The Daily Life Of Mei Furen Doting On Her Husband - Chapter 42

Wu Zhen trapped the evil spirit and sent Mei Si back home first. After Mei Si woke up, he really didn’t remember anything. He only remembered that he wanted to draw a picture of a thousand ghosts to ward off evil spirits as a gift for Sister Zhen and his cousin, but he couldn’t find the paper and brush he wanted. Later he seemed to have gone out to drink with someone, got drunk, and had a headache.

Wu Zhen looked at the silly boy with a cute face and patted his head. “Okay, you should have a good rest. We can go to the temple to worship in a few days.”

Mei Si asked, puzzled, “Ah, why?”

Wu Zhen said, “It’s nothing. Aren’t you looking for a good paper and brush? I have some and will send them to you in two days.” After all, he had suffered, so she had to comfort that unfortunate child.

Mei Si’s attention was immediately drawn away, and he said cheerfully, “Really? Okay, if Sister Zhen says it’s good, it must be a good thing. I’ll be waiting!”

Wu Zhen did what she said. She divided the monster spirit into half and stuffed it into a good brush, sealing most of its power. In that way, although the painting drawn by that brush had a bit of the evil aura of a living creature, it could no longer escape from the painting. At most, it could only move in the painting. She gave the brush to Mei Si and said, “Draw the Thousand Ghosts to Exorcism Evil Spirits Picture well.”

Mei Si was stunned. “How did Sister Zhen know I wanted to draw this?!”

Wu Zhen: “Everyone guessed it.”

Mei Si really started to paint seriously from that day on. Nothing happened, but Mei Si always felt that the ghosts he painted seemed to blink occasionally. Once, he was dizzy and even saw a ghost scratching its head. After that he thought, should I really go to the temple to worship?

After struggling for a day, Mei Si finally decided to go and pray for peace of mind.

There was a Lingjing Temple in Jinchang Lane, which was very lively and popular. Mei Si’s mother also went to the temple to burn incense on the first and fifteenth day of every month. Mei Si went there quite a few times. After all, the various operas performed in the temple’s theater were very interesting. If he was really bored, he could go to the temple’s theater to see if there were any new things.

When Mei Si arrived at Lingjing Temple, he found that there were unexpectedly many people in the temple. Although it was not as grand as the Ullambana Festival (Sangha Day) and the Buddha Bathing Festival, the square in front of the temple was full of people and it was very lively.

“What’s going on? Why are there so many people here today?” Mei Si stopped a young man and asked him. The young man told him that there was a sutra lecture. The so-called sutra lecture was that the monks in the temple used easy-to-understand words to tell stories from the Buddhist scriptures to guide believers and people to be good. Ordinary people were bored on weekdays, and the opportunity to listen to stories was rare, so the people nearby came early with their families.

The lecture had not started yet, and several monks were preparing on the stage. Mei Si saw a large crowd of people over there, so he did not squeeze in and prepared to burn incense. But when he turned around, he saw two familiar figures, one tall and one short. Who else could it be but Sister Zhen and his cousin? Seeing the two people turned to the back, Mei Si hurriedly followed them secretly.

Fearing to be discovered, Mei Si did not dare to get too close and only saw the two walking side by side from a distance. After a while, they reached a wall, and Wu Zhen stopped and looked up.

There were several cherry branches that had grown over the wall, with red cherries on them. It was said that these two cherry trees in the temple were brought back by a great monk from his travels. The monks in the temple didn’t know how to take care of them, and the fruits were big and red. However, people were not allowed to pick the fruits at will in the temple, and the walls had been specially raised, so people could only stand below and watch with envy.

Mei Si huddled in the corner and peeked, seeing Wu Zhen seemingly wanting to pick cherries while Mei Zhuyu hesitated and shook his head. Wu Zhen smiled, raised her hand, and was about to climb the wall, seemingly intent on scaling it to pick the cherries. Mei Si wasn’t surprised at all that his cousin would try to stop her, as his cousin wouldn’t engage in such “bad things”. Unfortunately, Mei Si also knew Sister Zhen, and she liked doing such things.

There would definitely be unpleasantness. Mei Si watched nervously, thinking that Sister Zhen might lose her temper. She was just like that—if someone didn’t allow her to do something, she would be unhappy. She didn’t like listening to advice and didn’t like being stopped. But what happened next was a little unexpected. Mei Si watched helplessly as his eldest cousin, who never did anything bad, lifted up Sister Zhen.

Mei Zhuyu was tall and strong, easily lifting Wu Zhen to the top of the wall. Wu Zhen could pick the cherries above her head with just one hand.

Seeing Wu Zhen being lifted high, Mei Si thought to himself that these two cherry trees would be in trouble, as his sister Zhen would pluck the cherry trees like a goose passing by, definitely not leaving a single one for them.

Then, to his surprise, Wu Zhen only picked a few cherries from such a heavy branch. Moreover, she immediately stuffed a cherry into Mei Zhuyu’s mouth, who was holding her up.

Mei Zhuyu seemed frightened and almost dropped Wu Zhen, but he reacted quickly, hugged her tightly, and put her down, looking a little uneasy. Wu Zhen fed him another cherry, directly against his lips, and Mei Zhuyu lowered his head and ate it awkwardly.

When Wu Zhen spoke to him in a low voice, Mei Zhuyu shook his head at first, then he nodded.

Mei Si felt that the sun was too strong and it was blinding him. Was that really his sister Zhen and his eldest cousin? Could it be fake? How could Sister Zhen be so easy to talk to and really stop doing something if she was told not to? And his eldest cousin, who was always serious and stern, was this young man who was at a loss when being teased by Sister Zhen? It was too far to see clearly, but Mei Si felt that his eldest cousin must have blushed.

Mei Si had never seen the two of them get along in private. Previously, he thought that they had different personalities and it would be difficult for them to get along. But seeing the scene, Mei Si felt that he might have thought too much. Why was he drawing a picture to ward off evil spirits? He should have painted a picture of mandarin ducks playing in the water.

Mei Si followed them secretly for a while and saw with his own eyes that Wu Zhen and Mei Zhuyu were getting along well with each other. The more he watched, the more miserable he felt being alone. He couldn’t follow them anymore and turned around and ran back to the main hall to burn incense.

He came to burn incense because he saw something evil, hoping to get rid of the bad luck. But when he was about to burn incense, Mei Si, who was stimulated by the scene, suddenly had a brain spasm and prayed for a marriage in front of the Buddha.

A monk was beating a wooden fish nearby. Hearing what he said, he smiled and said, “This one doesn’t care about marriage. There is a Bodhisattva in the back hall who cares about this. It is very effective. You might as well give it a try.”

Mei Si went to the backyard for some unknown reason but was scared away by the young ladies who were seeking good marriages in that yard.

Forget it, he thought, getting married is worse than painting; he hasn’t finished many of his paintings yet.