Chapter 63: At the Critical Moment, the Situation Changed

Moli Ping came over and whispered, "You're so silly! In the past, donors were the ones who gave alms; monks relied on almsgiving for a living, depending entirely on what others bestowed upon them."

Now I finally understood. The monks of the past lived on alms, while modern monks run businesses. No wonder their robes were so magnificent; they were simply operating under a different style. I wondered if they were aware of the halo flashing from the jade on my wrist. If they knew, why hadn't anyone come to ask me about it?

My wife and Moli Ping had also seen the halo, yet neither of them knew where it had originated. Could it be that out of all those monks, not a single one had noticed it?

This question left me feeling quite sullen and reluctant to let the jade bracelet be exposed, so I quietly tucked it up inside my sleeve. Even so, I kept suspecting that they had seen it. Why on earth hadn't anyone come to question me?

On the surface, my wife looked calm, but inside she was even more anxious than I was. She whispered to me, "What's done is whatever has happened, but make sure you don't let anyone else see it."

So my wife did know that the jade halo was the source of the commotion; only Moli Ping was in the dark.

We squeezed our way out along with the crowd, my heart still ill at ease. I kept suspecting that some monk would surely come to cause trouble for me. Suddenly, several monks stood at the exit, collecting reservation slips from the guests as they filed out. We did the same...

We finally walked out of the temple with trembling hearts, yet not a single monk came to bother me, allowing my tense nerves to finally relax. However, another problem arose: since the monks and nuns clearly knew that beam of light had emanated from my side, why hadn't they come looking for me?

...

My phone showed 11:33. Moli Ping paid thirty yuan for parking, and we got into the white BMW. We sped along, quickly exited the highway, entered the urban area, made a wide circle, and parked in a lot. There was no parking attendant in sight, though there was a security guard on duty.

The wife, Moli Ping, and I walked up to the third floor in a daze. The place was densely packed with people everywhere. After searching around and being guided by a waiter, we sat down at a long table by the window.

The waiter brought out a colorful menu and gently placed it on the table...

Moli Ping glanced at it and said, "Auntie, my treat, you order!"

I stared at the menu and pointed to four dishes after a moment. My wife ordered two. Moli Ping took a look, gesturing over them, though who knew what she was actually ordering?

The waiter left. With the missing person notice still weighing on my mind, I shifted my gaze to my wife's face and asked, "Mom, did you find Dad's photo?"

My wife had other things on her mind and remained silent for a long time...

Fearing that my wife wouldn't understand, Moli Ping felt the need to explain specifically, "For a missing person notice, you need not only a photo but also a reward; otherwise, people won't put in the effort."

After hesitating for a long time, my wife finally found a relatively appropriate phrase and said, "I don't have his photo, nor do I have the ability to look for him."

Something felt a bit off to me. Just last night, my wife had held out great hope, yet her attitude had completely flipped overnight. I wondered what the scar-faced man had whispered into her ear.

Moli Ping's reaction wasn't particularly strong; whether he was found or not had nothing to do with her. Her real goal was to develop a relationship with me.

Still failing to grasp my wife's true intention and feeling uneasy, I asked, "So, we're not publishing the missing person notice then?"

After pondering for a long time, my wife simply laid it out clearly: "Zhengtai, your dad's mind isn't right. Finding him and bringing him back would only add to our troubles. It's not like we drove him away—and we've already searched. Just let him be!"

Moli Ping was quite puzzled. Zhengtai had said his uncle had a mental issue, and now Auntie was saying his brain wasn't working right. She couldn't help asking, "What on earth is going on?"

***

Before my wife could reply, several waiters brought the dishes to the table. In front of each person, they placed a small bowl, a pair of chopsticks, and a soup spoon. Six dishes were served in large bowls and platters, along with a cup of beverage for each of us.

My wife stood on no ceremony and immediately started eating with her chopsticks. Since I was still growing, I ate rather wolfishly. My wife said nothing, and Moli Ping certainly wouldn't make a peep.

Suddenly remembering something, I couldn't help asking, "Mom, where is my ID card?"

Knowing that my brain had been somewhat impaired after the surgery, my wife didn't hold it against me and replied, "You're still a student, what do you need that thing for?"

Unwilling to let Moli Ping take advantage of the situation and needing to voice it to feel better inside, I said, "Mom, without an ID card, I can't open a bank account or make transfers!"

My wife furrowed her brow for a long time, still failing to understand what it was all about, and asked, "What are you talking about?"

Moli Ping had already figured things out in her heart, so she decided to explain her idea to my wife: "It's like this..."

My wife was so shocked she couldn't utter a single word; her eyes shone brighter than the sun. Ever since she had been with Niu Zhenqing, she had never seen so much money... This truly was a windfall dropped from the heavens!

"Xiao Mo, how about this! Transfer the funds to my bank card, and I'll buy Zhengtai whatever he needs."

Feeling a bit uneasy, Moli Ping tentatively asked, "Zhengtai, is it okay to transfer it to Auntie's bank card?"

This was indeed a difficult dilemma. If transferred to my wife's card, it would be extremely inconvenient whenever I needed to use the money. But if not transferred? If I missed this opportunity, the situation might change. I was hesitating...

