tallest building

Chapter 162 The Gate of Emptiness

“If you want the child to stay, you have to listen to me,” Wen Mingqian said. “Besides, the money isn’t much, and I have a lot of things for her to do, so don’t complain about being tired.”

Hearing Wen Mingqian's words, Madam Sun felt somewhat better. She instructed her daughter, "You must observe more, do more, and speak less. Don't cause trouble for your mother, and don't be lazy or willful."

Sun Aoshuang agreed to everything. Then, Madam Sun handed a small package she had brought with her to her daughter, which contained her change of clothes. After that, she got up to take her leave.

Wen Mingqian asked Sang Er to see her out the door and then hired a car to take her home.

At this moment, Cui Baozhu also woke up, but was still groggy. Seeing Hu Mama beside her, she didn't say much. Knowing that Hu Mama was sent by Leng Shi to look after her, she took advantage of her illness to order Hu Mama around.

Mrs. Hu is an elderly woman. She was kept up for most of the night last night and couldn't get any sleep this morning.

Leng arrived early the next morning.

After exchanging pleasantries with Wen Mingqian for a while, he proposed to take Cui Baozhu back with him.

“I’m always worried about this child when she’s out there. If she were healthy, it would be fine, but she’s sick. How can I not be anxious about her as her mother?” Madam Leng was very good at saying polite things.

Even though she secretly wished she could grind Cui Baozhu, her stepdaughter, to dust, she still had to put on a loving mother's face in front of Wen Mingqian.

“Logically, the Second Miss should return to the manor, but she is currently ill and it is really not advisable for her to be disturbed. The nun also said that she must not be exposed to the wind during this period, otherwise her life would be in danger. It would be better to wait until she is slightly better.” Wen Mingqian was genuinely worried about Cui Baozhu. Her body was extremely weak at the moment, and once she returned, Leng Shi would definitely use both soft and hard tactics on her.

By then, she will be suffering both internally and externally; how will she recover?
After listening and thinking for a moment, Leng did not insist. She smiled and said to Wen Mingqian, "That would be too much trouble for you. I brought two people with me and asked them to stay and take care of things. I will come and check on you every day."

Then he went to Cui Baozhu's bedside, took her hand and said, "Good child, you have really suffered. When you feel better, I will take you back and take good care of you."

Cui Baozhu felt utterly disgusted; no one knew Leng Shi's true colors better than she did.

The kinder and gentler she was to outsiders, the more cruel and vicious she became to him when she returned home.

Leng grabbed her hand and squeezed it hard, with a warning in his voice.

Cui Baozhu's heart was completely broken.

She only breathed a sigh of relief after Leng Shi left. After recuperating at Wuqiu Nunnery for a few days, Cui Baozhu gradually recovered.

She has lost a lot of weight in the past few days, and she hardly speaks at all.

Wen Mingqian had to go out that day, thinking that it wouldn't matter since the two people from the Leng family were taking care of her.

Seeing Wen Mingqian leave, Cui Baozhu said to the people following her, "Go back and bring me my maid. Tell Madam that a carriage will be prepared to pick me up tomorrow."

The two men were naturally pleased to hear this. They originally intended to leave one of them to take care of her, but Cui Baozhu said, "There's really no need. It's broad daylight now, and Aoshuang is here too. You've been here for three or four days already, which must have been quite tiring. Go back and rest. It's the same if you call my maid to serve you. In any case, we'll go back tomorrow."

The two men thought it made sense, so they went back to their residence.

After they left, Cui Baozhu told Aoshuang that she was a little hungry and asked her to go to the kitchen to cook her a bowl of porridge.

After Aoshuang left, she struggled to get out of bed, took out scissors from her sewing basket, looked at her emaciated reflection in the mirror, and couldn't help but give a bitter smile.

From the day Leng left, she had made up her mind that she would never again be a fish on the chopping block.

She had died once before and knew that death was not easy.

Now she thought of another path: becoming a nun. Cui Baozhu held her hair in one hand and scissors in the other, gritted her teeth, and cut it off fiercely.

She understood that Wen Mingqian couldn't protect her forever, and that she would eventually have to go home.

Even after returning home, they still couldn't escape their tragic fate.

Rather than doing that, it would be cleaner to cut off one's hair and become a monk.

Anyway, this is a nunnery, so it's very convenient to become a nun.

When Sun Aoshuang returned, she had already cut her hair. Aoshuang was shocked: "Miss Cui, you... why did you cut your hair?!"

"Aoshuang, please go and invite Abbess Jing'an over," Cui Baozhu said with a smile. "I would like to ask her to shave my head."

At this point, Ao Shuang had no idea what to do. She hurriedly ran to ask the nun for help.

Jing'an was very surprised to hear this and rushed over immediately.

"Amitabha, Miss Cui, why did you decide to become a nun?" Jing'an had been coming to examine her pulse every day these past few days, and the two had become quite familiar with each other.

“Master, my mind is made up, but I was seriously ill a few days ago. I am grateful to you for saving my life, so please help me out of this sea of ​​suffering!” Cui Baozhu said, tears streaming down her face. “If you do not agree, I will have no choice but to die.” With that, she raised the scissors to her chest.

"Calm down, calm down. I can't make this decision myself; the abbot needs to know first," Jing'an said hurriedly.

"Then please let the abbot come! In short, today I either die or become a nun, I have no other choice."

When Abbess Jingxu saw Cui Baozhu, she knew that Cui Baozhu had made up her mind.

Jing'an couldn't help but whisper a word of advice: "Her stepmother is not easy to deal with. If we shave her head, she'll probably cause a huge uproar."

“If we don’t ordain her, she will only have one way out: death. Buddhists should be compassionate; how can we stand by and watch her die?” Jingxu said.

Master Jingxu was a true Buddhist. Unlike some monks who entered the monastic life but couldn't let go of worldly desires and materialistic views, she was different.

Her nunnery has always been quiet and secluded, mainly because she refuses to seek favors or curry favor with others.

Therefore, when faced with Cui Baozhu's request, she wouldn't consider whether or not she would offend anyone.

“Since you are so sincere in wanting to be ordained, I can naturally ordain you,” Jingxu said. “Come with me to the main hall!”

"Thank you so much, Master!" Cui Baozhu said, her voice choked with emotion.

When Wen Mingqian and Sang Er returned to Wuqiu Nunnery, they learned that Cui Baozhu had already been ordained as a nun.

"This...how could such a big thing happen after we've only been gone for half a day?!" Sang Er was extremely shocked. "The Cui family probably doesn't know yet, right?"

“She was forced into a corner.” Wen Mingqian felt sorry for Cui Baozhu. “Becoming a nun is hard, but at least you don’t have to suffer those filthy things, and you can at least be upright and innocent.”

“That’s true, but I’m afraid the Cui family will hold a grudge against us.” Sang Er shook her head. “Mother, you’ve saved Miss Cui from her misery. But given Leng’s personality, how could she not hold a grudge?”

“She will definitely be unhappy with me, but I don’t regret it,” Wen Mingqian said. “It’s better than watching Miss Cui jump into a fire pit.”