The livestream viewers: "..." That was quite enough out of you!
Making a good pot of soup took not only high-end ingredients, but also a great deal of time. So while the soup simmered, Daoist Chang Kong sliced some pork belly and made stir-fried morels with it, adding morels, green and red chilies, scallions, ginger, garlic, and other ingredients.
The other livestream viewers had never tasted Daoist Chang Kong's cooking, after all, so although watching made them a little hungry, they could bear it. Xu Tingting was different. This was her first time watching Clear Breeze Temple's livestream, and she had tasted Daoist Chang Kong's cooking several times before, so she knew better than most just how delicious these seemingly unremarkable dishes actually tasted.
As she watched, she could not help rummaging through her cupboards for something to eat.
After searching for ages, she discovered that the boxes were completely empty. All she eventually turned up were a few lotus leaf weight-loss tea bags she had brought back from her last visit to Clear Breeze Temple.
Unable to stand her cravings, Xu Tingting finally picked up the kettle and brewed herself a cup. Then she bitterly sipped her weight-loss tea while watching Daoist Priest Jingting devour morels on the livestream.
The roommate who had been chatting with her thought she was drinking something good and could not resist asking for some. "What tea are you drinking? It smells pretty nice. Give me a cup!"
Xu Tingting said, "Lotus leaf weight-loss tea. Want some?"
Her roommate said, "...You're drinking weight-loss tea while watching a food livestream? You're pretty ruthless with yourself!"
Xu Tingting stubbornly retorted, "A woman has to be ruthless to secure her position! Never mind that. Just tell me whether you want some."
Her roommate said, "...Yes, yes, yes!"
Clear Breeze Temple's lotus leaf tea tasted faintly bitter, but fortunately, it was not particularly astringent. It also had the fresh fragrance of lotus leaves and left a refreshing sensation after drinking it.
Xu Tingting's roommate had tried plenty of weight-loss products before, both food and drinks. Most weight-loss products tasted particularly awful, so compared with the ones she had tried before, Clear Breeze Temple's lotus leaf weight-loss tea was much more palatable.
She ended up taking sip after sip and soon finished it.
Looking at her roommate's suddenly empty cup, Xu Tingting was rather surprised. "You finished it that fast? Don't you find it bitter?"
Her roommate said, "This is nothing. Compared with the bitterness of advanced math, it barely counts."
Xu Tingting: "..." That was true!
Her roommate asked, "How effective is this weight-loss tea? Where did you buy it? Got a link?"
Xu Tingting said, "There's no link. I bought it at Clear Breeze Temple."
Her roommate was thoroughly impressed now. "...Clear Breeze Temple even sells weight-loss tea? What a mysterious organization."
Xu Tingting wholeheartedly agreed. "Absolutely. I've always thought it was an organization shrouded in mystery!"
Her roommate said, "Then I definitely need to find a chance to visit. Oh, if I go, can I get a discount by mentioning your name?"
Xu Tingting sighed. "You remember my dad, right? Lately, he's been farming for them at Clear Breeze Temple just to get something to eat there. He originally wanted to raise chicks for them too, but I firmly refused. Think about it. Even my own dad has to work for his food at Clear Breeze Temple. Do you think mentioning my name will help?"
Xu Tingting's roommate: "..." Then I really was getting ahead of myself.
At that moment, the head of the mysterious organization known as Clear Breeze Temple-Temple Master Yun herself-was pondering how to bring out Jingting's full potential. After all, Jingting himself had just said that Yun Zhaozhao was not career-minded, that she spent all her time urging others to work on their careers while reaping the benefits herself. Temple Master Yun felt that since Jingting had established this persona for her, she would be letting him down if she did not live up to it.
Besides, among Clear Breeze Temple's current members, Daoist Chang Kong's potential had already been more or less tapped out. After all, both the food and the merchandise took up a great deal of his time and energy.
As for Lin Banxia, she did not currently have much potential to begin with, so it made little difference whether it was tapped or not. Yun Zhaozhao's expectations for her were simply to stay put in the back courtyard and take good care of the fruit trees and medicinal herbs. If another little volunteer group came for an educational visit like last time, she could handle receiving them.
So the only person whose potential had yet to be fully unleashed was probably Daoist Priest Jingting. After all, even Grandpa Lin was raising a hundred chicks between transplanting rice seedlings and farming. Jingting was young and full of vigor. Surely sweeping and livestreaming
could not be all he did?
Besides, Jingting used to make a little money from livestreaming, but now all his streams were free. That meant livestreaming could only count as entertainment for him at present, not a career. After all, at Clear Breeze Temple, only something that made money qualified as a career!
Yun Zhaozhao pondered all the way until dinner without figuring out what else she should arrange for Jingting to do.
But since she could not figure it out, she let it go. Eating came first. After all, eating was the top priority. Everything else was just everything else.
