M City had a Matchmaker Shrine.
It was usually deserted, only growing a little livelier around the New Year.
With the larger crowds came vendors outside the entrance, hoping to make a little money selling snacks and handicrafts over the New Year.
The street was packed. Bai Congming was not used to this sort of environment, and he held Ding Ding's hand tightly as they walked forward shoulder to shoulder.
Ding Ding had been here once many years ago. Back then, the place had not been as famous as it was now. There had been plenty of people, but never this many.
They managed to squeeze their way inside.
The Matchmaker's statue had a kindly face, gazing down upon all living beings through the curling incense smoke and bestowing happy marriages upon those bound by fate.
But whether that fate existed was never certain. It was all intangible.
"A god!"
Bai Congming tilted his head back, staring intently at the statue's face. For a fleeting moment, it felt familiar, but he could not say whom it resembled.
Ding Ding thought for a moment, then told him that gods took myriad forms.
Bai Congming did not understand any of that. He simply followed close behind Ding Ding and hung a red cord on a branch with him.
"There are so many!"
Red cords fluttered all over the tree, each one carrying a wish.
Some longed for what they could not have, some prayed to meet someone, and some had seen their wishes fulfilled.
Ding Ding was lucky. Among all the people in the Matchmaker Shrine, he alone had brought his destined partner.
"Are you hungry?"
Bai Congming nodded and pointed in one direction. "I want that."
Ding Ding followed his gaze. A young woman with a head full of white hair