A Young Woman's Heart

(One)

Wild grasses always seem to have a more vigorous vitality than artificially planted lawns.

As the van drove along, tender wild grass had already sprouted by the roadside, and tiny wildflowers, no bigger than a fingernail, were in full bloom.

They seem to have received the early signs of spring, and have already sprouted from the solid soil that was once frozen by winter snow.

The warm sunshine made the people in the car feel cozy. We didn't drive very fast because there were many people going to Lingyin Temple on this day.

They all burn incense and pray to Buddha, hoping for good fortune in the new year.

Mo Xueyao even saw someone carrying a candle as big as a doorpost walking by the roadside...

The car starts and stops frequently, and because it's a manual transmission, stalling is a common occurrence.

However, the father, with an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips, always remained calm. No matter how much the cars behind him honked, he would simply restart the car slowly and move forward a few hundred meters more.

The number of people going to Shangtianzhu Temple is relatively much smaller than those going to Lingyin Temple.

This is a temple that is not very large.

Most of the visitors are locals.

Many locals even believe that offering incense here is the most effective way to revive a person.

Tickets are also very cheap, and they are charged based on age, not height.

This year's price is five yuan for adults and two yuan and fifty cents for minors.

The ticket was as plain as the kind that a bus attendant would tear off when you board a bus. It was a thin, red piece of paper with the words "Shangtianzhu Faxi Temple" written on it in large characters, and some scriptures printed in smaller characters next to it. The paper was red and somewhat rough.

Following a moderate number of people through the gate, we were greeted by a long uphill slope.

The temple was filled with the smell of incense. If you go past the Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings, you will see the place for burning incense and candles.

The place was filled with smoke, making people's eyes red.

It felt like stepping into Lao Tzu's alchemy room.

"Cough, cough, cough—" Mo Xueyao coughed violently, unable to help but take a few steps back, until she reached the release pond, where she finally took a deep breath, "Phew... that's not a place humans can go in at all..."

"Yaoyao, shall we go offer some incense?"

"I'm not going." Mo Xueyao immediately shook her head.

"You're wearing incense?"

“I brought them, they’re in that bag.” Mother glanced at the large bag Father was carrying. “Come on, take out the candles and incense.”

"Then go ahead and pray, I'm not interested anyway."

"Since you're already here, shouldn't you at least show some respect?"

"If you really want to show respect, you might as well chip off some of the gold from that shiny Buddha statue and give it to us," Mo Xueyao complained. If this had been said decades ago, it would have been considered quite unorthodox.

"Ahem, even if you don't believe it, don't say that." Her father coughed twice, placed his rough hands on her shoulders, and rubbed them hard. "Respect the existence of everything, and be more tolerant."

"Tch, the money spent on building temples would be better invested in scientific research."

The father's expression became slightly more serious: "That's not how it works. First, this amount of money isn't enough for any research. Second, many people need a pillar of support in their hearts to get by in life..."

"Alright alright."

"Ali, go light the incense." The mother smiled without saying a word, but handed the lit incense and candle to the father. "Just pray and then put them in the incense."

"Okay." The father winked at Mo Xueyao, then lit a cigarette with a candle, as if he wouldn't be afraid of the swirling 'alchemy furnace' as long as he was smoking.

It has to be said, smokers really do have this special ability.

Mo Xueyao clearly saw that quite a few men were smoking as they went to offer incense.

……

(two)

The Buddha statue always has a faint smile on its face, with its eyes slightly lowered, as if it is looking at people, or as if it is closing its eyes to rest.

Every time she stood in front of this enormous Buddha statue, Mo Xueyao felt a sense of oppression.

It makes people unconsciously quiet down.

Even children will subconsciously hold their breath and walk quietly.

However, there were also some that were extremely mischievous and lawless, running around in circles shouting and yelling, and even trying to climb onto the Buddha statue.

The little boy bumped into the monk who was chanting sutras. The monk opened his eyes slightly, smiled, patted the boy's head, moved aside, and continued to stand and twirl his prayer beads.

"Wanyan, I've heard that some temples engrave eminent monks inside Buddha statues. Some Buddha statues, when opened, might reveal the golden body of the eminent monk inside, which is basically... a corpse?"

