i was my mistake

Standing on the stage was an elderly priest. He had gray hair and looked a little chubby. He stood on the stage and opened a heavy book and cleared his throat.

You don't need to think about it, what you say is nothing more than some common religious expressions.

"...Praise the Lord, let us gather here; praise the Lord, let the lost lambs have a bright direction; praise the Lord..."

Every time he finished a sentence, the people below said "Amen" in unison. After he finished speaking, people made a sign of the cross on their chests and said "May the Lord be with us" in a not particularly neat way. '.

Wan Qing didn't do anything, she was as indifferent as a bystander, with a bit of contempt in her eyes.

But Ye Chen was a little embarrassed to see others doing this, so he followed suit and said a few words 'Amen'.

"Religion is useless, it's just a tool to control people." She shook her head and leaned back, as if she was the only one awake in the world, "I hate everything that controls people's thoughts."

"Actually, it's not that exaggerated. Faith just gives people hope and sustenance?" Zhao Jinyu said softly.

"There's no need to put it on illusory things." Wan Qing shook her head.

"However, one must always have faith, right? A firm belief in science is also a kind of faith?"

She hesitated for a moment, suddenly hesitated.

It's not because she really firmly believes in science, but when she thinks about it carefully, she doesn't seem to have anything to firmly believe in.

In her mind, nothing is unshakable.

"Perhaps people on the fence don't have faith." She suddenly chuckled a little self-deprecatingly.

On the stage, the teenagers in the choir all came up and sang a hymn dedicated to the gods with immature voices.

Wan Qing couldn't help but maliciously guess in her heart, whether there were any teenagers who had been raped.

After all, church choirs in the Middle Ages would specially perform this kind of surgery on teenagers in order to keep their elegant and high-pitched voices...

Generally, children undergoing such operations are orphans without parents, or from poor families. Parents hope that their children will have a stable job.

Those priests really have a lot of fun. Not only can they choose normal and healthy teenagers, but they can also choose teenagers who will no longer develop after surgery...

I think that if they come to modern times, they will definitely have a common language with those painters with strange XP at Station P.

It's funny to say, they always attribute their own desires to the temptation of the devil, and the devil has taken the blame, and they are incomparably holy, and they don't know which genius invented it.

After the choir finished singing, the priest stood on the podium again and began to lead the audience to sing together.

No musical instruments were played, just a cappella led by him.

No one's voice stands out, everyone's voice is integrated into the collective, and it sounds a bit ethereal like rising into the clouds.

After singing a few songs, it will be changed to recitation - usually the priest will read a sentence, and the people below will read a sentence. There is always a sense of sight of elementary school students in class.

After chanting, it will start singing again...

Repeat this many times, and then spend a few minutes at the end to let people fold their hands in front of their chests and pray silently, and it is officially over.

"Amen!" Because it was the last sentence, Wan Qing got a little interested and followed it up.

It was still early, and the sun was still shining outside the church.

"There will be Holy Communion later, you can eat it until noon—it's basically lunch." Zhao Jinyu closed the book and hugged it in his arms, "Shall we go eat together?"

"Gululu——" Wan Qing and Ye Chen's stomachs growled at the same time, saying what they wanted to say.

……

44. Take communion

Wan Qing is a person without faith, but the rich and free food in the restaurant in front of her makes her feel that faith is not bad at all-if there is such a church near her home, she will definitely go there every week to eat Holy Communion , to be the most devout believer.

Nobody got their own food, even though it was laid out like a buffet.

This is the restaurant on the third floor. Everyone found a place to sit down, and then a nun brought food for everyone—Zhao Jinyu, who was wearing a nun's uniform, also went to help.

Carrying a tray, she approached them gracefully and carefully, and asked with a smile, "Would you like red wine or grape juice?"

Ye Chen turned his head to look at Wan Qing, and hurriedly said, "It's all grape juice!"

"Why, I want red wine."

"Just leave..."

"Pfft, it's okay, there's only a small glass of red wine." Zhao Jinyu said, placing the thumb-sized glass in front of the two of them, and filled them with red wine from an equally delicate glass long-mouth jug.

——Actually, that’s half a mouthful.

Then, the bread mixed with a little rye was placed in front of them. It seemed to be baked well, and it was still steaming, with a very strong smell of wheat.

After the staple food and drinks were distributed, everyone sat down and waited for the priest to speak.

This made Wan Qing feel like an instructor's lecture during military training.

——Although the words are different, the meanings are pretty much the same, and some even change God or Lord to other titles, which are also applicable.

"Lord, I thank and praise you! Today we come to your banquet...

"...your body was given for us, your precious blood was shed for us, we eat this bread and drink this cup in remembrance of you, may you forgive us all our sins...

"Thank you Lord for hearing our prayers..."

Wan Qing sort of figured it out, the sacrament of love is actually similar to eating a banquet when a village master dies, and she somewhat doesn't understand why bread is compared to the body of a god, and red wine is compared to the blood of a god. What's the difference between dividing and eating his body?

What a wonderful and morbid way of showing respect.

After the prayers of the Eucharist, everyone is free to move around like a buffet.

You can take whatever you want. Most of the dishes are Western-style, and occasionally there are a few Chinese and Western dishes.

The advantage is that there is a lot of meat.

And it's all beef.

"Ha, I like beef the most. Beef sandwiched with bread, and some butter, tsk tsk tsk... I have to say, the communion is really good!"

