Temple Fair

  For the sake of her physical health, it's better for her not to go anywhere. But for her mental health... Qiuqiu thinks she should still properly go out and take a walk, meet some people.

  It's great to be alive, but if there's no fun in it, what's the point of living?

  Although Qiuqiu asked like this, she didn't have too much hope. Shi'er was a thoroughbred otaku, and if it weren't for Qiuqiu dragging her out by force, the first two times wouldn't have been possible either.

  The boy looked at her for a moment, closed the page in his hand and nodded.

  Qiu Qiu said: "I knew you didn't want to go, but..." She stopped halfway and looked at him again: "You, are you going?"

  The child slowly stretched out his hand and pinched Autumn's open mouth shut: "Go."

  Qiu Qiu felt it was particularly unreal, and unexpectedly, Shi Er agreed?

  "You don't have to go with me, actually the temple fair is held every year. I even went two years ago, and there's nothing new or special."

  This remark is quite insincere, and Xiao Er must have heard it.

  The mountain is quiet and desolate, the temple fair is a rare bustle, and it only happens once a year.

  Qiu Qiu found a hat with a veil for her daughter, otherwise she would definitely not be able to go out and visit the temple quietly. She herself doesn't need such protective measures at all, first of all, she is still young, looking up and down, only about five years old, even if she looks white and chubby, she can't attract perverts, at most she can attract human traffickers who target children.

  The temple fair is very crowded, the entrance of the temple is packed with people. Those who really come to worship arrive very early, climbing the mountain in the middle of the night, and are very devout. Most people, like them, come to join in the fun of the temple fair. On the stone platform on the right side, monks are telling stories about Buddhist teachings and universal salvation for all living beings.

  Qiuqiu and the others, of course, didn't get along with these monks. Although they all lived on the mountain, there was nothing important that would make them interact with each other, and they treated each other as if they were invisible. Qiuqiu held onto Shier's hand, afraid to let go and be separated from him.

  The temple fair was very lively, especially the snack stalls were particularly numerous. Qiū Qiū would have liked to eat from the first stall all the way to the last one, but that way, probably by sunset she still wouldn't be full. Besides, after all, she is now a five-year-old little girl, it's better not to show off too much.

  She was very patient and quietly followed her. Qiuqiu bought a lot of things, couldn't finish them at once, so she secretly stuffed them into the small bag to take back and eat slowly. However, the hot tangyuan couldn't be put in the bag with the bowl. The stall was crowded, and people were sitting tightly packed, so Qiuqiu stood there eating with the bowl in her hand. The tangyuan had a sesame filling, thin skin, and thick filling, fragrant and smooth. Qiuqiu ate one and also scooped one for Shi'er: "Try some."

  She didn't move, but when the tangyuan was fed to her mouth, she didn't refuse either. Qiuqiu watched her eat and asked softly, "Is it sweet?"

  The boy also answered in a low voice: "Sweet."

  Qiuqiu smiled. She ate one herself and then fed one to the child. The small bowl of tangyuan was originally not many, after a few rounds they were all eaten up. Further ahead there was also someone selling meatballs, each round one cost two cents, Qiuqiu took out her purse to count the copper coins, the boss used a long chopstick to pick up the meatball and wrap it in a large green leaf and handed it to her.

  Qiu Qiu held up a steaming bun and turned her head to ask: "Want to try some too?"

  The child hadn't spoken yet, when suddenly a white shadow darted out from the side and collided with Qiuqiu's arm. Qiuqiu's hand shook, and the meatball rolled off the green leaf, bouncing several times on the ground before finally coming to a stop covered in dust.

  Qiu Qiu was stunned, looking at the green leaves still with some sauce on them, for a moment she couldn't believe that her meatballs had disappeared! They were just taken out of the pot and steaming hot! She hadn't even gotten to eat them yet.

  Several monks jumped out from behind the wall, holding sticks in their hands, and chased forward without stopping. One of them even ruthlessly trampled on a meatball on the ground, and Qiuqiu could even hear the pitiful "squeak" sound made by the meatball. It was really tragic, not even leaving a complete corpse, but shattering into pieces.

  "My... dumpling..."

  Shi'er sympathetically held her hand, and he already knew how much this little fatty loved to eat. Nothing else mattered, but when it came to eating, she couldn't bear to lose out on anything.

  "Let's go buy another one."

  Qiu Qiu shook her head, the buns were all gone, and she also casually threw away the green leaves that wrapped the buns: "Forget it. By the way, who bumped into me just now?"

  He didn't answer her words, but just turned his head and looked forward.

  Qiu Qiu was slightly perplexed. The white shadow that had bumped into her earlier - now that she thought about it, didn't seem quite human. Its body was too small and its speed was too fast. And why were those monks chasing after it?

  The sun rose to the top of their heads, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter. The back of their necks were slightly sweating, and Qiuqiu didn't dare to linger outside for too long. After all, there was a delicate person by her side, and she feared that if they stayed out any longer, they would melt under the sun's rays.

  "Let's go back."

  The boy said: "Those few people just now were suspicious, go take a look."

  It's rare for her to be interested in something, Qiū Qiū hesitated for a moment, looked at the sky: "Okay."

  Those monks weren't cultivators, but they had skills too. Their skills had already gone far ahead. Qiuqiu and Shi'er followed from afar, unaware of this.

  Judging from their speed, they should have caught up with the people in front. But the fact is that these people lost them. They didn't give up and split up to search around again, using sticks to beat and flip through the grass, but still got nothing and could only leave with a sullen face.

  "Look at these monks, maybe someone took advantage of the crowd and stole their things?"

  This kind of thing happens every year. Although most people have a reverent heart for temples and gods, there are always some who want to take advantage of the crowd to make a profit. I heard that last year this temple lost its bronze utensils, and it's likely been robbed again this year.

  "There's nothing good to see, let's go back."

  Shi Er let go of her hand, took two steps forward, raised her hand and swung it towards the grass. Her sleeve was like a white whip, cutting through the grass with a whooshing sound, a white shadow darted out quickly, pouncing towards Shi Er.

  Qiu Qiu let out a loud "ah" and rushed forward, but before she could catch up, the boy flicked his sleeve and tightly bound the thing.

  "What is this?"

  Although I felt like it wasn't human just now, but seeing it with her own eyes, Qiuqiu was still very surprised.

  The child held out what was in his hand for her to see. Snow-white fur, long ears, and a pair of red, teary eyes.

  "Is this a rabbit?"

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  Today was spent entirely outdoors, the weather was abnormally hot, but when I came back in the evening, the sky changed and I got drenched by a torrential rain.