Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 351 Who is the most powerful person in Anping County?

Shen Yu pondered for a long time, but could not figure it out. He could only say, "It would be bad if the abbot gave it to me and it was sold, stolen or robbed."

"Or, I will return this sutra to the abbot tomorrow."

Shen Yu thought for a moment, and then said: "Well, let's say that after returning, a handful of scriptures were taken out, and everyone felt that the scriptures handwritten by the abbot were too precious."

"It would be a waste to give it to someone like me who doesn't know calligraphy or Buddhism."

"It would be better to return it to the abbot and let him give it to someone who truly appreciates it."

"What do you think?"

After saying this, Shen Yu thought that this reason was quite reasonable.

But everyone felt that it was inappropriate.

Zheng Sanniang shook her head and said, "Miss, if you return the gift given by the abbot, wouldn't it be like you said you didn't like the gift and embarrassed the person who gave it."

"He is the abbot of Guang'an Temple, the most popular temple in Anping County. What if he gets angry out of shame? What should we do?"

After Zheng Sanniang finished speaking, she looked at Shen Yu with a worried look on her face.

Shen Yu was in a dilemma. If he kept it, he was afraid it would bring trouble to his family. If he returned it, he was afraid that Master Ci'en would be unhappy.

Jiang had been silent the whole time, her brows tightly furrowed, her fingers tapping unconsciously on the table, her eyes fixed on the menu hanging on the wall with small flower knots hanging on it.

Suddenly, she seemed to have thought of something, her brows relaxed, and she spoke gently: "Girl, I have an idea, I wonder if it will work."

Li had already lost his mind at this point, frightened by all the imagined consequences and not knowing what to do.

Hearing what Jiang said, she hurriedly urged: "Sister Jiang, you have always been knowledgeable. If you have any ideas, please tell us quickly."

"This hand-copied scripture is a good thing, but if it is placed in a small snack shop like ours, it will be the root of trouble."

Jiang patted Li's hand comfortingly and said, "Don't worry, don't scare yourself."

She spoke in a gentle tone and turned to Shen Yu, "This is what I think. If the handwritten scriptures are in our hands and the news gets out, it will indeed attract covetous people."

"It would be even worse if two nobles wanted this scripture at the same time."

"Even if you give it to this person, it will definitely annoy the other person. The person who doesn't get it will then hold a grudge and take it out on the restaurant, which is not good."

Shen Yu and the others nodded. It was indeed true. What they feared the most was that someone would come to fight for it. Then it would be useless to give it to anyone and nothing they did would work.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Jiang continued, "Because we are just a small snack shop, we have no power or influence, and we can't afford to offend anyone."

"But think about it, if this scripture is in the hands of a powerful person, even if everyone knows about it, no one will dare to take it."

"Even if someone dares to make a move, it won't be our turn to worry about it then."

Jiang said this and pointed to the menu on the wall that read "Amber Meat".

Shen Yu looked in the direction she pointed and immediately understood.

Her eyes lit up and she said excitedly, "What Aunt Jiang said makes sense. It is true. Let someone who can match its value appreciate and own this handwritten scripture."

When Jiang saw that Shen Yu understood what she said, she smiled appreciatively and stopped talking.

But the Li family members nearby were completely confused and had no idea what the two were talking about.

Li said anxiously, "What do you two mean by this? What should we do to make this right? Please explain it clearly so that we can feel at ease."

Shen Yu now had a solution and felt much more relieved.

She said with a cheerful expression: "Mother, think about it, among the people we know in Anping County, who has the greatest power and happens to be a devout Buddhist?"

After hearing what she said, Li suddenly realized what was going on and said hesitantly, "Could it be that you are talking about the county magistrate who came to the restaurant to eat?"

Shen Yu and Jiang both laughed, and Zheng Sanniang and the others also understood, and their expressions became relaxed.

Shen Yu nodded, and took the opportunity to amuse Li: "Mom is really amazing, she guessed it right away."

"I think if I have a chance in the next two days, I should quickly send this scripture to the county magistrate."

"If we leave it in his hands, no one will dare to worry about it, and we can rest assured."

Li nodded, but when she thought about the fact that the sutra was handwritten by the abbot and was worth so much silver, she couldn't help feeling a little painful about giving it away like that.

She sighed, "Oh, what a pity! We dare not keep such a good thing to read at home."

Shen Yu comforted her, "Didn't the abbot give her a string of Buddhist beads? The abbot has been wearing them and chanting them all the time. They are very good. Keep them for future use."

"Pray to Buddha with sincerity, not with material things."

"Yu Cheng and his friends just happened to be on break these past two days. This hand-copied scripture is thin and doesn't have many words."

"Buy some good paper tomorrow and have them copy one for each of you. It will be the same thing."

Li thought about it and felt that this was the only way. It would be better for her to run the restaurant peacefully and live her life. So she nodded reluctantly.

After deciding on the matter of hand-copying the scriptures, everyone quickly got up and got to work.

Shen Yu was absent-minded the whole night, silently thinking about how to make the best excuse when presenting the scriptures to the county magistrate.

The next day, Yucheng and his friends didn't have to go to school.

Just after breakfast, Shen Yu took out some silver and asked Yucheng and Yutao to go to the bookstore to buy some high-quality paper.

She gave the scripture to Dun Dun and asked him to quickly copy a copy on the paper he used for calligraphy practice so that she could send it away.

The three of them agreed and went to work separately. Shen Yu then began to prepare lunch with everyone.

The sutra was very thin, and Dun Dun copied it very quickly. By noon, Dun Dun had finished copying the sutra.

Shen Yu took the hand-copied scriptures, and told Yucheng and Dundun to use the paper bought at home in the past two days to carefully copy a few scriptures and give one to each of the Li family members.

Not only did it help them practice calligraphy, but it also allowed Li and her friends to each hold a handwritten sutra when they attended the prayer ceremony.

Yucheng and the others agreed and went to prepare for cutting paper and copying scriptures.

After a quick lunch, Shen Yu carefully wrapped the handwritten sutra in its original cloth, then wrapped it with another layer of thick cloth before putting it into his small bag.

After saying something to Li and the others, he quickly walked towards Guang'an Temple.

When I arrived at the gate of Guang'an Temple, I happened to meet Chef Xu who was walking slowly towards me.

Shen Yu stood there waiting for him, ready to go to the temple's dining hall with him.

Chef Xu looked up and saw Shen Yu, and hurriedly took two quick steps forward. After the two greeted each other, they went to the dining hall together.

Guang'an Temple has been busy these days preparing for the Wanshou Festival prayer ceremony, so there are many things to do every day.