Chapter 27 Releasing Animals and Amulets for Peace
Although Tan Chen said the night before that his mother was a hermit and did not care about material things, Xu Nianyi still felt that she needed to prepare something.
The next morning, she called Fang Qihang and drove to the supermarket in town.
She carefully selected some fruits that could be stored for a longer period of time, bought some local traditional pastries and nuts, and also picked up several boxes of pure milk with a long shelf life.
“I still think it’s not good to show up empty-handed, and besides, it’s also a token of our respect for the Buddha,” Xu Nianyi analyzed.
Fang Qihang was also very supportive, saying, "I think it's just that Tan Ge is internally resistant to his mother. If he won't buy it, the two of us will."
On the way to the supermarket, Xu Nianyi had already told Fang Qihang about today's itinerary, and also briefly mentioned Tan Chen's inner conflict, complicated family relationships, the fact that he hadn't seen his mother for more than ten years, and that his mother had become a nun at a temple.
She said with a hint of worry, "I'm a little worried about Tan Chen. He doesn't know how to handle it, and the atmosphere might get awkward. Hang, it's all up to you to liven things up later. Don't let it get awkward."
Upon hearing this, Fang Qihang patted his chest and readily agreed, "Leave it to me!"
The Buddhist atmosphere in the Northwest region is particularly strong, with famous sites like Kumbum Monastery and the Great Buddha Temple being well-known to them.
On the way to Xining, you can see some unnamed temples built on the mountaintops, their golden outlines shining brightly in the sunlight.
Slowly, their car drove into a somewhat remote village. The houses in the village were mostly made of adobe or brick and wood, the roads were narrow, and occasionally a few stray dogs were sunbathing.
Finally, the car stopped in front of a house that looked completely ordinary.
The gray walls, the old double wooden doors, and the absence of any temple plaques above the doors were completely different from the golden temples, wisps of smoke rising from the walls, and the melodious sound of bells that they had imagined.
"We didn't come to the wrong place, did we?" Fang Qihang voiced the shared curiosity of the three of them.
"I don't know, why don't we knock on the door and ask?" Xu Nian stepped forward and knocked on the iron ring on the door.
A moment later, the wooden door creaked open from the inside, and an elderly nun with a kind face, dressed in a dark gray nun's robe, appeared behind the door.
Looks like I came to the right place.
Tan Chen bowed slightly and said politely, "Hello, Master. We've come to visit Master Jingting."
"Jingting" is not his mother's name, but her Buddhist name.
"Jingting, they've arrived." The older nun called out into the courtyard, clearly already aware of their arrival.
She stepped aside and greeted them kindly, “Come in, children.”
The three of them turned around and took out a large bag of fruit, pastries and milk that Xu Nianyi had bought from the back seat of the car. They walked into the courtyard, which looked like a home but was actually a temple, with a slightly awkward demeanor.
The courtyard was small and square, kept very clean, and decorated very simply. Apart from a few pots of hardy green plants in the corner, there were some local-style prayer flags, their colors no longer bright, fluttering gently in the breeze, revealing a sense of austerity and piety.
There are five doors in the courtyard. One door is open, and you can vaguely see a Buddha statue inside. Incense smoke is swirling around, so it should be a Buddhist hall.
There was another room, which appeared to be a kitchen, from which a nun, also dressed in a dark gray robe, emerged.
She was tall and slender. Although the years and her life of seclusion had left their mark on her face, her calm eyes were almost identical to Tan Chen's.
Xu Nianyi immediately realized that this was Tan Chen's mother, Master Jingting.
"Greetings, Master!" the three greeted respectfully.
Master Jingting's gaze swept over the three of them, lingering for a moment on Tan Chen, his eyes filled with complex emotions: concern, guilt, and perhaps even a hint of barely perceptible excitement.
But she quickly regained the serenity characteristic of a nun. She nodded slightly in response.
“Put your things in this room first,” Master Jingting said, leading them into a closed side room. “Come with me to the Buddha Hall and pay your respects to the Bodhisattva.”
The three of them obeyed and respectfully followed her into the Buddhist hall.
The hall is not large, but it is solemn and dignified, with a Bodhisattva statue looking down on all living beings with a kind and benevolent expression.
Under Master Jingting's guidance, they devoutly offered incense and kowtowed.
Xu Nianyi prayed silently in her heart, hoping that this trip could resolve Tan Chen's inner conflict and that everyone could be safe and happy.
After they finished paying their respects to the Buddha, they were led to the side room where they had put their things earlier.
Against the wall were two simple earthen beds, clearly for sleeping. In another corner of the room, old wooden benches were arranged in an L-shape.
The two masters sat on one side, while Tan Chen and the other two sat on the other side.
Master Jingting didn't talk much; most of the time he just listened quietly.
The older nun was very talkative. She introduced herself as the person in charge here, and said that the temple was actually her family's old house.
After she became a Buddhist, she transformed her house into a temple. Master Jingting later met her by chance and, influenced by her teachings, also became a nun there and practiced Buddhism together.
