I replied without changing my expression: "Ji Guanxin. I promised him to make up for his birthday gift."
Luo Xiangdong didn't say he was angry, but asked sourly: "What about my birthday gift? I don't even have a formal one."
I remembered that on the day of Luo Xiangdong’s birthday, Ji Guanxin and I were in the countryside of Liangcheng. What was his mood when he called me
Think of this. I asked Luo Xiangdong with special interest: "You called me and said you wanted to meet me. What did you want to do after meeting?"
Luo Xiangdong looked away and said calmly: "I won't tell you."
I shook his hand and said, "Tell me."
Luo Xiangdong said without changing his expression: "You go shopping with me to buy gifts for Ji San'er. You also want to ask me how I feel. Are you dreaming?"
I rolled my eyes and said, "Then tell me and I will make up for your birthday gift."
Luo Xiangdong snorted lightly, and then said: "Give me charity?"
I looked up at him and said, "Let me ask you if you want it?"
Luo Xiangdong turned to look at me. His face was still cold and cold. But when her thin lips opened, the words she said made me dumbfounded: "Yes."
I really want to laugh at him for being hopeless and comparing himself to Ji Guanxin in everything.
We were walking hand in hand on the street. I asked Luo Xiangdong what he liked, but he didn't say anything. I just really want to give someone a gift. I always think of it myself.
We walked around for almost two hours. Nothing I saw was what I wanted to buy. We found a purely Japanese restaurant for lunch at noon, and we continued shopping after eating.
At this point we have strayed away from the commercial center and don’t know where we are going. I looked up accidentally. I saw an exquisite store not far away. The store is not big, with a full glass window on both sides. Through the glass, you can see the display windows in the store. The name of the store, translated into Chinese, happens to be the word "Yuan".
Luo Xiangdong and I have been shopping for so long and still haven't decided on what to buy. The only difference is fate. So I immediately took Luo Xiangdong's hand across the street and entered the store that didn't know what it was selling.
"Welcome." The boss is a very young girl with cute bangs and two pointed tiger teeth when she smiles.
I nodded and smiled, and then looked around. The shop is not big, about thirty square meters at most, but the overall decoration and furnishings are in my favorite style. I turned my head and looked into the display cabinet. There were all kinds of small objects placed in the glass display cabinet, including bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and cute little ornaments. They were all handmade and made of crystal, agate and Various colored stones vary. At a glance, there is a dazzling array of things to see, which makes people feel relaxed and happy.
Most women like colorful things and jewelry. If the two are combined, it will be unstoppable. I took Luo Xiangdong's hand and started shopping from the display cabinet on the far left after entering the door. When I lowered my head, I saw that everything inside was so exquisite that I wanted to buy it immediately.
Luo Xiangdong said to me in Chinese: "You are picking things for Ji Saner, why are you coming to this woman's shop?"
I said: "Giving gifts depends on fate. Didn't you notice the name of the store?"
Luo Xiangdong replied to me after a few seconds: "It doesn't matter, he can handle the things you give him as a woman." I really can't tell whether this sentence is a compliment or a criticism.
I don’t know if it’s the wrong place or the wrong time, but there are only two other people in such a beautiful jewelry store, Luo Xiangdong and me, except the owner. When the boss saw us talking in Chinese, he probably didn't understand us, so he couldn't interrupt us.
The more I looked at it, the happier I became, so I raised my eyes and asked in Japanese: "Did you make everything here?"
When the boss saw that I could speak Japanese, he happily replied: "Yeah, it was all done by me and another friend. She didn't come because she had something to do today, so I was the only one here."
I sincerely praised: "You guys are great."
The boss smiled and replied: "Are you coming to Japan for tourism?"
The smile on my face became a little forced, and I just replied politely: "A good friend of mine is sick, and we are here to visit him."
The smile on the boss's face also faded slightly, and then he nodded and said, "I wish your friend a speedy recovery."
I replied: "Thank you."
I was walking around the store with Luo Xiangdong. I saw too many colorful and intricately woven jewelry, so when I accidentally scanned a piece that had almost no luster, the weaving shape was also very simple. It was just a simple piece of stone-like jewelry with different sizes. When one of the beads was strung together into a bracelet, my eyes stopped.
Seeing me staring at the bracelet, the boss opened the glass door, took out the bracelet, and handed it to me.
I picked up the bracelet and took a closer look. I felt more and more that the beads looked like stones, so I asked aloud, "Is this a stone?"
The boss smiled and nodded: "This is a stone that another friend of mine picked up from Todaiji Temple. She went to be baptized on March 15th last year. She said that these stones had been touched by Mars and she felt that they would be blessed. So I took it back and made it into a bracelet.”
I know that Japanese temples hold large-scale worship services on fixed dates every year, which is equivalent to large-scale blessing prayers in domestic temples. The boss's words, "I feel like I will be blessed," somehow made me feel that the bracelet in my hand was blessed, so I hardly hesitated and said directly: "How much?"
