The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 469 Carrying Water
Among the seven pilgrims, Lao Tan was the poorest, and he gave the least donation to the temple. He himself did not believe that he had great merit.

Of course, the merits mentioned by the old lama are not calculated according to the amount of donations. Although the monastery and roads cannot be built without the donations of pilgrims, it is too un-Buddhist to calculate this way.

What Lao Tan knows is that it was originally funded and built by a real estate agent surnamed Lu in Hohhot. At that time, there was no magnificent temple on the mountainside, and this place was still a deserted place.

A businessman surnamed Lu was a big brother in Hohhot in his early years.I don't know when I met the great virtue of Guanyin Temple, and I suddenly repented and became a good person ever since.

A huge sum of money was spent to build the monastery here, and later the real estate was sold due to lack of funds, and then the old lama traveled around to raise funds, and then it was improved step by step.

It is said that the road from the foot of the mountain to the monastery has been built for 15 years. At first, it was just a small road that only allowed one person to go up and down, and it was extremely dangerous.The businessman surnamed Lu brought the construction team here, along with forklifts and hook machines, and it took three years to build a rocky road that can accommodate a four-wheel drive jeep.

When Lao Tan came last time, he took a four-wheel drive jeep up the mountain.

Now this place is famous, and more pilgrims come here, and more people give alms.This 300,000, that millions of dollars, have the current concrete pavement, and pavilions are built at intervals for people who go up and down the mountain to take a rest.

Lao Tan and the old lama talked about Buddhism for a while, and asked the old lama about some things in the Diamond Sutra that were not clear before, and the old lama explained them one by one.

"The one who is real is non-appearance. Only those who are separated from all appearances can have nothing to go to and nothing to reach. The Buddha said that all appearances are false, which also tells people to let go and not cling to worldly desires.

The Buddha said well, all conditioned dharmas are like dreams and bubbles, like dew or electricity, and should be viewed in this way. "The old lama finally said.

It was noon when we came out of the cave where the old lama retreated. The sun was shining, and there was no wind in the mountains, so it was very warm.

Lao Tan wants to go to Donggou Spring to have a look. The last time I came here was summer, the spring was green and lush, but now I don’t know what it looks like in winter.So he went back to the pilgrim courtyard, took a bucket and carried it on his shoulders, and went out to Donggou.

The mountain road paved with bluestones is winding and dangerous, with white snow remaining in the low-lying places on both sides, and the low bushes have no leaves, only the branches are exposed.

Donggou is in the mountain behind the temple on the mountainside. It is actually a low-lying land between two peaks, shaped like a valley.There are large areas of apricot and pear trees, and occasionally a few peach trees, pines and cypresses, and mountain elms.

There is a spring at the bottom of the valley, and the water flows continuously in four seasons. It flows out of the mouth of the valley to form a small stream and flows down the mountain. Halfway through, two small streams from other places flow into it and become a small river at the bottom of the mountain.

Turning around a small hill, you can see the spring, where there is white water vapor, and the surrounding area is frozen. With the water flow, the white water vapor floats all the way out of the mouth of the valley, dense and dense.

Old Tan saw a red fox drinking water by the stream. The fox heard the footsteps and raised its head to look at Old Tan. Its pointed mouth was very delicate.

The fox looked at Lao Tan, and seemed to feel that there was nothing strange, just a person, so he lowered his head and continued to drink water.Take a few sips and get full, raise your head
He looked at Lao Tan again, then turned and ran away.

Lao Tan didn't expect to see a fox here, but unfortunately he didn't bring his mobile phone, otherwise he would have taken a picture of it.

Lao Tan is not afraid of foxes, he could always see them in the mountains of his hometown when he was a child, and sometimes he could even encounter wolves.Don't panic when you meet a wolf. A wolf is impatient to eat people, or it will only attack if you make it impatient, or it won't.

Of course, this refers to long-distance. If you meet a wolf face to face suddenly, you will be startled, and it will be startled. It will think that you are going to hurt it, and it will inevitably lead to a fierce battle. Either you will die or the wolf will die.

