Chapter 11: The Pure Land (2)
Liang Jingfeng changed his coat like a wind, took Chen Ying's hand and hurriedly ran down the stairs. The cleaner had just wiped the staircase, and the moisture on the ground was still heavy, and Chen Ying almost slipped. Liang Jing didn't seem to notice this, just tugging on her hand and running down. When she reached the door, she took a steady seat and gasped a few times. Then she took out her campus card and pasted it on the handprint machine, and the door opened. Ye Feng was standing outside the door with his hands in his pockets, and when he saw them, he raised his hand to signal. Liang Jing walked over and walked side by side with him, and Chen Ying consciously followed behind the two of them.
"It's not too early, but he still has some free time......
"Wouldn't it be too abrupt for us to go directly like this......
Chen Ying listened with her ears pricked up, trying to guess the destination of the trip from their conversation. However, Liang Jing soon stopped asking, and Ye Feng resumed his habit of being taciturn. They walked through the snow that had not yet melted towards the south gate of the school. It was a very sunny day, there was not a single cloud in the blue sky, and the sun was shining down on the snow that covered the surroundings. Chen Ying tried to follow behind, and white mist kept spewing out from her nose.
"Here, get in the car." Ye Feng said and stopped a taxi, pulled the car door and signaled to the two girls. Liang Jing and Chen Ying sat in the back seat together.
"Go to Guanghua Temple." Ye Feng sat in the front passenger seat and closed the door smoothly.
"Guanghua Temple?" Chen Ying turned around and asked Liang Jing, "Why did you go there?" ”
Liang Jing only seemed to notice the clear sky and a few jackdaws flying by, and did not hear Chen Ying's question. She allowed herself to curl up comfortably in the back seat, looking out the window at the streetscape along the road. Ye Feng didn't speak, he swiped the screen of his mobile phone and smiled to himself. Guanghua Temple is far from the school, passing several traffic lights on the way. Chen Ying watched the rows of high-rise buildings disappear behind her, the modern glass curtain wall was gradually replaced by the two- and three-story gray tile and red pillar buildings, those antique buildings and real ancient buildings came into view, and the trees on the street also transitioned from ginkgo biloba to poplar, and finally became the ancient Chinese acacia. The trunks of the old trees are embedded with dark green name tags, which are used to mark their age and location, like identity cards.
When the vehicle enters Gulou Street, there are all kinds of old-fashioned shops on both sides of the street, including those selling roasted cakes, sugar gourds and fried liver. On such a cold day, the smell of the electric kebab is the most enticing, and the fragrant smell wafts freely along the street, casually burrowing into the nose of the person. Among the small shops selling milk tea, sushi and cakes, there are also many selling ethnic costumes, kites and rattles. Probably because of the approaching Spring Festival, several stores also used small benches to prop up a few boards in front of the store, on which were handwritten couplets. Next to the board, there is a couplet, and the content can be selected at will. There are people coming and going on the street, there are outsiders and locals watching the excitement, tourist buses are parked on the side of the road one by one, and the tour guide is holding a small flag back and forth in the crowd. This is a T-shaped street, and it is the central axis of the city, at the end of the street is the Drum Tower, and behind the Drum Tower is the Bell Tower. The taxi stopped at the intersection in front of the drum tower, and the three of them came to a large lake.
The lake itself is not very large, the water has frozen, and there are many people with children skating on the mirror-like lake. When Chen Ying was a child, there was a lotus market by the lake, where some collectors liked to trade antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and now a leisure street has been built here. The coffee shop here is different from the Halloween Book Garden, there are no books in the shop, but the decoration style is more modern and artistic. It's still early and most of the bars aren't open. Many bartenders have just started working and are adjusting the TV or wiping down glasses. There are few empty seats in the coffee shop, and many foreign faces can be seen through the glass on the side of the street. This is probably the place where the smell of the new year is strongest, and people eat sugar gourds, wear red scarves, and walk past them with red lanterns they have just won in a guessing game. The whole crowd was elated, and Chen Ying was also infected by this rich festive atmosphere.
"Here, this way." Liang Jing took Chen Ying's hand, turned a corner from the front of a shop selling silver trinkets, and walked into an alley only three or four meters wide. It's a very quiet alley, and it's only half a mile away that you come across a tiny façade selling used books and Buddhist supplies. A middle-aged man who looked like a shopkeeper was lying on the counter watching TV. On the floor in front of the store are neatly stacked with incense candles, silk flowers and Buddhist beads, as well as some books on Buddhism. Liang Jing led Chen Ying forward in a hurry, and soon came to a temple.
Although this temple is located in the core area of the city, it can be called a quiet place in the middle of noisy. There is a shadow wall on the opposite side of the alley, and there are six big characters on the book, "Nan no Amitabha Buddha". Like most Chinese temples facing south, the temple gate is composed of three doors side by side, with two small doors of the same size on both sides, the one on the east side is called the Wuxiang Gate, and the one on the west side is called the Wuzuo Gate. The gate in the middle is also called the mountain gate. All three doors are painted vermilion, and the doors are inlaid with gold nails. The couplet of the mountain gate says: "The smoke wave is shallow, and the sky is blue; The pavilion is jagged and leans on the sun", Chen Ying recognized that this was originally from Bai Juyi's "West Lake Returns to Wanggushan Temple in the Evening to Present Guests", but two of the words were slightly modified to make it more in line with the meaning of Buddhism. A one-person high bronze incense burner is placed at the entrance of the mountain, and two large lions carved in white marble are placed on both sides of the door, and a small black lion with the same big lion is placed below each big lion. Ye Feng took out the door card to open the phaseless door and led them into the courtyard.