Chapter 90: Pray for the arrival of late autumn in Wenzhou this year...
Late autumn arrived early in Vancouver this year, with the chill already arriving in November.
Chen Song disliked spring, with its constant rain and humidity. He disliked summer, with its heat and sweat. He disliked winter, with its biting cold. The only season that made him feel comfortable was autumn.
The ginkgo leaves on the streets gradually turned yellow. As the autumn wind blew, the warm yellow leaves drifted all over the city, like stars in the daytime.
Yile organizes team-building activities around mid-November every year. These activities are divided into groups according to the work schedule. The activities include praying at Lingshan Temple, bathing in Lingshan Hot Springs overnight, and practicing vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures. The group can leave the temple until the following evening.
Chen Song had been delayed until the last batch due to his busy work schedule. It wasn't until two days before the prayer that he received a message from Tang Shihe, and then he remembered that he had overlooked something.
Tang Shihe's birthday was also on the day of the prayer, but she was so busy these past two days that she almost forgot about it. A month ago, Tang Shihe told Chen Song that her birthday was next month, and asked Chen Song to take a day off and come to her house for dinner.
Chen Song ordered a jade bracelet for her, and fearing he wouldn't be able to get it in time, he simply filled in Lu Yuan's home address. Unexpectedly, it arrived two days before her birthday. Tang Shihe told him she loved it and wanted to remember to come over for dinner the day after tomorrow.
Chen Song then remembered and after some thought, he asked the hospital for permission to leave that night after praying, without taking a bath or staying overnight.
I pray that the clouds are thick on this day and it looks like it is going to rain.
Yile chartered a bus to go to the temple. Chen Song had to come back that night to celebrate Tang Shihe's birthday, so he drove there by himself and followed the bus all the way to Lingshan Temple.
We arrived at the parking lot halfway up the mountain at 8:00 AM. Thick gray clouds covered our heads, and the mountain fog was thick. Lingshan Temple was at the top of the mountain. After purchasing tickets at the service area, we slowly climbed up.
The long stone staircase leading to the temple is called the Path of Rebirth and consists of 1,983 steps. Reaching the summit takes about two to three hours. On clear days, the scenery along the way is breathtaking. In April and May, the azalea fields are renowned.
It was late autumn now, and only the dark forest and green trees were hidden in the thick fog, which brought a faint, damp and cold breath to everyone.
Ye Wenzhou lowered his head, stepped on a leaf, and said weakly, "Why do we have this kind of team building? I'm impressed. Other team building activities are camping and barbecue in the wild, but we are here to experience a two-day monk tour. Climbing the mountain is fine, but we have to get up so early. How can a doctor go to a remote mountain area to provide support and go to a temple to pray for blessings? Yile is really treating us like a nobody."
"Hasn't Lin Zhengzhen already stepped down? Can Jiyuan Lin abolish this useless team-building? Gods and Buddhas don't care about life and death, okay? If praying to gods and Buddhas worked, wouldn't everyone become rich and wealthy? They wouldn't even be able to take leave. Why does this have to be tied to becoming a regular employee?"
Dong Jingming took a sip of water and said, "It's euphemistically called an assessment of the team's coordination and communication skills."
"No, no, I need to sit for a while." Ye Wenzhou waved his hand, quickly walked up a few steps, walked into the pavilion nearby and sat down to rest.
The team of 20 people were scattered in various places in the path of rebirth. The three of them were in front of the team and had already walked more than 1,300 steps. Chen Song and Dong Jingming were also a little tired, so they followed them into the pavilion to rest together.
Dong Jingming smiled and said, "Is it because you've been so busy preparing for pregnancy recently that you feel so weak? I heard there's a very powerful fertility goddess up there. You might be able to get pregnant if you go and worship her."
"Get lost," Ye Wenzhou picked up the water bottle and threw it at him. "I'm young and in good health, okay? My wife went to Hangzhou these days, and I'm home alone. I just played games late last night, okay?"
"Aren't you preparing for pregnancy? Why are you going to Hangzhou all of a sudden?"
"Just talking about this makes me angry! My wife has a favorite actor, the protagonist of the recently released movie "The Assassin". Have you seen it? The ratings and reviews are very good. I was dragged to watch it with her some time ago. The plot is really good, and I have to admit that Shen Qinglin's acting skills are quite good."
