Chapter 84
The temple was known mainly for blessings related to romance and children. Some came to make wishes, while others came to fulfill vows.
Besides couples visiting together, there were also many families of three bringing small children.
To accommodate them, the temple on the mountaintop had even set up a stroller rental station outside, charging by the hour at a fairly reasonable price.
The butler immediately rented one.
Tang Rong pulled some tissues from his pocket and carefully wiped the little snow leopard’s paws clean before placing it into the stroller and taking on the role of stroller-pusher himself.
The little snow leopard sat upright, a tiny scarf tied around its neck by Tang Rong, truly looking like a well-behaved little baby.
Tang Rong was delighted to push it around. He deliberately passed by other strollers, peeking at the babies inside. The babies’ parents would also glance at his little snow leopard, and every time that happened, Tang Rong’s lips would curl up proudly.
Other people had babies. He had a leopard.
Being pushed around by Xiao Rong, the little snow leopard was in an excellent mood as well, the tip of its tail slightly raised, temporarily forgetting about that big snow leopard from earlier.
The temple scenery was beautiful. Even if one had no wish to pray for romance or children, it was still worth admiring the scenery.
Tang Rong pushed the little snow leopard around here and there, looking at everything, then followed behind his family to collect three incense sticks. He bowed with great seriousness, silently praying in his heart for his brothers and sisters.
He hoped his eldest brother and sister-in-law would always be happy.
He hoped Brother Xiao Chun would become braver in pursuing Sister Xiao Qiu.
And if Sister Xiao Qiu also liked Brother Xiao Chun, then he hoped they would successfully get together and stay happy forever.
Seeing how devout the little cub looked, the butler assumed he had really come to pray for a future wife. Smiling, he teased, “What kind of wife does Xiao Rong want?”
Tang Rong listened, then thought about it very seriously for a long time.
He had never considered this question before, but he knew that he did want a wife. A wife would stay with him forever, and together they would have a happy little home.
As for what kind of wife she would be… he had absolutely no ideas yet.
Only after a long while did Tang Rong slowly say four words: “Someone I like.”
A proper and perfectly correct answer.
Beside him, the little snow leopard sitting primly in the stroller pressed its little ears down.
…
At noon, they ate vegetarian food on the mountain. It was very plain, but as an occasional experience, it was quite nice.
After eating, Lin Fei and Tang Yao went to hang their blessing pouches on a tree.
Shen Yuchun’s ankle was not seriously hurt, but it still ached a little, so he stayed in a small pavilion to rest. Tang Qiu also did not want to keep wandering around the temple, so she pulled Tang Hu along to rest there as well.
Tang Hu ran into a few fans and, unable to refuse them, signed a few autographs. Feeling that his handwriting was too ugly, he decided he needed to practice properly once he got back, afraid that if he ran into more fans wanting signatures, it would be embarrassing. He hurriedly put on his hat and no longer dared wander around.
Tang Zheng’en and the butler took the little cub and the little snow leopard to stroll around a bit longer, when they suddenly stopped in front of a small hall for fortune sticks.
Back then, when he had come here with Ajian after they got married, they had drawn a fortune for their first child. It was not about gender or talent or anything like that—they simply wanted to do it on a whim, since it was their first child.
The master had given them the result: “Good things come in pairs.”
And sure enough, they ended up having Tang Yao and Tang Qiu, a pair of dragon-phoenix twins.
It had been uncannily accurate.
Though they were not particularly devout believers in such things, nor adherents of any religion, they still kept a sense of reverence for them.
After that, he had never come back to have his fortune read again. He always felt that relying too much on outside forces was not a good thing.
This time as well, he still had neither the mood nor the desire to calculate anything.
[Host, this looks like a fortune-stick reading. Do you want to go try it for fun?] the system asked in Tang Rong’s mind, also explaining to him what fortune-telling was.
A kind of mysticism. If you believed in it, it existed; if you did not, it did not.
Sure enough, whether in an ancient world, a modern world, or an interstellar world, fortune-telling as a profession would never disappear.
“What should I calculate? My future wife?” Tang Rong was intrigued now, instinctively recalling the question Butler Uncle had just asked him.
The system could not help laughing. [A wife is something for after you become an adult. That’s still more than ten years away—no rush. Why not calculate something about your mother? We can test whether this master is really accurate.]
Tang Rong felt the system made a lot of sense. He immediately pushed the stroller over.
A couple was already having their fortune read. The result did not seem too good—their expressions were both rather poor, and they hurriedly set down the stick and left.
The one reading the sticks was an old man about the same age as Grandpa, with white hair and beard. Seeing Tang Rong approach, he smiled kindly and asked, “Would the little friend like to have a reading?”
Tang Rong did not nod right away. Instead, his little miser instincts burst forth, and he asked, “How much does this cost?”
If it was too expensive, then forget it.
The master rested his chin on one hand. “I won’t charge you. But you can only calculate one thing.”
Tang Rong’s eyes lit up slightly. He thought this was some sort of free service for children. He handed the stroller to his father and obediently sat down on the stool in front of the table.
