Please Behave My Wife Novel

Qin Guanglin sat outside the Taiyi Palace with a grim expression on his face, lifting his shirt to check. As expected, the last twist had left a red mark on his skin.

"Teacher He really is ruthless..."

"Don't you want to go in and burn incense?" He Fang felt a little sorry for him and squatted down, about to help him massage his back.

"No, I really can't do it anymore," Qin Guanglin, startled, moved back and waved his hand to refuse.

He Fang, helpless, said, "I'm not pinching you anymore. I just want to massage it a bit."

"Why is your hand strength so strong..."

"If I don't use some force, how can I treat you properly?" He Fang slid her hand under his shirt and started massaging gently. "Next time, I'll use more force. If you don't believe me, try it."

Qin Guanglin didn't dare to try again. He hummed a little, enjoying the comfort of her soft hands. After the pain from earlier, this actually felt quite soothing.

"Fine, I'll pray once, but we don't need to keep visiting temples every time." He said after enjoying the massage for a while.

"It's different. That one is for marriage, this one is for peace." He Fang explained. "Praying for both is always a good thing."

"It's useless. I don't believe in this stuff," Qin Guanglin shook his head. "If you like it, go ahead and pray, but I'd rather just sit and relax."

Looking around, he thought, "People like her, visiting every temple... Won't they exhaust themselves?"

"You were mumbling so much at Cuihua Palace earlier."

"That's different. The first time, whether it works or not, at least I can say I've experienced it. One time is enough." Qin Guanglin had only lit the incense earlier because he thought, "Since we're here, why not? It wouldn't hurt."

"Praying again won't take much time." She continued to persuade him.

"This is a bad habit. It's not... %¥#" He started to speak, but He Fang quickly covered his mouth. "We're at the entrance, stop talking nonsense."

"It's true. Praying to gods and Buddha is just like releasing animals. It's all the same," Qin Guanglin didn't like superstition, trying to help his girlfriend embrace correct socialist core values, break feudal superstitions, and believe in science.

"Look, whether it's praying, lighting incense, making offerings, or releasing animals, the core of all these actions is accumulating good karma and making good connections, which brings good results."

"What's wrong with that?" He Fang pursed her lips, feeling like he was just spouting nonsense.

"Everything is wrong. Some people burn incense to get rich, some to improve grades, some to get promoted... These people aren't focusing on their own efforts, they waste time doing all this mystical stuff. Isn't that foolish?" Qin Guanglin pointed at the Taiyi Palace behind him. "Wouldn't it be better to spend that time studying the market, memorizing words, or working hard instead of praying to some vague god?"

"Then why do so many people still believe in it?" He Fang asked, following his line of thought, wondering how to convince him to go in and pray.

"Uh..." Qin Guanglin hesitated, turned back to glance at the temple, then said slowly, "Maybe because... effort is hard, and praying to Buddha is easy."

"Effort is indeed hard." He Fang nodded. After a moment of silence, she asked, "But what if you've already put in the effort?"

"What?" Qin Guanglin didn't immediately understand her.

"What if you've done everything you need to do, put in all the effort you could, and then come to pray to Buddha and make wishes to the intangible gods?" He Fang spoke slowly, organizing her words. "There's a saying: 'Man proposes, but heaven disposes.' If someone has done everything they can and still wants to go further, the only thing left to do is pray, even if it only increases the chances of success by a little bit. You can't just ignore it. Everything must be done to perfection. What do you think?"

Qin Guanglin froze. He had never thought about it this way before.

"Isn't it true that if there's any chance of increasing hope, you can't just let it go?" He Fang stared at him, her eyes carrying an unexplainable emotion.

"It seems like that..." Qin Guanglin thought it over, then stood up, pulling He Fang toward the temple. "Well, since we're already here, might as well give it a try."

Trying to pull his girlfriend away from superstition, but instead, he got pulled in himself.

Who would have thought that this girl, who seemed to know everything, would be so terrifying?

He Fang let him lead her to the Taiyi Palace main hall, standing aside as they waited for others to finish praying. She took the opened incense from her backpack.

Soon, it was their turn. Together, they lit the incense and placed it in the incense burner, then stepped back two paces, kneeling on the mats with their hands clasped, silently praying.

After the prayer, they both rose and, holding the ground, bowed deeply to the deity.

Qin Guanglin stood up and looked at He Fang, suddenly feeling something strange.

"Hey, this feels kind of like a wedding ceremony, doesn't it?"

He Fang didn't know what he was thinking and stood up. She walked over to the side door of the main hall and waved. "Come, draw a fortune slip."

"You go first." Qin Guanglin had seen this on TV but had never experienced it in real life.

Clank, clank, clank…

He Fang shook the bamboo tube. The bamboo sticks hit the sides of the tube, making a dull sound. After several shakes, one slip fell out.

Qin Guanglin picked it up and read it aloud: "Steady waves, hooks in the right place, no need to doubt… The moonlight is bright, the clouds are clear, illuminating the world for two to walk."

"It looks like an excellent omen," he said happily, handing the slip to He Fang.

"Mm, it sounds good." He Fang took it and examined it carefully. "Now it's your turn."

Clank, clank, clank…

Qin Guanglin shook the tube more quickly than He Fang, the noise much more chaotic. After just a few shakes, a bamboo stick fell out.

"What does it say?" He eagerly leaned over to look.

"One month missing, one mirror broken, not together... Hey, I haven't finished reading it." Before he could finish, He Fang grabbed the slip from his hand and tossed it back into the tube. "Why does it look bad?"

"Draw again. You shook it too quickly earlier." He Fang handed the tube back to him.

"..."

Qin Guanglin frowned, but since he couldn't retrieve the previous slip, he shook the tube again, only to stop after a couple of shakes. He handed it back to her. "You do it."

"Why?"

"Just need your good luck. If you can draw the good slip once, you can do it again." Qin Guanglin grinned, holding her hand as she shook the tube.

Click.

The slip fell out, and Qin Guanglin quickly picked it up to prevent He Fang from tossing it away. He turned around to look at it.

"What does it say?" He Fang leaned over his shoulder.

"Looks like I really needed your luck." Qin Guanglin handed it to her. "Seems really good."

He Fang took it, looked carefully, and then smiled, her eyes softening. "Looks like Teacher He is impressive after all."

"Yes, yes, impressive. Should we find someone to interpret the slip?" Qin Guanglin looked around, trying to find a fortune teller.

He couldn't find one, so he turned back and asked He Fang, "You can predict things, right? Can you interpret this?"

"I can predict, but this doesn't have anything to do with me. I can't interpret it."

"Ah, what a pity."

"Good omens don't need interpreting." He Fang threw the slip back into the tube. "Just wait for the good things to come."