Cheney’s POV
After eating, I took them on the court for another half afternoon before returning to the Fischer’s mansion.
Krista and I sent Afra back to the Plum Court.
The family had a meal together, and when I was taking Krista back to the Jade Court, Grandma followed me.
“Cheney, Krista, are you two free tomorrow?”
I looked at Grandma. “What’s the matter, Grandma? What are your plans?” I asked.
“I want to go to the temple to pray tomorrow. If you have nothing to do, let’s go together, if it’s alright.” She said.
I looked at Krista, “How about you, are you free tomorrow?”
Krista smiled. “Of course. I’m going to pray for my family.”
Grandma nodded and looked at me happily.
“What about you?”
“If she has time, I also have too. So let’s go together.”
Grandma beamed and said, “Then you two, don’t eat breakfast tomorrow morning first, we will eat at the temple together.”
“Okay, grandma.”
After that, I took Krista away.
Under the moonlight, she asked, “Does grandma often go to temples?”
“She always goes several times a year.”
“Does Grandma believe in Buddhism?”
I shook my head and smiled. “People who really believe in Buddhism do not eat meat. What grandma really believes in should be life.”
She looked at me and frowned.
I raised my eyebrows. “Do you believe it?”
She said, “What? Buddha or life? I don’t believe it, I believe in myself.”
I can’t help but evoke the corners of my mouth.
Sometimes, I think this woman is very clever.
Sometimes, I think she is stupid. Other times, I could feel that this woman… is very similar to myself.
“Then, will you go to the temple together with grandmother, to pray tomorrow?”
“Some beliefs are not to pray for anything, just to reassure people around me. I will pray with grandmother, yes, but it does not mean that I have the same belief. It’s just that, if I go, grandmother will be happy. If she is happy, that is the greatest filial piety we can do.”
I raised my hand and rubbed her head and walked forward.
Krista’s POV
Early in the morning, Cheney took his grandmother and I to the temple.
Because the temple is halfway up the mountain, and the mountain side is surrounded by white mist early in the morning, it makes people feel relaxed and happy to be in the place.
I naturally helped Grandma and said, “Grandma, I seem to know why temples are built on mountains.”
Grandma looked at me and smiled. “Why?”
“You see, this environment is so serene that it is easy to calm people down. Even people with deep desires will have the idea of getting rid of the earthly world when they come here.”
Cheney poured cold water on the side and said, “Those who have evil desires, even if you send him to heaven, his heart is still ugly and has nothing to do with the environment.”
Grandma shook her head. “Cheney, I can’t say that. I can only say that some people’s hearts are polluted and it is difficult to change. But when people are born, they are actually the same, simple and ignorant, full of curiosity and yearning for the world, and it is often the environment that changes human nature.”
I nodded approvingly. “I support Grandma’s words.”
He hooked his lips, “Sycophant.”
I raised my hand and patted him on the arm. “You are really a man…”
Grandma laughed and said, “Oh, you two children, pay attention, go back and be sweet, this is a temple, behave.” She said with a teasing smile.
I was embarrassed that she found that he and I were sweet. Clearly, it was a disagreement.
The breakfast that was served was very vegetarian, but I think it was delicious.
Grandma looked at me. “Krista, is this your first visit to the temple?” She asked.
I nodded. “Yes, grandma, how can you tell?”
“When I come for the first time, I will feel that the food here is very rare and the food will be exceptionally good.”.
I looked sideways at Cheney, whose food basically didn’t move much. I grinned at her and said, “Maybe some people are naturally picky eaters.”
Cheney gave me a white look. “Eat yours quietly, don’t find fault in others.”
Grandma smiled and said, “After a while, I will worship Buddha with the master. Will you go?”
I nodded. “Yes, grandma.”
Cheney didn’t look very interested. “Go ahead, I’ll wait for you here, and take care of some business.”
After the meal, I followed grandmother around, and Cheney went back to the squatter room to rest alone.
It was already noon when we came out after the ceremony.
Grandma said to me, “In the afternoon, I will listen to the master talk about Buddha. You and Cheney should go around the back mountain. This season, the leaves in the back mountain are starting to become red, which is very beautiful.”