Tang Zheng’en had not expected him to want this, but though surprised, he said nothing.
“What would you like to calculate?” the master asked.
Under the gaze of several pairs of eyes, Tang Rong slowly answered, “My mother.”
Other than the master sitting across from him, everyone else—including the leopard—showed shocked expressions.
The little snow leopard curled its tail around its body.
If it remembered correctly, Xiao Rong’s mother had already… passed away…
For a moment, the atmosphere fell into a strange, heavy silence.
The master said nothing. He merely asked Tang Rong to stretch out his little hand. After some operations Tang Rong could not understand, he took several sticks from the cylinder and told him to pick one himself.
The appearance and material of these sticks were all slightly different.
Tang Rong hesitated for quite a long time, then finally chose the one in the very middle.
After pondering for a moment, the master simply handed the stick to him and said, “This one is yours.”
Tang Rong looked it over in confusion.
Tang Zheng’en also leaned closer, his eyes slightly heated.
But neither of them could see any writing or pattern on the stick.
“Master, what does this mean?” Tang Zheng’en asked, his voice a little hoarse.
The master waved a hand and did not answer directly. He only said, “I can’t interpret it either. But the answer should be on the stick itself. It’s a good one.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly received a call.
“Hello? Yes… that was my game pod. It arrived? Just leave it at the door. Thanks.”
After ending the call, the master began packing up his things, humming a tune as he closed up shop early.
A young monk nearby saw this and said, “Master, being obsessed with amusements saps the will.”
“I’m already at this age. It’s long past time for me to ‘retire.’”
The little monk said, “You’re sturdier than I am.”
The master smiled and said no more. Before leaving, he patted Tang Rong on the head, then glanced at the little snow leopard in the stroller beside him, leaving everyone only with the sight of his carefree departing back.
Looking down at the blank stick in his hand, Tang Rong asked the system in his mind, “What does this stick mean?”
The system did not know either. [Let me go ask a mysticism-system I know.]
Ever since binding with the host, it had met many childcare systems on the system forums. One of them was a mysticism system bound to a little heavenly master only a few years old, and they often exchanged childcare experience in a group they had created.
Not long after, the system returned with the answer from the mysticism system. [It says this stick is made of phoenix wood, different from all the others. Phoenix wood symbolizes life and rebirth. But this world isn’t a mystical world, so rebirth doesn’t exist here—therefore that master couldn’t interpret the answer.]
If someone else had drawn this stick, the master would have interpreted it as something like improving health, better circumstances, or the like. But Tang Rong’s mother’s situation was special, so he could not read it.
Tang Rong said, “He calculated it pretty accurately. He’s a very capable master.”
[He really is. Too bad you only got one reading. If only you could have also calculated your future wife.] The system sounded somewhat regretful. It was honestly a bit curious too, wondering what kind of person the host might end up with in the future.
Tang Rong replied, “That’s okay. I’ll know in the future. No matter what my wife is like, it’ll be fine.”
As long as he had a wife, that was already great!
Because of the stick Tang Rong drew, Tang Zheng’en grew even more silent. He immediately photographed the stick and sought interpretations from others, but the answers he got were all things like “improving health,” “trials are over,” and “a bright future ahead.”
Could it be referring to Tang Rong, who carried on her life?
No matter how he thought about it, Tang Zheng’en could not make sense of it.
…
On the way back down the mountain, Tang Rong fell asleep in the arms of the big snow leopard, holding the little snow leopard.
After pushing the stroller for most of the day, he was naturally tired.
On the downward cable-car ride, Tang Rong was not as frightened as he had been on the way up, though every now and then he still closed his eyes and did not dare look below.
Seeing this, the little snow leopard proactively offered him its little tail again for him to hold in his mouth to calm himself.
Remembering that Tang Rong had said earlier while looking at the clouds that he wanted cotton candy, Tang Zheng’en had already placed an order in advance to be delivered to the hovercar at the foot of the mountain.
So as soon as they got down, Tang Rong got to eat sweet, fluffy cotton candy.
It was a very elaborate rainbow cotton candy, with a rich mix of flavors.
The little snow leopard also licked its own cotton candy with great effort.
The cotton candy was so big that while licking it, some accidentally got stuck to the fur on its face and ears. The little snow leopard immediately shook its head frantically, trying to fling it off, but cotton candy was too sticky and would not come off no matter how much it shook. Its tongue could not reach the fur there either—it could only lick as far as its little nose. If it tried pawing at it, that would just make the stickiness spread everywhere. All it could do was circle anxiously, going “miiwu miiwu.”
Its commotion drew everyone’s attention in the car.
“What’s wrong?”
Tang Rong was the closest to it, so he quickly lowered his head to inspect what was happening.
The little snow leopard immediately stuck out its little pink tongue and made a licking motion toward its fur.
Noticing a small bit of cotton candy stuck to one of its ears, Tang Rong instantly understood what had happened. Without a second thought, he opened his mouth and caught the little ear, licking the cotton candy clean.
Everyone in the car: “!”
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