"But who can accept that their woman likes another man so much? I'm speechless. What's even more speechless is that our hospital shareholder, Mr. Gu, knows Shen Qinglin. Mr. Gu talked about this while having dinner with my father-in-law. My wife found out and frantically asked his father if he could ask Mr. Gu to introduce her to someone so they could have dinner together and fulfill her dream of chasing stars."
Chen Song paused while drinking water, put the bottle down, and looked at Ye Wenzhou.
"Did Mr. Gu agree?" Dong Jingming asked.
"I agreed! Otherwise, why would I go to Hangzhou? You left me alone at home and made me so angry that I played games all night."
"Are they close?" Chen Song realized what he had said after he said it. He squeezed the water bottle and said, "Uh..."
"Who? My wife and Mr. Gu?" Ye Wenzhou looked at Chen Song with some confusion.
"No, no." Chen Song suddenly realized that his words were a bit strange and explained, "It's that actor and him."
"Oh oh oh," Ye Wenzhou breathed a sigh of relief, "You scared me to death. Then I didn't know. I heard that they were childhood friends, but boss, aren't you also very close to Mr. Gu? I thought you all knew each other. I thought just now. I thought. Hahahaha."
Chen Song paused, his throat feeling dry. He picked up the water bottle and took a few sips before saying, "We just know each other."
"Ha. Really?" Ye Wenzhou didn't believe it. "Just knowing you can protect you from sulfuric acid. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, that would hurt so much, I feel like I'm going to die."
Chen Song's heart tightened and he didn't say anything.
Ye Wenzhou suddenly felt nervous, and a guess emerged in his mind. He looked at Chen Song suspiciously.
"Boss, I suddenly remembered something."
"Um"
"On my wedding day, they said Liu Yuran accidentally spilled wine on you. It was Mr. Gu who took you to the bathroom to clean it up. You were gone for a long time and didn't come back. My father-in-law called Mr. Gu and he said his wife wasn't feeling well, so he left first. It was Mr. Gu who answered Dong Jingming's call. That was two hours later, and you were still together. Wasn't he busy going home to take care of his wife?"
Chen Song's heart began to beat faster, his blood surging and burning his skin. The plastic water bottle was slightly deformed by Chen Song's grip, and he suddenly remembered that when Gu Xingjue answered the phone, he was holding his...
Blood instantly appeared on Chen Song's ears, his face turned a little red, and his chest felt stuffy. He tilted his head and coughed twice.
Seeing Chen Song's reaction, Ye Wenzhou felt that his guess was true, and he was a little shocked for a moment. He knew that Chen Song liked men, but he didn't know that Gu Mo liked men!
…
Could it be that Chen Song is Gu Mo's "wife"...Ahhhhhhh? !
"What's wrong?" Dong Jingming asked. He felt something was a little strange, but he couldn't tell what was strange.
Ye Wenzhou was waiting for Chen Song to explain, but Chen Song himself didn't know how to explain. He was not good at lying, and he didn't want to lie to his friends.
So Ye Wenzhou got his answer in Chen Song's silence.
"Hmm?" Dong Jingming was confused and looked back and forth at the two of them. "What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"
Ye Wenzhou laughed: "It's okay. I just asked, maybe they were busy at the time."
"Yeah, aren't you asking what's going on?"
Ye Wenzhou intended to take over and cover up Chen Song's embarrassment, but Dong Jingming, the idiot, kept asking questions.
Ye Wenzhou glared at him, stood up and said, "What does their business have to do with you? Hurry up and go up the mountain. I'm starving."
Dong Jing understood him at a glance: "Didn't you ask that? You only know how to eat all day long, but you won't die from eating. There's nothing to eat even in the mountains, so just chew on tree bark."
"Doctor Chen, are you hot?" Dong Jingming saw Chen Song's flushed face.
Chen Song paused and fanned himself: "Yeah, a little bit."
Ye Wenzhou patted Dong Jingming, who was so tactless, and pulled him forward: "Hurry up, hurry up, let's go up the mountain to eat vegetarian noodles. I'm starving."
"Are you a pig? You're still hungry after eating so much this morning." Dong Jingming scolded him twice, and walked out of the pavilion with him noisily. The blush on Chen Song's face slowly faded away. The mountain breeze blew on his face, and a few cries in his ears gradually woke him up.
"Boss, hurry up and catch up--!"
Chen Song looked up and saw Ye Wenzhou waving at him. Dong Jingming also turned around and waited for him.
Chen Song nodded, picked up the water bottle, stood up and followed.
"Do you know how to worship Buddha?" Dong Jingming asked.
Ye Wenzhou said, "It's just kneeling down and bowing three times, how else can you bow with such prostrations?"
