Hu Yun Temple!
Gu Jinli was delighted, she had actually managed to get the information she needed. She quickly nodded: "Yes, thatās right, Hu Yun Temple. Old Grandpa, can you tell me how to get to Hu Yun Temple?"
"What are you going there for? Hu Yun Temple is in Daxing Town, quite far from here." Elder Mi pulled up two stools nearby and sat down, then gestured to Third Grandpa with the stools: "Old brother, have a seat. We donāt have many stools at home, so you young ones just stand."
Gu Jinli smiled and said: "Itās okay, weāll stand, we wonāt sit."
As long as you tell me where Hu Yun Temple in Daxing Town is located, I wouldnāt mind even if I had to kneel here.
"Thank you, Brother Mi." Third Grandpa sat down and said to Elder Mi: "We have something we need to ask at Hu Yun Temple."
Elder Miās drooping eyelids lifted as he glanced at Third Grandpa and then at Gu Jinli: "Youāre from the tofu stall in town, arenāt you? You want to inquire about the wasteland outside the Gate Tower?"
Gu Jinli was surprised; this old man was on point, he had guessed correctly.
Old Lady Mi brought over a kettle of water with a few pottery bowls, and placed them on a flat stone nearby: "We donāt have much to offer, so have some water to moisten your throats."
"Thank you, Grandma Mi." Gu Jinli sweetly thanked her, also giving Old Lady Mi a sweet smile.
"Look at this girl, what a beauty, clearly someone with good fortune." Old Lady Miās son had died without marrying and having children, so she never had the chance to become a grandmother. She especially liked when others called her Grandma, and Gu Jinliās āGrandmaā was just right.
Immediately she urged Elder Mi: "Old man, the girl came to ask about how to get to Hu Yun Temple, just tell her. Itās not like itās something that canāt be told."
"I was just about to mention it when you interrupted, how can you blame me?" After complaining, Elder Mi told Gu Jinli: "Hu Yun Temple is on Little Teeth Mountain in Tigerās Head Gully of Daxing Town. If you want to buy the land outside the Gate Tower, you can talk to the temple master."
Gu Jinli was puzzled: "Grandpa Mi, has someone gone to Hu Yun Temple to find the temple master about buying the wasteland outside he Gate Tower before?"
From Elder Miās words, it seemed like quite a few had asked about this matter?
"When my mother was alive, quite a few people had come asking, and also went to Hu Yun Temple to talk to the temple master, but I donāt know why those who went there in the end didnāt buy that land. After my mother passed away, gradually no one came asking anymore. You are the first ones in over twenty years to come inquire."
In the past, the older folks nearby knew that this ruin was related to the Daoist Temple. But as time passed, the many in-the-know elders passed away, and everyone gradually forgot who the real owner of this wasteland was.
After Elder Mi guzzled half a bowl of water, he said to Gu Jinli: "Your timing is good, girl. We just went to Hu Yun Temple during the March Festival to offer incense for my mother. Otherwise, coming out of the blue to look for a Daoist temple associated with the character āHuā, an old man like me wouldnāt easily remember."
The older you get, the more forgetful you become.
"Itās all fate. You want to go to Hu Yun Temple, so go ahead."
Elder Miās old mother had said that the masters at Hu Yun Temple valued fate. It didnāt matter who came to inquire about the location of Hu Yun Temple; if they found their way to their home, that meant they were fated, and one should tell them.
As for whether to sell the land or not, that was for the temple master of Hu Yun Temple to decide.
Hearing this, Gu Jinli felt halfway reassured in her heart; it was good that only their family had come to ask in the recent twenty or so years. As for whether the temple master would sell the land or not, that was something to discuss after meeting the temple master.
"Grandpa Mi, thank you so much. This is a little token of gratitude from the younger generation; itās for you and Grandma Mi to add to your spring wardrobe, please donāt be polite and just accept it." Gu Jinli saw that Elder Mi and his wife were living a tight life and took out two taels of silver to give to Elder Mi.
