N City is located in a plain, and most of the mountains are not high. This mountain road used to be the only way to enter the city, but later it was gradually abandoned as the tunnel was built. Now the weeds on both sides of the road have grown to the height of the calf, and I have never met any pedestrians along the way.
It was the end of summer, but the trees were still lush and green. Today was indeed a sunny day. Sheng Min had slept all night and was in much better spirits than the night before. He had also eaten breakfast and praised the old woman for her cooking skills, which made her laugh. She wanted to fry two more eggs for him, but her eyes were still slightly red and swollen.
He said in a vague way that he wanted to find a tree, so Li Xuan accompanied him on a random walk, stopping and starting as he pleased, just like an ordinary outing. They didn't see any special trees, but they did pick up a bunch of fallen wild flowers on the roadside.
I stopped and saw a Buddhist shrine halfway up the mountain. It was half a person's height and housed a statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. He held a jewel in his left hand and a staff in his right hand, standing on a thousand-petal green lotus.
Pray for peace and eliminate karma. This is a curve. Accidents happen frequently here, so a statue of Bodhisattva is placed to ward off evil. What the worldly cannot pray for, we always place our hopes on gods and Buddhas.
It has been a long time since anyone has worshipped it, and it is now covered in dust.
But the Bodhisattva does not care about worldly interactions and remains always kind and generous.
Sheng Min picked up another white single-petal hibiscus from the bush.
"Let me do it." Li Xuan was afraid that he would be exposed to the sun, so he borrowed two straw hats when he left the noodle shop. They came in handy at this time. One hat was already filled with colorful fallen flowers, so he naturally took it and handed the other one to Sheng Min.
"I won't pick it up." Sheng Min smiled lightly, took it and raised his hand to cover Li Xuan's head, as if discussing the weather, and told him casually, "The place where the car accident happened is said to be on this mountain."
Li Xuan had already guessed it. He looked at Sheng Min's expression and did not respond for a while.
"Did you see any trees that looked like they were broken as you walked up here?"
He couldn't lie to Sheng Min, so he lowered his hat and said in a restrained tone, "I didn't pay much attention... If the roots were damaged, it wouldn't live long. It might have died or been dug up."
"I saw a lot of them that looked like them, but I also didn't think they were." Sheng Min looked relaxed and looked around. The closest thing to him was a tall white locust tree. This cheap and easy-to-grow tree can be found everywhere in N City. This tree was lush and leafy, towering into the sky. It was about to end its flowering period, and it had already begun to bear fruit. There was absolutely no sign of being hit.
"It's okay, just here."
He carefully wiped the dust off the Bodhisattva statue bit by bit, picked out the two most complete flowers, bent down and placed them beside the Bodhisattva, bowed gently, turned around, raised his arm slightly, and the remaining fallen flowers fell down along the roots of the locust tree.
Sheng Min looked intently at the petals falling into the ravine, one after another, like a short, belated funeral.
“I wanted to buy paper money.”
Li Xuan had walked to his side without knowing when, and gently held his hand. Sheng Min turned to look at him, as if sharing a sweet candy, and told him: "But I don't like it. Many people in life are busy and troubled just for money. Why should they suffer this kind of pain when they are no longer in this world? She probably wouldn't like it either... So be it, flowers are the best. If she really exists, then I have been here, she knows... The Bodhisattva also knows, and will forgive me."
The statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva behind him lowered his head and remained silent. The sunlight shone through the gaps between the trees in spots, like holy light shining everywhere.
"Do you remember?" He raised his face and smiled at Li Xuan, "When we first met, I made you angry. You didn't go back with me, and sat under someone else's eaves in the rain... I must have been annoyed to death at that time, right? But when I found you, you didn't say anything unpleasant, but just said with a stern face that I was a clay Buddha."
"Were you scared at that time?" Li Xuan remembered that he had a nightmare that night.
"I was so scared. I was afraid you wouldn't come back with me. What if you caught a cold?"
When Sheng Min talked about it again, it just felt like an amusing memory. Li Xuan looked at the Bodhisattva statue behind him. It was no longer in a majestic palace, but between the mountains and fields. It did not appear solemn, but only compassionate.
It is said that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva went to hell three times to save his mother in his previous life. He made a great vow and saved all the sentient beings before he attained Bodhi.
Have you been saved? Have you been saved
Who will save the Bodhisattva
"How about making a golden statue for you?"
His mind moved slightly, and he gently grasped Sheng Min's hand. While Sheng Min was stunned, he lowered his head and rubbed his nose, whispering softly: "It's okay to be a clay Buddha, I will make a golden body for you."
The wind rustled the leaves, and when Li Xuan caressed his lips, Sheng Min finally came back to his senses.
"Don't talk nonsense, the Bodhisattva is here..." He struggled slightly, and Li Xuan immediately frowned, took a deep breath, and licked the tiny wound on his lip.
"Did you touch me?" Sheng Min was nervous and wanted to see, but Li Xuan held her waist and stole a kiss. Before Sheng Min could frown, he whispered, "It doesn't matter if the Bodhisattva is watching, and it doesn't matter if all the gods and Buddhas are witnesses. Who can say that I'm not sincere?"
Although it was a flirtation, Li Xuan's tone was very serious. Sheng Min didn't know how to answer him for a moment, but the latter just smiled nonchalantly and stroked his hair: "Besides, you know, I don't believe these, I only believe you."
It was lunch time when they finally got down the mountain, so they had lunch at the same restaurant. Before leaving, Li Xuan actually repaired the other person's water heater.
"The igniter is just in bad contact, just re-route the wires."
"You said you wouldn't."
"I originally couldn't. You didn't think I could." Li Xuan backed up the car and motioned him to use his phone to look up the history records. He said confidently, "I checked it now. It's almost the same as connecting to a computer host."
Sheng Min curled his lips: "Oh." Then he saw a calendar reminder pop up on the message board, "You have a meeting tonight?"
"You mean the one at 7 o'clock?" Li Xuan said casually, "There's a milk tea joint venture. The other party was arrogant at first, and we couldn't agree on the price, so we just left it alone. Now that it's gone, they're actively trying to lower the price. We can have another round of talks with the brand... It's okay for me not to go, Qi Boyuan is going there anyway."
"Why not go..."
Li Xuan looked at him, and Sheng Min shook his head: "I'm fine, you go."
"That's fine." Li Xuan didn't want to appear too nervous, which would only magnify Sheng Min's emotional problems. "I'll take you home. I'll go again. It's not far away."
Sheng Min nodded, and then watched him turn on the right turn signal and turn onto the side road, and reminded him: "Go back to the city and turn left."
"I know." Li Xuan smiled. "The store where you bought the osmanthus candy is more than ten kilometers away from here. I saw it when I came here. I'll go buy some snacks with you first."
"Your meeting..."
“In time.”