Not only did Xiaoxiao and her friends think this way, but other visitors to the Marriage Fate Temple thought the same, all hoping to take this opportunity to pray for romantic ties, as it was said that wishes made here were very effective.
This led to a situation where the place was overcrowded with people. Xiaoxiao and her friends first lined up to buy incense, and then queued to kneel and make wishes.
After waiting for a while, it was finally their turn.
After offering the incense, the four of them knelt down, bowed a few times, then put their hands together and began making their wishes.
The wishes of the four individuals varied.
Yang Ming wished never to be separated from his wife.
Xiaoxiao wished to have a child with Yang Ming.
Chu Lian wished that Wang Xiangxiang would fall in love with him and marry him.
Wang Xiangxiang wished simply to adore Chu Lian in her heart.
After sincerely kneeling and worshipping, they could go and draw marriage fate lots. Xiaoxiao and Yang Ming naturally didn’t do so, but Chu Lian and Wang Xiangxiang each drew one.
"Sis, quick, show me, what does your slip say?"
Xiaoxiao was even more concerned about the slip than Wang Xiangxiang and began reading it aloud, "Mountains exhausting, waters depleted, doubting there’s a way, yet a village appears amidst dark willows and bright flowers."
"Sis, that’s a good omen! Forget past worries. Look, this slip clearly talks about a turn for the better, a new opportunity incoming."
Having heard Xiaoxiao read out the slip, Wang Xiangxiang naturally knew it was a good omen. It seemed to reflect her situation pretty well—at a time of utter despair, a new opportunity arose, and she was rescued, finding a family to depend on. The accuracy of the slip, at least pertaining to relationship matters, was still uncertain.
Xiaoxiao then turned to Chu Lian, "Quick, see what yours says."
Chu Lian quickly put away his own slip, holding it to his chest awkwardly as he said, "It doesn’t say much. Let’s go outside and take a look around."
Seeing how secretive he was, it probably wasn’t a good omen.
Actually, it wasn’t a bad slip at all—it was considered a good one. It read: "If you scale the wall of the neighbor and embrace the maiden, you will get a wife; if you do not embrace, you will not."
It was telling him that he must be bold and express his feelings, or else he would not succeed.
The group then went outside, where they discovered a wishing tree, similar to modern-day wishing trees, where one could write on a slip of paper and throw it onto the tree. Xiaoxiao, having never done this in modern times, decided she would write down a wish this time.
The group each wrote down what they wanted to say.
Yang Ming: Wife, I love you.
Xiaoxiao: I want to have kids with my husband.
Chu Lian: I want to marry Xiangxiang.
Xiangxiang: Chu Lian, I like you.
Wang Xiangxiang thought that she might never be able to say that out loud in her life; she wanted to write it down, at least to let the tree witness her intentions.
"Honey, throw it higher, otherwise, it won’t work," Xiaoxiao instructed Yang Ming, having heard that the higher and higher one’s wish hangs on the wishing tree, the more effective it is.
Yang Ming threw with all his might, and finally, the slip hung on the tree, "Honey, that’s great, it hung up."
"Wife, what did you write?"
"I won’t tell you, it won’t work if I say it out loud."
Watching the couple’s interaction, Chu Lian also threw his slip with all his might, hoping even more that his wish would come true. In fact, his wish was already half-realized, because what Wang Xiangxiang wrote was that she liked him.
Wang Xiangxiang also made an effort to throw her slip upwards, but couldn’t hang it on the tree. Chu Lian quickly took over, "I’ll help you," and with a swift throw, he got it very high, hanging it on the tree, and Wang Xiangxiang smiled.