Wan Yan glanced at her sideways, then looked at the monk standing not far away.

"Tch, I'm just telling the truth. Aren't many temples like this?"

Mo Xueyao raised her voice slightly, as if on purpose.

Her rare rebellious streak always manifests itself in places like these.

However, she was soon drawn to something else.

"Hey, Wanyan, look, isn't that Zhou Yong?"

……

(three)

Zhou Yong was dressed quite casually, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and matching casual pants.

—In fact, it suits his ordinary face quite well…

But standing next to him was a pretty girl with a touch of heroism. Compared to Zhou Yong, she looked younger than him, but compared to the girls in her class, she was probably a bit older, around twenty years old.

Mo Xueyao recognized her.

They had met a few times. A few times she saw her waiting for Zhou Yong at the school gate, and twice she saw her tutoring Yu Jinyu at her godfather's house.

The two were walking slowly along the road, chatting and laughing.

Judging from their appearance, they do resemble the siblings Duanmu Ji and Duanmu Bi somewhat.

Could they be a brother and sister?

Mo Xueyao gently touched her cheek with her index finger. Thinking about it this way, it made sense. After all, Zhou Yong didn't seem like the kind of person who would have a girlfriend who was older and more beautiful than him.

Mo Xueyao, wearing her little red leather shoes, took two quick steps forward, then raised her arm and waved vigorously: "Hey—Zhou Yong—"

"Ah... Mo Xueyao." Zhou Yong looked at him with some surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Why don't you come out for a stroll with your parents? You—though I haven't asked you properly before, I think this must be—your sister, right?"

"Ah? Ah... Yes, yes." Zhou Yong immediately responded, glancing at Tian Tingchan's face a few times before quickly looking away.

Tian Tingchan, who wanted to say something, could only smile wryly.

"Here to burn incense and pray to Buddha? Hmm, what wish do you want to have fulfilled?"

"Wishes... I think Buddha probably doesn't concern himself with marriage," Zhou Yong said jokingly.

"It seems like they do manage it, since there are even people asking for children."

"Cough-cough-"

"That would be interesting if it could get a man pregnant." Mo Xueyao looked at Zhou Yong with a teasing tone, "Zhou Yong, want to give it a try?"

"what?"

"If it's really possible, that would be great." Tian Tingchan winked playfully and looked at Zhou Yong.

The young man immediately got goosebumps, took a few steps to the side, and nervously looked around: "W-why are you all looking at me?"

"But you, why are you suddenly acting like a timid wife? What are you afraid of? It's not like I'm really going to get you pregnant," Mo Xueyao mocked, the wind gently lifting her skirt, which swayed softly in the sunlight.

The red and white dress perfectly accentuated her exquisite beauty.

"By the way, do you want to go eat vegetarian food together later?"

"Isn't it past noon?" Zhou Yong asked, somewhat puzzled. "We just finished eating."

"There should be some at night too, right?"

"Ah, then we'll be leaving in a bit."

"What a pity, Zhou Yong, you've missed the chance to have dinner with a beautiful girl!"

Zhou Yong, who had been staring intently at Mo Xueyao just moments before, immediately looked away: "Ah, what a shameless beauty."

"Tch, isn't that the truth?"

"cough--"

"Haha, alright, alright, I won't bother you two anymore. Wanyan, where are Mom and Dad?"

"They went up."

"Then let's go up too, Zhou Yong, and—Tian Tingchan…right?"

"Ah."

"Bye-Bye!"

……

(four)

The fiery red sunset hung low on the horizon, about to disappear behind the layered mountains.

The vegetarian meal started very early; at four o'clock, the dining hall was filled with a delicious aroma.

Unlike the aroma of roadside restaurants, this tastes cleaner and purer, clearly without too many seasonings, and of course, without meat.

It smells like pure vegetarian food.

Although it opened early, Mo Xueyao's family had already walked around the place several times, and her father even took a nap on the red-lacquered bench at the highest point.

There weren't as many people in the evening as when I came at noon.

The canteen was sparsely populated, with only a few people already seated.