Xu Fugui had not only brought that newspaper along especially, but also told Yun Zhaozhao that the newspaper's food editor was very interested in Clear Breeze Temple's food and wanted to arrange a time to interview Daoist Chang Kong.
A Daoist temple had made the newspaper because of photography, then attracted a food editor who wanted to do a food feature... the way this had developed was bizarre no matter how you looked at it.
Still, bizarre as it was, Yun Zhaozhao thought the outcome was quite good. Especially after Xu Fugui said the food editor's interview would cost nothing extra and would be free publicity, Yun Zhaozhao was even more pleased with the outcome.
To thank Xu Fugui, Yun Zhaozhao gave him not only a bag of hibiscus pastries, but also a piece of unsold smoked cured pork.
Xu Fugui had been very fond of the smoked cured pork ever since eating it on his last visit to Clear Breeze Temple, so he left in high spirits with the pork, even happier than if he had received money. It had to be said that Daoist Chang Kong's cooking was now the only hard currency at Clear Breeze Temple, with a status comparable to gold.
The interview with the food editor was scheduled for a week later.
That gave Yun Zhaozhao and the others a week to prepare.
As this was Clear Breeze Temple's first interview since its reconstruction, Yun Zhaozhao took it quite seriously. Not only did she have a new Daoist robe made especially for Jingting too, but she also organized the first group meeting since Clear Breeze Temple's founding.
The meeting's topic was-how could they leave an exceptionally deep impression on the food editor, so that Clear Breeze Temple could establish its reputation as the pinnacle of fine food in one shot?
Jingting looked utterly sincere. "I'm afraid I can't help with this topic, because the last pinnacle of fine food that left a deep impression on me was Sun Erniang. But she ran a shady inn specializing in human-meat buns."
"..."
Yun Zhaozhao silently turned toward Daoist Chang Kong beside her. "Daoist, let's hear from you."
Daoist Chang Kong looked troubled. "All I know is how to cook. I don't really understand publicity and such, either. Just tell me what to do, and I'll cooperate."
With no other choice, Yun Zhaozhao had to work it out herself.
She had recently been studying Daoist festivals and knew that the eighteenth day of the tenth lunar month was the Earth Mother Goddess's birthday. The Earth Mother Goddess was the deity said to govern yin and yang and nurture all living things. Yun Zhaozhao thought that the goddess's birthday happened to fall close to the scheduled interview with the food editor, so perhaps they could use this festival to hold a grand food offering ceremony at Clear Breeze Temple.
Jingting said, "I know about offering ceremonies. After my master ascended to immortality, I went down the mountain to prepare the things needed for offerings to him, and that was why someone forcibly demolished my home."
Yun Zhaozhao said, "..."
Daoist Chang Kong said, "I'm familiar with offering ceremonies. After all, I attended quite a few at other Daoist temples before, and my master once punished me severely for sneaking food from the offerings."
Yun Zhaozhao said, "..."
Yun Zhaozhao mentioned Clear Breeze Temple's plan to hold an offering festival to the food editor, who was indeed very interested.
Since they were holding an offering ceremony, they naturally had to prepare food for the offerings. Yun Zhaozhao felt that ordinary ceremonial food would not be eye-catching enough, so she hoped Daoist Chang Kong could prepare something a little more special.
Daoist Chang Kong thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll make five-colored rice and five-colored cakes for the staples! They'll symbolize bountiful harvests of the five grains and the five blessings arriving at the door."
Yun Zhaozhao said, "That works. Besides making outstanding food, our plating and presentation have to stand out too. I have an idea. Have a listen and see if it's feasible..."
The two put their heads together for a long discussion and finally finished planning all the food they would need on the day of the offering festival.
And since it was an offering ceremony, they would certainly need some extras there besides the food.
A little over a month ago, Clear Breeze Temple would definitely have had to pay to bring in extras. But things were different now. Clear Breeze Temple now had a small, steady customer base, including Xu Fugui, Mrs. Wang, Zhao Yumei, and the others.
When Yun Zhaozhao told them that Clear Breeze Temple was holding an offering festival, she received an enthusiastic response from the masses, just as expected.
Mrs. Wang said, "Don't worry, I'll definitely be there that day. If my husband's free, I'll have him come with me."
Zhao Yumei said, "I'll go too. I'll bring my mother and my son."
Xu Fugui said, "There'll be good food, right? Then I'll bring all my old friends from our photography group."
Yun Zhaozhao listened with a gratified expression. Look, just look! These were Clear Breeze Temple's first loyal believers! And they were the purest group of believers in history, seeking neither wealth nor fame, only a bite of good food. Was there any group in the world purer than foodies?
As soon as Lawyer Wang got off work that day, Mrs. Wang told him she was going to Clear Breeze Temple's offering festival and said she hoped he could go with her.
Lawyer Wang was normally busy with work. At first, when he heard the name "Clear Breeze Temple," he did not even connect it with Yun Zhaozhao's temple. Once he realized, he was rather surprised himself. "...The temple's doing that well now? They're even holding an offering festival?"
