Chapter 2 Chapter 2 The old secretary's shoe-horn-like face suddenly...
As the sun sets in the west, the hip roof of the Buxian Temple looks like an orange-red salted egg yolk is poking out diagonally.
In the side hall, Lin Xinghuo sat upright, staring at his master without saying a word.
The old man felt a little guilty and a little scared, so he smiled and tried to find something else to say: "Wonderful Dharma, do you know? Our Buxian Temple almost collapsed! It was all thanks to your great-grandfather that I donated the temple property and over a hundred acres of land. In fact, those lands were not confiscated; most of them were donated by landlords. Back then, your great-grandfather only accepted tributes from landlords, and never accepted a single needle or thread from ordinary people - what foresight!"
After boasting earnestly but receiving no response, the old nun smacked her lips and said, "Although we've been exchanging food and herbs with people down the mountain over the years, we've always given away more. Miaofa, don't worry. The village I've chosen for you has the best customs within a hundred miles. You won't be bullied when you go there. You can practice peacefully and if you meet your destiny, you can get married. We don't prohibit fire dwelling in Buxian Temple..."
"That uncle down there said you'll be closing the mountain in October. If you wait until October, it'll be pointless whether I return to secular life or not. Why do you insist I come down?" Lin Xinghuo pursed her lips. "Also, what do you mean by 'you'll be closing the mountain'?"
The old fairy bowed to the Black Mother who was enshrined in the side hall and said in a low, mysterious voice, "The guardian fairy Black Mother is said to be a black fox who became an immortal. The Black Mother of our Buxian Temple is the most effective and naturally has the protection of Taoism--"
After being glared at by the little girl, the old fairy straightened her attitude a little and said half-truthfully, "In fact, it is just some Qimen Dunjia techniques, combined with the natural terrain of Lotus Peak, to form a fascinating formation. It was not set up by me, it has been passed down since the founder established the temple, but I dug it out only a few years ago." In peaceful times, temples are meant to attract incense. Who would bother to set up such a complicated and problematic formation to block the way of pilgrims?
"Then why do you want me to go down the mountain?" the little girl asked stubbornly.
The old fairy sighed deeply and stroked her nephew's head. "Cultivation requires entering the world. How can you transcend it without entering the world? If you stay rooted here, you will never achieve enlightenment. If you descend the mountain, it will also benefit my Taoism." Buxianguan is dotted with a great formation. During the war, she had no choice but to reactivate it, and thanks to its protection, she has lived to this day. However, due to the price of karma, she can no longer leave this place. And here on Lotus Peak, the essence of heaven and earth has been completely consumed by the formation. Compared to the spiritual aura of the beautiful lands outside, it is far inferior. It is indeed not conducive to cultivation.
The old fairy's voice was kind, but her attitude was firm, and it was obvious that her decision could not be changed.
"What will you do if I go down the mountain?" Lin Xinghuo's worry was justified. Her master was indeed lazy, and she was afraid that her master would starve to death if she went down the mountain.
"I, I'm fine! You were stupid before, and I had to take care of you - I have been looking forward to you coming down the mountain for many years." The old man said happily, and blurted out what was in his heart.
Lin Xinghuo remained calm and pretended not to hear the latter sentence.
The old fairy lady quickly added, "After you come down the mountain, your Taoist name won't be useful anymore. I, the ancestor, have already thought of a name for you: Spark! 'A single spark can start a prairie fire!'"
Lin Xinghuo was reminded of the wave of Red Guards that had arrived during the day. Of the four men leading the group, two were named Hongwei, one was Hongbing, and the other was Liaoyuan. Her original name was truly fitting for this era.
Seeing her nod, the old nun quickly swallowed down the candidates such as "Red Seedling" and "Chaoyang", clapping her hands and savoring them: "Your five elements are water and wood, more flames will be better for balance. Wonderful method, don't you think this name given to you by the ancestors is so good!"
Lin Xinghuo had no way to deal with her. The fox cub came over and rubbed against her, begging for food, so she had to go to the backyard to busy herself.
