Volume 7: Frost Chapter 13: Rise Up
Jiang You stood up and returned the greeting, "Master Hongzhen."
Hongzhen's eyes fell on Jiujiu in the birdcage.
Jiang You picked up the cage and said, "Come, say hello to the mage."
Jiujiu turned around and pointed its tail at Hongzhen.
Jiang You smiled, put down the cage and sat down on the bench.
Hongzhen sat down next to him.
Jiang You said: "Master, you seem to be worried."
Master Hongzhen did not speak.
Jiang You turned his head to look at him, "Don't monks always say to let go? If you let go of one thought, you will be free from all worries."
"The way of heaven will change."
Jiang You put his finger into the bird cage, and the bird flew over and landed on his finger. He said, "The way of heaven is to lose the rich and gain the humble. Things will change eventually. What are you going to do?"
Hongzhen hesitated for a moment, shook his head, and stood up. "Donor Jiang, sorry to bother you."
"Master Hongzhen, if you want your opinion to be taken seriously by the Special Operations Group, it's useless to just say that the way of heaven will change. What you said is the same as those swindlers who grab a person and say, 'Donor, I see that your forehead is black, and you will have a bloody disaster within three days.' It's an old trick, and no one believes it anymore."
"I understand."
"I'm in the Special Operations Department, although I'm a part-timer. The Special Operations Department is short of manpower right now, so I'll be counted when something happens." Jiang You's finger was pecked by Jiujiu. He took his hand away and looked up at Hongzhen. "Tell me, what kind of strange signs will appear when the way of heaven changes, and what will happen. If I encounter these, I'll have evidence, and I can tell them that the little monk in Jinguang Temple had already said blah blah blah and so on, and then let them come to you. What do you think?"
"I don't know what will happen, nor do I know what the signs will be."
“That’s troublesome.”
Jiang You opened the birdcage and Jiujiu flew out.
Hong Zhen hesitated for a moment, then said, "I heard from the elders in the sect that thirty-one years ago, everyone outside the government, including Buddhists, Taoists, and many other folk beliefs and traditions, believed that he would not be easily defeated and would bring about a series of lasting and far-reaching changes."
The coal tit rushed into the sky, flew very high, then dived and flew over the lake.
Hong Zhen stared at the figure of Coal Sparrow and said, "He is not alone. The elders feel that many evil forces that have been dormant for a long time are reviving, not only in China, but also in foreign countries."
"Isn't this a defeat ? Thirty-one years ago," Jiang You counted the days, "I think I was three years old. Until my parents passed away, I lived a pretty smooth life."
Hongzhen glanced at Jiang You and said, "I once practiced in the mountains."
“Have you ever ridden a crane?”
“I have ridden it.”
"How's the load-bearing?"
" ..."
"What did you hear when you were practicing in the mountains?" Jiang You asked.
"After the catastrophe, the demons from outside the domain behaved very strangely."
"How is it so weird?"
"I only heard a few words, I don't know the details."
"What is the current attitude of Buddhism ?" Jiang You asked.
Master Hongzhen bowed his head, and after a moment he said, "There was a prophecy thirty-one years ago."
"What is it?"
"In ten years, someone who will end this chaotic world will come into the world."
"That's twenty years. No ," Jiang You calculated the time, "it was twenty-one years ago?"
"Yes."
"Since there is no chaotic world, then this prophecy should be treated as a rumor, right?"
Hongzhen hesitated for a moment, then said, "It should be so."
Jiang You remembered what Tang Butian said when introducing Master Hong Zhen - the Buddhist community had high expectations of him.
He asked: "Does Buddhism train you as a savior?"
"After the disaster, the government began to regulate the religion and folk beliefs of Huaxia and established a religious committee."
“Disenchantment.”
"Yes, not long after that, Consultant Zhuang was sent to Tangjiang, and the Special Operations System was established."
Jiujiu flew back, landed on the grass and jumped a few times.
Hong Zhen sighed and said, "From now on, Buddhism is Buddhist culture, and Taoism is Taoist culture."
"Master Hongzhen, do you think the way of heaven will get better or not?"
Hongzhen did not hesitate, he said: "Naturally it is better not to change."
"I will pay attention to it," Jiang You promised Master Hong Zhen, "I will also inform the section chief about this matter. If I find anything wrong, I will ask the section chief to seek help directly from the mountain."
Hong Zhen said, "Very good."
"I've actually always wanted to work with Jinguang Temple," Jiang You said.
"What cooperation?" Hong Zhen asked.
"We will work together to produce a set of co-branded postcards. I will take some photos of the Jinguang Temple, add a few lines of scriptures, and print them into postcards. You can bless the postcards and then sell them in my store."
"This... I can't make the decision."
"Well, then you can come to my shop and write me a few postcards, and then I'll take some photos, the kind of photos of beating wooden fish and spinning Buddhist beads. Don't worry, I'll find a professional photographer to take photos for you and print them into postcards. They will definitely be popular with girls."
"Welcome..."
"Really? There was a novel about Japanese monks a while ago, and it had a lot of female readers."
Hong Zhen reluctantly said, "Let me think about it for a while."
"Okay, Jiujiu, come here." Jiang You hooked his finger at Jiujiu, and Jiujiu flew to the back of his hand. Jiang You put Jiujiu into the cage.
"Then I'll take my leave," Master Hongzhen stood up and bowed to Jiang You again, "I'll leave it to you, Mr. Jiang."
“You’re welcome.”
…
The sun was getting a little hot, so Jiang You walked out of Wenfeng Park and headed straight for the teahouse.
He went there early, there were not many people in the teahouse, and Mr. Xu had not arrived yet.
He found an empty seat and sat down, ordered a pot of tea and a plate of peanuts. He picked up a peanut and started to tease Jiujiu, "Jiujiu, come here, come here and eat some peanuts."
Jiujiu was jumping around in the cage, but he didn't go to look at Peanut.
Old Xu walked into the teahouse, and when he saw Jiang You, his eyes lit up and he walked over. After watching Jiang You tease the bird for a while, he said, "Does it not eat peanuts? Try using melon seeds."
"It just makes me angry," Jiang You threw the peanut into his mouth, chewed it a few times and swallowed it, then he said, "I learned this from my son."
"You dote on your son too much." Old Xu sat down opposite Jiang You.
"When he went to school, I became cold-blooded and ruthless. I made him do three papers every day and he was not allowed to go to bed until he finished them."
Mr. Xu complained to him: "You just talk."
Jiang You smiled and took a sip of tea.
"Xiao Chen's daughter is a very good teacher." Mr. Xu said with emotion.
"Her heart and soul are in her daughter."
"She can also stand up. Parents are the first role models for children. Reading books and teachers' indoctrination have little power. The power of parents' example is very important." After expressing his feelings about education, Mr. Xu said, "As for you, I know you have your own ideas, but you still need to establish an image in front of your son. You can't always be so lazy."
"I think so too." Jiang You said.
"That's fine."
“So I set a goal for myself.”
"What's the goal?" asked Mr. Xu.
"I must win this year's ten-game match," Jiang You clenched his right fist and tapped the table lightly, "otherwise, every time I play chess with you, I will be the loser, which is too uncomfortable."
