Although Lin Banxia had offered the little girl advice, she still had her wits about her, so afterward, she could not help stressing, "You're still young. Just scare your grandma a little. Don't actually prick her. People who are especially cruel to others usually treasure their own lives. You don't even need to prick her. Just act like you're going to, and she'll behave next time... If she gets angry and calls you unfilial, cry as hard as you can. Don't cry inside the house. Run straight to the front gate and cry there. The more people there are, the louder you should cry. If anyone asks, tell them your grandma keeps trying to kill you, and you only wanted to prick her with a needle to find out whether she's really your grandma. That's all..."
Lin Banxia's combination of moves sounded strange at first, but the more one thought about it, the more sense it made. After all, children did odd things. People could understand that.
Besides, this really did need to become a public fuss. Otherwise, the little girl's parents alone would not be able to protect her properly.
When Jingting livestreamed alone before, he had mostly just enjoyed running his mouth. Now, with Lin Banxia joining him, he was like a tiger given wings. In any case, the little girl asking for help soon said she knew what to do.
Since this was Lin Banxia's first livestream and her first time giving someone advice, she was very concerned about how things would turn out. After the stream ended, she even sent the little girl a private message, telling her to get in touch whenever anything happened.
The little girl had dared to ask strangers online for help at such a young age, which showed that she had a mind of her own. So when her grandmother once again hid mango, which she was allergic to, in some yogurt and secretly handed it to her, she put Lin Banxia's plan straight into action.
And she carried it out even more thoroughly than Lin Banxia had planned.
First, she overturned the container of yogurt, splashing it all over her grandmother. Then, amid the chaos, she ran back to her room and fetched a long embroidery needle, saying she was going to let some of her grandmother's blood.
Sure enough, her grandmother went wild with fright. But once someone stopped the little girl, her grandmother began wailing about the family's misfortune and her unfilial descendants...
Normally, when her grandmother deployed this trump card, everyone would smooth things over. Even the little girl's parents would have nothing to say. After all, nobody wanted to be branded unfilial.
But this time, as soon as her grandmother began making a scene, the little girl cried even louder. "Waaah... Why are everyone else's grandmas so nice? They save all the good food and drinks for their granddaughters, but mine keeps trying to poison me... Boo-hoo, I just want to know if I'm really this family's child... Boo-hoo, Grandma, do you favor boys over girls? Are you trying to kill me so you can force my mom to have a grandson for you?"
These accusations, coming one after another, caught her grandmother completely off guard. By the end, she had even forgotten to cry. She merely pointed a trembling finger at the little girl and kept shouting, "...You're talking nonsense! You're talking nonsense!"
The little girl threw herself even further into her tearful performance. "Grandma-such a loving word, but such a vicious heart!"
All of this came from the little girl's spoken account, but Lin Banxia could vividly imagine the chaos. Amused as she was, she could not help asking about the outcome. "And then? What happened next?"
The little girl said, "Then my dad completely blew up. He said that if Grandma ever caused another allergic reaction, he'd never acknowledge her as his mother again. Anyway, things have worked out pretty well for now. Thanks!"
Lin Banxia said, "No need to thank us. Just don't tell your family we taught you to do it."
The little girl was puzzled. "Why?"
Lin Banxia said, "Just listen to me!"
Although the little girl could not understand why Lin Banxia would not let her tell her family, what had happened earlier had made her trust Lin Banxia, so she obediently agreed.
In fact, the little girl was not the only one who did not understand. Jingting did not either. "It's not some secret. Why can't she tell anyone?"
Lin Banxia said, "Are you stupid? Sure, we helped this time, but what parents would be happy to hear that someone taught their child to prick her grandma with a needle and let her blood? We'd be lucky if they didn't come looking for trouble."
Jingting thought about it and found that she did have a point, so he offered Lin Banxia a rare compliment. "Not bad. I always thought you were all courage and no brains, but now it looks like you actually have a little sense."
Lin Banxia said, "..." How could someone like Jingting exist? Even his compliments sounded like insults.
Clear Breeze Temple had adopted a purchase-limit policy lately, primarily by restricting the dining hall's hours. Previously, as long as people arrived around mealtime, even a little early or late, Yun Zhaozhao would generally do her best to accommodate them. Now, however, meals were only available from eleven to two at midday and five to seven in the evening. Outside those hours, latecomers would not be served.
With strictly limited dining hours and everyone eating within the same narrow windows, the dining hall looked especially crowded during mealtimes. People often followed the crowd. The more diners there were, the more passersby who had been watching from the sidelines wanted to give it a try. Thus, although Clear Breeze Temple's dining hall had imposed limits, the temple's income was largely unaffected. Sometimes, its revenue was even higher than before the restrictions.
