Volume 1: A stone strikes a thousand waves, the world surrounds Li Daosheng Chapter 37: Don't ask fishermen to buy fish, because they all ask for a higher price
Bai Yaoer felt that she had never seen anyone like the old monk in front of her.
He gave people the feeling of a piece of dead wood, sitting there without making any sound. He was so quiet that people even doubted whether he was a living person.
This is true. If the old monk had not been sitting with them drinking tea at this moment, she would definitely have such doubts.
What she didn't know was that the monk who passed away had always been such a person. He was wandering between half life and half death, praying to obtain what the Buddhists called perfect nirvana.
Yet he himself said that there is no perfection in Buddhahood.
He once told Li Si that it took him most of his life to realize this, so he passed away and also did not pass away.
Li Si naturally didn't understand, so the old monk said, just think of it as someone else gone, your body still alive.
To put it simply, he was just a half-dead old man.
"Haha." In the hall, the monk Yuanji pushed a cup of tea in front of Bai Yaoer with a smile.
"This is the first time that Donor Li has brought guests here. I wonder what the female donor's name is."
"Master, you are too polite. You can just call me Bai Yaoer." Bai Yaoer lowered her head and took the tea. She still behaved properly towards someone older than her.
"Bai Yaoer, what a nice name." Monk Yuanji nodded with a blank expression. It wasn't that he was thinking about anything, but his expression was always like that.
"Well, Mr. Li." The old monk turned his gaze to Li Si again, smiled and said, "Are you still here to listen to that sutra?"
"Yes." Li Si held the empty teacup and looked at it.
"Master Yuanji, why do I feel that your tea is a little bitter?"
"Of course it's bitter." Monk Yuanji raised his hand to take the teacup back from Li Si's hand, then lowered his head to pour tea again.
"An old friend of mine once said that if you keep tea for one more day, it will become more bitter; if you live one more day, your taste will become more bitter. I think it makes sense. You haven't been here for 364 days, so of course this tea should be more bitter."
"I think it's just that your tea is not good."
Li Si didn't understand any Buddhist language used by monks, so he spoke directly and concisely.
Monk Yuanji lowered his head and smiled, and replied: "You can say that."
When he smiled, he looked more like a piece of wood, with the wrinkles on his face all wrinkled together, just like the grain of an old tree.
"Tick-tock." A drop of rain dripped from the eaves outside the hall, landed on a blade of grass, and bent the branch.
"I'm really sorry for bringing someone to disturb your peace."
Li Si suddenly looked serious and said something without any reason, leaving Bai Yaoer beside him confused.
The deceased monk sighed softly, and a drop of the tea spilled out.
After sighing, he put down the teapot, stood up and handed the teacup back to Li Si.
"Why don't you tell me first, what do you need the old monk's help with?"
Li Si took the teacup and turned it around, but the tea in the cup did not shake at all.
"I think you can help me look after this girl while I go down the mountain. I will come back to listen to the sutra after I finish some things."
Look after me, why?
What is he going to solve?
Bai Yaoer didn't understand what Li Si said and sat there in a daze.
The monk Yuanji understood it, and sat there in pain or worry.
"How long will you be gone?"
"One hour." Li Si said without much hesitation, holding the teacup.
It's just some trivial matters, one hour should be enough.
"Then go." Monk Yuanji stood up, walked to the door, opened the umbrella that Li Si brought and hung it aside.
"With the old monk here, no one can hurt Miss Bai."
"Um."
It was drizzling outside . Li Si stood up, walked past the old monk, and walked into the rain outside.
"What is he going to do?" Bai Yaoer asked puzzledly.
"Let him go and deal with the karma he brought." The old monk hung up the umbrella, turned around and answered Bai Yaoer, but he felt somewhat helpless in his heart.
If it weren't for his only friend asking him for help, he wouldn't have cared about these things.
However, he has been hiding for so long, there is nothing wrong with occasionally seeing what the people in this world have become.
Bai Yaoer still doesn't understand, but she will understand soon.
Because looking down from this Buddhist temple, you can just see the lake at the foot of the mountain and a few small human figures on the lake.
How long does it take to walk from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain?
For travelers in the mountains, it takes about half an hour to walk there.
For birds, beasts and flying animals, it may take half an incense stick of time.
But for Li Si, who was free from burden, this was not much different from the distance of one step.
Perhaps it was a leaf in the forest slowly falling.
Perhaps the bait of the fisherman by the lake shook a little.
Maybe the boatman on the lake paddled twice.
He had already walked out of the forest path and appeared by the lake.
When he arrived, there was still a breeze around him, blowing away some of the dust on the ground.
The fisherman by the lake was still sitting there, holding his fishing rod motionless, as if he didn't notice Li Si coming.
"How was today's harvest?" Li Si walked beside the fisherman and said while looking at the lake.
"The river water is still not warm in spring, so I guess there are no fish yet?"
"Shh." The fisherman did not respond to him, but made a soft gesture and said.
"Be careful not to scare away my fish."
"Oh?" Li Si curiously put his hands behind his back, stood beside him and looked at it, then asked with a smile, "What kind of fish is it?"
"Big fish." The fisherman, wearing a straw raincoat, looked up at Li Si proudly and pointed mysteriously at the water.
"It's called the blue-and-white fish with a head of a thief."
"Wow, what a great name." Li Si laughed even more happily: "Then may I ask how much is this fish per pound?"
"Hmph." The fisherman touched his half-white beard, crossed his legs and raised the corners of his mouth.
"I'm not afraid to scare you when I tell you this, but this one is worth a thousand ounces of gold."
"Is it so expensive?" Li Si opened his mouth in surprise.
"Don't disbelieve it." The fisherman gently pulled the fishing rod in his hand and shook his head towards the lake.
"If someone of high rank offers this price, no matter how high the price is, there will be people who want it."
"Then," Li Si said, "If I want to buy this fish, how much does it cost?"
"Hmm..." The fisherman seemed to have really thought about it seriously and gave a price.
"It'll have to be at least 10,010 taels."
"Oh, forget it then." Li Si smiled bitterly and waved his hand: "I don't have that much money."
"Okay." The fisherman grabbed the fishing line with his fingers and said with a raised eyebrow.
"Then I will sell this fish to someone else."
"That depends on whether you can catch it or not." Li Si still had a smile on his face.
“Who’ll know if you don’t try?” The fisherman also looked at him with a smile.
Then, after a breath, three .
A man in white stepped back, a fishing line was pulled up, and a flock of birds were startled and flew away.
Then, under Bai Yaoer’s stunned gaze on the mountain.
The lake at the foot of the mountain is divided into two halves.