This kind of situation rarely happens. The wolf's nose is better than the dog's nose, and it can smell the smell of people from a long distance, so they avoid it first when they are not hungry.It is also afraid of death, knowing that people are not easy to mess with, what if it encounters a hunter with a gun.

Wolf life is also valuable.

Old Tan is afraid of snakes, he is born afraid.Seeing the snake, his scalp was numb and his whole body was cold, so he dared not take a step.That is, the snake does not move and he does not move, and he does not dare to move when the snake leaves, for fear of coming back again.

So no matter how hot it is in summer, he always wraps himself up tightly when he goes up the mountain to cut firewood. One is to avoid being bitten by a snake, and the other is to give himself a psychological effect.

He came to the spring.

The spring is not big, about two meters in diameter.Not too deep, you can see the bottom of the stone inside.The water surface is so calm that if you don't look at the stream flowing down, you'd think it's still.

The entire spring is surrounded by thick ice, and the standing place is a flat big stone, which is convenient for fetching water.

Old Tan fetched two buckets of water, and didn't rush to leave, standing there looking at the surrounding scenery.

To be honest, there is really not much scenery to see in winter, but it is quite quiet and warm, and the sun shines on the body, which is indescribably comfortable.Lao Tan thought that it would be good if a few sheep and cows were raised in this place, and the water and grass were abundant, so they would be fat and strong.

Instead, I thought that this is a pure place of Buddhism, it is impossible to raise sheep and cattle, even if I raise them, it would be food in the stomach of the old wolf in the mountain, so there is no gain or loss.

Not far from the spring is a mountain apricot tree with bare gray branches and a few sparrows parked on it.Behind the mountain apricot tree is a slow slope, full of pine trees, dense and green.

Suddenly a figure flashed in the pine field, Lao Tan thought he was dazzled, and thought how could there be people in this place.When he looked carefully, it was indeed a person walking out of the pine field, and he also knew—Sister Tang from Qingdao.

Sister Tang was wearing a long white down jacket, a black hat, and black cotton leather shoes, walking towards Lao Tan with a smile.

Lao Tan was surprised why she came here alone, no matter how you say this place is a bit dangerous.

"I'm here to fetch water." Sister Tang walked in and greeted her.

"Well, here to fetch water." Lao Tan replied, and then asked: "Are you—"

"Walk around casually and relax," Sister Tang said.

"Good day."

As Lao Tan spoke, he picked up the water, and the two followed each other back.

Sister Tang saw that Lao Tan carried water in the correct posture and looked very relaxed, and asked, "Have you ever carried water before?"

"Well, when I was young, I always picked them at home, but I haven't picked them for more than [-] years." Old Tan said.

"My hometown is in the countryside?"

"Ah."

"where?"

"Liaoning Beipiao."

"Oh, Beipiao—where is it now?"

"provincial capital."

"You run a restaurant?"

"Well, a restaurant."

"I do wholesale seafood, dry goods, sea cucumber and shark's fin." Sister Tang said.

The sea cucumber and shark's fin suddenly shortened the distance between the two of them.

Lao Tan said: "When I was young, I used to make sea cucumber and shark's fin, but now I don't do it anymore. The restaurants are low-grade and small dumpling restaurants."

Sister Tang said: "The dumpling restaurant is good. I love dumplings the most. Every time I go to the provincial capital, I must go to the Laobian Dumpling Restaurant in Zhongjie. His dumplings are delicious, and it is a century-old restaurant. His food is also delicious. , the taste is enough."

Lao Tan said: "Well, Laobian Dumpling Restaurant has been around for more than [-] years, and it is the oldest dumpling restaurant in the world, and it has already applied for the Guinness Book of Records.

His family now has more than [-] franchise stores across the country, all over the country. "

"What's the name of your dumpling restaurant?" Sister Tang asked.

"Ah Qiao, a small dumpling restaurant." Old Tan said.

"Ah Qiao? I seem to have heard—"

(End of this chapter)