Chapter 497: Inspecting the Stall
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Chu Qingzhi finished displaying everyone’s goods and decided to inspect the stalls. As a responsible organizer, it was essential to ensure everything was running smoothly.
Accompanied by Fan Yuru and Rong Shiyu, she headed towards the lakeside.
The clinic had enough staff, so Fan Yuru and Rong Shiyu, wanting to slack off a bit and spend time with Chu Qingzhi, took this opportunity to chat and explore.
Approaching the lake, they were attracted by the sound of a wooden fish being played by a young monk and his master.
Surrounded by a crowd, only the rhythmic sound of the wooden fish could be heard.
Fan Yuru joked, “The charm of the food festival is evident, even monks are here.”
Chu Qingzhi scanned the crowd with her divine sense and spotted someone familiar.
Rong Shiyu stepped forward and looked through the gaps. She could not see anything. She turned around and smiled helplessly at the two of them.
Chu Qingzhi called out, “Little master.”
The wooden fish sound stopped, and an excited, youthful voice responded, “Benefactor Chu!”
The crowd parted, revealing a cute, round-faced little monk wearing a gray monk’s robe and beads. His bright eyes sparkled as he bowed, “Benefactor Chu!”
Chu Qingzhi returned the bow, “Little master, you still remember me?”
“I remember! You sent me lots of delicious food with the eagle. 1 remember it well.” The young monk’s eyes stayed glued to Chu Qingzhi, eagerly saying, “Benefactor Chu, are you busy? I can offer you a blessing.”
“Sure.” Chu Qingzhi looked at the person sitting in front of the monk, “Has he finished yet? Should I wait for him to finish before we start?”
The man, seeing it was Chu Qingzhi, immediately vacated his spot, saying, “Please, Miss Chu, I can receive the blessing later.”
“Thank you.” Chu Qingzhi smiled at the man and then bowed to the abbot before sitting on the cushion.
The little monk sat opposite Chu Qingzhi and swept his gaze over Chu Qingzhi’s wrist. When he saw Chu Qingzhi wearing the prayer beads he had given her, he was even happier. He was ready and immediately started praying.
The rhythmic sound of the wooden fish echoed, accompanied by the gentle chanting of mantras, reminiscent of a mountain stream’s flow.
Chu Qingzhi closed her eyes and let herself relax.
The abbot watched this scene with a gentle gaze but felt a bit sour inside, as his disciple had never been so good to him.
The blessing lasted for about fifteen minutes.
Afterward, the young monk concluded with a prayer, “May all sentient beings be born in ultimate bliss. Benefactor Chu, may your good fortune increase and be boundless.”
Chu Qingzhi thanked him, “Thank you, little master.” She stood up, “Let’s have lunch together at noon. I’ll come to find you after 1 finish my work.”
The young monk beamed with happiness, “Okay, I’ll wait for you here.”
Chu Qingzhi bowed to the abbot, “I hope the abbot will honor us with his presence.”
The abbot nodded in thanks, “Thank you, Benefactor Chu.”
After the matter was settled, Chu Qingzhi and the two girls continued to patrol the stall.
After walking for a while, Rong Shiyu said with admiration, “Qingzhi, you have too many friends. You even know the abbot of the Southern Mountain Temple and let him agree to eat with you.”
The abbot’s status was such that even the emperor had to treat him with utmost respect. But when Chu Qingzhi spoke to him, it was like conversing with a peer, just like friends.
It’s incredible!
Fan Yuru took over the conversation, “Yes, Chu Qingzhi, my father wanted to meet the abbot last time. He waited a whole day and even invited the abbot for a meal, but the abbot directly refused. However, when you asked, the abbot agreed almost without hesitation. You really have a lot of influence.”
Both women had to revise their understanding of Chu Qingzhi after this conversation.
Chu Qingzhi smiled, “I didn’t really do much, just sent some food to the little monk with the eagle.”
Perhaps the young monk was happy, so the elder one was too. The abbot’s affection for the young monk was evident, almost like treating his own grandson.
Chu Qingzhi patted their shoulders, “We’ll talk about this later. Let’s focus on the task at hand.”
At that moment, an argument broke out ahead.
“Our shop, buy from us!”
“Our shop, buy from us!”
Two shop assistants were pulling a customer’s arms in opposite directions, causing the customer’s face to contort in discomfort.
“Miss Chu is here…” A voice called out, and the crowd quickly parted.
Chu Qingzhi stepped forward, “What’s happening?”
The assistant from the left shop said, “The customer was clearly planning to buy from our shop, but he insisted on pulling the customer away to buy from their shop.”
The assistant from the right shop retorted angrily, “That’s nonsense, it was clear the customer wanted to buy from our shop, and you pulled him away.” “Obviously, he was planning to buy from our shop…”
“No, he was buying from our shop…”
The two assistants started to argue and pull at each other again, refusing to give in.
Chu Qingzhi, feeling a headache coming on from listening to them, demanded, “Stop!”
She looked at both assistants sternly, “Both of you, let go of him!”
Reluctantly, they released the customer, who immediately stood next to Chu Qingzhi, relieved.
He had no doubt that if the assistants were strong enough, they could have torn him in half.
Chu Qingzhi asked the customer, “Sir, can you explain what happened?”
This was a dispute between two jade ornament stalls located side by side.
The customer explained, “1 first looked at the left stall and liked a jade gourd. Since I have two sons, I wanted to buy two. They only had one, so 1 went to the right stall, which also had one. I was planning to buy one from each. However, they both thought the other was stealing a customer and started pulling me without letting me explain.”
Hearing this, both assistants seemed a bit embarrassed and lowered their heads.
“If you had let the customer explain earlier, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Both assistants, feeling even more ashamed, agreed, “We understand, it won’t happen again.”
Chu Qingzhi asked the customer, “Now that the misunderstanding is resolved, do you still want to make a purchase?”
The customer hesitated.
The shopkeepers of both stalls came over and, after understanding the situation, decided to sell the jade gourds, priced at ten taels each, for nine taels to the customer as a gesture of goodwill. They agreed to settle the matter amicably, believing in harmonious relations for mutual profit.
The customer was pleased that he had saved two silver taels.
After paying, he happily left with his purchases.
The shopkeepers thanked Chu Qingzhi, acknowledging that her intervention had prevented a potential fight.
Chu Qingzhi gave them a few words of advice about maintaining a peaceful and cooperative environment for shared profit and continued her inspection..