Chapter 57 No! Master, you It was still the long wooden table under the tree in the yard. Two large basins were placed in the middle, filled with bedding. "Boom!" The bell rang, and a group of brothers came over with smiles on their faces. "Junior brother, I smelled the aroma of meat a long time ago! Did you cook the master's pickled meat?" "This is a gift from the pilgrims who came to burn incense in the temple. The master usually doesn't want to eat it. If you don't cook it well, you will be scolded!" "Brother, you are so careless! Do you think we haven't thought about these pieces of meat before? It's all because of Master's stingy nature. He doesn't want to spend too much effort on the word 'eat' and doesn't let us eat it. Otherwise, he would cook it in the rice. No matter whether it is porridge or dry rice, won't it add some salt?" "It's already cooked..." "If you ask me, it should have been cooked long ago!" Everyone sat down with a smile and the discussion continued.
But when he looked down, he saw that the blanket was pulled wide and thin, which was obviously different from the food they usually cooked. Then he looked at the soup, which contained pickled meat, dried bamboo shoots and chicken mushrooms. It was as delicious as one could imagine, and he could also smell the obvious aroma of chicken mushrooms. He was immediately a little surprised. "what?" Several of the senior brothers are just not good at cooking, it’s not like they haven’t eaten good food before. Then again, these days, most people are happy just to have enough to eat, and not many people are good at cooking. Naturally, you can see the difference in today's dinner. "What's this called?" "Blanket surface." "Tsk! Junior brother can also make pasta..." "Some simple ones." "It looks OK." As they were talking, Lin Jue and his junior sister had already served a bowl for each of them. Many senior brothers also picked up chopsticks. "Eat, eat..." It was still Master Yunhe who spoke. All the brothers and sisters lowered their heads. Pick up a thin and wide piece of noodles, soak it up with the soup, and bring it to your mouth with the boiling heat. When you take the first bite, in addition to the hot feeling, you first taste the salty and fresh taste of the pickled meat and bamboo shoots, followed by the unique aroma of the chicken mushroom. After chewing it in your mouth for a few times, you will be surprised at the soft and chewy texture of the noodles. There is no doubt that not only is the taste never tasted before in the temple, but it is also not easy to find this style of food even in the nearby mountains. Most importantly, it’s really delicious. After taking just one bite, everyone fell silent.
Lin Jue didn't look at them, but continued to serve a bowl of rice to the little fox he raised. He used the bowl that the fifth senior brother specially made for it and put it on the ground. "Eat it!" The little fox looked at him, then lowered its head and moved closer obediently. This little thing is never picky about food and will eat whatever is given to it. But after taking a bite, I was stunned. His eyes widened instantly. He tilted his head for a moment, somewhat incredulous. He took another bite and his eyes widened again. Lin Jue found it interesting and laughed cheerfully, then he looked away, only to see that everyone at the table was staring at him blankly. Looking at their expressions, although not as exaggerated as the fox's, they were not much different. "Huh? Why don't you eat?" Everyone then lowered their heads and murmured. …… The next morning, at the entrance of the Taoist temple, there was a thin mist in the pine forest and a cool breeze in the mountains. The young Taoist priest stood leading a donkey. The words from last night were still echoing in my mind. That was after everyone had eaten their fill, not even a drop of soup was left. It seemed that only then did they have the heart to talk: "Brother, weren't you a scholar before you came up the mountain? Why do I look like a cook?" "Junior brother, why didn't you tell me earlier that you are so good at cooking? I have no food to eat with my wine every day!" "Lin Jue, since you are so good at cooking, you can use the pickled meat. But it seems that there is no food in the temple. Tomorrow you can get a few taels of silver from the temple and go down the mountain to buy some food." "No! Master, you..." So in the morning I made them another bowl of noodles. It’s not that Lin Jue doesn’t know anything else, it’s just that they only had one bowl of pu zhai noodles and were amazed by it. They strongly requested it, and Lin Jue couldn’t disobey. After finishing his meal, he stood at the gate of the Taoist temple early in the morning. Beside him was the only donkey in the temple, with two square bamboo baskets hanging on its back. There was also a little apprentice sister beside him and a little fox at his feet. "Brother, where did you learn how to make the blanket?" The little sister looked at him worriedly. "From my home school." "..." "what happened?" "Master, Senior Brother, do you know anything else?" “Yes.” “…” "what happened?"
