Son, “Mom” Will Back You

"Mmm," said Gu Nian, dispirited.

"I don\'t think the situation was as bad as you might think."

"…… Eh?"

"Just think. Per what Aunty had said, after being \'bullied\' by you like that that night, he still treated you like normal. In fact, been very nice to you, no?"

"……"

Gu Nian thought about it some and nodded, feeling touched.

Jiang Xiaoqing, "See? That meant he was either not bothered by the fact that you are a mom fan for that he just assuming that you were spewing gibberish because you were drunk –– your friendly relationship is not affected at all."

Gu Nian was hesitant. "You think he\'d just think I was spewing gibberish because I was drunk?"

Jiang Xiaoqing nodded. "Of course. When I used to go drinking with my college roommates, we always refer to each other as sons or dads."

Gu Nian\'s eyes lit up slightly.

Something dawned on Jiang Xiaoqing. She turned her head and asked, "What happened after that? Didn\'t you call him last week? How did he sound?"

Gu Nian, teary-eyed, "Super tender. He even comforted me."

"See?" Jiang Xiaoqing snapped her fingers. "I told you it didn\'t bother him –– quit worrying about it. Just pretend that you had forgotten all about it."

"…… Okay. Forgotten!"

Jiang Xiaoqing turned in surprise. Looking at Gu Nian who had snapped out of her dispirited state and became very firm and solemn, she asked, dazed, "Have I somehow become this convincing?"

Gu Nian, "Mainly because one must have a clear mind before entering a Taoist temple. It is said that your prayers are more pious this way."

Jiang Xiaoqing, "……"

Gu Nian was already very familiar with the process of offering up the incense. Mainly, the main temple was very crowded and, as pious as one was, one still needed to wait in line for their turn. Gu Nian and Jiang Xiaoqing stood on the paved road with no shades under the hot July sun.

Jiang Xiaoqing, obviously not that pious, couldn\'t even handle just a few minutes.

"I\'m done. I\'m done." She waved her hand at Gu Nian. "This is not offering incense. This is torture."

"Shhhh," Gu Nian let out a sigh of relief only after she saw that nobody had overheard them. She looked back at Jiang Xiaoqing, "Aren\'t you worry that someone would throw a hemp bag over you [and give you a beating] for saying such things at a Taoist temple?"

"The holy beings are very kind. They will forgive me," said Jiang Xiaoqing without a shred of worries. "But I really can\'t handle this sun anymore. I will get a heat stroke if I keep standing here."

Gu Nian took a look at the long line. It would be a while still. "Are you not going to say your prayers then?"

"I give up. Life and death, poor and wealth. It\'s all meant to be." Jiang Xiaoqing gave the dead-pig-not-worried-about-hot-water look.

Gu Nian smiled, "Alright. You look for a shady spot and wait for me?"

"I\'ll go wander around back there. I heard there are fortunetelling back there and the line isn\'t too long –– Come look for me when you are done?"

"Okay."

The two parted ways.

Gu Nian stood in line for over 30 minutes before she was finished with what she could finally get inside the temple. She was alert and walked inside of the temple with pious seriousness.

She held onto the bottom of the incense, the tips of them facing down. She lit up three incense sticks. Her left thumb and index finger facing up and her right thumb and index finger facing down, she bowed three times, inserted the incense, and said her prayer.

The content of her prayer had not changed from her monthly trip here the last two years: She wished for Luo Xiu to be safe and sound.

After she was done with her prayer, Gu Nian walked out of the lobby.