To be honest, Xie Kai was heartbroken when he first heard the news. He felt he should have mustered up the courage to confess to Yun Zhaozhao, because maybe if he had, Yun Zhaozhao would have been so happy that she would have said yes, and she would be happily dating him right now, instead of going to work at the Yun Zhaozhao in a fit of pique...
In the minds of many people who don't understand Daoist temples, there's no essential difference between being a Daoist priest, a Buddhist monk, or a nun. Neither is the best choice; they're just second-best options when there's no other choice.
Gu Kai didn't have any bad intentions; he simply wanted to rescue his former white moonlight and tried every means to contact Yun Zhaozhao.
To be honest, although Yun Zhaozhao and Gu Kai were classmates for four years in college, she didn't really have any particular impression of Gu Kai. She just remembered that he was quite tall, thin, and wore glasses. The two of them didn't talk much at school, so Yun Zhaozhao couldn't even understand why Gu Kai would call her.
Gu Kai certainly wouldn't say that he came to rescue Yun Chaochao from her predicament. He simply said that he had seen the news report and knew that Yun Zhaozhao Yun Zhaozhao currently at Clear Breeze Temple, so he wanted to find some time to come and visit her.
Yun Zhaozhao didn't think much of it, "Sure, Clear Breeze Temple is open every day, everyone is welcome to come and visit."
Yun Zhaozhao meant no harm, but Gu Kai took it to heart. Moreover, he was quite adept at self-deception, completely ignoring the words "everyone" in Yun Zhaozhao's statement and interpreting it as— Yun Zhaozhao welcomes me to come and play.
After hanging up the phone, Gu Kai thought to himself: I feel like I might be getting out of being single soon.
After hanging up the phone, Yun Zhaozhao thought to herself, "The fruit trees in the backyard seem to need pruning, leaving only stumps. I wonder if my old classmate can do it?"
Yun Zhaozhao remembered that she hadn't told anyone at Clear Breeze Temple that her classmates were coming to visit. But for some reason, they still found out.
Especially when they heard that a male classmate was coming, everyone else was fine, but Xiao Yao immediately started asking, "A male classmate? Does he like you, Sister Yun?"
Yun Zhaozhao didn't take it seriously. "That's impossible, we're just college classmates."
Xiao Yao: "What if?"
Yun Zhaozhao touched her chin with her index finger, pondered for a long time, and finally felt that this was not a good idea. "Don't make this assumption, it will affect how much I can get him to do the work later!"
Even Jingting couldn't stand it anymore. "Master, besides working, don't you have any other thoughts on your mind right now?"
Yun Zhaozhao: "Yes, I'm still thinking about how to make money."
Jingting: "..." Forget it, it's like casting pearls before swine.
-
Gu Kai arrived on a Saturday.
He not only dressed up carefully, but also brought a basket of fruit.
After seeing Gu Kai in person, Yun Zhaozhao finally connected this male classmate with the image she had of him in college.
Compared to Yun Zhaozhao, who merely superimposed Gu Kai's past image, Gu Kai was clearly struck by Yun Zhaozhao's appearance.
Before coming, Gu Kai had expected to see a melancholy Yun Zhaozhao. Putting himself in her shoes, if he couldn't find a job after graduating from university and had to work at a Daoist temple, he would definitely feel frustrated and even doubt his life. But to his surprise, compared to her university days, Yun Zhaozhao not only didn't show any signs of being worn down by society, but was even more beautiful and radiant.
Moreover, she looked radiant, with fair skin and a beautiful face. The little dress she wore, which was neither quite blue nor green, accentuated her extremely slender waist.
Gu Kai couldn't help but wonder, could it be that the feng shui of Clear Breeze Temple is particularly beneficial to health?
Yun Zhaozhao had no idea what Gu Kai was thinking, but while Gu Kai was looking at her, she was also discreetly observing his clothes. The more she looked, the more she felt that Gu Kai Gu Kai's outfit today was probably inconvenient for working in the fields. It seemed that her plan to rely on her old classmate to help prune the fruit tree branches was going to fall through!
Each lost in their own thoughts, they sat together, drank tea, sampled some pastries, and chatted about their past teachers and classmates before falling silent.
In the end, Gu Kai took the initiative to suggest, "Why don't you carry me around?"
Yun Zhaozhao lay lazily on the recliner, not really wanting to move, so she made up an excuse. "How about this, I'll have Jingting accompany you around, I just remembered I seem to have something to do."
Gu Kai certainly didn't want to miss the opportunity to spend time with his goddess, so he took the initiative to ask, "What's wrong? Can I help?"
Yun Zhaozhao smiled slightly, "It would have been possible, but it's probably not very convenient for you in this outfit, because we do a lot of rough work at our Daoist temple..."
Upon hearing this, Gu Kai felt a pang of sympathy for Huai: "You're going to have to do hard labor at Clear Breeze Temple? That won't do. It's alright, just tell me what you need."
