After hearing her out, Jingting actually nodded. "You have a point there."
Yun Zhaozhao: "..." So the boss was the most useless person in a company, and the temple master was the most useless person in a Daoist temple?
The weather was gradually warming up, and Clear Breeze Mountain got a shower of rain every few days in spring. Daoist Chang Kong had said before that all sorts of mushrooms would sprout on the mountain around this time, so whenever he had nothing to do lately, he would take a little basket on his back and stroll around the mountain.
Every time he returned from a stroll, Daoist Chang Kong's basket held another pile of mushrooms Yun Zhaozhao couldn't name.
And so, after the courtyard had previously been covered with drying bamboo shoots and salted fish, all kinds of wild mushrooms were now being set out to dry at Clear Breeze Temple.
Daoist Chang Kong loved bamboo shoots and mushrooms alike, so he prepared all sorts of mushroom dishes especially for the diners who came to Clear Breeze Temple.
Some mushrooms were suited to soups, others to stir-frying, and of course, some were best blanched and tossed with green and red chilies, Sichuan pepper oil, and garlic in a cold salad... Mushrooms were also particularly good cooked in a pot of broth, so while Clear Breeze Mountain had every kind of mushroom available, Yun Zhaozhao discussed it with Daoist Chang Kong, and they introduced individual hot pots at Clear Breeze Temple, which were easier for him to manage.
Each person got their own little hot pot with a mushroom broth base, in which they could cook all sorts of vegetables or meats according to their tastes.
The broth could be prepared several hours ahead in the morning, and since lunch at Clear Breeze Temple was now only served during set hours, there was plenty of preparation time in the morning, further easing Daoist Chang Kong's workload.
Besides, Daoist Chang Kong now had an assistant.
Zhang Gang, who had previously come to Clear Breeze Temple asking to become his apprentice, picked one day every weekend to come and help Daoist Chang Kong. He had, after all, trained as a cook, so unlike Jingting, he didn't need Daoist Chang Kong to tell him one step before he knew what to do next. Although he couldn't help Daoist Chang Kong with the actual cooking, he really saved him a tremendous amount of work preparing ingredients. Daoist Chang Kong hardly needed to give him any instructions; he knew which vegetables needed washing, which needed chopping, and even which ingredients went together in a stir-fry...
So whenever Zhang Gang came, the day felt as relaxing as a holiday to Daoist Chang Kong.
Of course, in return, he put everything into teaching Zhang Gang to cook, holding nothing back.
Zhang Gang had studied cooking elsewhere before, and even now, he was working as an apprentice in University A's cafeteria, so he knew all too well how rare and precious it was for an experienced chef to teach everything he knew without holding anything back. Out of gratitude, he worked even harder as Daoist Chang Kong's assistant. Even odd jobs like washing dishes, sweeping floors, and wiping down the stove, which weren't his responsibility, were things he would volunteer to take on when he saw them. Simply put, he never stood idle for a single minute.
Watching Zhang Gang bustle about, Yun Zhaozhao couldn't help thinking about poaching him again. "You probably don't have many employees as hardworking and dependable as you over there, right? If you're unhappy working at University A, you could consider coming to Clear Breeze Temple. Our pay might not be particularly high right now, but I'll do my best to match what you're getting at University A's cafeteria. Once business at Clear Breeze Temple gets better, I'll give you another raise..."
Jingting popped out from who knew where and suddenly chimed in, "If you're worried your current employer won't let you go, we can send our temple master over to apply and fill in for you first. It's not like she can sweep or cook here at Clear Breeze Temple anyway. Sending her out would even save us some food!"
Yun Zhaozhao: "...???" Let me say thank you, for warming all four seasons with your presence.
Of course, changing jobs was a major decision, and Zhang Gang wasn't about to waver over a few words from Yun Zhaozhao. She had only mentioned it in passing herself and didn't press the issue. After all, what was yours wouldn't leave, and what wasn't yours couldn't be forced.
Besides, if Zhang Gang really agreed to come, Yun Zhaozhao would have to figure out how to explain it to Xie Yu and Xu Tingting. After all, when Xie Yu and Xu Tingting had argued in University A's cafeteria, their intention had been for their cafeteria chef to learn his craft at Clear Breeze Temple and then return to benefit University A's students. Yet here Yun Zhaozhao was, turning around and trying to keep him. That really wouldn't be easy to explain to University A's students.
Speaking of Xu Tingting, she hadn't sold many talisman-tube blind boxes lately, but she had asked Yun Zhaozhao for lotus leaf slimming tea several times.
The few packets of lotus leaf slimming tea she had taken down the mountain had not only worked amazingly well for her own weight loss, but her roommates had also asked her for a few packets, drunk it for a week straight, and seen very good weight-loss results.
These tea bags didn't taste bad-in fact, they tasted rather good-and also helped with weight loss. Whether other people would snap them up was unclear, but for graduating seniors like Xu Tingting, who were about to look for internships and jobs, they were certainly more sought-after than talisman-tube blind boxes.
