When Lian Qing said he wanted to chant sutras, it was not something he casually said. His shidi praised him for being intelligent, and he accepted it calmly. Because…

The judging panel consisted of local middle-aged and elderly people, and many of the middle-aged and elderly people that Lian Qing had contact with had some degree of faith. Lian Qing also believed that he was good at chanting sutras, and the pilgrims who visited when he was young had also praised him. So, personally, chanting sutras was more likely to impress the judging panel than singing songs.

Although it was for the sake of winning and being able to eat meat, chanting sutras was not something that could be done casually. Under the curious gaze of others, Lian Qing and the tiny monk, Lian Sang, found a wooden stool and two sticks of roughly the same size.

They tied a knot with some grass and tissue paper on the stick, and knocked on the stool to test the sound and adjust the pitch. The two of them fiddled with it by themselves, paying no attention to the strange looks from others. Li Chengsi could guess what they were doing and smiled at his daughter, whispering, “Your older brother Lian Qing is really smart.”

Li Lele was puzzled and didn’t understand where this praise came from. However… the little girl blushed and said shyly, “He’s a little handsome.” Especially in the case where most of the audience were adults in their thirties and older, the young and good-looking Lian Qing was particularly pleasing to the little girl.

Li Chengsi pouted, “What kind of taste do you have? When your dad was young, he was much more handsome than him.”

Li Lele ignored him and went straight to talk to Lian Qing and Lian Sang, who had already finished testing their tools. She liked them both, the big one was handsome, and the little one was cute!

Lian Qing and Lian Sang waited for the others to finish their performances before taking the stage. They sat on the ground with a large and small stool, and placed the small stool in front of them. They both held one hand in front of their chest, and held a wooden stick in the other hand. They closed their eyes and slowly exhaled. Later, they picked up the wooden sticks and rhythmically knocked on the stool.

At the same time, they slightly opened their lips, and a section of the “Great Compassion Mantra” began to sound.

(1)”Nán wú hē lū dá nà duō luō yè yē…”

The scene of the young man with a handsome appearance and the cute little bald monk sitting and chanting sutras was very pleasing. Although they were both dressed in casual clothes and used a small wooden stool instead of a muyu, it didn’t seem inappropriate at all.

The main point is that the two of them did not intend to deceive anyone. They both had solemn expressions on their faces and their movements were skilled and serious. With the makeshift muyu in their hands, they accompanied the smooth and beautiful chanting, which resonated deeply in people’s hearts. The sound was both clear and soft, and although the sutras they were chanting were not understandable, they could make people feel peaceful and tranquil. It was as if in this world, only the sound of chanting remained.

Everyone involuntarily fell silent, even the children couldn’t help but stand still and listen.

The chanting of the Great Compassion Mantra was not short, so they only chanted a section, lasting about four minutes. After they finished chanting, they put down the wooden sticks, clasped their hands together and said in unison, “Amitabha Buddha.”

The scene fell silent until Lian Sang reached out to help his shixiong up, who pretended to be helped up by him. Only then did everyone come back to their senses.

Led by Li Chengsi, everyone gradually extended their thumbs to the (2)two brothers. Li Chengsi poked Chen Yi beside him and asked with a smile, “What do you think, our great singer?”

Chen Yi shrugged helplessly, “I’m convinced.”

As soon as Lian Qing and Lian Sang, the little monks, opened their mouths, he knew he had lost. He couldn’t help sighing, “Little Monk, your voice is quite good, very clear. If you sang pop music, I feel like you would be good at it too.”

Lian Qing felt embarrassed and said, “I don’t know how to sing pop music.”

“You can learn it, if you’re interested, I can teach you…” Chen Yi was interrupted by Li Chengsi, who said with a smile, “Forget it, Old Chen. Sun Yazhi is still waiting to teach the little monk dolphin sounds. Don’t try to steal him away.”

“He hasn’t given up yet?” Lian Qing asked curiously. After recording “Infinite Challenge,” Sun Yazhi said he would teach Lian Qing dolphin sounds, but he couldn’t teach him that night. He said he would teach him next time they met. It’s been so long, and he thought Sun Yazhi had given up on teaching him.

“Not yet. A few days ago, we recorded the program together and he was still talking about you” Li Chengsi really wanted to have Lian Qing on their show again, but since the two shows weren’t related, he had to hold back those words.

In terms of fame and ability, Sun Yazhi, who is also a singer, is clearly much stronger than Chen Yi. Chen Yi had no choice but to give up, and at the same time, he also thought highly of Lian Qing. He didn’t expect this young man to be so popular among the older generation. Although Sun Yazhi was not old, he debuted early and could be considered as part of the older generation.

The group of people praised Lian Qing and Lian Sang with various compliments, and then it was time for the judges to vote.

Unexpectedly, but also logically, most of the villagers voted for Lian Qing and Lian Sang. During the voting process, everyone’s attitude was very solemn, as if they were not voting for a celebrity, but doing something important.

Naturally, Lian Qing won first place. Fang Yang smiled and said, “Does anyone have any objections to this result?”

