That day, Wen Xi intentionally walked downstairs an hour later than usual. Between her brows were marks of "demonic nightmares" from the night before, and her eyes were all swollen.
Only Zhou Ling and Wei Kexin were at the table; her father wasn't there. It was a pity, but with how she was right now her dad probably would let her transfer schools right away.
"You're up, Xixi? Aiya, you look terrible! Is it the nightmare from yesterday? Come, have some breakfast first." Kexin waved to her.
She walked over to the edge of the table, and Zhou Ling started her scolding. "That yellow cat keeps going out and bringing that dirty stuff back home, she's dirtying the whole house, the ungrateful thing! Who raised her all these years- it only knows how to cause trouble! Damned thing!"
Kexin took Wen Xi's breakfast from the servant and gave it to Wen Xi. She spoke gently. "Mom, it's just a cat- you don't have to get mad at it. Be mindful of your health."
Zhou Ling looked at Wen Xi. "This old body of mine is no use- what I'm afraid of is when I'm no longer here! You two are too kind, it'll take advantage of that all the time and live a great, selfish life! I'd be dying unhappy!"
Kexin frowned. "Mom, jeez! Stop talking about that stuff! Hurry up and have breakfast, when Guosheng comes back we still have to go to the Buddhist temple."
Hearing that, Wen Xi, who had been trying to ignore Zhou Ling's words, changed her expression. "For what?"
Kexin sighed softly. "It's your dad- he's too superstitious. He won't rest until he's prayed for you at the temple."
Wen Xi squeezed the chopsticks in her hand. It seemed like changing schools wouldn't be as smooth as that after all.
It was ten in the morning, and Wen Xi had followed his father and a couple of others to the temple.
Wen Qing was still at a shoot and hadn't made it to the temple yet. Even so, her father still told Kexin to tell Wen Qing to be careful when they were in the car.
Every year, Guosheng would come here to stay for a couple of days. He was very close to the host of the temple.
That put Wen Xi in a difficult position.
On the way, she tried to come up with many plans- only for none of them to be finalized.
She still didn't have much of a plan even after they'd reached the temple.
Following her father to the front of the Buddha statue, they prayed and put their incense sticks in. After that, she went with Kexin to the resting room while Guosheng spoke with the Taoist master.
Her father had probably told him all about what had happened, and she wondered what the master would say.
She really felt quite troubled herself. She walked out of the room for a walk after notifying Kexin.
The sun was strong, and she wore a wheat-colored hat as she held onto the Buddhist talisman, deep in thought.
Truthfully, she believed in using her own strength to make things happen, rather than praying for the Buddha's help.
She casually put the talisman in her pocket and walked to somewhere quieter. She found a tree and rested beneath it.
She stretched a little and took in the fresh air, smelling the scent of lotus. It was invigorating.
The Buddhist temple really was a great place to calm yourself down.
Turning around, she saw a familiar figure.
It was someone who was making a call some distance away.
She paused. The world sure was small.
It was him- He Yan.
Wen Xi froze for a few seconds until the man turned around. Her first instinct was to run.
Her steps were hurried, and even though she hadn't looked back she knew that he'd noticed her.
It was their third time meeting under embarrassing circumstances, and she didn't want to continue this bout of "bad fate".
A while later, she walked into a hallway for prayer, with many red pieces of wishing paper on both walls. The wind came in and gently raised them a little, creating a beautiful scene.
She leaned against one of the red pillars to take a breath, but her face paled instantly.
Her hat was gone.
"I must be a scorpion or something; little girls all run away from me."
The voice came from beside her- Wen Xi looked up to see He Yan walking over, a smile on his lips.
He was holding her hat in his hand.