fool
For Xia Tong in the past, summer and winter vacations were like her period—no matter how short, they always felt too long. But for Xia Tong now, summer and winter vacations are like extra-long overnight sanitary napkins—no matter how long, they're never enough. Well, Xia Tong herself thinks this analogy is pretty disgusting.
After Xia Tong and Fu Jia got together, they were inseparable. Xia Tong was the type who had no one to spend time with, while Fu Jia was the type who was always the one being pursued, so the two of them were truly inseparable. They basically explored every nook and cranny of the city, and one day, on a whim, Fu Jia dragged Xia Tong to a neighboring city for some fun.
The neighboring city is a fairly famous tourist destination, so there are many stalls selling trinkets and souvenirs on the streets. Xia Tong was squatting in front of one of these stalls, carefully choosing between two small porcelain cat figurines. Fu Jia, having finally parked his car, caught up with her and, upon closer inspection, discovered she wanted a bracelet that was everywhere. Fu Jia was inwardly speechless. He thought that if a billboard fell down and killed ten people, eight of them would probably be wearing one of these red string bracelets on their wrists, and the remaining two would likely be tied to their ankles and not be seen. He silently scoffed at Xia Tong's taste, but still pretended to admire her.
"Fu Jia, do you think I should have 'Xun Kaiyun' or 'Fa Cai'?" Xia Tong asked for his opinion, still undecided.
Fu Jia glanced at the side and saw many other items with names written on them, and suggested, "These are too common; everyone can wear them. Why not choose one with your own name on it to make it special?"
Xia Tong thought about it carefully and realized it was true. She then moved over to look for her name among the boxes of small porcelain cats. Fu Jia also wanted one, completely ignoring who had just looked down on the bracelet for being too tacky and common. After they each chose their names, just as the vendor was about to take measurements for the bracelet, Fu Jia said, "Xia Xiaotong, your cat is black, it doesn't look good on a girl. My red one is more suitable for you."
Xia Tong examined the little porcelain cat in her hand and refused, saying, "But it would be strange to wear someone else's name!"
Fu Jia was taken aback by her use of "someone else's name," and said somewhat defiantly, "What's so strange about that? I'm your man, not some 'someone else'!"
Seeing his displeased expression, Xia Tong playfully poked his arm and said, "Fu Jia, if you want to wear my name, just say so. Aren't you tired of talking in such roundabout ways?" After saying that, she swapped the "Jia" character on his hand.
Fu Jia didn't reply, but thought to herself: No, I just want you to wear my name.
After making the bracelets, the two entered the ancient temple. When they bought their tickets, they were even given two sticks of incense as a gift. Xia Tong praised the cheap ticket price and the thoughtful service: "This is what a temple should be like! Last time I went to that big Buddha statue, the ticket cost several hundred yuan, and the incense also cost several hundred yuan. We tourists weren't worshipping the Buddha; we were just paying for the labor!"
Fu Jia silently carried her bag and coat, listening to her rambling. The incense here was very popular, and tourists came to offer incense in an endless stream. The steps were narrow and steep, and Fu Jia was always on the outside protecting her to prevent other tourists from bumping into her. She was also very busy responding to her conversations from time to time.
"My classmate said that the Buddha here is especially efficacious. She made a wish here the day before that she wouldn't fail any of her courses, and the next day when she checked her scores, she hadn't failed a single one!"
“It’s a matter of probability,” Fu Jia couldn’t help but retort.
Shh! Don't say this in front of Buddha, or you'll have bad luck next year!
He shrugged: "Okay, never mind."
Xia Tong truly prayed her way through the entire Buddhist hall. Every time she knelt on the prayer mat and devoutly made a wish, Fu Jia stood behind her with clothes in hand, watching. However, when she clasped her hands together and chanted prayers before the Guanyin Bodhisattva who grants children, Fu Jia wanted to remind her, but ultimately turned her head away.
After praying to Buddha, Xia Tong was about to light the two incense sticks given to her by the ticket inspector when Fu Jia stopped her, saying, "It's too smoky over there, let me go."
Xia Tong quickly protected the incense in her hands: "No, no, I need to let Buddha see my sincerity, otherwise my wish will not come true."
What did you wish for?
"May you pass every exam and win every gamble!"
Fu Jia sighed, thinking, "The Goddess of Mercy who grants children shouldn't concern herself with exams, right?"
Fu Jia waited outside for a long time but Xia Tong didn't come out. People went in and out in waves to light incense, but Xia Tong was nowhere to be seen. Could she have been knocked unconscious by the smoke? Fu Jia went closer and saw that everyone else was devoutly burning incense with their left hand from top to bottom. Only Xia Tong was holding two incense sticks in one hand on the lotus lamp like someone grilling lamb skewers on the street, her face covered in soot, looking really silly.
But she was adorably silly, and Fu Jia watched her from outside and laughed.
Leaving the temple, you enter an old street, which is really just a narrow alley lined with ancient houses where people still run the oldest traditional businesses. Their shop signs are all made of wood, and some are said to be the most valuable antiques in the entire shop.
