Chapter 120: Drooling

  "You little opportunist, aren't you worried that God and the Buddha will quarrel over your soul?" Song Shuyu was so exasperated by her explanation that he couldn't help but laugh and cry.

  "I don't think this is called speculation, I'm just constantly telling myself that man proposes and God disposes, no matter which divine domain you are in, as long as there is no evil behavior that harms people, it should be under the protection of God."

  As for doing things, I have always made a twelve-point effort, and the rest that is beyond my power can only be left to the gods to decide."

  Xiang Hong explained her own beliefs with a very simple point of view.

  Song Shuwei nodded, and suddenly felt that having a vague deity to entrust things that human power cannot change might also be something to envy.

  "Hey, want to make a wish to Bodhisattva?" San Hong suddenly shook his hand and asked.

  Song Shuwei's eyes narrowed vigilantly as he sized her up, his words were very straightforward:

  "Don't try to corrupt party members, it's okay for a couple to have different beliefs. We'll make every effort to get as many influential figures who can inspire faith, such as Marx, involved in our lives. This is also an ideological compensation for your eclectic faith."

  Xiang Hong smiled and nodded in agreement, repeatedly praising him for speaking sensibly.

  Behind the old temple, there was a wishing pool. Xiang Hong took out a coin from her pocket and handed one to him, putting another in her own palm, saying: "Hey, this place is very efficacious, make a wish."

  Song Shu Yu carefully examined the coin in her palm, which still held her body temperature, and nodded.

  Her eyes didn't even blink as she raised her hand and threw the coin into the wishing pool.

  Xiang Hong stared at him in shock: "You're just going to give up like this? What about your wishes?"

  Song Shuwei patted her own chest and told her to put her wishes in her heart.

  Xiang Hong disdainfully said: "How can you not even pretend to be sincere? You just casually toss it in."

  Song Shuwei looked at the kind men and women surrounding the wishing pool, each with their hands clasped together, a faint smile on their lips, and only opened their eyes after a long time, throwing the coins in their hands into the wishing pool, couldn't help but feel that the most urgent wish wasn't already in their mind, why did they need to whisper and mutter for half a day.

  "It's natural to make a wish with sincerity, but how can sincerity be made into an attitude? Sincerity that can be made into an attitude probably doesn't count as sincerity anymore."

  Song Shuwei's words were spoken very casually, but San Hong, who had been praying with her hands clasped and eyes closed, opened them immediately: "What do you mean by that?"

  "Just speaking from the heart, how about you, have your wishes been fulfilled?" Song Shuyu asked her.

  "No," said Sang Hong, closing her eyes, clasping her hands together, and quietly gathering her scattered consciousness, wanting to make her wishes clearer and more specific into a language that could be spoken to the gods.

  After a long time, Sang Hong opened her eyes and saw Song Shuyu staring at her intently. She pouted and showed him her teeth, then let out a sigh and released his hands:

  "It's all your fault, what nonsense are you talking about? I don't even know how to make a sincere gesture anymore." As he spoke, he tossed the coin in his hand into the pool and watched as it slowly sank to the bottom.

  Song Shuoye couldn't help but smile wryly and comforted her, "Since it's a divine spirit, naturally as long as you think about him, he can clearly see through your thoughts. There's no need to explain in detail, or else wouldn't the god misunderstand that you're looking down on his intelligence?"

  Xiang Hong suddenly became speechless, lowered her head and grabbed his hand to leave: "Please, don't say anything more, if you do, how can I still go to the temple to burn incense in the future?"

  "Hehe, you're not sincere, that's why you're so easily affected." He smiled with a sly face.

  Xiang Hong rubbed her belly helplessly: "I'm hungry, let's go out and eat something."

  "Outside? What to eat?" Song Shuyu felt that after walking for so long, he was a bit hungry, but all the street food stalls outside were small eateries, which he hadn't been to in many years.

  "I know there's a three sisters' mala hot pot outside, the taste is super good, I don't know if they've changed owners now, otherwise, let's go try it?"