Elder Mi grabbed it without hesitation: "Youāre welcome, this old man still needs to provide for his family, I wonāt go easy on you." While tucking away the silver, he mumbled again: itās all fate.
Mumbling under his breath, he sounded a bit like a charlatan.
Old Lady Mi saw that Gu Jinli had returned the silver and brought out a basket of fresh bamboo shoots with their shells from the house, placing them on the mule cart, and turned to Gu Jinli, "I just dug them this morning, theyāre fresh. Take them home to eat. If you feel like having bamboo shoots recently, come dig some. If you donāt dig them now, in a month or two, the bamboo shoots will be old."
"Thank you, Grandma Mi," Gu Jinli said, then waited for Third Grandpa and Elder Mi to say goodbye before the three of them took the mule cart back home.
Soon after, they arrived back at the Shang Family and told Scholar Shang what they had found out.
After listening, Scholar Shang also said with a smile, "That really is fate."
How could it not be fate to have discovered that so easily?
However, Gu Jinli was not so optimistic. Elder Mi had said, when his old mother was alive, many people went to Hu Yun Temple to buy land from the temple master, but in the end, nobody bought it. What happened in the temple?
"When do you plan to go to Hu Yun Temple?" Scholar Shang asked.
Gu Jinli replied, "Weāll go tomorrow; this matter is better sooner than later."
"That settles it then, let Good Brother An go with you as well. It will be good for him to see more. And take the mule cart back; it can serve as practice for your driving skills."
Scholar Shang not only taught Gu Jināan to read, but also the six arts of a gentleman, including riding horses and driving vehicles.
"Your student obeys," Gu Jināan bowed to Scholar Shang, and that very day he drove the mule cart, taking Third Grandpa and Gu Jinli back home.
When the mule cart entered Da Feng Village, they saw Gu Yumei on the way.
Gu Jinli frowned and told Gu Jināan to stop the mule cart, then said to Gu Yumei, who was walking with her head down, "Where are you coming from?"
This was the intersection leading from the back of Da Feng Village to the end of the village, and straight ahead was the village center. What was Gu Yumei doing there in the village center? Hadnāt she been told that a young lady shouldnāt go visiting in the village alone? Was she looking for trouble after having forgotten past lessons?
Gu Yumei did not expect to run into Gu Jinli, and feeling a bit guilty, she quickly looked up and angrily said, "We ran out of eggs at home, and my dad sent me to buy a basket of eggs in the village."
Afraid that Gu Jinli might suspect something, she patted the basket she was carrying on her left hand, "Here, these are the eggs we bought."
Gu Jinli narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing Gu Yumei, which annoyed her, "What are you looking at? I am older than you, is this how you look at people?"
Gu Jinli sneered, "Iām looking at how guilty you seem. If you had nothing to hide, why would you fear being watched?"
Gu Yumei was choked up with anger and retorted, "Gu Xiaoyu, donāt get full of yourself; I canāt be bothered to talk to you."
Gu Yumei quickly walked away, swinging her arms, the sleeve lifted... and Gu Jinli saw a silk flower wrapped around her wrist.
A silk flower?
Why would Gu Yumei have a silk flower?
"Xiao Yu, donāt bother with her; sheās just unreasonable," Gu Jināan quickly drove the mule cart past Gu Yumei, deliberately kicking up a trail of dust that coated Gu Yumeiās clothes with dust.
Gu Yumei coughed vigorously behind them, cursing out loud in anger.
Third Grandpa, sitting inside the cart, sighed, "Sister Mei is too careless. She wonāt learn her lesson until she suffers a significant loss."
Gu Jinli took note of Gu Yumeiās guilty reaction and the silk flower on her wrist, and after returning home, she instructed Brother Cheng to go to Gu Dafuās family, calling over the Gu Dewang brothers.