A Farm Girl: Three Acres of Fertile Land Can Be Exchanged for a Country

It was already midnight when Wutong took out a large cotton coat from the closet and curled up in the corner at the foot of the bed.

The thick cotton coat hadn't been worn for many years, yet it wasn't dirty at all and had a faint camphor wood scent.

The cotton-padded coat had many holes; the larger ones were patched up, while the smaller ones were exposed, and occasionally you could see a little bit of cotton wool peeking out.

She absentmindedly picked at a hole, her mind drifting between thoughts of Duan Fufeng and Wenxin. Finally, the image in her mind returned to the moment she saw the dead rat, and her heart ached as if it were being stabbed.

Don't think about it anymore. The dead are dead; thinking about them won't bring them back...

She forced herself to distract herself, thinking about the baby boy she had given to Li Deming, wondering how he was doing and if he was crying.

For some reason, Wutong felt a sense of familiarity when she saw the baby boy, even though she had never seen him before.

Who are his parents? Are they worried about him now?

As dawn broke, a ray of sunlight shone through the window and landed on the sycamore tree's eyelids.

She covered her eyes with the back of her hand, slowly opened them, and felt something strange about her body. She sat up and saw that someone had covered her with a blanket at some point, and there was a pillow under her head. She was sleeping diagonally below Duan Fufeng.

Duan Fufeng is clearly incapable of doing these things in his current state, and Xu Yun is even less likely to, so it's up to Wenxin to do it.

When did he come in?

Wutong yawned as she walked out. As soon as she opened the door, she smelled the aroma of white rice porridge, which made her feel so comfortable that every pore on her body opened up.

Wenxin squatted behind the stove, chopping firewood with an axe. When she came out, he nodded as a greeting.

Wutong ran to the well to draw water to wash her face. The weather was cold, and the well water was even colder, making her shiver incessantly, but it also brought her back to her senses.

After tidying herself up, she prepared to help Wenxin.

Wenxin didn't need her to do anything, but she couldn't resist her burning enthusiasm for work, so she said, "Go and see if Master has finished his morning prayers. Once he's done, we'll have lunch."

"it is good."

As Wutong walked towards the Buddhist hall, she could hear the soft chanting of sutras even before she entered the door. This, combined with the aroma of rice porridge in the air, created a strangely beautiful feeling. It was as if secular life and Buddhist teachings had blended together, composing a delicate and ethereal melody.

The door to the Buddhist hall was half open, and she cautiously peered inside from behind it.

Xu Yun sat with his back to her on a worn-out prayer mat, chanting sutras with his eyes closed while striking a wooden fish.

Tap... tap... tap...

The rhythm was slow and ethereal, soothing to the ear and making one want to find a meditation cushion, sit there with him with eyes closed, and empty one's mind of everything.

Before meeting Wenxin, Wutong had never learned about Buddhism and only visited temples superficially.

Now I suddenly realize that becoming a monk isn't as bad as people think. The mundane world does have too many distractions and can easily disturb one's mind. Being able to live a lifetime following a single goal and always maintain a calm and peaceful mind is not necessarily a bad thing.

If she hadn't joined the army and had instead become a nun in a nunnery, that would have been a good thing, and she definitely wouldn't have encountered so many heartbreaking things.

"The Buddhist temple is not your refuge. Anyone who comes here with the intention of escaping will eventually leave disappointed."

Xu Yun struck the wooden fish and uttered these words without turning his head.

It turned out he had discovered her long ago and even knew what she was thinking... Wutong clicked her tongue, feeling like she was transparent in front of him, with her internal organs laid bare before him and her thoughts nowhere to hide.

Now that she'd discovered it, there was no need to hide. She walked into the Buddhist hall, stopped beside Xu Yun, and bowed to the clay Buddha statue in front of her.

Xu Yun scoffed, dismissing her non-standard worship.

Unlike Wenxin, Wutong wasn't immune to all poisons. Pretending not to hear anything, she turned her head and asked, "Master, would you like some breakfast?"

Xu Yun tapped the wooden fish casually, his eyelids slightly lowered.

The sycamore tree waits patiently.

The sound of the wooden fish stopped, and Xu Yun suddenly opened his eyes and looked at her, saying in a low voice, "Sometimes I am really grateful to you. If you weren't so fickle, he wouldn't realize how foolish his love was."

The words "fickle and promiscuous" made Wutong's cheeks burn. She wanted to explain, but Xuyun obviously wouldn't listen, and she really couldn't come up with any convincing reason.

She spent every day and night with Wenxin, yet she had a child with Duan Fufeng. To outsiders, she certainly deserved those four words.

Since it couldn't be explained clearly, she decided to just leave it at that. She sensed a hint of unintentional emotion in the voice and asked, "Do you still want him back?"

Xu Yun said, "It's not that I want him to come back, it's that he will definitely come back."

Wutong wholeheartedly agreed with his point of view, but Wenxin had a matter on her mind that she needed to resolve before making a decision to return.

“The matter of your parents is a heartache that requires your attention. If you don’t tell them the whole truth about what happened back then, they will never be able to sever their ties with the world.”

Xu Yun asked, "How much does he know?"

Wutong sighed: "I know nothing about it except for the jade pendant."

Xu Yun held the wooden fish drum in his hand, his clear eyes fixed on the Buddha statue, his voice as distant as if it were drifting from the horizon.

"Nothing in this world is impossible to break; if it is, it means that the time for forgetting has not been long enough."

He didn't seem to have anything to say, so Wutong pursed her lips, walked around to him, and knelt down on one knee.

“I know you don’t like me, but I really want Wenxin to put an end to this matter. Consider this my request on behalf of the King of Dongqi: tell Wenxin the truth. If Hanshan Temple is ever in trouble in the future, Dongqi will definitely do its utmost to help and will never shirk its responsibility.”

Xu Yun scoffed, "The most common occurrence in this world is the transfer of the throne. Can you guarantee how long you will remain the King of Dongqi? In another ten years, who knows who will save whom?"

Wutong said earnestly, "This is the only thing I have worth something, so I'm swearing on it. Just tell me what you want me to do, as long as you agree to my request."

Xu Yun lowered his eyes, as if deep in thought.

The Buddhist hall was filled with the smoke of incense, and it was so quiet that not a sound could be heard.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally spoke.

“I can tell him the truth, but you must promise me that no matter whether the King of Southern Xinjiang is eventually saved or not, you can only leave alone when you go down the mountain, and you cannot take him with you.”

He still wanted to keep Wenxin.

Wutong asked, "What if he insists on coming down the mountain?"

"You don't need to worry, I will naturally break his legs." Xu Yun spoke coldly in a compassionate tone, and said to her, "Just promise me that you will not take him away."

Wutong took a deep breath, feeling as if she were carrying a thousand-pound burden.

"it is good."

Xu Yun got his wish, put down Jianzhi, stood up, and went outside to have breakfast.

At the dinner table, Xu Yun was in a much better mood and chatted with Wen Xin occasionally.

Wenxin thought his master would never talk to him again, so he was flattered and secretly gave Wutong a wink, asking her if she knew why his master had suddenly changed.

Wutong shook her head, pretending not to know anything, and guiltily buried her head in her porridge.