Pretend to be nice

"Aunt Xia, Happy New Year".

Lin Guan walks from the warm living room to the balcony. Red lanterns are hung on the street. The sound of firecrackers is like a carpet covering the road. The cool wind is wrapped in the smell of gunpowder smoke. The sound became clear.

"An'an, happy new year," Xia Zhicheng's tone was a little more stable, but the anxiety still crawled out of the phone.

"An'an, is Qinghe with you?" She asked urgently.

"Auntie, it's New Year's Eve today," Lin Gu'an emphasized, with a somewhat puzzled tone, "Isn't she at home during the Chinese New Year?"

"She ran out," she tried to cover up in a panic, and quickly added, "If Qinghe contacts you, ask her to call me."

Lin Gu'an still wanted to say something, but the other side hung up in a hurry, with a bad premonition rising, frowned, and got through the child's phone.

The phone was connected quickly unexpectedly, and Li Qinghe's clear voice came.

"Happy New Year, I said I'd call you at midnight, but you called first," said the usual tone.

She got rid of the anxiety just now, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Looking at the starry sky, she said softly: "Happy New Year."

The child laughed, "Say hello to my uncle and aunt for me."

"Um"

"Are you watching the Spring Festival Gala? Isn't it boring?"

"I can't call you if I'm not bored?"

"No, no," hearing the threatening voice, the child mockingly denied,

Lin Gu'an turned around and leaned against the railing, watched the program on the TV in the living room through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and quickly asked, "Which program is it now?"

The child was stunned: "Ah, what show? Spring Festival Gala?"

"Ok".

The child scratching his head cautiously asked, "Did she call you?"

Lin Guan gave a noncommittal hum, and then asked, "Where are you now?"

Before Li Qinghe could answer, the countdown sounded, the bell stopped for a short second, and the deafening sound of fireworks and firecrackers scrambled to the top. The gorgeous fireworks bloomed wantonly in the night sky, and adults and children kept laughing.

The two suddenly fell silent, and after a while, Li Qinghe repeated his blessing: "Be safe and happy in the new year, Lin Gu'an."

The sound outside was too noisy, and she listened closely to the phone before she could recognize what the child was talking about, and she didn't have time to say anything more.

The Lin family's parents stood up and called her. The two of them were old, and they had reached the extreme. They yawned and stuffed their daughter with a red envelope.

Lin Gu'an followed behind and tidied up the living room briefly, turned off the lights and went back to the room.

Li Qinghe waited quietly without saying a word.

After she returned to the room, the noisy voice was blocked out, and she realized that the child's quietness seemed a little strange, and her loosened brows were tightened again, but this time she didn't ask directly, but waited until she was lazily lying on the bedding When he was inside, he said lazily: "Leniency or strictness? You can figure it out."

"Hey?" The little dog subconsciously started to wag its tail, and called out flatteringly, "Sister."

Mr. Lin is hard-hearted and does not accept this set.

The puppy barked a few more times, seeing that she was unmoved, he had to choose to confess, and said, "Is it convenient to start the video?"

Master Lin hummed reluctantly, and the child happily started the video.

On the top of the empty mountain, the cold wind was blowing. The child was hiding under the white wall, with messy hair and red nose, she looked a bit embarrassed. Her heart tightened, and she hurriedly asked, "Where are you?"

The child is exposed to the cold wind, and the front camera is replaced by the rear camera. The surrounding is pitch black, and the small temple surrounded by hard rocks can be vaguely seen by the bright moonlight. none.

The child sniffed and said, "I'm coming over here."

"Tibet? What are you doing here on New Year's Eve? Do you want to find a good day to become a monk?" Lin Gu'an was anxious, and his words seemed a little rushed.

Li Qinghe didn't care, stomped his feet on the spot, his unconscious feet felt numb, and said, "I don't want to celebrate the New Year with them."

"Is it necessary to run so far?" Lin Guan was furious, very fierce.

There was no answer on the phone, only the sound of stomping feet was heard.

Lin Gu'an realized that he was too fierce, took a few deep breaths, and tried to keep a calm tone: "Why are you staying outside? Go in soon, and you will die of cold."

"I'm calling you," the child muttered.

"Come in!" The voice raised two degrees.

Li Qinghe obediently obeyed, walked around the corner, and entered the dilapidated gate. The temple is very small. The main entrance faces the lobby with the Buddha statue. On both sides are the kitchen and the residence. The three children hid under the Buddha statue and gathered around the fire to keep warm.

Li Qinghe was not polite, he squeezed between them, the air-conditioning brought in made the two children next to him freeze to hide to the other side.

Lin Gu'an pursed his lips, looking at the room only lit by the firepit, feeling angry and distressed.

The camera switched again, and the child's fair face was flushed red by the fire, and he smiled foolishly.

what can she doHe sighed deeply.

The child was busy introducing her. The middle-aged man with a bald head had rough skin, his cheeks were thin and sunken, but his eyes were as clear and clean as a child's. Looking at the turned screen, he smiled and greeted Lin Gu'an with his palms together.

