I have to admire Chujiu's memory. After the hospital was renovated, the earliest road to the back was blocked.
On the ninth day of the lunar month, he led me through a few small alleys. From a distance, I saw the big tree where the baby's skeleton was buried. It seemed like there was a faint light under the tree.
"Master Vidyadhara?"
We arrived under the big tree, and an old monk wearing monk's robes sat cross-legged on the ground. It was Vidyadhara Dharma who presided over the ceremony.
The Vidadhara Vidyadhara holds rosary beads in his hand and is reciting Buddhist sutras. The candle in front of him is more than half burned. It seems that Vidadhara Vidyadhara has been here for some time.
After reciting the sutras, the Vidyadhara looked at Chujiu and me and complained that this job was really not easy to do. It took a lot of mental energy on his part, more than he imagined for an innocent soul, and he recited the Rebirth Mantra more than a hundred times.
When Master Dharma Master stood up, his legs felt numb and weak, and he almost fell to the ground again. Chujiu supported Master Dharma Master's arm and asked him why he came at this time.
"Of course I have to do something after taking your money. Could it be possible that the old monk also became a liar? It happened that I had nothing to do today, so I came here."
As he spoke, Master Vidyadhara stamped his feet and shouted that he was hungry and asked us to take him to eat.
Chujiu actually nodded and said that he was hungry too. There was a red oil shop near the hospital and the tofu pudding was particularly delicious.
Mingming had just had dinner less than an hour ago. On the way to dinner, Master Vidyadhara smiled and said that indeed good deeds will be rewarded. Not only did this save a meal, but also tomorrow's bus fare.
Chujiu rolled his eyes and said, "We obviously received a huge sum of three thousand yuan from us before." Master Vidyadhara took out a dozen receipts from his pocket.
It was actually a stack of remittance orders, and I saw that most of the addresses were in poor areas.
"Look at it. In so many places, 139 children have to eat, drink, and defecate for a whole winter. The 3,000 yuan I funded has long been used up."
Chujiu immediately changed his face, smiled and praised the Master of Vidyadhara for being like a master. The Master of Vidyadhara waved his hand and slapped Chujiu on the forehead.
"Why does everyone like to hit me on the head? I won't grow taller!"
I specially ordered a large bowl of plain noodles for Vidyadhara, but Vidyadhara was a little unhappy and said that I wanted to add two eggs.
"Can a monk also eat eggs?" Chujiu put the hot egg into his mouth and asked while exhaling.
"Who told the monk not to eat eggs? The old monk is a warrior monk and can even eat meat, but he just doesn't want to."
The abbot Vidyadhara told us that the temple where he became a monk is different from other temples. It probably belongs to Tibetan Buddhism. In remote Tibetan areas, donations are not accepted from outsiders. Compared with Mahayana Buddhism, the temple does not have so many precepts.
The master is self-sufficient.
There was no hotel in the town, so I found a pavilion to sit in for the night.
We couldn't bear the cold weather, so we had no choice but to seek help from Dr. Wang Chuan. In the end, Dr. Vidyadhara stayed in the hospital's office for one night.
"By the way, where are the rosary beads I gave you last time?"
On the bus back to the city from Bishan County, Master Vidyadhara suddenly asked me.
"It's in my backpack, I haven't lost it!" I answered truthfully.
"Oh, those are the prayer beads that I have carried with me for more than ten years." Master Vidyadhara said in a nonchalant manner, and then he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
After saying goodbye to Master Vidyadhara, Chujiu insisted on taking me to the clothing store.
After taking the bus for more than an hour, we arrived at the clothing city. On the ninth day of the month, we walked straight to the store selling jeans. I remember the male boss almost cried because of the price bargaining on the ninth day.
"Why are you here?" The male boss, who was sleeping on the recliner and reading a magazine, suddenly stood up from the recliner as if he had seen a ghost when he saw Chujiu.
"Boss has such a good memory, I didn't expect you to still remember me. Of course I thought you were a nice person and came to buy some clothes."
Apparently, the male boss, who threw the magazine in his hand on the counter, gave up his intention of kicking him out of the store because of Chujiu's harmless smile.
"You little kid, don't go too far this time!"
On Chujiu, he discussed with the boss for a long time and bought eight pairs of popular women's jeans. This time he didn't bargain too much, otherwise the boss wouldn't have given him an oversized travel bag.
I went around the clothing store and bought a total of sixteen pieces of clothing on the ninth day of the lunar month, all of which were women's. To be precise, there were eight sets of clothes, and the tops were all hoodies and sportswear.
"Guo Guo, I've spent so much money on you, how about I wash all your clothes for the next three years?"
Chujiu declined my help and walked alone, carrying a travel bag half as tall as a person.
"What are you talking about? Aren't you also responsible for the business introduced by Uncle Ding?"
I touched Chujiu’s head and urged him again that it was time to cut his hair.
"If that's the case, after we finish eating McDonald's, I'll buy a few pairs of sneakers."
On the bus back to Xiaoyu's apartment, the driver saw Chujiu carrying a bag of clothes. He casually said, are all clothing bosses so young nowadays?
Xiaoyu took out a few pieces of clothing from Chujiu's travel bag and gesticulated on herself for a while.
"On the ninth day of the lunar month, I didn't expect that you have a good eye for buying clothes, but the sizes are a bit too big."
Chujiu drank a drink and said with a proud look on his face that he had read so many fashion magazines during class, and it was not for nothing. As for the size, he was not too big at all, and all the sisters in the village were taller than him.
After gesturing for a while to put each piece of clothing on himself, Xiaoyu finally put all the clothes back into the travel bag.
Sitting on the sofa, rubbing my arms, shouting that I was really tired.
"Xiaoyu, Chujiu and I are going to leave for their village tomorrow."
"Ah? So fast? I asked you to do me a favor."
Xiaoyu was a little surprised when she heard that Chujiu and I were leaving, saying that she thought we would stay for a few more days.
"Help? What help?"
Chujiu took a sip of his drink, patted his chest, and said that Sister Xiaoyu's affairs were all his business and he would do his best.
Xiaoyu told us that she has a very close sister who is also a nurse. However, she is in a different department and has more things to do than her. She is very busy every day and often has to work night shifts.
Two days ago, Xiaoyu's little sister suddenly fell ill for no apparent reason. She had a high fever and was given a sling bottle to get better. She rested in the dormitory for the past two days.
It wasn't until Xiaoyu visited her in the dormitory today that she secretly told Xiaoyu that she was frightened when she fell ill.
The little sister told Xiaoyu that she was on duty one night. She had to go to the warehouse on the first floor to get equipment. Next door to the warehouse on the first floor was the morgue.
As medical staff, I have long been used to seeing life and death. Apart from feeling a chill every time I pass by the morgue, there is nothing else.
What's more, I have been to this warehouse countless times over the years, and I am no longer afraid.
Every time I go to the warehouse, I would often joke with the male doctor on duty at the entrance of the morgue. I would be careful if I encountered a female ghost one day and it would be too much for me.