back to innocence

The sun was shining brightly on this day, and the heart of Nina, a girl who was born and raised in the small town of Fanmenka, seemed to drift away with the light dust flying and circling under that day.

She devoured this breakfast.

Mrs. Jin was already accustomed to her youngest daughter's rudeness and unladylike behavior, but she still felt that she was too restless today, so she couldn't help but yelled: "Slow down. You're going to eat bread into your lungs."

Nina's elder brother Hanston smiled and said, "Oh, Mom, you'd better not stop her. You know, today is Nina's lucky day, a fateful encounter, huh?"

Mrs. Jin smiled and asked, "A date?"

Nina put down the plate and said, "Don't listen to Hans. It's just a guest."

Van Monka is a small town with a long history. The castles and forests outside the town have popular legends. There are even several historically famous places in the town, where famous saints, poets or witches in those stories lived.As such a tourist attraction, Van Monka has many tourists from all over the world all year round.

Nina, who has just started to be a senior in middle school, will occasionally take on two guide jobs during the holidays since she was seven years old, guiding tourists, introducing scenic spots, and earning a lot of pocket money by the way.

By the time she was in middle school, she was already familiar with this kind of work, and even took two special language courses so that she could earn more money.Familiar innkeepers would occasionally introduce one or two jobs to her. Most of them were foreign tourists who seemed safe and generous, but it was much faster than working hard at fast food restaurants to earn money.

Mrs. Jin was obviously accustomed to such things, and asked, "Who is this time?"

"An Asian." Nina answered briskly while she was putting on makeup for herself in the bathroom.

"A handsome young Asian." Hans added with a smile, "Really, dear Nina."

"Oh. Hans, you idiot, stay away from me, please?" Nina was annoyed by her brother who always made trouble for her. Void shook his fist at him, and then said to Mrs. Jin, "Okay , I admit he's a handsome boy, but he's a gay. How do I date a gay?"

"Oh, how did you know? I said, did he tell you himself? With a girl he met for the first time?" Hans said incredulously.

"Why do I know? Oh, because I know him. If you look through the magazines on my bookshelf, you will find that the guest I am going to receive today is more famous than you can imagine, not only in Asia. Nina glanced at her rude and unartistic brother with contempt, and said, "Hans, I'm very nervous. Seeing idols makes me feel uneasy. Do you feel the sweat on my palm? So please don't Can you add more pressure to me? I will help pray for your team to win the CSF Cup."

Hans spread his hands: "Okay. I wish you a smooth date...although it's with a gay guy."

After tidying up her appearance and confirming that there were no omissions left in the description of her outfit, Nina looked at the clock and found that it was not long before the agreed time.She had to rush down the street in her sneakers to avoid leaving a bad impression on the other party by being late.

The place agreed with the guest was under the Bell Tower Square in the center of the town. When Nina arrived, the long needle on the clock tower was pointing straight up, and the girl was glad that she finally arrived on time.

Then she saw the young man standing in front of the central fountain.His hair is very black, slightly longer than the ears, and it is obvious that there is no hairstyle that can be done, because it has a clean and natural look after natural growth.

Nina suddenly felt a little embarrassed.She was still holding the novel book brought from home, which was her favorite story, but because of her limited level, she bought a bilingual comparison study edition.Because the other party promised to sign for her, Nina brought it with her.

But she suddenly realized that the sweat on her palms had already wrinkled the book cover.

She quickly changed the book and held it in one hand, then walked forward and said, "Mr. Fay, I'm sorry, am I late?"

The black-haired young man turned his head, smiled at her, and said, "No, I came here early to take a look at the clock tower."

"Mr Fay is interested in the clock tower?"

"To be precise, I'm interested in all things with history and stories."

Perhaps it was because the young man's attitude was more accommodating than expected, with a smile on his face all the time, and he seemed easy to get along with. After a few words, Nina felt that her nervousness had obviously eased, although there was still some tension. It's cramped, but I can already talk normally.

She said: "Then I guess you will like Van Monka very much. Every tile here is based on legends and myths."

"Yes, that's why I'm here."

