Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Linxi Town is about 40 miles away from Guangning Temple, which is far away. If people want to participate in the Dharma Assembly, they have to walk there. They have to set out one day in advance and stay in an inn at the foot of the mountain of Guangning Temple at night so that they can catch the opening ceremony of the Dharma Assembly at 9:00 on the next morning.

If you want to attend a Dharma Assembly, you really have to be rich and have free time. Most of the guys who are busy making a living have never been there.

This time the boss gave the restaurant a holiday and sent a carriage, which was a rare good thing. Except for the elderly Mr. Wu who was afraid of the bumpy ride in the carriage, everyone in the restaurant said they wanted to go.

Shen Yu also signed up. She had hardly been out since she came here. How could she miss such a good opportunity?

What the outside world is like is pieced together from the guests' fragmentary words and is almost vague.

I heard that the market was very lively on market days, but it was also her busiest time. By the time she had some free time to rest, the market had already been closed and she had no interest in going shopping.

As they had to get up early the next day, Manager Fan ordered to close the shop early today, and also told the employees not to be late tomorrow, as he would not wait for anyone if they were late.

Everyone had a happy look on their face. They happily closed the door and cleaned up. After dinner, they all dispersed.

Shen Yuyuan also wanted to go back to sleep quickly so as not to be late the next day, but after hesitating for a moment, he stayed.

While the fire was still on, I made twenty or thirty mixed dough pancakes with a little salt and pepper powder and put them in a bamboo plate. I also cut some pickled vegetables and dried tofu shreds, added some salt, green onion shreds, and coriander, and burned some hot pepper oil on the green onion shreds. With a "sizzling" sound, the aroma of green onion and pepper oil filled the air. After mixing everything, I put it in a small jar and sealed it.

He covered the bamboo plaque with a cloth, put out the fire, locked the back door, and returned to the courtyard at the end of the alley.

It felt like she had just fallen asleep for a short while when Shen Yu was awakened by a loud knock on the door. It was still dark, and she was dazed for a moment before she remembered that she had to go out today.

The one who came to call her was Liu Wu. He arrived early and saw that Shen Yu had not come yet, so he hurried over to call her, fearing that she would miss the departure of the carriage.

By the time Shen Yu had finished cleaning up and went to the kitchen, almost everyone had arrived.

Shen Yu took a bamboo basket, put the flatbreads on the bamboo plate and the small clay pot of pickles in it, packed two pairs of bamboo chopsticks, covered the mouth of the basket with a towel, and went to the restaurant door with everyone to wait.

Manager Fan did not come because he had to escort his mother to Guangning Temple to worship Buddha. Yesterday, he had agreed to let Chef Lu lead everyone to go shopping.

As soon as I stood still, two carriages came over from the other side of the street. They were carriages specially used by the carriage company to carry people.

Pulled by two big blue mules, the carriage was not big, with a carport on top and small windows on both sides. Inside, there were horizontal wooden seats on both sides that were fixed to the carport, covered with a thin mat. A gray blue cloth curtain was hung on the top of the carport to keep out the dust.

One car can seat six or seven people. The guys squeezed into the car. Shen Yu and Liu Niangzi sat together, with the basket at their feet, leaning against the wall, which was quite comfortable.

She had never traveled far since she came here. When she first got on the carriage, the road was relatively flat and not bumpy, so she thought riding in the carriage was quite nice.

But she underestimated the ancient carriages and roads. After leaving the town, the carriage ran faster and the road was uneven, so she was swayed from side to side. The cushion was no longer effective. She just felt painful and hoped to arrive quickly.

After walking for about an hour, the sky gradually brightened. Shen Yu looked out through the fluttering curtains. There were large fields of crops on both sides and vague houses in the distance.

Perhaps because he slept too late yesterday and got up early today to travel, Shen Yu dozed off leaning against the wall without realizing it.

When Lady Liu pushed her, she thought they had arrived in her half-asleep state, but it turned out that there was a tea shop on the side of the road. Everyone could stop by to rest and stretch their legs before continuing on their journey. The big blue mule also needed some water and grass to eat.

Shen Yu got out of the car and stretched his numb legs and feet. He looked around. There were hills on both sides of the road. The teahouse was at the corner of the road. People probably stopped here to take a break and replenish their food. The teahouse was not big, but there were more than ten long open-air tables next to it.

Chef Lu invited everyone to sit over and said, "Before we came here, the shopkeeper told us that each person would be given fifty coins today. Let's drink some water and take a rest first. When we get to Guangning Temple, there will be all kinds of food at the temple gate. You can buy whatever you like. You will pay for the extra food yourself."

Everyone was overjoyed when they heard this. They didn't expect the host would give money. They all talked about what was delicious and cheap.

The teahouse also sold some cakes and steamed buns. It was probably the only place to rest within a radius of twenty miles, so the prices were ridiculously high, with a vegetable cake costing ten cents. Everyone wanted to go to Guangning Temple to eat delicious food, and no one wanted to be taken advantage of here. However, after drinking the water, they felt hungry instead.

Shen Yu asked the guys if they were hungry, and everyone smiled embarrassedly.

She said, "Wait a moment, I'll be back soon." Then she turned and went to the carriage, climbed up, and came back carrying the basket.

Liu Wu was getting to know her well, so he quickly asked her, "Miss Shen, what's in this basket?"

Shen Yu did not answer, but just lifted the cloth to reveal the cakes and the earthenware jar.

The guys cheered and were about to start fighting. Shen Yu stopped them with a smile and said to Chef Lu, "Chef Lu, will the store owner be angry if we eat here?"

Chef Lu smiled and shook his head: "How can I be so stingy? If I were really like that, this business would have been closed long ago."

He turned around and told Liu Wu: "Go to the tea shop and ask for a basin of water. We have come a long way, so we should wash our hands before eating."

The guys got up in the dark early in the morning. They had not gone far, so they had never thought of bringing any food. After the bumpy ride and the water, they were already hungry.

They took turns using chopsticks to pick up pickles and roll them into the pancake, drinking tea and eating happily, having long forgotten the discomfort of being jolted by the car all the way.

"Ms. Shen, when did you make the pancakes? Why did you think of putting pickles with the pancakes?" the waiter asked while eating.

"Everyone left last night. I thought it would take two or three hours to get here, and I didn't know if there was any food for sale on the road, so I made some and took it with me." Shen Yu answered honestly.

"Thanks to these bread and pickles, otherwise we would have to endure the hunger all the way to Guangning Temple. I don't know if we can endure the journey."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

They were all young people, at the age when they could eat, so they shared out the entire basket of cakes, leaving only half a jar of pickles.

After washing the chopsticks and shaking off the water, he still wrapped them in a cloth and walked to the roadside, carrying the basket with only a small earthenware jar in it. The two horse-drawn carriages were parked on the roadside, and the driver had already fed the big blue mules with water and fodder and was waiting for them.

When the sun rose to the treetops, we finally arrived at the intersection on the mountainside in front of Guangning Temple.

Guangning Temple was built on a small hill. It took some walking to get there after getting off the car. Lu Chu and the driver agreed on a time to pick them up in the evening. He gave each person a small purse containing fifty cents of silver and led everyone up the mountain.