Yun Zhaozhao looked at him earnestly. "You have no idea. What our temple needs most right now is ordinary, unremarkable people like you. If you really weren't ordinary or unremarkable, Clear Breeze Temple might not even want you!"
The junior student said, "..." Looks like Clear Breeze Temple really isn't picky about who it takes!
Although Yun Zhaozhao spent ages promoting it, apart from this junior student expressing the slightest interest in going to Clear Breeze Temple, everyone at the day's talk kept a respectful distance from her temple. Sometimes, when she met these younger students' eyes, they would deliberately look away, as though a couple more moments of eye contact would get them dragged off by Yun Zhaozhao to shave their heads and enter monastic life. Yun Zhaozhao really wanted to tell them there was no need, but then she thought explaining would be too tiring, so she simply let them misunderstand.
Since Yun Zhaozhao's university wasn't particularly far from University A, where Xu Tingting and Xie Yu studied, she unlocked a shared bicycle after leaving her alma mater and rode over to their university.
She hadn't come to catch up with Xu Tingting and Xie Yu today. She was on a delivery mission-the talisman-tube blind boxes Xu Tingting and Xie Yu had picked up a while ago were nearly sold out, and both of them had been too busy lately to go to Clear Breeze Temple to restock, so Yun Zhaozhao had temporarily taken on the role of errand girl and delivered the goods to them.
Xu Tingting and Xie Yu probably felt bad about making Yun Zhaozhao come all this way, so after receiving the goods, they enthusiastically invited her to lunch at their university cafeteria. Since leaving university, Yun Zhaozhao had barely returned to campus, and honestly, she did rather miss university life and those days.
With such an enthusiastic invitation from the two of them, she didn't refuse and followed them to University A's cafeteria.
University A certainly lived up to its reputation as the best university in the area. Even its cafeteria was considerably grander than the one at Yun Zhaozhao's old university. The cafeteria building had three floors, each bright and spotless. A quick look also revealed an enormous variety of food, bringing together delicacies from every corner of the country.
Xu Tingting and Xie Yu took Yun Zhaozhao all around the cafeteria, letting her choose whatever she wanted to eat.
Although Yun Zhaozhao looked very satisfied, the two of them still felt rather uneasy as she picked out the food she wanted. Xu Tingting in particular spoke her mind, telling Yun Zhaozhao right in front of the cafeteria staff, "Sister Zhaozhao, the food here definitely can't compare with what you have at Clear Breeze Temple. Just make do with a little, and don't get your hopes up too high."
Before Yun Zhaozhao could respond, the cafeteria worker behind the glass took offense. "What do you mean, our cafeteria's food can't compare with Clear Breeze Temple's? This is one of the country's top universities, and even our cafeteria is the newest, best, and grandest. What the hell is Clear Breeze Temple, thinking it can compare with our cafeteria?"
Xu Tingting resented the cafeteria even more than she did the university. For one thing, the cafeteria ladies' hands shook terribly whenever they served food, often shaking away the very dishes she wanted. For another, the university frequently came up with bizarre dark cuisine, such as stir-fried strawberries with celery, or stir-fried mooncakes with tomatoes and eggs...
So when she heard the cafeteria worker's question, she didn't spare her feelings. "What's Clear Breeze Temple? It's a Daoist temple that makes really, really delicious food. The meals its cafeteria makes are a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times better than what our university cafeteria makes..."
The cafeteria worker sneered. "What a joke. It's all big-pot cooking. How good could it possibly be? If you had me make refined dishes in small batches, I could make them delicious too."
Xu Tingting said, "This has nothing to do with whether it's big-pot cooking. It's a difference in cooking skills. Clear Breeze Temple cooks in big pots too, and their food is still a hundred times better than ours. I really think our cafeteria's head cooks should go learn a thing or two from Clear Breeze Temple..."
The worker across from her said, "Eat it or don't. If you don't want it, get lost. Stop yapping here and getting in the way of my work..."
Xu Tingting said, "Believe it or not, that's up to you. Those are the facts. If you won't accept it, have our cafeteria's head cooks go challenge the Daoist chef at Clear Breeze Temple and compare their skills. I guarantee you'll admit defeat wholeheartedly."
The cafeteria worker, whose name was Da Mei, was so angry because her husband, Zhang Gang, was a cook at this university cafeteria. Although Xu Tingting's remarks hadn't been directed at her, to her ears, it felt like someone criticizing her husband to her face. So although she'd lost her temper and argued with Xu Tingting on the spot, her anger still hadn't entirely subsided afterward. When she got home that evening, she couldn't help grumbling about it to her husband.
After listening, her husband Zhang Gang wasn't as angry as she was. Instead, he even had the attention to spare for other details. "That student really said the chef at Clear Breeze Temple made better big-pot food than we do? A hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times better?"
Da Mei said, "She did say that, but I'm sure she was bragging. Nobody can make big-pot food taste particularly good. Anyway, there's no point taking these students' words to heart. I'm not angry anymore, and you shouldn't dwell on it either. Besides, we're not the head cooks at the university cafeteria. Even if the food really does taste bad, that's not our responsibility."