From the beginning to the end, neither the old nor the young said a word about the fact that she had recovered from her fall and acted as if she had never been stupid before. This was probably a little bit of unspeakable tacit understanding between people who practice Taoism.
Since the tenth day of the ninth lunar month, Lin Xinghuo has been so busy that she has put her morning and evening classes on hold. She held her breath and forgot about being tired.
On the first day, she took apart and washed all the bedding in the temple, tore apart the compacted cotton with her hands, and beat it as fluffy as possible with a wooden stick. That night, the grandmother and granddaughter had to spend the night on the bare kang mat in their clothes and cotton jackets.
The next day, when Lin Xinghuo first stood up, he struggled to lift his arms. He gritted his teeth and rubbed them together for half a minute before he could move them freely. That day, Lin Xinghuo rummaged through the kitchen and cellar, unexpectedly finding a small bag of completely rotten soybeans—even soybeans could spoil, so it must have been a long time since the cellar had been thoroughly cleaned. The food he found was a relief. Whether coarse or fine, it was enough to feed his master for several years.
On the 12th, Lin Xinghuo washed the old man's clothes in the morning, and learned how to heat the kang from her master. She tried to light the north kang in the wing room, and dried clothes and food on it, leaving her master to watch the fire and take a nap on the south kang. In the afternoon, she started to make pickles. She didn't know how to make local sauerkraut, but she had learned how to make pickles from Sichuan Province. She directly pickled several jars of radishes, beans, cabbage and peppers. Her master was an easy person to feed. She didn't know how to use the big stove on the first day, but she ate the burnt food with gusto. There was no time to make anything else, so Lin Xinghuo just hoped that she would enjoy these side dishes. In the evening, she used the firelight from the stove to steam several large baskets of steamed buns and dumplings.
In reality, while Lin Xinghuo could do many things, she was only slightly skilled. She had only learned the basics in the past, motivated by her desire to enter the world and cultivate her spiritual cultivation. Her practical skills were quite rusty, and some of the knowledge was purely theoretical. Unsurprisingly, the things she produced were unsightly. Especially on the thirteenth day, while sewing a quilt under the beautiful weather, she couldn't quite grasp the original sewing techniques, let alone patching scraps of cotton together. She resorted to clumsy methods, dividing the quilt into small squares, like a modern down jacket, and filling them one by one. Her master's cotton-padded jacket was made in the same way, mixing old cotton with cotton found in the cellar, which made it thick and warm. Where her craftsmanship lacked, she made do with creativity. Lin Xinghuo even lined each of her two thick jackets with a layer of rabbit fur or sheepskin, patching them together piecemeal. While the stitching was hideous and uncomfortable to wear on its own, it was indeed incredibly warm.
On the last day before leaving the mountain, Lin Xinghuo put all the food, clothing, and daily necessities in order, carefully listed them, and placed them in a winnowing basket at the head of his master's kang. The old fairy looked at the packed kang cabinets and kitchen, her toothless mouth wide open.
*** ***
On the fifteenth day of the ninth lunar month, the grain transport team from Bushan Village carried grain on their backs and shoulders, and delivered more than ten large baskets to the gate of Bushan Temple just before dawn.
When Lin Xinghuo heard the noise and opened the door, she saw more than twenty strong men and women squatting in front of the door, already lighting their pipes. Among them were seven or eight women. Huang Dazhuang, the leader, saw her hurriedly stand up and said with a simple smile, "Did we wake up the little fairy?"
Lin Xinghuo got up early and cooked a large pot of cornmeal porridge on the stove, and steamed half a basket of sweet potatoes. She glanced at the number of people and knew she hadn't prepared enough food. As she ushered them into the backyard, Lin Xinghuo said, "Eat something to fill your stomach first. I'll steam some more buns."
Huang Dazhuang hurriedly stopped them: "They just came up the mountain after eating." He pointed at the torches the women had thrown aside and said, "They didn't run far. They came here from the South Mountain with torches. Little fairy, please stop busying yourself."
