Chapter 25: Forever United in Heart

A small mountain is still a mountain.

Perhaps because many trees were planted on this mountain, although there were many people here every day, the surrounding air was still much fresher than in the bustling areas below. Taking a deep breath refreshed one’s lungs.

There were several old neighborhoods nearby where many elderly people lived. Those elderly people liked to come to this mountain for morning exercises every day. Going up and down twice made them feel lighter, and a round trip only took half an hour.

About twenty minutes later, Wang Zhao led Li Zhenguan and the other to the entrance of the temple. Many people were taking photos with their phones, and quite a crowd had gathered, all holding incense sticks. The fragrance of incense permeated the air.

The three of them entered empty-handed through the gate. The walls here were quite high, with ancient walls lined with tall trees, some branches even reaching over the enclosing wall.

However, there were too many people coming and going, which diminished some of the pleasure, although some elders preferred these livelier places. She remembered that when buying tickets earlier, they should have received some incense, which was now in Zhang Ke and the others’ hands. So Wang Zhao sent a message to inquire and learned that they were offering incense at the back.

This was Wang Zhao’s first time here. She looked around, and looking up, she could see the high-rise buildings behind the layers of temple halls, with half a eave peeking into their view.

“What’s that place?” Wang Zhao asked curiously.

Li Zhenguan also looked at Wang Zhao.

Under their gaze, she recalled the layout map she had seen at the entrance and said, “It should be the bell and drum tower, where the monks in the temple ring the bell. But we can’t go there, that area belongs to the temple’s living quarters.”

“Let’s go find uncle and auntie and the others first,” Wang Zhao said to the two.

Finding Wang Xuechun and the others was very convenient. After passing through several doors, they reached the place for burning incense and worshipping Buddha.

Several different gold-lacquered Buddha statues were placed in the hall, with the one in the middle being the largest, several meters high, with half-closed eyes, exuding a kind of condescending compassion.

There were many people in the hall. In the center were placed several yellow cushions. Wang Zhao immediately saw Zhang Ke and Yang Jin kneeling there, bowing. Wang Xuechun stood near the door, looking up at the Buddha statues in the hall.

With their group of eight people, it suddenly became crowded in the hall, especially with people constantly coming in. Wang Xuechun was the first to pull people out to wait for Zhang Ke and the others, but then she saw Wang Zhao and the other two.

“Did you park the car?” Wang Xuechun looked at the people around and said, “There are too many people here.”

Wang Zhao could see that Wang Xuechun didn’t have that reverence for gods and Buddhas. She didn’t believe in these things, her whole being bathed in the halo of Marxism.

However, she glanced at the two people beside her: “Do you want to go in and pay your respects?”

Wang Zhao was a bit tempted. This was also his first time coming to such a place. Young people with youthful hearts are quite curious about such divine matters, and most Chinese people would rather believe it exists than not.

So, he glanced at Zhang Ke who was still inside, and went in directly. On the contrary, Li Zhenguan didn’t move, standing beside Wang Zhao. She cast her gaze over, slightly puzzled.

“You’re not going in to pay respects?”

In the hall, there were one or two young children kneeling on the cushions, with parents beside them saying to make a wish first and then kowtow. The children looked impatient and unwilling, but still followed their parents’ words, closing their eyes with hands clasped in front of them, sincerely saying their wishes in their hearts, and then kowtowing once.

Li Zhenguan smiled with pursed lips: “I don’t really believe in this.”

“Is that so?” Wang Zhao suddenly smiled, “I don’t believe in it either.”

Li Zhenguan said: “If you don’t believe, why did you come here before?”

Wang Zhao was stunned for a moment, looking at Li Zhenguan, but found his expression normal, as if it was just a casual question.

So she also casually replied: “Perhaps out of boredom. I’ve forgotten why I came at that time.”

As they were talking, a large group of people from inside the hall were also walking out. At this time, she stood with Wang Xuechun and the others under a banyan tree, with a canopy of leaves overhead almost blocking out half the sky, with bits of dappled light cast on the large blue stone slabs underfoot.

“You all go around first, we’re going to find a master to interpret our divination slips,” Yang Jin said to the people standing under the tree.

Almost everyone had drawn a divination slip. The monks in the hall said they could find someone to interpret the slips at the stalls outside, costing about twenty yuan per interpretation, not expensive.

Not far away was a pavilion, surrounded by some stone tables where many elderly people were playing chess. Wang Xuechun and Li’s mother pulled Wang Xuechun’s younger sister Wang Xuedong along, leaving Wang Zhao and Li Zhenguan behind.

Li Zhenguan looked around and suggested: “Why don’t we go to the matchmaking tree at the back and take a look.” He saw some couples coming from a small path over there.

“Can you still walk?” Wang Zhao asked.

Li Zhenguan nodded: “I actually exercise moderately at home every day. My body isn’t as weak as you imagine.”

“Alright then.” Seeing him say so, Wang Zhao didn’t stop him anymore. After telling Wang Xuechun, the two of them walked towards the back.

The back was much quieter compared to the front, with more trees along the way. As they walked, they saw more and more people, young couples coming hand in hand.

A tall tree hung with red ribbons appeared before them. Some people were standing under the tree, and as a gust of wind blew, the red ribbons fluttered, making the whole tree seem to come alive.

Many stalls were set up on the small path leading there, filled with various small ornaments, red hand ropes, handmade amulets, and all sorts of little things. Many people were gathered in front of one small stall. When Wang Zhao and Li Zhenguan walked over, they found people buying red ribbons with beautiful wishes written on them.

There were all sorts of wishes like “Forever United in Heart”, “Family Harmony”, “Success in All Endeavors”, and so on. Not all were about romance; there were also red ribbons for seeking peace and warding off evil.

Wang Zhao couldn’t help but examine this tree, thinking that over the past hundreds of years, the red ribbons on it must have been replaced several times, allowing this temple to profit from wave after wave of people.

She saw Li Zhenguan’s gaze fall on that side, so she asked: “Do you want to hang one?”

“Mm.” Li Zhenguan said: “To pray for the safety of the child in the womb.”