“Was it you who wrote this document?”
“I’m the director’s assistant!”
“And did you add the stamp?”
“I’m in charge of that stamp, and can stamp whatever I want.”
As Yahui and Mingzheng left Yonghe Hospital and stepped out into the afternoon sun, Beijing’s streets resembled a freshly painted brick wall. They strolled together through the red light as though walking through a river. Now that Jueyu shifu was able to walk and talk again, the doctor suggested that she remain in the hospital to rest for another couple of weeks or a month. Then, if she still wanted to be discharged, she could leave. Yahui’s feeling of resentment toward Mingzheng quickly dissipated. Walking shoulder to shoulder, they chatted like a pair of disciples leaving the scripture hall after class, discussing the texts and miracles on which the master had lectured. After passing through Yonghe Hospital’s courtyard and tree grove, they proceeded to an alley off Yonghe Street, where they saw countless yellow leaves that had fallen like golden scrolls from the Chinese scholar trees lining both sides of the road. This was a footway, but there weren’t many other pedestrians around. Yahui and Mingzheng strolled over those golden texts.
Yahui said, “I’m very grateful to you.”
Mingzheng replied, “Then why don’t you take me out to eat?”
Yahui stopped and noticed that up ahead were the meat bun stall and Lanzhou noodle shop where she had recently eaten. She asked hesitantly, “What would you like?”
“We Daoists don’t have any dietary restrictions,” Mingzheng replied. “I’ll have a meat bun.”
So Yahui and Mingzheng went up to the meat bun stall and ordered a bottle of cold beer and servings of pig’s head, small fried fish, small river prawns, and peanuts. After they finished, Mingzheng approached the counter to ask for a receipt, explaining that he could get reimbursed back at the school.
In this way, Yahui and Mingzheng gradually were reconciled—as though Yahui’s papercuts had succeeded in making Guanyin and Laozi a couple. They agreed to go to the zoo the following Monday. That morning, the center invited a professor from the literature academy to come lecture on Dream of the Red Chamber and Chinese Religions. However, Yahui and Mingzheng skipped class that day, like the novel’s protagonists Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu—or like the work’s third protagonist, Xue Baochai, and the maid Xiren—leaving the Grand View Garden to visit the wild garden.
The world that day was excellent, and the weather was also excellent.
The Bodhisattva Guanyin was up in the clouds, and the humans were down on earth. The campus was still the same campus as before, but Yahui was not the same Yahui. She had removed the nun’s habit she used to wear all year round, and was now wearing an oversized yellow sweater with a collar so high that it brushed her chin. The Buddha was up in the sky and wasn’t interested in what Yahui was wearing down in the mortal world. She had also removed the prayer beads from around her neck and hidden a crystal necklace in her pocket so that she could put it on after leaving the religion building. She was wearing a pair of gray straight-legged pants and low-heeled leather shoes, and had also put on some fragrant mint-scented perfume and blush she purchased at the imported-goods store. Were it not for her shaved head, no one would have ever guessed she was a nun.
Mingzheng was waiting for Yahui outside the school entrance, and they smiled when they saw each other. Under his breath Mingzheng exclaimed, “Beautiful, and fragrant too!” Then he led her over to a taxi.
Mingzheng and Yahui quickly left Zhongguancun Avenue behind. The street’s buildings, trees, and pedestrians receded in the taxi’s rearview mirror, and billboards flew past them like playing cards. The sky was deep blue, and the clouds were as white as piles of wool on the side of a field during sheep-shearing season. Yahui was reminded of Qinghai’s desolate landscape, which gave her a more favorable impression of Beijing, with its countless cars, stores, pedestrians, and buildings. As Yahui looked out the window, Mingzheng placed his hand on her thigh and they proceeded to chat about nothing in particular.
Yahui said, “It’s very strange, but last night I dreamed that Guanyin had come down with a cold and was running a fever.”
Mingzheng stared at her in surprise, and said, “Heavens … I dreamed that Laozi was sick and running a fever!”
Yahui said, “I also dreamed that Tathagata was walking and broke his leg.”
Mingzheng glanced at the taxi driver, then placed his hand over Yahui’s mouth. Yahui realized she had said too much, and immediately fell silent. She looked out the window again, and upon seeing the houses and scenery, people and cars, she thought how nice it would be to have an apartment in Beijing. She turned to Gu Mingzheng and smiled.
“We already agreed that today you Daoists would treat us.”
Mingzheng replied, “Yes, of course.”
Yahui said, “I’d like for you to get me a couple scoops of ice cream.”
“I could do that, if you like.”
“I’d also like a couple bottles of sparkling water.”
“As long as you can finish them.”
Yahui thought for a while, then said, “I’ve heard that the zoo is very expensive?”
“How expensive could it possibly be?”
“Exactly, how expensive could it possibly be?” Yahui stared at Mingzheng and asked, “Do you have enough savings to buy an apartment in Beijing?”
Mingzheng leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Let’s buy an apartment in Beijing!”
Yahui thought for a moment, then said, “OK, why don’t you help me and my shifu purchase Yonghe Temple. That way, when she is discharged from the hospital, she and I can go live there!”
