Chapter 2 first quarter

"Wait a minute and the car will jump up—three, four, jump!" Following the driver's yelling, after the taxi pulled out of a sharp turn, it really bounced hard.The souvenir paper bag jumped from the seat and I grabbed it with both hands. "Hey, is the thing inside broken?" The driver with short gray hair held the steering wheel, looked back at me, and grinned. "No, I caught it in mid-air, so it should be fine. But—" I hold the paper bag to my chest and look out the window. "The road here is so dangerous..." The car was driving on the narrow path. Although the road was paved with asphalt, it was similar to a road that had not been repaired because there were many small stones and falling rocks scattered around.Driving along the way, the sides of the road are sometimes cliffs, sometimes dark tunnel walls, sometimes empty, nothing at all, which makes people dazzled.

According to the driver, this mountain belongs to Mugong Town all the way to the back of the mountain. "There are almost no vehicles passing by on this road, and the government is unwilling to spend money on repairs. Mugong is not a tourist attraction. When you want to go to the urban area in the back mountain, you usually go around the road at the bottom of the mountain. Only the car going to Ruixiangfang will pass." Passing by here—by the way, sir, why did you go to Ruixiang's room in this attire?" "Oh, because my relatives are getting married today, and I've just attended a wedding—careful, careful ahead."

"Don't worry, there will be no oncoming traffic here." "There is a car. Look, there is a business car." "Ah, really." The taxi slowed down and turned its body to the left side of the road, which is where the rock wall was.The white business van coming from the front also leaned against the rock wall in the opposite direction and drove over slowly.When the two cars met - the two drivers stopped the car at the same time and rolled down the windows at the same time. "Abbe, hello." A young woman greeted in a Kansai accent.I naturally leaned out my upper body and looked at the other person's face.A cute girl with fair skin and neat short hair who looked about twenty years old poked her head out of the driver's seat of the commercial vehicle with a smile on her face.She wore a dark blue blouse that looked like overalls over a black shirt.

"Long time no see, are you going to deliver? Which temple are you going to?" The driver asked the young girl very familiarly.I found the words "Ruixiangfang" printed in green on the side body of the commercial vehicle in calligraphy. "No, it's sending the three Ksitigarbha Bodhisattvas to a private house." As she spoke, she pointed her back with her thumb.A long cardboard box without a cover was installed at the rear of the van. Between the full polystyrene cushioning material, there were three wooden volleyball-like objects, which should be the heads of the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha.

"Abbe, I'm sorry, I'm in a hurry, so I won't talk much." "Ah, it's really cold. Be careful if you open it too fast, you may break the head of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha." "Don't talk nonsense, be careful that you will be struck by lightning." "Okay, okay, Maya, come on." "Huh? Wait a minute!" I hastily interrupted. "Uh, did you just say her name was Maya—?" I looked at the young girl, who also yelled "ah". "Could you be Shinobu's husband's cousin Michio-sensei?" "Yes, yes, I am not a teacher, but I am Daowei."

She seems to be Shinobu's friend. "I didn't expect you to arrive so soon. It's a headache. What should I do? I'm going out to deliver—" "Oh, it's okay, I can wait for you to come back in Ruixiang's room. I decided to come here today on a temporary basis." "I heard from Xiaoren that you didn't seem to make an appointment to the hotel. It's too bad." Shinobu has already explained to her the disaster I encountered. "Then I'll deliver the goods first, and I'll be back in about thirty minutes." "Oh, well, please, please."

"It's very cold, you can ask someone to take you to the house first, but the people in the workshop are very busy now—by the way, you can find Mr. Tang Jianmu." "Mr. Tang Jianmu—who is it?" "The gardener of our workshop also helps manage the accommodation. He has worked there for many years and knows more about the workshop than I do. Maybe you can ask Mr. Tang Jianmu to show you around the workshop." "If he's free, I'll trouble him." "Free, free, he's available all day. I'll text him right away, and you'll find him when you get there—that's it, sorry."

As Maya drove past us, I saw her take her phone out of her overalls pocket, ignore traffic rules, and start texting. "Sir, so you are looking for Maya." After the driver shifts gears, he depresses the gas pedal. "Yes, she is a friend of my relative, Mr. Driver, do you know her too?" "Of course I do," the driver laughed happily. "My family started enshrining Fudo Bodhisattva at the beginning of this year. We asked Ruixiangfang to carve it for us. The expression is so scary." "Pay attention to the front, the front is very dangerous. Uh, does Fudo Bodhisattva mean Fudo Mingo?"

"That's right, that's right, Fudo Myoko, Maya is in charge of carving." "Really? I heard that she is still an apprentice, but I didn't expect to be able to carve products." "Yes, she is already carving. Therefore, every time she passes by my house, she will stop by to see the condition of the Buddha statue. Although it depends on the situation, the Buddha statue will not change—she must be interested in her own work. Have feelings." "I think so." "Now, Maya and I have become friends. Last time I made a silly joke with her, and she punched me backhand."

The driver rubbed his shoulder proudly. "Fortunately, he was not injured. But, Mr. Driver, why do you enshrine Fudo Mingo in your family?" "My son is going to enter high school next year." "Oh, that's hard work—huh? Is Fudo Myo a god who protects studies?" "No, basically it is a god that eliminates afflictions. The Bodhisattva of Void Kongzang is the god who protects his studies, but I will not let my son do this kind of thing that does not burn incense on weekdays and hugs the Buddha's feet temporarily. Just pray to Fudo Bodhisattva to eliminate his afflictions. Then he has to rely on his own strength to take the exam."

The taxi snaked along the poor road and went straight to Ruixiang's room. The cliffs close to both sides of the road disappeared, and suddenly turned into a flat forest.After a while, a small path appeared in the gap between a large fir tree on the left, and a wooden sign with "Ruixiang House" written with a brush was erected.Only the black lettering on the wooden sign has not been corroded, and it looks like a relief. "It's just ahead, and we'll be there in a minute." The driver turned left without turning.It was just past four in the afternoon.