Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 684 The Pious Man Lando
The carriage stopped in front of the most prosperous street in Dongmen City.Weiss took a look when he got out of the carriage - he didn't see the second carriage, but the watchers must have been mixed in with the bustling crowd of people around.

Lando stood on the street. If he didn't know that he had traveled through time and space, he felt that he was standing in a postmodern art work.

Modern and medieval, East and West, all of which are mixed in this bustling street market.The Bauhaus-style red brick building, but the Western style is a pseudo-classical building made of Chinese building materials, all wooden sorting garbage bins, black-clothed policemen wearing bamboo hats and leggings on the street, and carrying batons... Everything is strangely mixed together.

Lando resisted the thought of whistling.The group of them were taken to the Shangguan Restaurant by Father Lu Ruohua.Entered a very elegantly furnished private room - a bit like the private room of the luxurious Chinese restaurant in Chinatown that Lando had been to.

"This is the best hotel in the area." Father Lu Ruohua calmly took the hot towel brought by the young girl, wiped his face and hands, and a faint fragrance of jasmine blossomed in the private room.

Then a young girl in a light blue tunic dress and a white apron brought another fragrant drink in a fine porcelain teacup—this is Chinese tea.

Father Lu Ruohua picked up the teacup skillfully, picked up the tea leaves with the lid of the bowl, and took a sip carefully.

"Come on, please use it."

Brother Ceciris made the sign of the cross: "I would like a glass of cold water."

John Dermot looked curiously at the tea in the tea bowl, took a sip carefully, and frowned, as if thinking about something again.

"In summer like this, drinking a cup of hot tea will only make you feel refreshed physically and mentally." Lu Ruohua has already become quite addicted to drinking tea.Be kind to his colleagues.

Father Jin Lige frowned. In his opinion, this priest seems to be too keen on carnal enjoyment.A missionary should only be satisfied with the simplest water and bread—a little red wine would be the greatest gift.He was now actually indulging in a strange foreign drink.

Father Jin Lige held an opposing attitude towards all strange foreign beverages, whether it was Spanish chocolate, Arabic coffee or Chinese tea, in his opinion they were all temptations of the devil.

Lunch, or rather the afternoon meal, was a hearty meal for the group who had been enjoying the special meals in the quarantine camp.Weiss finds it intolerable to say a long pre-dinner prayer over warm whole wheat bread.

The chowder soup stewed with sea moon clams, shrimp, various fish and kelp is delicious-reminding him of the "Bouillabaisse from Provence" he had eaten in France.Huge pieces of fish fillet, pan-fried to perfection and served with a fresh tomato salsa, wowed the group of diners as they ate.Because it was not the Lent period, another large pot of sausage was served. I don’t know what kind of oil it was fried in, and it was fragrant when it was served.

Weiss took a bite and almost spit it out: God knows what kind of animal's offal and bones are used to break this thing up and mix it with starch and spices. Probably to cover up the smell, a lot of spices were generously added to it. .The taste is simply not human.But a few missionaries ate very happily.He had to put down his knife and fork, and push the plate aside, arguing that temperance is a Christian virtue.

The drink on the table is some kind of fruit wine, which is very sweet, and it tastes smooth and cool after adding ice cubes.The priests also drank a lot.Not only because of the richness of the wine, but the priests also need this drink to relieve the fear of these days.

Everyone was very satisfied with the lunch, including Shlick.As a servant, he couldn't dine with his masters, but outside the box door, he munched four or five "fish steak burgers", and followed his master on the way to the seminary with a satisfied smile.

Dean Wu and Priest Bai of the Lingao Religion came to greet them in front of the church.Behind them are the local monks.The devotion on their dark faces made Jin Lige very happy.

Father Jin Lige, who had already been frightened enough in the quarantine camp, was flattered by the enthusiasm of the Australian Church.Once he entered the church, he could only think of surprise and admiration.From the glass enclosures supported by cast iron shelves on the wall, bright flames illuminate the small inner hall brilliantly.Not even the Florence cathedral, lit up with candles during Corpus Christi, could be so transparent.

