"Being a
slacker at a Taoist temple
"Author: Gu Wuhen [completed]
Synopsis:
Through a twist of fate, Yun Zhaozhao became the heir to a small Taoist temple.
The little temple was dilapidated and dirt-poor. Most importantly, Yun Zhaozhao could neither catch ghosts nor tell fortunes or draw talismans, much less assess feng shui for people...
Yun Zhaozhao: ...Forget it. I'll just lie flat and let it rot! At least I have somewhere to live.
In her first month of lying flat, Yun Zhaozhao's temple welcomed its first Taoist priest. This priest had no skills whatsoever, but he was an exceptional cook, so the temple's dining hall somehow became a hit.
In her second month of lying flat, Yun Zhaozhao's temple welcomed its second Taoist priest. This priest had no skills whatsoever, but he was exceptional at cursing people out, so the temple's proxy-cursing service somehow became a hit...
Yun Zhaozhao: This is one unusual path to leveling up a Taoist temple!
Please bookmark my next novel, "I Was a Women's Director in the Eighties."
There were two brothers in Little Jiang Village.
The older brother was called Jiang He. He looked fierce and had a cold personality. Even the village's vicious dogs had to tuck their tails between their legs around him.
The younger brother was called Jiang Huai. He was handsome and had a good personality, too. Everyone in the village, from ninety-nine-year-olds to toddlers who had just learned to walk, couldn't help wanting to get a little closer to him.
As the prettiest girl in Little Jiang Village, and the one with the highest aspirations, Jiang Xiaoguo had always believed that she would either never marry, or, if she did, she would definitely marry a man as handsome and good-natured as Jiang Huai.
But to her surprise, she opened her eyes one day to find herself with two new identities:
First, Little Jiang Village's first women's director.
Second, Mrs. Jiang-yes, Jiang He's wife.
Jiang Xiaoguo: ...Well, well! Life really is interesting.
Content tags: fantasy
space
feel-good fiction
leveling up, mysticism
lighthearted
Main characters: Yun Zhaozhao, Wen Xu
One-line synopsis: An unusual path to leveling up a Taoist temple.
Theme: Never abandon, never give up.
Chapter 1
Standing at the entrance to Clear Breeze Temple, Yun Zhaozhao tilted her face up to look at the dilapidated Taoist temple above the steps and sighed for the hundredth time that day.
Honestly, if she hadn't become its heir through a twist of fate, Yun Zhaozhao would never even have known that such a tiny Taoist temple lay hidden in a corner of the city where she had lived for years.
The story of Yun Zhaozhao's connection to this temple began half a year earlier.
Half a year earlier, Yun Zhaozhao had just graduated from university.
Since graduation had left her unemployed, Yun Zhaozhao temporarily stayed with a distant relative. This relative was an elderly woman with no children or husband, all alone in the world.
Yun Zhaozhao lived with the old lady for six months. She had thought she would soon find a job and move out, but before she could find work, the old lady unexpectedly died after a fall. Before she passed away, she left a will stipulating that the home where Yun Zhaozhao was staying should be donated.
Perhaps mindful that donating the house would leave Yun Zhaozhao completely homeless, the old lady had thoughtfully arranged a new place for her to go: the place called "Clear Breeze Temple" that now stood before her.
Although Yun Zhaozhao had prepared herself before coming, knowing the temple might not be particularly nice, she really hadn't expected it to be this bad.
The entire temple had only a tiny entrance, wide enough for two people at most to enter together. If one of them was even a little overweight, squeezing through would probably be a struggle. Due to a lack of upkeep, the words "Clear Breeze" on the temple's sign had faded and lost their paint. Along with the unswept fallen leaves on the steps and a plastic garbage bag that had blown into a corner from who knew where, it made Yun Zhaozhao ask herself: Am I really going to live in this place that's practically a real-life haunted house?
But after taking out her phone and checking her bank balance, Yun Zhaozhao quickly abandoned the idea of renting a place elsewhere and consoled herself. "...This temple might be a little run-down, but at least there's no rent! And there's no landlord telling me what to do, either. It's fine. It's fine!"
With that thought, Yun Zhaozhao finally picked up her suitcase with determination and climbed the steps into Clear Breeze Temple, one at a time.
The inside of Clear Breeze Temple wasn't much better than the outside.
The first thing she saw upon entering was a small pond. Its water was green and even gave off a faint stench. Behind the pond stood a stone wall carved with murals and the name of Clear Breeze Temple.
The temple's name was carved in strong, forceful strokes that seemed to penetrate the stone, looking rather freer and more fluid than the lettering on the sign outside. Apart from the large characters spelling out Clear Breeze Temple, a closer look revealed a line of smaller characters beneath the name-the clear, subtle breeze nurtures all things.
Yun Zhaozhao thought this was probably where Clear Breeze Temple had gotten its name.
Up the steps to the right of the pond, through the second temple gate, was a place for burning incense and praying for blessings. Clearly, no worshippers had come here to burn incense or pray for a very, very long time. Not only was the courtyard covered in dead branches and fallen leaves, but even the incense burner was full of moldy incense and candles.
