Chapter 911: Gold & Pearls
Right now, Shui Xian wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her deeply. But he couldn't do it. This was not the place for that. He had to be respectful.
It was just a ghost of a smile and his heart was already about to jump out of his chest. What would he do if she really smiled at him one day? He'd probably not be able to recognize east from west.
Seeing a monk entering the temple, Shui Xian stood up and Raelle followed him. Although she didn't know why they were standing right now. Once the monk was done prostrating, Shui Xian whispered to Raelle, "You can go outside if you want. I'll talk to the Abbot." He didn't want her to kneel with him for a long time. So, he kneeled down again.
Shui Xian was the one who spoke to the monk talking about performing a ritual to pray for the dead. The monk who had a gentle and kind look calculated something on his fingers before saying, "Benefactor, the auspicious hour has passed today. Why don't you stay tonight? We'll do the ritual tomorrow before dawn."
Shui Xian bowed his head saying, "We'll listen to Abbot."
He turned around and found that Raelle didn't actually leave. She stood close to the door but her eyes were set on that figure who attentively wrote with a brush. Shui Xian walked up to her.
Seeing him come, she asked, "What is he doing?" Although she couldn't tell what that person was doing, she was able to see the writing from her position. Each stroke of the brush was clean and pleasing to the eye.
When her grandfather taught her calligraphy, he told Raelle that each person's writing script showed their personality and their thoughts. But right now, Raelle wasn't able to tell. Although the script she saw seemed clean and it made people feel like the person who wrote it was a calm person. She wasn't willing to believe it.
Earlier when her eyes met those green eyes, she saw mischief in those eyes. She was able to recognize that twinkle because she often found it in Hyson's eyes.
Shui Xian looked over and told Raelle, "He is copying the scriptures." Seeing how his wife was interested, he added, "Copying the scriptures is a practice that hones a person's temperament. It allows your heart to settle down and feel at ease."
"It does?" asked Raelle.
"That's what I heard," he replied.
Raelle knew it wasn't nice to stare at people, so she went out with Shui Xian who told her, "It seems we'll have to stay here tonight. Will that be okay?" Raelle looked at him as he explained, "The auspicious hour to perform the ritual is before dawn tomorrow. Going back now is pointless. So, I thought we can stay here?"
"Okay," Raelle agreed without another word.
"Are you hungry?" he asked. "We didn't even eat lunch on time today. Let me see what we can find here."
Raelle stopped him and called out, "One of you go and see what we can eat."
"Yes, Missy!" One of the bodyguards replied and went away.
Thinking of something, she asked, "Hubby, why did we stand up when the monk came in?"
Shui Xian smiled gently at her and answered her question, "It's a form of respect. Monks and nuns are the most respectful people in the temple. It's like when you enter a boardroom, your subordinates will get up to greet you to show respect. It's kinda the same thing."
"Oh..." Raelle asked a bunch of questions and Shui Xian patiently answered each and every question and solved her queries without any rush. He didn't think she was ignorant. If anything, for once, he felt knowledgable since there was something she didn't know about. So, he could just enjoy this rare moment where he really could help her out with something.
They only stopped when the bodyguard came back and led them to a cafeteria where visitors usually ate. But the dishes were all vegetarian since it was a temple.
Looking at the bland dishes before them, Shui Xian looked at Raelle and said, "The food here is just like this. They don't eat dishes with a strong taste. Also, meat is definitely not allowed here. So, I have to wrong you today. But trust me, it's delicious. My mom used to say that the vegetarian dishes at the temple are too good. Even better than meat dishes."
Of course, he didn't add the fact that he didn't believe in what his mother used to say. Now, he was using the same words on his wife.
Raelle didn't complain. It wasn't like her anyway. Once she picked up the wooden chopsticks, she even stopped talking as well and silently ate the vegetarian dishes before her. She didn't think there was anything to complain about here. There was food and it was filling. What more could one ask for?
Shui Xian sighed mentally when he saw her eating. He already knew she had nothing to say about food but he still thought it was her first time having such a 'shabby' meal so she might have something to say. But he was wrong. She really had no problem at all in enjoying the meal.
It wasn't lunchtime so they were the only people there. It couldn't even be counted as lunch anymore. After they were done eating, Shui Xian said, "This must be the most humble meal in my wife's life."
"Not really," replied Raelle. "Do you also think that I was fed gold and pearls all my life?"
"What?"
"Most people really thought that," she told him. "But that's really not true. However, this isn't the most humble meal I've had in my life. I have had time when I didn't even get to eat some humble vegetables."
She didn't even have to explain. Shui Xian understood it already very well. How could he forget that?
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l