Good things just need to wait quietly to happen, it’s only the bad ones that require strategies to handle. Qin Guanglin mulled over it and found it to be true. It wouldn’t make a difference to fret or not.
He left with He Fang through the side exit, Fool Qin raising the umbrella high over her head, diligently fulfilling the duties of an umbrella guard—yep, he’d gotten yet another promotion.
"Let’s go check out another area," He Fang suggested, studying the tourist map for a moment.
"Sure, wanna look at the waterfalls?"
"Yep, okay." She figured out the direction, took two steps forward, then turned back and hooked her arm through his, "Does it still hurt?"
"Not after your massage." Qin Guanglin kissed her little hand, "That’s what they call Miracle Healing, right?"
Pinching hurt a lot, but massaging felt incredibly good—true Miracle Healing indeed.
"Do you think I’m too fierce?" He Fang looked at him and asked, "Are you scared?"
"Being fierce is good, it’ll help you manage students in the future," Qin Guanglin responded evasively.
Someone who could crawl into his bed in the middle of the night, how fierce could she really get? That fierce demeanor just now was actually kind of cute.
"Hmm-hmm." He Fang nodded smugly, "You’re my first student, I have to manage you properly."
"So when can I graduate?"
"Umm... when I don’t have to speak and you just know what to do with a simple hand gesture or a glance, then you’ll have graduated."
Qin Guanglin visualized the scene and felt dissatisfied, "Are you raising a dog here?"
"Raising you."
"Woof~"
"Such a good boy." He Fang played along and reached out to pat his head.
"Hehehe." Qin Guanglin made funny faces at her, "What’s a dog’s girlfriend called?"
Harming the enemy a thousand and losing eight hundred—it might not be profitable, but definitely not a loss.
"Are you trying to get another dose of Miracle Healing?" He Fang eyed him sideways.
"No, no."
Qin Guanglin looked away, then suddenly turned back, blatantly struggling to hold back a laugh.
"What’s gotten into you?" He Fang was puzzled.
"Seems like..." Qin Guanglin backed off a bit, "with just one gesture, you know what I’m thinking; with one look, you can see right through my intentions."
He Fang squinted her eyes, with a hint of warning, "And so?"
"So, you’ve graduated."
Qin Guanglin laughed. Even if it was about raising dogs, it would be a dog raising a dog—wait, that’s wrong; how could one with a girlfriend be a dog? Clearly, it’s the singles who are... pah! Pah!
"Hmph, you know your place," He Fang snorted and looked away only to be captivated by the big tree ahead.
"What a huge tree," she exclaimed.
"Indeed, huge." Qin Guanglin was also surprised, "It seemed big online, but it’s even more incredible in person."
The big tree in front wasn’t very tall but was extraordinarily sturdy. Instead of growing upwards, its trunk sprawled out, covering a wide area like a huge umbrella standing there.
"Pity it’s too big to take a photo with," He Fang said, feeling slightly disappointed.
To capture the whole scene, one would need to stand far away, but there were only two of them; single shots were uninteresting, and with both of them together, there was no one to help take the picture.
"Should we ask someone to take a photo for us?" Qin Guanglin turned and glanced around, there were quite a few people here.
He Fang shook her head, "Forget it, let’s go make a wish."
The tree was adorned with red strings and wooden tags, a true wish tree. Below it, a table was set up with staff selling wish plaques and wishing knots.
You had to write a wish on a plaque and hang it on the tree, while wishing knots didn’t require writing; you could simply tie one on and be done with it—taking into account those who didn’t want their wishes known.
"Which one do you want?" Qin Guanglin turned to ask her.
"I want a plaque so that many years later when we come back, we can still see it."
"Then I want a plaque too." He took out his wallet to pay, taking a plaque to another table to write his wish.
"What are you going to write?" He Fang asked him.
"You can’t peek, or it won’t come true." Qin Guanglin shook his head solemnly, hiding his plaque, waiting for her to write first.
"Cut it out."
He Fang pouted and went to a corner with a pen, covering her writing with her hand.
Seeing her occupied, Qin Guanglin also took a pen to another corner, finishing in just two or three strokes before looking up at her with a smile.
"You didn’t just write two or three words, did you?" He Fang tried to guess what he wrote.
"Can’t reveal the secrets of heaven." He approached the tree and looked around for a favorable spot to hang his plaque.
"I want to hang mine next to yours. Which one did you put up?"
"Here."
Qin Guanglin held down his wishing plaque so she couldn’t peek.
"Then don’t peek at mine." He Fang hung hers up, pulling him back a couple of steps to keep this guy’s hands honest.
"I’ll look at others’, just not at yours."
After circling around the big tree to prove his innocence, Qin Guanglin ventured back, curious about what wishes others had made.
"This doesn’t seem right, does it?" He Fang hesitated as she came over.
She was curious too, and since many people were also looking around, it seemed permissible to have a look.
She casually flipped through a few, reading common wishes for everlasting love with someone, mixed with wishes for good health and happiness.
Qin Guanglin lifted an old wish plaque and asked, "Do you think their wishes came true?"
"Probably did..." He Fang leaned in to look, noting the wish was to grow old with someone, nodding, "Definitely came true."
"Hey, I wonder if they’ll come back to look at it." Qin Guanglin lost interest and withdrew his hand.
Leaves occasionally fell from the lush tree, one landing on He Fang’s shoulder. He brushed it away for her and took her small hand, intertwining fingers tightly, "Alright, shall we go?"
Wishing was all about seeking peace of mind; what really mattered was each person’s own effort and dedication. It was rather funny to count on such mysterious things.
"Let’s go," He Fang nodded.
She walked some distance before looking back. "Who knows how many people it has seen come and go."
"At least, it witnessed the two of us and now has our two plaques," Qin Guanglin said casually.
"Years later when the plaques decay and fall off, turning into the soil and absorbed by this big tree, they’ll exist forever," He Fang mused with a laugh.
"Or maybe they’ll fall off and get swept away," Fool Qin always knew how to ruin the mood.
"...Even then, they’ll become nutrients for other trees to absorb."
"For the trees in landfill sites?"
"No matter where, as long as they continue to exist, that’s what matters."