“Grandma, there is plenty of time to enjoy the red leaves. I’d better accompany you this afternoon.”
“Nonsense, I also have some things to ask the master. It is inconvenient for you to be there, so go ahead so that you can have a good time.”
I nodded, not reluctantly and said, “Okay.”
“Just now, I saw you kneeling for a long time. Did you have anything to ask for?”
I thought about it and looked at her. “I didn’t feel how long I was kneeling. It was because I didn’t know what to do for the first time, so when you were kneeling, I was kneeling.”
Grandma smiled, “You are a good child. Didn’t you think about anything?”
“Yes, because I came with you, I prayed to Buddha, hoping that all your wishes can be achieved, and nothing else… I didn’t think about mine.”
Grandma shook her head and looked at me with kindness on her face. “At my age, I just want my children and grandchildren to be happy. Of course, I also hope that your grandfather and I can walk healthily in the few remaining years. I am afraid that your grandfather will leave me alone and that I will leave him. Therefore, I didn’t understand until I was old that I didn’t want to be born on the same day in the same year, but wanted to die on the same day in the same year. ”
I took her arm and said, “Grandma, the feelings between you and Grandpa have become the best love story in the world. Do you know how enviable it is?”
“It doesn’t matter if others are envious or not. It’s the most important thing that they don’t live in vain in their whole life. I hope that you and Cheney can be as complete as me and your grandfather now, then I really have no regrets.”
She said, and she patted my hand. “Cheney, as a child… had experienced many things and faced where he wanted to go too many times. Although he is cold-tempered, he is actually lonely and afraid of losing people in his life. Your grandfather and I are at this age, but we really don’t know how many years we can accompany him. We always wanted to have a girl like you around him, replace me and his grandfather, and live as the most important partner in his life. Krista, you will live up to this grandmother’s expectations, won’t you? ”
I looked at Grandma’s sincere and expectant eyes, but I didn’t know how to answer. After thinking about it, I opened my mouth and said, “Grandma, the rest of my life is too long. There are some things that no one can tell for sure.”
“The rest of my life is not so long. Time is really fleeting around the right person. The picture of my acquaintance with your grandfather is just like what happened yesterday to me. But… you see, now we have both become old people. Love is about finding the right person, hand in hand for a hundred years, and supporting each other then, it won’t feel long. So, you promise Grandma to stay with Cheney well, and if we are gone, you will spend the rest of your life with him and don’t leave him alone, Okay? ”
How can I bear to refuse such expectant eyes?
If I promised her now and couldn’t do it, wouldn’t it be more disappointing to grandmother? But if you don’t agree…
I nodded and smiled. “Grandma, I promise you, I won’t let him be lonely.”
Grandma patted my hand. “I knew it, I knew I found the right person.”
At lunch, Grandma told Cheney to take me to the back mountain to enjoy the red leaves, and he actually agreed.
In the afternoon, I went to the back mountain with him.
There are trees everywhere on the mountain, but there are not many red leaves.
However, perhaps because it is in the mountains, the air is exceptionally good.
I glanced at Cheney beside me, and he seemed bored.
I asked, “Hey, you are not busy in the afternoon?”
“What do you think?”
“If you are busy, go to work first. I can walk alone.”
He gave me a white look. “I’m not busy.”
I scratched my eyebrows. I really didn’t know what to say. “It’s quite beautiful here, isn’t it?”
“Isn’t this virtue in the woods?”
I rolled a supercilious look, I also think so, but considering that this will talk to death, so I reluctantly pulled a topic, but I didn’t expect to face a topic terminator.
We can’t stand here all afternoon.
I stepped aside, bent over and began to pick up the leaves on the ground.
He frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Picking up the leaves.”
“Am I blind? I mean to ask you, why are you picking up this thing, idle?”
I squatted there and squinted at him. “Aren’t these red, yellow and green leaves very beautiful? Pick up some pieces so that when we go back, I can play with Afra stickers in the evening.”
“You will?”
I sipped my lips and smiled. “Yes, of course, can’t I learn with Afra? It’s never too old to learn.”
Cheney didn’t answer.