Chen Yi was the first to shake his head: “How is that possible! The sutras chanted by these two little monks are really different. I feel peaceful and comfortable just listening to them. Could it be true that reciting Buddhist scriptures can cleanse the soul? Because this sutra really touched my heart.”

Chen Yi’s son, Cheng Zi  also grinned and said, “I also feel very comfortable.”

Several villagers also praised Lian Qing and Lian Sang in their dialects, even if they couldn’t fully understand, the constantly raised thumbs up and the title (3)”dà shī” were enough to make this (4)pair of brothers embarrassed. Lian Qing hurriedly explained that they had already left the monkhood, so they shouldn’t be called masters anymore. But the Buddhist villagers still called them masters, even distinguishing between big and small ones.

For example, Lian Qing is the dà shī and Lian Sang is the (5)xiao dà shī . Lian Qing was quite embarrassed, but Lian Sang was quite fond of this title. Perhaps all children like to be treated as adults, and this child was now standing with his hands behind his back and a silly smile on his face.

Finally, Lian Qing and Lian Sang got the first prize – three meat dishes and one vegetable dish, plus two large bowls of white rice.

Roast chicken, roast duck, braised pork, and braised eggplant. Lian Qing and Lian Sang ate until they were satisfied, but seeing that the portion size of the dishes was a bit large, they called over Li Chengsi and his daughter, who only got one vegetable dish, to eat together.

After eating their fill, Lian Sang rubbed his small belly and sighed, “Shixiong the eggplant is not as delicious as the one made by Yu Gege. I miss him a little bit.”

Lian Qing also felt quite emotional: “This meat doesn’t taste as good as what he used to make. I miss him.”

Although he hadn’t eaten these specific dishes made by Yu Wenning, he had tasted the steak, pasta, and so on that he had made before. During the few days in the temple, apart from the first night when the shifu made the dinner, Yu Wenning basically cooked all the meals. His vegetable dishes were also very delicious.

Naturally, all the meals that Lian Qing has had so far that were cooked by Yu Wenning were delicious, so it is presumed that the meat and vegetables he is currently eating would be equally tasty.

When Li Chengsi heard this, he almost choked on his saliva. So, you guys use the Boss, who is such a great person, to cook your meals? He suddenly felt a little sorry for the president.

After finishing the meal, everyone went back to take a nap.

Around two or three in the afternoon, everyone woke up one by one and was led by the staff to a small forest behind the village. In the open space of the forest, there was a long table filled with various raw meat and vegetables. And in the woods a kilometer away, on a super large tree hung many fake golden apples.

Fang Yang once again brought out his small megaphone and said loudly, “Inside the apple on that tree, there is a card with the name of a food written on it. Dads need to find a way to get the card from the apple and let their little ones get the corresponding food. The little ones can only touch the food once, and if they get the wrong one, it doesn’t count.”

After saying this, Fang Yang explained it again to the children with a gentle voice and simpler words.

The fathers of the children cried out in agony. How could the children match each kind of food clearly? Moreover, the children’s hands are so small, how many can they grab in one go? This is like a death sentence, how many apples do they need to take to fill their stomachs?

Lian Qing also found it quite headache-inducing. His shidi had just come down the mountain and had limited knowledge of meat, and most of what he had seen so far was cooked. He might not be able to recognize these raw foods.

Looking down, the little one who understood the rules also wrinkled their brows and looked at his shixiong with worry.

Lian Qing comforted him, “It’s okay, just take as much as you can, and if you make a mistake, we’ll give it back to them. If we really can’t get anything, we’ll just eat soy sauce fried rice tonight, anyway we have rice at home.”

Tiny Monk, Lian Sang, nodded worriedly, his shixiong seemed to only know how to blanch vegetables, fry eggs and cook noodles. Egg fried rice… he didn’t seem to have heard that his shixiong could make it.

Although neither of them had much confidence, Lian Qing was still full of fighting spirit. He thought to himself, if he took more, his shidi could always guess one or two right.

So when the program group shouted “start,” the others began to throw stones at the apples and poke them with sticks. Lian Qing, on the other hand, climbed up a tree in three or five steps, sat on one of the branches, and grabbed a fake apple by looking up.

Others: ?!!! What kind of trick is this!

Li Chengsi said, “Ah, such a familiar scene!” He liked people like them who had never seen the world before!

Meanwhile, Lian Qing didn’t open the apple, but instead picked several and placed them on the branch, preparing to open them all at once later. On the other side, others gradually found ways to get the apples, and after opening them, they shouted for their children to take the food.

However, the children’s hands were indeed small, and they couldn’t grab much at once. Every now and then, Fang Yang could be heard saying they took the wrong one and asked them to put it back. This increased the psychological pressure on the fathers, and they became more enthusiastic about getting the apples. Wu Xiangling even missed his aim when throwing a stone, almost hitting Lian Qing on the tree.

Lian Qing calmly dodged and told him not to worry, and just throw it however he wanted. Anyway, he was nimble and wouldn’t get hit.

In no time, there were few apples left, and the fathers slowly stopped. Lian Qing had harvested more than a dozen apples and was sitting on the tree trunk, leisurely opening them one by one. He read the cards one by one.

