Chapter 1384: Chapter 695: Lin Beichen Hesitates
Lin Beichen’s mind was filled with matters concerning the missionaries, and he completely forgot about the ongoing grand ceremony, leaving Zhou Yi to handle it all by himself.
Before long, the ceremony was smoothly completed. Taking advantage of the momentum, Zhou Yi began to preach to the crowd about joining the faith.
"You all heard the missionaries just now; they’re not stooges we hired. You also saw the rain prayer. What are you waiting for? Quickly join us," he urged.
As soon as Zhou Yi spoke, someone in the crowd immediately raised their hand and responded loudly, "Put my name down; I’ll be the first to join."
With this start, it became much smoother, and everyone else eagerly raised their hands to join the church, fearing that Zhou Yi wouldn’t hear them, creating a clamorous scene.
Zhou Yi never imagined the ceremony could be completed so smoothly and that so many people would be converted. He couldn’t contain his happiness.
However, Lin Beichen, standing nearby, had a furrowed brow, as if worried about something. The busy Zhou Yi didn’t have time to notice, focusing on organizing the conversions.
After a while, the list was filled with names, all newly converted members. With the end of the conversion ceremony, Lin Beichen also left.
The scene shifted to Lin Beichen meditating quietly, only to be interrupted by Zhou Yi, who hurried over. Zhou Yi wanted to boast about the many new converts and handed over a list.
"Look, these are the people who just joined. I didn’t expect our influence to be so great, they joined us in droves, unstoppable," Zhou Yi said.
Zhou Yi’s words elicited no reaction from Lin Beichen. He continued meditating in silence, creating an awkward atmosphere.
Zhou Yi forced a bitter smile and asked, "What are you thinking about? So many people have joined the church, yet you don’t seem the least bit happy."
Lin Beichen suddenly opened his eyes, looked at the puzzled Zhou Yi, and said, "It’s not that I don’t care about the church; I find those missionaries quite unusual."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi laughed heartily, "What’s there to worry about? I think you’re just overly suspicious. We’ve had so many people join the church already; we should focus on managing them rather than worry about strange things."
Lin Beichen didn’t want to continue explaining and offhandedly said, "You go about your business."
The affairs post-conversion still need to be handled properly. Just as Lin Beichen mentioned, Zhou Yi simply didn’t have the time to discuss this topic further with him, so he left with a parting remark:
"Don’t say I didn’t warn you, you can just consider those missionaries a small interlude in the ceremony; don’t be so paranoid, it doesn’t do you any good."
Lin Beichen paid no mind to Zhou Yi’s well-meaning reminder, standing up silently and walking straight into the inner room, casually tossing the cushion aside.
Then he sat down abruptly, continuing his meditation inside. Seeing this, Zhou Yi was infuriated. Although he was displeased, out of courtesy, he left in a huff.
But not long after Zhou Yi left, sounds of commotion came from outside; it turned out that a man was arguing with the guard at the entrance. Zhou Yi motioned for the guard to let him in. Recognizing Zhou Yi, the guard complied without further question.
It was evident the man posed no threat, which was why Zhou Yi allowed him in. Moreover, the man even made a face at the guard.
After some inquiry, Zhou Yi learned that this man had also just joined the church, but causing a commotion here was inappropriate.
"I’m not causing trouble; I just want to see Lin Beichen," the man said.
Zhou Yi thought it wasn’t a difficult request, but if every new convert tried this, it would be unmanageable. Thus, he attempted to make an excuse to send him away.
"Lin Beichen is resting and doesn’t wish to be disturbed; perhaps you can come back later," Zhou Yi suggested.
With the conversation at this point, Zhou Yi expected the man to leave, but he showed no sign of doing so.
Seeing him unwilling to leave, Zhou Yi said perplexed, "Why aren’t you going? I already told you, Lin Beichen is resting and cannot be disturbed."
Yet the man stood firm, arms crossed, head slightly raised, looking up at the sky as if he refused to leave without seeing Lin Beichen.
Zhou Yi felt a headache coming on, thinking this was just adding trouble. But after considering that if no one saw, then no one would gossip, he said:
"Wait here for a moment. I’ll check if Lin Beichen is resting and then decide."
The man nodded, completely different from his earlier defiance, obediently standing there waiting for Zhou Yi to check the situation.
Lin Beichen was interrupted once again by Zhou Yi, showing a look of annoyance. Just as he was about to start scolding, Zhou Yi quickly spoke:
"There’s someone at the gate, he just became a disciple today and wishes to see you. I told him you’re resting and cannot be disturbed, but he’s very insistent, so I came to ask you."
After speaking, Zhou Yi also muttered to himself, thinking that if not for this unexpected situation, he wouldn’t have come to bother Lin Beichen.
Lin Beichen thought that if Zhou Yi couldn’t turn him away, he certainly couldn’t either. So, he had no choice but to let the man in to see what he wanted.
Under Zhou Yi’s guidance, the man came bounding over to Lin Beichen, sat close and feigned a compliant demeanor upon meeting him.
Lin Beichen, feeling uncomfortable, immediately said, "Don’t try to cozy up to me; I just want to know why you’re so eager to see me."
The man was straightforward, saying he wanted to ask Lin Beichen some questions, and moreover, had heard from somewhere that Lin Beichen was very skilled, and wished to become his disciple.
