The reactions of the aunt and grandma seemed to corroborate Shen Luzhu's guess, but to find out what was going on and get the pendant back, guessing alone was not enough.
At the end of the first year, Uncle Chu and his wife, who had been staying at Li Xiucai's house in the town for nearly a decade, returned to Kaoshan Village. Also returning with them was their three-year-old grandson Chu Mingxuan. The day after the grandfather and grandson returned to the village, they came to the old house.
"Hey, dear grandson, come and give me a hug. Why did you two bring Mingxuan back?"
Uncle Chu let out a long sigh: "Mom and dad, I'm afraid my father-in-law is not doing well!"
Grandpa Chu put down the hand he was teasing with his grandson, turned around and asked, "Isn't it because I drank too much and fell? It hasn't been good for so long. Could it be that I broke a bone?"
"As the old saying goes, it takes a hundred days to break your muscles and bones. If you really break your arms and legs, you really need to recuperate for a while, but you can't recover so quickly."
"Aniang is right. She did break her bones, but not her arms and legs, but her waist! Then Li Xiucai broke his waist!"
"What? If this person's waist is broken, how can he still be alive?"
Not only Grandma Chu, but also the entire Chu family were shocked! Even Shen Luzhu shook his head secretly. Even in modern times where Chinese and Western medicine were very advanced in his previous life, if his waist was broken, even if he saved his life, he would probably have to stay paralyzed in bed for the rest of his life!
Not to mention the ancient times when medical conditions were quite backward. Although Chu A Nai’s question was a bit blunt, there was nothing wrong with her. Even if Li Xiucai was still alive now, I’m afraid he wouldn’t be able to survive for long!
Seeing that everyone seemed to have some misunderstanding, the eldest uncle hurriedly took over the conversation: "Dad, please make it clear, your waist is broken! Dad and mom, don't get me wrong, that's not what I meant!"
"The boss said it was over, and you said no. Can you explain it to me for once? I'm really worried. What's going on?"
"The doctor said that the bones in the waist were broken, but it's not like the bones in the legs were broken. That means they were half-broken. They were dislocated and disjointed in the flesh!"
"It's not like the arm is detached. Find an old doctor to push it up and it will end!"
"Auntie, that's what we thought at first. When we first arrived in town, my father-in-law had been suffering from a high fever. He was awake and confused for a long time. He couldn't move. He screamed in pain when he was touched! The doctor had no choice but to open the door first. I got a prescription for reducing swelling and fever, and used decoction to hang me up. Later, I finally got better. When the doctor checked, he found that the bones in the legs were fine. What was broken was the waist. Maybe it was too serious, and even the legs were broken. It’s not easy to use anymore!
I found several doctors who touched the bones in his waist and shook their heads. They said that the bones in his waist were different from those in his arms and legs. They couldn't just push them back into place as if his arms were detached. If his waist had been twisted, it would still be there. Yes, but it was obvious that he was not cured, and it was said that it could not be cured. It was a blessing among misfortunes that he could survive! "
"It's so serious, what can be done in the future?"
The eldest uncle shook her head, full of regret: "The doctor asked me to take the soft quilt off the bed and sleep on the hard bed board. She said that we can only keep it like this for now, and wait until the bones that are out of place grow long and strong, and then we can take a look. It's best not to affect the upper body, but from now on I can only lie in bed. My daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law are busy taking care of their parents-in-law, and Aren has to take the imperial examination in August. Now is the time when he needs to study hard. If not, we will bring Mingxuan back!"
"A good person, alas..."
Because he has a promising eldest grandson in his family, Mr. Chu knows more about the imperial examination than the average person: "Boss, the imperial examination is not held every three years. Shouldn't it be next year? The test will be held in August this year. ?”
"It seems that there is some kind of indiscipline. Ah Ren said that the Queen Mother is going to celebrate her sixtieth birthday this year. To celebrate her birthday, she specially added an imperial examination this year!" Uncle Chu didn't understand very well, so he just told him about his eldest son. , and my father recited it over and over again.
Although what happened to Li Xiucai is embarrassing, the Chu family has not yet thought about whether this matter will have any impact on Chu Ren in the future. When Chu Auntie heard that her eldest grandson would take the imperial examination again this year, her attention instantly After being transferred, after all, for her, Chu Ren's imperial examination path was the real thing.
"Then this is suddenly brought forward one year, will it be detrimental to our Ren?"
"Aniang, my daughter-in-law also asked him, and Aren said that one year in advance is the same for all candidates, and we Aren have already expected that we may have to take the Encore exam this year, so we are mentally prepared for it, so we are not afraid!"
"That's good, that's good. The ancestors and ancestors bless Chu Ren, our Chu family, and we will be able to shine on the lintel of the Chu family as soon as possible!"
Grandma Chu's words seemed to remind Mrs. Wang, and she suddenly clapped her hands: "Mom, why don't we go to the temple fair on February 19th to offer incense and ask the Bodhisattva to bless our Ahren to become successful as soon as possible!"
"It's okay to burn incense and ask for a talisman to remove bad luck for A-Ren and save him from being affected by the Li family's incident!"
As the largest temple in Changshui Town, Qichan Temple holds the grandest temple fair of the year on February 19th every year.
The temple fair starts on February 19th and lasts for three consecutive days. The first is to pray for the upcoming spring plowing. Secondly, February 19th is the birthday of Avalokitesvara, which is of great significance to this important place in Buddhism. People from the whole town and even the surrounding areas will come to participate.
Not only that, starting from the flat land at the foot of the mountain, along the road on the mountain, and then to the open space in front of the temple, you will be filled with various stalls set up by small vendors who heard the news. There are stalls selling all kinds of trinkets, candied haws, tea, noodle soup, candies, and many divination stalls. In short, there is everything you need and it’s very lively!