The boss said, "Please wait a moment. My friend made this. She hasn't told me how much it costs yet. I'll call her and ask her."
When the boss went to the side with his mobile phone to make a call, Luo Xiangdong looked at the bracelet on my hand and said loudly: "Do you think Ji San'er will like this thing?"
I looked at it carefully, and the more I looked at it, the more pleasing it became to my eyes, so I nodded and replied, "Gifts are just a sign of your heart."
Luo Xiangdong said: "I suggest you choose something with bright colors and exaggerated shapes. He is so flashy."
I raised my eyes and looked at Luo Xiangdong and said, "This is the one I like. Whatever you like, pick it out and I'll pay for it for you."
I deliberately said that I wanted to support you. Luo Xiangdong gave me a meaningful look, opened his thin lips, and said loudly: "I am attracted to the one in your hand."
I subconsciously closed my fingers and replied aloud: "Anything else will do, but I decided to send Ji Guanxin to this one."
Luo Xiangdong asked: "Who do you want to give to what he and I want at the same time?"
I said: "He is lying in the ICU now. I don't know what else to give him except a bracelet made of stones picked up from the Buddhist temple. You have too many, including me, so don't give him even a gift." Rob."
As I talked, I began to feel uncomfortable again. I always felt like I owed Ji Guanxin.
Luo Xiangdong saw this and said quickly: "Okay, I'm just kidding you, don't make it seem like I really want to rob you of something."
When he finished speaking, the boss also hung up the phone. She said to me: "I'm sorry to keep you waiting. My friend happened to be at Todaiji Temple and it was not convenient to answer the phone just now."
After that, she told me another figure. The price was converted into RMB, which was surprisingly cheap. For the first time, I doubted whether there was something wrong with my Japanese listening ability.
So I made sure again. The boss smiled and said: "Yes, my friend heard that you came to Japan to visit a sick friend, so she must have bought this bracelet as a gift to her friend. She believed in fate, so she sold the bracelet to her for the cost. You guys, I hope your friend will recover soon."
I was moved beyond words, not because of the bargain price of the bracelet, but because of the blessings from strangers in a foreign country. I tightened my fingers on the bracelet, feeling inspired. Ji Guanxin, did you hear that? Everyone wishes you a speedy recovery and you will be fine.
After buying the bracelet, Luo Xiangdong and I came out of the store. I turned my head and asked him, "Do you really want nothing?"
Luo Xiangdong responded, and I said: "There is no shop like this after passing this village."
Luo Xiangdong asked instead: "Where to go next?"
I was silent for five seconds, looked at him and said, "Let's go to Todaiji Temple."
Luo Xiangdong finally turned his head and glanced at me, with uncertainty and suspicion in his eyes: "Nara?"
I nodded: "I want to go to Todaiji Temple."
Twenty minutes later, Luo Xiangdong and I took a taxi to the place where we took the Shinkansen. It takes more than three hours to go from Tokyo to Nara by Shinkansen, but because he said I wanted to go, Luo Xiangdong accompanied me on the journey without saying a word.
I fell asleep on the Shinkansen with my head on Luo Xiangdong's shoulder. I woke up once in the middle of the train. Luo Xiangdong said there was still some way to go, so I fell asleep again.
After falling asleep all the way, when I opened my eyes again, I was already in Nara.
It took a while to take a taxi from the station to Todaiji Temple. But when I stood in Todai Temple and looked at the streets covered with stone beads similar to those on the new bracelet I bought for Ji Nuan, I felt that these few hours were worth it.
Walking forward with Luo Xiangdong, we came to the largest Buddhist hall in the main temple. I crossed the threshold and nodded to the monk not far away, then walked to the huge bronze Guanyin to worship.
I don't believe in Buddhism religiously, or I only improvise in times of crisis. But when I knelt down on my knees and prostrated my upper body devoutly, all I could think about was asking the Buddha to bless Ji Guanxin and ensure that he would be safe this time. I kept my word and became a vegetarian for three years. From now on, I will do good deeds regardless of my wealth. If the Buddha can grant my wish, I will come back every year to fulfill it.
I knelt on the futon for a long time, until Luo Xiangdong came over and pulled me. I raised my head and knew that my eyes were red without looking.
Luo Xiangdong looked at me and said, "I thought you were asleep."
I raised my lips and smiled lightly, and he helped me up. My knees hurt.
I came here once. In addition to praying for Ji Guanxin, Luo Xiangdong and I also walked around the temple. While Luo Xiangdong was going to the bathroom, I asked the monk not far away if I could pick up a few pebbles on the ground. After the monk agreed, I knelt down and picked eight muddy-shaped pebbles and put them in my bag.
Luo Xiangdong didn't want anything in the store. Although he didn't say it, he was still a little jealous that I gave the only stone bracelet to Ji Guanxin. I knew it well, and when Ji Guanxin recovered from his illness, I went to the store and asked the boss to help me make another one for Luo Xiangdong, which could be regarded as a 29th birthday gift for him.