Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 69: Can’t Lingge learn to be a good person?
Lingge began his story with a fact that everyone knew.

"Every resident of the Holy Cross District and the White Citizen District should remember the afternoon when Mr. Yanke came to Linville. At that time, the social welfare system was not yet perfect, so the living conditions were much worse than they are now: searching for half a piece of black bread in the dirty sewers for hours, fighting for a quarter of a penny and even causing death... These things that you dare not imagine have actually happened."

"Although things are not much better now, generally speaking, the past was always worse than the present."

"It was at this time that Mr. Yanke brought Metien and me to this city. After witnessing the passers-by being indifferent to the body of the beggar on the roadside, he made a decision. He said this was the end of the journey. We will have a new home here and will undertake an arduous mission, which is to spread the gospel of the goddess in the world and reawaken the warmth in people's hearts."

"Metien and I were still young and didn't quite understand what he meant. We were just happy that we finally had a home."

“So, No. 13 Songshi Street was first our home before it became Tianxin Church.”

When Lingge said this, his eyes were a little dazed, and he didn't know what he remembered. But it was only a short distraction, and he quickly came back to his senses and continued to tell Alice the story of the past.

"After Tianxin Church was established, there was not even a single believer. This is normal because faith is something that only living people have, and the residents of these two blocks are all 'living people'. They are unwilling to talk about faith unless it is worth a piece of bread."

"Metien and I were very disappointed and thought that Mr. Yanke's wish would never come true. But he told us that to be comforted is to have faith. If we want everyone to be devout in the faith of the goddess, we must first comfort them. If the soul is comforted, it will naturally have a sense of belonging."

"The comfort Mr. Yang Ke mentioned is not the psychological comfort or self-satisfaction advocated by other churches, but something more practical, material comfort. In other words, comfort that helps them survive."

Just like those homeless people who failed to get a place and left in disappointment, in His eyes, under your gaze, there is an empty heart, nothing exists.

"So, there was a rule to distribute bread and milk during the seven-day ceremony. On the first Sunday after Mr. Yanke announced this, it was the first time I saw so many people in Tianxin Church. Although everyone came for bread and milk, no one even looked up at the statue of the goddess."

"It's amazing."

Not only talk about it, but also practice it.

Alice was moved when she heard this and repeated: "Mr. Yang Ke is an amazing person."

Later, when people asked the residents here whether they believed in gods, they would always say: There is a church dedicated to the Goddess of Creation at No. 13 Songshi Street, and the pastor there, Mr. Yang Ke, is a good man...

Send winter clothes to the homeless, send food to beggars, open churches for the homeless to let them rest; then, mediate family conflicts for quarreling couples, reward candies to children who study hard, and provide advice to the unemployed who feel confused; then, organize voluntary cleaning of dirty streets, raise funds for seriously ill neighbors, award prizes to winners of community competitions, and send comfort to losers...

People gradually got used to Mr. Yang Ke entering their lives, and even becoming a part of their lives. Sometimes, even if they could no longer get the bread and milk distributed during the seven-day ceremony, they would still come to Tianxin Church, perhaps simply to kill time, or perhaps to chat with Mr. Yang Ke about family matters... But no matter what, at that time, the goddess finally had their shadows in her eyes, and they would occasionally look up and take a look at the goddess's face, seeing those gentle and loving eyes, pitying all the sufferings in the world.

The only difference is that Lingge would watch those people leave and never try to keep them, while Mr. Yangke would always patiently and tirelessly tell everyone over and over again about the teachings of the Goddess, about how She created the world in seven days, and how we are all children of the Goddess and should therefore care for and tolerate each other... and other worthless truths.

For to be comforted is to have faith.

That’s right, they don’t directly say that they are believers of the goddess, they always answer like this, but often at this time, the person asking the question will know: Oh, it turns out that they are believers of the goddess.

Linger nodded gently: "Yes."

Alice looked at him with strange eyes: "I'm praising your adoptive father."

"So?" "Shouldn't you be happy?"

"Telling the truth is the most basic quality, and being proud of it is a sign of moral decay."

Alice was inexplicably blamed for "moral corruption" and was indignant. She wanted to take action but was concerned about the current situation. In the end, she just gently bumped her head against Ling's shoulder to express her dissatisfaction.

Lingge, who was prepared, blocked it with his fist.

"oops!"

The golden-haired maid covered her red forehead, half squatted down, and cursed: "You even care about this, you are too petty, Lingge, haven't you learned some tolerance and responsibility from Mr. Yang Ke?"

"No." Ling Ge shook his head: "Mr. Yang Ke only let me learn grammar, history and the teachings of the goddess, but never asked me to learn his personality and ways of dealing with people. Perhaps it is because he knows that people's natures are completely different, and I will never learn to be a pure and kind person like him."

"That's too pessimistic." Alice muttered, "If you were more confident, you wouldn't have turned Tianxin Church into what it is now..."

She was originally speaking from the heart, but after she said it, she realized that she seemed to be poking someone's wound, and suddenly she was a little hesitant: "Uh, I, I didn't mean it, please don't be angry, okay? If you are really angry, I will slap your palm, and then you will forget what I just said, how about that?"

But Lingge ignored her.

The young man was not angry, he just suddenly lost the mood to speak. Alice panicked because she felt that she was poking someone's wound, but whether she poked or not, the wound was there, but sometimes it was a violent pain like a tide, and sometimes it was a dull pain that made her toss and turn at night and couldn't sleep.

He always said you don't have to learn my style, because everyone has their own way of life, and so do you. You are unique in this world, Ringo. Go on the path you should walk, just like you were born on it.

……

However, mortals cannot understand the secret of time, and all memories based on the past seem weak. So in the end, there is no coincidence in fate, only unexpected inevitability.

A cold stone tablet was reflected in his clear eyes, mottled shadows of trees shuttled across the open space, and the bifurcated veins of leaves seemed to foreshadow the rough course of life. The young pastor quietly looked at the epitaph that almost blended with the sunlight, and the scene of his first meeting with him appeared in front of him again. On the roadside in the rain, he smiled and opened an umbrella for himself. The little girl with pink hair grabbed the corner of his clothes and hid behind him timidly. At that time, there was still fear and cowardice in her eyes, but in the end, only warm tears remained.

In the distance, there was a faint sound of the roaring sea tide. The waves hit the rocks, and the noise collided with the silence of the clearing in the woods.

Alice raised her head quietly and glanced at Lingge.

"I……"

Amid the silent clamor, the silver-haired young man finally spoke. His voice was very soft and thin, as if he was speaking to himself. Deep in his golden eyes were sad memories that could only be touched by the afternoon light: "I hid something."

"It's something Metien doesn't know."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)