Chapter One: Road Rain

  A thunderstorm passed by, and bean-sized raindrops poured down. The official road was suddenly chaotic with people and horses overturned, dust flying everywhere. But soon the rain and fog merged into a vast expanse of misty water.

  The temple by the road was constantly flooded with people seeking shelter from the rain, making the already crowded hall even more chaotic. Due to the large number of people and the small size of the temple, many had to stand under the eaves, getting soaked in the rain, with curses and quarrelsome noises rising up amidst the pushing and shoving.

  Compared with people outside, those inside the temple are much happier.

  Even someone lit a small brazier, it was a small square hollow brick wine warmer, a girl in a linen shirt and skirt was carefully warming the wine on the stove, the aroma of wine quickly spread, attracting more people to come over.

  "Good wine."

  Some people say.

  However, all this did not disturb the girl who was warming the wine. She quickly picked up the wine pot and put a small iron plate on it. From a box next to her, she picked out four pastries and placed them on the plate. Only then did she carry the wine pot to the side of the Buddha statue.

  Everyone then saw that there was still a donkey cart parked over there.

  Those who come early are blessed, others don't even get a donkey to avoid getting rained on.

  "Girl, the yellow wine is ready." The girl said, and poured a cup.

  The curtain slightly opened, a hand stretched out, and under the wide sleeve, the fingertips were faintly visible, taking over the wine cup and putting down the curtain.

  The girl turned around, and on this side, the pastries warming on the stove also began to emit a fragrant aroma.

  "What's this delicious food?" asked a person standing nearby, looking at the small square rolls with yellowish-white and red hearts on the iron plate.

  Just looking at it is already tempting.

  "Grandpa." A four or five year old girl sitting in front of the Buddhist altar couldn't help but shout out, her thumb had been sucking for a while, and her sparkling eyes never left that small iron plate.

  She was leaning against an old man of about seventy years old, wearing a brown robe, with wrinkles all over his face and a kind expression.

  Hearing the child's murmurs, the old man naturally knew her thoughts and slightly awkwardly hugged the child.

  "Dan Niang, when we get home and see your father, what's the first thing you want to do?" he said in a low voice, trying to divert the little girl's attention.

  But nothing can offset the impact of eating on such a small child's body.

  The little girl couldn't help but twist and turn in her grandfather's arms.

  The girl has already picked up four small rolls and placed them on a small plate and handed them over to the person in the donkey cart.

  This time, the people in the car just picked up one.

  " Celery, give it to the little boy to eat."

  Inside, a woman's voice said, her tone stiff and direct.

  The girl called half celery turned around and came to the little girl with a small plate.

  The old man had already stood up when the woman's voice was heard just now.

  "This, how is this." He said with a tone of uneasy apology.

  Ban Jin has handed the small plate to the little girl.

  The little girl wanted to eat, but still looked at her grandfather, showing good family education and upbringing.

  "Uncle, don't be polite, we've traveled together for a while and are already familiar with each other." Ban Qin said with a smile, reaching out to touch the little girl's shoulder.

  The old man wanted to thank him, and the woman's voice suddenly spoke again.

  "Half celery, please have a cup of yellow wine, old man," she said.

  "This cannot be allowed." The old man hastily said.

  Ban Jin only listened to his daughter's words and personally poured a glass of wine for him.

  At this time, the folk customs were open and the character was also bold. The kind of push-and-pull thing seemed petty. The old man smiled, stretched out his hand to take it, and drank it all in one gulp. He usually liked to drink wine, but yellow rice wine was rarely used. At this moment, he felt that his whole body was refreshed after drinking a mouthful, and the hidden pain in his back also disappeared a little, as if it were an illusion.

  The old man returned the wine cup and thanked him again.

  The little girl was also allowed to pick up a small roll from a small plate and eat it in big mouthfuls.

  "Sister, it's so delicious, what is this?" she asked in her childish voice.

  "This is red bean roll." Half of the celery replied with a smile.

  "The little girl is really skillful." The old man praised, let alone the young boy, even he, an older person, was tempted to eat.

  "It was my wife who taught me," said Ban Jin, his face barely concealing a smile.

  The women in the boudoir are not all unskilled in cooking, and cooking also occupies a place in women's work. Being able to make some dim sum is not a rare thing, I don't know why this girl speaks with such joyful and excited expression.

  Of course, if the old man knew that this daughter who taught him to make dumplings was still a mute idiot three months ago, he would certainly not think so, and might be even more surprised.

  "The young lady is indeed clever." The old man nodded with a smile, looking at the donkey cart, "Just now if it wasn't for the young lady reminding us that there would be heavy rain and we stayed in the temple, my grandson and I would have gotten soaked if we had continued on our journey. Thank you very much."

  Half of the celery bowed his head in return, smiled and handed over the remaining snacks to the girl, turned around and cleaned up the utensils.

  The people around were even more astonished after hearing this conversation.

  That girl actually knew it was going to rain heavily, so she came here to take shelter ahead of time?

  How can someone possibly know when it's going to rain? Especially since the weather was clear and showed no signs of rain just now.

  The people around them began to gossip and speculate, with more and more people staring at the donkey cart owner and his servant with inquiring and astonished eyes.

  It is said that some people can observe the stars at night to know the past and future, could it be that the young lady sitting in this small donkey cart is such a person?

  There were rough men who couldn't help but raise their heads and look this way.

  "How did you know it was going to rain?" he shouted, "Did a god tell you?"

  The words made everyone in the temple laugh, and the laughter spread outside, where people were busy asking questions, and soon the commotion dispersed.

  Ban Jin was somewhat annoyed, feeling that this was making fun of his own wife in public.

  When the laughter had died down and everyone was no longer paying attention, the woman's voice inside the donkey cart suddenly spoke up.

  "It's not a fairy tale, it's what heaven told me." she said.

  As soon as this was said, the commotion that had just subsided erupted again.

  The woman's voice was stiff and wooden, sounding serious all the time. When she tried to make a joke, it didn't seem like one at all, or maybe that was just her way of telling jokes?

  The rough man laughed loudly first.

  "Hey, girl! Has Tian Ke told you when it's going to stop raining?" he shouted again.

  The laughter in the temple grew louder.

  "This is just the way these common people are, they speak without reserve, but they don't mean any harm, miss. Don't be annoyed." The old man said, holding the little girl, to this side of the donkey cart.

  Looking at the master and servant's demeanor, from eating to sitting and lying down, they must not be ordinary civilians. These nobles are being teased like this, they must be unhappy in their hearts, especially the two women, don't get angry.

  The old man kindly advised.

  Ban Jin was indeed somewhat annoyed, but couldn't say anything, as her mother-in-law had told her to do more and talk less.

  The sound of laughter subsided again.

  "The sky says it's going to stop." The female voice came out again.

  This girl is really intentionally telling jokes, everyone just finished laughing at her and she made people laugh again. If everyone was laughing when they said it, it wouldn't be so lively and overwhelming.

  The broken temple was bustling with activity like never before, and those who had been arguing due to the rain also laughed and made amends.

  The laughter suddenly stopped from outside first.

  "Hey, the rain has stopped!" someone shouted loudly.

  One shout followed another and soon drowned out the chatter in the temple. With a loud "Hush!", many people rushed to look outside.

  As expected, the heavy rain had turned into a gentle patter, and at this moment when everyone was watching, the sky cleared up.

  After a strange silence, the temple suddenly became lively again with a loud noise.