Tan Xiao and 404 officially signed an agreement. They were quite accommodating and wouldn't necessarily ask a high school student to take action. In the coming period, Tan Xiao mostly worked with Ah Jin online doing some paperwork.

He had officially become Kong Xuan's acting shaman - although the custom-made masks hadn't arrived yet, Tan Xiao was quite self-aware about making offerings.

This led to Tan Chunying often following the fragrant smell when she got home, only to see Tan Xiao had eaten everything leaving just a table of leftovers, even the rice cooker was empty, and the rice at home was being consumed much faster.

Yet Tan Xiao's weight remained the same, it was completely impossible to tell where all the food he ate went.

Tan Chunying swallowed the words "rice bucket" every time, thinking that teenage boys are really something, if it weren't for her earning ability she really wouldn't be able to afford to raise him.

With this rhythm of monthly, bi-weekly and pop quizzes every few days, the midterm exams also quickly arrived. This time Tan Xiao didn't dare to let the Peacock God bless him again.

He did quite well on the exam, but when he handed in his paper, he glanced over and saw that Kong Xuan's score was probably still not very ideal...

Sigh, even though the teacher personally gave Kong Xuan tutoring this time, maybe Kong Xuan's foundation was really too poor. His previous monthly exam passes were flukes, and some answers were pure guesses.

On the weekend after the exams, Tan Chunying took Tan Xiao out for a big meal and then went to the factory to pick up goods.

Because of the online popularity earlier, Tan Chunying found someone to design some new products, which were finally completed with samples. She brought back the samples from several rounds, all kinds of cultural and creative products with Chu Shaman elements, such as table mats, mugs, paper tape, key chains and so on.

"Do you want to take some of these samples and give them to your classmates?"

These products, because they were from multiple sample runs, had slight differences in details such as color, but were not defective. In the past, when they got such products, Tan Chunying and her son would give them out, otherwise there would be too many to use or store at home.

"Oh, okay." Tan Xiao was originally uninterested, but after thinking about it, he actually packed a bunch into his backpack, which made Tan Chunying very gratified: look how good our Tan Xiao's popularity is at school, he has so many friends.

So the next Monday, Tan Xiao took a backpack full of Shaman peripherals to school.

At this time, many people had already arrived in the class, and Kong Xuan was also already sitting in his seat. Tan Xiao didn't immediately go to his seat, but put down his backpack as he passed the podium and took out a mug from it.

At this time, the Class Three discipline committee member Tian Tian, like many classmates, routinely fed the last bite of breakfast to the fish, shrimp and ducks in the man-made lake, and walked into her classroom.

As she passed the podium and Tan Xiao, she saw Tan Xiao hand her the mug in his hand, without raising his head and said, "This is for you."

Tian Tian was stunned, then obvious panic appeared on her face, and it even turned slightly red.

The classroom also instantly fell silent, and everyone stared at Tan Xiao in a daze. What does this mean, is Tan Xiao trying to chase the discipline committee member?

Moreover, Tan Xiao is so cool even when chasing someone, does he have to publicly give gifts on the podium?

How come nowadays puppy love doesn't even need to be hidden?

Lin Yang wanted to slam the table and stand up, but he didn't dare, and stared at Tan Xiao anxiously, wanting to express his emotions with his eyes: what are you doing!! That's the discipline committee member, aren't you afraid she'll directly report you?!

But before he could move, he heard Kong Xuan move his body in front, and the chair underneath him made an extremely loud and piercing sound, which the entire classroom could hear.

"Anything else is fine too." Tan Xiao wasn't that slow, he immediately sensed something was wrong, and then reacted that there might have been a misunderstanding. He quickly pulled open his entire backpack, revealing the pile of peripherals inside, "Everyone gets some."

That scared me to death. Lin Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Tan Xiao poured out a pile of cultural and creative peripherals, coughed and said, "These are all samples from our family, brought to give to classmates. If you want other designs, you can pick them yourself."

Tian Tian also emerged from her surprise and embarrassment, it scared her to death how could they have puppy love! Her attention was drawn, and she stepped forward to rummage through the pile of peripherals, "Are these new styles from your family? They look even better than the old ones. The old ones were always out of stock and I couldn't buy them."

Chu Shaman culture and shamans had a small moment of popularity online, attracting some attention. The peripherals from Tan Xiao's family were quite mature, referencing many commercial scenic spot peripherals, and they took production seriously, so they could be considered very good quality cultural and creative products, restocking several times.

At that time, there were also friends who asked her to request for some from Tan Xiao, but Tan Xiao wasn't familiar with his classmates, so she really didn't have the nerve. She didn't expect that he would now bring a bunch of samples to give out himself.

Combined with the matter of Tan Xiao giving out autographs from the Zhurong band, her impression of him changed even more.

