Jiang Yufeng and Bai Haoyu remained silent.
In the eyes of the three men, that slender figure walked ahead with brisk steps.
The uniform monastic robe itself lacked distinctiveness, but the female lay practitioner had braided her hair into small plaits on both sides, with the middle section left loose.
Her smooth, satin-like long hair flowed gracefully, making her entire back view, from the nape of her neck onward, appear beautiful.
Gu Xingze wanted to chase after her to add her on WeChat but felt somewhat shy and timid.
After hesitating several times, when he finally decided to pursue her, Ye Ximeng’s figure had already completely disappeared among the crowd.
Only Gu Xingze remained, feeling gloomy and regretful. Why had he hesitated? Why had he delayed? Now it was done—he hadn’t added her on WeChat…
If given another chance, if he encountered that female lay practitioner again, he would definitely go to add her on WeChat and ask for her number immediately!
…
Ye Ximeng walked briskly toward the abbot’s meditation room, as if returning home, greeting every monk she encountered along the way with “Amitabha.”
At the meditation room, Abbot Du’e was already waiting for her at the door.
Seeing Ye Ximeng approach, Abbot Du’e smiled like a benevolent elder.
Ye Ximeng also flashed a broad smile and called out, “Abbot.”
After calling out, she seemed to remember something, clasped her hands together, and bowed to Abbot Du’e as a junior.
Entering the meditation room, Du’e brewed tea for Ye Ximeng.
Ye Ximeng also handed Du’e a box of calming incense she had tucked in her sleeve.
She had learned from the monks below that Abbot Du’e had suffered a severe injury to his left arm years ago.
It nearly required amputation.
Ultimately, the arm was saved, but he couldn’t lift any heavy objects, and every night when quiet descended, the pain would become unbearable, making it difficult to sleep.
Later, whenever she delivered incense weekly, she would bring a box of calming incense made from a secret ancestral recipe for Du’e.
Du’e didn’t stand on ceremony; after uttering a Buddhist chant, he calmly accepted the calming incense.
“Thanks to your calming incense, I’ve been able to sleep well every night these years,” Du’e said.
“Thanks to your care over these years, being able to alleviate some of your troubles is my honor,” Ye Ximeng quickly replied.
These were sincere words, not polite platitudes.
Abbot Du’e had done her a great kindness.
That year, when she was almost stepping into the abyss…
If she hadn’t encountered Abbot Du’e…
She hardly dared imagine what she might have become now.
A delinquent girl, a streetwalker, or even worse circumstances…
It could be said that without Abbot Du’e, there would be no her as she is now.
Her respect for Abbot Du’e surpassed that for her father.
Or rather, compared to her own father, Abbot Du’e was more like a father to her.
Sometimes she even selfishly thought, how wonderful it would be if Abbot Du’e were her father…
Du’e chuckled and shook his head: “Between us, let’s not speak such polite words.”
Ye Ximeng smiled and chatted with Abbot Du’e about everyday matters.
“Abbot, I’ve married, arranged by the family, a business alliance marriage,” Ye Ximeng said.
Upon hearing this, Abbot Du’e seemed momentarily stunned. After a moment, he asked, “Business alliance marriage? Are you satisfied with your marriage partner?”
Ye Ximeng nodded with a smile and said, “I am very satisfied.”
Abbot Du’e saw that Ye Ximeng’s expression didn’t seem forced, so he also smiled: “Then, congratulations.”
After speaking, Abbot Du’e suddenly stood up and took a small box from the treasure cabinet behind him.
“A wedding gift,” Abbot Du’e said, pushing the small box toward Ye Ximeng.
Now it was Ye Ximeng’s turn to be astonished. She truly hadn’t expected Abbot Du’e to give her a wedding gift.
Even her own father hadn’t prepared anything for her.
Suddenly, Ye Ximeng felt a slight sting in her nose.
“Open it and see,” came Abbot Du’e’s voice.
Ye Ximeng quickly suppressed her emotions and carefully opened the brocade box.
As soon as the box was cracked open a sliver, a rich, deep fragrance wafted out.
Ye Ximeng sniffed gently, and her expression gradually shifted from solemnity and surprise to disbelief.
Born into a family of incense blending, she had majored in Perfume and Flavor Technology and Engineering in university.
Years of immersion and exposure had given her profound knowledge of incense, and she was exceptionally sensitive to the scents of various aromatic materials.
From just this whiff of fragrance, she already had a guess about what was inside the box.
It smelled both medicinal and floral, with a hint of coolness.
It was the scent of Vietnamese Nha Trang sinking-grade qinan agarwood!
The highest grade, the rarest agarwood!
Worth a thousand gold per gram.
She had only had the fortune of encountering agarwood of this caliber once during a university field trip.
That rich, layered, and profound aroma had stayed with her ever since.
The brocade box slowly opened to reveal a string of prayer beads.
“One hundred and eight beads, to sever one hundred and eight kinds of afflictions. May the donor’s marriage be blissful, all matters go smoothly, and peace, joy, and happiness follow,” Abbot Du’e chanted slowly, palms pressed together in blessing.
Ye Ximeng finally snapped back to reality. She closed the box and pushed it back toward Abbot Du’e, saying, “Abbot, these prayer beads are too precious. I cannot accept them.”
But Abbot Du’e did not take the box. Instead, he said, “Sādhu, sādhu. The Buddha said, ‘All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows.’
As the ancient saying goes, ‘When an elder bestows a gift, one dare not decline.’
This string of prayer beads is connected to you by fate. Please accept it.”
In the end, Ye Ximeng accepted the prayer beads, along with Abbot Du’e’s blessings for her.
The topic of marriage thus came to an end.
Abbot Du’e then brought up another matter: “I went to check yesterday. The tea leaves in the white tea grove on the back hill are ready for picking again. In a moment, I’ll arrange for a few disciples to go with you to pick tea.”
Ye Ximeng and Abbot Du’e chatted for a while longer.
Sometimes she shared bits of daily life or observations, and sometimes Abbot Du’e spoke of Buddhist insights.
Her relationship with Abbot Du’e was close, as if he were a trusted elder.
Abbot Du’e treated her like a kind, gentle, and deeply affectionate elder guiding a younger generation—patient, earnest, and nurturing…
The two talked for nearly an hour before Abbot Du’e called three disciples to accompany her to the back hill to pick tea.
At the door of the meditation hall, Ye Ximeng bowed respectfully to Abbot Du’e once more before turning to follow the three monks toward the back hill.
Just then, Jiang Yufeng also arrived at the meditation hall to pay his respects to the abbot.
He immediately recognized that figure—it was the female lay practitioner Gu Xingze had announced he intended to pursue.
Was she also here to see the abbot?
Perhaps it was an illusion, but in that fleeting glance, he suddenly felt that the figure seemed familiar.
Yet he couldn’t recall exactly who it was.
While Jiang Yufeng was lost in thought, the figure had already followed the three monks around the corner and disappeared from his sight.