In June, the days passed so quickly that it almost seemed as though they didn’t exist at all. If someone is quiet on one day and active on another, several days—or even a week or two—can pass in the blink of an eye. The students spent most of their time reviewing their notes, taking exams, purchasing cardboard boxes, and packing their bags. As they were preparing to leave campus by the end of the month, the students took their bags to shipping agencies and the post office, or to the consignment areas at the train station or the airport.
In a few breaths’ time, graduation day arrived. After their last exam, for their class on the relationship between individual belief and humanity, the classmates recognized that separation was imminent.
The graduation ceremony for this master-level class was scheduled for that evening, and the school specified that after the ceremony, all graduates had to return their room keys and leave campus during the final three days of the month. The first of July was designated as the day the school would check and close the dormitory rooms of all recent graduates, and this regulation was enforced as strictly as a religious precept.
Yahui visited the examination hall one final time, and this time she was taking the exam not for Jueyu shifu, but rather for herself. Director Gong said it would be possible to quietly change the name on the diploma from Jueyu to Yahui. With this master training certificate issued by the National Religion Association and National Politics University, perhaps one day Yahui could become a religious master—at which point she might earn a monthly salary of more than twenty thousand yuan and be able to live a life in Beijing that would be as relaxed as burning one incense stick a day.
Therefore, Yahui took this examination extremely seriously. Several days earlier, however, she had purchased some furniture and decorated her apartment, after which she and Mingzheng invited their classmates out to dinner. With the followers of each religion sitting at different tables, Yahui and Mingzheng treated their classmates to an elaborate wedding banquet, and everyone drank quite a bit. The hosts spent twelve thousand yuan on the banquet, but they received more than one hundred two thousand yuan in gifts, meaning that their profit was almost ten times their investment, which could be considered a rather respectable business transaction.
Since Yahui had spent so much time preparing the banquet, when it came time for her to take the exam, she couldn’t find the correct responses in her textbooks. Fortunately, the exam’s supervising faculty member was the same Associate Professor Huang who had previously quarreled with Director Gong. Associate Professor Huang was chatting with some students as they turned in their examination booklets, and didn’t ask Yahui about her copying. Even after Mingzheng turned in his own booklet and then asked Yahui for her pen and proceeded to fill out her examination booklet for her, Associate Professor Huang made a point of looking the other way.
The final question was “Who should a disciple love more: his divine ancestors or a beggar who happens to pass by the entrance of his house?” If one responded that the disciple should love his divine ancestors more, the deities would lose their love for humanity. On the other hand, if one responded that the disciple should love the beggar more, then the next question would be, “What if the beggar is a criminal and is carrying a cleaver he has just used to kill someone?” Most disciples, when they encountered this question, would select the option “I would love my divine ancestors more.” While Mingzheng was filling out Yahui’s examination booklet, however, he happened to see Tian Dongqing going up to submit his own booklet. Mingzheng pulled Imam Tian aside and pointed to the multiple-choice question, whereupon Tian Dongqing, in a voice as soft as a stream of water, said, “I’d respond that I would love the beggar, but that I also love Muhammad. Therefore, I would not only give the beggar food and clothing, I would also give him a copy of the Quran.”
Mingzheng followed Tian Dongqing’s lead and checked the “I would love the beggar more” option, while also checking the “I would love my divine ancestors more” option. In the blank space for an explanation, he wrote, “Because I love the beggar, I would give him food and clothing; and because I love my divine ancestors, I would include a copy of the Altar Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch with that food and clothing.”
Yahui was the last disciple to turn in her booklet. By that point, it was already five in the afternoon, and when Yahui emerged from the examination hall, not only was the hall itself empty, but so were the hallway, the lobby, and the area outside the religion building. All the other disciples were busy shipping their belongings, going shopping, or saying goodbye to their friends. The end of June was afoot, and the early-summer heat lay ahead. The students who were about to graduate were standing under the trees of the campus road selling their old textbooks, clothing, and other items, thereby transforming the school into a virtual market or temple fair.
Since Mingzheng didn’t need to immediately ship his belongings and leave campus, he moved his things to Yahui’s new apartment. Meanwhile, Yahui’s entire class knew she had bought an apartment in the Yujian residential quarter, and that she would never again return to Jing’an Temple in Xining. As Yahui and Mingzheng strolled through campus hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder, discussing many solemn topics, she remarked at one point, “It’s strange—but yesterday I once again dreamed that Tathagata had fallen seriously ill and had become so confused that he forgot what he originally looked like.” Mingzheng suddenly stopped and said, “What are you talking about?” Yahui replied, “It’s true. I also dreamed that the Virgin Mary was lying on her sickbed, and when her son Jesus went to see her, she didn’t even recognize him.” Mingzheng quickly looked around, covered Yahui’s mouth, and frantically led her forward. They went to the school’s shopping area, where the graduating students had already packed up their stands and left, leaving behind trash and random items everywhere. Yahui and Mingzheng proceeded to pick up the cardboard boxes and twine that had been left on the ground, and placed them next to the trash can. Then they picked up the old books and newspapers and took them to the recycling area. When they finished, they noticed that they still had some time before the graduation ceremony began at seven, so they proceeded to stroll through the campus, picking up trash along the way and reflecting: If today the campus were allowed to become a garbage heap, by tomorrow might it not grow into a mountain of garbage?
What about the day after tomorrow? Or the day after the day after tomorrow? Or the day after the day after the day after tomorrow? After collecting many random and miscellaneous items, Yahui and Mingzheng sat down in a remote area where there wasn’t anyone else around and proceeded to eat some bread and drink some water. When the campus’s streetlights came on, Yahui and Mingzheng finished their meal and headed toward the auditorium where the graduation ceremony was being held.