Rong Guang had heard many elders say that only those with nowhere left to turn would think of praying to gods and Buddhas.
She once thought this saying was very wrong, but after her closest relatives left her one after another in her past life, Rong Guang had hoped several times to be blessed by the Buddha, to become one of the favored among all living beings.
Because she had no other way.
It was just a pity the gods were too busy.
Her relatives passed away one after another. Rong Guang didn’t even know how she had endured that period. She only remembered that in her past life, she had taken on work almost madly, fainting from exhaustion on set several times. Her body was so weak that she was once ordered to be hospitalized. The directors of several crews would rather delay their entire production and lose money than not give her a few months’ vacation to rest.
And during that time, it was probably only when she was with Chu Feiliang that she could feel a bit of happiness.
Rong Guang let out a breath, stood up, and faced Chu Feiliang directly.
Perhaps she hadn’t been favored many times in her past life, but she had the possibility of starting over… To her, this was more important than anything.
What made Rong Guang feel even more fortunate was that the chance to start over had come early. She hadn’t even lost her grandma yet.
“Sister.” Rong Guang glanced back and said, “Are you done talking?”
“Mhm.” Chu Feiliang nodded and said, “I was asking for some information.”
The group talked as they walked.
There were quite a few actors here who recognized Chu Feiliang. Many of them had also come in groups of two or three. Coupled with the fact that Rong Guang was recently at the center of public opinion, she naturally became the focus of everyone’s attention.
Rong Guang turned a deaf ear to the discussions she was long accustomed to and asked, “What did you ask about? Can you tell me?”
“I asked about the layout inside.” Chu Feiliang took off her glasses, squinted, and pulled the brim of her hat down a little. She said, “I’ve been here two or three times, and every time I enter that room, I feel my mood sink terribly. I happened to have time today, so I asked a few more questions.”
Rong Guang was taken aback. She also recalled the strange feeling she had when she came out of the temple just now. “Did you find anything out?” she asked.
Before Chu Feiliang could answer, she said seriously, “I felt it was too oppressive inside. As soon as I went in, the incense smoke made it hard to even open my eyes… After a while, it felt like I was being led by the nose, a feeling of not being in control of myself. It was very strange.”
Having said this, Rong Guang couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose. Her grandma was a Buddhist.
The second floor of her home had even been converted into a small Buddhist shrine. The room faced south and was surrounded by windows, so the lighting and ventilation were top-notch.
Rong Guang grew up in her hometown. Even though she went up the mountain to practice martial arts at eight and was then sent abroad to be a trainee, her impression of that small shrine was still very deep.
After all, it was something that had accompanied her throughout her entire childhood. When her grandma first took her back from her stepfather, Rong Guang’s emotional state was very unstable.
But there, Rong Guang could calm her mind.
Later on, whenever Rong Guang practiced martial arts to the point of crying out loud, in so much pain that she didn’t want to continue, she would slowly calm down just by hearing her grandma chanting scriptures.
The old abbot of the temple also said that her grandma was a person with an affinity for Buddhism, and that she, by extension, was also blessed, a girl who had gained wisdom very early.
Rong Guang’s nose suddenly tingled. She didn’t quite understand if having an affinity for Buddhism meant one had to go through all those eighty-one tribulations.
She wrinkled her nose, shook off the minor emotion, and said, “My grandma’s house in the countryside has a small shrine, but it’s different from that place just now…”
“Mhm.” Chu Feiliang nodded, following Rong Guang up the steps.
Perhaps because she was a bit unsteady, she reached out and gently grabbed Rong Guang’s wrist, leading her up. As they walked, she said, “The small ancestral hall here has no windows at all, and even the door is just a narrow slit. Burning incense and worshipping in that kind of environment gives people a sense of oppression in the short term. From a psychological perspective, when a person is in such an unfamiliar environment, facing those folk belief deities, it can make them enter a very calm state of mind for a short period. And in that situation, whatever people around them say becomes especially convincing.”
Rong Guang had a sudden realization. “No wonder!”
Chu Feiliang let out a breath, seeming a little disappointed. “I thought it was the incense there that could calm the mind. I wanted to buy some to take back, but who knew it was just environmental induction.”
