A stream of water flew down between the mountain groups, passing through a small village, giving them clothes and rice, then rushing to the next stop. Jinxia exited the inn, crossed the bridge, then walked slowly along the river…
At this time, the downpour had stopped, the sun had begun to set in the west, the light of the setting sun had turned the river into a red wine colour, shining with sparkles. Jinxia arrived at the river bank, chose a large rock by the river, climbed to a higher place and starred in the distance. The sun slowly sank and disappeared, so did the light. Around her now was only a dark grey sky.
Feeling lost in her heart, she sat down, hugged her knees and looked at the water below her feet in a daze.
“Swish.” Next to her came a light voice.
She turned in the direction of the sound, ten steps away from the river a young taoist monk appeared; he was wearing a blue-gray tao robe, his head was tied into a knot, and his face was covered and couldn’t be seen clearly.
He was fishing.
‘It’s almost dark, why is he fishing now?’ Jinxia thought, then she looked at the person again.
The monk also turned to look at Jinxia, then laughed happily – his eyes were clear and radiant, unlike others, his smile was sincere, and he looked like a child; although his appearance was ordinary, his gestures were charismatic.
Jinxia had a good temperament and didn’t have a habit of being angry at others for no reason. Even though her stomach was still filled with anger, just seeing him smile so beautifully, she couldn’t help but also smile.
“Which temple are you from?” She shouted at him.
The taoist monk gave a silent hand signal and, while smiling, he pointed at the fishing rod.
Jinxia understood and didn’t dare to make a sound, she continued hugging her knees and watched him fish.
The sky slowly began to darken, their surroundings also started to become clouded by the obscurity of the night. She could see that in the city, every house was starting to light a fire: those orange nuances gave off a comfortable feeling, giving her a heartache.
She wanted to go home… she was thinking of her father, laughing, while taking out a pack of pig’s head meat in his arms; about her mother, sewing her torn clothes and complaining about the same thing over and over again; her younger brother leaning over her shoulder, and criticizing her writing; even the smell of tofu that never went away. Right now she really missed her home.
She sniffed her nose and took a deep breath, the cruel reality laid before her: she couldn’t help but have to get rid of the sentimental feeling of crying for other things, she had to consider the current situation and what to do.
Earlier, because of anger, she’d lunged in front of Lu Yi and left cruel words. What was she going to do in the future?
What if he really went and reported her, taking away her job? What should she do?
Jinixa sadly let out a long sigh, even looking at the bright side wouldn’t be enough. Even if Lu Yi didn’t report her, every time they would meet, he would deliberately make things hard for her.
…….
What to do? The more she thought about it, the more upset she was.
“Little miss, I’ll treat you to a fish, do you want it?” Maybe because Jinxia’s mind was elsewhere, she didn’t even hear his footsteps, but suddenly the taoist monk was already in front of her.
Jinxia was surprised and looked at him, “Who are you?”
The taoist monk replied, “I am a monk.”
“A monk still has a name.”
The taoist monk bowed his head and thought for a moment. “I wear blue clothes, skills are not too high or low, you may as well call me Lan Daoxing.”
*[Lan Daoxing = he said blue clothes and he’s a monk, so he named himself a blue taoist monk, TN]
‘This person is very interesting.’ Jinxia paused for a moment and called out, “…Xiao Lan Monk.”
“This is also good, sounds better and easier to say.” Lan Daoxing was very happy, he turned around, jumped off the boulder and said to her, “Come and eat the fish.”
Seeing that when he jumped down, his body was light as a butterfly, his kung fu should be somewhat good. Jinxia jumped down from the boulder and walked towards him, only to see that the fish he meant was fried fish that he had been salted.
“This is… the fish you caught? Are you fishing from the river?” She looked at the fish and asked him.
Lan Daoxing shook his head and said seriously,“I am a taoist monk, although we’re allowed to eat salted food, we can only eat pure meat*, not self-killed meat.”
*[pure meat = not being killed by you, not seeing/heard someone else killed it, TN]
“But you were fishing earlier?” Jinxia said with suspicion.
Tao Daoxing handed her the fishing rod.
There was no hook at the end of the fishing rod, instead there was a silver bell. Jinxia shaked the bell, it didn’t ring, because there wasn’t a ball inside.
“Why did you put this in the water?”
“To feel the flow of the water.”
“Water flow?”
Lan Doaxing stood by the river, looking at the water flowing in the night and said, “Don’t you see how calm the water is? Under the river, there is a torrent of water underneath, it’s not easy for these fishes to swim upward.”
