162: Chapter 162 When the Plums Ripen: Childhood Sweetheart Male Lead 40

After coming out of the Guanyin Hall, Nan Li was in a great mood.

Pulling Lin Xi along the bluestone slab road, she arrived at Mahavira Hall.

The two knelt before the Buddha and devoutly kowtowed.

Lin Xi closed her eyes, muttering words under her breath, and one could guess without even needing to think.

She was definitely silently praying for herself to strike it rich and achieve financial freedom soon.

Nan Li similarly put her hands together in prayer and gently closed her eyes.

She thought about it, but in the end, she didn't dare greedily pray for the two of them to grow old together.

She only chanted silently in her heart, praying for Meng Zhu to have a safe, smooth, and worry-free, joyful life forever.

As long as he was well, she would feel at ease.

After paying their respects to the Buddha, the two walked out of the main hall.

Just as they stepped across the threshold, they happened to run into the Abbot coming straight toward them.

Nan Li still had some impression of this Abbot.

Unexpectedly, when the Abbot saw Nan Li, his footsteps paused slightly, and his gaze even fell upon her hair bun, revealing a look of surprise.

He put his hands together and chuckled as he pointed at the hairpin on Nan Li's head.

"Amitabha, it seems this benefactor, you and that young master of the Meng Family have finally become a married couple?"

Nan Li was stunned, completely clueless, and asked with a blank face.

"Master, what do you mean by those words?"

The Abbot stroked the beard beneath his jaw.

"The last time Old Mrs. Meng came, she asked me to fortune-tell the marital affinity between you and the young master of the Meng Family, but this old monk made a mistake and calculated it as the husband-and-wife affinity between you and the young master of the Meng Family."

"As a result, it turned out to be a match made in heaven."

The Abbot smiled even more happily.

"Afterwards, this old monk didn't explain much, thinking that everything has its own predestined fate. Now seeing you wearing this hairpin on your head, as expected, you two are already engaged."

Hearing the four words "match made in heaven", Nan Li felt as if she had eaten honey in her heart, both happy and somewhat embarrassed.

However, upon hearing the word "engaged", she was startled, waved her hands repeatedly, and her cheeks turned as red as a ripe apple.

"N-No such thing! Master, you misunderstood, we are not engaged..."

Now, it was the Abbot's turn to be somewhat puzzled.

He carefully scrutinized the hairpin on Nan Li's head and said with certainty.

"The Meng Family has always been a frequent visitor of Honglu Temple, and this old monk recognizes your hairpin. Since you are already wearing the 'golden jade good match', how can you not be engaged?"

Upon hearing this, Nan Li was stunned on the spot.

She stared wide-eyed at the Abbot, instinctively pulling out the hairpin from her head, her voice even trembling slightly.

"Master, you said... what is this?"

"The 'golden jade good match'."

The Abbot looked at the warm and glossy hairpin and said slowly.

"Old Mrs. Meng wore this hairpin when she was young, and the daughter-in-law of The Old Matriarch also wore it. Now that it is worn on your head, this old monk is absolutely certain I cannot be mistaken."

Nan Li blankly looked at the hairpin in her hand, her mind buzzing with a "buzz".

The scene of Meng Zhu giving her the hairpin, Auntie Hua's loss of composure the next day, their trip to Yuxiang Mountain, all sorts of events at the jade workshop and incense workshop, and finally the strange feeling during the ancestral worship and greeting guests.

Scene after scene of past events flashed through Nan Li's mind one by one.

They also surfaced before the eyes of the bullet-screen viewers.

Turns out, this hairpin was actually the golden jade good match that Uncle Lin mentioned?

Realizing that things might not be quite what he thought, the Abbot wasn't flustered; he just chuckled and chanted another Buddha name.

"It seems the benefactor was unaware of this beforehand, but it doesn't matter. Since it is a predestined romantic bond, then coming to think of it, for this old monk to tell you today is also Heaven's will."

With that, the Abbot smiled, nodded, and gracefully turned and left.

Leaving Nan Li standing in place, her hand holding the hairpin tightening slightly, her heartbeat pounding like a drum.

Lin Xi had long since opened her mouth wide to the side, her jaw practically dropping to the ground.

She looked at the dazed Nan Li, taking a long time to find her voice again.

"No way, Nickname! You guys actually got your fortunes told behind my back? And it's a match made in heaven?! Do you have to be this absurd?!"

Nan Li's face blushed to the point of bleeding, and she awkwardly stuck the hairpin back into her hair.

"I... I only found out just now..."

When walking out of the hall door, Nan Li took several deep breaths, but could not suppress the surging flutter in her heart no matter what.

She couldn't help taking out her phone, wanting to call Meng Zhu immediately.

She wanted to ask him about the divination slip, and she wanted to ask him about the hairpin.

Perhaps these were all just excuses; actually, she just wanted to talk to him.

But just as she unlocked the screen, she suddenly remembered that due to the time difference, Meng Zhu should be sleeping right now.

Reluctant to disturb his rest, she turned off her phone screen again, forcibly holding herself back.

Yet at this moment, her whole body felt tingly, and she felt that everything that happened today was as unreal as a dream.

The two walked around in the wide plaza at the temple entrance.

There were still quite a few tourists and incense-burners here, with many people coming and going.

