Daoist Chang Kong: "..." The first two suggestions sounded fairly reasonable, but that last one sounded more outrageous the longer he listened. Even children would want to call the police if they heard it.
But after thinking it over carefully, Daoist Chang Kong decided it really was a good idea. After all, most of the regular visitors to Clear Breeze Temple were elderly men and women. They were usually quite frugal with themselves, but perfectly willing to spend money on the children in their families. Besides, bamboo didn't cost as much as jade or stone, so they could sell the products a little cheaper. Eight or ten yuan wasn't too little, and thirty or fifty wasn't too much!
Once Daoist Chang Kong nodded his approval, Yun Zhaozhao went with Jingting that very day to gather a pile of bamboo leaves and cut down a few bamboo stalks to bring back.
And so, Daoist Chang Kong made food during the day and worked on bamboo carvings in his free time at night.
Yun Zhaozhao and Jingting helped him out.
Before coming to Clear Breeze Temple, Daoist Chang Kong hadn't thought very highly of himself. He felt he had nothing to his name beyond the ability to cook a few tasty dishes. After all, he couldn't do any of the things his fellow disciples could, while the things he could do were, in their eyes, unfit for polite company. What Daoist had ever become famous for making food?
But after coming to Clear Breeze Temple, Daoist Chang Kong suddenly felt he had found his life's worth. At other temples, his food had been something they could take or leave, but at Clear Breeze Temple, it was practically the temple's crowning treasure.
And now he had even developed a new skill beyond cooking. Truly, one learned into old age and lived into old age.
Daoist Chang Kong could carve flowers into radishes and slice tofu into uniformly sized, long, fine threads, so carving designs into bamboo leaves and lettering onto bamboo tubes-tasks that might require considerable skill for an ordinary person-really weren't that difficult for him. He only had to learn a little from videos before he could produce a decent result.
As Yun Zhaozhao requested, he carved scenes from Clear Breeze Temple into the bamboo leaves. The temple's entrance, for example, or its bamboo grove and ancient ginkgo tree... As for the brush holders, besides carving the temple's every blade of grass and tree, every flower and stone, he also made a point of inscribing verses encouraging diligent study.
Things like, "Ten years spent honing a sword, its frosty edge yet untested," and, "Read ten thousand volumes through, and your brush will move as though guided by the gods."
Only then did Yun Zhaozhao discover that Daoist Chang Kong wasn't just an excellent cook. His calligraphy was quite good, too.
Once Clear Breeze Temple's first batch of merchandise was ready, Yun Zhaozhao created a customer group chat for the temple and added all the original customers who had attended its first food festival.
She gave it a fitting name, too: "Clear Breeze Temple First-Generation Shareholders."
The others didn't have much of a reaction, but Xu Fugui was genuinely excited when he saw the name. After all, he had already reached retirement age. Who would have thought he would one day become a shareholder, even if only in name?
Yun Zhaozhao hadn't given the group name much thought. Once she had added everyone, she posted pictures of Daoist Chang Kong's bamboo tubes and bamboo-leaf bookmarks, then took the opportunity to advertise: [Dear shareholders, Daoist Chang Kong has recently made some handicrafts. If you need any, you're welcome to come to Clear Breeze Temple and pick some out.]
Mrs. Wang: [Are they edible?]
Yun Zhaozhao: [...]
Yun Zhaozhao: [...No, they're actual brush holders and bookmarks, made from bamboo and bamboo leaves. If you have children at home, you can buy some as gifts for them.]
Mrs. Wang: [Do you take custom orders? I want one for myself that says "Get rich overnight."]
Once Mrs. Wang got the ball rolling, the others chimed in:
[I want one that says "Eat like crazy without getting fat."]
[I want one that says "Only those who love lying flat will win."]
Yun Zhaozhao smiled: [No problem. We'll take care of all of them.]
Xu Fugui had a son and a daughter. His son had been working for years, but his daughter, Xu Tingting, was still at university.
So Xu Fugui bought his daughter a set of Clear Breeze Temple's brush holder and bookmark, and gave them to her when she came home for the weekend.
At first, his daughter didn't think much of the brush holder and bookmark, assuming they were just little souvenirs her old father had picked up somewhere while out having fun. They looked quite finely made, too, so Xu Tingting even complimented her father a few times.
But when she later saw the "Clear Breeze Temple First-Generation Shareholders" group on Xu Fugui's phone, she couldn't help reading more into it.
Xu Tingting said, "Dad, what's this group about?"
Xu Fugui beamed. "It's Clear Breeze Temple's group! Do you know Clear Breeze Temple? It's inside Qingfeng Park. It's a Daoist temple, but the food they make is especially good. And not just the food-the little things they sell are beautifully made, too. That brush holder and bookmark you just said looked nice? They made those. Look closely, and you'll even see the three little characters for Clear Breeze Temple on them!"
