Chapter 253 The urn in the temple (I will be on business the next two days, so I don’t know if I will be updated or not)
The place Lin Shutang wanted to go was not far, but he had to cross most of the city and there were bound to be traffic jams on the road, so it would take a long time.
The car stopped in front of a temple. Since it was a weekday, there weren't many people there.
Fan Sizhu did not follow him in, but drove away to find a parking space.
After Lin Shutang entered, he walked in front of Li Yansheng and walked in as if he was familiar with the route.
We passed through several rockeries, where a few hydrangeas grew. Finally, we stopped in front of a large hall. Unlike the bustling halls outside, this one seemed a bit deserted. However, perhaps due to the constant burning of incense, it didn't seem so desolate.
Li Yansheng's eyes seemed to casually sweep across the side wall, where there was a huge wooden shelf filled with urns of various kinds.
Then, a vague guess emerged in his mind.
"Shutang." A hoarse voice engraved with time came.
Lin Shutang returned a Buddhist greeting to the master: "Master, I came to see my parents!"
The old master had a kind face. When she heard Lin Shutang's words, she did not respond immediately. Her eyes fell on Li Yansheng beside her, and the smile on her face deepened.
Then, after a few seconds, he said "Hmm."
The ashes of Lin Shutang's parents were placed at the innermost part.
Unlike those on the shelves outside, this urn is placed alone on a small table.
Two names were engraved on an urn, the indentations coated in a faint, not-so-substantial layer of gold. In the incense burner in front of the urn sat a few incense sticks. Some had burned out, leaving only the stumps, while others still emitted smoke. The burner was filled with ash, with more than three incense sticks remaining, indicating they had been burning recently.
Lin Shutang took out three more from the bag on the table, lit them on the candle next to him, knelt down, and then put them in.
After burning incense, she did not get up, but continued to kneel, looking at the urn without saying a word.
Li Yansheng knew she was lost in thought, perhaps "talking" to her parents, or perhaps thinking about something else. He didn't urge her, but simply stood quietly behind her.
After waiting for Lin Shutang to stand up, Li Yansheng also knelt down and lit three incense sticks.
Lin Shutang was surprised for a moment but did not stop him.
As they left, Li Yansheng was puzzled, but he didn't ask. Lin Shutang, however, began to explain, "I was only seven when my parents died. My uncle from Shancheng asked me if I wanted to bury them. I said yes. But the cemeteries in Jingshi are too expensive. I don't have the money, and neither do the Feng family. My uncle and his family didn't want to bring my parents back to Shancheng for burial, and I didn't want to be too far away from them. So we sent them here. The master I just mentioned was a friend of my father's."
"They divided up all of my parents' belongings, saying they wanted them as souvenirs, and the Feng family didn't stop them. We were so stupid back then. What kind of souvenirs would they even want? Someone else's wedding rings. If we sold those things at the price at the time, we could probably just buy a plot for my parents' grave. Luckily, the photos weren't worth much, so no one wanted them!"
When she said the last sentence, she smiled bitterly, as if she was laughing at her own stupidity, or at the coldness of those people. In the end, she seemed to feel that it was not right: "Forget it, forcing it is probably not good. It's not comfortable to live in. It's better not to let my parents use it."
By the time they reached this point, they had already reached the main hall entrance. Li Yansheng put his arm around Lin Shutang's shoulders without saying a word.
At times like this, nothing needs to be said, this is enough.
"Sister Lin." A voice came from behind.
The two turned around and saw a smiling young man in a pale yellow robe. Lin Shutang knew him; he had met him last year. He was a man with a tragic fate. At the age of fifteen, he had unexpectedly become mentally retarded, his IQ reverting to that of a seven or eight-year-old. The doctor said there was a high probability of his condition not recovering, and his family, seeing him as a burden, had abandoned him.
I was always bullied in the welfare home, and after going around in circles, I ended up here.
"Sister Lin," the young man called out again, then looked at Li Yansheng: "Master said that you should all come together, because uncle and aunt are happy today."
In an instant, tears welled up in Lin Shutang's eyes. After a long while, she finally said, "Okay, thank you."
Some comments say the heroine's personality is unlikable. Honestly, I'm just as clumsy myself, haha. The male and female protagonists are actually based on real people, a combination of several people close to me. My aunt's story is essentially the same as the heroine's. Her family is from Zhejiang and very wealthy. Her parents died in a car accident in Yunnan, and their property was seized by relatives, so her grandmother took her to live in Kunming. Her parents' ashes were kept in a temple in Yunnan until she married my uncle and was buried there. Before her grandmother passed away, she was worried about her and sent her on a blind date, which led to her meeting my uncle. At the time, my aunt was young and beautiful, and my uncle was a decade older. So when many people first met them, they were curious why my aunt married him. But those close to us know that my aunt had no intention of marrying in the first place, and it was only after meeting my uncle that she did.
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