After the group left, the woman who delivered the vegetables asked Daoist Chang Kong in puzzlement, "Daoist, why wouldn't you let them order more dishes just now? Didn't we still have some uncooked vegetables in the kitchen?"
Thinking herself clever, Yun Zhaozhao explained, "I know, I know! This must be the legendary hunger marketing. We can't satisfy all the customers' demands in one go. We have to leave them wanting more, so they'll keep thinking about it. They might even recommend us to people around them when they get back! Am I right, Daoist?"
Daoist Chang Kong said, "Right, my ass. My arms were just too sore, and I couldn't be bothered to cook."
Yun Zhaozhao said, "..." Sorry, I gave you too much credit.
Yun Zhaozhao had promised Daoist Chang Kong that as long as this job went smoothly, she would treat him to a big meal in the city.
He had worked hard that afternoon anyway, so after paying the vegetable delivery woman her wages for the day, Yun Zhaozhao pocketed the remaining money and took Daoist Chang Kong on a bus into the city center.
On the bus, Daoist Chang Kong drew plenty of attention in his Daoist robes, and since Yun Zhaozhao sat beside him, she turned plenty of heads too. Feeling people's gazes along the way, Yun Zhaozhao suddenly had an idea.
So as soon as they got off, she volunteered, "Daoist, it looks like this is your only set of robes. How about I have another set made for you?"
Daoist Chang Kong said, "Oh, I couldn't possibly. That would cost you far too much."
Yun Zhaozhao said, "Not at all, not at all. As the temple master, this is what I ought to do. Just consider it an employee benefit for moving into my Clear Breeze Temple."
Daoist Chang Kong believed her and followed her straight to a market. Yun Zhaozhao had happened to pass through it a few times before, so she knew it fairly well. Once inside, she headed straight for the small clothing shops at the easternmost end. Little shops like these in markets were generally run by married couples, and besides selling ready-made clothes, they also let customers buy fabric to have clothes made.
Yun Zhaozhao visited two or three shops before finally finding a bolt of gray fabric similar to Daoist Chang Kong's robes, then had the tailor take his measurements for a new set.
Although Daoist Chang Kong wasn't particularly fussy about clothes, he was still quite pleased to have someone make him a new outfit. He smiled throughout the measuring, visibly in a good mood.
Yun Zhaozhao seized the opportunity to sidle over and quietly, ingratiatingly sound him out. "Daoist..."
Daoist Chang Kong narrowed his eyes at her. "To what do I owe the honor?"
Yun Zhaozhao gave him a flattering smile. "Hehe, since you've got new robes now, could I have the tailor make a few little alterations to your old ones?"
Without thinking much of it, Daoist Chang Kong waved a hand and readily agreed.
But however readily he agreed at that moment, that was how deeply he regretted it when he saw the modified robes half an hour later.
Yun Zhaozhao had asked the tailor to embroider an advertisement on his robes, with two large lines of red stitching: "Come to Clear Breeze Temple. There's delicious food!"
Daoist Chang Kong said, "..." Well, well, she was treating him like a walking human billboard, wasn't she? Sorry, but he was a Daoist with principles. He simply couldn't wear robes that damaged his image and dignity as a Daoist.
Daoist Chang Kong refused sternly. "I'm not wearing that!"
Yun Zhaozhao brought out her trump card. "What if I order you an extra serving of meat at dinner?"
Daoist Chang Kong said, "...No!"
Yun Zhaozhao said, "Then two extra servings?"
Daoist Chang Kong said, "...Well... all right!"
Chapter 5
For the sake of two extra servings of meat at dinner, Daoist Chang Kong swallowed his humiliation and forced himself to appear on the city's liveliest, most bustling street in his modified new robes.
Sure enough, it was a little hard to accept at first, but as he walked, he not only got used to it, he even began to enjoy being the focus of everyone's attention.
Whenever a little child read out the advertisement on his robes in a sweet, childish voice, he would strike up a conversation. "Little one, do you know where Clear Breeze Temple is? It's inside Qingfeng Park... What, you don't know where Qingfeng Park is either? You know the number 235 bus, right? Take the 235 to the last stop, then walk another two hundred meters after you get off, and you're there. Have your parents bring you over sometime. There's lots and lots of delicious food..."
In view of how hard Daoist Chang Kong worked to promote the temple, Yun Zhaozhao kept her promise and took him to an all-you-can-eat barbecue restaurant.
Over dinner, Yun Zhaozhao sorted out the promotional photos from the temple cafeteria's lunch service that day and sent them to Lawyer Wang.
Along with them, she sent the receipt for the day's takings.
When Lawyer Wang saw the photos, he was utterly stunned. "...I told you to expand the temple's business, but I didn't tell you to expand it quite so comprehensively."
Yun Zhaozhao said, "You don't understand. We call this casting a wide net to catch more fish. Just tell me whether I've expanded the business or not."
Lawyer Wang said, "...You certainly have!"