Lin Yang also breathed a huge sigh of relief, and was extremely surprised as he rushed over. With one glance, he took a liking to a mug printed with a golden mask, "Thanks Brother Xiao, I like this one."

Other classmates also gradually gathered around and picked out the designs they wanted. They thought this was really a rollercoaster, they didn't expect Tan Xiao to also give them gifts.

It's just that as they gathered together to share the gifts, someone discovered that only Kong Xuan was still in his original spot, and he turned his head to look out the window, not paying attention to the liveliness here.

Come to think of it, his relationship with Tan Xiao had always been a bit tense. At first, they were at daggers drawn, but later, because of the tutoring matter, it seemed to improve a little, but Kong Xuan's temper really couldn't be said to be good, and people often saw Kong Xuan secretly glaring at Tan Xiao.

Everyone felt a little awkward, this made it seem like we were all isolating the handsome guy together.

Lin Yang looked around at everyone's designs, comparing to see if there were any that looked better than his own.

"I hope everyone will use them themselves, starting today." Tan Xiao looked at his classmates and said sincerely.

Faced with the sincere and clean gaze of the teenager, everyone couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Lin Yang covered his chest and said, "Xiao Bro, how can you look at people like that, I will definitely use it today, I will use it every day, and equip it immediately."

Everyone laughed a couple times. Come to think of it, this seemed to give them more class cohesion. It was the first time the new class used something collective.

Tan Xiao poured all the peripherals onto the podium for everyone to choose from themselves, then picked up his empty backpack and returned to his seat.

Kong Xuan's head that was facing the window turned back, and he gave him a light glance.

Tan Xiao passed by Kong Xuan's seat and placed his hand on his desk. When he moved it away, a phoenix-shaped keychain appeared. Tan Xiao said in a friendly manner, "This is for you."

Heh, here it comes. Kong Xuan raised his chin and said lightly, "No need."

This thing that everyone has, it's not anything good, the quality is average. What would he do with it, Tan Xiao might as well make a good meal.

Kong Xuan's attitude was always good one moment and bad the next, with no pattern. It probably depended on his immediate mood. Tan Xiao was used to it.

"Take it," Tan Xiao tapped the table, insisting. He looked inexplicably resolute, as if he was determined to give the item to Kong Xuan.

So firm.

Kong Xuan glanced at him again and actually picked up the gorgeous, exquisite keychain, playing with it in his palm. It had some heft, clearly finely crafted. A hint of satisfaction slowly appeared on his handsome, flawless face.

At least Tan Xiao was thoughtful. The color matched him well. Could it be that Tan Xiao had already discovered he was the Peacock God and was secretly trying to please him?

Kong Xuan glanced sideways at Tan Xiao with his phoenix eyes.

Halfway through fiddling with it, Kong Xuan suddenly heard Lin Yang, who was flying around the classroom, shout, "Wow, I counted, Brother Xiao, your family really made a lot of styles. They're at least the same style in different colors, all different for everyone. You picked them thoughtfully too."

Indeed thoughtfully, and picked a phoenix for me. Kong Xuan agreed in his heart.

Wait... The hint of a smile on Kong Xuan's face suddenly stiffened a little, vaguely feeling that something was off.

He looked at the keychain, then at the others' merchandise. Indeed, there were no duplicates, unlike something randomly packaged and given away.

In an instant, Kong Xuan understood. Tan Xiao, you're really something!

He whipped his head around to look at Tan Xiao, his gaze sharp as a knife.

Tan Xiao: "?"

Kong Xuan gritted his teeth. "...Don't think I don't know, you want to use this to mark me, to distinguish me from the others."

Tan Xiao: "..."

Uh, busted.

"So do you still want the keychain or not?" Seeing that Kong Xuan seemed angry, Tan Xiao asked.

Kong Xuan looked at him in disbelief, even more displeased. "You want to take back something you gave?"

Tan Xiao: "..." What, aren't you the one who's angry?

So he wants the keychain, but also wants to be angry?

"Why aren't you talking?" Seeing Tan Xiao speechless and not responding, Kong Xuan also had an opinion.

Tan Xiao could only offer a strained explanation. "You seem a tiny bit sensitive. I didn't mean to take it back just now."

"But you also admitted it, you are using this to mark me." Kong Xuan said with a dark face.

How did it circle back to this, Tan Xiao thought. I just gave a gift, even if I had a little ulterior motive, it's not some unforgivable crime, right?

Tan Xiao held out his hand. "Then you give me something too, to mark me."

"Mark, what mark, are you guys doing ABO?" Lin Yang had made a social round and came back, happening to hear that line. He gasped.

Tan Xiao: "?"