Before sunrise, the entire Qichan Temple was busy in an orderly manner. The masters in the temple wore brand-new monk robes, sat cross-legged on their seats, and chanted scriptures loudly.
Then with the first ray of sunshine in the morning, the closed temple door opened wide to welcome the believers who had been waiting outside to enter the temple. After opening the altar to pray for blessings, he followed the crowd and received the plain bags distributed by the temple, and donated some incense money. Chu A'nai and the eldest uncle were going to the main hall to pray for Chu Ren, so they chased Shen Luzhu and Chu Yi went to send Zi Guanyin Hall to pray for blessings.
The young couple received incense candles in front of the hall, lined up and entered the hall, knelt on the futon and kowtowed to pray. After the silent recitation, Shen Luzhu opened his eyes and quietly looked at Chu Yi beside him. The man's expression was solemn and he looked very happy. Devoted and serious.
They have been married for more than a year, and they seem to have never talked about children. Does Chu Yi want a child of theirs? Seeing how seriously he talked to the Bodhisattva for so long, he must be thinking!
Thinking of this, Shen Luzhu clasped his hands together again, closed his eyes and said silently in his heart: "Bodhisattva, please bless the man next to me to get what he wants and have a smooth life!"
After coming out of the Avalokitesvara Hall, they went back to the square in front of the main hall. Perhaps there were too many people offering incense today, and the grandma and uncle hadn't finished yet, so the young couple just walked around nearby.
The path on the right front side of the main hall leads to a small pond in the temple. Shen Luzhu has been there before with Shen's mother and second aunt. There are many koi carps and two huge turtles in the pond. In summer, it is full of fish. Lotus! But it was still winter, and there was a layer of ice on the water, and the ice was covered with thick snow, so nothing could be seen.
Because of this, not many people come near the pond. Compared with other places in the temple, it feels as quiet as a paradise.
When walking back, I don't know when there was a civet cat on the path. It was lying in the middle of the path. Shen Luzhu walked over softly. The cat heard the sound, moved its ears, half-opened its eyelids, and took a look. Looking at Shen Luzhu who had already walked in front of him, he closed his eyes again and continued to fall asleep.
"Why are you lying here, aren't you cold?" After saying that, seeing that the cat ignored him, Shen Luzhu tentatively stretched out his index finger and touched the head of the civet cat. Unexpectedly, the cat turned over. With his belly facing up, he looked up at Shen Luzhu, his eyes seemed to say: "Hurry up and touch it!"
The young couple had a great time playing with the cat. To be precise, Shen Luzhu had a great time playing with the cat. It wasn't that Chu Yi didn't like cats, it was just that the cat refused to be touched by him, so Chu Yi could only watch from the sidelines.
"This female donor, can you let me take the civet flower away? It's cold outside, and the master is afraid of freezing it."
The speaker was a young novice monk. He originally thought that the cat came from a nearby village, but he never thought that it was raised by the master in the temple. Hearing this, Shen Luzhu hurriedly picked up the cat named Li Hua and gave it away. It was in the hands of the little novice, but as soon as he let go, the cat turned around and rolled to the ground, standing at the feet of the little novice and stretching!
Thinking that he didn't hold it firmly, he looked carefully and saw that the civet cat was fine. Shen Luzhu quickly apologized to the little novice in front of him: "I'm sorry, little master!"
The little novice monk glanced at the civet cat licking its paws at his feet, and smiled at the two of them: "Don't worry about the female donor. The civet cat has never been happy to be touched. Just now I saw that it was willing to let the female donor touch it. Little monk I also find it very novel!”
Hearing what the little novice said, Shen Luzhu also felt very strange. He tilted his head and looked at the civet cat. Unexpectedly, the cat also tilted his head and looked back, as if he had understood human nature!
Seeing this, the little novice monk touched his sleeves, took out a blessing bag and handed it to Shen Luzhu: "It seems that Lihua must like the donor very much, so I will give this blessing bag to the donor as a thank you gift for taking care of Lihua just now. May your wishes come true, Amitabha.”
"Thank you, little master!"
The civet cat followed the little novice monk and lazily walked away. Seeing that the time was almost up, the young couple returned to the square in front of the main hall to wait. Not long after, Grandma Chu and the uncle walked out from the side door. But his face doesn't look very good.
The Chu family was among the first to enter the temple. When they came down the mountain, there were still many people who came to offer incense and play. There were lively stalls on both sides, and the road left in the middle was crowded with people going up the mountain. People can only move down bit by bit along the stalls on the side.
This made Mrs. Wang, the eldest uncle who was already in a bad mood, even more irritable. She finally reached the relatively spacious mountainside halfway up the mountain. Grandma Chu and Mrs. Wang were both exhausted. They were about to take a rest when they listened to someone on the side. Someone at the stall called me.
He was an old man with a goatee and half-white hair. He seemed to be about the same age as Mr. Chu. He was pointing at the eldest uncle and motioning for her to come over: "This lady in a blue coat, I see that your face is full of gloom. There seems to be something troubling you, come on, let me explain it to you!"
The aunt in a blue coat was standing there feeling a little bored at the moment. There were so many fortune tellers on both sides of the mountain road who asked about fortune-telling. They were just real and fake. I am afraid that there are only a few who are really capable, and most of them are just liars. I don’t know. Why did he actually target her? She didn't want to pay attention to it, but the old man spoke again.
"If you don't believe it, let me remind you that I asked for a signature in the temple just now. I'm afraid it's not what you want!"
After hearing this, the auntie and Grandma Chu looked at each other, then walked forward doubtfully and sat down on the small stool in front of the stall: "Master, can you tell me in detail?"
