coobybook Chapter 34 May you be happy, joyful, safe, and prosperous.
Chapter 34 May you be happy, joyful, safe, and prosperous.
Wu You stood up and bowed to Abbot Wule, saying, "I would be grateful if you could help me, Master."
Wu Liao stood up and performed a Buddhist salute: "This old monk will do his best."
"Thank you very much," Wu You said again. It was fortunate that someone helped her; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to make the decision on her own.
Wu Liao looked at Li Lianhua, who was calmly drinking tea beside him: "Why don't you seem worried about your own health, Li Benefactor? It's Li Benefactor Wu who's concerned about you."
Li Lianhua remained unmoved: "I will listen to Youyou. I know my own body well and I have already let it go. Whether I can be cured or not depends on fate."
Hearing the somewhat dejected tone in Li Lianhua's voice, Wu You quickly interrupted, "Then Abbot, please study this medicine first. We won't disturb you any longer. We'll go to the main hall to pray for Buddha's blessing. Once you've finished your research, have the young novice call us over, okay?"
Wu nodded: "Good."
"Goodbye."
Wu You pulled Li Lianhua out of the meditation room.
…………
Leaving the meditation room, Li Lianhua asked, "Are we going to the main hall? I don't believe in Buddhism."
Wu You chimed in, "I'm not a Buddhist myself, but some things have happened that have made me believe that there's a destiny at play. Since we're already here, we should still go and pay our respects. Lead the way, I've forgotten the way we came."
Although Li Lianhua was walking towards the main hall, she was still a little confused and asked, "Neither of us believe in Buddhism, so it would be insincere for us to go and worship. Why don't we skip the main hall and go somewhere else instead?"
Wu You quickly grabbed Li Lianhua's arm, stopping him from turning, and pushed him a few steps in a slightly more familiar direction.
“We’ve come here to ask for a favor. Since we’re already on someone else’s turf, we should naturally greet the owner here. Once we’ve donated three thousand taels of incense money to the main hall, even Buddha might not care about the monks’ reputation but would care about the Buddha’s reputation.”
Li Lianhua shook her head, waved Wu You's hand away and walked away, saying disapprovingly, "This is blatant bribery of Buddha! Are you sure we'll get what we want?"
"If you want such a good thing, I think you should go to bed early. I mean, even if what you ask for doesn't turn out well, please at least make sure it doesn't get worse."
Wu You continued to retort: "Isn't it said that hemp ropes always break at their thinnest points, and that when it rains, it pours? I think you shouldn't think too much about it."
"All we can do is our best and leave the rest to fate. We'll do everything we can, leaving no effort behind, and then we'll leave the rest to fate."
"Hey, how can you be so sure things will turn out the way you expect?"
"As the saying goes, if you believe, it exists; if you don't believe, it doesn't. You should still make wishes. You won't lose anything if they don't come true, and what if they do? Just make wishes; they don't take up any space."
"Tsk, you're overthinking things." Li Lianhua was puzzled by Wu You's unusual way of thinking.
Seeing Li Lianhua's expression of 'completely unnecessary,' Wu You strongly disagreed: "Think about it another way. We donated so much money for incense oil, which is much more than what those ordinary people donated. Besides, we don't ask for much; we just hope that you are healthy and that your current predicament can be resolved."
"What if Buddha saw the donation money and woke up in the middle of the night to slap himself: 'I deserve to die! They donated so much money to me, their requests weren't high, and they're both so good-looking. Why didn't I agree? I shouldn't have refused. I must help them fulfill their wish tomorrow.' Hahaha, wouldn't that be a win-win situation?"
Li Lianhua couldn't help but think of that scene, and without suppressing a cough, she said, "Maybe you're right."
"And if there's a chance to do it again, let's do it a second time."
The two arrived at the main hall and stepped inside. Directly opposite the entrance was a statue of the Buddha, several meters tall, looking kindly at the pilgrims coming and going, as if he were saving all living beings.