She still didn’t understand. Listening to his words, there was definitely a hidden meaning, but she didn’t understand what he meant.
“There are fishes that are not able to swim upwards, so they drown in the river, the corpses of these fishes lay on top of each other to build a support for other fishes, to let them move forward smoothly.” Lan Daoxing was silent for a while, turned around and smiled, then out of nowhere he changed the subject, “Is this dried fish too salty? In fact, it would taste really good when wrapped in rice balls.”
“…..”
A night breeze passed by, the trees in the mountain and forests swayed and rustled.
Lan Daoxing looked sideways at the mountains and the forests, put away the fishing rod and smiled at Jinxia, “I’m going to town to ask for some food to make, in order to eat it with this dried fish, are you coming?”
Jinxia shook her head. She hadn’t figured out how to go back and face Lu Yi.
He didn’t force her and continued to smile, “Alright, if there is a chance in the future, I will treat you.”
Jinixa nodded her head, raising her hands to bid farewell, “Taoist monk, be careful.”
The rocky road was bumpy and difficult to walk on, but in the blink of an eye, Lan Daoxing was already far away and his shadow quickly disappeared into the darkness.
Lan Daoxing had disturbed her attention earlier but, now that she was alone, her mind went back to thinking, and she picked up a stone throwing it into the river.
Splash, splash, splash. The little stone jumped across the river and sank down.
After throwing it, she turned around and wanted to pick up some more small stones, but there was a hand stretched out towards her, with its palm open, on which she saw about five small and smooth shiny stones.
She raised her head and looked at the owner of the hand, remaining instantly stunned…
Lu Yi took the stone and said, “The rock must be flat, then it can fly upward, the other one was too round…”
Jinxia looked at him blankly, then with hesitation she asked, “Daren, you…You’re not angry with me?”
Right at this moment, Lu Yi turned his head and glanced at her briefly, then said in surprise, “I thought you were the one who was angry with me.”
“Uh, I’m actually…” Jinxia said, all shy, “You’re not really going to report that I disobeyed you, are you?”
Lu Yi gave Jinxia all of his stones, raised his eyebrows and looked at her, “Regretting it now? I know you’re sorry. You seemed very satisfied to be able to vent your anger a moment ago, if I hadn’t given you a way out, I wanted to see how you’d have fixed this…”
A stream of water flew down between the mountain groups, passing through a small village, giving them clothes and rice, then rushing to the next stop. Jinxia exited the inn, crossed the bridge, then walked slowly along the river…
At this time, the downpour had stopped, the sun had begun to set in the west, the light of the setting sun had turned the river into a red wine colour, shining with sparkles. Jinxia arrived at the river bank, chose a large rock by the river, climbed to a higher place and starred in the distance. The sun slowly sank and disappeared, so did the light. Around her now was only a dark grey sky.
Feeling lost in her heart, she sat down, hugged her knees and looked at the water below her feet in a daze.
“Swish.” Next to her came a light voice.
She turned in the direction of the sound, ten steps away from the river a young taoist monk appeared; he was wearing a blue-gray tao robe, his head was tied into a knot, and his face was covered and couldn’t be seen clearly.
He was fishing.
‘It’s almost dark, why is he fishing now?’ Jinxia thought, then she looked at the person again.
The monk also turned to look at Jinxia, then laughed happily – his eyes were clear and radiant, unlike others, his smile was sincere, and he looked like a child; although his appearance was ordinary, his gestures were charismatic.
Jinxia had a good temperament and didn’t have a habit of being angry at others for no reason. Even though her stomach was still filled with anger, just seeing him smile so beautifully, she couldn’t help but also smile.
“Which temple are you from?” She shouted at him.
The taoist monk gave a silent hand signal and, while smiling, he pointed at the fishing rod.
Jinxia understood and didn’t dare to make a sound, she continued hugging her knees and watched him fish.
The sky slowly began to darken, their surroundings also started to become clouded by the obscurity of the night. She could see that in the city, every house was starting to light a fire: those orange nuances gave off a comfortable feeling, giving her a heartache.
She wanted to go home… she was thinking of her father, laughing, while taking out a pack of pig’s head meat in his arms; about her mother, sewing her torn clothes and complaining about the same thing over and over again; her younger brother leaning over her shoulder, and criticizing her writing; even the smell of tofu that never went away. Right now she really missed her home.
She sniffed her nose and took a deep breath, the cruel reality laid before her: she couldn’t help but have to get rid of the sentimental feeling of crying for other things, she had to consider the current situation and what to do.