Mingzheng grinned at Yahui, and reached over to hold her hand. Yahui let him, and as they held hands their blood began to rush through their veins, even as they continued to stare straight ahead. The zoo was very close to the school, and no sooner had they begun to hold hands than the taxi arrived at the entrance to the zoo. Just as their blood was beginning to surge, the taxi stopped. It turned out that tickets to the zoo were, indeed, quite expensive—eighty yuan each—even though the entrance appeared as dilapidated as a northwestern shepherd’s sheep pen. Once they went inside, however, the scenery changed completely. The trees were like a forest and the water was like a lake. Beijingers and others were crowded around with their children. Yahui and Mingzheng saw a mother and father with triplets who were attracting even more attention than the zoo’s own displays. When they saw the triplets, Mingzheng glanced at Yahui’s belly and smiled, whereupon Yahui kicked his shin. This was an expression of real anger, and afterward she went alone to check out the wolf pen. She also went to see the enclosure with the bald-headed and the red-beaked turkeys, as well as the one with the Siberian tigers. When Yahui arrived, the tigers were in the process of eating some meat, and the sight of the blood terrified her to the point that she immediately left. Mingzheng followed her out, and in order to look at her belly again he apologized. Pressing softly against her, he said, “Let me tell you a story. It begins like this …
“There was once a beautiful little white rabbit. The rabbit wanted some carrots, so it went to a store and asked the shopkeeper, ‘Boss, boss, do you sell carrots here?’ The shopkeeper looked at the rabbit, and replied, ‘I don’t have any carrots. You’ll have to buy them somewhere else.’ Disappointed and with drooping ears, the rabbit left the store. The next day, the rabbit returned, and once again went up to the shopkeeper and asked, ‘Boss, boss, do you sell carrots here?’ The shopkeeper looked at the rabbit with an odd expression, and replied, ‘I’ve never sold carrots here. You should go somewhere else!’ The little rabbit left again, very disappointed. The third day, the rabbit returned once again, and said, ‘Boss, boss, do you sell carrots here?’ This time the shopkeeper was genuinely angry, and shouted, ‘I’ve never sold carrots. I only sell knives! If you want a knife, I can sell you one. OK?!’ Trembling with fear, the little white rabbit didn’t say another word, and instead turned and ran away.
“On the fourth day and the fifth day, the little rabbit didn’t appear. The store’s business returned to normal, but just as the shopkeeper was thinking that the rabbit wouldn’t dare come again, he saw the rabbit standing in line with the other customers waiting to buy goods. When it was the rabbit’s turn, the shopkeeper glared at it, thinking, This guy has once again come to make trouble. This time, however, the rabbit very politely said, ‘My dear boss, today I would like to purchase a knife.’
“The shopkeeper was delighted and broke into a huge smile. In a very polite and friendly manner, however, he replied, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve never sold knives here.’
“The rabbit stared in surprise, reflected for a moment, then said, ‘You’ve never sold knives here? In that case, just sell me a bunch of carrots. OK?’”
Mingzheng suddenly stopped telling the story, like a car braking where it is not supposed to stop. Yahui looked at him and saw that he was standing there looking back at her. She said, “Go on!”
Mingzheng replied, “That’s all.”
Bewildered, Yahui stared at Mingzheng.
“That’s it?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
After reflecting for a moment, Yahui squatted down and laughed. “That rabbit—what a stupid little rabbit!” As she said this, she laughed so hard her belly started to hurt and tears streamed down her face. Some passersby stared at her, having no idea why she was laughing. Mingzheng pulled her up and led her by the hand back into the crowd.
“Was that a funny story?”
Yahui nodded. “Tell me another one.”
Mingzheng didn’t tell her another story. Instead, he grasped her hand and walked to where there weren’t very many people. He earnestly asked her, “Tell me the truth, shall we return to secular life and get married?”
Yahui gazed back at him without saying a word.
“We could buy an apartment in Beijing and spend our days there.” Mingzheng’s eyes flickered. “You know, I already have a residency permit to live in Beijing. If I haven’t found my father by the time I graduate, I’ll take a job as a secretary at the National Religion Association. By that point, I’ll be a national cadre, and it would be wonderful if we could return to secular life and get married.”
Yahui thought for a moment, then asked, “Would returning to secular life really be that wonderful?”
Mingzheng reflected for a moment. “It would be like lighting a warm fire on a cold day!”
“And getting married?”
“I’m not joking. Marriage would be like rescuing someone from a burning fire.”
Yahui reflected for a bit longer, and said, “I’ll need to ask the Buddha and the Bodhisattva …”
Mingzheng and Yahui fell silent, then they looked up at the sky. At this point, apart from some white clouds and dazzling sunlight, the sky above the zoo was as empty as Qinghai’s Gobi Desert. Mingzheng asked Yahui, “What do you see?”
Yahui replied solemnly, “I see the Bodhisattva Guanyin.”
Mingzheng asked, “What does she look like?”
“She looks like you and me, and like Guanyin.”
Mingzheng once again craned his neck and gazed up at the sky, like a giraffe stretching its neck to reach some high branches and leaves.
Yahui asked, “And what do you see?”
Mingzheng replied, “I see Laozi.”
“Does he really have so many white whiskers?”
“He looks like you and me, and like Laozi.”
They looked away from the sky, smiled, then suddenly embraced and began kissing under the trees. Crazed, Mingzheng poked his tongue into Yahui’s mouth, as their bodies trembled like mountains collapsing and the earth splitting open. In this way, they experienced the taste of returning to secular life and getting married, and of being rescued from a burning fire.