Paint the Moon!

"Both are guests upon the stage..."

Wang Fu muttered the words, momentarily lost in thought.

Across from him, big beauty Chi Baixiu's gaze turned strange as she looked at the young monk with utter admiration, little stars lighting up in her eyes.

"Husband, you're amazing!"

"Hmm?!" Wang Fu shot her a surprised sideways glance.

It was not that he found the form of address strange. Over the past year, he had heard it more times than he could count.

He simply had not expected Chi Baixiu, who looked so burly and rough-hewn, to instantly grasp the Zen meaning in the master's words.

"Senior Chi, I am truly dull-witted. Could you enlighten me?"

Wang Fu respectfully cupped his hands, his face full of thirst for knowledge.

However...

"Why are you looking at me? I don't understand it either!"

The stars still glittered in Chi Baixiu's eyes as she said matter-of-factly:

"A lofty tune finds few who can join in. My husband's Zen meaning is profound and abstruse; it's perfectly normal not to understand it."

"I... I..."

Wang Fu opened his mouth. Usually so smooth and worldly, he did not know how to respond at this moment.

"Benefactor, you misunderstand. Little Monk's words contain no profound principle, only their literal meaning."

Suixin extended one finger, pointing at Wang Fu, then at himself, and smiled gently.

"Upon this stage, you are an actor, and so am I."

"A stage? An actor?"

Wang Fu looked even more bewildered. He glanced at the audience seats beneath his feet, then toward the stage in the distance, asking in confusion:

"Master, I'm clearly the manager..."

"Benefactor, there is no need to cling to it."

Suixin gently shook his head, an invisible power in his smile soothing away restlessness.

"One day, you will understand."

Suddenly,

"Husband, I understand!"