Earlier, because of anger, she’d lunged in front of Lu Yi and left cruel words. What was she going to do in the future?
What if he really went and reported her, taking away her job? What should she do?
Jinixa sadly let out a long sigh, even looking at the bright side wouldn’t be enough. Even if Lu Yi didn’t report her, every time they would meet, he would deliberately make things hard for her.
…….
What to do? The more she thought about it, the more upset she was.
“Little miss, I’ll treat you to a fish, do you want it?” Maybe because Jinxia’s mind was elsewhere, she didn’t even hear his footsteps, but suddenly the taoist monk was already in front of her.
Jinxia was surprised and looked at him, “Who are you?”
The taoist monk replied, “I am a monk.”
“A monk still has a name.”
The taoist monk bowed his head and thought for a moment. “I wear blue clothes, skills are not too high or low, you may as well call me Lan Daoxing.”
*[Lan Daoxing = he said blue clothes and he’s a monk, so he named himself a blue taoist monk, TN]
‘This person is very interesting.’ Jinxia paused for a moment and called out, “…Xiao Lan Monk.”
“This is also good, sounds better and easier to say.” Lan Daoxing was very happy, he turned around, jumped off the boulder and said to her, “Come and eat the fish.”
Seeing that when he jumped down, his body was light as a butterfly, his kung fu should be somewhat good. Jinxia jumped down from the boulder and walked towards him, only to see that the fish he meant was fried fish that he had been salted.
“This is… the fish you caught? Are you fishing from the river?” She looked at the fish and asked him.
Lan Daoxing shook his head and said seriously,“I am a taoist monk, although we’re allowed to eat salted food, we can only eat pure meat*, not self-killed meat.”
*[pure meat = not being killed by you, not seeing/heard someone else killed it, TN]
“But you were fishing earlier?” Jinxia said with suspicion.
Tao Daoxing handed her the fishing rod.
There was no hook at the end of the fishing rod, instead there was a silver bell. Jinxia shaked the bell, it didn’t ring, because there wasn’t a ball inside.
“Why did you put this in the water?”
“To feel the flow of the water.”
“Water flow?”
Lan Doaxing stood by the river, looking at the water flowing in the night and said, “Don’t you see how calm the water is? Under the river, there is a torrent of water underneath, it’s not easy for these fishes to swim upward.”
She still didn’t understand. Listening to his words, there was definitely a hidden meaning, but she didn’t understand what he meant.
“There are fishes that are not able to swim upwards, so they drown in the river, the corpses of these fishes lay on top of each other to build a support for other fishes, to let them move forward smoothly.” Lan Daoxing was silent for a while, turned around and smiled, then out of nowhere he changed the subject, “Is this dried fish too salty? In fact, it would taste really good when wrapped in rice balls.”
“…..”
A night breeze passed by, the trees in the mountain and forests swayed and rustled.
Lan Daoxing looked sideways at the mountains and the forests, put away the fishing rod and smiled at Jinxia, “I’m going to town to ask for some food to make, in order to eat it with this dried fish, are you coming?”
Jinxia shook her head. She hadn’t figured out how to go back and face Lu Yi.
He didn’t force her and continued to smile, “Alright, if there is a chance in the future, I will treat you.”
Jinixa nodded her head, raising her hands to bid farewell, “Taoist monk, be careful.”
The rocky road was bumpy and difficult to walk on, but in the blink of an eye, Lan Daoxing was already far away and his shadow quickly disappeared into the darkness.
Lan Daoxing had disturbed her attention earlier but, now that she was alone, her mind went back to thinking, and she picked up a stone throwing it into the river.
Splash, splash, splash. The little stone jumped across the river and sank down.
After throwing it, she turned around and wanted to pick up some more small stones, but there was a hand stretched out towards her, with its palm open, on which she saw about five small and smooth shiny stones.
She raised her head and looked at the owner of the hand, remaining instantly stunned…
Lu Yi took the stone and said, “The rock must be flat, then it can fly upward, the other one was too round…”
Jinxia looked at him blankly, then with hesitation she asked, “Daren, you…You’re not angry with me?”
Right at this moment, Lu Yi turned his head and glanced at her briefly, then said in surprise, “I thought you were the one who was angry with me.”
“Uh, I’m actually…” Jinxia said, all shy, “You’re not really going to report that I disobeyed you, are you?”
Lu Yi gave Jinxia all of his stones, raised his eyebrows and looked at her, “Regretting it now? I know you’re sorry. You seemed very satisfied to be able to vent your anger a moment ago, if I hadn’t given you a way out, I wanted to see how you’d have fixed this…”