"Is there a church near our house?" Ye Chen also had the same idea as Wan Qing—is it indeed the same person?

Even though there are huge differences due to the long time, there are still many places that are the same.

...Anyway, there are benefits, so I believe it a little bit.

"There should be some there too, but I'm not very familiar with City H, so I don't know much about it."

Huge chunks of beef went into Wan Qing's stomach, and she ate much more than usual today, so that she was leaning on the chair now, her stomach was so distended that she could hardly walk.

"Hi... It's enjoyable."

"Does this communion take place every week?"

"Not necessarily, it depends on the day, generally...at least once a month." Zhao Jinyu shook his head lightly, "Next time there is communion, can I bring you again?"

"Okay! Cough...but is it okay to eat and drink like this?" Ye Chen asked with a guilty conscience.

"It's okay! As long as it doesn't affect others or slander the Lord loudly, no one will mind."

"Did you hear that, I'm talking about you." Ye Chen immediately looked at Wan Qing.

"I know, I know. After all, it's free food. I have to say something nice. I still understand the truth." Wan Qing stretched her waist, "The sun is so good, I want to sleep..."

"Sleep when you're full, are you a pig?" Ye Chen couldn't help but yawned as she spoke, which made the expression on her face a bit awkward.

"Where are you going?"

　"Cough cough!!"

"Want to bask in the sun in the garden?"

"Okay."

"Then I'll go and change the nun's clothes, anyway, there's nothing wrong."

"it is good……"

……

There is a garden behind the church, and bamboo sheds are set up on the aisles, which are covered with grape vines. In summer, it must be a piece of greenery. Maybe the red wine and grape juice are grown by themselves. Made from grapes.

This is a very western-style garden, the shrubs are all neatly trimmed, but there are no flowers and plants in winter, and some shrubs and trees that are not evergreen are also bare and seem lifeless.

The stone bench was too cold, so the three found a wooden bench and sat down.

"It must be very beautiful to come here in spring." Ye Chen squinted his eyes in the sun, probably because he had eaten too much just now, and now he felt extremely sleepy.

"Yes, in spring, there are small flowers everywhere, very beautiful, and the new leaves are also green, and the wind blowing is very comfortable, not as biting as it is now."

"Come spring soon—" Ye Chen clasped his hands together and shook them vigorously.

"Theoretically speaking, the beginning of spring in the lunar calendar is almost here." Wan Qing seemed to be unable to support her body anymore, she simply lay down in Ye Chen's arms, and then put her legs on Zhao Jinyu's lap, It looks very comfortable.

"It's still a month before the beginning of spring." Zhao Jinyu put his hands on Wan Qing's knees, "So it's deep winter now."

"It's the coldest time of the year... that's right! Speaking of which, we have to buy a new calendar, Wan Qing."

"Ok?"

"The family calendar is from last year."

"Oh...that's what I said, I can't even look at the calendar when I wake up in the morning."

"So when you go back, buy a copy by the way."

"Buy one torn one by one, or the one with one page for a month?"

"Should I buy one of them all...?"

"The days go by so fast. If you don't pay attention, four days have passed since the new year."

"Yes."

"Sleep for a while..." Wan Qing's voice gradually softened, and her eyelids finally closed unbearably.

We got up very early today, and everyone was actually a little sleepy.

The sun was so warm that Ye Chen even fell asleep while sitting.

She didn't even know when she fell asleep.

All he knew was that he was woken up by the sudden cold wind.

She raised her head in a daze, and saw that the sun had slanted and no longer shone on them. No wonder the wind that was blowing had become so biting again.

"Ah chirp!" She sneezed loudly, only to realize that she and Zhao Jinyu had fallen asleep with their heads leaning against each other. Of course, such a big movement woke up the other party.

"Hmm...?" She rubbed her eyes lightly, her voice softer than usual, "Where am I...?"

"The garden behind the church."

"Oh..." She blinked hard and shook her head vigorously, "I had a strange dream just now."

"What dream?" Ye Chen always liked to hear other people talking about things in dreams.

"I can't remember the specifics. I just dreamed that a man jumped down from upstairs, and when he was about to hit the ground, he suddenly appeared in the air, and then continued to fall. This cycle repeated until I woke up. Come."

Ye Chen raised his eyebrows and looked at Wan Qing suspiciously.

Speaking of the man who jumped off the building, she had to think of Yi.

But that's probably just a coincidence.

After all, dreaming of someone jumping off a building is not so unusual.

"It's really strange."

"That's right... Well, it's almost time for us to go back, it's getting late."

"Ah, yes, I have to go back to do my homework!" Ye Chen lightly patted Wan Qing's cheek, "Wan Qing Wan Qing, wake up, we have to go back!"

Wan Qing slept like a dead pig, she didn't respond at all, even when Ye Chen reached out to her creaking nest, she didn't even move it.

"Hello—" she yelled in Yi's ear, and finally there was a movement.

But the movement seemed to be too loud all of a sudden, Wan Qing raised her head suddenly, and bumped into Ye Chen's forehead, both of them clutched the bumped place in pain, and gasped.

"Damn...what the hell are you crazy about..." Wan Qing scratched her hair vigorously, "ah...headache, it hurts..."

"Who knew you could go from not reacting at all to overreacting all at once, I still think you have a problem..."

"I was in a dream just now, thinking that it was time to get up, but I couldn't get up anyway, so I struggled hard, trying to move my body."