Nina then asked: "Mr. Fay, is there any place you want to go? Or can I recommend some places of interest in this city for you?"

The young man smiled and said, "Just call me Isaac. I want to visit the church in this town first, is that okay?"

This is a rather unusual request. Nina was taken aback for a moment, and then replied: "Okay, no problem." She thought for a while and asked, "Which one do you want to go to, the old church or the new church? Or Are you going to have a look?"

Generally speaking, it is more in line with Nina's professional instinct to take tourists to visit a shiny new church than to see a dilapidated old church in a small town. However, the young man just said that he likes things with a sense of history, and Nina feels that he Maybe want to see the old old church more.

The young man hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "Let's have a look."

The old church and the new church are not far away, so this is not a difficult request for Nina.

Although it is an old church, it is actually well repaired, but it is no longer worshiping here.On the contrary, some tourists with similar hobbies as young people took pictures nearby.

The young man himself brought a digital camera, which he took out when he was outside the church, and took several photos from various angles.

Nina introduced to him: "This church here has a history of at least 700 years. It has been repaired countless times in the middle, and it was not used anymore because of the construction of a new church more than ten years ago. Now It is one of the cultural protection and tourism projects.”

The young man nodded and asked, "Can I go in and visit?"

Nina smiled and replied: "Yes. Although it is said to be a cultural protection object, the management here is not as strict as in big cities, and the cultural value is not so high. Not only can you go in and visit, but you can also touch and take pictures, as long as you don't take it. Hit it with a sledgehammer, and do whatever research you like."

This is very convenient.

Holding the camera, the young man entered the church slowly.

The church doesn't look big from the outside, and the interior space is limited.The decoration is basically old, but it does not look as old as 700 years. It should be that many repairs have destroyed some ancient traces.Probably this is one of the reasons why the management of the church is relatively open.

After the young man looked at the church carefully, he suddenly asked an irrelevant question: "Is this the only old church in Van Monka?"

Nina was slightly taken aback, and replied while thinking: "I don't know if there were other old churches earlier. Anyway, I have only heard of this one since I was a child. You know, Van Monka was originally known as All kinds of legends and tourist attractions are the selling point. I grew up listening to all kinds of legends. So if there are other churches, there should be some legends, strange stories, etc. If there are no, then There was an old church in time, and it is estimated that it disappeared or was rebuilt hundreds of years ago."

The young man nodded to show that he understood, and then stared blankly at the minaret of the church for a while.His eyes were focused and thoughtful, as if looking through the minaret at a scene that did not belong to this time and space.

Nina was taken aback for a moment, and suddenly became curious about what he was looking at.

After a long while, the young man asked, "The confession room, the back hall and the underground tomb... can I go in and have a look?"

Although Nina felt that the question was a little strange, she still replied: "The confession room and the back hall can be entered, but the underground tomb has not been abandoned for a long time, and it is usually locked. I can discuss it with the administrator, but he will not Just let us in."

The young man said: "Thank you. I am very interested in such an ancient church building. Although I don't have to see it, I would be very lucky if I could see the complete structure."

Seeing his smile, Nina couldn't help asking: "Is Mr. Fay a Christian?"

The young man froze for a moment, then shook his head, and replied, "...not really."

Yes is yes, no is no, Nina is very surprised that beliefs also have such ambiguous statements as "not counting".But after thinking about it carefully, she felt that she probably understood the meaning of youth.

It probably means... being in awe, but not daring to get too close.

Isn't there a saying... "Religion makes people crazy"?

Nina went to the administrator to get the key. While she was away, the young man turned on the camera and took many photos in the confession room and the back hall.When taking pictures, he also carefully touched the walls and furniture with ancient scars, guessing when and how these scars were left.

In the confession room, after taking a few photos, he suddenly stopped and looked at it quietly for a while.

Through the small confessional room, the young man felt as if he could see many men, women and children piously confessing in front of him, but would those confessions, those crimes and actions against the will of God, really be forgiven?

And what kind of expression would the priest sitting on the other side have?

Nina came over and saw him standing there in a daze, and asked a little strangely, "What's wrong?"

But the young man looked at the confession room thoughtfully and said, "Do you think God is forgiving?"