CH 20

Chapter 20: Chinese Valentine’s Day (part 1)

Shit, her brain had short-circuited. She had actually been kicked from that carriage by the person she had cared for. And she had worried about him to the extent where she had not gotten enough sleep. She felt cheated! An unrivalled beauty and a pair of lustrous gold eyes, noble and indifferent… How could she forget that the crowd had previously described Feng Ming? Upon seeing his gold eyes, how had she not immediately connected it to the Ice Lord Feng Ming? What was this… Ugh.

To think that she had lived two lifetimes and still such a thing had occurred… It seemed that the sight of that enchanting face had flustered her and even reduced her ability to think clearly. Pah! Who was flustered? She merely had overflowing compassion. Yes, it was compassion!

Through Bai Xi’s internal fuming, she heard Bai Yu Jie ask, “Xi’r, why do you look angry? Are you blaming older brother for abandoning you?”

“Older bro?” Bai Xi looked at her surroundings and noticed that she had already arrived at Fo Yin Temple. Right, Fo Yin Temple. The people at the foot of the mountain had not mentioned that that lousy man would come to Fo Yin Temple. She recalled that Ye Zi Yu was still looking for him to confess. In any case, how did that lousy man end up halfway up the mountain with a heavy injury? Furthermore, why did he decide to stay in the forest instead of going to Fo Yin Temple after he had been injured?

“Does Xi’r blame older brother?” Bai Yu Jie regarded her reticence as offence, but Bai Xi was not angry at him.

“How? Does Xi’r seem like such a petty person?” Bai Xi smiled and let go of her grievances. She would just accept that she had saved that lousy man’s life and consider it a good deed, however that foot… She would not forget this.

Bai Yu Jie smiled gently and reached out to pat Bai Xi’s head. Actually, in his heart, he hoped that Xi’r would be angry at him. That sort of thing would be an indication that Xi’r still cared about him, but…

“Has older brother eaten breakfast?” She had previously surmised that her older brother would arrive in an hour or so, but now it was daybreak and he was already here on the road?

“Mm, I’ve eaten.” Actually, somewhere between 11 pm and 1 am last night, he had returned. At that time, she had been sleeping, but her sleep did not appear restful, her brows knitted together the whole night. The reason why he had rushed over was that he was worried she was afraid. As a matter of fact, his worries seemed justified. Xi’r was not able to sleep peacefully.

“Oh?”

“Come on. Grandfather is waiting for us.” Bai Yu Jie didn’t voice these concerns, and walked slowly away. Xi’r was his younger sister. He couldn’t’ reveal his emotions.

“Ah? The old man is also here at Fo Yin Temple?” Didn’t little Qiu Qiu say that every year, it was only her and her older brother who went? Why did that old man also come along this year? That old monk won’t tell the old man that she is not the real Bai Xi, right?

“Mm, grandfather and the abbot are playing chess in the living quarters,” Bai Yu Jie said as Bai Xi’s jade hands tucked into the curve of his arm and tugged him forward.

Quickly, the two of them reached the living quarters. Before entering the room, they heard Bai Chong Yuan’s voice from inside. “This is not allowed. This shouldn’t be placed here. You should put it here.

“Damn monk, you like to eat my pieces. How can you be so gluttonous as a monk? Not allowed! Do it again!”

Bai Xi blushed with shame. This old man’s chess was really indescribable. With eating… he actually said that the other monk was gluttonous. What was this based on? Bai Yu Jie smiled a little, as if Bai Chong Yuan’s inability to keep calm in the face of the unexpected was the reason for his ability at chess.

“Old man, do you still play shamelessly like this? Who in the world would dare to play chess with you?” Bai Xi inquired as she entered the room. She didn’t bother sugar-coating and wasn’t worried that the other party would rebuke her lack of respect for the elderly, since this was how they got along.

Bai Chong Yuan replied, “Girl, you don’t understand. This old man just wants to go and play chess. I don’t like playing against those people.”

