“Spending 100 yuan just to hear a few auspicious words—feels like such a rip-off.” Walking out of the temple, Lin Shuwen muttered while putting her mask back on.
“I think it was totally worth it. Weren’t you smiling happily just now?”
“Nonsense, I wasn’t! I was only a tiny bit happy.”
“Alright, alright. Then Miss Lin, for the sake of making you just a tiny bit happy, how about holding hands?”
“Since you were so thoughtful today and treated me to a meal, I’ll grant your wish!” With that, Lin Shuwen took the initiative and grabbed Loming’s hand.
Loming turned his hand over and clasped it, and the two went from a simple hand-hold to interlocking their fingers.
Guys generally have a higher body temperature than girls.
With their palms pressed together, one felt the coolness was comfortable, while the other felt the warmth was cozy.
“You’re taking advantage of me again! I agreed to hold hands—how did it turn into interlocking fingers?”
“Free perks—might as well take them.”
“Hmph o(^｀)o”
“You’re wearing a mask! I can’t see you pouting, so pouting is pointless.”
“You—”
“Longhua Vegetarian Restaurant is here.” Before Lin Shuwen could finish, Loming pointed at the building ahead with his free hand.
“Looks pretty crowded.”
“Let’s go in and check. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll just buy some vegetarian food to take home.”
Lin Shuwen nodded and walked into Longhua Vegetarian Restaurant with Loming.
The two took a look around and found an empty seat in the corner against the wall. Lin Shuwen could sit with her back to the crowd, so she didn’t have to worry about being photographed.
After picking a seat, they went to order.
“Huh? The noodles here are so cheap! A bowl of Arhat Noodles is 15 yuan, and the ‘As You Wish’ cold dishes are 10 yuan. I can’t believe Xuhui has noodles this cheap.” Lin Shuwen sighed as she looked at the menu.
“Not just cheap—look at the bottom line. Eat first, pay later.”
“With so many people and so many tables, someone’s bound to dine and dash, right?”
“Maybe they’ve already taken that into account? People run into tough times when they’re out and about. Longhua Vegetarian Restaurant is inside Longhua Temple—Buddha probably doesn’t mind giving someone in need a break, right?”
Lin Shuwen thought about it and figured that made sense.
“Besides, I doubt they’re counting on the noodles to make money. Look at the coffee—plain coffee is called ‘No Worries,’ oat coffee is called ‘Good Karma,’ and they’re not cheap at all.
The other drinks are all 25 yuan a cup. Just the drinks alone must bring in quite a bit.”
“Seems like these monks have a good head for business!”
“That’s called making good use of resources.”
After saying that, Loming and Lin Shuwen ordered together—one bowl of vegetarian noodles plus “As You Wish” cold dishes each, and a cup of “No Worries” for both of them.
After ordering, Loming told Lin Shuwen to go sit down first while he waited for the noodles to be ready and carried them over.
“So this is the ‘As You Wish’ cold dish!” Lin Shuwen couldn’t help but complain as she looked at the two small dishes on the plate.
The plate wasn’t big, divided into two sections, each a bit larger than a thermos lid, holding two different side dishes.
One was vegetarian duck, the other was pickled cucumber slices. The portions were tiny.
“Just this little bit for 10 yuan—looks like the noodles really are the only thing not making money here.”
“Seems so. When I was picking up the noodles just now, the cook even told me you can get unlimited refills of noodles and broth.”
Lin Shuwen was a bit speechless at that. Today she’d learned just how much Longhua Temple’s kindness was worth.
A bowl of Arhat Noodles was worth 15 yuan—that was the value of their kindness.
Lin Shuwen picked up her chopsticks and poked around the bowl. Even though it was a vegetarian noodle dish, the ingredients were actually pretty generous—tofu skin, black wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, fried gluten balls, and tofu knots. Apart from having no meat, it was pretty good.
Lin Shuwen scooped up a spoonful of broth and took a sip. “This broth is so weird! It’s actually sweet, with a strong MSG taste—that fresh-and-sweet kind of feeling.”
Loming heard this and also picked up his bowl for a sip, then agreed. “It really is.”
“I don’t really like this flavor. I’ll add some chili.” Lin Shuwen opened a small aluminum box on the table and scooped a small spoonful of chili into her bowl.
Loming did the same.
With chili added, the taste was much better.
After finishing the noodles, it had already gotten dark outside.
Outside the temple, Loming saw dots of firelight floating up into the sky.
“Sure enough, this world’s Longhua Temple also has the tradition of releasing Kongming lanterns!” Loming thought to himself.
Lin Shuwen also noticed the little lights drifting in the air. She asked curiously, “Loming, what’s that?”
“Probably Kongming lanterns! Want to go take a look?”
“Sure!”
Loming grabbed Lin Shuwen’s hand. She struggled once, to no avail.
So she just let it be.
The two went outside the temple and immediately spotted a small stall selling Kongming lanterns.
The stall owner wasn’t a monk but an old man—probably a local resident.
“Sir, how much are the Kongming lanterns?”
“Regular ones are 3 yuan, thick ones are 5 yuan, thick ones with colored pictures are 8 yuan, and animal-shaped ones are 10 yuan.”
“Wenwen, which one do you want?” Loming turned and asked.
Lin Shuwen crouched down to look, then picked a rabbit-shaped Kongming lantern.
Loming paid without hesitation.
“Young man, don’t you want a pen?” the old man called out, stopping Loming.
“A pen?”
“Yeah! How else are you going to write your wish on the lantern?”
“Uh, yes, how much per pen?”
“3 yuan.”
Loming glanced down at his phone—where a pack of 100 pens cost 29.9 on Pinduoduo—and fell silent.
In the end, Loming still paid for a pen, cash for goods, goods for cash.
“You’re really good at business, sir.”
“Just earning a little hard-earned money.” The old man smiled.
“Young man, since you didn’t haggle, I’ll point you to a good spot. Leave Longhua Temple with your girlfriend, head east on the road, and you’ll see a gap.
Go down through the gap, and there’s a small river. Not many people there—you can release your Kongming lantern there.”
Loming was startled—he hadn’t expected a bonus tip!
“Thank you, sir.”
“You’re welcome. Just come back and support my business next time.”
“Definitely next time!”
With that, Loming held Lin Shuwen’s hand and headed east as the old man had said.
After walking about 100 meters, they saw the gap the old man mentioned. They went down along it and indeed found a small river, with a few small lights shining by the bank.
“Such a quiet atmosphere. This would be a great spot for fishing.” Lin Shuwen sighed.
“Good for fishing?” Loming smiled faintly, then pointed. “They’re fishing right now!”
“Huh? There are people?” Lin Shuwen looked where he pointed and sure enough, saw several fishermen with headlamps, tackle boxes, folding chairs—fully equipped.
Lin Shuwen was speechless. “So the lights we saw when we came down weren’t Kongming lanterns after all!”
