If the three girls hadn't received calls and messages from home one after another, they would almost have forgotten they were modern people carrying phones.
Unlike city life with its overwhelming flood of information, happiness in the mountains was within easy reach, real and reassuring. With Chen Shi'an beside them, even girls who normally never put their phones down felt they could do without them. No wonder the Stinking Taoist had never used a phone before.
"...Mom, do you know what this is?"
"What is it, a lantern? Aren't you a little old to be playing with lanterns?"
"No! It's a Firefly Lantern! We caught loads of fireflies!"
"Where could you catch that many... They're so rare these days."
"Right here in the Taoist Temple! There are loads. You gently tap a rock with a paper lantern, and the fireflies fly inside all by themselves. Isn't that amazing?"
"...Huh? How come I've never heard of that folk trick?"
"Mom, you really don't know anything. Next time we find some, I'll catch them and show you. Hmph!"
"Where are you? Still outside?"
"We're on the roof. Look-"
Sitting on the roof with her Firefly Lantern, watching the stars, Wen Zhixia turned her phone camera toward the star-filled sky and the surrounding night. Lin Meng Qiu and Li Wanyin, who were also messaging their parents beside her, came into the frame too.
"...Why did you climb onto the roof? Be careful you don't fall!"
"It's fine. Mom, look how many stars there are here! Aren't they pretty?"
"They really are..."
Since the Signal Tower had been built at the foot of the mountain, the Taoist Temple had reception too. Unfortunately, the signal was unstable, making video calls stutter.
Still, through their daughter's camera, her parents at home could make out the whole