"Brother Jiang, scoot over."
Chen Shu plopped down beside Jiang Lai, sank into the sofa, pulled out his phone, and looked through the photos he had taken that day again.
He had already looked through them several times. The more he looked, the better they seemed.
The more he looked, the prettier Qingqing seemed.
The more he looked, the more handsome he seemed.
Across from him, Meng Chunqiu asked, "Brother Chen, we haven't seen you all day. Where did you go this time?"
"New Orthodox Temple."
"You went to New Orthodox Temple again?"
"Mm..."
Chen Shu studied his phone, zooming in without looking up. "It's the Double Ninth Festival today, isn't it? I went to New Orthodox Temple to climb high and gaze into the distance, admire the autumn scenery and the daisies."
"Daisies? Where does New Orthodox Temple have daisies?"
"Under the White Pagoda."
"The White Pagoda? Isn't that in the inner courtyard? Brother Chen, how did you get in there as a tourist?" Meng Chunqiu was surprised and suspicious. Even as a member of the Royal Family, when he accompanied his elders to New Orthodox Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha, the most he could do was stroll through the inner courtyard and have a meal before leaving. The White Pagoda was where the Bodhisattva cultivated in seclusion. Inner-courtyard disciples could wander beneath it, but he had never been there. The closest he had come was still dozens of meters away.
"Brother Chen, you're not making this up, are you?"
"Brother Chen, is that the White Pagoda in your photo?" Jiang Lai glanced sideways at Chen Shu's screen.
"Yeah." Only after answering Jiang Lai did Chen Shu turn to Meng Chunqiu. "I happen to know a monk at New Orthodox Temple. He took me there."
"I see."