After saying that, while Lin Xinghuo wasn't paying attention, he quickly kicked Wang Huzi who was staring at the two-grain flour bun: You are so useless, it's shameful!
Lin Xinghuo simply handed a basket of steamed buns to the older sister who was distributing porridge beside him: "Please share some with me and roast them in the oven."
By daybreak, the members had helped Lin Xinghuo count and organize the grain. Lin Xinghuo did not allow them to put it in the cellar, as it was dark and steep and difficult to get in and out of, so she put it all in the small room where she lived near the kitchen.
By this time, she had become familiar with Huang Dazhuang and the women's director, Wei Chunfeng: "Team leader, Sister Wei, can you ask the villagers to help chop the firewood?"
Huang Dazhuang looked at the pile of firewood and smacked his lips. "This pile is too small. I need to pick up some more to be on the safe side." Then he called out, "Go to the woods behind and pick up some more big firewood that can burn."
Wei Chunfeng, the women's director, took Lin Xinghuo's hand and said proudly, "They know how to do it. In previous years, our village also helped build the firewood." She just looked at the little girl and said, "Little fairy... No, Xinghuo, the old fairy really didn't want to let you go down the mountain? When we came up the mountain before, the old fairy hid you so that we wouldn't disturb you."
Wei Chunfeng's thick palms were covered with calluses, which strangely did not make them annoying but rather made people feel at ease. Lin Xinghuo felt a little uncomfortable and his face could not help but feel a little hot, but he let Wei Chunfeng hold his hand and ask questions, and spoke to him in a good mood.
Elsewhere, Cen Dazhu led the young men, drawing their hatchets from their waists, and headed straight for the woods through the back door. Huang Dazhuang led the rest of the group, fetching axes and hammers from the woodshed. While several of them chopped wood, Huang Dazhuang and Wang Huzi worked tirelessly repairing doors and windows, and checking the kang on the roof.
After burning incense at the statues in the main hall and the side hall, the old fairy lady strolled into the backyard with the fox cub. Seeing the three hemp sacks of medicinal herbs lying on the ground, she smiled so hard that her gums showed: "Oh my, there are so many this year."
Wei Chunfeng was so excited that she stuttered. She clasped her hands together and bowed to the old nun: "Fairy nun, please greet me."
"Infinite life and blessings! All is well, all is well!"
Huang Dazhuang heard the commotion and hurried over to greet them, saying with a smile: "Jinjiayao has encountered such a thing, so they are too embarrassed to go up the mountain to exchange medicine. The branch secretary should ask them to exchange them all back. Later, if Jinjiayao needs them, they can go to our village to exchange them." In fact, the old branch secretary and he were afraid that the old fairy had told the young Taoist nun Miaofa to go down the mountain because her life was coming to an end - the western medicine prescribed in the county was not as effective as the one prescribed by the old fairy, so they should exchange as much as they could at this time.
As the sun was setting, Lin Xinghuo kowtowed to his master and said, "Next year, when the mountain road is opened, I will come up the mountain to see you again."
Huang Dazhuang and the women then accompanied Lin Xinghuo down the mountain from the main road on the other side of Jinjiayao. Cen Dazhu and Wang Huzi, along with a dozen others, lit torches, carried sacks, and took the shortcut back to the village.
It was indeed better to take a detour from Jinjiayao. When Lin Xinghuo and his companions arrived at the village entrance, the old branch secretary had been waiting anxiously for a long time. He had finished his pot of dry tobacco long ago and was in no mood to refill it.
Lin Xinghuo, carrying a small bag, greeted the old branch secretary. The old branch secretary looked at her for a long time. She was a pretty and polite girl, but he was still a little disappointed: she was pretty, but too young. I'm afraid she hasn't learned any skills from the old fairy.
Until a rustling sound came from the dry leaves and grass on both sides of the road, and three plump fox cubs rolled out from the grass. Under the eyes of the group, they rolled and crawled to Lin Xinghuo's feet.
The old secretary's shoehorn-like face instantly relaxed, and he slammed his pipe against his thigh: "Hey! There's hope!"
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