Daoist Chang Kong did not mind at all. He kept dicing his carrots as though nothing had happened, as if he had not heard a thing.
Yun Zhaozhao had been a little angry at first, but for some reason, seeing how unconcerned Daoist Chang Kong was suddenly made her stop caring too.
Yun Zhaozhao felt that she had grown without realizing it lately. She used to care a great deal about what other people thought. When she first acquired Clear Breeze Temple, for example, she had not dared tell the people around her that she now ran a Daoist temple. But now she even dared return to her alma mater to give a speech to the graduating students. Sometimes, outside voices really were just outside voices. When you cared, those voices grew very, very loud, but when you stopped caring, they became very, very quiet.
But although Yun Zhaozhao and Daoist Chang Kong no longer minded, Jingting and Lin Banxia were not nearly so good-tempered.
One rushed in from the front courtyard, and the other from the back courtyard.
Jingting said, "You want an argument? Come on, then! Your Grandpa Jingting will go as many rounds as you like."
Lin Banxia said, "If you have a problem, talk it out. What are you shouting for? Wait while I look through my book to find the mute acupoint. I'll stick a needle in her first."
Da Mei had been arguing away with gusto, but she suddenly fell silent at that.
Jingting glanced at Da Mei, then turned to Lin Banxia. "Have your skills improved that fast? You can hit the mute acupoint from a distance now?"
Da Mei: "..." Should I speak now or not?
Chapter 28
Everyone at Clear Breeze Temple had thought Zhang Gang and Da Mei had come to cause trouble, but it turned out they really had not.
All Daoist Chang Kong did was make Zhang Gang and Da Mei some family-style egg fried rice, and Zhang Gang turned into his little shadow. Not only did he shower Daoist Chang Kong with rainbow farts, he also insisted on watching him cook.
Daoist Chang Kong had no objection to him watching. Once he learned that Zhang Gang had come to learn rather than find fault, he actually felt rather sorry about his earlier attitude. So as he cooked, he made time to answer a couple of Zhang Gang's questions, such as how to make stir-fried meat more fragrant and how to keep vegetables crisp without leaving them raw.
By the time dinner was ready, Zhang Gang had become a complete fanboy of Daoist Chang Kong.
Of course, Da Mei felt even more thoroughly face-slapped.
She had insisted that food cooked in bulk could never taste particularly good, yet even Daoist Chang Kong's egg fried rice turned out far tastier than what the head cooks at their school cafeteria made.
Da Mei had always thought egg fried rice was difficult to make delicious, because the ingredients were so simple. It was just eggs, rice, and a few other things over and over again. How much could anyone possibly do with them?
Of course, Da Mei had also seen cooks add a whole assortment of expensive delicacies to egg fried rice. While that kind of fried rice certainly tasted much better than the ordinary version, in her opinion, it had lost sight of what egg fried rice was meant to be and made it less pure. After all, wasn't that simple, home-style flavor exactly what so many people loved about it?
Daoist Chang Kong's egg fried rice was ordinary egg fried rice. Although he called it family-style egg fried rice, he had merely added some diced meat and bamboo shoots. Eggs and rice were still the main ingredients.
Yet these simple ingredients became extraordinarily rich in flavor in Daoist Chang Kong's hands. The egg thoroughly coated the rice, turning it golden while leaving every grain distinct; the diced bamboo shoots and meat added just the right amount of savoriness and gave the fried rice a richer texture. Most importantly, the rice was lightly toasted, and unlike some egg fried rice, it was neither dry nor greasy. Whether it was Da Mei, who had tasted the bowl looking for faults, or the other customers dining at Clear Breeze Temple's cafeteria that day, almost everyone's taste buds were won over by Daoist Chang Kong's egg fried rice.
Besides the egg fried rice, Da Mei also made a point of tasting the other dishes Clear Breeze Temple had made that evening. She found that it really was just as that student had said the other day: even the most ordinary greens tasted a little better at Clear Breeze Temple than elsewhere.
It was baffling.
Dinner at Clear Breeze Temple only ran from five to seven, so after seven, the cafeteria's customers gradually left. But Zhang Gang and Da Mei stayed. Of course, that was mainly because Zhang Gang was reluctant to leave.
He wanted to stay and become an apprentice.
Yun Zhaozhao had previously suggested recruiting a couple of young apprentices for Daoist Chang Kong, but he had rejected the proposal himself, so nothing had come of it. Now that someone had come asking to become his apprentice, however, Yun Zhaozhao thought it might actually be a good thing.
Still, this was Daoist Chang Kong's own business, so Yun Zhaozhao did not voice her thoughts and left him to handle it himself.
Whatever Daoist Chang Kong and Zhang Gang ultimately discussed, Zhang Gang never actually performed any apprenticeship ceremony. He did, however, promise Daoist Chang Kong that he would come to Clear Breeze Temple to do odd jobs four days a month. In return, Daoist Chang Kong would teach him one of his signature dishes each month. The agreement took effect that day and would last for one year.
