“I can assure you that Fourth Brother is a reasonable man. You are just doing what you are asked to do and it’s not your fault. As long as you don’t abuse me, I will forget this thing. I am a grateful person.” I said.
One of the men unbounded me and said, “You are not afraid at all. Other women will be scared to death. Meals will be sent to you and the toilet is next to this room. They won’t bother you. But don’t try to escape, because you cannot succeed. We will pick you up again in a week.”
“I can assure you that I will not escape.” I said.
“OK. Remember your words and just stay here. If we are going to be hunted down by Fourth Brother, you have to something for us. We have no choice.” Another man said.
“OK. You are kind to me. If I am alive, I will do something good to repay you.” I replied.
Those men said something else and left.
I huddled in the corner and felt more at ease.
From what they have said, I knew that they just kept me here temporarily. A week later, they would send me to other place.
Although I didn’t know where it was, I was sure that this is a remote place. Because they have said that even the police couldn’t find it.
No matter whether Leon cared, Alex would cry and ask where I was. So I guessed that Leon would care about me. So these days were critical and they would never let Leon to find me.
But with great power, Leon could find me if I was hidden in a normal place. Therefore, they must hide me in a place difficult to find for the first week and then transfer me to other places.
It was apparent why they didn’t kill me.
It is a low-based society after all. No one wants to violate laws unless without choices. What’s more, they could use me to blackmail Leon someday as I am the mother of Alex.
So I was sure that I would not be killed temporarily.
As long as I was alive, there was hope. I said to myself that there was nothing to be afraid of.
People can only gain the courage and determination to live in adversity when they comfort themselves. So I kept comforting myself and doing self hypnosis and fall asleep unconsciously.
But I didn’t sleep soundly. I woke up as soon as I heard the sound.
The sound was getting louder and louder, sounded as if people were getting up and washing. Form the sound I knew that there were many people, but they were not noisy.
Then the bell rang, in a pleasant way, which made people calm down.
Having thought that I smelled the flavor of incense, I suddenly realized that I was in a temple.
Although it was not quite light, the monks had already been preparing for the morning class.
It was no wonder that they said even the police couldn’t find this place. In fact, no one knew that they hid me in a temple.
But why the Buddhists would collude with them to do such a terrible thing?
A few moments later, I heard the sound of wooden knocker, followed by loud chanting. The monk began their morning class.
I sat cross-legged on the ground, closed my eyes, and listened to the sound of their chanting, feeling that my heart was calm again.
After I came to know that I was in a temple, I was more assured that I was not at risk. I believed that no temple would allow a woman to die in its backyard.
At the end of the morning class, I could smell the strong flavor of incense in my room. As I became more and more relaxed, I slept soundly by leaning against the wall.
When I woke up again, it was already dawn.
There was light coming in from a very small window. It was time to eat breakfast and prepare to go to work, so I was a little hungry.
At that time, a meal came.
A young monk came in. He looked pretty in a gray monk’s clothes. With a thin layer of fine hair, his head is not very bald.
Without saying anything, he left as soon as he put the meal down, just like what a costume drama showed.
He avoided having eye contact with me when I looked at him. I could feel that he was a little nervous.
I didn’t say anything to him. Because he was nervous after seeing me and I dared not to speak to him. I wanted to let him gradually dispel the guard against me and then communicate with him. Anyway, there was no need to be hasty.
The meal was vegetarian but very delicious.
They were tofu braised with green pepper, greens and fungus, which were all my favorite. I ate the meal up quickly.
The door was open and I walked out of the door. A toilet was found nearby, which was cleaner than expected and it could be flushed.
I observed that there was the backyard of the temple. A wall separated the temple from the outside. It seemed that it was a place dedicated to shut people.
Why there was such a place in the temple? Were monks also being confined in such a room?
I washed my hands after going to the toilet and went back to my cell.
I knew there was no need to think about escape, because they were sure that I could not escape from there.
What could I do was to calm down and wait for opportunities.
I knew that I couldn’t be irritated or I would make mistakes easily.
Although I was locked down, I could still listen to the chanting, which could be my spiritual practices.
Later that day, the pretty monk sent a meal again and took the bowls away. He was less nervous this time. He looked at me for a while but soon looked away.
I didn’t speak to him, because I thought it was not the right time.
There was no dinner, because they would not eat after lunch. Therefore, I had no dinner. Although I was not used to it, I could do nothing. But because I stayed still, I was not very hungry.
The next morning I was woken up in the early morning again. They began their morning class and then had breakfast and then had lunch.
On the third day, the young monk was less alert when he delivered the meal. “What’s your name?” I said to him with a smile.
I thought he would put his hands together like the monks in the TV series and say the name given by his master. But in fact he didn’t. He just said two words directly—Song Zhang.
Song Zhang? It sounded as if it was not a name given by his master. Was it the name given by his parents? Anyway, it was a good thing that he was willing to speak to me.
“Don’t ask me anything. I will say nothing.” He said while collecting the bowls.
I smiled and said, “Don’t be afraid. I will ask you nothing.”
He said nothing and left after having picked up the bowls.
I stopped him and said, “I have been drinking the tap water next to the toilet and I have some trouble with me stomach. Can you get me some medicine for stomach pain?”
He left without a reply. It seemed that he was still alert to me.