Shanju Village is a small village, and there are not many people in the village, so every family basically knows each other. This makes the people in this village very close to each other, and they always say hello all the way when they walk down the street. From time to time, we will talk a few words, whether your seeds have been sown, whether the fields have been ploughed, and whether the cattle and sheep have been fed.

It's easy to tell outsiders in this small village, but it's also easy for people to accept outsiders.

It's like recently, everyone is talking about the fact that two newcomers, a girl and a girl, live in the only temple in the village.

Villagers often see the girl with a scar on her face going out to chop wood and buy something.

In their opinion, the girl did not talk much, but she was a kind person, for it was heard that she often helped women who could not carry firewood down the mountain (by the way), helped the farmers to drive away the sparrows in the fields (scared away), and rang the evening bell every day at dusk to tell the farmers and playful children to go home (the temple rule). In short, people unanimously felt that she was a good and enthusiastic girl.

In the eyes of the village boys, she is a girl who can easily make people blush, although she has a scar on her face, but she still has a different charm. It's just that she always doesn't smile, giving people a feeling that she is not easy to approach, so no one has dared to go up and talk to her, especially after the boys heard that she can move a cherry tree with one hand.

In such an unconscious atmosphere, this small village accepts the existence of Hatsu and Sakurako, and treats them as one of their own.

The weather was clear, and flocks of birds chirped and flew through the sky over the village.

The door of the temple was opened, and she walked into the small courtyard with a bucket of water, since she came to this temple, the rough work of carrying water and chopping wood has become her job, after all, there is only one old man and a child in this temple besides her, and they can't be allowed to do this.

Chu carried the bucket, walked to the water tank next to the small courtyard, and poured the water in his hand into the water tank.

In the hall, the voices of the old monk and Sakurako were heard, and Chu turned his head to look at the water while pouring water.

"Only by introspecting day by day can we know and realize ourselves. ”

The old monk sat next to Sakurako, reciting sentences like tongue twisters, looking like a very sour old pedant.

After reading it, he tasted it for himself again, and then looked at Sakurako with a smile and asked.

"Sakurako-little girl, do you know what this sentence means?"

Sakurako didn't even recognize all the words, how could she understand the meaning of such a sentence, and said with an embarrassed face.

"I don't know. ”

Since the day the cherry blossoms bloomed, her personality seems to have become more cheerful, at least sometimes willing to take the initiative to speak, no longer always silent.

"Well, it's normal that you don't know. ”

The old monk was able to understand Sakurako's foundation, and most of the time he was not old-fashioned, and would make jokes from time to time, so that what in his mouth would not be so boring.

Touching his beard, the old monk explained.

The meaning of this is that by self-reflection every day, you can truly understand yourself, and you can also feel new truths in reflection. ”

"Reflect on yourself?" Sakurako repeated some of the old monk's words, and looking at her expression, it was obvious that she still didn't understand much.

This was also expected by the old monk, who smiled and took out a booklet and handed it to Sakurako.

"Yes, that's what I'm going to hand over to you today, introspection. ”

Sakurako took the booklet and flipped it open, only to find that there was nothing written in the booklet, it was just an empty book.

Looking at the old monk suspiciously, Sakurako still didn't understand what this meant.

The old monk sat cross-legged, turned the Buddha beads in his hand, stopped playing dumb riddles, and said.

"From today onwards, you write down one thing every day and write down your feelings. When you finish writing this booklet, you will come back and look at the things you wrote down before, and you will have a different experience. ”

This is the method given to him by his host a long, long time ago, and he still uses it until now. Today he also gave this method to Sakurako, hoping that this method can make Sakurako gain something.

Sakurako looked at the blank booklet in her hand, this booklet was very thick, even if she memorized one thing every day, she didn't know when she would finish it.

Just when Sakurako was thinking about whether she could finish writing this book, the old monk on the side had already asked out loud.

"Do you understand?"

"Understood. Sakurako replied, taking the booklet into her arms.

The old monk smiled and put his palm in front of him, recited a Buddha name in his mouth, and admonished.

"From tonight onwards, don't forget. ”

After speaking, he looked into the courtyard and happened to see Chu looking at the Buddha hall.

The old monk waved his hand as a greeting, and said to Chu.

"I don't know if I'm interested in giving it a try?"

She had heard the conversation in the Buddha hall just now, and she naturally understood what the old monk was talking about.

But she wasn't very interested, or she was basically not interested in anything other than the mission.

But this caught Sakurako's attention, and she raised her head to look at Kohatsu with some anticipation in her eyes.

Looking at Sakurako's eyes, Chu was silent for a moment, and she had no way to refuse the summoner's expectations.

After a few seconds of staring at each other, she finally nodded and agreed.

"I see. ”

In this way, Chu also embarked on this path of self-reflection.

······

In mountain villages, dusk usually marks the end of the day, and even the naughtiest children return home before dark.

In the Buddhist hall of Seishinji Temple, Hatsu and Sakurako each sit at the front of a table with a blank book and a pen on the table.

According to the old monk's request, they now have to write down one of the events of the day and record their feelings.

Sakurako thought for a while, then picked up the pen and wrote down what she wanted to write down in crooked handwriting.

At first, he waited a little longer before picking up his pen and writing a short sentence.

But then, Chu's pen stopped, and she didn't know how to describe her feelings.

She looked at the old monk who was also sitting in the hall, pondered for a moment, and asked.

"Mood, how to describe it. ”

The old monk was stunned for a moment, the first question was a little special, and he didn't know how to answer it for a while.

After a moment, he replied with a gentle smile.

"It's good to feel relieved and happy, and to feel more depressed is sad. ”

Chu nodded, looking at his book as if he didn't understand.

Finally, I picked up the pen and wrote two words.

Sakurako looked at Hatsu and asked.

"What did you write at the beginning?"

Almost a subconscious reaction, Chu covered what he had written, shook his head and said with a dull expression.

"Can't tell you. ”

Sakurako looked a little disappointed, but since Chu didn't want to say, she didn't ask again.

This was the first time that Chu had refused a summoner's request, and as for the reason, she didn't understand.

The lazy sunset is setting in the west, and the golden afterglow is sprinkled in front of the hall.

Chu removed his hand and looked at what he had written, his eyes dazed.

"Today, I taught Sakurako to practice swords, and Sakurako practiced very well. Happy. —The first page of "The Diary of the Beginning". ”