After the pears were divided and the bell was struck, the time was dim and the years were long. In the blink of an eye, summer passed and autumn came again.
The days are approaching winter, and the morning in the mountains comes especially early. The frost and dew covering the grass are so crystal clear and so cold.
The tits began to chirp on the branches.
Early that morning, the morning bell just rang in Dongchan Temple. All the monks in the temple came to the kitchen one after another, and Elder Hua Qing also came to the kitchen.
Today's breakfast is three pancakes per person, which is a regular breakfast food in the monastery.
The pancakes were fried until they were golden and crispy. The monks devoured the pancakes with big mouthfuls.
Zhang Shaofei picked up the pancakes and had an unusual feeling in his heart: Elder Hua Qing would not come to the kitchen for breakfast on weekdays. But today... He thought for a moment, then put the pancake to his mouth and bit into it.
Fa Ru, who had learned the lesson of "splitting pears", was wary of Elder Hua Qing's arrival this morning. He stared at the three pancakes in his hand for a while, and muttered in his heart: "Will there be another pancake this morning?" What about "throwing the clock"? No!" Fa Ru knew that Elder Hua Qing would not do that again, so he left the pancakes without eating? Fa Ru's eyes searched around, and he looked through the crowd of heads at that place. Under the sycamore tree beside.
Zhang Shaofei and Huiqing were eating pancakes, holding a leftover pancake in their hands. After chewing the pancake in his mouth, Zhang Shaofei stuffed the pancake in his hand into his mouth again and took big bites. He ate so quickly that he seemed to be choking. He stretched his neck, widened his eyes, and swallowed hard. .
Seeing him like this, Hui Qing smiled and said, "Look at you, you are eating like a wolf, you may choke to death." After saying that, she reached out to Zhang Shaofei's back and patted him gently.
With great difficulty, Zhang Shaofei swallowed the pancake he was choking on, and then slowly bit the pancake in his hand. It could be seen from his expression that he was chewing with gusto.
After Zhang Shaofei and Huiqing finished eating the pancakes, they patted their bellies with their hands, as if they were full, then patted their left and right palms, and went to wash their hands over there.
The big stone hanging in Faru's heart was relieved. At this time, he felt his stomach growling with hunger, so he brought the pancakes to his mouth, "three times, five times, two times", and soon all three pancakes were put into his stomach. Went there.
After a while, the monk on duty brought out several large buckets of white porridge. The steaming white smoke coming out of the buckets showed how hot the porridge was. Other monks carried out several baskets of large bowls and spoons.
Kongjing, the little acolyte who was always close to him, brought a large bamboo chair with a backrest and placed it in front of the porridge bucket.
Elder Hua Qing stroked his long beard and sat upright on the large bamboo chair with backrest.
Nearly a thousand monks in Dongchan Temple looked at Elder Hua Qing in silence.
Elder Hua Qing's blazing eyes wandered around, and he raised his voice: "There is one more item for breakfast today. Each person should eat three bowls of white porridge, but there is one request -" he prolonged his tone and stopped talking.
All the monks said in unison: "Elder, please clarify."
Elder Hua Qing slowed down the rhythm of his voice and said word by word: "After eating three bowls of white porridge, no porridge water is allowed to spill on the ground in front of you."
Monks: "Yes."
Hearing what Elder Hua Qing said, Faru secretly rejoiced: "That Zhang Shaofei is thin and small, and his appetite is not as big as mine. I just spied on him eating pancakes and was full. Now, how can he eat anymore with his thin and narrow belly?" How about three big bowls of white porridge? The victory this time belongs to me." So, he took a quick step and walked in front of Elder Hua Qing.
The other monks also realized that the second senior brother from Dongzen Temple had not made any move yet. Who dared to act first and seize the limelight?
Fa Ru saluted Elder Hua Qing and said plausibly: "Elder, whose turn is it to eat first this time?"
Elder Hua Qing: “In terms of seniority, it’s your turn to be the leader.”
"Thank you for your respect, elder. Disciple, I will definitely live up to your expectations." After finishing speaking, Faru bowed his head and bent down, picking up a large bowl.
Just as Fa Ru was about to serve the porridge, he heard Elder Hua Qing's voice: "Fa Ru, take a look at the bottom of the bowl first."
"Ah!" Fa Ru was stunned after looking at the bottom of the bowl. There is a hole as big as a copper coin in the bottom of the bowl. How can one serve the piping hot porridge?
Fa Ru wanted to exchange for another one that was intact. At this time, Elder Hua Qing spoke up: "Today, a hole the size of a finger was drilled under all the big bowls using the magic power of ten fingers. Fa Ru, you don't have to spend any more effort to pick them out."