They were walking through the bustling crowd when suddenly Fu Jia darted out. Xia Tong, who had been standing there bewildered, touched her empty pockets and immediately realized: "He stole my phone!"
When Xia Tong caught up, Fu Jia had already cornered the thieves—two children around fourteen or fifteen years old. Fu Jia grabbed one of them with each hand, dragged them to a corner, and said fiercely, "Give it to me!"
The two children were quite well-behaved, timidly pulling out a row of phones for Fu Jia to choose from: "Big brother, which one do you want?"
Xia Tong almost burst out laughing when she saw this: it's like we've been robbed.
After getting her phone back, Xia Tong couldn't help but praise him: "Fu Jia, you were so cool when you were interrogating the thief!"
Fu Jia was also very happy to hear this, and asked her in a low voice, "Really?"
"Yes! He looks just like a professional robber!" Xia Tong gave him a thumbs up.
"..." Can I rob her now?!
The street was lined with all sorts of folk craft shops. Xia Tong randomly stepped into a paper-cutting shop, which was filled with all kinds of paper-cuttings. Various cute paper-cuttings were displayed at the entrance, framed and looking particularly interesting. The shop owner was a balding old man in his forties or fifties. He didn't greet them when they entered, continuing with his work. Xia Tong pointed to a paper-cutting in a frame and asked, "How much is a pair of these?"
"Twenty for one person, forty for two people, plus a photo frame."
"Oh, so it was cut according to our own image! Then I'll get a set cut." Xia Tong immediately made the decision.
"Then how about we cut out a photo of the two of us? Boss, we want one for both of us." Fu Jia immediately chimed in.
"That won't do, forty yuan for two people is too expensive."
"I'm paying, so why do you care if it's a good deal or not?"
"Boss, how about you give us a discount for two people? Like the buy-one-get-one-half-off deal at the supermarket, I'll pay twenty yuan, and he can give me a ten-yuan discount. That'll be thirty yuan in total. Anyway, we're only missing out on the photo frame, so you won't lose out!"
Fu Jia, sitting next to her, said with dissatisfaction, "Why am I the one who gets half price? I'm a limited edition, priceless, you know?"
Xia Tong was originally haggling with the shop owner, but she was annoyed by his ungrateful behavior and for actually making things worse: "Did you tell me you were giving me a discount or promotion?"
Fu Jia was speechless; as expected, those who were paid to do so had no right to speak.
By this time, the shop owner had put down what he was doing and listened to their bickering for a while, and readily agreed. The two of them were sitting side by side on small stools, looking very serious, like they were taking a wedding photo, but gradually they realized that the shop owner wasn't always looking at them, so they started looking around again.
"My God, this paper-cut is priced at 3.88 million!" Xia Tong was extremely surprised when she saw the price tag, as if she had discovered a new continent.
Fu Jia came over to take a look when she heard the noise. The paper-cut was about three meters long, and it was intricately and delicately decorated with various Buddhas, deities, auspicious clouds, and lotus flowers. It was clear that it had taken a lot of effort to make it.
Xia Tong was only concerned about the price that day, expressing her worry: "Do you think anyone will buy it at such a high price?"
"This price tag isn't for the buyer to see; it's a sign of my 28 years of hard work," the shop owner replied while cutting paper.
"Twenty-eight years?"
“Of course, it took me 28 years from drawing the pattern to cutting it, and I failed countless times. If I made a mistake with one cut, everything had to be overturned and started all over again.”
Xia Tong stared in astonishment at the shop owner, who appeared to be in his forties or fifties. Twenty-eight years—how much passion and perseverance must it take to persist? How much loneliness and helplessness must he have endured during that time? Was it worth spending half his life on this? Just for a paper-cutting that was unlikely to sell?
Seeing them staring at him, the shop owner continued, "Throughout history, those who succeed have all been fools. Only those who persist in doing things that they know will not bring much reward or no reward at all can succeed."
"Really? What about smart people?" Xia Tong disagreed with his statement, as there have been countless smart and successful people throughout history. However, considering that he spent twenty-eight years cutting out a single piece of paper, Xia Tong decided not to argue with him.
"Smart people know this is difficult, so of course they do things that are easier to get rewards from! So these kinds of people are not likely to succeed, but they live quite well."
"It's good to be a smart person then," Xia Tong nodded.
"Of course it's great, life is comfortable. But when a fool becomes particularly persistent or fond of something, he will always go down the wrong path and not care how many times he fails."
Xia Tong thought for a moment, and finally expressed her opinion in a subtle way: "Actually, it's good to be flexible sometimes, so you don't have to work so hard."
Fu Jia, who had been silent all along, glanced at Xia Tong, the girl he had spent half his life pursuing, and said seriously, "I'm a fool."
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My computer is having problems, can anyone tell me how to reinstall the system?! Also, Dongguan Street in Yangzhou is pretty good~~~ Those of you living nearby should check it out~~~
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