"without……" The junior sister stood there without saying anything. After waiting for a while, Senior Brother Seven came out. "Let's go." Yishan is really remote, the nearest market is dozens of miles away, and there is no market today. It only opens once a month, so we have to go to the county town. The county seat is nearly a hundred miles away. Not only is it far, but the roads are all mountainous, especially the section near Yishan, where the grass is deep and the forest is heavy, making the road difficult to walk on. The round trip takes at least two days. Since Lin Jue and his junior sister are both young, the master would naturally ask a senior brother to take care of them. The seventh senior brother is the youngest among the senior brothers, looking to be about twenty-four or twenty-five, and he majors in drama. When Lin Jue and the younger sister first came to the temple, he performed for them many times. He loves to travel around on weekdays, and is familiar with the way to the county town, and can chat with the two of them. The three of them had already walked down the mountain. "Let's walk faster and try to get there before nightfall, otherwise the city gates will be closed. If you can't walk any more, don't try to be brave, a donkey can carry you a little further." "Brother, you worry too much. Since we came up the mountain, we have often chopped wood, ran up and down the mountain, and sometimes had to go back and forth between Xianyuan Temple. We have already practiced it. Besides, we have some foundation in cultivation. We can still walk nearly a hundred miles in a day." Lin Jue said so. In his personal opinion, the current mile in this world is not as long as the mile in his memory. It is nearly a hundred miles, probably less than 40 kilometers. People with good leg strength can walk it from morning to night. Even some traveling merchants and porters had to carry goods with them to make a living, not to mention those who were young and strong and came empty-handed. "Don't worry, Senior Brother Seven. I go to the mountains to repair roads every day, and I've trained myself a long time ago!" The junior sister has become a qualified laborer. The seventh brother smiled and patted the donkey's back: "Brother Donkey, you will have to work hard again this time." He and the donkey walked in front. The junior sister walked in the middle. Lin Jue put the hatchet in the basket on the donkey's back, and walked at the back, using his stick as a crutch. The little fox took small steps, moving and stopping, and changing its position frequently. Senior Brother Seven was not a dull person. As they walked, he talked to them about the scenery in the mountains, what it was like on sunny days, rainy days, and foggy days, what monsters lived in the mountains, which ones he had visited, and which streams were easy to catch crabs and which streams were easy to catch fish. He could describe all of these clearly. Even if he left Yishan and walked towards the county town, he could tell the name of every village and every river. From morning to noon, and then to afternoon. From the deciduous mountain road to the country road, and then to the spacious official road, there are more and more pedestrians on the road, including caravans leading horses and mules and hawkers carrying loads and pushing carts. It is gradually becoming lively. This is two completely different feelings from the always quiet Fuqiu Temple located in the mountains, as if they are two different worlds. A city gradually emerged in the dusk light. "We're here." Senior Brother Seven said to them, "Yi County is the seat of the prefecture, and it's also a big city."
"Yi County..." "Brother, what do you want to buy? You are the elder brother this time when we go down the mountain, so you have the final say." "Let's take a look first. It's almost evening, and I guess there won't be much to buy." Lin Jue thought to himself, "Let's see how many shops are open in the city first." "All up to you!" As the Seventh Senior Brother spoke, he walked towards the city gate first. There were several armed guards at the door. After the Seventh Senior Brother walked over, he took out a letter from his bosom, turned back and pointed at Lin Jue and the Little Junior Sister, explaining where he came from and saying that he was going to the city to do some shopping. The guard looked at the Seventh Senior Brother, then at the Donkey and Lin Jue, and stopped his gaze on the little fox standing at Lin Jue's feet - the little fox could now be clearly seen as a fox, which made him frown in view of the many strange rumors about foxes among the people. However, when he looked down at this unusual certificate of ordination, the fox following the Taoist seemed to be proof that the Taoist was truly extraordinary, so the doubt only lasted for a short time and turned into a bit of respect. "Masters, please come in." "Thank you." The three of them thanked him and walked into the city gate. "Junior brothers and sisters may not know that now the court issues two kinds of certificates: one is a piece of paper, used by ordinary monks and Taoists to prove their identity; the other is a petition. If you can get this kind of certificate, it means that this Taoist temple has some Taoist skills. At least it has some skills when you get the certificate." The seventh senior brother said, "Before you leave the mountain, Master will definitely get one for you." "So that's it." As he spoke, he had already passed through the doorway, and the streets in the city suddenly came into view. Just past the city gate, there was a main street, lined with mostly white-walled, green-tiled Hui-style buildings, with scattered eaves. It was dusk, the white walls had turned a pale golden color, the green tiles were also filled with light, and there were still many people on the street. Some vendors were about to leave the city, some shops were closing, some people were still shouting and hawking, and some were walking on the streets. Thanks to the growing popularity of trade here in recent years, the city is quite prosperous. The little junior sister opened her curious eyes, constantly glancing at the shops and restaurants on the roadside, constantly looking at the horses and mules passing by, and constantly looking at the vendors walking by and the children running in the distance. Only when she saw vendors selling snacks would she deliberately look away. The same goes for the little fox. This little thing was too small when Lin Jue picked it up. The only memories it had were Fuqiu Peak and the Taoists. This was a completely new world for it. There were dogs on the street, all staring at it. However, I don’t know if it was because it didn’t know dogs or what, but according to legend, even fox spirits are afraid of dogs, but this little fox actually stretched its neck and looked at them, and then still took small steps to keep up with Lin Jue. (End of this chapter)