  Sang Hong said as soon as she arrived at that small shop, her mouth began to water and she felt extremely hungry.

  Song Shuwei looked at the sparkling light in her eyes and couldn't help but feel a little more interested in this food: "Okay, I'll listen to you. Why is the name of the store so strange? Is it really run by three sisters? Are they biological sisters or close friends? And are they all very pretty?"

  Xiang Hong sneered coldly at him: "How come as soon as you arrived at this old temple street, your mouth became so lively, and even your thoughts became abnormal? Honestly confess, what are you guilty of?"

  Song Shuwei said in surprise, "This... isn't it because we've left that familiar city together and come to this unfamiliar environment, so you naturally relaxed? What do you think I'm guilty of?"

  Xiang Hong shook her head and circled around him: "Anyway, you're too abnormal, strange things happen for a reason."

  "Haha, just came out of the temple, you've also got some spiritual energy on you, and you can even sense the demonic energy."

  Two people walked out of the temple gate hand in hand, looking at the crowded streets on both sides, and the roadside stalls were filled with many exquisite handicrafts. Sang Hong pulled Song Shuyu forward vigorously, not interested at all.

  "So many little trinkets, and you don't like any of them?" Song Shuyu saw that many girls were gathered around the stalls in twos and threes, trying on bracelets or zodiac pendants.

  Xiang Hong smiled, raising her two arms to indicate that the bangles on her wrists had taken up their positions, and as for the pendant, the tangerine blossom pendant given by Grandfather was hanging solemnly around her neck.

  "What would you like? I'll buy it for you," said Sang Hong, starting to browse through the roadside stalls.

  Song Shu Yu was speechless, and instead pulled her forward as they walked. He vaguely hoped that she would pout and let him buy her some small trinkets, but judging from the situation, it seemed unlikely to happen.

  Since it's impossible to wear them, wasting resources is a crime, Song Shuyu comforted himself.

  "It's over! It's right here!" Xiang Hong suddenly pointed at a store across the street from them, saying excitedly.

  Song Shuwei turned her head to take a look, and it was easy to see which store she was talking about. The customers in that store were almost all lined up outside the door. Looking at the sign of the small store, it was just a red flag hanging on the utility pole beside the store.

  "With so many people, I estimate it'll take a long time for us to get in line. Are you going to faint from hunger?"

  Song Shu Yu Qi Dao.

  "No, the crowd proves that their family business is as good as ever, and it's worth lining up for." San Hong was undeterred, pulling his hand to squeeze out of the store and stand at the end of the queue.

  Song Shuyu looked at the queue and saw that they were all young people under 20 years old, feeling very annoyed. With so many people crowded together like this, even if he managed to buy it, how could anyone have an appetite in such a dining environment?

  "Alright, I'll stand in line here, you go into the store and find a spot to rest for a bit, you must be tired from walking so long."

  Song Shuyu said with great care.

  Xiang Hong was overjoyed by his words, and couldn't help but feel surprised. How could this guy be so considerate? She pulled on his hand, her eyes sparkling like little stars, but her feet seemed rooted to the spot.

  "What? Don't want to let go of my hand?" Song Shuyu lowered his head and smiled at her, his large hands gently pinching her small hands.

  "Who cares?!" San Hong was struck by his words and felt a bit embarrassed, immediately letting go of his hand and walking into the store.

  There were a few empty seats in the store. Xiang Hong went in and directly ordered yogurt, finding two face-to-face seats to occupy.

  Sitting there sipping milk through a straw, her eyes swept over and landed on Song Shuyu, who was actually lounging at the back of the team, smoking a cigarette. When he saw her gaze, he even raised his hand to give her a slight salute.

  Xiang Hong pouted and drank something to fill her stomach, then got up and slipped to the front counter to see what dishes were being served with the spicy hot pot.

  Song Shuyu looked into the store and found that her original position was gone, but then she saw a little girl staring at the glass window with eager eyes, and couldn't help but sigh.

  Changing his mind, in order not to starve his little servant girl, he would make an exception and violate the principles of being a human this once.

