My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

After school at Chang'an Imperial College that day, he went straight home. Although he could have taken out the blueprints in the morning and taken them to the carpenter's shop to make them after school, he did not do so. Instead, he chose to go out for a walk and get some fresh air with his wife after lunch.

After finishing the meal, Chang An first went to the kitchen to check the servants' work, and then took Gu Li to the carriage. Gu Li also knew Chang An's arrangement while eating, and naturally followed his arrangement obediently.

When they arrived at the East Market, Chang An asked Huaiqin and Zhen'er to buy what they wanted as usual, while he took Gu Li by the hand and went shopping in the market.

The two came to a crossroads and found that there were a lot of people there. However, the crowds were not because of the surrounding shops, but because people were gathered around the crossroads, as if there was something new in the crowd.

Chang An and Gu Li looked at each other and saw the same doubt in each other's eyes. Chang An took Gu Li to the periphery of the crowd, and only then did he see clearly the situation in the center of the crowd - there were two low tables put together in the center of the crowd, and a monk was sitting on one of the low tables, and a wooden fish was placed on the other table.

The monk's face was slightly sunken, but he still sat there beating the wooden fish. Chang An was also wondering if this monk was an ascetic, but when he saw the brand new cassock he was wearing, he didn't think so.

He remembered that Gu Li had been to the East Market yesterday, so he pulled her hand and asked, "Mother Gu, you came to the East Market yesterday, what happened?"

"Ahem..." Gu Li coughed twice and said with some confusion: "I didn't pass by here when I bought candy yesterday. I don't know what happened here."

Chang An shook his head. He had never been interested in this kind of thing, so he just took Gu Li away.

After crossing the intersection, Chang An discovered that the carpenter's shop was not far from the intersection. The shop owner at the door was originally standing at the door and watching the excitement from afar, but as he was watching, he saw a young couple coming towards him. Their destination seemed to be his carpenter's shop, so he asked enthusiastically:

"Do you two want to buy some equipment?"

Chang An looked at the crowd behind him and said, "Boss, let's go in and talk."

Hearing this, the shop owner turned sideways and ushered Chang An and Gu Li into the shop. Only then did Chang An take out his drawings, handed them to the shop owner, and asked, "Can these things be made?"

The shop owner took the drawings and looked at them one by one. After reading them one by one, he said, "I know what the latter three molds are, but this first one... looks like a mechanism that requires a sharp blade."

"This is a device I designed for crushing fruit. It's not wrong to call it a mechanism," Chang An explained.

"Yes, you gave me the blueprint, so of course it can be done." The shop owner is a carpenter himself, so he is naturally interested in this novel thing. "This is the first time I've seen this thing, so I may need to figure it out, and it may take some time."

"Will five days be enough to make two of each mold?" Chang An asked.

"If it's five days, there will be no problem with the molds." The shop owner said, patting his chest.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, boss." Chang An said, "I'll come to pick up the goods and you can tell me the price."

"Okay!" The boss nodded, "It doesn't matter if I don't join in the fun."

Chang An and Gu Li looked at each other when they heard this, and then Chang An asked, "Boss, what do you mean by lively?"

"Oh, I can tell you two haven't been to East Market recently," the boss explained, "The noise here refers to the Zen master meditating at the intersection."

"Zen master?" Gu Li asked in confusion, "What's so exciting about a Zen master meditating?"

"Alas, my lady, you are wrong." The boss looked out at the street and said, "This Zen master is not an ordinary person. He has been sitting here for nearly ten days, exposed to the wind and sun, and has not eaten a single grain of rice."

"Ten days?" Chang An frowned. A normal person would have fainted from hunger if he didn't eat for ten days. How could he sit here quietly in the wind and sun and beat a wooden fish?

"Is this true?"

"It's absolutely true." The shop owner said, "I heard that this Zen master is performing a ritual for the owner of a big restaurant."

"The shopkeeper lived in the backyard of his own restaurant. One night he saw a female ghost, which frightened him greatly. The next day he happened to see the Zen master on the street, so he asked him to perform a ritual."

"Then what?" Chang An felt something was not right the more he listened, so he asked.

"Then on that day, I heard that the Zen master performed a ritual in the restaurant and subdued the female ghost in front of many people. The restaurant owner said that he had never seen the female ghost since that day. She also said that she had committed many sins of killing, and she wanted to sit under the Buddha's light and not eat for ten days to wash away her sins."

"That is to say, this Zen master has been sitting here for almost ten days?" Gu Li said with some surprise.

"Yes, he only leaves every day to relieve himself or drink some water. Now look at the time, the tenth day is almost up, and the restaurant owner will come over soon to give merit to the Zen master. I heard that there are thousands of taels."

After Chang An heard this, he felt something was wrong, but he did not show any abnormality. Instead, he took Gu Li's hand and stood up and said to the boss, "Since we have understood almost everything, my husband and I will not bother you any more. Goodbye."

"Objective and slow walking."

Gu Li was led by Chang An back to the crossroads, and she saw the monk who had been sitting for ten consecutive days. She looked up and saw Chang An looking at the meditating Zen master, so she pulled Chang An's hand and asked, "Chang Lang, should we go and pay respect to that master?"

