Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 350: Jin Nanqiu's Handwritten Scripture

Although there are many diners in the store, it is busy but not chaotic, and everyone is doing their work in an orderly manner.

Shen Yu finally felt relieved and quickly went to the backyard to put down the things in his hands, put on an apron, washed his hands, and started to get busy.

We were busy until the market closed and everyone finally had some time to sit down and rest.

Zhou Dalang quickly told the good news of the day: "Mr. Yang said that after tomorrow, we won't have to drive to the outskirts of the city to deliver meals every day."

"The academy has decided to move tomorrow. Yucheng and his classmates don't have to go to school tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. After the move, they will go directly to the new academy for classes."

Zhou Dalang thought for a moment and continued, "I noticed during the past two days of delivering meals that if we only deliver to the vicinity of the county government office, it would take less than an incense stick of time to go back and forth by car."

"And the road is much easier to walk than to the suburbs, so the food delivery will be much faster in the future."

Li and her friends were surprised and happy when they heard this. They didn't expect Mr. Yang to act so quickly and immediately book a house to move the academy.

Li said with emotion: "This is great. From now on, Yucheng and Dundun can sleep a little longer in the morning, and they don't have to walk such a long way, and they don't have to get home until dark at night."

After everyone discussed for a while, Shen Yu briefly talked about going to Guang'an Temple to make flower cakes and pastries.

He also said that he would go over to teach them how to make pastries after lunch in the next few days.

And during the Wanshou Festival, Master Wen Yuan promised that he could take them in to listen to the lectures.

Everyone had seen Shen Yu making the flower basket and flower cake for the county magistrate. The almost lifelike appearance of a basket of flowers was unforgettable.

At this moment, he was not very curious about what kind of pastries Shen Yu had made in the temple. He was just amazed. He did not expect that so many pastries would be distributed in a ceremony.

But when they heard that the blessing ceremony would be held for three days and that Master Wen Yuan promised to allow them to come in and listen to the lectures and that seats would be reserved for them, the three ladies present became excited.

When Zhou Dalang heard that even his family of three could go in together, his face turned red with excitement and he thanked Shen Yu repeatedly.

He kept saying that if his wife knew about this, she would be so happy that she wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

Shen Yu listened with a smile as Li and the others speculated about what scriptures they would hear and which eminent monk would be invited over.

Yu Tao whispered to Shen Yu: "Sister, will you go with mother and the others to listen to the lecture, or will you help the masters make cakes in the kitchen?"

She pursed her lips and said with some worry, "If I keep making cakes, won't I be able to visit temple fairs, watch lanterns, or watch acrobatics?"

Shen Yu thought about it and shook his head slightly: "That shouldn't be the case. The flower cakes used that day should have been made a day in advance. It's impossible for them to be made and distributed immediately."

“If I want to help make cakes, it’s before the blessing ceremony begins.”

Yu Tao glanced at the Li family members who were discussing excitedly, and whispered, "Sister, I will follow you to make cakes and pastries then."

"When I made small reunion cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, I wrapped the fillings quickly and well. This flower-shaped pastry sounds similar to making small reunion cakes."

"With more people, the work will be done faster. When we are done, we can go to the temple fair."

"I don't want to go with my mother to listen to the lectures. It makes me want to fall asleep."

Shen Yu couldn't help but smile, and whispered: "I don't want to go either, I'll just let my mother and the others go to the temple to listen to the lectures."

"The two of us, along with Yucheng and Dundun, are going to go out for a walk. When the ceremony is over, we can come back to get the blessing cakes."

Yutao smiled and nodded.

Li saw it and said with a smile, "What are you two sisters whispering about? You sound so happy. Let us listen."

Shen Yu was afraid that if he said he didn't want to listen to the lecture, he would be lectured by Li and the others, so he smiled and said, "I forgot to mention it just now. The abbot gave me fifty taels of silver as a reward."

"He also gave me a string of blessed Buddhist beads and a Buddhist scripture that he had copied himself."

"I was discussing with Yutao that I would practice calligraphy by looking at the Buddhist scriptures that Master copied by hand."

When Li heard this, he was overjoyed and asked in disbelief, "Is it true that the abbot's father copied the Buddhist scriptures by hand?"

Shen Yu nodded: "The abbot said it himself. He copied it in his early years. Now his eyesight is not good, so he rarely writes."

Li clasped his hands together gratefully and said, "Thank you, Master."

After being stunned for a long while, Zheng Sanniang said as if in a dream: "I heard from my sister that Master Ci'en of Guang'an Temple is not only proficient in Buddhism, but also an excellent calligrapher."

"Master Ci'en has a strange personality. If someone doesn't suit his taste, he won't write an inscription for him, let alone a whole volume of Buddhist scriptures."

"I heard that the Buddhist scriptures he copied are rare and can't be obtained at all. If there is a copy, it is worth a fortune."

"Girl, you are so lucky."

Since Shen Yu didn't understand all this, he just thought it was a token of kindness from Ci'en, just a hand-copied scripture, so he accepted it calmly.

I didn't expect that such a thin handwritten scripture would be so precious. No wonder Wen Yuan and the others were so surprised and envious at that time.

For a moment, she was also stunned.

Li opened her mouth wide, and after a while, she murmured, "A huge sum of money? Hard to find?"

Neither Jiang nor Li were from this county. Although they had been to Guang'an Temple several times in recent days, they had never heard of these things.

Zheng Sanniang nodded affirmatively: "It's true. My sister and Madam Qi heard about it and told me about it."

"I remember that I didn't believe it at the time. I asked again and again, and they said that someone paid 1,000 taels of silver but still couldn't get the abbot's handwritten scriptures."

Li's face changed, she stood up and asked anxiously, "Yuzhi, where is the scripture?"

"Put it away quickly. It's too precious. You'd better keep it well hidden and don't let anyone know about it."

"If someone finds out, they'll start to worry about our family, and that won't be good."

Jiang was also a little worried: "Yes, if it gets out, if someone comes to buy scriptures from you, will you sell them or not?"

Zhou Dalang thought more seriously, and he stammered, "If they come to steal or rob, then what should I do?"

Only then did Shen Yu realize that this was indeed a problem.

A gentleman is not guilty, but he is guilty of carrying a jade.

If some official heard the news and wanted to buy it, I could not afford to offend him as I am just a commoner and only have a small restaurant.

If you meet a gentleman and offer money to buy it, that's fine.

If you meet a villain who secretly trips you up, it would be hard to guard against.

Thinking of this, Shen Yu couldn't help but feel a little regretful. If he had known the value of the scriptures, he should have refused them at the time.

Now, this seemingly insignificant handwritten scripture has become a hot potato. What should we do?