Yun Zhaozhao had considered hiring someone to do it if things didn't work out. But what's the most expensive thing these days? Labor. And even though the pond isn't particularly big, hiring just one person wouldn't be enough; she'd probably need two or three. In the end, the money she made from selling the fish might not even cover the cost of hiring people.
Moreover, cleaning the fishpond and changing the fish fry are not the most difficult things. The most difficult thing is that all these fish together probably weigh several hundred kilograms. Clear Breeze Temple is just a small Daoist temple, and the canteen can only accommodate a maximum of 10 tables a day. Even with table turnover, it's capped at 20 tables. Even if every table orders fish, these fish can't be eaten all at once. But it doesn't seem appropriate to sell fish directly under the name of Clear Breeze Temple.
Xiao Yao, recently caught up in a huge enthusiasm for organizing activities, couldn't help but suggest to Yun Zhaozhao and Daoist Chang Kong, "We could organize another fish-catching activity at Clear Breeze Temple!"
Yun Zhaozhao shook her head, immediately rejecting the idea. "No way. Our Clear Breeze Temple is too crowded, especially near the pond. There's only one path for going up and down. Holding such an event here will definitely attract a crowd. If there's a stampede or someone falls, it won't be good for anyone."
In Yun Zhaozhao's view, making money is important, but safety is always the most important thing.
She finally told Daoist Chang Kong and Xiao Yao to go about their business, saying she needed to think it over carefully.
As Xiao Yao left the front courtyard of Clear Breeze Temple and headed to the back courtyard, looking back every few steps, she saw Yun Zhaozhao sitting on a recliner, lost in thought.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves of the ginkgo tree, making her appear exceptionally beautiful and serene. Especially striking was Yun Zhaozhao's naturally pale skin, which seemed almost reflective in the sunlight. So much so that as soon as Xiao Yao returned to Lin Banxia's Lin Banxia, she couldn't help but exclaim, "I think I underestimated her when I said the Abbess was the mascot of our Clear Breeze Temple. She's clearly a particularly beautiful mascot."
Lin Banxia: "..." You didn't really think highly of him either.
As it turns out, Yun Zhaozhao is not only a particularly beautiful mascot, but also a particularly clever one.
After pondering for an entire afternoon, she finally found a good way to deal with the remaining fish. Instead of holding a fish-catching event, she allowed visiting believers to purchase the fish in the pond through donations.
She asked Daoist Chang Kong to set up a donation box next to the pond, and then wrote two donation methods on the box:
One option is for worshippers to pay and then take the fish away themselves;
One option is for worshippers to contribute money, and then Clear Breeze Temple will help release the fish back into the wild.
There is another way to raise funds through subscription, where the pilgrims contribute money and the canteen of Clear Breeze Temple helps to process the fish into delicious food for the pilgrims to enjoy. However, this method may be too cruel to some kind-hearted pilgrims, so Yun Zhaozhao did not write it on the wooden box.
Donations from Clear Breeze Temple's believers have never been very good. The only time they made a significant contribution was when Xie Yu's wealthy relatives came to Clear Breeze Temple to burn the first incense on the first day of the Lunar New Year. That kind of success has never happened again.
So although the donation boxes and donation collection boxes for believers have been reopened, Yun Zhaozhao didn't have high hopes. But perhaps it's related to the cute little fish this time, quite a few worshippers are actually willing to pay for charity.
Moreover, most of the worshippers who buy these small fish are willing to have Clear Breeze Temple help them release them back into the wild.
So, the Jingting live streaming room later added the task of live streaming creators.
Jingting now has a group of "true fans" online. This small group of fans will both criticize and support whatever Jingting does. However, when Jingting went to live stream to curse ghosts before, they couldn't support him even if they wanted to. But now that he's live streaming the release of little fish, it's different. This is something within their power! So a group of netizens are sending gifts to Jingting in the live stream, asking him to help release the little fish.
Jingting treats everyone equally. Even if you send a gift worth only 1 cent, he will find a tiny fish fry in the pond and release it into the wild for you. So everyone finds it quite fun and sends gifts even more enthusiastically. As a result, the total amount raised in the online live stream is more than the amount raised offline.
Yun Zhaozhao was clearly quite surprised that the fundraising ultimately relied on Daoist Priest Jingting, but regardless, the fundraising was successful, so the mission was accomplished satisfactorily. Moreover, the money was collected, and the fish were released, so it could be considered a complete success by any measure.
Even Xiao Yao couldn't help but envision her bright future. "Once these flowers I planted are fully grown, besides holding flower appreciation and painting activities, we can also organize fundraising events! Everyone can contribute money, and Clear Breeze Temple can then deliver these flowers to various schools for the deaf and mute, schools for left-behind children, or nursing homes. This way, we can consider it a contribution to charity on behalf of everyone."
Jingting, Jingting couldn't help but give Xiao Yao a thumbs up. "If you go out now, everyone will know that you came from Clear Breeze Temple."