On either side of the main hall stood two fierce-looking Buddha statues, giving the entire hall a solemn and dignified atmosphere. Even with many people present, no one dared to make a sound.
Li Lianhua and Wu You found a secluded prayer mat and knelt down.
Wu You silently prayed in her heart: "I, Wu You, am not doing this for myself, but only so that Li Lianhua, who is beside me, may be cured of the poison of Bi Cha today, and that he may be healthy and live a peaceful and prosperous life. Even if we never see each other again, I pray that he may be happy and joyful for the rest of his life."
After speaking, Wu You kowtowed three times and slowly rose. Seeing that Li Lianhua was thinking about something with his eyes closed, he didn't disturb him. He went to the donation box and handed the three thousand taels of silver notes he had prepared in his backpack to the young novice monk next to him.
"Master, this is the incense money that my friend and I donated together."
The young novice monk performed a Buddhist salute, took the money, and placed it in the donation box: "Your merit is immeasurable, Buddha will bless you." He then took six lit incense sticks from the side and handed them to Wu You: "Go and light the incense over there." He pointed to the incense altar in front of the Buddha.
Wu You looked in the direction he pointed and saw that the incense burner was already filled with many incense sticks. Turning away, Wu You took the incense and said, "Thank you for letting me know," before walking towards Li Lianhua.
Li Lianhua knelt on the prayer mat. In that instant, countless people and events flashed through her mind. She wanted to ask for so much, but in the end, she only prayed to Buddha to bless her master and mistress with good health and peace for the rest of their lives.
When he got up, Wu You was no longer beside him. He looked up and saw her standing next to the donation box, so he waited by the pillar.
Seeing Wu You approach with six incense sticks, Li Lianhua took three from him. The two walked to the incense altar, bowed together, and inserted the incense sticks into the altar.
Stepping out of the main hall, Li Lianhua, having thought too much, felt conflicted and lost the desire to talk. Instead, she led Wu You around for a stroll.
Wu You noticed that Li Lianhua was in a bad mood, so he didn't disturb him and quietly followed in his footsteps, strolling around the temple and enjoying the scenery.
The quiet courtyard, the rustic all-wood houses, the sturdy Bodhi tree that takes several people to encircle, and the lingering sandalwood fragrance in the air all testify to the long history of this temple.
After walking for a while, the two finally found a small courtyard and sat down on a stone bench in the courtyard.
Seeing that Li Lianhua was still deep in thought, Wu You had no choice but to take out a storybook from his bag and read it with great interest.
To be honest, aside from the simple stories and lack of imagination, the writing style of these ancient stories is really good. The writing is bold, and the character details are described very well. They are well worth reading, and Wu You is always engrossed in them.
It took Li Lianhua a while to come back to her senses before she remembered that Wu You was sitting next to her. Looking up, she saw Wu You sitting quietly on a small stool, reading a storybook.
Wu You wore her hair in a simple bun, adorned with a lotus hairpin that she had casually carved herself. She had seen me making hairpins and, out of curiosity, had looked closely at the ones I was wearing and the ones I was carving. Finally, she begged me to carve one for her too.
Li Lianhua initially wanted to refuse, as she couldn't just give away the hairpin so easily; she had only ever given it to A-Mian before. However, she couldn't resist Wu You's persistent flattery and repeated pleas, so she reluctantly carved a simple lotus hairpin for her and gave it to her.
Li Lianhua still remembers the happy expression on Wu You's face when she received the hairpin, but she never noticed that Wu You had been wearing the hairpin on her head all along.
What Li Lianhua didn't know was that the hairpin she gave Wu You was carefully stored in the house, and the one she was wearing was one that Wu You had searched online for many times but couldn't find the same style, so she had no choice but to send the design to the shop owner to have it made.
Wu You must have seen something amusing, because she covered her mouth and laughed. A gentle breeze blew by, causing her hair to flutter.