The man took off his clothes and put on a pair of swimming trunks. He walked to the riverside barefooted and looked up at the sky. Then, he took a deep breath and rushed into the river. He dived into the depths of the river and went straight to the bottom. Inch by inch, bit by bit, he flipped over a rock and a piece of sand. It was unknown what he was looking for …
Before long, the man surfaced and took a deep breath. He continued diving and continued searching for something. Only when the sun was about to set did the man come out of the water. He had a nasty expression and appeared somewhat weak. He sat by the side of the motorcycle and took out a bun to eat. He calmly watched the sun set as the sky darkened.
Following that, the man took out a photo from a tiny pocket inside his motorcycle. On it was a girl smiling happily. She was about thirteen years old. She had beautiful big eyes and short hair. If anyone saw it, they would definitely discover that the girl in the photo was identical to the girl on the pamphlet!
The man looked at the girl in the photo and smiled warmly. It was as though the hard bun in his mouth had turned sweet and delicious. After finishing the bun in a few mouthfuls, he drank a big mouthful of water from his water flask. He carefully kept the photo close to his body and left the abandoned village on his motorcycle.
Half an hour later, the man came to a village full of new houses. Everything in the village was new. The houses were arranged in an orderly manner. However, the whole village was not as relaxed as other villages. Instead, it was a bit more desolate.
The man pushed the motorcycle into his yard when he heard someone shout behind him. "Yuan Hai, where did you go again?"
Yuan Hai turned his head and saw a man carrying a hoe come to his doorstep. He looked at Yuan Hai's frail look and sighed. "So many years have passed. Is there a need to do this?"
Yuan Hai smiled at the man and did not say a word.
"You smile every time I talk about you. I really can't do anything about you. Your sister-in-law made some nice dishes today. Shall we have a drink together? "asked the man.
Yuan Hai nodded. Clearly, he had a good relationship with the man. The man led Yuan Hai to his place. It did not take long for a huge plate of chicken stewed with mushrooms, cucumber with garlic sauce, and a plate of meat jelly to be served. Then, they began eating. Basically, the man was speaking while Yuan Hai was listening.
The man's wife walked in and jokingly scolded, "You, you talk a lot after drinking a little. Only Yuan Hai is willing to listen to your nagging. Cut the nonsense and talk about something serious! "
Only then did the man stop his rambling. He chuckled and said, "Yuan Hai, it's this. As you know, many people in our village have gone to the city for work. I have a good relationship with a foreman at a construction site. He's short of hands right now. You have good carpentry skills. Don't waste them. Go work for him. That's a lot of money. "
Yuan Hai's smile froze for the first time when he heard that. He put down his cup and decisively shook his head.
The man said, "You … Yuan Hai, I knew you would reject me. But you have to think about it. What can you do if you stay in the village? Although you are a famous carpenter in the surrounding villages, no one builds a house every day. Now that the young people were all moving to the cities, there were fewer and fewer people building houses. The money you can earn is getting less and less. You have to plan for your future, right? You will grow old and fall sick. There will be people around you. Go to the city and work hard. Earn a few years' worth of money. When you come back, I'll find you a good one. Hey! Hey! Yuan Hai, why are you leaving? "
The moment Yuan Hai got to his feet, he walked out without turning his head. He waved his hand, indicating that he did not wish to go or listen.
The man shook his head helplessly when he saw this. He downed his cup in one gulp and said, "This fellow still has that crappy temper. He's just too stubborn."
"You really don't know how to speak properly. But speaking of which, there aren't many good men like Yuan Hai in the world," said the man's wife.
The man rolled his eyes. "Who said that? Isn't your husband the best man? "
"Scram. How thick-skinned!"
"Heh heh."
…
After Yuan Hai ran home, he closed the door and sat in a corner of the stove bed. He looked up at the wall opposite him. The wall was filled with photos of a child's growth. Some of the photos even had a woman. From the way she was dressed, the photos were taken about twenty years ago. Some of the photos were already blurry, while others were incomplete. However, they were all bound up by Yuan Hai. The frames of the photos were very particular. There were all sorts of beautiful patterns engraved on them. There were even carvings of Doraemon, Sailor Moon, and even celebrity cartoons from twenty years ago or realistic portraits.
Yuan Hai sat there quietly as night fell. Moonlight shone into the room through the window, as though it was sprinkling a layer of frost over the room. It made the room even colder. After a long while, Yuan Hai switched on the lights. Then, he took out a piece of paper and placed it on a drawing rack he had made himself. A pencil was all his drawing tools.
In the silent room, there was only the rustling of the brush across the paper. There was no other sound.
The lights stayed lit until midnight.
…
As for Fangzheng, who had gone out in search of Yuan Hai, he realized to his dismay that he had failed to find anything despite circling the area with Red Boy. He had even gotten lost! Thankfully, Sunglow Monastery was not One Finger Monastery. It was sufficiently famous, so he managed to find the way and rushed back to Sunglow Monastery before dinner.
However, the moment he returned to Sunglow Monastery's entrance, he saw a girl squatting by the door. She was angrily drawing something on the ground with her finger in all seriousness.
Fangzheng and Red Boy exchanged looks as Red Boy chuckled. "Master …"
Fangzheng rolled his eyes. "Your laughter makes me want to recite scriptures. Tell me, what did you see?"
"Grievance. Boundless grievance. Do you want me to help you subdue demons?" Red Boy chuckled.
Fangzheng rolled his eyes at Red Boy. "My dear disciple, I've always treated you well. This … I'll leave it to you."
"Don't. Master, you have to bear the sins you committed yourself. That's what you said yourself. My perceptivity isn't bad, right? "After Red Boy said that, he ran off.
Fangzheng's strike missed as he cursed softly. "Brat, don't even think about going online in the future! The Internet is such a scam. What the hell is going on? What sins did I commit? "
Red Boy ran very quickly. His footsteps were silent, so Ouyang Fenghua did not notice him either.
Fangzheng also knew that everyone had come together, but he had left silently. It was not good to leave a lady with a bunch of monks. However, he had been eager to help her and had chased her a little too fiercely. It was not his fault, right?
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