Xiao Yao beamed, "How so? Is it because my true, kind, and beautiful qualities are becoming more and more apparent?"
Jingting: "No, it's just that his little money-grubber tendencies are becoming more and more obvious."
Xiao Yao: "..."
Chapter 48
Thanks to the efforts of fans in the Jingting stream and pilgrims visiting Clear Breeze Temple, most of the smaller fish in Clear Breeze Temple were released into the nearby river, while the larger grass carp and crucian carp were made into a fish feast by Daoist Chang Kong.
In Clear Breeze Temple's dining hall, the food has always been mainly vegetarian. This is because vegetarian food is relatively inexpensive and less bloody and violent to prepare than meat dishes, which better suits the overall style of the Daoist temple.
For example, on this day, Daoist Chang Kong not only prepared a fish feast, but also specially made a dish of fried small fish out of flour. Simply put, he shaped the flour into the shape of small fish, and even used peanuts to make the eyes of the small fish. Then he put the small fish-shaped flour into the oil and fried them until they were fragrant and crispy.
This dessert looks delicate and small, and it's crispy and crunchy. Even when it's cold, it still has a unique flavor. In fact, it became even more popular with diners than the fish and meat feast.
Because he was making fish, Chef Zhang Gang from University A's cafeteria came to help out at Clear Breeze Temple's cafeteria that day. After all the diners had finished their lunch and left, Zhang Gang looked at the small half-bag of flour left over from frying the fish pieces and asked Daoist Chang Kong, "Master Changkong, could I use the remaining flour to make a small cake for my wife? It's like this, today is our 10th wedding anniversary..."
Zhang Gang's voice trailed off, clearly a little embarrassed.
Daoist Chang Kong readily agreed, "Of course."
Zhang Gang: "But I'm not very good at making cakes. Do you know how? Could you teach me?"
Daoist Chang Kong had never actually made a cake before, but he had made pastries and desserts before! And making a cake is something anyone with hands can do, right? So he simply searched for cake-making tutorials online in front of Zhang Gang, and then, using the raw materials available at Clear Breeze Temple, he immediately got to work.
Zhang Gang has been learning to cook from Daoist Chang Kong for over a month now. At a rate of one dish per week, he has already learned three or four signature dishes. But the longer he learns, the more he feels that many things in this world really depend on talent.
For example, today we were learning to make cakes. Both of us had never done it before, but Daoist Chang Kong just watched some videos online and was able to get started right away, and he could even make a decent cake. If it were Zhang Gang himself, he would probably have to fail at least three to five times, or even ten times, before he had any chance of succeeding.
Although Zhang Gang was aware of the talent gap, he was not discouraged. He knew that the talent gap was something he could never change, so the only thing he could do was to work hard to bridge it.
With that in mind, he couldn't help but focus all his attention and start making the cake with Daoist Chang Kong.
Daoist Chang Kong's skillful hands came in handy once again. What were just two ordinary cake bases and some ordinary cream were transformed into an exquisite castle shape by him.
During this time, pilgrims would occasionally pass by the canteen entrance and, seeing the two people making cakes, would approach them to ask, "What flavor of cake is this? How much does it cost?"
While Daoist Chang Kong said he was making these for himself, he couldn't help but start thinking: the qingtuan and mugwort cakes he made for Qingming Festival were almost sold out, so it was time to make some cupcakes to keep the supply going.
Daoist Chang Kong originally thought that Clear Breeze Temple had a natural advantage in making cakes, because one of the raw materials needed to make cakes is eggs, and Grandpa Lin raised so many chickens, so in theory, eggs should be the least of their problems.
Unexpectedly, when he had Yun Zhaozhao contact Grandpa Lin that evening, he realized he had been overthinking things. Although he had raised about a hundred chickens, not a single one was available for order.
Grandpa Lin was also aggrieved. "These are genuine free-range chickens, not factory-farmed chickens. Factory-farmed chickens are forced to mature and lay eggs in just two or three months. These free-range chickens I raise take at least five months, and sometimes at least six months, to lay eggs!"
Yun Zhaozhao and Daoist Chang Kong were truly unaware of the growth patterns of free-range chickens for the first time. However, this meant that getting eggs for making cakes from Grandpa Lin would likely be impossible.
Finally, Grandpa Lin had a flash of inspiration and thought of another way, "I see that quite a few villagers in this village are raising chickens. If you really want eggs, you can ask the old lady who delivers vegetables to help you ask around in the village."
As business at Clear Breeze Temple gradually gets back on track, the vegetable delivery lady no longer delivers vegetables herself; she also has her husband help her deliver vegetables on their tricycle. The couple not only delivers vegetables they grow themselves, but also helps collect fresh vegetables from neighbors and neighboring villages and deliver them to Clear Breeze Temple.
I heard that Clear Breeze Temple was collecting free-range eggs, so the old lady and the old man collected several baskets and delivered them the next day.