"There are so many tricks in there. My grandmother is a big believer in Buddhism, and she took me there. You have to light three incense sticks in the center of the open space outside the main hall and do the ritual of bowing three times in each direction, starting with the main hall, then bowing three times in the other three directions in a clockwise direction."
"And you have to hold incense like this," Dong Jingming put his hands together, "You have to hold incense like this. Many people hold it wrong."
"Ah. So that's it? I was wrong." Ye Wenzhou said.
Chen Song took a look and found that he was also wrong.
"Also, you can't wear revealing clothing in temples, and you can't wear shorts. You can't step on the threshold when entering. Men should enter with their left foot and exit with their right foot. Women should do the reverse. You can't take pictures of Buddha statues."
Ye Wenzhou: "Why are there so many rules? Not even allowed to take pictures."
Dong Jingming: "This is called etiquette, to show respect to the gods and Buddhas. Taking photos is blasphemy."
"When you arrive at the main hall and kneel down to make a wish, you must first greet the deity and then introduce yourself. Tell us when and where you were born, and what you hope to obtain on this visit. If your wish is granted, you will bring an offering to thank them. Once your wish comes true, you must return to fulfill your vow."
"So it's so detailed. I just bowed three times and then asked for your blessing to help me succeed in my career and make a lot of money. No wonder I haven't made a lot of money yet. But being a doctor doesn't make a lot of money either. Got it. I'll try your way of praying this time."
Chen Song thought for a moment, then looked up at the temple at the top, ready to give it a try. He had visited the temple in Jing City before, praying for the red string on Gu Xingjue's wrist. The process was simple: he dipped the bracelet in holy water, then bowed three times, mentally wishing him peace.
This time he wanted to pray for himself, asking the gods and Buddhas to help him get out of the haze of the past and untie those knots in his heart.
The three of them didn't rest any more, but reached the top in one go, received incense, worshipped Buddha and ate vegetarian noodles.
"How about asking for a fortune?" Dong Jingming asked, "I heard fortune-telling here is very accurate."
"Okay, give it a try." Ye Wenzhou said, "Boss, do you want to smoke?"
Chen Song thought for a while and said, "I don't want to smoke anymore. I'm going back first."
He was actually a bit afraid of fortune-telling and divination. He'd had a rough life, and if he got a bad fortune or a prediction of a bad future, he'd be easily affected and filled with negative emotions. Any hope he'd secretly cherished would be shattered.
"Well, be careful on the road."
"Um."
Chen Song turned around and took a few steps when the abbot next to him grabbed him and said, "Donor, it's going to rain heavily soon. It's better for you to stay tonight."
Chen Song looked back at him. The abbot had a white beard, wrinkles all over his face, and small eyes, but the look he gave him was bright, as if a mysterious whirlpool had drawn Chen Song into it. Chen Song was in a trance for a moment.
That force made Chen Song want to obey his words, but Chen Song had to leave tonight.
Ye Wenzhou was a little surprised and looked at Dong Jingming: "Why is he holding the boss?"
Dong Jingming felt something was wrong and said to Chen Song, "Doctor Chen, why don't you stay here tonight? It's raining heavily and the roads are slippery, so it'll be hard for you to drive. The mountain roads here are so winding and the signal isn't good. What if something happens?"
Chen Song smiled calmly, pulled the abbot's hand away and said, "It's okay, I'll drive slowly. It's my family's birthday today, and I have to go back to celebrate it for her."
Chen Song didn't think there would be any danger. God would not take him away so early. God would torture him slowly. Death would be a relief for him.
Dong Jingming knew Chen Song's character, so he had to say, "Okay, then drive slowly and send us a message when you get home."
"Yeah." Chen Song looked at the abbot and nodded to him to express his apology.
When Chen Song walked out of the hall, a few drops of rain had already fallen on the ground. Chen Song took out an umbrella from his backpack and started to go down the mountain with it.
Going down the mountain was faster than going up. Chen Song had just eaten a bowl of vegetarian noodles in the temple and his strength had almost recovered. It only took him an hour and a half to reach the parking lot.
At this time, the rain gradually became heavier, and raindrops hit the umbrella continuously. The mountain wind blew sideways, and even though Chen Song was holding an umbrella, he was still wet. His pants stuck to his legs, feeling cold, wet and sticky, and very uncomfortable.
Chen Song quickened his pace towards the parking space, but heard a shout from behind.
"Chen Song!"
Then the sound of hurried running approached him through the rain.
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