"Hehehe, never mind if you don't get it." Seeing that Kong Xuan looked like he couldn't even be bothered to give him a side-eye, Lin Yang said sheepishly, "I'm also your desk-mate's desk-mate, why are you always so fierce with me."

Kong Xuan: "..."

Tan Xiao: "..."

This inside joke was never going to end, was it?

Tan Xiao retracted his hand. Mm, looked like Kong Xuan wasn't going to give him anything.

......

When the exam results came out, sure enough, as Tan Xiao expected, Kong Xuan was still dead last. Even with one leg running, his humanities scores couldn't save him. He was immediately called out by the teacher for academic counseling.

"Do you guys know, there's a suspected cheater in first year," Yu Zhenzhen turned her head to report as soon as the teacher left. "He used to be middle-to-lower tier and often hung out with idle people outside school. This time he actually scored first in his class and tenth in the grade. I heard he made a bet with someone beforehand that if he made the top ten, that person would have to call him dad."

"You're talking about Wu Tianyu, right." Lin Yang actually knew who she was referring to, while Yu Zhenzhen hadn't even figured out the name.

"He was quite infamous back in their middle school, loved to go out and fool around. My teammate went to the same middle school as him and told me about it. Now he suddenly became awesome and had a meteoric rise in exams."

Yu Zhenzhen hissed. "Anyway, I heard the school is investigating now and might make him retake a new test. Because the results are a bit too uncanny, afraid he stole the questions."

Listening, Tan Xiao slowly said, "Even if he cheated by stealing the questions, he gauged it really accurately, landing exactly at tenth place."

He still remembered the detail Yu Zhenzhen mentioned, that this first-year student had made a bet with someone.

Yu Zhenzhen paused. "Then could it be that he snuck into the office after the exam to change the rankings and scores? No, that's not right, they checked the answer sheets and surveillance. If he got the questions in advance, he wouldn't know how much others could score..."

Yu Zhenzhen's CPU was about to overheat from thinking. "Oh whatever, we'll know when we see the results."

Tan Xiao was noncommittal.

He wasn't very concerned about these things in the first place and didn't even follow up.

Until Mao Mao from Zhurong Band came to Nanchu again. This time she brought her brand new arrangement and found a recording studio here. She wanted Tan Xiao to record drums and Tan Chunying to record chants.

Tan Chunying had been in recording studios before. She didn't have a fixed band, so often had to produce her own backing tracks.

Sometimes local videos and song recordings also required going to the studio, so Tan Chunying could be considered an old hand.

They recorded during the noon break. Tan Chunying was practically a master on-site, able to pass within three takes. It's just that Mao Mao had more inspiration on the spot and recorded several versions.

"Let's come again tomorrow, I have another idea," Mao Mao said excitedly. "Let's send Tan Xiao back to school for now."

Leaving the studio, Tan Xiao got in the car and saw that there were some snacks and game cartridges on the back seat of Mao Mao's car. He pushed them aside.

"Those are for my younger cousin, he's also at your No. 1 Middle. I'll call him out later to give them to him," Mao Mao said to Tan Chunying, who was also in the car. "Sis Tan, how can kids in puberty eat so much? I went to his house yesterday and he finished all the stuff I brought, and said he wasn't full. He doesn't even gain weight, I'm so jealous. So, I bought some more."

"Isn't ours the same." Tan Chunying pointed at Tan Xiao. "Seems to have grown two stomachs, also doesn't gain weight."

"Hahaha, I see, looks like it's normal for growing bodies. But as long as his grades are good, that's fine. He showed me his report card. I specially bought this game cartridge this morning to reward him. He used to be so naughty, but got much better after starting high school. Even so, my aunt still isn't happy."

Tan Chunying laughed. "Then your aunt is strange enough."

They had already arrived at No. 1 Middle while talking. Mao Mao parked the car. "Sis Tan, wait a bit. I'll give the stuff to my cousin and then send you back."

Tan Chunying acknowledged. Mao Mao and Tan Xiao then walked inside.

"Hello? Tianyu, can you come out for a bit? I'm at your school gate." Mao Mao stood at the school gate making a phone call. Tan Xiao was slightly surprised upon hearing this. Mao Mao had mentioned during their first meeting that she had a younger male cousin who also attended No. 1 Middle School.

However, Tan Xiao didn't expect that her younger cousin was the high school freshman Wu Tianyu, who was making rapid progress according to Yu Zhenzhen and Lin Yang.

Tan Xiao entered the school gate. At this time, there were basically no people leaving the school. He saw a thin and tall boy walking towards him, with his school uniform loosely draped over his body. The two made eye contact for a moment, and Tan Xiao calmly shifted his gaze away.

This was probably Wu Tianyu? Tan Xiao only noticed his physique and hairstyle, nothing particularly special.

......

