My Youth Began With Him

“Okay.” Qin Chu nodded and walked towards the temple, where they could get fortune sticks.

Apparently, an old woman here was very experienced at reading them…

However, when the two arrived outside a temple, they only saw a little monk sweeping.

“Young Master, can we draw a fortune stick?”

“Sure… but my master isn’t here today, so no one can read your fortune.”

“Oh… I see.”

“Would you still like to draw one?” The little monk asked, holding a broom in his hand.

“Sure, how much is it?”

“Drawing the fortune stick is free. Reading cost one yuan, but my master isn’t here today, so feel free to draw one if you want.” The little monk was nice; he immediately ran towards the temple to get the fortune stick holder.

The monks at Ming Jue Temple were down-to-earth and uncommercialized, unlike places that asked for money wherever you go. Drawing a fortune stick here was free, and reading it only cost one yuan.

There weren’t a lot of places like this left in China…

“Honey, do you want to draw one with me?” Huo Mian tilted her head at Qin Chu, who smiled at her. “No, it’s okay, you can draw one. You represent me.”

Huo Mian smiled. Then, she knelt down before the Buddha and sincerely shook the fortune stick holder.

Finally, a fortune stick fell out. The little monk picked it up and handed it to Huo Mian.

Her heart sunk upon seeing what the stick wrote, “Unlucky”.

A simple poem was written on her stick, ‘the 79th one in the holder – the flowers of March fell onto the river, the wind blows up people’s sorrows. Spring leaves and autumn comes in a flash, and soon you will have reached old age.’

Qin Chu noticed the change in Huo Mian’s expression. After he walked up and glanced at the bamboo stick in her hand, his expression changed as well.

The little monk glanced at the two of them. “Masters, you got the unlucky stick. No matter what you ask for, you shall be met with bad faith.”

“Mian… do you want to ask for another one?” Qin Chu asked, trying to console Huo Mian.

“No, it’s okay… This is fate… it is what it is.”

Huo Mian didn’t need someone to read her stick to understand what it meant.

Words like ‘fallen flowers’ were definitely a bad omen.

Huo Mian suddenly remembered a while ago, when her mother-in-law took her to the fortuneteller, that old man told her she would encounter a big disaster in life.

It seemed like that disaster was about to fall upon her…

Huo Mian wasn’t superstitious, so she didn’t usually pay too much attention to things like this.

However, recently she had been feeling unsettled. Nothing happened, but she was still constantly nervous as if something was about to happen.

She felt like that at work and at home… It was an awful feeling.

She had never felt like this before, whether it was during her middle or high-school entrance examinations.

After carefully placing the bamboo stick back into its holder, Huo Mian took out a couple of hundred yuan and placed it in the merit box.

Then, she and Qin Chu walked out, hand in hand…

“Don’t think too much into it… you have to rely on yourself for most things,” Qin Chu consoled her.

“I know, Honey, don’t worry about me. I’m strong… Either way… no matter what happens, no matter what difficulties we meet, we won’t give up. Remember that only by being alive will hope arise again… we have to work hard.”

Qin Chu nodded; then, he tightened his arms around Huo Mian…

The couple stood on top of the mountain and watched the snow fall before them. It was romantic…

Huo Mian leaned on Qin Chu, her hands tightly holding his waist.

She kneeled down every three steps until her knees became swollen and her forehead became chafed.

She came with three wishes, and she wanted to move the gods and spirits with her sincerity…