Chang An smiled and lowered his voice and said, "If we want to worship, we have to worship the real master. What's the point of worshipping this?"

Gu Li was a little confused after hearing this. He looked around and asked in a low voice, "Chang Lang means that this master is not a real master?"

Chang An nodded, and then he saw a man leading two servants coming over, shouting as he walked, "Excuse me, please lend me the way!"

The man walked straight through the crowd and came to the monk with his servant. Then he asked the servant to put the box in front of the master and said respectfully:

"Master, the ten days of meditation have come to an end. This is the merit I offer to the Buddha."

Seeing this scene, Chang An knew that this person was probably the owner of the restaurant. Looking at the Zen master again, it seemed that he had heard the words of the restaurant owner, and then he slowly opened his eyes, and there seemed to be a hint of light in his eyes.

"Amitabha, you are so kind." The monk was about to sit up, and the restaurant owner beside him quickly reached out his hand to help him up. After the monk was helped up, he put his hands together and said "Amitabha" to the restaurant owner again.

"Master." The restaurant owner also quickly put his hands together and said, "Thank you very much, Master, for coming to help me subdue the female ghost ten days ago. Otherwise, our shop would not be able to live in peace."

"Amitabha, monks are compassionate and just do it out of convenience." The monk said it in a very serious manner.

Chang An stood there and looked the Zen master's whole body with his eyes. It was at this moment that he caught a glimpse of the monk's Buddhist beads, and then he smiled with sudden enlightenment.

"Wait a minute, shopkeeper!"

Chang An shouted at this time, attracting the attention of everyone including the monk and the restaurant owner.

"This merit should be given to the real Buddha, why give it to this person?"

Chang An spoke loudly as he led Gu Li towards the monk.

"I don't know who this young man is. If you dare to slander the Zen master, be careful or the Buddha will blame you." The restaurant owner became unhappy when he saw that it was a young man. How could he not know whether this Zen master was the real Buddha?

"My surname is Chang An, my given name is Yonghe, and I am also a Buddhist." Chang An remained calm in the face of the restaurant owner's questioning. When the people present heard Chang An's name, they all exclaimed in surprise.

"Amitabha, benefactor, I am not the Buddha. I am just a novice monk serving the Buddha." The monk had a calm expression and spoke seriously.

But Chang An ignored the monk and asked the restaurant owner, "Boss, do you want to give the merits in this box to the Buddha or to an actor?"

"Mr. Chang, stop talking nonsense." The restaurant owner was a little unhappy. "This Zen master is blessed by the Buddha. He helped me subdue the female ghost. He has been sitting here for ten days without eating a single grain of rice."

"Subdue the female ghost?" Chang An smiled. "Then may I ask, shopkeeper, the day you subdued the female ghost was during the day. Did you see the female ghost again when you were performing the ritual?"

The restaurant owner was stunned for a moment, then thought for a while and replied, "No."

"Then let me ask you again, boss, have you asked anyone to check the entire restaurant carefully since you saw the female ghost that night?" Chang An asked again, "If not, please send someone back to search carefully. Maybe they will find a hole under a wall. Even if they can't find it, you won't suffer any loss, right?"

The restaurant owner frowned, and the monk next to him paused while counting the Buddhist beads.

"Go, ask someone to check it out." The restaurant owner instructed the servant behind him.

"Master, I wonder how many beads are there in the Buddhist beads in your hand?" Chang An turned his eyes to the monk. "Is it fifty-four beads or one hundred and eighteen beads?"

Upon hearing this question, the monk suddenly became a little nervous, and even the restaurant owner was a little confused.

"Everyone, could you please help me count the Buddhist beads on the Zen master's neck and hands? How many are there?" As soon as these words were spoken, even the restaurant owner turned his attention to the Buddhist beads on the monk's neck and hands.

"Amitabha, benefactor, what are you doing? It's fine if you slander me, but why do you also slander my Buddhist magic weapon?" The monk said with a barely perceptible nervousness in his tone.

"It's okay, Zen Master, just let others count them." Chang An said, and even Gu Li went to count the beads on the Zen Master's body.

At this time, someone told the number he counted, which was about ninety, and there were only about ninety beads in the string in his hand.

"Mr. Chang, what do you mean?" asked the restaurant owner.

"What else could it mean? Ordinary Buddhist beads are strung with 14, 18, 27, 36, 42, 54, 108 or 1080 beads, but why is there only about beads on this Zen master?" Chang An said, "I heard before that this Zen master sat under the scorching sun for ten days and never left except to relax or drink water, so how come there are so few beads?"

"Mr. Chang, are you saying that there is something wrong with these Buddhist beads?" a passerby spoke up.

"Of course there is a problem," Chang An did not continue speaking at this time, but said: "Can someone please help me get a bowl of clean water."

Not long after he finished speaking, someone brought a bowl of water over, but Chang An did not look at the bowl of water. Instead, he came to the Zen master with a smile on his face. The Zen master did not know what he was going to do, but before he opened his mouth, he felt something strange coming from his hand - Chang An took advantage of the monk's attention to his face and pulled the Buddhist beads off his hand.

Then he pulled out another one and threw it into the bowl of water, but he didn't look at the situation in the bowl.