Nan Li, however, was immersed in her own world, her mind wandering.

Lin Xi saw through her thoughts at a glance, leaned over, bumped her shoulder against hers, and teased:

"What, want to call him?"

Nan Li nodded, then shook her head again.

"Xiujie-ge should be sleeping right now, I can't disturb him."

Lin Xi raised her eyebrows.

"Then send a WeChat message? Leaving a message should be fine, right."

Nan Li thought it made sense.

However, the two walked several circles around the plaza. Nan Li held her phone, typing and deleting, deleting and typing the words in the chat box, unable to figure out what would be appropriate to send.

She turned her head to ask for Lin Xi's opinion, only to find that Lin Xi wasn't looking at her at all, but was staring excitedly at the edge of the plaza in the distance.

"Nickname, look over there quickly!"

Lin Xi pulled Nan Li and walked over there, pointing forward.

"There is a wishing tree over there, come on, let's go make a wish too!"

Nan Li looked over in the direction she pointed.

That was a century-old ancient tree with lush branches and leaves, hung all over with small red wooden plaques fluttering in the wind, each inscribed with other people's wishes.

Lin Xi ran to a nearby stall, briskly bought two small wooden plaques, and handed one to Nan Li.

Then she picked up the brush at the stall and casually wrote three big characters on her own wooden plaque: Strike it rich!

After finishing, she turned her head and saw Nan Li still staring blankly at the chat box on her phone, prompting her urgedly.

"Aiyah, think about it slowly later, make a wish first, make a wish first!"

Nan Li asked instinctively.

"What wish to make?"

Lin Xi rolled her eyes at her.

"You should just write Nan Li and Meng Zhu grow old together and stay together forever!"

Nan Li gently shook her head instead.

"No."

"Why?"

"This kind of wishing tree, I've never seen one that actually works."

Nan Li said earnestly.

Lin Xi was speechless.

"Then you write strike it rich too."

Nan Li blinked her eyes.

"But, I don't lack money to spend either."

Lin Xi instantly felt as if her chest had been stabbed by a knife, and she waved her hand saying:

"Fine, fine, fine, write whatever you want, write whatever you like."

When Lin Xi finished hanging her wooden plaque, she found that Nan Li still hadn't written anything, and instead sat down on a stone bench at the edge of the plaza behind the big tree.

Nan Li was staring at her phone in a daze again.

Lin Xi really gave up.

"If you can't figure it out, forget it. And I think, some words are better said to him face-to-face when he comes back."

"Don't tell me you're going to confess over the phone?"

Nan Li's face flushed, and she rebutted with embarrassment and annoyance.

"Who wants to confess?!"

But despite saying that, her hand honestly turned off the phone screen.

She felt Lin Xi was right.

Some words indeed shouldn't be said across a phone screen; she had to look into his eyes and tell him in person.

Nan Li raised her head, gazing at the distant winter sky, and then looked at the vast scenery down the mountain.

For a long time, she softly asked Lin Xi.

"Xixi, do you think... if I confess, can we really be together forever?"

Hearing this, Lin Xi immediately encouraged her unceasingly.

"Of course! We won't talk about loving for a thousand or ten thousand years; we aren't that greedy, loving for a hundred years is just fine!"

Nan Li was amused by these words and burst out laughing with a "puche".

Watching the clouds rolling and unrolling in the sky, the smile on the corners of her lips gradually subsided, turning into a faint melancholy.

"I really hope Xiujie-ge could come back right now... Half a year is really so long."

Lin Xi asked softly:

"You miss him again?"

"Yeah, I miss him."

Nan Li did not deny it, nodding candidly.

"I missed him before, and now... I miss him even more."

Lin Xi glanced sideways at her stealthily.

"Then are you still sad?"

Nan Li shook her head, light flashing in the depths of her eyes.

"I'm not sad anymore. I can feel his love for me. I miss him a lot, but I'm not feeling as miserable as before."

Hearing this, Lin Xi smiled knowingly, and the stone hanging in her heart finally dropped to the ground.

Now, the task given by the big shot was more than half completed.

Next, she didn't have to worry about how to counsel Nan Li; she just needed to accompany her and play with peace of mind.

The two sat under the tree for a while longer.

Even Lin Xi could feel it—Nan Li, overflowing with lovesickness at this moment, had sweetness mixed within that melancholy.

Before leaving, Nan Li looked at the wooden plaque in her hand that had remained blank all along, and suddenly broke into a bright smile, her flowing gaze full of radiance.

"I know what to write."

"Write what?"

Lin Xi curiously leaned closer.

Nan Li, however, kept her in suspense and refused to tell her.

She walked over to the table selling wooden plaques nearby, where writing brushes prepared by monks were available, and writing services were also provided.

Nan Li didn't let the monks write for her; instead, she confidently took the writing brush, her wrist turning.

In an instant, she left two lines of neat and timeless handwriting on the wooden plaque:

"Viewing the morning sky at dawn and clouds at dusk; walking, I think of you, and sitting, I think of you."

After writing, Nan Li proudly blew dry the ink and walked under the wishing tree.

She stood on tiptoe and steadily hung this red wooden plaque on a branch.

She hoped.

That the wishing tree could tell her beloved.

That today.

She missed him exceptionally much.