God's Gift

It was late autumn, the daybreaks were getting later and later, and before the rooster in the chicken coop crowed, Granny Li got up from her bed and went to the kitchen to start busying herself.

There was frost on the leaves of vegetables in the fields and the air was bone-chillingly cold.

When the sky was just beginning to brighten, Lu Keming sat up from the bed, looked at Yu Youyou who was tucked in the quilt beside him for a while, then he got up and walked out of the room.

Granny Li was adding firewood to the stove, when she saw Lu Keming approaching, she said hello, "Xiao Lu, come over and watch the fire for me, I'll go to the field to order food and come back."

Lu Keming paused for a second and looked at Granny Li silently.

"You just watch the fire, just shake it from time to time." Granny Li didn't even look at Lu Keming's expression, wiped her hands on the apron, gave a word of advice, and walked out of the courtyard gate.

The sound of the wooden door opening and closing was heard. Lu Keming looked at the smoky kitchen and gradually frowned.

The burning wood made a crackling sound. Lu Keming stood there for a while, then walked into the kitchen.

The mud walls are blackened by years of stove smoke, and the layers of ash on the beams are the gentle yet cruel traces that time has left on this farmhouse.

Lu Keming squatted down, looked at the burning firewood in the stove, and hesitated for a few seconds.

He took out a pair of gloves from the storage space and put them on his hands, then picked up a piece of firewood from the side and threw it into the stove.

The flames in the stove burned brighter.

After a while, Granny Li took a bunch of vegetables in her hand, closed the gate with one hand, and patted the frost off her body.

"The weather is cold, and several vegetables have frozen to death. It's getting cold earlier than in previous years...

She walked into the kitchen, put the vegetables in a basin, scooped some frozen water into the basin, rolled up her sleeves and started washing the vegetables.

"When I have time tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I have to quickly put up the shed."

Granny Li was washing vegetables while mumbling something. When she saw Lu Keming quietly stoking the fire beside her, she said, "I think it will take some time to repair this road. You young people, help me build a shed."

Lu Keming paused holding the firewood, and then nodded after a while.

When Anthony came, what he saw was their young master squatting on the ground, starting the fire in the ashes.

Anthony's face changed, and he quickly stepped forward to take the firewood from Lu Keming's hand, and said nervously: "Master, you sit down, I'll do it."

Lu Keming let go of his hand, letting Anthony take the firewood and sit aside.

Granny Li was standing nearby washing vegetables. Seeing this, she smiled and said jokingly, "It turns out that Xiaolu is still a young master."

"Of course. Our young master's status is very precious." Anthony was not shy at all. He happily continued whatever Granny Li said.

"But I see Xiaolu is quite efficient at his work. Do you young masters in the city still need to do housework nowadays?" After washing the vegetables, Grandma Li opened the lid of the pot, put the rice in the pot, and continued talking to Anthony.

Anthony's expression froze. He glanced cautiously at Lu Keming, who showed no emotion, smiled awkwardly, and quickly changed the subject.

"Grandma, how many years has your Thousand-Faced Buddha been around?"

"The Thousand-Faced Buddha..." Granny Li stopped what she was doing, thought for a while, and replied uncertainly: "I don't remember it clearly, but when I was a child, the Thousand-Faced Buddha was there."

"If you ask the older generation, they all say that they existed when they were young."

"It has been passed down from generation to generation like this for who knows how many years."

"So long..." Anthony sighed.

Lu Keming had been listening to the conversation between the two quietly. When he heard this, he frowned slightly and suddenly asked, "Which came first, Lijia Village or the Thousand-Faced Buddha?"

While saying this, Lu Keming kept staring at Grandma Li, as if observing her reaction.

"This..." Lu Keming's question made Granny Li think for a long time, "The older generation didn't mention this, so I didn't pay much attention to it."

"But Lijia Village has been rooted here for nearly a thousand years and has never left. I think it is probably because our ancestors built a Buddhist temple on the mountain, worshipped Buddha, and then passed it on to us."

"So that's how it is." After hearing Granny Li's answer, Lu Keming responded as if he understood it, and then guided her meaningfully, "The Thousand-Faced Buddha enshrined in the village is quite unique. I have never seen such a Buddha in a Buddhist temple."

"Really?" Granny Li responded casually as she went back to her work.

Lu Keming did not get the answer he wanted, so he rubbed his knuckles and chose a more direct question.

"It's the first time I've seen a Buddha statue with only eyes. What's so special about it, does mother-in-law know?"

"Only eyes?" Grandma Li seemed to be more surprised than Lu Keming, and repeated: "How come there are only eyes?"

Lu Keming's expression darkened at Granny Li's surprised attitude, and there was a hint of inquiry in his eyes.

"Why is grandma so surprised? Isn't this what the Thousand-Faced Buddha should be like?"

"That's not the case." Granny Li waved her hands. "The Buddha statue is so majestic, it's not something an old woman like me can look at..."

It was the first time she knew what the Ten Thousand-Faced Buddha looked like.

The inquiry in Lu Keming's eyes suddenly disappeared. He stood up as if nothing had happened and casually smoothed the wrinkled corners of his clothes.

Granny Li was surprised for a moment, then thought of something else. She looked at Lu Keming and Anthony in confusion, "No, how do you two know what the Ten Thousand Faces Buddha looks like?"

The patriarch forbade them to see the Wanmian Buddha, let alone outsiders, how did these two young people know?

Lu Keming's expression remained unchanged as he methodically straightened the corners of his sleeves. As he walked past Granny Li, he glanced at her indifferently.

When their eyes met, Granny Li was in a trance for a second. It was not until Lu Keming walked out of the kitchen that Granny Li reacted and patted her forehead.

"What was I just about to do? How come I forgot it in the blink of an eye... As we get older, our memory gets worse..."

Granny Li looked around and put the washed vegetables in the basin into the sink and washed them again.

Anthony looked at Granny Li's actions, feeling a little embarrassed. He took a few steps forward and took the dish from Granny Li, "Give it to me, I'll help you."

-

The morning light shone obliquely into the yard from the wall, and the frost on the small vegetable patch in the yard began to melt, turning into drops of dew that slid down the lush green leaves.

Lu Keming stood under the eaves, quietly watching the smoke rising from the village.

"It's really weird, it was broken yesterday, how could it be cured today..."

Fang Ziang, who came out to use the toilet, passed by Lu Keming, looking at his calf without any wounds, and kept muttering.

Lu Keming folded his arms, turned around and stared at Fang Ziang expressionlessly.

"Fang Ziang."