“Xiaosan, I’ll read them to you in groups of three, listen carefully. Chicken, ham, egg.”

Coincidentally, Tiny Monk Lian Sang knew exactly what those three things looked like. He quickly picked up the nearest plate of ham, poured it into his small basket, and put the plate back. Then he picked up the plate of chicken, poured it all into his basket as well. Finally, it was the eggs, and he poured them all into his basket too.

After packing three things, the basket in his hand became much heavier. The little guy puffed up his face and silently put back two ham sticks he had picked up from the basket to reduce the weight. He whispered, “We can’t forget the eggs. Shixiong said that fried eggs are the best…”

The others: ?!!! What a genius move…indeed, they are really *fellow apprentices?!

Among them, Wu Xiangling was shocked and said, “Wait, aren’t we only allowed to take one thing at a time?! How can he take the whole plate like this?!”

The calm tiny monk Lian Sang looked at everyone and said, “I only took one thing at a time, didn’t I?” He didn’t say he had to use his hands to grab the food.

Fang Yang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “This…well, there’s no problem. But, isn’t taking the whole plate a bit too much?”

Lian Sang tilted his little bald head, blinked his big eyes, and sighed like a little adult, “Ah, there’s nothing I can do. My shixiong eats too much.”

Others: “Hahaha, this is hilarious…”

Lian Qing, who was up on the tree, only heard their laughter, “???”

Time was limited, so he didn’t ask what they were laughing at. He picked up the card again and shouted, “Xiaosan, shrimp, the one that turned red when we boiled it  in hotpot yesterday, the one your brother peeled for you! Also, carrots and corn.”

Tiny monk Lian Sang reached for the shrimp, lifted the whole plate, and murmured, “This is very delicious, I like it.”

He only picked up one carrot, saying, “This is not very tasty, so I’ll just take one.”

And he took only one corn, saying, “Shixiong doesn’t like this, so I’ll just take one for myself…”

Lian Qing shouted again, “Pork belly, beef, and cabbage!”

Lian Sang didn’t recognize the pork belly and beef, so he randomly picked up a plate that looked like it and poured it into the basket. He whispered, “This meat looks so pretty, like flowers, it must be pork belly…”

“I don’t like cabbage, so I won’t take it…”

“I don’t know beef, just pick one… “

Tiny monk Lian Sang quickly picked up a delicious-looking pig trotter and put it in the basket.

Fang Yang, who couldn’t stop him in time, was unsure whether to take back the pig trotter.

The fathers who witnessed this miraculous move: “…”

Comparing the food that their own children had picked, and seeing how the children were looking up to the little monk and the tiny monk with admiration, they felt like singing “(5)Liang Liang”.

After Lian Sang finished pouring the pig trotters, he shouted to his shixiong, “Shixiong, I can’t hold it anymore!”

Lian Qing shouted back, “You’re a little man, hold on! Put the basket on the ground and don’t hold it all the time.”

“Okay!” Little man Liansang put the basket of meat and vegetables on the ground, then shouted, “Shixiong, hurry up and find more meat.”

At this point, Lian Sang had forgotten that even if his shixiong told him the name of the meat, he might not recognize it.

Lian Qing responded from a distance and reported another group of dishes’ names.

This went on repeatedly until Fang Yang called a stop when time was up. Lian Qing quickly climbed down from the tree and came to everyone’s side.

Lian Sang, who was proud of his little self, boasted, “Shixiong, am I amazing?!”

Looking at the basket full of meat and vegetables, Lian Qing sincerely said, “Our Xiao San’er is the most amazing!”

Others also praised him with smiles, “Amazing, amazing, Xiao shidi you’re great!”

“You’re really amazing, you’re so smart…”

“I really admire you, Xiao shidi, you’re both smart and sensible…”

…

Lian Sang, who was praised by everyone, hugged his shixiong’s thigh, blushing and said, “I’m not that amazing…”

TN:

1. The phrase “南无喝 囉怛那哆囉夜耶” is a line from the Chinese Buddhist chant “Da Bei Zhou” (大悲咒), which is also known as the “Great Compassion Mantra.” It is a mantra that is commonly recited in Mahayana Buddhism, especially in Chinese Buddhism. The mantra is believed to invoke the blessings and protection of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, who is revered for his compassion and ability to relieve suffering. The meaning of the mantra is complex and can be interpreted in different ways, but in general, it expresses the aspiration to attain enlightenment and to benefit all beings.

2.The term used here is “师兄弟” (shī xiōng dì), meaning “senior and junior brothers”. 

3. 大师 (dà shī) Great Master – refers to a respectful title for a master or expert in a certain field, particularly in the field of Buddhism or martial arts.

4. xiao dà shī – Little/young/small great master

5. “凉凉”- this is a slang term meaning to be done for. It is also a Chinese song originally from the TV series “三生三世十里桃花” (Eternal Love). It was sung by singers Yang Zongwei and Zhang Bichen, and it became very popular in China after the series aired. The song is known for its soothing melody and lyrics that express a sense of sadness and longing. I think the latter is more appropriate in this context but I’m not too sure.