Chapter 188 The Process of Becoming Acquainted

Upon hearing Housekeeper Li say that a vehicle was arriving at the entrance, Song Wanning eagerly ran outside.

The person who arrived was the same young staff member from last time.

Song Wanning enthusiastically took the envelope from her, thanked her, and hurriedly ran back to the living room, eager to see what was inside the envelope.

Seeing Song Wanning display a rare sense of excitement, Wen Jingxing inevitably followed her inside and asked, "How is it that you seem so expectant?"

"Not at all!"

Even as Song Wanning denied it, her hands were already honestly opening the envelope, and she began to read with burning impatience.

This time, the photographs inside the envelope had changed to scenes from the latter half of the variety show, specifically showing Wen Jingxing taking care of Song Wanning.

As Song Wanning looked at them, a slight flush of embarrassment crossed her pretty face.

Wen Jingxing truly was a very meticulous person.

She had already praised him for this countless times.

Among the photos, there were a few particularly aesthetic ones that compelled Song Wanning to linger on them for a few extra moments.

After appreciating the photographs, she turned to the second page to check the task details.

[This time, the two guests are required to go to the Temple of Matchmaking to act as temple pages for three days. During this period, their only duty is to tend to the temple's library.]

After finishing the task description, Song Wanning raised an eyebrow. Wasn't this assignment a bit too simple?

"It seems terribly easy, doesn't it?"

Wen Jingxing nodded. "Otherwise, how difficult did you think it would be?"

Come to think of it, that made sense. Last time, the task had seemed difficult, but those children had actually been great fun. Playing the part of little adults, they were the easiest to amuse.

"I had no idea there was even a library in the temple. How come we didn't notice it when we came last time?"

"That is Grandpa Sha's territory, not open for tourists to view."

As they spoke, the two of them changed into their shoes and headed out.

Filled with curiosity, Song Wanning asked, "Since it's Grandpa Sha's territory, why did he agree to let the variety show crew film there?"

That monk always spoke in cryptic, mystical riddles, yet his fortune-telling was frighteningly accurate. She didn't want to get too close to him; what if he managed to calculate that she wasn't from this world?

"I asked, and he agreed. There are also living quarters there. How about we go and stay there for these three days?"

"Alright."

Song Wanning remembered Li Weiwei mentioning last time that there were hot springs there, but because they had to attend the shareholders' meeting, they hadn't stayed overnight.

More importantly, the flight of stairs leading up was so long that Song Wanning had no desire to climb for half a day every single day just to complete a task.

The two of them packed a few changes of clothes and then set off for the Temple of Matchmaking.

Grandpa Sha did not appear at first; it was little Mi who greeted them at the temple gates.

The child, little Mi, seemed to have taken a great liking to Song Wanning. The moment he saw her, he chattered endlessly, telling her all about the fun things to do in the temple over the next few days while leading them both toward the deepest part of the sanctuary.

Past the peach blossom trees lay a small stone path connecting Grandpa Sha's courtyard to the hot springs.

The task of a temple page was actually very straightforward: they only needed to step inside and lend a hand whenever Grandpa Sha was in his study.

However, little Mi explained that Grandpa Sha had business to attend to in the morning and had left temporarily, but would return by the afternoon.

Since the master of the house wasn't around, Song Wanning went to tidy up the room that little Mi had cleared out for them.

Little Mi took Song Wanning's hand as they walked, chattering away, "Sister Wanning, come quickly with me. This is the absolute best room in Grandpa Sha's courtyard."

The courtyard where Grandpa Sha lived was a traditional quadrilateral courtyard containing a total of four rooms: one was the kitchen, one was the library, and the remaining two were private spaces. Song Wanning wondered where else there could possibly be a good room.

She saw that behind the quadrilateral courtyard, there was yet another small path leading directly to the hot spring on the mountain.

As Song Wanning walked closer, she could already feel a wave of rising heat washing over her face.

The front of Matchmaking Mountain consisted entirely of stone steps with the temple at the summit, while the back of the mountain housed those sprawling hot springs.

Tourists visiting the place always arrived via the path halfway up the mountain.

Yet behind Grandpa Sha's courtyard, there was unexpectedly a flowing, secluded hot spring.

Song Wanning couldn't help asking, "Where is the best room?"

"This hot spring is it!"

"You call this a room?"

"Isn't it? Grandpa Sha says any place where humans can stay is called a room."

Song Wanning thought to herself that raising a child like this would definitely lead the old monk to warp the child's perspective.

"Only a place where people can sleep is called a room."

"Oh, is that so?"

Then a rather significant problem occurred to Song Wanning: "Then where are we going to sleep tonight?"

"You can sleep in my room, and I'll go sleep with Grandpa Sha."

"What about him?" Song Wanning pointed at Wen Jingxing.

"Isn't he your husband? Isn't it completely normal for two people to sleep together? Grandpa Sha said so."

Song Wanning: ……

What on earth was the old monk teaching little Mi when he had nothing better to do?!

Unwilling to dwell further on this topic with the child—after all, little Mi was still so young—she asked instead, "Are there really no other rooms?"

Little Mi shook his head. "No more. All the guest rooms in the Temple of Matchmaking are fully booked."

"Fine."

Song Wanning resigned herself to her fate. Anyway, she had already shared a bed with Wen Jingxing once before; she didn't mind doing it for three more days, especially since it wouldn't cost her a pound of flesh.

She turned back to little Mi and asked, "Why did you say this place was so great just now?"

"Because this is the Fate-Binding Spring. Grandpa Sha says that any two people who soak in this pool together are destined never to part for the rest of their lives."

"Is it really that magical?"

"It's true! Back then, Grandpa Sha didn't want to keep me at the Temple of Matchmaking. But in order to stay by his side, I pestered him everywhere he went, until one day I accidentally fell into this pool. Grandpa Sha jumped in and fished me out, and not long after that, he finally agreed to take me in."

While little Mi was recounting his life story, Wen Jingxing listened from the side. When he heard that anyone who soaked in these spring waters together would never part, his gaze instantly locked onto Song Wanning.

Finding herself stared at so intently, Song Wanning felt a bit awkward. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

For reasons unknown, Wen Jingxing's mood suddenly lifted tremendously, and a smile he couldn't suppress bloomed across his face.
"You are such a strange person. I ask you a question and you don't answer, yet you sit there smiling so happily."

"A-Ning."

"Hmm?"

"Let's take a soak together tonight..."

"Shut up!" Song Wanning reached out and clamped her hand over Wen Jingxing's mouth. "There's a child right here!"

Little Mi remained completely innocent of any hidden meaning and happily clapped his hands. "Okay! We can all take a bath together tonight!"

Song Wanning thought to herself, *Great, now look what's happened.*

Little Mi continued, "Though this hot spring is very deep, Grandpa Sha usually doesn't allow me to go in. He probably won't agree today either..."

Hearing this, Song Wanning finally let out a sigh of relief.

However, Wen Jingxing murmured in a low voice, "Whether we say it or not, it's not like it hasn't happened before."

He modulated his volume so expertly that Song Wanning could just barely catch it, yet remained entirely unable to make out the words clearly.

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing."

"Tell me!"

"You were the one who told me not to speak just now."

Song Wanning crossed her arms over her chest. "Ugh, impossible man. If you won't say it, fine."

At that moment, little Mi suddenly shouted, "Grandpa Sha is back!"

Watching little Mi scamper away, Song Wanning felt a sliver of confusion. They were so far away from the courtyard—how on earth did little Mi know the old monk had returned?