Back in the classroom, Tan Xiao casually asked Lin Yang, "That investigation into Wu Tianyu's previous grades, has it been confirmed to be a false accusation?" Otherwise, Mao Mao probably wouldn't have said that.

"Yeah, you know about it too? Now there are rumors that he was deliberately not doing well on exams in the past to rebel against teachers and his family." Lin Yang sighed, "The one who made a bet with him is in for a tough time, not sure if they'll fulfill their promise."

However, Wu Tianyu was not in the same grade as them, so Lin Yang's gossip was limited. He rummaged in his pocket and took out a talisman that his mother had obtained for him when he was having frequent dreams. "Xiao Bro, let me ask you, this talisman accidentally got wet during lunch when I was drinking water. Can it still be used?"

Tan Xiao glanced at it. The cinnabar color was all smudged. He said in disbelief, "You got this wet from drinking water? You must have taken it into the shower with you."

How much must your chin have been leaking for it to get wet to this extent?

The talisman was wrapped in a waterproof cover, yet he still managed to get it wet.

Lin Yang said a bit embarrassedly, "It was an accident. If my mom finds out it got wet, she'll scold me again. She spent money to request it from an immortal lady. And I feel like this thing does seem to have some effect..."

Not to mention his second uncle's dream visitation before, just last time in the storage room, he clearly heard some movement, but in the end it was a false alarm and he didn't run into anything. Thinking about it afterwards, it might have been thanks to this talisman. Not seeing anything means it can be considered as not having happened, otherwise he estimated he would go crazy.

Actually, even though it was said to be bought with money, a single talisman couldn't be too expensive.

Lin Yang was still afraid of being nagged at by his mom for being careless. He thought about his allowance and asked, "Xiao Bro, can you tell who drew this talisman? Or do you know who else in Nanchu has good talisman drawing skills? I'll use my allowance to buy another one. Hopefully it can have the same packaging. I don't even know where my mom bought it, only that it was from an immortal lady."

Tan Xiao naturally said, "Me. My family sells talismans. If you want, I'll give you a 50% discount."

"Hahaha! Don't joke around!" Lin Yang lifted his head and laughed loudly, "Who would buy talismans from you?"

He figured that talismans from Tan Xiao's family were just a type of cultural and creative product. Tan Xiao wore a string of talismans on his body every day, which he viewed as accessories.

Hosting ceremonies and such, Tan Xiao could do, but Lin Yang expressed that the cultural and creative products from his family should be of a different nature than the talismans from immortal ladies.

Lin Yang's laughter was really quite loud, but Tan Xiao, who had been a mascot for many years, didn't feel any discomfort from those words.

"Forget it. If you don't want to buy from my family, I'll recommend a few to you." Tan Xiao listed out a few names, all old shamans of Nanchu. "As for packaging, they basically all use standardized ones now, produced from the same contract manufacturer. You can forgo the packaging when the time comes, I'll get you one."

Now it was Lin Yang's turn to wipe sweat.

Tan Xiao said thoughtfully, "However, the talisman you had before was written with 'the Qilin Arrives Here'. I think it can be changed. Let the immortal lady write 'Peacock Arrives Here' if she's going to write it. Your mom won't be able to tell snake feet calligraphy anyway."

If it were before, Tan Xiao might have suggested writing "Phoenix Arrives Here".

But he was now the acting priest of the Peacock, so even if the Peacock was the son of the Primordial Phoenix, he would of course prioritize promoting the Peacock's business capabilities.

Lin Yang asked in puzzlement, "Peacock? Peacocks can also exorcise evil? What's the reasoning behind this?"

Clearly, he was thinking of the green peacocks and blue peacocks in zoos, which made him quite perplexed. When it came to exorcising evil, the local custom in Nanchu was to use roosters.

"Of course, the peacock we're talking about is not an ordinary peacock. It's the Peacock, son of the Primordial Phoenix, very powerful. Its five tail feathers are five-colored divine lights, representing the five elements..." Tan Xiao gave Lin Yang a crash course on the Great Peacock God.

"Alright, I'll give it a try." Lin Yang felt that Tan Xiao couldn't possibly deceive him, although he had never heard Tan Xiao mention this deity before when giving explanations.

On the side, Kong Xuan, who originally had an attitude of being unconcerned and aloof, suddenly revealed a smile on his face.

For someone who usually had a cold expression or didn't look directly at people, this was truly rare. In an instant, it was like a spring breeze brushing across the face. The surrounding classmates who caught a glimpse all felt like they had been fiercely struck.

Kong Xuan half-turned his body and leaned against the desk, a smile playing on his lips, idly flipping through the pages of a textbook in his hands.

Tan Xiao swept a glance and saw this scene, feeling quite puzzled. How could Kong Xuan look at a physics book with such infinite joy in his heart?

Incomprehensible. Being this happy, do you really know how many points you scored?