  He handed a cigarette to the boy behind him and turned around to walk forward.

  He patted the young couple in front of him who were about to take their turn and handed a hundred yuan to the boy, saying:

  "Hey buddy, help me out, consider this meal on me. The girl in front is my girlfriend, look at how hungry she's become, and she insists on eating here. Can you please swap seats with me? My current seat is next to six people."

  He said, gesturing with his hand to indicate where he had just been standing.

  The boy turned around, handed the money back to him and said: "You're welcome, we're not very hungry either, let's just exchange." He then pulled his girlfriend aside and whispered a few words to her, and the two of them went to the back of the line.

  Song Shuyu thanked them repeatedly and stood in their place.

  The person in front has already paid, he raised his hand and patted San Hong's shoulder: "It's our turn, hurry up and choose what to eat."

  Xiang Hong raised her head dazedly to look at Song Shuyu, then turned back to look at the long queue, and finally looked at the counter: "I'm starving, I want two strings of mushrooms——" After finishing speaking, she embarrassingly heard a gulp in her throat.

  "Two strands of kelp noodles——" Gulp, her saliva almost choked her throat.

  Xiang Hong was a bit flustered, she blinked her eyes and looked at Song Shu Yu, tightly pursing her small mouth, her face flushed red. How could this be? It's strange, usually when she came to this store to eat, her saliva would be uncontrollable, but she didn't expect that after going out for a few months, there was no progress at all! Ahhh!

  The little finger pointed to the window with embarrassment, indicating that the unscrupulous onlooker should translate for her. The two of them indeed had an understanding, and Song Shuyu leaned over to take a look:

  "Golden needle mushroom - two bunches." He asked her in a tentative low voice, and Sang Hong nodded repeatedly. He hurriedly repeated it loudly again.

  ……

  "Two bunches of celery," he ordered according to Sang Hong's meaning.

  "Alright, I know what you like to eat. Why don't you just go back to your seat and have a drink?" Song Shuyu said with an incredulous smile as he coaxed her, although he knew she had a bit of a sweet tooth, but never to the point where she lost control like this.

  "Don't be shy, little girl. Many people come here to order and drool over the dishes." The chef in charge of selecting dishes comforted her with a smile.

  Xiang Hong was completely embarrassed, because her stomach made a loud rumbling sound right after he finished speaking.

  "Hehe, your family's store should spare some advertising fees for her, just looking at her adorable gluttonous appearance, I estimate many people's appetites will be greatly improved."

  Song Shuwei smiled and joked, telling the master to order another dish of this color. The little glutton who was grinding his teeth and had nowhere to hide sat back in his seat with a low head.

  Two steaming bowls of spicy and numbing hot pot were placed in front of them, and Sang Hong was no longer feeling embarrassed. After all, he had already seen her at her most embarrassing moment, so what else could she possibly be embarrassed about?

  Xiang Hong suddenly let go, she clattered and arranged the small bowl, and began to pick dishes into the small bowl.

  Just as she was about to pick it up with chopsticks and put it in her mouth, Song Shuyu suddenly spoke out: "Wait a minute." As he said that, he handed the yogurt over to her.

  Xiang Hong stared in shock.

  "Take a sip of cool water and see if your mouth is scalded." Song Shuyu was very considerate.

  Xiang Hong was already impatient, so he took a sip of yogurt with his hand and then hurriedly started the car.

  She didn't plan on talking to him at all and just buried her head in eating wildly.

  Song Shuwei smiled: "Eat slowly, okay? There's another serving here."

  As he spoke, he picked up her favorite dish and put it in her bowl.

  "Hey, why aren't you eating?" It wasn't until half a beat later that this foodie realized her boyfriend hadn't even taken a single bite.

  "I can eat generally spicy food, but this level is estimated to make my mouth swollen after eating." Song Shuyu said honestly.

  Look at him, think about it, when two people eat together, his taste has always been very light.

  "You'd better eat less of that too, overly spicy food is too stimulating for the stomach." Song Shuyu was clearly very mindful of his healthy appetite, and he instinctively had some resistance to such greasy and spicy stir-fries.