On ordinary days, the two of them take care of the Buddhist temple and chant sutras to pray for the believers in the surrounding villages. Their lives are simple but peaceful.
The head chef warmly inquired about their work. Upon learning that they were not working and were traveling around China, he chatted with them about their travel experiences and inquired how long they would stay in the Northwest.
The conversation gradually turned to Master Jingting's past.
Through occasional additions from the master chef and Master Jingting, that long-buried past was pieced together piece by piece.
It turns out that the reason why Master Jingting cruelly divorced and abandoned her young child was because she could not bear the life of wandering and homelessness that she had with her husband while he was driving a truck.
She wanted to settle down, find a small town to live in, open a small shop, and establish herself through her own hard work.
She chose to settle in Lanzhou, a city she liked, and worked as a waitress and ran a clothing store over the years. Eventually, she even made enough money to start her own breakfast stall.
The hardships she faced in the early stages of her career were unimaginable, so she didn't choose to have children. However, she never shirked her responsibilities as a mother, saving every penny to send child support to Tan Chen's father every month.
But later, as Tan Chen's father's logistics company grew, the money she sent became insignificant.
She met a master monk in Xining by chance, and during their subsequent interactions, she often listened to the master monk explain Buddhist teachings, which deeply moved her.
Adding to her woes, the breakfast shop she had poured her heart and soul into later failed, she suffered personal emotional setbacks, felt guilty for not spending enough time with her children, and with all these troubles intertwined, she finally saw through the vanities of the world and chose to enter a Buddhist monastery to seek inner peace.
"Life is simple and happy now," Master Jingting said softly, his tone calm and unassuming.
The two nuns sincerely invited the three of them to stay overnight and experience their life of quiet meditation.
Xu Nianyi looked at Tan Chen and saw that although he was silent, he did not object, so she readily agreed.
“We’ve been chatting all morning, and the drivers probably haven’t had time to cook. Let’s drive them to town for lunch,” Fang Qihang said, breaking the quiet atmosphere.
The head chef smiled and said, "No need to trouble yourself. Jingting knew you were coming and has been busy in the kitchen since early morning. Just have a vegetarian meal here."
Lunch was a simple vegetarian meal with steamed buns, and the taste was light. But Xu Nianyi noticed that, perhaps by coincidence, there were spinach and mushrooms that Tan Chen liked to eat.
In the afternoon, they followed the two nuns to clean the courtyard, wipe the tables and chairs in the Buddha Hall, and listen to them explain some simple Buddhist stories.
Xu Nianyi noticed that when Master Jingting was working and talking, his eyes were focused and peaceful, a kind of tranquility that came from finding inner peace.
During the visit, villagers came to visit, some to chat and others to bring homemade steamed buns, showing that the chefs had a very harmonious relationship with the villagers.
That night, we were put in another room with two earthen beds.
Rather than feeling awkward sharing a room with her two mentors, Xu Nianyi chose to share a room with two boys.
Two boys slept on one kang (a heated brick bed), while she slept alone on another kang, separated by a thick cloth curtain, which was quite convenient.
The next morning, before dawn, the temple was already filled with the rhythmic sounds of wooden fish drums and chanting.
The three of them also got up and participated in the morning class.
Although I couldn't understand the obscure scriptures, the solemn and dignified atmosphere brought me peace of mind.
After the morning prayers, the two masters led them, carrying a bucket of fish they had bought from the market, to a nearby tributary of the Yellow River, where they held a simple release ceremony.
Watching those little lives happily swim towards the depths of the river, Xu Nianyi felt a strange sense of emotion.
Afterwards, Tan Chen drove for more than an hour with his drivers to visit a familiar herder's family by Qinghai Lake.
Master Jingting often came to chant sutras and pray for them. The herdsman family respected the master very much, warmly welcomed them, drank mellow milk tea, and listened to many stories from the grasslands.
Over the course of this day, Tan Chen watched as her mother, in this austere yet powerfully spiritual environment, worked tirelessly, remained calm, and even occasionally revealed a faint smile.
He understood two things.
First, his mother is not only his mother, but also an independent individual. She should not be bound by the role of mother and emotional ties; she can boldly choose to pursue the path of inner fulfillment.
Secondly, his mother loves him. Her choice was forced by reality. She remembers the dishes she loved to eat when she was a child. She wants to fulfill her duty of raising him. She also learned about her situation from her aunt. She should not have closed herself off and resisted her mother's previous attempts to communicate.
Now that he has his mother's WeChat, they can communicate more often in the future.
Two days later, when the three were leaving, Master Jingting saw them off at the village entrance, placed a small, blessed amulet in each of their hands, and whispered, "Have a safe journey."
The car slowly drove away from the village. In the rearview mirror, the gray monk's robe stood at the door until it became a blurry little dot.
The car was quiet. Tan Chen held the amulet, which was still warm from his body, and remained silent for a long time.
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