Zhang Gang thought a little more deeply about it than Da Mei did.
He had come from the countryside, and making his way in the city wasn't easy. Deep down, he also dreamed of opening his own restaurant.
Besides, he had been frustrated and unfulfilled at the university cafeteria all this time. Many of the people there had gotten their jobs through connections, and someone like him, with neither connections nor skills, was easily pushed aside.
Although the Clear Breeze Temple Da Mei mentioned today didn't sound particularly famous, hidden masters could be found among ordinary people. Perhaps there really were hidden talents there.
With that thought in mind, Zhang Gang specifically chose a day he had off in lieu and dragged Da Mei to Clear Breeze Temple.
Da Mei was utterly unwilling to go. There was no other reason-Xu Tingting's remarks had simply prejudiced her against Clear Breeze Temple.
Unfortunately, Zhang Gang, who was usually somewhat henpecked, was especially insistent about this. Unable to sway him, Da Mei could only reluctantly accompany him.
As the couple stood outside Clear Breeze Temple, neither could help wondering: Could such a small temple really have a chef who made exceptionally delicious big-pot food?
Since the two had come specifically for Daoist Chang Kong, they didn't look around anywhere after entering the temple, heading straight for the courtyard behind the cafeteria.
Nobody else at the temple had seen Da Mei or Zhang Gang before, but Yun Zhaozhao had! When she spotted Da Mei in the distance, she first wondered whether she was mistaken. After rubbing her eyes and taking a closer look to confirm that this was indeed the worker who had argued with Xu Tingting at University A's cafeteria, Yun Zhaozhao immediately turned to find Daoist Chang Kong and warn him in advance. "What do we do, Daoist? It looks like someone's coming to make trouble at Clear Breeze Temple!"
Daoist Chang Kong was still leisurely dicing carrots, as he planned to make an all-in-one fried rice for everyone today. His hands didn't stop when he heard her. Instead, he asked quite amiably, "What's wrong? Has someone taken a fancy to Clear Breeze Temple again and come to seize it? Don't tell me it's the same bunch as last time?"
Yun Zhaozhao said, "This time, it doesn't look like they've taken a fancy to Clear Breeze Temple. They've taken a fancy to you."
Daoist Chang Kong said, "...????"
Daoist Chang Kong said, "...Taken a fancy to me? They've come to snatch me away?"
Yun Zhaozhao said, "I don't think they'd go as far as snatching you away. At most, they're here to challenge you, have a cooking showdown or something."
Daoist Chang Kong suddenly grew excited. "They want a cooking showdown with me? Hurry and invite them in. In all these years, I've seen someone challenge me in weight, but this is the first time anyone's challenged my cooking!"
Yun Zhaozhao's attention clearly wandered off track. "Who was out of their mind enough to challenge you in weight?"
Daoist Chang Kong fell silent for a rare moment, then said forlornly, "It was a pig my previous temple kept. That pig didn't seem to grow. I raised it for a year, and when we both got on the scales at the end of the year, I weighed three jin more than the pig. Later, my old temple even suspected me of skimming its feed."
Yun Zhaozhao said, "..." For a moment, she didn't know whether to feel sorry for Daoist Chang Kong or the pig.
While Yun Zhaozhao and Daoist Chang Kong were talking, Da Mei and Zhang Gang had already reached the cafeteria kitchen's entrance.
It wasn't mealtime yet, so Yun Zhaozhao and Daoist Chang Kong were the only two people in the entire kitchen, making it easy to tell who the chef was.
Da Mei was prejudiced against him, so she said nothing. Zhang Gang, however, addressed Daoist Chang Kong pleasantly. "Hello, Daoist. May I ask if you're the chef at Clear Breeze Temple's cafeteria?"
Daoist Chang Kong was polite too. "I am. What can I do for you, lay practitioner?"
Zhang Gang said, "Well, I heard that your cooking is exceptionally good, so I came hoping to learn from you. I wonder whether you'd be willing to oblige."
Daoist Chang Kong said, "I wouldn't presume to teach you, but it isn't mealtime yet. I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer."
Hearing that they were actually being made to wait, Da Mei grew even more unwilling. "What's there to wait for? I think you're just afraid!"
Daoist Chang Kong said, "These days, apart from birth, aging, illness, and death, which won't wait, everything else has to wait when it should! If you can't bear to wait, go home! Temple master, see our guests out."
Yun Zhaozhao said, "..." The temple master's a brick, to be moved wherever needed, is that it?
Fortunately, Zhang Gang quickly stopped his wife and took the initiative to back down. "It's all right. We can wait."
Daoist Chang Kong stood firm. "Then sorry for the trouble, but please wait outside. This kitchen is too small a temple to house such grand Buddhas."
Zhang Gang said nothing and pulled Da Mei straight outside the cafeteria. Although Da Mei had left, she spoke very loudly, seemingly intending for Daoist Chang Kong to hear. "A stinking Daoist-we don't even know how well he cooks yet, and he's already acting so full of himself. Let's see how you get out of this if your cooking turns out to taste bad."