  "It tastes great, if you come here and don't try some, it's too embarrassing."

  Xiang Hong stood up, took a small white porcelain bowl, went directly to the water dispenser, poured a bowl of boiling water, picked up a piece of raw vegetables from the bowl and put it in the water to blanch, then picked it up with chopsticks and gestured for him to try some.

  Song Shu Wei licked his lips, hesitated for a moment, lowered his head and opened his mouth to eat. He chewed for a few seconds before swallowing: "Mmm, it's really not bad, the flavor is pretty good."

  "Alas, just eat like that then, I really can't understand your picky stomach." Xiang Hong said, unable to express whether it was sympathy or helplessness, and smiled at him with a suggestion.

  Song Shuyu was eating with hot water, and Sang Hong was worried that he wouldn't be full, so she gave him two more white buns to eat. Song Shuyu saw the situation and knew that Sang Hong couldn't possibly eat anything else, so in order not to go hungry, he could only resign himself to eating.

  The taste is still good, and hunger is indeed the most magical appetizer.

  "Do you like coming here to eat?" Song Shuyu asked.

  "Yeah, I usually come here once a week. If I don't come, the food doesn't taste right." Xiang Hong eats with relish, you have no idea how much I've been craving it.

  "I heard that some unscrupulous merchants have mixed opium with chili oil, and eating it will make people addicted." Song Shuyu said in a low voice.

  "Hmm? You're right, or else, why don't you take some chili oil to get it tested?" Shan Hong said with a blink of her eyes.

  "If you're really not worried about this store closing down, I'll take some for testing."

  Song Shuwei said with a serious face, just now he relied on his height advantage and saw that there was a bowl of chili oil on the operating table inside, floating with shell-like objects about the size of cotton balls. He thought for a long time what kind of seasoning it was, now thinking back, it's probably really poppy shells.

  Xiang Hong glanced at him: "You'd better mind your own business, if this street didn't have this store, the attraction of this place to me would be reduced by so much! Don't make a fuss out of nothing, I'm a person with strong willpower, even if I eat too much, I won't end up in rehab."

  Song Shuyu suddenly burst out laughing and didn't insist on anything anymore.

  After dinner, the two of them strolled around the street. Song Shuyu narrowed his eyes and looked at the distant Broken Jar Mountain, suddenly wanting to go up there and take a look.

  "Let's go to Po Shan Mountain for a walk, the scenery here is great and I have some memories of it," Song Shuyu suggested calmly.

  Xiang Hong nodded, "It's time to go take a look. I heard the south slope on that side has been developed into a villa area. Who knows, next time we come back, there won't be any ceramic shards left on Broken Jar Mountain."

  "Has the hospital on the north slope been relocated?" Song Shuyu asked.

  "We've moved out, we moved out long ago. Now that place has become a nursing home for the rich. Otherwise, my mother would have to go to the city to get medical treatment." San Hong said with a sullen face.

  Song Shuwei took advantage of her momentary distraction to hail a taxi, pulling her into the back seat with him. He didn't want to take the bus, it was too slow and would drive him crazy with all the turns.

  "Are you still living at home tonight?" Sang Hong heard him mention Pot Mountain and thought it was close to home, so she wanted to confirm.

  "No, just thinking that Dad and Mom live next door makes me toss and turn, unable to fall asleep." Song Shuyu said with a light smile, his attitude very clear.

  "You heartless guy, Mom and Dad got up early to prepare breakfast for us, where did you eat, not even a bit of gratitude."

  Xiang Hong pouted.

  "Heh, if the soundproofing in your house was a bit better, I'd have the guts to stay over. Didn't you hear your mom say we were being too loud at night?" Song Shuyu speculated.

  Xiang Hong shook her head firmly, she didn't want him to know what Mom said to her this morning.

  "Let's just stay in a hotel, we're always disturbing them, it's not good. Besides, mom had surgery only a few months ago, if we're there, she'll be worried sick and won't be able to rest properly."

  Song Shuyu said with an appearance of being very filial.

