With soone pulling her along, the rest of the path was indeed much easier.
After about half an hour, they reached the summit.
At the temple entrance stood a large bell that looked quite old.
Daya went over and struck the bell, which let out a deep, muffled sound.
It echoed in their ears, a sound that brought a sense of ease.
Inside the temple, the scent of burning incense imdiately filled the air. Although the temple was partially closed, there were still people inside burning incense and praying.
There were no monks or nuns as one might expect, just a few people who ca in, offered so incense, and left.
Incense was being sold in the courtyard. Gu Kai Zhi bought so, ca back to light it, and the two of them prayed.
In a corner of the courtyard was an old locust tree, adorned with many red ribbons.
"What are these for?"
Gu Kai Zhi looked up at them and said, "For blessings."
"My hotown used to have a lot of temples too, but they were all shut down later. The night before I left ho, my mother secretly went to the temple gate to pray for my well-being. We used to go there often as kids. Back then, there was an old monk who would give us little blessing pouches, also for safety and peace."
"Your mother must have loved you very much," Daya said with certainty.
Gu Kai Zhi said, "Yes, but there were too many children in my family. Even when my parents saved scraps of food from their own mouths, it was never enough to go around. I’d never had a full al before I left ho. When I joined the army, I ate twelve stead buns for my first al. It shocked our head chef."
Daya looked at him curiously, so Gu Kai Zhi continued, "The stead buns in our unit weren’t small. A normal person would be full after four or five. I beca famous in my unit for eating twelve in one sitting. When our regintal commander saw how much I could eat, he transferred to his regint and trained relentlessly. In physical training, I ca in first in the regint. Everyone wondered why a kid from the countryside like could run so fast, but they didn’t know I was a regular on the mountain as a child. We had no grain, so we had to find food on the mountain. There were wild vegetables and wild animals, and I even had my own secret base."
Daya listened intently. Gu Kai Zhi said to her, "I’ll take you to see my secret base soday. I secretly raised a litter of rabbits there, but after I left to beco a soldier, my brothers killed and ate them."
"You’ve lived such a colorful life," Daya remarked.
Gu Kai Zhi smiled. "When you’re young, you’re not afraid of anything. Wasn’t your childhood colorful too?"
Daya’s expression stiffened slightly. "I’ve forgotten everything about my childhood."
Gu Kai Zhi sensed that Daya was carrying a lot on her mind. ’He was curious but didn’t dare to ask rashly.’
Behind the temple, on the back of the mountain, was a patch of rhododendrons in full bloom. From a distance, they were a beautiful, deep purple expanse.
"So beautiful! I never thought I’d see such lovely flowers this season."
Gu Kai Zhi told her, "These are rhododendrons. We have them back in my hotown. I once heard the village elders say that the rhododendrons in the north are different from those in the south."
It was the first ti Daya had seen this kind of flower, and she found it fascinating.
"Brother Gu, how did you know there were flowers on the back of the mountain?"
Gu Kai Zhi shook his head. "I didn’t. I was just trying my luck, really. Behind the temple in my hotown, the old monks grew grains, vegetables, and flowers."
Daya closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The fragrance was lovely.
Seeing her like this, Gu Kai Zhi smiled. "If you like them, you can pick one to take back and grow."
Daya shook her head. "Better not. They’re blooming here and have adapted to this environnt. We don’t know how to care for them, so we’d probably just kill it."
Then she smiled. "Just seeing them is good enough."
Gu Kai Zhi looked at Daya’s contented expression. ’Who wouldn’t like such a wonderful girl?’ he thought.
He asked tentatively, "An Xin, do you have any siblings?"
This was a question Gu Kai Zhi had hesitated to ask for a long ti. He wanted to understand Daya—not just her, but her family as well.
The light in Daya’s eyes instantly vanished. After a mont of silence, she said softly, "Brother Gu, let’s go back."
With that, she started to walk away.
Gu Kai Zhi grabbed Daya’s arm. "Sorry, did I say sothing wrong?"
Daya didn’t look at him. "No. I just want to go back now."
Gu Kai Zhi suddenly panicked and pulled Daya into a hug.
He explained, "I’m sorry. I just want to get to know you. Knowing nothing about you makes feel a bit insecure. If I said sothing I shouldn’t have, I hope you can forgive ."
Stunned by Gu Kai Zhi’s sudden embrace, Daya froze on the spot.
"I’m sorry. I’ll never ask again."
Gu Kai Zhi’s voice ca from near Daya’s neck, tinged with a hint of humility.
Daya’s gaze flickered, and she reached out to hug him back.
The feeling of her arms around his waist finally let Gu Kai Zhi breathe a sigh of relief.
The two of them hugged for a long ti, until a cool breeze blew past.
"It’s cold on the mountain. Let’s head down."
"Okay."
They let go of each other and their eyes t. Daya lowered her head, and Gu Kai Zhi smiled.
Then he took her hand and started walking down the mountain.
Daya didn’t mind the physical contact with Gu Kai Zhi; in fact, she was a little pleased by it.
The way down the mountain was much easier than the way up, but when they were halfway, Gu Kai Zhi still looked at Daya and asked, "Can you keep going? Or should I carry you on my back?"
Daya shook her head. "No, I can walk."
’What would it look like for him to carry in public? People would laugh.’
Gu Kai Zhi chuckled. They rested for a while before continuing down the mountain.
They finally reached the bottom. Seeing Daya panting, Gu Kai Zhi said, "I shouldn’t have brought you here. It was tiring, wasn’t it?"
Daya said, "You’re only saying that now that we’re already down. It’s too late for regrets."
Gu Kai Zhi rarely saw such a lively side of Daya and looked at her in surprise.
"To be honest, I’m not that familiar with Beijing City. Why don’t you pick a place, and I’ll take you there tomorrow?"
Daya’s eyes widened slightly. "Again? You’re not going to take out sightseeing every day, are you?"
Gu Kai Zhi paused for a mont, then rubbed the tip of his nose and said in a low voice, "This is my first ti pursuing a girl, so I really don’t know what to do. I can only try to find every possible opportunity to spend more ti with you. If you feel uncomfortable with anything, you have to tell ."
Daya smiled. "I don’t have any experience either, but when two people are together, even just sharing a al or taking a walk is nice."
Hearing this, Gu Kai Zhi stared blankly at Daya.
Daya bit her lip and looked at him. "Why are you looking at like that?"
Gu Kai Zhi suddenly leaned in, his gaze locked on Daya. When they were just a few centiters apart, he asked softly, "Do you like a little bit more now?"
Daya blinked, her eyebrows twitching. "I never said that."
But Gu Kai Zhi could tell from her expression that his guess was right.
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