God's Gift

But fortunately Fang Ziang didn't speak loudly, and the old patriarch's hearing was not very good, so he didn't hear it.

However, after hearing this, Lu Keming stopped picking up meat for Yu Youyou and turned his head to look at Fang Ziang.

As soon as Fang Ziang raised his head, he met Lu Keming's cold gaze. He straightened his back, swallowed his saliva, pointed dryly at the black pine tree beside Yu Youyou, and explained:

"That's what I'm talking about."

Lu Keming then looked away and stopped looking at Fang Ziang.

Several people had already eaten, except Yu Youyou. No one had any appetite at this time and was just waiting for the old patriarch to eat.

The old patriarch finished his meal leisurely. Just as Shen Minghua was about to say a few words to him, he picked up his pipe again, walked into the yard and started playing with birds, ignoring them.

Lu Keming didn't seem to be in a hurry at all. He sat in his seat indifferently and tore the meat for Yu Youyou slowly and leisurely.

This meant that Youyou had finished another meal. She couldn't speak now, and no one expected her to get any words from them, so she ran to the yard to catch birds again, and Lu Keming stood beside her and watched.

Ye Li had no choice but to go over and help when he saw the clan leader's daughter-in-law cleaning up the dishes.

"Madam, I see you have been staying here for some time?" Ye Li smiled and talked to the clan leader's daughter-in-law while collecting the bowls.

"Yes, this is the house passed down by the ancestors of the Li family. It has a history of at least three hundred years." The clan leader's daughter-in-law was easy to talk to, and she answered as soon as Ye Li asked.

"The Li family settled here so long ago?" Ye Li pretended to be curious.

"That should be earlier." The clan leader's daughter-in-law stopped what she was doing, thought carefully, and continued:

"The Li family has taken root here for generations, and has been guarding the Ten Thousand Faces Buddha for at least a thousand years."

Hearing the clan leader's daughter-in-law mention the Ten Thousand Faces Buddha, Ye Li paused in collecting the bowl, pretended to be surprised, and asked:

"The Thousand-Faced Buddha has such a long history?"

"Of course. The Li family has worshipped the Ten Thousand Faced Buddha for generations. The Buddha guardians in the family tree have changed for dozens of generations. How could this history not be long?" The clan leader's daughter-in-law laughed, her hands still moving swiftly.

Ye Li smiled along with him, with a deep meaning in his eyes. The Buddhist temple and the Buddha statues they saw yesterday were just casually made of mud. Such a structure would be worn away by wind and rain in less than a hundred years, so how could it have a history of a thousand years?

Even though he thought so in his heart, Ye Li still smiled and complimented.

"The Li family's ancestors must have been skilled craftsmen, to be able to build a Buddha statue that has lasted for a thousand years without decaying."

Unexpectedly, the clan leader's daughter-in-law shook her head when she heard Ye Li's words.

"The Ten Thousand Faces Buddha was not built by our Li ancestors. Although I am not sure, the Li family was only responsible for guarding the Buddha. The Ten Thousand Faces Buddha has always been in this place."

She looked towards the mountain opposite the village. Deep in the forest was the Ten Thousand-Faced Buddha.

"Maybe some Buddha saw our Li family's sincerity and let our ancestors find the Buddha statue to bless our Li family."

Ye Li listened to the words of the clan leader's daughter-in-law, but did not respond in time.

It turns out that the Ten Thousand Faces Buddha existed before the Li family. Who built it? And why did the ghost that Fang Ziang saw last night appear where and why?

Ye Li shook his hand, looked into the eyes of the clan leader's daughter-in-law, and asked tentatively: "Madam, have you seen anything strange in all these years here?"

As soon as Ye Li said this, the clan leader's daughter-in-law paused holding the plate, raised her eyes and looked at Ye Li, the gentleness on her face diminished a little.

"What a strange thing! Is there anything else you can see besides Buddha?"

Although she was still smiling, there was no smile in her eyes.

Ye Li looked at the appearance of the clan leader's daughter-in-law and was sure that she knew that something was wrong with the Buddha statue. She did not look panicked. She stroked her forehead with the back of her hand and whispered:

"Maybe it's because it's my first time seeing a festival like Buddha Worship Festival, and the shock was too great. I had nightmares all night last night..."