Moreover, although Daoist Chang Kong had to work a little harder during peak dining hours, he could rest the rest of the time. It was a balance of work and leisure.
Yun Zhaozhao had actually considered recruiting some more ordinary Daoists to keep Clear Breeze Temple's daily operations running. But for one thing, despite having posted recruitment advertisements quite some time ago, she had received little response. For another, for some reason, Clear Breeze Temple's reputation among Daoists seemed to have taken a turn for the worse lately.
The Daoists had either never heard of Clear Breeze Temple at all or had only heard negative things about it, such as neglecting its proper duties and playing to the gallery. As a result, the more ordinary the Daoist, the more inclined they seemed to be to disdain associating with Clear Breeze Temple.
Yun Zhaozhao had no way to change their preconceptions. Strictly speaking, those Daoists' preconceptions were not entirely wrong, either, so she simply lay flat. She would take things one step at a time!
One day, Yun Zhaozhao suddenly received a call from her alma mater. The caller was Teacher Chen, her college counselor, who wanted to invite her back to campus to take part in a graduate employment seminar. Simply put, she would be talking to graduating students about finding work.
Yun Zhaozhao herself was rather surprised by the invitation. "...Teacher Chen, are you sure you meant to invite me? You haven't contacted the wrong person?"
On the other end of the phone, Teacher Chen laughed at her words. "Of course I'm sure! We'd mainly like you to talk to everyone about finding and choosing jobs after graduation. As college students in this new era, they shouldn't be too narrow-minded about employment. They should be more innovative and broaden their horizons. Job prospects for philosophy majors like ours aren't particularly good to begin with, so we especially need outstanding graduates like you who can break away from traditional thinking and overcome those limitations. I think this topic suits you very well, and I'm sure you have plenty to say to your juniors..."
Teacher Chen's praise left Yun Zhaozhao feeling rather undeserving. "...Actually, mine was more of a lucky accident, a coincidence..."
Teacher Chen said, "That's all right. Just think of it as coming back to visit your alma mater and sharing some experiences with your juniors while you're here."
Faced with Teacher Chen's warm invitation, Yun Zhaozhao could hardly refuse. Although she was not very confident, she went in the end. Quite a few graduates came to campus that day to discuss post-graduation experiences with their juniors. Yun Zhaozhao was just one of them.
Only after talking with them did Yun Zhaozhao discover that she was the only philosophy graduate.
Although the graduates from other majors had strayed slightly from their fields after graduation, none had gone particularly far off course. Yun Zhaozhao was the only one whose career was both outlandish and a complete departure from her major.
In any case, when Yun Zhaozhao introduced herself and said she currently ran a Daoist temple, everyone looked bewildered, as though their eyes were asking, Why is a Daoist temple promoting itself on a university campus? Surely the university hasn't decided our graduating class has no prospects and wants us to become Daoists?
The university's philosophy students, in particular, were more than bewildered. They were even a little angry. What, if we don't enter society, you're going to force us to renounce the world? This university really cracks down on employment!
Chapter 27
Before Yun Zhaozhao spoke, only the university's philosophy students had felt wounded and had their defenses shattered. Once she started talking, however, they were no longer alone. The university's agriculture students joined them, as did a group of students from other majors who had found boyfriends at the culinary school next door.
That was because, while introducing her temple's current operations, Yun Zhaozhao very explicitly welcomed students majoring in agriculture and culinary arts to apply for internships at her temple.
Of course, promotion was one thing, but Yun Zhaozhao had not actually expected any graduates to be willing to work at a Daoist temple. To her surprise, after the seminar ended, a younger male student really did take down her contact information, saying he would go home and think it over.
Yun Zhaozhao was enthusiastic and honest. "You really should think it over carefully. After all, it's easy to enter the Daoist fold, but leaving is rather difficult."
With Yun Zhaozhao's contact information in hand, the younger student asked curiously, "If leaving the Daoist fold is so difficult, what made you think of opening a Daoist temple in the first place, senior? Even if most people couldn't find work, wouldn't they consider taking the civil service exam or applying to graduate school?"
Yun Zhaozhao said, "...Well, life often comes down to coincidences like that. Sometimes, it wasn't that I chose the temple, but that the temple chose me." Or, to put it another way, Granny had chosen her.
The younger student only half understood, but he had quite a sense of humor. "I've heard Daoist temples place a lot of importance on aptitude when choosing people. Do you think someone with such ordinary bones and aptitude as mine would really be suited to interning at your temple?"