Chapter 48 Bitter Summer Actually, she never missed those years
And the famous mountain in Nanshi truly lives up to its reputation.
It's already deep winter, but the number of people climbing the mountain to pray for blessings is still enormous.
Shen Qingli and Shen Qingyun got up very early, hoping to avoid the busiest time, but they were still squeezed into the crowd. Fortunately, the mountains in Nanshi were not steep, and it took them a whole morning to finally reach the top of the mountain.
Resting in the pavilion atop the hill, Shen Qingyun was panting heavily. Shen Qingli sat beside her and asked with some concern, "Are you feeling alright anywhere?"
Hearing this, Shen Qingyun fanned herself with her hand, glanced at the woman beside her, and said helplessly, "Don't think of me as so weak, okay? I can still climb a mountain without any problem."
"That's fine then." Shen Qingli nodded in relief after hearing her words. She turned her head to look at the scenery outside the pavilion and the dense crowd below. Facing the mountain wind, she couldn't help but sigh, "I never thought that we could go hiking together one day. If it were back in high school, I don't know how much I would have been scolded when I got home."
When this was mentioned, Shen Qingyun also seemed a little dazed. She pursed her lips and let the cold wind blow the stray hairs around her ears.
Amidst the sound of the wind, Shen Qingli heard her apologetic voice, "My health was indeed very poor back in high school, and that always affected you..."
She wanted to say something more, but Shen Qingli interrupted her directly, "Why are you suddenly saying this? It's good that you're healthy now. The past is the past. I'm just a little emotional. It's the first time we've climbed this famous mountain in Nanshi, and it's actually the two of us. I never would have dared to dream of it before."
"What? You don't want to come with your sister? Who else would you like to come with?" Shen Qingyun looked at her, knowing that she didn't like hearing her say sorry, so she joked along with her words, "But... you've been in Nanshi for so many years, why haven't you ever thought of climbing this mountain?"
"..."
Faced with her sister's question, she remained silent for a moment before saying softly, "I don't know... maybe I'm just a little lazy."
An unreadable emotion flickered in her eyes. Not wanting to continue the conversation, she stood up and urged her, "Are you rested enough? If you are, let's continue walking inside."
"Okay, let's go."
-
Walking up the somewhat steep steps, at the very back of the mountaintop, there is a temple, filled with the smoke of incense and crowded with people.
They followed the crowd and finally arrived at the most famous Bodhi tree on the mountain, according to legend.
Looking at the huge and ancient tree in front of me, with its countless uneven trunks, all of which are covered with red prayer strips and plaques, the branches sway in the cold wind, the leaves rustle, and the countless prayer plaques gently collide, making a crisp sound that echoes outside the temple.
Amidst the surrounding noise, Shen Qingli raised her head as if oblivious. She stared intently at the prayer tree in front of her, the glaring sunlight overhead illuminating the countless prayer plaques and strips covered with densely packed words, each containing a solemn wish.
This Bodhi tree is said to be over a thousand years old. Countless people climb the mountain to come here, just to make a sincere wish and hope that their wishes will come true.
At this moment, she looked at everything in front of her, her expression somewhat dazed. Ten years ago, she had longed to come here and witness everything before her eyes. Ten years later, she finally came here.
Shen Qingli wondered if it was all too late. Her obsession with this famous mountain was just like her past with Lin Xiaqing—she would always remember it in her heart, but she always tried to avoid it on the surface.
For some reason, from the moment she stepped into this place, Shen Qingli had a voice in her heart saying to her, that voice said, everything came too late.
She found these words somewhat nonsensical, and even when they appeared in her mind, she was taken aback.
She couldn't explain why it came so late.
-
While she was still in a daze, Shen Qingyun had already quickly bought two dark red prayer plaques from a nearby stall. She stuffed one of the plaques into Shen Qingli's arms and urged, "Here, take the pen. You rarely come here, so you should definitely make a wish."
Upon hearing this, she stared blankly at the prayer plaque in her hand. Seeing that Shen Qingyun beside her had already begun writing down her prayers, she lowered her eyelids, thought for a moment, and then began to write as well.
