The next morning, Fang Huahua got up, and Fang Yu also got up. "You went to bed so late last night, and you're up now? Are you really coming to work with me?" Fang Huahua asked, covering her mouth with her hand and yawning.

"No, you go ahead and don't be late," Fang Yu said with a smile.

After Fang Huahua got up, she went home to make breakfast.

Fang Yu calculated the time and waited until Hua Hua had already gone to work before she set off.

When going to worship Buddha, you need incense and candles. Fang Yu was embarrassed to buy them at the small shop in her own village, so she rode her bicycle to the next village. "Auntie, I'm going to the Buddha temple, what do I need to buy?"

The shop owner gave Fang Yu three sticks of incense and two candles, then peeked out from behind the counter to look at Fang Yu's dress. "Young lady, are you going now?"

"Okay!" Fang Yu nodded.

"It's best to wear pants, long pants," the proprietress advised.

"Oh, okay, thank you, Auntie. I didn't know, I'll go get it right away," Fang Yu walked to the store entrance and then came back to ask, "Excuse me, Auntie, is there anything else I should be aware of?"

"Nothing else, um, do you have that on you?"

Which one?

"Menstruation," the aunt said in a low voice.

"No." Fang Yu shook his head firmly.

"That's nothing, sincerity is key!"

Fang Yu rode her bicycle home quickly and changed into a pair of long pants.

When they arrived at the Buddha Hall, they were covered in sweat and their faces were sunburned.

There weren't many worshippers in the temple today.

Should she light the candles or the incense first? Fang Yu looked at the candles and incense in her hand, at a loss. There was no time to lose; if it got any later, Fang Dongqiang would have finished most of his exam paper.

In a panic, Fang Yu used a lit candle that someone else had already placed on the candlestick outside to light the incense and candle.

The candles were placed on the candlesticks just like theirs. Holding three incense sticks, she walked to the Buddha statue, knelt down, clasped her hands together, held the incense sticks to her chest, and whispered, "Buddha, my name is Fang Yu. I come to pray for your blessing on Fang Dongqiang. He is taking the college entrance exam today. Please tell him not to be nervous, to remember the questions he knows, and to guess the ones he doesn't know. Thank you!"

After she finished speaking, she looked up at the Buddha statue. The Buddha was wearing an apricot-colored robe, with curved eyebrows and a faint smile on his lips. Even the folds of his robe exuded gentleness.

Fang Yu bowed three times, then got up and placed the incense sticks into the incense burner.

It felt like a heavy stone had been lifted from my heart, or like something warm had filled it completely. Fang Dongqiang was going to take the exam for three days, or I could come by myself for three days. Anyway, I had nothing to do at home. Yes, sincerity is key.

Fang Yu rode her bicycle home. The sun was quite strong, and the wind blew past her ears, rustling the rice leaves as if it were talking to her.

"The wind, only you know! The sun, only you know!" Fang Yu laughed and suddenly increased the speed of her pedaling.

The next day, Fang Yu put on pants and went to the small shop in the next village to buy incense and candles. There were quite a few people buying incense and candles today. The shopkeeper gave them to Fang Yu, took the money, and didn't say much.

Fang Yu rode her bike to the Buddhist temple and was dumbfounded. There was no one there yesterday, but why were there so many people today? She was afraid of running into someone she knew. But what she was afraid of was what happened. She spotted an old woman from her village who was standing on tiptoe to put fruit on the offering table.

Fang Yu's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly turned her face away.

Quickly light the candles, light the incense sticks over the flames, and then slip away before anyone sees you and asks you any questions. I already told Buddha yesterday, and he knows.

The candles were lit, but the incense hadn't been put into the incense burner yet. "Fang Yu, you're here today too?" A middle-aged woman she knew from the village called out to her from the side.