“Agarwood can calm the mind!” Rong Guang’s eyes sparkled as she said, “The incense at the old master’s temple in the countryside is all developed by themselves. My grandma and many elders in the village volunteer to help. Sister, do you want some? If you want, I can ask Grandma to mail some over!”
“Agarwood?” Chu Feiliang paused.
“Mhm.” Rong Guang rubbed her nose. The sandalwood from the room earlier had made her nose a bit uncomfortable, and even now she could barely open her eyes. “Aged agarwood has a much milder scent than sandalwood. Sandalwood’s scent is too sweet, and people with a sensitive sense of smell can’t stand it. It’s actually not very suitable for indoor incense, and it’s easy to buy counterfeit and shoddy products.”
“So that’s how it is.” Chu Feiliang smiled and said, “Then I’ll have to trouble your grandma.”
“No trouble, no trouble at all.” Rong Guang’s eyes curved into crescents. “We have a lot at home, and we give them to relatives and friends during holidays and festivals. We exchange them back and forth, so every household has some. Our area is rich in these spices.”
“Rich in spices, huh?” Chu Feiliang suddenly stopped.
Her wrist was being held by Chu Feiliang, so the moment Chu Feiliang stopped, she noticed almost instantly.
“What’s wrong?” Rong Guang looked around.
This place was just a normal landing between two flights of stairs. There was a guardrail to the side, and below was the mountain peak. Looking down from above, it seemed quite steep.
There was nothing unusual about it.
Chu Feiliang looked around.
There weren’t many people here. After all, it was just after mealtime, and the peak period had passed.
She smiled and leaned closer to Rong Guang, sniffing gently, then said, “I wanted to ask in the car just now… these past few days, have you not been using the perfume I gave you?”
Rong Guang froze, her face instantly turning red.
She nodded and said a little nervously, “No… I haven’t used it these past two days. You said before that the scent didn’t suit me and that you preferred my natural scent, so I put it away.”
“Mhm.” Chu Feiliang nodded lightly and said, “Yes. Your natural scent suits you better… and it smells more comfortable.”
Chu Feiliang stood back a little.
Then she looked at the clear-eyed Rong Guang with a hint of helplessness and said, “You seem to be a little too unguarded around me.”
Rong Guang didn’t understand at first. “What?”
“Look, like this.” Chu Feiliang took a small step closer to Rong Guang.
Rong Guang’s face was red, but she didn’t back away. She even carefully held her breath, just a little nervous.
“When other people get this close to you, do you react the same way?” Chu Feiliang stood face-to-face with Rong Guang, the tips of their shoes touching. Their upper bodies were very close, so close that a person probably couldn’t pass sideways between them.
Rong Guang paused, then instantly shook her head. “No… It’s just… well, other people probably wouldn’t get this close to me.”
Chu Feiliang took a step back and raised an eyebrow. “From the sound of it, you think I’m being a bit excessive?”
“Not at all.” Rong Guang was taken aback. “You being like this is… also very normal, isn’t it? No matter what you’re like, it’s still you, right?”
As Rong Guang said this, she was slightly wistful.
Chu Feiliang was actually very clingy.
In their past life, when their relationship later became very good, the two of them would often watch movies in the home theater in Chu Feiliang’s room. The genres were wide-ranging: comedies, thrillers… even animated films.
Sometimes they could even relax and watch from morning till night. When they got sleepy, they would simply listen to the movie’s background sounds, cuddling together and falling asleep on the sofa.
Chu Feiliang always liked to be close to her.
Either linking arms or resting her head on her shoulder, especially when watching horror movies, she wished she could bury her entire self in her arms.
When she was scared, she would cover her eyes with her fingers, then secretly peek through a small gap. When she sensed a jump scare was coming, she would get so nervous that her eyes would narrow to just a slit.
The more she didn’t dare to look, the more she wanted to.
Chu Feiliang like that was simply adorable.
Rong Guang said very seriously, “So I think this is also very normal—you don’t have to feel bad about it. I don’t mind if you do something even more intimate with me. I’m not against it at all.”
Chu Feiliang was stunned.
It seemed Rong Guang… had misunderstood her meaning.
Chu Feiliang narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms, and said, “From the sound of it, it seems that no matter what I do… you wouldn’t find it strange?”
Rong Guang nodded very forcefully.
Then she secretly glanced at Chu Feiliang and thought to herself, not only was it not strange, she was even a little expectant.
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