After writing their wishes on the prayer plaques, a crowd had already gathered around the Bodhi tree. They waited for a while before it was finally their turn.
Shen Qingli found a branch of the ancient tree in front of her that was close to her head and tied her prayer plaque to it. After hanging up her plaque, she stepped aside to make room for the people in line behind her. She watched as Shen Qingyun was still standing on tiptoe, stretching her arms to reach the top of the branch. After a while, she finally managed to hang up her plaque with great difficulty.
Shen Qingli stared at her somewhat comical appearance and couldn't help but laugh, "Sister, why do you look so sad when you hang up a prayer plaque?"
"What do you know! The higher you hang the prayer plaque, the more likely it is to come true, you know?" Facing her sister's teasing, she pretended to be angry and glared at her, and continued, "If I weren't too short, I would want to hang it at the very top."
"You've already hung it very high." She looked up at the prayer plaque on the Bodhi tree and smiled. It didn't seem like an easy thing to hang one's wish at the very top of such a tall tree.
"Yeah, I think so too."
Shen Qingyun dusted off her hands, making sure her prayer plaque was securely hung before walking over to Shen Qingli. Looking at the flowing crowd in front of her, she asked her curiously, "By the way, Qingli, what wish did you write down?"
"Me? Of course, I wish you good luck in passing the postgraduate entrance exam next year."
"Is this the only one?"
"Yes, this seems to be the most important thing right now." She nodded and answered calmly.
"I thought you would write something else. Your promise is completely unnecessary. Over the years, what have you ever failed to do if you wanted to do it?"
"Can you please stop exaggerating like that?" Faced with her sister's sudden praise, Shen Qingli blinked, a little embarrassed.
"What are you doing? I didn't say anything wrong, so just tell me, isn't that right?"
Although it was said in jest, Shen Qingyun was not wrong. Over the years, even in a major she didn't like, she still studied diligently. During her four years of university, she consistently achieved excellent grades, winning scholarships and numerous awards.
Therefore, in most people's eyes, her life is excellent and enviable. But only Shen Qingli knows that in the first half of her life, she also encountered the only things and people that went wrong and made her feel helpless.
"There are still some..." she murmured softly, as if remembering something.
"What did you say?" Shen Qingyun didn't hear her clearly and turned to ask her.
"Oh, it's nothing." She forced a smile and shook her head.
"So you're admitting it? So, besides the postgraduate entrance exam, is there anything else you particularly want to wish for? I remember you said that back in high school, why aren't you making any wishes now that you're here?"
Back in high school, Shen Qingyun had heard her talk about this famous mountain in Nanshi. Her longing and anticipation back then seemed genuine. However, this time, she felt that Shen Qingli was quite distracted. But thinking about their previous conversation, she continued to ask, "Should we hang another one? Who knows when we'll be able to climb the mountain again?"
A wish she really wanted to make... She silently repeated these words in her heart, but her thoughts drifted away at this inopportune moment.
Shen Qingyun's question was strikingly similar to the voice she had heard years ago, and she couldn't help but feel flustered. She lowered her head, her eyelashes trembling incessantly.
Amidst the clamor of the crowd, she finally remembered the wish she and Xia Qing had shared years ago.
-
At that time, all their knowledge of Nanshi came from books in bookstores and information found through computer searches.
Back then, photography technology wasn't as advanced, and the photos of Nanshi Mountain that you can find online are blurry and scarce.
But even at that time, this famous mountain in Nanshi was already quite well-known.
At the time, they didn't know whether those rumors were true or false, but they all believed them without a doubt during their adolescence.
So, after learning about the rumors of this famous mountain in Nanshi, she and Xia Qing had been looking forward to coming to Nanshi in the future, hoping to climb the mountain themselves and see the legendary Bodhi tree.
They had also talked about the wishes they wanted to make to each other a long time ago.
One afternoon, Xia Qing asked her in a gentle voice, "Is there anything you really want to wish for?"
Shen Qingli thought about it carefully for a while before saying, "Hmm... if I go there, I'll probably wish for health and peace."