Xu Tingting picked up the brush holder for a look, and sure enough, the three characters for "Clear Breeze Temple" were carved into it.
A Daoist temple that not only sold food but also brush holders and bookmarks-and, most importantly, was even holding some sort of shareholders' meeting.
Xu Tingting pondered this with her wisdom-filled university-student brain and instantly saw the light: Holy crap, could this Clear Breeze Temple be a scam ring?
Chapter 12
The next day, without telling her father Xu Fugui, Xu Tingting secretly rounded up a few classmates and took a taxi to Clear Breeze Temple.
Her plan was a good one. Since she suspected Clear Breeze Temple was a scam ring, she naturally had to investigate first. If she could find solid evidence, she could call the police directly.
As for whether there might be any danger, that wasn't even within this righteous university student's considerations. After all, as long as you believed in the light, you could fight against every evil force!
Of course, although Xu Tingting believed deeply in the power of light, to be on the safe side, she had still specifically invited two sports students from her college to provide an escort.
When Xu Tingting's party of five appeared at Clear Breeze Temple, they stood out quite a bit.
Most of the temple's usual visitors were elderly, and young people like Xu Tingting rarely came. Especially since she had walked through the entrance wearing an expression that practically said, "Look at me, look at me, I'm here to stir things up." So not only did Jingting, who was guarding the temple gates, notice Xu Tingting immediately, even Yun Zhaozhao, lying on her lounge chair, couldn't help giving her a few extra looks.
Yun Zhaozhao and Daoist Chang Kong no longer needed to set up a stall at the entrance to Qingfeng Park, because half the people who came to the park now were there for Clear Breeze Temple. All they needed to do was maintain this little customer base to keep the temple running normally.
So whenever she had nothing to do, Yun Zhaozhao lay at her workstation-her lounge chair-reading, looking at the sky, chatting with the lay devotees coming and going, and sampling Daoist Chang Kong's various dishes along the way.
Life was quite comfortable indeed.
They weren't making much, but Yun Zhaozhao didn't ask for much, either. Her original goal, after all, had merely been to find somewhere to live in this city for free. She was already quite content with her current life, free of worries over food and clothing.
Once people became satisfied with the status quo, they lost the drive to strive for more. At least, that was how Yun Zhaozhao was at present.
So as Xu Tingting and her classmates wandered around Clear Breeze Temple, Yun Zhaozhao's gaze wandered along with them. It was the kindly manner of an idle old village granny watching children frolic outside her door.
Perhaps Yun Zhaozhao's gaze was a little too friendly and loving, or perhaps it was because she was currently the only woman in Clear Breeze Temple. In any case, after wandering around for quite some time, Xu Tingting actually took the initiative to sit down on the steps beside her.
Seeing that Xu Tingting looked as though she wanted to say something but was holding back, Yun Zhaozhao couldn't resist greeting her warmly. "What's up? Need something?"
Xu Tingting looked around warily, then lowered her voice. "Are you a Daoist at Clear Breeze Temple?"
Yun Zhaozhao said, "I'm not a Daoist! I'm..."
Before she could get out the words "the temple master here," Xu Tingting interrupted her excitedly. "That's great! There's something I want to ask you about. Don't you think there's something really strange about this Clear Breeze Temple?"
Now that she had brought this up, Yun Zhaozhao was wide awake. "Absolutely! This place is so strange, you couldn't find another Daoist temple this strange anywhere in the world, past or present."
Xu Tingting felt as though she had found a kindred spirit. "Right? You think it's strange, too, don't you? I just looked around, and there are actually only two Daoists in the entire temple. And don't you think neither of them looks like a good person? One's so fat, and the other's so thin..."
Yun Zhaozhao reserved judgment on that. "Well, although I do think this temple is strange, judging people by their appearance isn't really a good thing."
Xu Tingting continued on her own. "...Of course, that's not the point. The point is, I heard this temple started out selling pastries, and now it's selling bamboo tubes and bookmarks. It's a perfectly good Daoist temple, but instead of thinking about chanting scriptures, praying for blessings, subduing demons, and vanquishing evil, all it thinks about every day is doing business. Do you think it's possible that it isn't a proper Daoist temple at all, but..."
Xu Tingting had even piqued Yun Zhaozhao's curiosity. She couldn't help leaning closer and asking quietly, "But what?"
Xu Tingting dropped a bombshell. "Do you think it might be a scam ring's den?"
Yun Zhaozhao sighed, looked silently at Xu Tingting for a good while, then said slowly, "...Young lady, thank you for thinking so highly of Clear Breeze Temple. Let's introduce ourselves properly. Although I'm not a Daoist at this temple, I am its temple master."
For a moment, Xu Tingting failed to process this. "...Huh? What do you mean?"
Yun Zhaozhao said, "It means I'm the ringleader of this scam ring you're talking about. Congratulations, young comrade. You've gone undercover all the way to the boss's side."