A group of cute children in black and white uniforms with crosses on their chests were singing psalms praising the Lord in front of the altar.The melody accompanied by violin and harpsichord reverberates in the church like flowing water.Father Jin Lige was extremely excited and amazed, the music praising God was so harmonious and breathtaking, but there was no band or musician in the church.He thought of the amazing skills of the Australians introduced by Father Lu Ruohua: they could put all the musical instruments into a box made of metal and wood, and play complex and magnificent music inside.Then the sound of the organ joined in, and the solemn roar filled the whole church.The sound of the organ grew louder and deeper, turning into a rumbling thunder that overwhelmed all other sounds.Then it suddenly turned into a celestial movement, like a girl's shrill singing, floating high under the vault, and finally turned into a deep roar and thunder, and fell silent.The thunderous roar still has an endless aftertaste under the vault.Father Jin Lige opened his mouth halfway, shocked by this solemn sacred music.

At this time, a clear and high-pitched female voice sang an unaccompanied hymn. "Amazing Grace" by Judy Collins.The children in the choir harmonized with their children's voices, and the clear and slow rhythm slowly rose from the depths of the church and slowly rose towards the garden dome.The priests could not help crossing themselves.

In this solemn music that touches the soul, he saw a group of devout believers already prostrate on the ground, and one believer at the front even excitedly kissed the feet of Jesus crucified, and the gaslight illuminated his eyes. Long shadows on the ground.Jin Lige discovered that the person was actually his entourage, Weiss Lando.

Father Jin Lige couldn't help praising the miracle of the Lord again.The holy voice of praise to the Lord had evidently cast out the demon possessed in the man, and made the half-mad bastard again the obedient servant of the Father.Weiss Lando, who heard the voice of the Father again, was obviously very excited, and he asked to confess his deep sins in this church.

This sudden request caught everyone by surprise.The Jesuits were excited.There is nothing more joyful than a fallen man returning to the arms of the Church.

Bai Duolu reluctantly walked into a confession room dedicated to Wu Shimang.As a conscientious young priest, he was reluctant to play the role of informer at the same time.He knew there was a microphone in the closed confessional.The tapes in the tape recorder are taken away by special personnel every day and sent to the monitoring room of the political security agency.

A cough, followed by a loud blowing of the nose.Bai Duolu knew that the strange man was already sitting opposite.

"My child, what do you have to ask the Lord..."

"I need to see your Chairman Wen," the white man on the other side suddenly spoke Cantonese vernacular in a stuttering manner, interjecting a few English words: "Your situation is not very good. Liu, the pirate leader in Guangdong, is about to meet with you. The Dutch fleet from the East Indies has united to destroy your fleet, then attack the port and sack Lingao."

If Lingao's purgatory is the cells of the quarantine camp, then Father Jin Lige must think that Lingao Seminary is heaven.As for where the hell in Lingao is, the priest doesn't even want to think about it.But he also heard that the Australians set up a prison called a "labor camp" in Lingao, and those who were lucky enough to return from there had no interest in the priests' illusory preaching about hell.

The Lingao Church has a strong interest in this hell, and priests often go there to preach for the poor prisoners.Father Lu Ruohua also often goes there.

The Lingao Church seems to have a special interest in saving secular "sinners".Father Jin Lige soon discovered this.

Now, Father Jin Lige is sitting in front of the desk in the spacious and bright study——Father Lu Ruohua has generously given up his residence in the monastery.He doesn't need to feel guilty about this - a two-story building owned by the convent is under construction, and the Lingao Religion is constantly expanding their building area to accommodate larger and larger orders.

No matter from which angle you look at it, the Lingao Religious Society is thriving.After Jinlige held a mass and sermon on the first Sunday, he fully felt the prosperity of the local church.He couldn't help feeling genuinely happy that he was able to go to such a place to enlarge the flock of God.

An elderly nun came to the study respectfully, her wrinkled dark face was full of respect, and carefully cleared the tableware from the table in front of him.The priest had just finished a delicious meal of sorbet and iced kvass on a scorching afternoon in Lingao.

He felt suddenly a little ashamed of himself for indulging in good food, especially when he thought of his entourage.

Even a well-informed and knowledgeable person like Father Jin Lige would be astounded by the enthusiasm emanating from Weiss Lando, a woman of unknown origin.Maybe thinking that the long confession in the face of the Australian priest was not enough to clean up the sins, Weiss resolutely stayed in the East Gate Church and lived a life of penance.He cut his hair short, wore a coarse cloth shirt, and lived on a few rice cakes and fresh fruit every day.He didn't even want to live in the room, he simply lived in the bell tower of the church,

　Note: Amazing Grace is "Amazing Grace". Judy Collins' version is common.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)