"Is that all? Is there nothing else?" Xia Qing was somewhat surprised when she heard her wish.
"Yes, this is the most important thing to me."
At that time, Shen Qingyun was always unwell, and the family was constantly in chaos. Everyone was overwhelmed with worries about Shen Qingyun, and Grandpa Shen and Grandma Shen also often fell ill because of these things.
So for Shen Qingli at that time, nothing was more important than health and safety. She hoped that she and the people around her could be healthy and safe.
But she never told Xia Qing that his wish was also part of her wish for health and peace.
-
This wish may seem insignificant compared to the grand and weighty wishes of others, but for her, it is the most precious wish.
In the past few years, she had always deliberately avoided everything about him and did not want to think about any of the words she had said with him.
Unexpectedly, one day she recalled that story forgotten in the past, and it was at this moment that she stood in front of the legendary Bodhi tree, her face unconsciously lost in thought.
More than ten years have passed in a flash, how can a person possibly live according to their memories from that time?
But that wish was indeed something she had always wanted to make. However, looking at the present situation, she remained silent for a long time before finally speaking in a choked voice, "Let's wait until next time to hang up another sign. One shouldn't be too greedy."
Anyway, this mountain and this tree will always be here, and she will always be here too.
As she finished speaking, she felt a wave of bitterness and heaviness rising in her chest. She tried to suppress those complex emotions and forced herself to say to Shen Qingyun, "Alright, now that the sign is up, let's go."
"Okay." Hearing her say that, Shen Qingyun didn't say anything more and nodded in agreement.
Before leaving, Shen Qingli looked at the tips of her shoes, and a strange emotion inexplicably welled up in her heart.
As if possessed, she turned her head and glanced one last time at the prayer plaque on the tree in front of her. Amidst the dazzling array of characters, she seemed to see a familiar handwriting.
Before she could see clearly, a sudden gust of wind arose, blowing the prayer plaques and prayer strips around her. She blinked hard and looked again at the spot she had been staring at, but found nothing unusual.
"What's wrong?" Shen Qingyun asked her as she walked ahead.
"It's alright, let's go." Shen Qingli slowly shook her head. The sun overhead was dazzling, but it didn't bring any warmth to people. She unconsciously pulled her clothes tighter because of the cold wind. She followed Shen Qingyun's footsteps and muttered to herself, "I must have seen wrong."
After saying that, they slowly walked down the steps towards the bottom of the mountain.
"Oh, right, Ali, I think I saw a prayer plaque on that tree with the exact same name as yours." As she walked up the rugged steps, Shen Qingyun casually mentioned, "I originally wanted to take you to see it, but when I went to look for it again, I couldn't find it. I don't know if I saw it wrong."
"Really?" Shen Qingli paused in her tracks upon hearing her words. Suddenly, she recalled the prayer plaque she had seen in the wind earlier. She tried to read its contents but to no avail.
But she didn't dwell on that fleeting moment of surprise, so she waved her hand and said, "Maybe I'm mistaken. This is my first time here. Or maybe it's just a coincidence of names."
"Okay...that makes sense." Shen Qingyun nodded, as if she had been convinced.
-
After they left, the wind picked up, blowing countless prayer plaques on the Bodhi tree in the cold winter wind. On the topmost trunk, sunlight shone down, casting dappled patterns of light onto the prayer plaque that was being blown around in circles.
That prayer plaque looked like it had been hanging there for many years; its original bright red color had faded, and despite enduring countless days and nights of wind and rain, the writing on it remained clear.
Facing the faint halo of light, I was finally able to make out the contents of the document in the wind.
May Shen Qingli live a peaceful life.
The prayer plaque is still spinning, revealing the inscription on the back, dated August 20, 2015.
Signed by Xia Qing.
Amidst the whistling wind, Shen Qingli was unaware that during the more than ten years she had missed, someone had been praying for her safety for many years.
-----------------------
Author's Note: -Actually, she never truly missed those years-
The next chapter will be the final chapter, but I'll be away for two days. I've written several endings and struggled with the decision for a long time without settling on one. I'll be going on a research trip, so if there's no update by 6 PM these next two days, don't wait!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