Fang Yu stiffened, her hand holding the incense unconsciously trying to hide behind her back, but then realizing it was inappropriate, she turned around, her face already red to the tips of her ears, a stiff smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, "Auntie, I was just passing by, and when I saw so many people here, I thought I'd come and take a look."

"Today is the fifteenth of the lunar calendar, so of course there are a lot of people. It's rare for a young person like you to come and pray to Buddha. You should pray for blessings. I heard you can teach at a kindergarten after graduation?"

"Mm!" Fang Yu nodded, holding the incense stick.

The old woman's voice was mingled with the smoke from the Buddhist temple, "You need to pinch the three incense sticks together, your thumb and this," the old woman's rough fingers pointed to Fang Yu's index finger, "and this finger interlock, and the remaining three fingers curled up."

The older woman led him to the prayer cushion and taught him how to pray. Fang Yu followed her instructions, and incense ash fell around the cushion. After making his wish to the Buddha, Fang Yu hoped that the ritual would be completed quickly so that he would not run into acquaintances again.

After she finished praying, the old woman pointed to the incense burner next to her and said, "The incense sticks should be arranged in a triangle shape, with the middle one slightly higher and the two on the sides level. Don't let your hand shake when you're inserting them; keep a steady hand."

Fang Yu placed the incense sticks into the incense burner as the old woman instructed, and said, "Auntie, I'll head back now."

"Go on, go on, you're so good, Buddha will definitely remember you."

Fang Yu grunted in response and retreated almost as if fleeing. She nearly bumped into someone when she turned around, apologized repeatedly, and hurriedly walked out of the hall. Only after she left the Buddha Hall and was blown by the wind did her burning face cool down a little, and she breathed a sigh of relief. However, the embarrassment she felt just now still made her heart race.

Recalling what the old lady had said about Buddha remembering you, Fang Yu smiled, then thought again, with so many people coming to worship, how could Buddha possibly keep up? "Fang Dongqiang, you have to work hard too!" Fang Yu rode her bike home.

On the third day, the last day of the college entrance examination, Fang Yu still came to buy incense and candles. The shop owner said, "Hey, young lady, did you come here yesterday?"

Fang Yu smiled at her, took the items, paid, and left. She herself felt a little embarrassed about the purchase.

That evening, Fang Huahua came to her house. "Fang Yu, have you gotten your period?"

"No!"

"Then why have you been wearing long pants these past few days?"

"Oh, hehehe!" Fang Yu lowered her head and chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?" Fang Huahua asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing, just a smile." Fang Yu kept this little secret to herself and didn't tell anyone.

Fang Huahua stretched her neck over and looked closely at Fang Yu, "She seems to have gotten a bit tanned?"

Fang Yu cupped her face in her hands and stood in front of the mirror. "Really? I got tanned in just a few days?"

"These past few days? Where have you been these past few days?"

"I said I'd be home for a few days."

"Aren't you always at home?"

"The sun is strong in the countryside, and I got tanned at home," Fang Yu made up an excuse.

"Tsk tsk tsk, just a few days ago you were saying the countryside was beautiful. Now you're saying the sun is too strong there. You should go live in the city."

"Want to come with me?"

"Go, wait until things are settled at home. Ah, Fang Yu, I told my mom to learn how to cook properly so that when I'm not home, she can cook for my dad and take good care of him. My mom is really serious about learning; she even comes to get the spatula while I'm cooking."

“Yes, that’s wonderful! Your mom loves your dad, and the power of love has made her determined to learn how to cook properly,” Fang Yu said, hooking her arm around Fang Huahua’s shoulder and tilting her head.

"Your mom loves your dad too?" Fang Huahua replied, as if to retort.

"Of course, husband and wife should love each other."

"Then who do you love?" Fang Huahua asked with a sly smile.

"I will love my future husband too. Whoever is my husband, I will love him."

"And now?"

"I don't know right now."

"I know," Fang Huahua said with a smug smile.

"I'm not talking to you anymore." Fang Yu turned away and ignored her.