Chapter 147: Chapter 147

Shen Jianian walked out of the courtyard step by step, her expression blank and somewhat dazed.

Fu Jichen glanced at the abbot in the courtyard, his eyebrows subtly furrowed, and he held Shen Jianian’s hand and asked, "What did the abbot say to you?"

Being far away, he couldn’t hear their conversation, so he could only infer that she heard unpleasant words by observing Shen Jianian’s expression.

Shen Jianian’s gaze shifted to his face, and in her mind lingered the eight words left by the abbot: half a lifetime of fear, palpitations difficult to resolve.

Fu Jichen touched her forehead with his palm, feeling it was icy cold: "Don’t listen to that old monk’s nonsense. I’ve d so much incense money, and he doesn’t even say anything pleasant."

The result of the fortune-telling bothered him, so after returning, he instructed Song Fang to a sum of incense money to Tanfu Temple in his name.

That money was enough to re-gild the Buddha statue in the Great Hall.

In light of the incense offerings, the Buddha should also bless him with a happy marriage life and accompany his beloved to old age.

Shen Jianian recovered and lightly slapped his arm: "In a place of Buddhist sanctity, you mustn’t speak nonsense."

Seeing her face looking better, Fu Jichen felt relieved, his dark eyes tinted with a faint smile: "Really turned into a little nun?"

Shen Jianian shot him a sideways glance, barely managed to lift the corners of her lips into a faint smile. With a cloud of gloom hanging over her heart, the smile didn’t seem cheerful.

The two walked down the stone path they came from, with Fu Jichen still behind, his gaze fixed tightly on the slender figure ahead.

Returning to the courtyard where Shen Jianian lived, Fu Jichen patted her arm: "Check once more to see if there’s anything you missed. I’m going out for a smoke, see you later."

He said, turning around and leaving.

Shen Jianian remembered smoking was prohibited here and was about to remind him, but Fu Jichen had already disappeared from the courtyard.

The road they had just taken was clear in Fu Jichen’s mind, and his steps were large and fast, walking with the wind.

Coming to the abbot’s residence, he wasn’t as cautious as Shen Jianian, symbolically knocked on the door, and walked straight in.

The Abbot was crouched in the furrow between two vegetable fields, pulling out weeds, his wrinkled hands covered in soil. He turned his head upon hearing the sound.

"Abbot, sorry to disturb you." Fu Jichen got straight to the point, "I want to know what you said to my girlfriend?"

The abbot turned his back to him, sighed heavily. In his seventy-something years, with yellow earth almost buried to his neck, he had never seen such a pair of devoted worshippers, each more stubborn than the other.

It was also his mistake; he shouldn’t have broken the rules to divine his fortune earlier, leading to these subsequent troubles.

The abbot threw away the handful of weeds and stood up, turning to look at him, his face exuding a serene compassion for the world: "She’s thinking of how to help you avert disaster, but doesn’t realize there’s a catastrophe in her own fate. Everything in the world has a fixed destiny, coming to find me is useless. Leave, leave, don’t come back."

The abbot clasped his hands behind his back, fearing being sought out again, and summoned a little monk in front of Fu Jichen, instructing him that he would be sequestered for the next month and not receive any visitors.

Fu Jichen left, pondering the abbot’s words all the way back.

Shen Jianian had brought out her suitcase, placing it under the eaves outside the west chamber, along with a quilt packed in a travel bag, with a small satchel slung across her body.

Fu Jichen walked over and noticed Shen Jianian didn’t smell smoke on him, but still reminded him: "The temple forbids smoking, I forgot to tell you earlier."

"I know, I didn’t smoke, just took a walk outside."

Fu Jichen always concealed his emotions, unlike Shen Jianian, whose feelings were more outwardly displayed. Even if the abbot’s words stirred waves in his heart, it showed nothing on his face.

From Tanfu Temple back to Yunding Palace, Shen Jianian felt a surreal sense of déjà vu.

Fu Jichen didn’t go to the company; he changed into homewear and stayed with Shen Jianian to watch movies. He held her within his chest and arms, his eyes watching the movie while his mind drifted elsewhere.

Shen Jianian cozily nestled in his embrace, wearing a warm sweater and knitted pants, with thick socks on her feet and holding a bag of candied plums.

She rarely eats snacks; Aunt Cheng always brings her some candy, chips, biscuits, and the like during grocery trips, thinking she’s still young.

Shen Jianian’s lips curled slightly, and Fu Jichen caught it with the corner of his eye, leaned over, tugged out two tissues from the coffee table, and handed them to her lips, knowing exactly what she was going to do without looking directly at her.

She paused, then spat the plum pits from her mouth onto the tissue.

Shen Jianian picked another from the bag, popped it into her mouth, savoring the sour and sweet taste she loved, eating one after another until she had finished more than half the bag.

Fu Jichen took her hand with his, and with his other hand snatched the bag of plums from her: "You’ve eaten quite a bit, any more and your stomach will suffer."

Shen Jianian still had one in her mouth and spoke indistinctly: "You’ll know how delicious it is once you try it."

Upon hearing this, Fu Jichen looked down at her, suddenly pinched her chin and lifted it, simultaneously lowering his lips down to hers, kissing her deeply.

The plum in Shen Jianian’s mouth disappeared.

In the next second, Fu Jichen withdrew, frowning, his handsome face scrunched up.

Shen Jianian had never seen such an expressive look on his face before, more amusing than when he sucked up the brown sugar pearls while drinking milk tea, and she couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Fu Jichen spat out the plum pit: "Can this stuff really be eaten? It’s so sour my cheeks hurt."

"It’s not that exaggerated; I think it’s fine."

Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Shen Jianian snatched back the bag from his hand and tipped the last three or four plums into her mouth, her cheeks bulging.

Just watching her eat made Fu Jichen’s mouth involuntarily water. He tightened the arm looped around her waist, pinching her bulging cheek and helplessly said: "Acting like a child, you throw a tantrum when I say no."

Cheng Jin came over, seeing the two sitting on the sofa closely embracing, and softly said: "Dinner’s ready."

Shen Jianian blushed a little, slipping out from Fu Jichen’s embrace, putting on slippers, and spat the remaining plums in her mouth into the trash, turning to look at Fu Jichen, as if asking: Is this okay now?

Fu Jichen chuckled and went with her to the dining room for dinner.

Knowing that she’d been eating bland vegetarian meals at Tanfu Temple for the week, before dinner he particularly instructed Cheng Jin and then the chef to prepare several meat dishes to restore her energy.

Shen Jianian sat down across from him, looking at the table filled with chicken, duck, and fish, not feeling particularly hungry.

"What’s the matter, gotten used to vegetarian meals, don’t want to eat this?" Fu Jichen noticed her lack of interest and asked.

Shen Jianian would never criticize someone’s hard work, so she shook her head: "No, I just don’t know where to start."

Fu Jichen gave her a chicken leg: "Start with the chicken, then drink some soup later."

Shen Jianian smiled slightly at him, took a bite of the chicken leg, and after swallowing, her expression suddenly changed, and she put down her chopsticks and rushed to the bathroom, holding onto the washing basin and vomiting.