’s frozen heart is slowly melting because of the Lins. When Huang Weijian thinks of his grandfather who went away and never returned, he no longer feels sad for being left behind. Wounds on his heart have gradually healed in the loving atmosphere at the Lin’s.

“Well, I need to get a higher score in the Middle School Entrance Examination. Lin Luodong is so weak. It is not safe for him to go to the No. 4 Middle School alone.” Huang Weijian speaks to himself and checks his answers carefully.

Lin Luodong in the other building sneezes and looks around in doubt as if someone just spoke to him. The invigilator thinks he wants to cheat and stares closely at him. Lin Luodong touches his nose. He knows that he has been misunderstood, so he quickly lowers his head to check his answer carefully.

Time feels longer than it should be at this moment. A phoenix flower blooms brilliantly outside the window. In the heat of June, most of the teenagers in Huaxia attend their Middle School Entrance Examination. They have been classmates for the past three years. Students with good grades will go to better senior middle schools. Students with lower scores will go to the senior departments ran by their junior middle schools. There are also students who don’t even want to go to schools anymore.

This is just the first choice of these young boys and girls. They may feel sad, but their growth behind the exam is more meaningful.

……

“Hello, the examinee you inquired gets a total score of 678.” A mechanical voice announces the corresponding examinee ID. People at the Lin’s all cheer.

“Your score is definitely enough for you to get admitted to No.4 Middle School. They should even give you a scholarship.” Fatty Cui pats Huang Weijian’s shoulder, “You should be proud of your good grades.” This is Huang Weijian’s score. The Lins all come to congratulate Huang Weijian and don’t let him go until he almost flushes. Then, they go to check Lin Luodong’s score.

“Examinee Lin Luodong, ID number *******, Chinese 148, mathematics 150, English 149…… total score 685.”

The Lins standing next to the phone are all stunned. They always know that the two children have good grades. Huang Weijian is a cultivator and he learns really fast, but they didn’t expect Lin Luodong to get a higher score in the exam. The total score of the Middle School Entrance Examination in Rong City is 700 if you add the score of sports exam. Lin Luodong only loses 15 points.

Fatty Cui rubs his hands, “Is the family of Lin going to have a top student in the Middle School Entrance Examination?”

Mrs. Lin remembers that she watched RTV II at noon and nods, “Luodong doesn’t get the highest score. The top student’s score is three points higher than his.”

Although Lin Luodong doesn’t get the highest score, he does great work. Fatty Cui knows he said something inappropriate and wants to comfort Lin Luodong. However, Lin Luodong smiles before Fatty Cui can say anything, “Not getting the highest score is a good thing. If I were the top student, my school would force me to attend interviews. It’s too dangerous for our family.”

A teenager who is less than 16 years old knows how to stay low-key. People at Lin’s all laugh.

“Donglin, I got my great score because of you. You helped me the most. Thanks!”

Rong Donglin is no longer a home tutor now. He is working at Lins’ Pharmaceutical Factory and is responsible for studying some ancient medicine. He is also studying for a master’s degree with Professor Qi. He lives a full life. When he hears Lin Luodong’s words, he waves his hand several times, “It’s because you are willing to learn.”

When Rong Donglin was a student, he didn’t work as hard as Lin Luodong. It’s difficult for teenagers to stay focused, but Lin Luodong was able to stay concentrated and study the comparative table between classical and modern Chinese. Lin Luodong also read textbooks with the same attitude. The score he got today comes from his hard work.

“Let’s have a big dinner tonight!” Li Xi’er takes out two red envelopes she prepared a long time ago and hands them to Lin Luodong and Huang Weijian.

Lin Luodong opens the envelope and sees a bank card in it. There is also a card in Huang Weijian’s envelope.

Li Xier clears her throat, “There are 88888 yuan in each card. They are gifts for you.”

One can get a gift for taking an exam? Lin Luodong blinks his eyes to show that he doesn’t understand. Even if he can get a red envelope for taking the exam, isn’t the money too much? He can’t help looking at Lin Luoran. After his sister nods, Lin Luodong knows he can take the money.

Mrs. Lin wants to say something, but Mr. Lin stops her. Lin Luoran smiles and explains: “The two of them are fifteen years old. We don’t need to worry about Huang Weijian, but we can’t keep Luodong out of the outside world. Let’s make a deal first. You two need to pay for your tuition fee and living expenses in senior middle schools using the money Li Xi’er gave you. We won’t pay for those anymore. If the money is not enough, you need to make your own!”

Is the scholarship enough to pay for his tuition fee? Huang Weijian has been in charge of his money for a long time. He won’t feel stressful because he still hasn’t used the money he earned by selling wild ginseng.

Lin Luodong tries to speak to Huang Weijian with a meaningful glance: bro, do you know how to do business?

Huang Weijian pretends that he didn’t see it. A glance can’t convey messages as clearly as languages. Huang Weijian only knows how to pick up trash.

Fatty Cui gives some emerald buttons to the boys as a gift. Mrs. Lin has recently caught up with the trend and knows that emeralds are expensive. She thinks she is so blessed.

Li Xi’er is reckless, “Emerald buttons are nothing. People in ancient times hid silver under their clothes. They used it to exchange for money when they got in trouble. Haha.”

Fatty Cui feels embarrassed, “These are not very expensive. They are just carved by experienced workers. I only gave the buttons to them as memorials.”

After hearing Fatty Cui’s words, Mrs. Lin finally stops talking about the emeralds. Rong Donglin gives the two boys two pens. Yuan Ye and Zeng Tian went out mysteriously and said that they were going to buy gifts for the boys, but they haven’t returned yet.

Everyone looks at Lin Luoran. No one knows what gift she prepares.

Lin Luoran puts her hands on her back, “I’ll give you an exciting summer vacation. We’ll go once you fill out the list of schools you want to go to.”