Xu Tingting: "...!!!!!" My life is over!
Yun Zhaozhao did not give Xu Tingting a hard time. Instead, she politely invited her and her classmates into the dining hall.
Why the dining hall rather than a reception room? Because Qingfeng Park did not have a reception room yet. There were a few empty rooms, but none had been furnished yet. Unlike those rooms, the dining hall was cleaned every day and occasionally had visitors come up for meals, so it was always ready to receive guests.
Not only did Yun Zhaozhao invite them into the dining hall, but she also thoughtfully prepared pastries and tea for them before asking Xu Tingting with a smile, "May I ask how you arrived at the conclusion that our Clear Breeze Temple is a fraud ring?"
Xu Tingting was actually feeling terribly guilty by then, but she still plucked up the courage to explain the basis for her judgment. "Isn't that what everyone says online? A lot of scammers try every possible way to cheat elderly people out of their money. First, they give them a little taste of something good, then they start tricking them into buying all sorts of things and health supplements..."
Yun Zhaozhao had no reply.
Because, put that way, the path Clear Breeze Temple had taken really did bear some resemblance to the fraud rings Xu Tingting had described.
Still, fraud was no minor accusation, and Yun Zhaozhao certainly could not bear that charge. She therefore very earnestly dug out all of Clear Breeze Temple's supporting documents for Xu Tingting and the others to inspect, proving that this really was a proper Taoist temple, complete with the requisite qualifications for establishing a temple and a full set of legal documents.
Yun Zhaozhao said, "If you don't believe we're a legitimate Taoist temple, I can even get a lawyer to come over and vouch for me."
Yun Zhaozhao was so sincere that Xu Tingting herself grew embarrassed. "No need, no need... I was really just making wild guesses. Since the misunderstanding's cleared up now, we'll head back."
Yun Zhaozhao urged them to stay. "Since you're already here, why not try our specialty pastries? Don't worry, these are free samples. They won't cost you anything."
Upon hearing that they were free samples, Xu Tingting was still hesitating, but several classmates beside her had already reached out.
There was no helping it. At certain moments, university students really were that simple and unguarded.
What Yun Zhaozhao offered Xu Tingting and the others this time was a new product Daoist Chang Kong had made over the past two days-hawthorn cake. It used the wild hawthorns left over from their recent winemaking.
The ginkgo cake was yellow, the hibiscus pastries were pink, and this hawthorn cake was a brilliant red. Ordinary hawthorn cakes tended to be sour; even a great deal of sugar could not conceal the hawthorn's own tartness, so people who disliked sour foods might keep their distance. Daoist Chang Kong had not deliberately tried to mask the hawthorn's tartness either, but he had specially coated the outside with a layer of sugar frosting.
When a whole piece went into the mouth, the hawthorn's tartness and the frosting's sweetness instantly filled it-a sweetness with a hint of sourness, like first love.
And so Daoist Chang Kong had named this dessert "First Love Cake."
Xu Tingting did not know how other people thought, but as far as she was concerned, if a dessert was purely sweet, she felt she would definitely gain weight after eating it. If there was a little sourness amid the sweetness, however, she considered it very healthy food.
That was why she liked ordering passion fruit drinks when she bought milk tea, preferred green apples when she bought fruit, and genuinely liked hawthorn cake when she ate desserts.
In any case, by the end of that day's tasting, Xu Tingting and each of her classmates had somehow bought a portion of First Love Hawthorn Cake to take home.
Only after boarding the bus back to the city did Xu Tingting think in frustration, And they say Clear Breeze Temple isn't a fraud ring. This place is clearly more terrifying than a fraud ring! Other fraud rings use magic attacks, but this place uses food attacks!
What was more, when they left, they had even agreed with Yun Zhaozhao that they would come work part-time at Clear Breeze Temple during their summer and winter holidays.
At that moment, Xu Tingting suddenly understood her father, Xu Fugui. She could not blame him for getting in so deep. The truth was that, these days, not a single person could walk out through Clear Breeze Temple's gates empty-handed!
Only after seeing Xu Tingting and the others off did Yun Zhaozhao remember that she did not seem to have seen Daoist Chang Kong all afternoon.
Who knew what food he was hiding away in the kitchen tinkering with this time!
She happened to be a little hungry herself, so she strolled over to the kitchen.
Sure enough, Daoist Chang Kong was in the kitchen, quietly staring into space at a pile of sugarcane. He had brought this sugarcane back from the market when he went there two days earlier. Lately, he had been mulling over what to make with it, because, as he said, sugarcane was also in season.
Judging by his expression, though, he probably had not yet decided what to do with it.
Yun Zhaozhao suggested, "The weather's about to get cold. We could set up a stove in the courtyard and roast some sugarcane to eat. Failing that, we could juice it. I see everyone selling it that way."
Daoist Chang Kong nodded. "If we can't come up with anything better, we'll just have to sell it that way for now."
As the two of them talked, Jingting sidled over too.
He had originally wanted to ask what Xu Tingting and her group had come for, but upon hearing Yun Zhaozhao and Daoist Chang Kong discussing sugarcane, he suddenly went off-topic. "If hawthorn can be made into First Love Cake, this sugarcane could be made into Scumbag Fruit!"
Yun Zhaozhao said, "...How so?"