Mrs. Wang said, "The offering festival is just a hook. You can also think of it as Clear Breeze Temple's first food festival."
Lawyer Wang said, "..."
Soon, the day of Clear Breeze Temple's first food festival... no, offering festival arrived.
Jingting got up early and carefully cleaned Clear Breeze Temple all over again, even though it was already spotless.
Breakfast at Clear Breeze Temple began with a bowl of wonton noodles.
The thin, hand-rolled noodles were blanched in a hot pot, lifted out and drained, then placed in Daoist Chang Kong's secret broth. A few plump wontons were added, followed by a drizzle of sesame oil, a sprinkling of minced scallion, ginger, and garlic according to personal taste, and a spoonful of chili oil.
The bowl instantly became a dyehouse, brilliant red, tender green, snowy white... all sorts of colors gathered together. One mouthful was fragrant, spicy, fresh, and vibrant, enough to awaken the taste buds instantly.
Daoist Chang Kong had barely slept the night before, because many ingredients needed advance preparation. After all, meat had to be braised, fish had to be fried, and even the chickens had to be processed on-site... Only after a bowl of piping-hot, spicy wonton noodles was in his stomach did he barely manage to summon a little energy.
Yun Zhaozhao was tired too. She had been busy decorating Clear Breeze Temple the night before and had hardly slept well either. Besides, this was Clear Breeze Temple's first time holding such a grand, elaborate offering ceremony, and she was nervous too, which made it even harder to sleep.
The offering ceremony was scheduled for the si and wu hours, between nine in the morning and one in the afternoon. The first to arrive was the food editor, Qin Yajun. As a new editor at the newspaper, when Qin Yajun had submitted Clear Breeze Temple's offering festival as a food feature topic, the senior editor mentoring her had not really approved.
However, since there was no better topic available as a last-minute replacement, her mentor had ultimately agreed to let Qin Yajun come and give it a try.
Qin Yajun herself was full of confidence in the topic, because she and Xu Fugui were friends despite their age difference, and she had heard plenty about Clear Breeze Temple from him. Xu Fugui had praised the temple's food so lavishly that flowers might have rained from the heavens, so Qin Yajun felt it was well worth a try.
Besides, an offering festival at a Daoist temple-it sounded special already.
As it turned out, the scene was indeed very special. As soon as Qin Yajun entered the offering ceremony grounds at Clear Breeze Temple, she saw an enormous cake standing right in the middle of the courtyard.
The cake bloomed in the courtyard's center like a brilliantly colored flower. Its outermost rings were red, followed in turn by yellow, purple, green, and white.
Since the person Qin Yajun was interviewing today was Daoist Chang Kong, Yun Zhaozhao had also left the task of receiving her to him.
Daoist Chang Kong explained to Qin Yajun, "This is the five-colored cake. There's no added coloring. It's all made by extracting the natural colors from food and then using them to make the cakes."
Qin Yajun could not help exclaiming, "It's beautiful."
Daoist Chang Kong waved a hand with reserved pride. "This is nothing. Let me show you something special."
Daoist Chang Kong led Qin Yajun to the offering altar. By now, the altar was covered with a dazzling array of food, with a pot of bamboo right in the center. In fact, very few people placed bamboo on offering altars; they generally used flowers, so Qin Yajun's gaze was easily drawn to that pot of bamboo.
Then, the more Qin Yajun looked, the more intrigued she became.
Because what filled the pot beneath that bamboo was not soil at all, but glutinous rice. Like the flower cake Qin Yajun had just seen, the glutinous rice came in five colors.
Qin Yajun told Daoist Chang Kong what she had discovered. "I see it now. That flowerpot isn't filled with soil, but five-colored glutinous rice."
Daoist Chang Kong said with a beaming smile, "Actually, it's not just the 'soil' in this flowerpot that's edible five-colored glutinous rice. Even the flowerpot and the little bamboo planted in these flowerpots are edible food. I carved the bamboo from cucumbers and made the flowerpot from chocolate."
Qin Yajun said, "..." Impressive, my Daoist.
The elderly photography dream team led by Xu Fugui was the second group to arrive, after Qin Yajun. When Xu Fugui arrived, he happened to hear Daoist Chang Kong introducing the edible flowerpot and bamboo to Qin Yajun. His gaze wandered over to the offering altar, which was the same color as the flowerpot, and he asked Daoist Chang Kong very seriously, "Daoist, don't tell me this offering altar is edible too?"
Daoist Chang Kong said, "Under normal circumstances, no. But if your teeth are good and you truly want to eat it, it's not beyond discussion."
Xu Fugui said, "..."
Mrs. Wang arrived rather late that day. The offering ceremony was nearly halfway through before she and Lawyer Wang finally appeared.
It was not really her fault. The main reason was that Lawyer Wang had taken a business call just before they left, making them late.
Since Lawyer Wang had caused the last-minute hitch, Mrs. Wang had not shown him a pleasant face the entire way to Clear Breeze Temple. Even after entering the temple, she strode ahead on her own, swinging her arms, leaving Lawyer Wang trotting eagerly behind her.