Without taking the time to look closely, Yun Zhaozhao continued inside. At last, she reached the very back of the temple, where the priests' living quarters had been.
They were called living quarters, but in reality, they were just three tile-roofed rooms. There was nothing inside but dirt and dust, though at least there were two empty bed frames standing against a wall.
Looking at the two empty bed frames, Yun Zhaozhao couldn't help feeling secretly relieved. Good thing I didn't throw away my bedding and quilts when I moved, or I'd have to sleep on these two bare bed frames tonight.
Since Yun Zhaozhao had nowhere else to go anyway, she simply settled into Clear Breeze Temple for the time being. Whenever she had nothing to do, she spent some time cleaning the temple, throwing out what needed throwing out and tidying what needed tidying.
During this time, she also made a trip to the Taoist Association and, using the documents the old lady had previously signed for her, had herself registered as the temple's heir.
With that, Yun Zhaozhao could count herself among the property owners!
Although Yun Zhaozhao had no job and very little money, the moment she obtained the right to inherit the temple, she still went to a service center and arranged to have an internet connection installed. There was no helping it-even living in a Taoist temple, a modern person still couldn't do without the internet.
With somewhere to live and even an internet connection, Yun Zhaozhao felt she could survive in these remote, wooded mountains. Even if she still couldn't find work, she felt she could at least scrape by for another six months.
But a phone call soon put an end to Yun Zhaozhao's plans to keep scraping by.
The caller was the old lady's lawyer, whose surname was Zhang. Over the phone, Lawyer Zhang told Yun Zhaozhao that the old lady had left her not only this temple, but also a sum of money. However, there were conditions if Yun Zhaozhao wanted to receive it.
"What conditions?" Yun Zhaozhao asked curiously.
The lawyer said, "Make Clear Breeze Temple bigger and stronger."
Yun Zhaozhao: "..."
Yun Zhaozhao said, "Actually, I think money is just a worldly possession. You can't bring it into this world or take it with you when you die. I could take it or leave it..."
Lawyer Zhang said, "Are you sure? It's a whole million yuan, you know~ Besides, the temple is actually in debt right now. If you don't make it bigger and stronger and inherit this money from the old lady, you'll have to earn the money to repay its existing debts yourself as its current abbot."
Yun Zhaozhao felt her vision go dark.
So this temple didn't just look dilapidated and dirt-poor. It really was dirt-poor, and it even owed money?
No wonder the old lady had been kind enough to give her this temple. All along, she'd just wanted Yun Zhaozhao to be the sucker left holding the bag!
Only later did Yun Zhaozhao learn that the old lady had believed in Taoism her whole life and had put practically all her savings into the development and construction of Clear Breeze Temple. Unfortunately, in recent years, many people sought wealth and few sought immortality or the Dao. With the old lady also growing too old to devote enough energy to it, her wish to rebuild Clear Breeze Temple had never come true. Her greatest wish before she died had been to restore the temple to its former glory.
According to Yun Zhaozhao's agreement with Lawyer Wang, he would provide her with around one hundred thousand yuan in startup funding. Yun Zhaozhao could use this money to rebuild Clear Breeze Temple herself, or recruit people to expand the scope of its services. Apart from paying off the temple's existing debts, Yun Zhouzhou could withdraw and use any money she earned as she pleased. As for the final reward of one million yuan, that was an additional payment for Yun Zhaozhao, separate from the startup funding.
However, this startup funding would not be handed over to Yun Zhaozhao all at once. It would be deposited into her account in installments at different times. Each time Yun Zhaozhao completed a goal, she would receive the next installment.
Yun Zhaozhao said, "Why make it so complicated? Can't you just give me the whole hundred thousand at once? Is there really not even that much trust between people?"
The lawyer said, "No. Otherwise, what would be the point of my profession?"
Yun Zhaozhao: "..."
Yun Zhaozhao hadn't lost any sleep on her first night after moving in, but on the day she signed the agreement with the lawyer, she suffered a rare bout of insomnia.
One moment, she was thinking about the million yuan she might have in the future; the next, she was thinking about the debts she had inexplicably taken on for Clear Breeze Temple. She felt as though she were constantly bouncing between being penniless and being a millionaire, leaving her tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep.
Deep down, Yun Zhaozhao knew perfectly well that she should, and must, make Clear Breeze Temple bigger and stronger. After all, she was penniless and unemployed. If she didn't make the temple bigger and stronger, when would she ever be able to pay off its debts?
Besides, as long as she made Clear Breeze Temple bigger and stronger, she could not only earn money through it, but even receive the million yuan in cash left to her in the old lady's will.
The problem was, how could she make Clear Breeze Temple bigger and stronger?
As the abbot of a Taoist temple, Yun Zhaozhao couldn't catch ghosts, couldn't tell fortunes or draw talismans, and couldn't assess feng shui for people...
Yun Zhaozhao: ...Forget it. Better to just lie flat and let it rot!
Yun Zhaozhao spent another three days being a slacker and lying flat in the temple. Seeing that she would soon starve to death if she kept this up, she finally struggled to her feet and posted the first recruitment ad of her life on a job website: