Five thousand! That was a whole five thousand yuan! It was almost enough to cover her food expenses for an entire semester.
Xie Yu was beside herself with excitement. She immediately shared the good news with Yun Zhaozhao and said she wanted to stock up on another batch of blind boxes right away to sell to this relative.
Yun Zhaozhao was happy for Xie Yu, of course, but she could not help reminding her, "Some things are valuable because they're scarce. If you give this relative too many talisman tube blind boxes at once, she'll think they're something she can get whenever she wants, and then she'll start wondering whether she got ripped off before. Besides, she gave you five thousand the first time because her sudden windfall went to her head. There's absolutely no way she'll pay that much a second time. So I think you should quit while you're ahead for now. In the meantime, though, you can spread the word among the people around you. Tell them a relative bought one of our Clear Breeze Temple's talisman tube blind boxes and got a Sudden Wealth Talisman, and then, before she knew it, her home was slated for demolition..."
One good thing about Xie Yu was that she listened to advice. She did exactly what Yun Zhaozhao told her.
In fact, she did not even need to put much effort into promoting them. Her home county town was only so big, and that relative whose home was being demolished had probably done plenty of showing off. During this time, all sorts of relatives and friends, both people she knew and people she did not, came to ask Xie Yu about Clear Breeze Temple's talisman tube blind boxes without her having to promote them at all.
Xie Yu did not say she could bring any back, nor did she say she could not. She only said she would go to Clear Breeze Temple and ask when she had time after the New Year.
Yet the more noncommittal Xie Yu was, the more everyone felt they needed to secure theirs early. So before Xie Yu had even picked up a single talisman tube blind box, people had already forced a whole batch of deposits on her.
Xie Yu told not only Yun Zhaozhao about selling the talisman tube blind box, but Xu Tingting as well.
Although Xu Tingting and Xie Yu had been roommates, they had never been particularly close. Now, perhaps because graduation was approaching and they were selling talisman tube blind boxes together, they were growing closer and closer.
So after hearing about Xie Yu's success, Xu Tingting decided to recommend them to the people around her too.
She did not have relatives like Xie Yu's who might suddenly get rich from demolition compensation at any moment, but she did have a few relatives who loved fishing. Her older cousin's husband, for example.
And her cousin's husband particularly enjoyed night fishing.
Her cousin often got angry with him over this, not for any other reason, but simply because she worried about him being out so late at night.
Xu Tingting went to her cousin and told her about Xie Yu's relative getting rich overnight because of a talisman tube blind box. Then she said frankly, "The getting-rich-overnight part was most likely a coincidence, but this is a talisman, after all. Maybe it really can ward off evil or something. Why don't you buy one for your husband? Think of it as paying for peace of mind."
Her cousin thought that made sense. Besides, it was not expensive, only a few dozen yuan, so she really did buy one and take it home for her husband.
When Xu Tingting's cousin's husband received the talisman tube, he inwardly scoffed at it. He was a young man of the modern age, and he dared to go fishing alone by the river in the middle of the night. Naturally, he did not believe in such things.
Still, to put his wife's mind at ease, he did take the talisman tube blind box along when he went night fishing by the river that evening.
Whether it was a coincidence or not, he usually might not catch even one big fish in an entire night, but that night, he fished all night and caught three whole ones. Xu Tingting's cousin's husband was so delighted that he not only delivered a big fish to Xu Tingting's home the next day, but also lavished praise on Clear Breeze Temple's talisman tube blind box.
Looking at the big fish, Xu Tingting could not help marveling: there really was something mystical about these talisman tube blind boxes.
One of the dishes at Xu Tingting's family's New Year's Eve dinner was that big crucian carp her cousin's husband had caught himself.
Meanwhile, there was also a fish dish on Clear Breeze Temple's New Year's Eve dinner table.
Theirs, however, was squirrel-shaped mandarin fish.
Daoist Chang Kong had made this dish especially for Yun Zhaozhao, because she liked it.
Lin Banxia did not stay to spend New Year's Eve with everyone that day. She had gone home to keep her grandfather company and would not return until early on New Year's Day. Yun Zhaozhao had actually considered going home for the New Year too, but if she left, only Daoist Chang Kong and Jingting would remain at Clear Breeze Temple. That would be far too lonely. So, for their sake, Yun Zhaozhao ultimately chose to stay.
Fortunately, Daoist Chang Kong did not let Yun Zhaozhao go without. Besides the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, he brought out the meatballs he had fried earlier, the chrysanthemum tofu he had made, and all sorts of other delicious dishes, one after another.
In terms of the variety of dishes alone, this table was far more lavish than Yun Zhaozhao's New Year's Eve dinner at home.
And besides the table full of dishes, Daoist Chang Kong also served some peach wine he had recently brewed.
Yun Zhaozhao had already thought the hawthorn wine Daoist Chang Kong brewed before was quite good, but this peach wine tasted even better. Of course, that might also have been because she liked peaches. In any case, to her, it tasted much like a peach-flavored drink, wonderfully fresh, fragrant, and sweet, filling her mouth with the taste of peaches.