After dinner, Yun Zhaozhao watched Daoist Qingxin's livestream for a while, as usual. Speaking of which, Daoist Qingxin's ghost stories really did help people sleep, because he told them without the slightest emotion. Even when he said a ghost was slowly crawling in through the window, it sounded just like hearing, "A bug crawled in through the window." In any case, it stirred no feelings whatsoever in Yun Zhaozhao. After some self-reflection, though, she thought it might be because she had never been afraid of such things, even as a child. After all, she had slept alone in the old house from a very young age, and when she first took over Clear Breeze Temple, she had slept alone in the temple for over half a month!
While listening to Daoist Qingxin's ghost stories, Yun Zhaozhao also glanced at his viewer count. Strictly speaking, the number of viewers in his livestream was not all that different from Clear Breeze Temple's. And perhaps because Jingting went live every day whenever he had nothing to do, his viewer count was growing rapidly, even showing signs of overtaking Daoist Qingxin's.
How did Daoist Qingxin usually make money from his livestreams, anyway? Apart from telling ghost stories, she did not seem to have seen him sell products or do anything else.
With that question in mind, Yun Zhaozhao specifically waited until Daoist Qingxin finished streaming before calling him to ask.
Daoist Qingxin sounded detached from worldly concerns. "Those who cultivate the Dao are free of worldly desires. I livestream purely out of interest. Making money is not my aim at all."
Yun Zhaozhao calmly interrupted him. "You said that last time too, then turned around and ate half a box of my duck necks and spicy meat."
Exposed, Daoist Qingxin was not embarrassed. He chuckled twice and finally told the truth. "You've heard of stigmatized properties, haven't you?"
Yun Zhaozhao said, "A little."
Daoist Qingxin said, "Some property owners who watch my livestream want to buy houses where something bad has happened at a low price, but they're afraid of problems afterward. So they approach me and ask me to stay in those houses for a while, anywhere from three to five days to half a month. As long as nothing happens while I'm staying there, they can tell other owners afterward that they've already had a Daoist stay there. As you know, my status alone is quite convincing."
Yun Zhaozhao asked curiously, "Then how much do you charge per night to stay in a house like that?"
Daoist Qingxin named a figure that made Yun Zhaozhao's jaw drop. The price was far higher than she could have imagined. On further thought, though, she found it understandable, because this really was not money just anyone could earn. First, you needed Daoist Qingxin's courage. Second, you needed his status. Otherwise, even if you dared to stay there, your stay would not carry much credibility.
Honestly, after learning about Daoist Qingxin's path to riches, Yun Zhaozhao felt even more strongly that there was a problem with Jingting's career planning. Daoist Qingxin clearly offered a complete package: livestreaming, staying in haunted houses, and performing rituals to catch ghosts. Of course, that last step remained questionable for now. After all, Yun Zhaozhao did not know whether Daoist Qingxin could actually catch ghosts. But at least he had a clear career path.
Unlike Jingting, who had nothing beyond livestreaming and cursing people out.
Yun Zhaozhao asked Daoist Qingxin, "Do you take disciples?"
Daoist Qingxin said, "Why? Do you want to come? If it's you, I could consider it."
Yun Zhaozhao said, "I'll pass. My lifelong dream is to be a salted fish, eating my fill and waiting to die. But if you're taking disciples, I can recommend a suitable candidate. When you go to stay in haunted houses at night, you could take him along. At least you'd have some company."
Daoist Qingxin asked, "Who?"
Yun Zhaozhao said, "Jingting. You've met him. The skinny little Daoist at our Clear Breeze Temple."
Daoist Qingxin neither agreed nor refused, only saying that he needed to think about it. Yun Zhaozhao did not press him and hung up after finishing their business. Before that, however, she decided to talk to Jingting and sound him out. It would not do if Daoist Qingxin agreed, only for something to go wrong on Jingting's end.
Jingting shared a room with Daoist Chang Kong. Both had already showered and were getting ready for bed.
Yun Zhaozhao knocked at the door and motioned for Jingting to come out, indicating that she had something to tell him.
Jingting eagerly trotted out.
He still had a lollipop in his mouth when he came out.
Jingting asked, "What is it, Temple Master? Did you need me for something?"
Without wasting words, Yun Zhaozhao got straight to the point. "Here's the thing. You know how Daoist Qingxin tells ghost stories on his livestreams? I just had a chat with him, and he said he tells ghost stories because some property owners place orders with him after listening, paying him high prices to stay in stigmatized properties or haunted houses. I just sounded him out, thinking perhaps he could take you as his disciple. That way, whenever he stays in those properties or haunted houses, he could take you along..."
Of course, there was something else Yun Zhaozhao did not say: Daoist Qingxin generally went to stay in those properties and haunted houses at night, so it would not interfere at all with Jingting cleaning Clear Breeze Temple or doing his own livestreams during the day.