The remaining three children, two boys and one girl, had pouty cheeks and some plateau red, and their eyes were as clear as monks, and their black pupils reflecting the firelight could not conceal their curiosity.

In front of a group of people, Lin Gu'an was angry with Li Qinghe, so he had no choice but to suppress his anger and talk to them.

The monk is the only monk in this temple. His Dharma name is empty. He doesn't look like the master he has seen before. He also picks out a few sweet potatoes in the firepit in front of the camera very simply, and they are burned to the ground. Grinning his teeth, he was still distributing the sweet potatoes.

Seeing her bewildered expression, Li Qinghe explained with a smile: "He has been a monk for five years. Before that, he was a college student and a civil servant for two years."

"..." Lin Gu'an, is it so easy to be the host now?You can take office in five years.

Xingkong had no image in front of the sweet potato, and he said vaguely while eating the hot potato: "I am a highly educated monk, understand?"

Li Qinghe laughed at him for a few words, and then spoke to her in a low voice: "This temple is located on a remote mountain, and even the herdsmen rarely come here. In the past, there was only the old host, and later he took Xing Kong as his apprentice. "I took care of the child, and it was inconvenient to mention the rest, so I typed it for her.

"When Xingkong went down the mountain, he picked up Sangchi who was discarded by the roadside. It may be that the herdsmen who came up to worship saw the temple adopting Sangchi, so they discarded Yangjin and Bianba at the gate of the temple. Xingkong and the previous host adopted them together. killed them."

"It's just that they didn't let them become monks. Xingkong usually gives them lessons and wants to send them to school."

"The old host passed away two years ago"

Xingkong led the child to eat sweet potatoes a few times, poked Li Qinghe and said: "Eat it quickly, or it will be cold."

Li Qinghe nodded, handed him the phone, and gnawed half a sweet potato in his hands. The sun-dried sweet potato is as sweet as honey, an indispensable delicacy in winter.

Xingkong's mouth was still stained with black ash, he touched his head that was glowing against the fire with his ashen hands, and said with a smile: "I'm also a fake monk, I got my Dharma title myself."

"..." The sympathy that had just appeared suddenly dissipated, and before she could respond, the phone was snatched by the child again.

Sangji, the oldest, opened his eyes wide, watching her call Ajia in a childish voice.

Just as Lin Gu'an opened his mouth, he switched to Bianba and shouted Ajia with all his might, Happy New Year.

"..."

Yang Jin, who had two braids, quickly made up for it.

Lin Gu'an, who was very inexperienced in dealing with children, looked at the three little faces crowded on the screen, and didn't know what to say for a while.

Fortunately, Li Qinghe came to the rescue after eating the sweet potatoes, took the hot phone that was baked by fire, rubbed Bianba's head vigorously with his big hands, then sat on his lap with Yang Jin in his arms, and Bianba skillfully went to the other side Sitting down, Sanji poked his head over her shoulder.

Three faces turned into four, Lin Gu'an felt more pressure.

Li Qinghe smiled and chatted with her: "Sangji gave me my little bell, right, Sanji?"

Sangji smiled and nodded. Li Qinghe chatted with her for a long time with the three children, and even took out candy from his pocket, saying that it was given by Lin Guan. The three children looked at her even more eagerly.

It was not until Xingkong urged the children to sleep that they reluctantly bid farewell to Lin Guan.

Lin Gu'an, who was tense up, relaxed, and took a nasty look at the person who was afraid that she would get angry and used the child as a shield.

Li Qinghe imitated the child's silly smile and responded.

"When are you coming back?"

"After a while, Xingkong plans to send the three of Sanji to study this year. Sanji should be eight years old, and it will be too late if he doesn't go to school. I want to stay and give them a small lesson."

When Xingkong picked up Sangji, the child could already walk and talk, but they didn’t know the information about their parents and their own age, so they had to make a rough estimate.

"Well," Lin Gu'an nodded, and said helplessly, "It seems that you won't be able to receive the red envelope."

Li Qinghe's eyes widened for a moment.

"When I left, I put a red envelope in your coat pocket. I asked you to take it out during the Chinese New Year..." Lin Gu'an gave her an angry look again.

Li Qinghe sighed with regret, "I don't know...I only brought a down jacket."

Xing Kong, who took good care of the three children, came over and told Li Qinghe to wash up quickly while there was hot water, and then led the three children to sleep.

Li Qinghe agreed in a hurry, cleared the fire, and then chatted with Lin Guan while washing, and then went back to his room and nestled under the quilt.

Lin Gu'an mentioned a few more words about Xia Zhicheng, and the child changed the subject in resistance, so she had no choice but to ask Li Qinghe and Xia Zhicheng to say something, and the child vaguely agreed, not sure if she took it to heart.

It was late at night, and the two hung up after saying goodnight to each other.

Lin Gu'an lay on the bed tossing and turning, recalling the dilapidated walls, the difficult environment, worrying, and finally deliberated, and decided to call Li Qinghe every night before being pulled into sleep by a strong sleepiness.