Qingxin: "..."Your Clear Breeze Temple not only fleeces its customers, but also its own Daoist priests, and after fleecing the Daoist priests, you even fleece their masters!
Chapter 57
Bai Mengjie made a special trip home over the weekend. On the one hand, her family missed her son Guo Rang very much and wanted her to take the child back to ease their longing. On the other hand, she needed to send back the large and small bags of souvenirs and pastries she had bought at Clear Breeze Temple a couple of days ago.
Bai Mengjie's parents lived with her maternal grandparents. Bai Mengjie placed the pastries she brought back from Clear Breeze Temple on the table, and then, like a proud grandpa, presented the bamboo tube and bamboo leaf bookmarks she had brought back from Clear Breeze Temple to her grandfather. "Grandpa, look, look what good things I've prepared for you..."
Bai Mengjie's grandfather glanced at it through his reading glasses and was indeed pleasantly surprised. "This bamboo tube is exquisitely carved. Did you carve it yourself?"
Bai Mengjie: "You really think highly of me. I don't have that kind of skill. I bought this at Clear Breeze Temple a couple of days ago. Look at this bamboo leaf bookmark, it's truly exquisite and delicate. It's just such a small bamboo leaf, yet you can draw and write poems on it. And the person who introduced it to me said that this bamboo leaf pen holder and bamboo leaf bookmark were hand-carved by the master craftsmen at Clear Breeze Temple. You can't buy the same thing online even if you have the money!"
Clear Breeze Temple?
Bai Mengjie's grandfather silently recited these three words in his heart. After Bai Mengjie finished lunch and left with the child, he couldn't help but search for information about Clear Breeze Temple on a certain live streaming platform.
Bai Mengjie's maternal grandfather only recently became obsessed with online live streaming. At first, he only watched some calligraphy-related content, but as he watched, he spent more and more time on the live streams. Later, he watched basically anything and everything, whatever the platform broadcast.
That day, he searched for Clear Breeze Temple online and saw a Jingting stream of Clear Breeze Temple.
This was the first time that Daoist Cen and Daoist Mao had ever done live streaming.
Both of them were extremely nervous before going live, especially Daoist Mao. He is a rather introverted person, and he gets socially awkward when speaking in front of more than ten people, let alone doing a live broadcast in front of tens of thousands of people.
However, Jingting calmly told them that he would handle all the talking, and they only needed to follow his instructions. Daoist Mao immediately calmed down after hearing this.
As it turns out, when he did a live stream with Jingting, no one else had a chance to speak, because he simply didn't give anyone else a chance to speak; he could carry the entire stage all by himself.
Daoist Cen and Daoist Mao were live-streaming Tai Chi Chuan demonstration for everyone that day. Actually, Yun Zhaozhao wanted Daoist Qingxin to lead the two of them in a fight, since Daoist Qingxin was highly skilled in martial arts and could even fly.
However, Daoist Qingxin wasn't actually a member of Clear Breeze Temple. Helping Clear Breeze Temple with their offline recruitment was already an exception, and if he were to livestream Tai Chi in the name of Clear Breeze Temple now, Yun Zhaozhao worried that Daoist Qingxin's own temple wouldn't approve. Besides, Daoist Qingxin also had his own livestreaming account; performing Tai Chi directly in Jingting's livestream would easily seem like neglecting his duties. Anyway, based on all these reasons, it ended up being Daoist Qingxin providing offline training to Daoist Mao Daoist Mao Daoist Cen Daoist Cen, who would then take the stage directly.
Fortunately, both Daoist Mao and Daoist Cen had studied Tai Chi at a Daoist academy. So, although they were appointed to the task at a critical moment, they both performed quite well on camera.
Jingting to these two, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Sure enough, those who had studied systematically were different from someone like him who had learned on his own. He had been learning martial arts from the manual given to him by Daoist Qingxin for over a month, and his moves were still quite professional. But Daoist Cen and Daoist Mao only needed to strike a pose to look like professionals.
Besides calligraphy, Bai Mengjie's grandfather also enjoys exercising. Unlike some elderly people who like to dance in public squares, Grandpa Bai doesn't like hugging and dancing in the square at all; he prefers to practice Tai Chi.
Because Tai Chi has a gentle rhythm, and practicing it for a long time can indeed improve physical health.
He has a few regular Tai Chi buddies in the neighborhood, and the group practices Tai Chi in the community square every day, rain or shine. Now, seeing the Daoist priests from Clear Breeze Temple also teaching Tai Chi, Bai Mengjie's grandfather was instantly captivated. His only complaint was that the thin Daoist priest standing in front of him talked too much and too incessantly during the live broadcast, which greatly affected Grandpa Bai's interest in learning Tai Chi.
Regardless, after learning that Clear Breeze Temple offered Tai Chi instruction, Bai Mengjie's grandfather would log into Clear Breeze Temple's live stream at the same time every day, not for any other reason than to wait and learn Tai Chi from these Daoist priests.