Yun Zhaozhao was fairly mindful of potential trouble. She was not worried about anything else; her only concern was whether teaching the apprentice would end up leaving the master to starve.
Daoist Chang Kong was quite confident on that point. "No. Never mind that I'm only teaching him for a year-even if I taught him for several more years, there would probably still be a limit to what he could learn. After all, everyone defines good food differently. To him, good food is, at most, a way to make a living. To me, it's my life. How could someone so easily surpass me at something I love this much?"
Lin Banxia said, "I deeply relate to that. It's like acupuncture. That's my life too."
Jingting said, "It's like cursing people out. That's my life too."
Yun Zhaozhao: "..." I think you're all trying to take my life.
When Lin Banxia had planted the fruit trees earlier, she had set aside a small patch in the back courtyard specifically for medicinal herbs. Some of those herbs were growing quite well now, so Daoist Chang Kong had recently been researching ways to use them in medicinal dishes.
Or, more accurately, he had been researching recipes that tasted good and could help people lose a little weight along the way.
Coming up with weight-loss recipes alone was easy, but making sure they tasted good while helping people lose weight was a little harder.
After spending ages on his research, Daoist Chang Kong finally decided to make lotus leaf congee, along with some lotus leaf tea.
Both were relatively simple to prepare. The lotus leaf congee was made with rice and dried lotus leaves, and Daoist Chang Kong added a few lotus seeds to improve the texture, giving it a lovely, delicate fragrance. For the lotus leaf tea, he cut the leaves into small pieces, brought them to a boil in water over low heat, then added hawthorn, cinnamon, and rock sugar...
To be honest, neither tasted bad, but for Jingting, who was still growing, they really did not fill him up!
So every serving left him silent, and every serving left him sallow and skinny.
Seeing how pitifully hungry the boy was, Daoist Chang Kong took mercy on him. "How about this? Go fetch a few more lotus leaves, and I'll make you lotus leaf chicken tonight to satisfy your cravings."
The moment Jingting heard that, he shot off and vanished.
Watching him go, Yun Zhaozhao could not help remarking that being young really was wonderful. He ran faster than a fawn.
Lotus leaf chicken was much more complicated to make than lotus leaf tea or congee. First, the chicken had to be cleaned and marinated in a secret sauce. Then the marinated chicken had to be wrapped in layer upon layer of lotus leaves, followed by a final wrapping of aluminum foil.
The best place in all of Clear Breeze Temple to roast the lotus leaf chicken was the back courtyard. For the sake of a taste, even Xiaojiu, who did not normally live at the temple, stayed past the end of her shift that evening instead of going home. She planned to eat the secret-recipe lotus leaf chicken before taking a taxi home.
Not only was lotus leaf chicken troublesome to prepare, it also took a very, very long time to roast. Simply sitting around during that time would have been a waste, so Jingting later went to the temple's pond and caught two crucian carp. He had Daoist Chang Kong give them a quick cleaning, then began grilling them.
With the aroma of lotus leaf chicken on one side and grilled fish on the other, Xiaojiu could not help sighing. "Of all the decisions I've made lately, choosing to work at Clear Breeze Temple is the one I regret least. After all, when other companies provide meals, they just fill you up at best. Only Clear Breeze Temple actually feeds you well."
Holding his teacup, Daoist Chang Kong said with a smile, "Clear Breeze Temple doesn't just feed you well. We even offer after-sales service! Would you like some lotus leaf weight-loss tea and congee?"
Xiaojiu looked at Daoist Chang Kong, then at the lotus leaf tea in his hand, and offered a sincere suggestion. "Daoist Chang Kong, I suggest you let Daoist Priest Jingting sell the weight-loss tea and congee. His build makes him more convincing when selling that sort of thing. You're better suited to selling delicious food, like lotus leaf chicken. With your build, wherever you stand, people will think the food must be absolutely delicious."
Daoist Chang Kong: It made perfect sense, but hearing it still left him rather sad. Being fat really did mean getting far fewer endorsement opportunities. No wonder those celebrities put so much effort into losing weight.
Clear Breeze Temple had not introduced any new products for a while, not since the launch of Beauty's Face.
So Daoist Chang Kong felt a little apprehensive about launching the lotus leaf tea and congee this time. After all, unlike the earlier products, which had been made purely to taste and look good, these two new offerings were focused more on their weight-loss effects. To that end, he had actually sacrificed a little of their flavor and appearance. Still, that was understandable. However attractively congee was made, it could never look as exquisite as a pastry like Beauty's Face, and however fragrant and rich the tea was, it could never have the fiery intensity of alcohol.
But to Daoist Chang Kong's own surprise, once the lotus leaf tea and congee went on sale, they actually sold quite well.
The lotus leaf tea in particular even had viewers in Daoist Priest Jingting's livestream volunteering to place orders.