As Xu Tingting put it, "I've passed the stage of my life where I need to open blind boxes. I need to land an offer through my own actual abilities. Losing a little weight can boost my confidence when I'm job hunting, so I think this slimming tea is incredibly useful to me right now. And to my roommates, of course."
Yun Zhaozhao's response remained the same. "Too much alcohol is bad for you, and so is too much tea. You can't drink more just because this tea helps you lose weight. The most important thing for losing weight is still getting more exercise. If you don't believe me, ask your dad whether he slimmed down quite a bit after spending two days helping Clear Breeze Temple transplant rice seedlings last time."
Xu Tingting was speechless for a while. "...You're not thinking of having me organize my roommates to come transplant rice seedlings for you too, are you?"
Yun Zhaozhao said, "Of course not. The transplanting season is long over. Even if you wanted to come, we couldn't arrange it."
Before Xu Tingting could breathe a sigh of relief, Yun Zhaozhao continued, "But in another month or two, the rice and wheat will be ripe and ready to harvest. If you and your classmates can't find jobs by then, you're all welcome to come harvest rice and wheat at Clear Breeze Temple. That really does help you lose weight, even more than lotus leaf tea."
Xu Tingting: "..."
Chapter 38
Xu Tingting couldn't manage harvesting rice and wheat, but if it were picking tea leaves or fruit, she could consider it.
Unfortunately, tea plants and fruit trees had very slow growth cycles, especially fruit trees, many of which needed three to five years to bear fruit. So at least before she graduated from university, Xu Tingting wouldn't be able to accomplish her grand weight-loss plan by picking tea leaves and fruit at Clear Breeze Temple.
As for losing weight, Yun Zhaozhao had absolutely no anxiety about it. After a thorough analysis, she thought there might be two reasons: first, Clear Breeze Temple had no scales, and without weighing herself, she wouldn't feel fat; second, Clear Breeze Temple didn't even have a full-length mirror. Its only mirror was an ancient bronze one Yun Zhaozhao had previously dug out of some forgotten corner of the temple.
Some old objects might not look as technologically advanced as modern ones, but they had their own charms. This bronze mirror, for example, was not only exquisitely crafted but gave the person reflected in it a hazy beauty.
In any case, Yun Zhaozhao was quite happy using it and had never thought of replacing it.
And judging by her face alone, Yun Zhaozhao was very beautiful. The bronze mirror, with its slightly hazy reflection, further enhanced her beauty, so naturally she had no anxiety about losing weight.
Wasn't a beautiful face enough? Besides, she'd already moved to a Daoist temple. Even if her face weren't beautiful and her figure weren't good, so what?
Besides, if she still worried about losing weight while living with Daoist Chang Kong, life would truly become a lot more painful.
Because after the mushroom hot pots, Daoist Chang Kong had developed another new delicacy lately. This time, it was another dessert that struck right at a girl's heart, called peach snow mochi.
The dessert looked just like a peach and was a girlish pink. A bite revealed its soft, chewy texture, and most importantly, even its filling was peach jam made by chopping up peaches and cooking them down.
As Yun Zhaozhao ate this peach blossom snow mochi, she couldn't help remembering the wildly popular "peach blossom noodles" Daoist Chang Kong had made before. Come to think of it, throughout the spring, from early February until now, when it was almost mid-to-late April, everything from the desserts to the fruit at Clear Breeze Temple seemed to have traces of peach blossoms and peaches.
Yun Zhaozhao couldn't help wondering whether Daoist Chang Kong had developed worldly romantic feelings too.
Too embarrassed to ask Daoist Chang Kong to his face, Yun Zhaozhao first found Jingting for a chat. Since Jingting shared a room with Daoist Chang Kong, if the latter really had developed worldly romantic feelings, Jingting might have heard a hint or two.
Of course, another important reason was that she knew Jingting couldn't keep anything to himself and would eventually repeat these words to Daoist Chang Kong. That way, she could find out what Daoist Chang Kong was thinking without asking him herself.
Sure enough, Jingting immediately ran off to ask Daoist Chang Kong for confirmation.
Daoist Chang Kong was straightforward too. "What does making money have to do with developing worldly feelings? You're still young. You don't understand. When you're my age, you'll know: whatever else you stir up, don't go stirring up romantic feelings. Dating costs so much money!"
Jingting slapped his thigh. "Got it. Clear Breeze Temple's current situation is one single dog of a temple master and her pack of single-dog subordinates."
Yun Zhaozhao, who was pretending to pass by nearby: "..." Shut your mouth!
When Yun Zhaozhao had previously returned to her alma mater for the graduate recruitment presentation, she had reconnected with her former counselor. Although only one younger male student had expressed an interest in working at Clear Breeze Temple during that presentation, a couple of days ago, her university counselor had recommended several students to her for internships.
They were third-year students at an agricultural college that partnered with their university.
As mentioned before, Yun Zhaozhao's university wasn't particularly good, and its admission cutoff wasn't very high. In any case, it was nowhere near comparable to University A, where Xu Tingting and Xie Yu studied. However, Yun Zhaozhao's university did run joint teaching programs with some vocational colleges, providing coordinated undergraduate and vocational education.