However, to Grandpa Bai's disappointment, the content of Clear Breeze Temple's live stream was far too complicated. Although there was a live stream almost every day, it wasn't a Tai Chi live stream every day. Sometimes it was a live stream of cooking, sometimes it was a live stream of painting and planting flowers, and sometimes it was even a live stream of cursing.
When Grandpa Bai first heard the Daoist priest cursing on live stream, he was shocked. However, after thinking about it, he realized that this was quite in line with the Daoist priests' style of doing things. After all, compassion is the tenet of monks, and Daoist priests are all about "better to die for their fellow Daoists than for themselves."
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Because the Tai Chi live stream from Clear Breeze Temple was so unreliable, Bai Mengjie's grandfather finally couldn't resist choosing a sunny day and inviting his old Tai Chi buddies to come to Clear Breeze Temple in person. He did it just to see the Daoist priests practice Tai Chi live.
Fortunately, although Jingting's live stream doesn't broadcast Tai Chi every day, one of Daoist Mao and Daoist Cen's daily tasks is chanting scriptures, praying for blessings, and practicing Tai Chi. So, on the day Bai Mengjie's grandfather came, he was lucky enough to see the Daoist priests' live Tai Chi performance.
In fact, on this day, Grandpa Bai not only saw the Tai Chi performance, but also various calligraphy and painting works from Clear Breeze Temple. At first, Grandpa Bai was just walking around the backyard of Clear Breeze Temple with an appreciative attitude, but later, he couldn't resist the urge to write. So, while the other old friends went to the canteen for lunch, he couldn't help but write a calligraphy work. Unexpectedly, he was quite lucky and actually won a reward from Clear Breeze Temple. The prize was a pot of summer violets grown by Clear Breeze Temple itself.
When Bai Mengjie called her grandfather that evening, she saw Grandpa Bai proudly showing off his newly acquired treasure, Xia Jin. In fact, her Grandpa Bai knew nothing about growing flowers and had never even bought flowers before, but winning one was different from buying one, so he took good care of it and even bought a book on growing flowers on his way home.
Bai Mengjie initially thought that her grandfather had bought the flowers from the market, but after asking around, she learned that he had brought them back from Clear Breeze Temple.
Mentioning Clear Breeze Temple reminded Bai Mengjie of her impulsive shopping spree, as if under a spell. So, she asked her grandfather with some unease, "Did you only buy this one potted plant, or did you buy other things? I'm telling you, you absolutely must resist! Clear Breeze Temple is really eerie; once you go in, you can't help but want to spend money, and you do it willingly... Spending money is one thing, but the most important thing is that it makes you crave it so much. Last night, Guo Rang was still nagging about going back to Clear Breeze Temple!"
Grandpa Bai was quite proud. "I have much more self-control than you. How could I possibly spend money recklessly? Let me tell you, I didn't spend a single penny today. Even the money I spent wasn't bought; it was a reward I earned with my calligraphy."
Bai Mengjie gave a thumbs up and coaxed her son Guo Rang in the same tone she used to coax him, "You're really amazing. Not only did you not spend any money, you also got a pot of flowers for free. So Clear Breeze Temple lost out this time."
The next second, Grandpa Bai continued, "... So I'll go again in a couple of days. I want to see what else I can win next time."
Bai Mengjie: "..." She said Clear Breeze Temple was a bit eerie! It's a place you can't forget after just one visit.
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The live stream of Tai Chi Clear Breeze Temple not only caught the attention of many Tai Chi enthusiasts, but also some Daoist priests who follow Clear Breeze Temple.
Among them was Daoist Qiujin, a classmate of Daoist Cen and Daoist Mao at the Daoist Academy.
Daoist Qiujin used to be a roommate of Daoist Cen and Daoist Mao Daoist Mao, but his relationship with Daoist Cen was just so-so. Because he believed that his academic performance was better, and he had also signed a job contract a few months earlier than Daoist Cen Daoist Cen Daoist Mao Daoist Mao, he always felt that he was doing better than them.
This feeling of self-satisfaction reached its peak when he saw Daoist Cen and Daoist Mao start performing their arts online via live streaming.
So much so that after watching the live stream, he couldn't help but find the contact information for Daoist Cen and Daoist Mao in the group chat, and then contacted them separately.
What he said didn't sound particularly friendly; in fact, it even sounded a bit sarcastic.
Daoist Huaijin, "I told you all long ago not to go to small Daoist temples after graduation. These kinds of temples look very unprofessional. Look at you guys, you've already started doing live streaming online."
After reading the message, Daoist Mao didn't reply at all. After all, as a socially awkward person, his most common way of responding to unfamiliar sarcastic remarks is to ignore them.
However, Daoist Cen rose to the challenge. "Although the Daoist temple is small, it is small but complete in every way."
Daoist Huaijin: "Oh, then tell me, where is your Clear Breeze Temple located?"
Daoist Cen: "How much is your monthly salary?"
Daoist Huaijin: "2000. What happened?"
Daoist Cen: "I have 5000, not including today's live stream rewards."
Daoist Huaijin: "..."
Daoist Huaijin was a little envious, but more than that, he was unconvinced. "This kind of Daoist temple can only attract people by offering high salaries. Otherwise, tell me, what else can it offer you besides a salary?"