Although he couldn't make sense of Yun Zhaozhao's approach to running the temple, she had indeed expanded its business. More importantly, she had even brought in a fairly substantial amount of revenue. So, in accordance with their earlier agreement, Lawyer Wang did transfer another sum to Yun Zhaozhao.
With the money from Lawyer Wang, plus the revenue from the lunch for Xu Ping's company, Yun Zhaozhao finally had a little money to spare-almost ten thousand yuan.
After receiving the money, Yun Zhaozhao divided it into three portions. She planned to use the largest portion to improve the temple's basic facilities and surroundings.
Buying fish fry, for example.
When she had asked Daoist Chang Kong to clean the temple's pond a few days earlier, Yun Zhaozhao had already wanted to buy some fish to raise there. Unfortunately, her purse had been empty; she had the will but not the means. Now that she had money, she could finally give the temple's surroundings another upgrade.
As for what fish to buy, naturally she would buy fish they could eat once they grew up, such as crucian carp and common carp. Those red koi that looked pretty but served no practical purpose were not on Temple Master Yun's shopping list for the time being.
Besides buying a batch of fish fry to raise in the pond, Yun Zhaozhao also wanted to hire someone to do some simple repairs on the temple's leaking roofs and repaint the moldy walls...
In fact, plenty of places inside and outside the temple needed work, but some things were more urgent than others, and Yun Zhaozhao's funds were limited after all. For now, she could only deal with these things that came to mind.
Once she had money in the future, there was much more she wanted to do. For instance, she also wanted to plant some fruit trees in Clear Breeze Temple, so they could eat fresh fruit and sell it for money too.
Of course, those were all plans for the future.
Besides setting aside money to improve the temple's basic facilities, Yun Zhaozhao also reserved a sum for Clear Breeze Temple's publicity expenses.
Ordinary promotional methods might not work for Clear Breeze Temple, however, while effective ones might be beyond Yun Zhaozhao's current means. She therefore hadn't yet decided exactly how to promote it.
She planned to use the last portion for the temple's everyday expenses and emergency funds.
Whatever the case, with this money, at least she and Daoist Chang Kong wouldn't have to worry about going hungry for a while.
This was the sense of security money could bring! Money truly couldn't do everything, but without it, you couldn't do a thing.
After its fleeting, night-blooming-flower moment of popularity, Yun Zhaozhao's temple cafeteria returned to its former tranquility. Still, perhaps her stroll through the city center with Daoist Chang Kong that day had worked as publicity: although no large groups of tourists came to visit Clear Breeze Temple during this period, people did keep trickling in.
Their timing was never very good, though. They either came in the morning or the afternoon-almost never at mealtimes.
Yun Zhaozhao felt that only serving food at mealtimes was too restrictive for Clear Breeze Temple, so she discussed with Daoist Chang Kong whether they could make some seasonal food to sell outside the temple entrance.
Daoist Chang Kong thought for a moment and said, "The ginkgo tree in our temple has quite a lot of nuts on it right now. Why don't I try making some ginkgo cakes?"
Yun Zhaozhao's eyes lit up. "Ginkgo cakes? I've never had those. Are they good?"
Daoist Chang Kong proudly raised his double chin. "Are you kidding? How could anything I make not taste good?"
Yun Zhaozhao said, "Fair point."
They got straight to work, using what they had on hand. They cut two bamboo poles from the bamboo grove, then knocked down the ginkgo nuts in the courtyard one by one. They selected the plump nuts, washed and shelled them, then stir-fried them before grinding them into fine granules together with walnut kernels and slices of candied melon. Finally, they added white sugar, glutinous rice flour, and other ingredients, mixing everything evenly.
With nothing else to do while Daoist Chang Kong made the cakes, Yun Zhaozhao casually recorded the process.
Rough and burly as Daoist Chang Kong looked, he had a delicate maiden's heart when it came to making pastries. Not only did he carve a few peach blossom petals into the cakes, he even took special care to shape the kneaded cakes into hearts.
The steamed ginkgo cakes were a slightly translucent pale yellow, soft and refreshing to eat, tender, fragrant, and sweet.
At any rate, Yun Zhaozhao sampled several in a row before finally stopping in satisfaction.
Previously, Yun Zhaozhao hadn't figured out how to promote Clear Breeze Temple, but seeing Daoist Chang Kong's ginkgo cakes now gave her an idea.
She found an online shop and commissioned some takeaway boxes and brown paper bags. They featured cute, playful line drawings of Clear Breeze Temple's entrance, along with a chubby cartoon Daoist kneading dough.
The boxes and bags would take another week to produce. Yun Zhaozhao used that time to hire workers to renovate Clear Breeze Temple, while having Daoist Chang Kong take his newly made batch of ginkgo cakes outside the temple entrance to sell.
Ever since exchanging messages with Yun Zhaozhao that day, Lawyer Wang had been meaning to find a chance to visit Clear Breeze Temple. But he was so busy with work that it was hard to spare the time, so after putting it off for a few days, he simply sent his assistant to take a look for him.