257: Vietnamese official cars

The overall structure of the Buddhist temple was similar to temples in Dragon Country, with a style characterized by upturned eaves and intricate carvings.

In fact, the vast majority of Buddhist temples throughout Vietnam, from north to south, have their names written in Chinese language.

Although Buddhism originated in Nepal and developed in ancient India,

the Buddhism in Southeast Asia has, for the most part, been refined and transformed through Chinese culture before being disseminated.

Therefore, apart from some Sanskrit scriptures, most of the disseminated Buddhist teachings and Zen philosophies are expressed in Chinese language.

After all, no other language or script in the world can be as concise yet full of philosophical meaning and artistic conception as Dragon Language and Dragon Language.

Hence, the couplets in these Buddhist temples on the Southeast Asian peninsula inevitably bear traces of Chinese language.

Since the layout of the entire Buddhist temple was not much different from what Li Qinghe had seen in other temples, he merely strolled around casually.

His brother-in-law was somewhat impatient to experience the feeling of being as strong as an ox, but seeing Li Qinghe calmly touring the temple,

he could only patiently accompany him.

Vu Linh Huong walked briskly, holding Li Qinghe's arm; in the past few days at the military region villa in the Seventh Military Region, her relationship with Li Qinghe had been deeply solidified.

In her opinion, this outing today was a family excursion, and its significance was very important.

Especially seeing her brother's attitude towards Li Qinghe evolve from initial warmth with a hint of distance to a very cordial tone.

As her brother's shadow since childhood, Vu Van Nghia certainly understood his sister, and she, his sister, also understood her brother.

She knew that when her brother displayed such a state, it meant he had a favor to ask.

Because of the significant age gap, when she was young, she saw a teenage Vu Van Nghia involved with many girls.

Later, as she grew a little older, she saw Vu Van Nghia coming and going with even more girls.

Vu Linh Huong knew about Vu Van Nghia's numerous romantic rumors and understood the situations of his many women.

For Vu Van Nghia, the only person in this world he could trust unreservedly was this little sister who had grown up following him around.

So, even eating Rice Noodles or instant noodles, he never hid anything from Vu Linh Huong.

Sometimes, he even needed Vu Linh Huong to help him resolve disputes in his 'backyard'.

When Vu Linh Huong met Nguyen Thi Linh and the others, she used techniques she had learned from Vu Van Nghia's 'harem' management.

She knew that the stability of the 'backyard' would affect a man's perception of a group of people, so she would subtly influence Nguyen Thi Linh and the others to maintain a harmonious atmosphere among them.

Of course, her aura was a bit strong in front of Nguyen Thi Linh and Chau Pham Thuy Anh earlier, which Vu Linh Huong hadn't realized.

Since being persuaded by Li Qinghe, Vu Linh Huong had come to understand that she couldn't always maintain that sense of distance.

In necessary business settings, maintaining a sense of distance could create a noble and elegant image, but it relatively lacked emotional warmth.

When interacting privately, she should discard that sense of superiority; being more relaxed would make her easier to get along with.

Therefore, the enlightened Lingxiang displayed a completely different behavioral style from before.

This made Li Qinghe secretly sigh, realizing that the noblewoman brought down from her pedestal was just a girl experiencing her first love.

Now, Vu Linh Huong saw her biological brother showing an attitude of having a favor to ask of her man.

She understood that Li Qinghe's acupuncture skills were of high value.

She also understood what Li Qinghe meant by giving Vu Van Nghia acupuncture to relieve fatigue and restore his state—specifically, which aspect of his state.

"Qinghe, please help my brother. He's actually quite stressed, having to worry about family matters and constantly caring about my affairs here. He gets particularly exhausted."

As the three of them were talking, a loud bell suddenly rang from somewhere in the temple; the lingering sound of the bell echoed for a long time in their ears.

Even Li Qinghe felt a surge of energy.

"Where is that bell sound coming from?"

"That should be the temple's Great Bell, which is also an antique of the temple."

Vu Linh Huong looked up before answering.

"Let's go, let's listen to the bell up close by the bell. I hear the sound of this bell is very beneficial for one's magnetic field."

Vu Van Nghia was visibly excited; he strongly believed in the healing effects and mysterious functions of temple bells.

Vu Linh Huong and Li Qinghe wouldn't dampen his enthusiasm; of course, they chose to go with him.

They walked down a flight of steps from the main hall and saw the huge bell in a pavilion.

This was a large bell, 3.5 meters high and weighing 6 tons.

The Great Bell

An elder in a grey monk's robe was holding a giant wooden mallet and striking the bronze bell one by one.

After each strike, he would wait for the entire " Buzz" (humming) reverberation of the bell to disappear before striking again.

Although the rhythm of striking the bell was slow, it contained a unique rhythm.

Vu Van Nghia led Vu Linh Huong and deliberately stood by the pavilion, listening to the clear bell sound.

In the lingering sound of the bell, filled with Zen, Li Qinghe also felt all his pores opening up.

It wasn't until the elder clasped his hands and nodded slightly to Vu Van Nghia and the others before leaving.

Only then did Vu Van Nghia reluctantly leave the Great Bell, which was inscribed with countless Chinese language characters.

Originally, there were several other temples on Black Virgin Mountain, but Vu Van Nghia no longer had the inclination to continue exploring.

The bell sound just now had cleansed his soul, and now, he was eager to have his body redeemed.

The four of them directly took the cable car and returned to the foot of the mountain.

In the parking lot, they saw Vu Van Nghia's vehicle, a lexus 570, where two assistants and bodyguards had been waiting.

"This type of car is standard for high-ranking officials in Vietnam..."

Seeing Li Qinghe's interest in Vu Van Nghia's vehicle, Vu Linh Huong casually explained to him.

It turned out that almost all official government vehicles in Vietnam were Japanese cars.

Moreover, high-ranking Vietnamese officials preferred large-displacement SUVs.

Vu Linh Huong told Li Qinghe that if he encountered a convoy of SUVs with license plates starting with 80A or 80B on the streets of Hanoi, he should quickly make way.

Because it was possible that the highest-ranking leaders of Vietnam were inside.

Vu Linh Huong gave a statistic that instantly made Li Qinghe realize the popularity and prevalence of Japanese cars in Vietnam.

99% of Vietnamese bigwigs' vehicles are Japanese cars, 90% are Toyota brand, and 80% are Toyota Land Cruisers; it's basically Toyota's domain.

As for lower-tier official vehicles, models like Prado, Pajero, or Camry are common.

Therefore, a lexus 570 like Vu Van Nghia's belongs to the favorite vehicles of officials of a certain rank or second and third-generation elites in Vietnam.

For someone like Vu Linh Huong, who only holds a nominal position, driving a Mercedes-Benz is nothing unusual.

Overall, the Vietnamese officialdom is much more lenient towards second-generation girls.

Their vehicles are mostly brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, or Porsche.

These families all run their own businesses and earn a lot of money, so it's acceptable for the girls in the family to enjoy themselves.

Men, on the other hand, have to be a bit more discreet, uniformly driving Japanese cars.

However, in reality, a lexus 570 like Vu Van Nghia's is no cheaper than a BBA; its price in Vietnam reaches around 7.5 billion, equivalent to over 2 million dragon country currency.

Li Qinghe, of course, sat with Vu Linh Huong in the Mercedes-Benz; this was their private space.

Nguyen Thi Xuan Tao drove in front, with Vu Van Nghia's car following behind; they would spend two hours returning to Saigon.