When it comes to ordering people around, Yun Zhaozhao never pretends to be polite. After all, when she was scheming against Xu Fugui, she would create conditions even if there were none, let alone now that Gu Kai had taken the initiative to ask for it. So Yun Zhaozhao quickly called Lin Banxia over and then had Lin Banxia lead Gu Kai to the backyard.
With Yun Zhaozhao, if anyone was left in the backyard, the chores were practically guaranteed. After all, even when Mrs. Wang's son, who was only in elementary school, came to Clear Breeze Temple, Lin Banxia made him do chores for two days!
As expected, Lin Banxia didn't disappoint Yun Zhaozhao. She led Gu Kai directly to a row of fruit trees, then picked up a large pair of pruning shears and demonstrated how to cut branches to Gu Kai. Finally, she assigned tasks to Gu Kai, saying, "You one row, me one row, Xiao Yao one row, is that alright?"
Gu Kai took off his suit jacket, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and said with an air of confidence, "No problem."
Looking at Gu Kai's obedient yet impulsive appearance, Xiao Yao couldn't help but sigh in her heart for Gu Kai: In Clear Breeze Temple, as long as you say you can work, you will basically have endless work to do.
-
Gu Kai had initially thought he was in a protagonist's scenario, rescuing his beloved from dire straits, but unexpectedly, he found himself in a farming novel scenario. He even discovered he had a knack for farm work; in just half a day, he mastered pruning techniques for various trees, including peach, pear, apple, and cherry trees. He even learned how to judge whether a fruit tree needed water or fertilizer by its growth pattern...
Although Yun Zhaozhao treats everyone like workhorses, she is still quite humane towards them. For example, she will have Daoist Chang Kong prepare lots and lots of delicious food for the "workhorses".
In the afternoon, there are drinks and delicate afternoon tea desserts. In the evening, in addition to various seasonal vegetables such as cold pea salad and scrambled eggs with chives, there are also stir-fried mutton, sizzling eel, braised pork trotters, and braised prawns.
The stir-fried mutton was fragrant and slightly spicy, perfect with rice; the braised eel was tender and juicy, with a rich, dark sauce; and the braised prawns were all large and delicious... Gu Kai had been busy all afternoon and was quite hungry. As he ate these delicacies one bite after another, he suddenly began to have deep doubts about his plan to rescue his "white moonlight" (his girlfriend). Because his "white moonlight" seemed to be doing quite well and didn't seem to need his help at all.
To confirm this, Gu Kai secretly observed her after finishing his meal. He then discovered that Yun Zhaozhao was truly the center of attention in this Daoist temple.
First of all, everyone in the Daoist temple respected her and no one asked her to do any work. After meals, someone would wash the dishes, someone would clear the table, and someone would even brew tea and bring it to her.
Gu Kai didn't know what kind of life Yun Zhaozhao lived on a normal day, but at least today, in Gu Kai's eyes, Yun Zhaozhao's life was one of being waited on hand and foot, with no one around to nag her about her good life.
You should know that even at home, Young Master Gu doesn't enjoy this kind of treatment. After all, if he sleeps in late or stays up late at home, he'll get scolded by his family for ages.
Gu Kai sidled up to Yun Zhaozhao and tentatively asked, " Zhaozhao, is the salary high here at the Daoist temple?"
Yun Zhaozhao: "I don't get paid!"
Before Gu Kai could even utter his question, "So you're working for free?", Yun Zhaozhao continued, "Because I'm the abbot here, I don't get a salary. Anyway, if they earn more, I get more; if they earn less, I get less."
Gu Kai: "May I ask, does your Daoist temple have a high income?"
Yun Zhaozhao: "How high is considered high?"
Gu Kai: "Take my classmates as an example. Most of my classmates found internships after graduating from university with a salary of around 3,000 yuan, and some could earn up to 4,000 yuan. I found a pretty good job, but I only got a little over 5,000 yuan after taxes. The income at Clear Breeze Temple shouldn't be lower than mine, right?"
Yun Zhaozhao smiled and said, "I'm only slightly worse than you!"
Gu Kai thought that it would probably be around 4500, which wasn't high, but it was still acceptable, much better than he had initially imagined.
Jingting, who was standing nearby, leaned in familiarly and asked, "What are you two talking about?"
Yun Zhaozhao: "Let's just chat."
Gu Kai: "We're talking about income!"
Jingting: "Oh, speaking of which, our cafeteria's income seems to be pretty good, probably around four or five thousand."
Gu Kai: "A month?"
Jingting as someone raises a finger. "One day."
At 5,000 a day, that's 150,000 a month (30 days), and 1,825,000 a year (365 days)...
Gu Kai quickly did the math in his mind, and then only one thought remained: You used to ignore me, and now you're even more unattainable for me...
Yun Zhaozhao didn't expose Jingting in front of Gu Kai, but after Gu Kai left, Yun Zhaozhao took out her account book and calculator and did some calculations. She found that the amount was nowhere near the four or five thousand that Jingting had claimed. It was at most a little more than half of that.