Praying for Blessings

The company naturally had changing rooms, so Ye Shuang and Chen Qin both changed into relatively simple casual clothes. Since their date had been arranged at the last minute, Chen Qin hadn’t had time to dress up. She was wearing a pair of slim-fitting jeans and a white top.

After getting into the car, Ye Shuang fastened his seat belt. At that moment, Chen Qin opened the passenger-side door. The first thing to catch his eye was the rounded curve of her peach-like backside, and Ye Shuang froze for several seconds.

Once Chen Qin had taken her seat, she noticed his gaze as well. She blinked her beautiful eyes, and, as if realizing what had happened, spoke in a coquettish voice. “Ye~”

“Sorry.” Ye Shuang cleared his throat lightly, realizing that she had caught him staring.

“Silly, why are you apologizing? You’ve always loved coming from behind, after all.” Chen Qin leaned a little closer, but then remembered that Ye Shuang no longer recalled those things. Her playful side seemed to take over, and she giggled. “Hehe~ Silly hubby.”

Teased by Chen Qin, Ye Shuang felt a little embarrassed. He could only start the car to distract himself. Just then, however, he noticed a pink “chopped-pepper fish head” puttering past in front of them. He froze for a moment, feeling that it looked somewhat familiar, but he hadn’t seen the license plate.

Then he remembered that the two fish were still working overtime at the office, so he didn’t think any further about it. Instead, he drove out of the parking lot.

Chen Qin set the destination on her phone. They were heading to an ancient town on the island, which was also something of a tourist attraction—as Ye Shuang had always said, traveling was really just going from one place you were tired of living in to another place someone else was tired of living in.

Ye Shuang had actually visited the attraction on a school outing when he was a child. He had heard that it had recently been renovated, so going there for a stroll sounded nice. Besides, it would give him and Chen Qin a chance to relax together.

The destination wasn’t far, though they had to cross a bridge to get there.

Chen Qin kept snapping pictures with her phone. Sometimes she photographed the scenery outside the window, sometimes Ye Shuang, and sometimes herself. It was obvious that she was extremely excited to be out with him.

“You’re really excited,” Ye Shuang remarked.

“Of course.”

Chen Qin’s easy contentment surprised Ye Shuang a little. He glanced at the girl beside him, then continued driving without saying anything.

Before long, they reached the bridge. From there, Ye Shuang and Chen Qin could see the houses and villages on the island ahead. Far from the towering skyscrapers, everything in sight was made up of earthen-brown tiled houses.

On one side of the bridge stood old tiled homes, while on the other side were skyscrapers gleaming with a cold light. It was as if the two sides had been divided into two different eras. Perhaps because of the striking contrast, Ye Shuang slightly raised his eyes.

“Hmm…”

Haizhu City had once been nothing more than a small fishing village. In just a few short decades, it had developed at an astonishing pace, and the difference between the two sides was now like the difference between heaven and earth.

Unable to help himself, Ye Shuang said, “A tourist attraction really is best suited to an ancient town like this. The contrast is quite something.”

“Exactly.” Chen Qin nodded. “Our country has developed far too quickly.”

“What will the world look like thirty years from now?” Ye Shuang wondered. Would there be even more earth-shattering changes?

“I don’t know. But as long as I’m with you, it doesn’t matter what the world becomes.” Chen Qin gazed into the distance, then suddenly turned back to him. “Ye, you’d better not die before I do.”

“Hm?” Ye Shuang glanced at her.

“I… I can’t seem to imagine a world without you,” Chen Qin said. “So… when we’re old, it would be better if I died first.”

“Don’t say things like that.”

“Oh, come on. Everyone grows old and dies eventually.”

Ye Shuang was a little helpless. He had no idea what went on in Chen Qin’s head every day. Perhaps no one in the group could have imagined that their usually aloof and formidable president was actually such a gentle, clingy romantic at heart.

By then, the car had entered the parking lot. After the area had been developed into a tourist attraction, it had gained quite a few modern facilities as well, including public restrooms, a parking lot, and even a milk tea shop.

An ancient town—but not entirely ancient.

“Eh—is it renovated?” After getting out of the car, Chen Qin looked around before naturally wrapping her arm around Ye Shuang’s.

Then, as if remembering something, she asked, “Can I hold you like this?”

“Of course. Just act as you normally do,” Ye Shuang replied.

At that, Chen Qin hugged his arm even tighter. “Hehe, let’s have a second child.”

“You should take better care of your health first,” Ye Shuang said.

That was because he had realized that he seemed to be falling for Chen Qin. The feeling was strange.

It was as if the words left behind in the notebook were proof that, despite losing his memories, he was certain he would fall in love with Chen Qin all over again.

Was that a kind of confidence?

Ye Shuang’s answer surprised Chen Qin a little, but she was still very happy. She even kissed him on the cheek, then rubbed her face against his neck.

The two of them wandered through the ancient town. Suddenly, Chen Qin seemed to notice something and pointed ahead.

“Look over there. It seems like we can pray for blessings.”

Ye Shuang looked in that direction and saw a huge old tree covered in red cords. The warm summer breeze swept past, sending the old and new cords fluttering in the wind. Each one carried the wishes of visitors who had come and gone.

“Pray for blessings?” Ye Shuang said, then walked over with Chen Qin.

Since it wasn’t a holiday, only three or four people were waiting in line. Soon, it was their turn.

“Would you like to pray for a blessing? It’s twenty-five yuan per try,” the attendant said with a smile, pointing to a nearby cylinder filled with fortune sticks. “You can also draw a fortune stick.”

“Are all the fortunes in there good?” Ye Shuang asked with a smile.

After all, some tourist attractions made sure their fortune sticks never produced a bad result. They were almost always filled with auspicious sayings.

“Why not give it a try? Isn’t it even better if you draw a good one? Everything will go smoothly.”

People in coastal cities generally believed quite strongly in feng shui, especially in the south. It wasn’t necessarily superstition; it was simply a way of entrusting their wishes to fate.

With the thought that sincerity brought spiritual power, Ye Shuang reached out and picked up the cylinder of sticks.

“Together?” he asked when he saw Chen Qin watching with curiosity.

“Sure.”

Chen Qin reached out and held the cylinder. Ye Shuang placed his hand over the back of hers, causing Chen Qin’s cheeks to flush slightly.

“Rustle, rustle.”

The bamboo sticks rattled inside the cylinder. As Ye Shuang and Chen Qin moved it together, one of the sticks soon fell onto the floor.

Ye Shuang bent down and picked it up. It was marked as a middling fortune, with words suggesting that things would be bad at first but turn auspicious later.

“Sir, please go over there to have the fortune interpreted,” the attendant said.

“All right.”

Ye Shuang took the stick and walked over with Chen Qin. Several people were already waiting in line there, apparently seeking advice from some kind of fortune-telling master.

“A middling fortune means it’s neither good nor bad?” Chen Qin asked curiously as she looked at the words on the stick.

“Probably. I thought they would all be good fortunes.” Ye Shuang examined it. There were also a few characters whose meaning he didn’t quite understand. They would have to wait until the fortune was interpreted before they could make sense of them.