The next day, the wind was still blowing and the rain was still falling...
The monk doing odd jobs was already busy.
Elder Hua Qing was wearing a raincoat and a bamboo hat, leaning on a Zen staff, walking through the drizzle.
Elder Hua Qing quietly came to the rice pounding room in the north courtyard alone. Looking in from the door, he saw Zhang Shaofei pounding rice wholeheartedly. He was thin and small. In order to speed up the pounding of rice and improve efficiency, he still tied the dozens of kilograms of rice around his waist. He stood up and down on the big stone, stepping hard on the stone pestle and pounding rice. The sweat beads on his cheeks were as big as soybeans, and his clothes were soaked with sweat.
Elder Hua Qing said silently: "Those who seek the Dao and forget themselves for the sake of the Dharma should work tirelessly like you."
Other monks are also busy, some are pounding rice and some are shaking sieves.
The monks said hello to Elder Hua Qing. The elder nodded in return, came straight to Zhang Shaofei, and asked: "Zhang Shaofei, is the rice pounding good?"
When Zhang Shaofei saw the elder entering the door, he quickly came over, knelt down, and kowtowed to the elder.
The rain dripped from Elder Hua Qing's raincoat, forming a small circle on the ground, and also fell on Zhang Shaofei's head.
Elder Hua Qing helped Zhang Shaofei up and nodded slightly to him approvingly.
Zhang Shaofei said with some embarrassment: "Elder, this place is too dirty and messy. There is not even a place to sit."
Elder Hua Qing said with a special expression: "Since there is no place to sit, then we won't sit down."
In the past, Elder Hua Qing came to inspect, followed by a group of disciples, but now, he came alone in the rain. Zhang Shaofei had already sensitively noticed that the elder's words were a little special, and asked tentatively: "Elder, this... …?”
Elder Hua Qing did not answer his question. He looked at the rice that had been pounded out of its husks in the stone mortar and asked strangely: "Has the rice been pounded yet?"
Zhang Shaofei was stunned at first, looked at the shelled rice, and then looked at the waiting elders. He suddenly realized and replied without thinking: "The rice is almost ready, but it still needs to be sieved (master)!" (the above meaning) Why - Elder Hua Qing was asking Zhang Shaofei: Have you seen your true nature through enlightenment? Zhang Shaofei said that he had already been enlightened, but he had not been confirmed by the elder).
"The sieve (master) is here, you can sift." After Elder Hua Qing finished saying this, he saw Zhang Shaofei nodded slightly, and then gently tapped the back of the stone pestle three times with his Zen staff without saying anything else. He left with his Zen staff.
Minds think alike.
Zhang Shaofei, who was extremely intelligent, immediately realized that the elder had asked him to see him at midnight.
A heat wave immediately surged in Zhang Shaofei's heart. But he bit his lip lightly with his teeth to prevent his excitement from showing.
Huiqing came over and asked Zhang Shaofei, "What do you mean by what the elder said?"
"I didn't say anything." Zhang Shaofei replied casually, pretending as if nothing had happened, and still worked with other monks in the rice pounding room, pounding and sifting rice, sweating profusely, until everyone stopped working together before dinner...
At night, huge black wings spread out and cover Tozenji Temple.
The moon stretches out half of its face in the vast night sky, peeking at everything happening in the world. A few sparse stars shine dimly in the confused Milky Way.
Throughout the day, Zhang Shaofei did everything as usual, no matter how big or small. After finishing the work, he put down the mosquito net and lay on the bed, waiting for time to pass silently in the night.
On the other side of the monk's bed, Hui Qing, who had worked hard all day, was sleeping soundly, snoring alternately.
Outside the window, the "grasshopper, grasshopper" sound of crickets under the stone steps mixed with the low singing of crickets in the distance, forming a beautiful and melodious serenade in the Zen courtyard.
Zhang Shaofei was in bed, watching the moon move westward from time to time, feeling that time passed too slowly.
"Get, get, get" the night watch monk rang the second watch banger.