Faru had no choice but to pick a large bowl from the basket that he thought was slightly smaller than the opening of the hole, and straightened up. Looking at the boiling white porridge in the bucket, Faru's slightly gray eyebrows wrinkled, like two knives hanging upside down, and he seemed to have some realization: "Ah, Elder Hua Qing has always mentioned the word 'bitter' in his sermons. Could it be that Today is to test our ability to endure hardships? Yes, today I will use the greatest perseverance to endure it and finish these three bowls of porridge." Thinking of this, Faru bit his teeth and blocked the bottom of the bowl with his right palm. He walked into the cave and walked towards the on-duty meal monk who was sharing the porridge: "Come on, let's share the porridge!"
Dian Xin picked up a spoon, scooped out a spoonful of steaming porridge, and poured it into Fa Ru's bowl.
The pain of having hot porridge pressed directly into the palm of your hand is unbearable. But Faru made up his mind, gritted his teeth, and tried to fight hard. However, the white porridge was so ruthless and scalding hot. Drive straight away from the palm of your hand.
As the saying goes, "Ten fingers are connected to the heart." How could his fleshy palms withstand the heart-piercing heat.
Fa Ru finally couldn't bear it any longer. As soon as he released his right hand, the white porridge flowed down from the bottom of the big bowl and splashed all over the floor. Even his clean monk's clothes and shoes were stained. A lot of porridge water.
Faru had no choice but to put down the big bowl and was the first to walk away in frustration.
The other monks also failed one after another.
It's the last one's turn.
It's Zhang Shaofei again who pounded rice, ground flour, and grew vegetables.
On Zhang Shaofei's slightly thin face, his nose was slightly tilted upward, and his sharp-cut mouth exuded infinite confidence. He walked slowly to the basket, picked up the last bowl with his left hand, took out a piece of pancake from his pocket with his right hand, put it on the bottom of the bowl from the bottom up, walked to the dining monk and said, "Here, let's share the porridge!"
The hot white porridge was poured into a bowl, and the hole in the bottom of the bowl was blocked by pancakes.
Zhang Shaofei lowered his head and blew the hot steam from the porridge with his mouth, then slowly ate the porridge...
Although all the monks present in the temple had experienced failure themselves, they couldn't help but cheer for Zhang Shaofei's strange behavior of eating porridge.
Elder Hua Qing closed his eyes and gently stroked his long white beard with his hands, as if thinking about something, with a look of relief and joy on his face.
It turned out that after Zhang Shaofei got three pancakes, he suddenly had an idea. When he turned around, he quietly took out one and stuffed it into his arms. Then he and Huiqing went to chew under the sycamore tree. Faru peeked from the side and saw that there were no pancakes in Zhang Shaofei's hand. He thought he had eaten all the pancakes, so he wanted to follow suit, but who knew...
When Fa Ru was feeling jealous, the shadowy figure approached him and said in a low voice: "Second senior brother, I didn't expect that handyman Zhang Shaofei has such a high level of understanding. He stands out today!"
Fa Ru glared at him: "A single branch? Huh, take a closer look! I am the wind-facing bamboo in front of the temple, and he is just a pile of lotus roots piled on the ground." He pointed to the kitchen with his finger.
Yinying looked around and saw a pile of lotus roots scattered on the floor of the kitchen. He was puzzled by Faru's metaphor: "Both bamboo and lotus roots are hollow. What do you mean?"
Faru's nostrils snorted "Hmm" and said proudly: "Bamboo is tough and can survive the wind; lotus roots are brittle and will break if you twist them."
What they said was heard by the young monk Huiqing not far away, and he kept it in mind.
At night, when she returned to the monk's room, Hui Qing saw Zhang Shaofei lying on the bed about to go to sleep, so she whispered Fa Ru's metaphor to him.
After hearing this, Zhang Shaofei smiled slightly: "Second Brother Faru said it right. He is indeed bamboo and I am lotus root."
"What's the matter, you privately agree with this insulting metaphor?"
Zhang Shaofei slowed down his words at this moment, but his voice was calm and powerful:
“The bamboo is hollow at the base and has many branches outside the skin.
Although the lotus root has many mouths, its chest is not stained with dust. "
Huiqing thought about Zhang Shaofei's couplet, and his heart suddenly became enlightened. He couldn't help but get up, walked over, held Zhang Shaofei's shoulders tightly, and sincerely praised: "You are truly the second senior brother of Dongchan Temple!"
"You, don't talk nonsense." Zhang Shaofei covered Huiqing's mouth with his hand, "Although I am still a layman, I have stepped into Dongchan Temple after all. It should be noted that in the pure land of Buddhism, the four elements are empty and have already jumped out of the three realms. If you are not in the Five Elements, you should just practice hard and quietly, and don't compete for high or low."
"Yes!" Huiqing nodded in admiration.
The two monks and lay people hit it off immediately and hit it off. The more they talked in the low and dilapidated monk's room, the more interested they became.
If "dividing pears" and "eating porridge" are small tests for Huaqing elders to their apprentices, then the following "composing verses" is a big test for elders to their apprentices.