My wife couldn't wait any longer. This was a massive fortune dropped from the sky; how could she easily let it go? She was so poor she could barely make ends meet; she couldn't just watch this money slip away.

"Zhengtai, keeping it in Mom's card is the same as keeping it in yours! Getting an ID card is such a hassle; you won't get it for a day or two, and you'd have to wait..."

I picked up my phone and searched the web. A page soon popped up with application instructions. After giving it a quick glance and careful consideration, I said, "Just transfer it to my mom's card then."

Without a moment's hesitation, Moli Ping took her phone out of her small purple handbag, tapped it a few times, and asked, "Auntie, what is your bank card number?"

Fearing that others might overhear, my wife retrieved her bank card from her handbag, handed it to Moli Ping, and guided the operation. Within moments, the transfer was successful.

Moli Ping showed the transfer details to my wife: "One hundred and fifty thousand yuan."

Taking back her bank card from ear to ear, my wife said with a beaming smile, "Xiao Mo! If only you were a man, I'd marry Zhengtai off to you. Such a wonderful son-in-law gives one total peace of mind!"

From this remark, it was evident that up until now, my wife still didn't know Moli Ping was biologically a boy. I had always been quite confused about this; I wondered how Moli Ping and her husband managed their marital life.

I devoured all the food on the table, yet still felt somewhat unsatisfied. I remembered that previously Moli Ping had been half a head shorter than me, but now she reached my shoulder. Who knew how much taller she had grown?

The waiter tallied the bill on the spot. For just a few dishes, it surprisingly came out to around two hundred and forty or fifty yuan. Refusing to believe it, I asked for the bill to be recalculated.

Reading it aloud to everyone present, the waiter recited, "Braised mutton, sixty yuan; scrambled eggs with tomatoes, twenty-five yuan; stir-fried pork with green peppers, thirty-five yuan; stir-fried cured meat with bamboo shoots, forty-five yuan; cold vegetarian dish, twenty-five yuan; large bowl of three-fresh soup, twenty-five yuan; three artificial beverages, thirty yuan."

Punching it into a calculator, the total instantly displayed on the screen in large digits, clear enough to read from a distance.

***

Moli Ping didn't take this small amount of money to heart, but I couldn't shake my thoughts. A single meal costing over two hundred yuan—wasn't that a bit too exorbitant?

Having visited restaurants several times with the scar-faced man, my wife quickly grasped the situation and spoke up on behalf of the establishment, "They're running a business. If they don't make a profit, how can they keep going?"

Guided by Moli Ping, we soon reached the parking lot, got into the car, backed out, slowly drove onto the roadway, and stopped by the residential area's security gate, where she honked the horn.

A staff member came out, waved his arms forcefully, and shouted, "No parking spaces!"

Feeling quite depressed, my wife opened the door, stepped out, tried to think of a solution, and said, "This is my car."

Recognizing my wife, the staff member opened the sliding gate, and we parked in the designated spot.

Moli Ping got out of the car, and led by my wife, we climbed up to the fourth floor, unlocked the door, and entered the home... After taking a thorough look around, Moli Ping offered her perspective, saying, "Auntie, for your own good, there are a couple of things I'd like to say. I don't know if you'd be willing to hear them out."

Unsure of what she wanted to say, but feeling very happy after just acquiring a sum of money, my wife thought for a moment and replied, "Go ahead!"

Perhaps feeling that saying it directly might be too blunt, Moli Ping beat around the bush instead: "Auntie, regarding the fourth floor, there are various opinions. The number four sounds like the word for 'death' in Chinese. Therefore, in elevator buildings, the fourth floor is often omitted from the numbering."

Unable to change the existing reality, my wife could only say, "This is an older building; at the time, we didn't know about any of these taboos. There are residents on the first, second, and third floors, but the fourth floor and above are empty. Since no one wants to climb extra stairs, we just left it like this."

Sitting on the tattered sofa, Moli Ping remarked, "The furniture really ought to be replaced, too. Zhengtai seems much taller than before. When sleeping with me, his head hangs off the edge and he has to curl up his legs—how uncomfortable must that be?"

That remark stunned me completely! She even dared to tell my wife that we slept together; wasn't this exposing our private lives?

However, my wife didn't take it to heart at all. Instead, she said, "I've been thinking the same thing. It's about time to get her a new bed. Who knows how tall she'll grow? We'll just have to wait and see; girls usually keep growing until they're eighteen!"

Disagreeing with that notion and speaking from personal experience, Moli Ping countered, "In my view, once they reach sixteen, they stop growing! Zhengtai is turning sixteen right away! She won't grow much more!"

Unwilling to argue about this topic—knowing better than anyone that arguing would only damage feelings—my wife let it drop.

Without even taking a sip of water, Moli Ping was escorted downstairs by me personally, with my wife trailing closely behind. We watched as Moli Ping drove the car out past the security gate, made a turn, and vanished from sight...

My phone chimed with a melodious tune. Glancing at it, I retrieved it from my chest, brought it to my ear, and answered...

My wife shouted loudly, "Zhengtai, Mom has to go out for a bit. Stay home and do your homework properly; you still have class tomorrow!"

I nodded, watching as my wife walked out past the security gate...