"In my dream, I followed the team of dog handlers up the mountain and saw a magnificent temple with a 10,000-faced Buddha enshrined inside."

After hearing Ye Li's description of the Thousand-Faced Buddha in his dream, the clan leader's daughter-in-law breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "And then?"

"Then the dream became strange. A group of ghosts were chasing me. I was so scared that I couldn't sleep well the whole night." Ye Li pretended to be frightened and looked worried.

"Those ghosts look too real. I always get scared that I might have run into some evil spirit..."

"How is that possible?" Ye Li hadn't finished her words when the clan leader's daughter-in-law interrupted her, "You didn't get enough rest yesterday, so you dreamed about these gods and ghosts."

"Really?" Ye Li stared into the eyes of the clan leader's daughter-in-law and asked back.

"Of course." The clan leader's daughter-in-law did not look at Ye Li, but walked quickly into the kitchen with the dishes and chopsticks.

Ye Li looked at the heavy bowl in her hand, took a few steps forward and took the bowl, "Let me help you."

The clan leader's daughter-in-law felt something light in her hand. She looked at Ye Li, paused for a few seconds, and thanked him, "Thank you very much."

"I'm sorry to bother you today. This is what I should do." Ye Li looked at the wrist of the clan leader's daughter-in-law. "I saw that when you were eating and clearing the table, you had to change your hand after a while. You must have tendonitis."

"You noticed all this?" The clan leader's daughter-in-law was a little surprised and touched her hand.

Ye Li nodded, put the bowl into the kitchen sink, rolled up his sleeves and started washing the dishes.

"My mother is busy all year round. When I was little, she carried me up and down. When I grew up, she worked in my shop. When she got home, she cooked in the kitchen. Her hands were worn out a lot, and the roots of the disease were left. She was like you, and she would feel pain from time to time. So I learned more about these diseases."

After saying that, Ye Li looked at the clan leader's daughter-in-law next to him and said, "When I was having dinner today, I saw that you were the only one doing all the big and small things in this family. You are probably this busy on weekdays, so you should take a rest for a while."

"How can you just rest when you want to?" The clan leader's daughter-in-law just laughed and wanted to lend a hand to help wash the dishes, but Ye Li pushed her away.

"Then you should take a rest now." Ye Li smiled, "When you smile, you are like my mother. I feel close to you and want to do more to help you. Although it is useless, it is like helping my mother."

After saying that, Ye Li sighed, "I couldn't help when I was young, and I left home far away when I grew up. I can't go home for several months, so I still can't help much."

"I always feel like I owe something, and when I encounter similar things, I can't help but make up for it."

The clan leader's daughter-in-law's expression softened a lot after hearing Ye Li's words.

Ye Li looked at the little girl playing in the yard and asked with a smile: "Your daughter should be about ten years old this year. I think she is quite cute."

"She just turned twelve this year." Speaking of her daughter, the clan leader's daughter-in-law's face became even gentler.

The two of them chatted a lot by the pool.

-

In the yard, Yu Youyou tried to catch the bird for a long time but didn't even touch its butt. Yu Youyou sat down on the ground, panting.

She must have eaten too much, she used to be able to touch the bird's butt.

Lu Keming squatted down, touched her head, looked at the birds in the sky and asked, "Which one do you want?"

Yu Youyou lay on the ground, raised one eyelid, glanced at the birds on the branch, and her ears immediately pricked up. Just as she was about to point at the fattest one, she was interrupted by the voice of the old patriarch next to her.

"Come with me."

The old patriarch looked at Lu Keming and Yu Youyou for a long time at the other end of the yard, and finally spoke at this time.

Lu Keming half-knelt, his eyes fixed on Yu Youyou's ear. His emotions were unclear, and when no one could see, the corners of his mouth curved up.

He stood up and followed the old patriarch, and Yu Youyou also followed happily.

"You come alone." The old patriarch turned around and saw the pine trees at Lu Keming's feet, and said with a sullen face.

Yu Youyou paused and her head gradually tilted to one side.