Banjaxed

Chapter 8 - There's no fate between us

Chapter 8

There's no fate between us

Their interaction naturally attracted attention, especially from the father and son who conducted their own play earlier.

"This monk, since they rejected you, why don't you consider us? We don't mind helping with your training." The son's ingratiating smile does not fool whoever has seen his real attitude before.

He was likely 'volunteering' for the latter's promise to cut the queue!

"Sorry, but there's no fate between us, but I have one with this honourable lady."

Grandma Lin was sure that this young monk did not mean her, so the only one left was Lin Jiayi. Did he know something?

"There's no harm in accepting the blessing. We will have to trouble you." Grandma Lin bowed respectfully. If this monk could not solve Lin Jiayi's problem, they could still look for the abbot later.

The man frowned. "Madam, you had originally rejected the monk's offer, which made your intention very clear. You do not look highly of him. But now you suddenly change your mind and agree after hearing I want to accept this kind monk's offer. It is an unkind act."

Huo Pu cut in before the man could anger anyone and chased his target away. "This sir, you have misunderstood. I only offer my blessing to them and no one else. I will not accept your kindness even if this lady declines. But since they have now accepted it, three honourable guests, please follow me to a private room."

"Let's go." Grandpa Lin led his wife and granddaughter to follow the young monk, ignoring the angry-looking man and his father who finally looked a little uncomfortable under everyone's meaningful looks.

Huo Pu brought them back into the room where he had entertained Zhang Muchen before. He had entertained the thought of letting Zhang Muchen join them as a 'part-time helper'. The trio had not seen the face of the special guest that the thick-faced son and father had mentioned, so Zhang Muchen's identity would not be exposed.

Zhang Muchen ignored Huo Pu's attempts to get him to come over and sneaked to the window to eavesdrop from there, not caring if he was acting like a thief and shaming his own reputation if he was caught by someone that recognized him.

There was no way would he give this 'fated' girl a chance to meet him.

Huo Pu had forgotten an important matter when he invited the guests into the previously used room.

He had not removed the used cups!

He had not tidied up the furniture that moved away from their spot from the run earlier!

There was no way Huo Pu could clean up while the guests waited. "I have forgotten that this room has not been cleaned up yet from the previous visit. Please head to the next door instead."

Grandma Lin did not mind and even praised that the monks in the temple had kept the place clean. It must be tiring to do that every day.

"We treat cleaning as a form of training, and treat every one of them as valuable experience to improve ourselves."

Outside the window, Zhang Muchen rolled his eyes. His friend had many times complained about the cleaning that would take him hours to complete. The abbot had many times punished Huo Pu when he was caught skipping the chores to play at the back mountain.

Huo Pu regained his noble and Buddha-like calm composure after bringing them to a clean and tidy room with hot tea served.

"Jiayi, remove your jacket." This time Grandma Lin was not asking but demanding.

The room does not have any fans, with only the open windows letting in the breezy winds to cool their body down. Lin Jiayi's round cheeks were red from the heat and there were beads of sweat on her forehead, soaking her bangs.

Lin Jiayi saw that there were no electronic devices in the room, so she agreed to remove her jacket. Her shirt was already soaked through, and this was the first time she had ever sweat this much.

"Miss, may I have a look at your palm?"

Huo Pu was smiling harmlessly, but Lin Jiayi was still acting cautious. "Could you... take a look at my grandparents first?"

Grandpa Lin and Grandma Lin already suspected that the young monk approached them because of Lin Jiayi, and his question immediately affirmed their guess. Because it was such a rare experience to have their granddaughter think of them first, they did not reject it and glanced at the monk, waiting to see how he would answer.

Huo Pu was not angry about it and even scolded himself for being inconsiderate. The first to get a reading was Grandpa Lin.

"Sir will have the reunion you wish for, but you might not accept it." Grandpa Lin's eyes flashed confusion and caution.

"Goodness!" Grandma Lin gasped. She knew how many times her husband had asked this question at the abbot, only to receive a solemn head shake.

But to receive an answer from this young monk who was still in training... was hard to believe.

"Thank you." Grandpa Lin was calm and did not question whether it was the truth or not. For the monk to speak of this, he was either talented or had heard something about them.

But the latter does not seem quite possible unless the monks were quite a gossiper among themselves.

Only Lin Jiayi was in the dark about the matter but did not care about it when Grandpa Lin did not ask for the details of the monk's prediction.

Grandma Lin was the next to be read, who was now in great anticipation. "Madam, please be careful of slippery places. Do not climb high places if possible."

This was in line with Lin Jiayi's own grandmother's demise. When it happened, Lin Jiayi was too young to understand what death meant and only knew how to cry when she could not see her grandmother ever again.

When her grandfather followed not long after, it dealt a great blow to Lin Jiayi for losing two close family members to her so suddenly. They were the ones who gave her affection and attention in place of her absent parents.

Her little aunt tried her best to keep things as usual even when she was also grieving, but it was still very different. Lin Jiayi was actually not close with her aunt before her grandparents passed away.

The one that was least affected was perhaps Lin Ge Shuai, whose mind and heart were mostly occupied by his late wife. His 24/7 state of grieving was no different than usual.

"Grandma, if you need to take things from the upper cupboard, let me do it."

A sense of helplessness occupied Grandma Lin's heart. The thing they should be worried about first was Lin Jiayi's own self.

This silly child seems to have forgotten to be afraid!

"We will talk about that later. Right now, let him take a look at you."

Only now did Lin Jiayi reunite with her fear. "Do I need to?" It was only after she spoke did she realised she had misspoken. "I... I mean I will wait for the abbot."

Lin Jiayi was aware that the abbot might be the only one who could shed light on her case. Even if she knew she would not harm anyone with skin contact, years of having people avoiding her like a plague got her used to guarding her personal space.

Why would she want to make skin contact twice when she knows she could get the result with just one contact?

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