  Xiang Hong nodded as soon as he mentioned his mother's health. His mother's spirit had always been poor, so it was better to let her conserve some energy.

  Song Shu Yu couldn't help but feel overjoyed when she agreed without hesitation, and he couldn't stop smiling secretly.

  Two people arrived at the foot of Broken Jar Mountain, Song Shuyu gazed at the distant whitewashed wall and red-tiled sanatorium, his heart racing involuntarily, his palms slightly sweaty, was his life almost left in this picturesque place?

  It's been over a decade since then, but the past events that had long been buried in his memory suddenly resurfaced, and he couldn't help but revisit old haunts to put an end to it once and for all.

  "Hong Hong, do you still remember the path you used to play on when you were a kid?" Song Shuyu asked her.

  The mulberry red four looked down and saw some big slope vats as signs, and quickly sorted out the path.

  "Let's go up from there, you tell me where you often played when you were a kid, I really envy your childhood for being able to run wild in the mountains and fields."

  Song Shuoye smiled and raised his hand, letting her lead the way in front of him.

  Xiang Hong ran quickly towards the small path hidden by the weeds, Song Shu Yu closely followed behind her.

  Time seemed to start flowing backwards after walking for a long time.

  It's really her! Her gait, her familiar appearance of walking through the maze-like fragments of the large urns, made his eyes feel both sore and scorching.

  His eyes suddenly conjured up the image of that lovely little girl, playing with her friends on this mountain, playing hide-and-seek together. She would often run over to stand on a large earthenware jar outside the back wall of the sanatorium, facing his window and shouting at the top of her lungs.

  "Hello - it's me, I'm that annoying girl you can't stand..."

  He sometimes hid behind the curtains, with a faint bitterness at the corner of his mouth, watching her small back with a bow on her head, shouting for a while, then jumping and turning away, disappearing in the mountains.

  Most of the time, she would face his room and shout. The little friends behind her were playing hide-and-seek. When someone shouted "start", she would say "go" and then loudly ask: "Are you hidden?"

  Then she perked up her ears and listened for a sound. As soon as someone responded, she would quickly follow the sound to find him, and then smile triumphantly with great joy;

  Sometimes, those guys knew her tricks, no matter how she asked, they held their breath and didn't make a sound, then she started like a little monkey, quickly climbing to various large vats to search.

  Of course, when the sky was about to darken and it was her turn to find the hidden little friends again, she would often shout: "Are you all hidden? Has it started yet? I'm coming, be careful not to get caught!" And then her small figure would actually walk away bit by bit with her shouting voice, going straight home.

  She had never seen it, but he saw it clearly - when those children who thought they were hiding very secretly waited for a long time and couldn't wait for her to run out of their hiding places in the dusk and ran home, shouting that they would not play with her again. However, without exception, there was still her figure in the next game.

  "Hehe, look over there. This big jar is the largest one on this mountain, we all call it 'Big Jar King'. When I was a kid, I loved hiding inside it." Shang Hong said, pointing to a gigantic jar that was half-buried in the mountain, as large as a house.

  It has long been in a state of disrepair, but the remaining jar fragments are still majestic enough to easily imagine its former grandeur.

  The warm sunshine shone on it, and the vines growing above had long withered. Sang Hong stood beside the large vat, gently closed her eyes, raised her hand, and pointed accurately in one direction:

  "There, that's the place, the second window from the left of that building counting from the east, is the room of that boy I once told you about. I often stand here and look in that direction, I always feel like he's also looking at me."

  Xiang Hong's eyes were very distant, as if they really saw all the way into the depths of that window.

  It's really her, it's her!

  Song Shuwei felt a lump in his throat, and it was her who had accompanied him through the darkest period of his life.

  Digression

  Thanks to jielisa and teetea for the diamonds!

  Thanks to [干点事咋那么难 and kidwong1993] for sending me flowers!

  Thank you to everyone who generously voted for ShuiShui, thank you to the friends who silently supported ShuiShui, and thank you to all the subscribed friends, your support makes ShuiShui feel warm, thanks!