The biggest drawback of drinking this sort of sweet wine was that you did not realize you had drunk too much until you noticed you were already a little tipsy.
At any rate, Yun Zhaozhao did drink a little too much that evening.
Then, with that slight tipsiness, she spent the whole night having sweet dreams.
The next morning, New Year's Day, Yun Zhaozhao was woken by the clamor outside Clear Breeze Temple.
The babble sounded as though hundreds or even thousands of people had crowded into Clear Breeze Temple all at once.
Worried that something had happened, Yun Zhaozhao did not even stop to change her shoes. After changing her clothes, she hastily slipped on a pair of padded slippers and headed outside.
But just as she reached the doorway, she ran straight into Jingting, who had come to find her.
Yun Zhaozhao hurriedly asked, "What's going on? Why does it sound like there are so many people outside?"
Jingting spread his hands. "It doesn't just sound like there are lots of people. There really are. But that's normal. Lots of places have a custom of competing to offer the first incense on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month, after all. Today is New Year's Day, so it's normal to have a few more people than usual."
There was indeed such a custom. Never mind New Year's Day-even on the first and fifteenth of other months, the Daoist temple would have slightly more visitors than usual. But New Year's Day was an important occasion, and worshippers willing to get up early and come to a temple to offer the first incense surely took the day very seriously. They would naturally head for a large Daoist temple like True Yang Temple or some other major temple. Why would they come to a little Daoist temple like Clear Breeze Temple?
Faced with Yun Zhaozhao's puzzlement, Jingting said casually, "Who knows? It is strange, though. A lot of these people seem to know one another. From what I've heard them chatting about, it all seems to have something to do with Ji County."
Ji County?
That place name seemed awfully familiar.
Yun Zhaozhao thought for a long while, then suddenly slapped her thigh in realization. Well, would you look at that! It's probably that group of Xie Yu's relatives getting demolition compensation, coming all the way from their hometown. This heaven-sent fortune has finally come to Clear Breeze Temple for once.
Now that she knew where this huge crowd had come from, Yun Zhaozhao was no longer in a hurry. She turned back to wash up and make herself presentable before leading Daoist Chang Kong and Daoist Priest Jingting to the front courtyard to receive them.
In Yun Zhaozhao's hometown, there was not only a custom of competing to offer the first incense on New Year's Day, but also one of wearing new clothes. So that day, not only she herself but Daoist Chang Kong and Jingting too had changed into new Daoist robes.
Yun Zhaozhao was beautiful, and even in simple, understated attire, she looked striking. Once Daoist Chang Kong and Jingting had dressed up, they were quite good-looking too. So when the three appeared, everyone present felt that although Clear Breeze Temple looked small, it seemed quite legitimate.
The person who had organized this visit to Clear Breeze Temple to offer the first incense was Xie Yu's aunt, whose surname was also Xie. Aunt Xie had come partly to offer the first incense for an auspicious start, and partly to see what Clear Breeze Temple was really like.
Of course, if she could also ask a master to tell her fortune, that would be even better.
Of the three, Daoist Chang Kong looked the most like a master. So after offering her incense, Aunt Xie headed straight for him.
Then she pressed her palms together and bowed with great reverence. "Master, sorry for the trouble, but could you tell my fortune? I..."
Without waiting for Aunt Xie to finish, Daoist Chang Kong calmly pushed Yun Zhaozhao forward. "Fortune-telling? I don't know how to do that. Please ask our temple master!"
Yun Zhaozhao: "..."
Aunt Xie: "..."
Although Aunt Xie privately felt that someone as young as Yun Zhaozhao hardly looked like a master, much less someone who could tell fortunes, since Daoist Chang Kong had said so, she decided to give it a try. She continued, "Then, Temple Master, sorry for the trouble, but please tell me how my luck will be from here on."
Yun Zhaozhao bit the bullet. "I'm actually not very good at fortune-telling either, but if I'm not mistaken, you were born with a destiny of wealth and prosperity. Your demolition compensation should be coming through soon, after all?"
Aunt Xie: "...!!!!"
The villagers from the village slated for demolition standing nearby: "..." And you say you can't tell fortunes? You even figured out something as specific as the demolition compensation.
Chapter 22
After telling Aunt Xie about her destiny of wealth and prosperity, Yun Zhaozhao did not dare linger for even another second. Almost immediately, she found an excuse and slipped back to the rear courtyard.
Are you kidding? She did not dare stay any longer. What if someone else there asked her to tell their fortune? She could not be lucky enough to get an "open-book exam" like that every time.
Fortunately, the villagers from the village slated for demolition did not pay much attention to whether Yun Zhaozhao stayed or left. They were all still caught up in their shock that a master really was a master, and that one truly could not judge a person by appearances.
Never mind those villagers-even Jingting and Daoist Chang Kong, who knew Yun Zhaozhao best, could not help showing some surprise at the skill she had just displayed.
Jingting even could not resist quietly asking Daoist Chang Kong, "Has our temple master mastered the divine art of fortune-telling in thirty days?"