The abbot smiled faintly.

Bai Xi rolled her eyes, huffing.

“Girl, what is with your expression? You feel that this old man is bragging?” Bai Chong Yuan got up from the couch. He knocked Bai Xi’s head. “Jie boy, you tell her. In the end, am I bragging?”

Bai Yu Jie smiled gently. He didn’t intend to speak.

Bai Chong Yuan snorted and then looked at the abbot. “Old monk, you…”

“Buddha be praised!”

“Old monk, I want you to explain to this damn girl whether I have been bragging. Who wants to listen to your Buddha?”

The abbot only smiled in response. The piece in his hand fell and invited more dissatisfaction. “Damn monk. Again eating my piece! You’re really a glutton!”

Bai Xi rolled her eyes again. She started to admire the calm attitude of this abbot. In the face of the old man’s shamelessness, he was still composed.

“Damn girl, you can go down the mountain after you’re finished with the incense. There’s no need to stay and be blind.” Bai Chong Yuan was like a miffed child. He no longer looked at Bai Xi.

“Oi, is the old man suggesting that I am blind, or are you afraid that my magnificent image of you will be ruined?” She just wanted to see these two people, so she quickly came here.

“Jie boy, take this girl away. She’s truly blind!”

As if guessing Bai Xi’s intentions, the abbot said, “Patron Bai, you can rest down the mountain.”

Bai Xi lifted her eyes to glance at the abbot before looking over at Bai Chong Yuan. Her lips curled and she said, “Old man, next time you can’t say that I don’t care about you.”

When Bai Chong Yuan didn’t respond to the implication behind Bai Xi’s words, the latter stepped away gracefully.

“Damn girl, you have no idea how to respect the elderly! However, your temperament resembles your mother’s more and more.”

“But you like it, don’t you?”

“Yes, you are my granddaughter. Of course I would like it. As for the old monk, you are doomed to spend all your life lonely,” Bai Chong Yuan laughed, as if he did not regard the other party as an eminent monk.

The abbot didn’t say a word and just moved a white piece, quickly attracting his attention.

After Bai Xi and Bai Yu Jie came to the hall to burn incense, they began to prepare for the journey down the mountain. Bai Xi learned from Bai Yu Jie that Bai Chong Yuan would stay at Fo Yin Temple for a period of time with the abbot. Bai Xi suspected that there was more to this Fo Yin Temple than it being the national temple.

“Is older brother not going to take a break before going down the mountain?”

“Older brother isn’t tired.” Ever since she was a child, Xi’r had disliked staying at the temple. In the past he would return the same day, but this year, there had been an unexpected situation at the military camp and he had had no choice but to leave her alone.

Bai Xi nodded a little, but she was very curious. Is it possible that every year she specially came to Fo Yin Temple just for the sake of lighting a joss stick? This… This was also very peculiar.

“Hey, older sister Xi, older brother Jie.”

Bai Xi wrinkled her brow unconsciously and looked up to see Ye Zi Yu running towards them while waving. The next moment, Ye Zi Yu reached them and pulled on Bai Xi’s arm. With a smiling face, she said, “To be able to descend the mountain with older sister Xi and older brother Jie is really great.”

It started. It started again. Bai Xi felt a headache coming and looked at Ye Zi Yu, who was clinging to her like some sort of adhesive. Was she really a princess? This princess was too clingy.

“Right. I had something to say to older sister Xi last night, but older sister Xi was not in.”

“What is it?”

“Next month there is the Qi Qiao1 Festival. Can older sister Xi accompany me to the palace?” Ye Zi Yu’s face was hopeful. She looked very cute.

“Qi Qiao Festival? Oh, you are talking about Qi Xi, Valentine’s Day.”

1.(乞巧節) Qi Qiao Festival – the double seventh festival. I think Qi Qiao is the name they used to call it and Qi Xi is what they call it now. I believe it is Chinese Valentine’s Day.