True Love Waits

"Oh, I can't make any promises! It depends." Evelyn's smile was as beautiful as a blooming white orchid, instantly warming Sheffield's heart.

They continued to walk deeper into the forest and just when Evelyn thought that there was nothing more ahead, a high arched door appeared in front of them. The words "Temple of Dharma" were engraved on it with large letters.

According to Buddhist beliefs, Sangharama Bodhisattva and Skanda Bodhisattva were regarded as the two protectors of Buddhism temples. Sangharama Bodhisattva was the right guardian and Skanda Bodhisattva was the left guardian.

Evelyn glanced at Sheffield and snickered. "Are you really going to become a monk?"

"Yes, I am disillusioned with love," he said, pretending to be serious. In fact, Sheffield wasn't even aware that there was a temple so deep inside the woods.

Evelyn giggled, deeply amused. "You? A monk? You can't even control your lustful desires."

Sheffield put his hands together and pretended to look devout. "Oh female benefactor, the truth is, I had been disillusioned with love, up until the moment I met you. You are the only reason I can't insulate myself from the world of love! Amitabha. Form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form."

'Has he finally lost his mind?' Evelyn wondered. "Seriously? Have you been practicing in secret so that you can speed up the process of becoming a monk?"

"Yes, if you dump me and marry another man one day, I will become a monk. But if you come to regret marrying someone else, you can come here to find me! For you, I will be willing to return to the secular life."

Evelyn couldn't take anything of what he had just said with any seriousness. She simply laughed and said, "Mr. Tang, you quoted the Heart Sutra of Buddhism, but do you even understand what it means?" "Of course, I do." Sheffield wasn't happy about being belittled.

Evelyn couldn't stop laughing, but when she remembered that they were in a sacred place, she straightened her back and looked at Sheffield in a serious manner. "Tell me, what do those words mean?" Sheffield put his hands down and said, "Listen to me carefully! 'Form' means substance and phenomena, like the things we see, hear and feel. 'Emptiness' means immaterial. It appears easy to understand, but difficult to really comprehend the meaning."

Soon after, they saw a man, who looked like the abbot, coming over their way. The temple was small and relatively remote, which was why very few people visited it on ordinary days, let alone on lunar December 30th, the day before New Year. Upon seeing them, the abbot walked to them with great enthusiasm. "Amitabha! Are you going inside to worship?"

asked Evelyn, "Now that we're here, shall we go inside and

Evelyn nodded.

and said to the abbot, "Yes, we're going

"Amitabha, please come in!"

interest, he decided to go along with the moment. They walked into the hall together and lit incense sticks. Evelyn

"Buddha, I'm Sheffield Tang. The woman next to me is Evelyn Huo. Please let her become my wife. If you bless

into the

kneeling, Sheffield bowed down with

was a quiet room behind the hall, which was filled with items for

going inside the room at first, but then something dawned upon him and he dragged Evelyn

him in confusion. "Do

Since the elderly were more inclined to believe in Buddhism, he wanted to buy Miranda

you leaving? The road back can be very slippery in this season. Please be careful and may you be safe." "Thanks

abbot smiled and waved his hands at them. "Don't forget to redeem your

"Sure," said Sheffield. After all, if his wish were granted, he would worship the Buddha in every festival. However, the fact that this old monk thought to remind them about redeeming their wishes seemed interesting to Sheffield. Was he implying that Evelyn would marry

thought of it excited

was already getting dark, but the people inside the Huo family

man. "See what's going on here? You all went easy on him and now what did he do? It's Lunar New Year's Eve. He tricked Evelyn into going out with him and he still hasn't brought her back yet. We can't

happy new year, and she was just replying to his

was a lot more relaxed. It was a nice change of pace to

the new punching bag for Carlos in the Huo family. "What's