Jingting said, "Don't you think sugarcane is the food most like a scumbag? Sweet at first, then nothing but dregs."
Yun Zhaozhao: "..." You know quite a lot for someone so young!
After Jingting finished speaking, Daoist Chang Kong suddenly slapped his thigh. "I've decided what dish to make with the sugarcane."
Yun Zhaozhao and Jingting asked in unison, "What?"
Daoist Chang Kong said, "Sugarcane shrimp. Peel the sugarcane and shave it into little sticks, then thread shrimp onto them and deep-fry them. Paired with a special dipping sauce, they'll be an absolutely unparalleled treat for the taste buds."
Jingting said, "I approve. Scumbags deserve a dunking in boiling oil, after all."
Yun Zhaozhao said, "...We religious folk should still hold compassion in our hearts, so remember to turn the heat up high when you fry them."
Chapter 13
Once the sugarcane shrimp were ready, they quickly joined the ranks of popular dishes at Clear Breeze Temple's dining hall. Together with First Love Hawthorn Cake, they accounted for half of Clear Breeze Temple's December revenue.
Although Clear Breeze Temple stood at the foot of Clear Breeze Mountain, Yun Zhaozhao always felt that the cold arrived earlier here than where she had lived in the city, though she did not know whether that was because the area was so sparsely populated.
Back when she lived in the city, the most she would wear in December was a cashmere sweater under a trench coat. Here at Clear Breeze Temple, however, she had already begun putting on a lightweight down jacket in the mornings and evenings.
Once the weather turned cold, though, the charcoal-roasted sugarcane Yun Zhaozhao had wanted finally had its chance to shine.
As everyone knew, Clear Breeze Temple was a Taoist temple, and a Taoist temple was bound to have more than one incense burner. Clear Breeze Temple had several, including a horizontal one, long and narrow, with openwork sides and a lid on top, made entirely of copper.
Yun Zhaozhao and Jingting spent an afternoon scrubbing this long incense burner spotless, then used it to roast sugarcane and sweet potatoes. Sure enough, they smelled incredibly good.
In any case, before the first batch of roasted sugarcane and sweet potatoes could even go on sale, Clear Breeze Temple's own people had already polished them all off.
As Yun Zhaozhao ate, she did not forget to look toward the future. "Daoist, if we put a barbecue rack across the middle of this incense burner, couldn't we use it for barbecuing too? We might even be able to roast a whole lamb!"
Daoist Chang Kong calmly stopped her. "Beef and lamb are far too expensive these days. Given our current means, I'm afraid we won't be able to afford them for now. If you really want grilled meat, I can grill you a couple of preserved mustard greens and pork flatbreads. Those are cheap, and they turn out fragrant and crispy when grilled. They're delicious too."
Yun Zhaozhao was easily satisfied. "Sure! I'm not picky. Anything's fine."
With roasted sugarcane and sweet potatoes temporarily added to the menu, Clear Breeze Temple now had rather too many different things to sell. Relying on Yun Zhaozhao and the few others really left them feeling stretched too thin. So Yun Zhaozhao posted another job advertisement on a recruitment website. This time, she was not hiring a Taoist priest; she planned to hire a salesperson specifically to handle sales.
As it turned out, recruiting salespeople was far easier than recruiting Taoist priests.
Previously, Yun Zhaozhao had advertised for Taoist priests on the recruitment website for over two months without a single applicant. Even Daoist Chang Kong had not originally come because he had seen her advertisement, but had arrived at Clear Breeze Temple through a recommendation from a Taoist Association staff member.
Yet less than two days after Yun Zhaozhao posted the sales position, three sales applicants came to see her.
Yun Zhaozhao even carefully chose among the three applicants, ultimately selecting a young woman around her own age who already had several years of sales experience. Because she had been born in September, her nickname was Xiaojiu.
With Xiaojiu dedicated to sales, Jingting could focus on cleaning Clear Breeze Temple, while Daoist Chang Kong also had his hands freed up to devote more attention to making food and carving Clear Breeze Temple merchandise.
Everyone had their own duties, making Clear Breeze Temple look orderly and full of thriving prosperity.
Ever since accompanying Mrs. Wang to Clear Breeze Temple's food festival last time, Lawyer Wang had not taken the initiative to contact Yun Zhaozhao again. That day, however, he sent her a message containing an invitation to the Taoist Cultural Exchange Conference.
Yun Zhaozhao: [Taoist Cultural Exchange Conference? What's that?]
Lawyer Wang: [It's a major gathering organized by Taoist organizations. Many Taoist priests, scholars, and experts will attend. The purpose of the conference is to promote the finest aspects of Taoist culture and share Taoist knowledge about health and wellness. I managed to get an invitation for your Clear Breeze Temple too. Go broaden your horizons, and while you're there, ask those outstanding temple abbots for advice and learn from them. After all, Clear Breeze Temple can't keep making selling things its main business forever!]
After hearing what Lawyer Wang had to say, Yun Zhaozhao felt that Granny really had chosen the right person when she found Lawyer Wang to act as her attorney before her death, because he truly was diligent and responsible. So far, Lawyer Wang could be called the only person who had kept trying to guide Clear Breeze Temple onto the proper path. Even Yun Zhaozhao, the abbess herself, had given up and lain flat, yet Lawyer Wang still had not given up.