The next day, Lin He and Wei Ping booked their flight tickets for their short holiday.
Lin Zhexia, who didn’t want to go out, saw them off at the door: “I know, remember to bring your keys, remember to eat properly.”
Before leaving, Lin He was still worried about her: “How’s your knee feeling today?”
Lin Zhexia: “It’s just a scrape, and the wound isn’t deep. The scab is forming quickly. After resting for a day, it doesn’t hurt anymore, and I don’t have much trouble walking.”
Lin He: “Be extremely careful when you’re home alone—”
“I know.”
After Lin He and Wei Ping left, Lin Zhexia went back to lie down on her bed for a while.
Chen Lin called her: “Tang Shuxuan and I are planning to go out. How are you feeling today? Do you want to come with us?”
“Where are you going?”
“We don’t know yet. Do you have any ideas?”
Lin Zhexia thought for a moment: “Let’s go to a temple.”
Chen Lin: “Huh?”
Lin Zhexia started checking the map: “There’s one nearby, only 20 minutes by car.”
Chen Lin: “I asked for your ideas, not for you to be so creative. I thought we might want to go to places like dessert shops. Why would you think of going to a temple?”
Lin Zhexia: “Because Chi Yao is going to participate in a physics competition.”
Chen Lin: “So?”
Lin Zhexia: “So I want to go to the temple to pray. I heard the lucky charms from that temple are very effective.”
Chen Lin: “…”
After a moment, Chen Lin said, “Alright, I’ll ask Tang Shuxuan. If she wants to go too, then we’ll go, but I think most likely she won’t—”
Chen Lin paused.
Chen Lin: “She just replied, saying she’s very willing to go. She wants to pray for a relationship.”
Lin Zhexia was also silent for two seconds: “That does sound like something she would say.”
Chen Lin sighed: “Then I’ll pray for success in the college entrance exams.”
Chi Yao was leaving at two in the afternoon, so the temple trip was very rushed. Lin Zhexia was afraid that by the time she returned with the items, he would have already left without her having a chance to give them to him.
So before leaving, she sent Chi Yao a string of messages-
Let me know before you get on the bus-
I want to see you off-
Even if I have to use a cane, I’m still coming to see you off [smile]
But to her surprise, the temple was especially crowded during the holiday, with a long line at the place to get charms.
Away from school, everyone rarely got to wear their clothes. Tang Shuxuan wore a dress today, looking particularly ladylike.
Tang Shuxuan comforted her: “Don’t worry, we should make it in time.”
Lin Zhexia felt a bit remorseful: “If I had known, I would have come yesterday.”
Tang Shuxuan: “…Your leg wasn’t completely healed yesterday. How would you have come?”
Lin Zhexia: “Rent a wheelchair?”
“…”
The three chatted while waiting in line.
Chen Lin livened up the atmosphere, teasing: “Shuxuan, what relationship are you praying for? Is it with that senior student?”
Tang Shuxuan didn’t deny it: “I hope we can go to the same university after graduation. I hope that when he wants to date someone in the future, I’ll be the first person he considers.”
She continued: “Actually, when I first went to ask for his contact information, I was just casually asking. I didn’t expect so much to happen afterward, even though it’s all one-sided.” She paused at this point, “I like him.”
Lin Zhexia listened from the side. She looked at the seemingly endless line in front, the curling incense smoke around them, and the devout worshippers bowing before the Buddha statue.
The temple was already quite old, with a hundred-year-old tree in the courtyard, lush with branches and leaves.
She looked back and suddenly asked Tang Shuxuan: “What is liking someone?”
She continued to ask, “How do you know when you like someone?”
Tang Shuxuan was stunned by these two questions.
She thought for a long time, and finally said: “I don’t know how to explain it either, but if you like someone, you’ll know it.”
The line was very long that day.
When it was Lin Zhexia’s turn, she devoutly held the blessing bag and bowed several times to the Buddha statue.
As she bent down, she silently recited in her heart:
I hope Chi Yao does well in the competition.
No, not just the competition, I hope everything goes well for him in the future.