The Prime Minister’s Darling - Chapter 114

Chapter 114: 96 Going Up the Mountain (Part 1)

Soon after the monk left, the rain stopped, and Gu Jiao went to the temple to pick up Xiao Jingkong.

Xiao Jingkong had a fun and fulfilling day in the temple, or to be precise, half a day.

He met his kind and considerate senior monk Jingchen, some other senior monks, the abbot, and his old playmates Monk Jing Fan, Monk Jingxin, and Monk Jingshan.

Since the abbot and senior monks were busy, he spent most of his time with the three little monks.

Without Jingkong to compete for food, the three little monks were well-nourished, and each looked much plumper than before.

Xiao Jingkong also wasn’t the old Xiao Jingkong anymore — he had replaced his monk robe with civilian kid clothes and tiny tufts of hair had sprouted from his tiny shaved head.

He was the youngest among the little monks, but he spoke the earliest and the best, to the point where later even the abbot couldn’t outtalk him.

He proudly showed his tiny face to the little monks, “See the little sprouts? Jiaojiao gave them to me!”

“I see it! I see it!” said Jing Fan.

“I see it too!” said Jingxin.

Jingshan, looking dazed, thought for a while, then lagged behind to say, “So… I see it too!”

Xiao Jingkong was very pleased.

“Will those sprouts grow into little flowers? “Jing Fan asked, pointing at his face.

Xiao Jingkong paused and shook his head, “Probably not, they’ll only grow into kisses and stay on my face!”

“Can you eat them?” Jing Fan asked.

“No, you can’t,” Xiao Jingkong replied.

Since they neither grew into beautiful flowers nor was edible, the three little monks instantly lost interest in little kiss sprouts.

But Xiao Jingkong had other things to share.

He decisively took out a jar of vegetarian meatballs that Gu Jiao had packed for him. As the jar’s lid was opened, a whiff of fragrant scallions drifted out, almost filling the entire courtyard.

The little monks were stunned.

Jing Fan widened his eyes, “Wha…what smells so good?!”

All three started salivating.

As Xiao Jingkong wanted to eat meat but couldn’t, Gu Jiao decided to make vegetarian meat for him using tofu and other ingredients.

Whatever they ate at home, he could eat it too — if they had roasted duck at home, he had his own “roasted duck”; if they had sausage, he had his own “sausage”; if they had braised pork, he had his own “braised pork”.

Recently, they had been eating meatballs at home, so he got his own exclusive Jingkong’s small meatballs.

In front of his buddies, Xiao Jingkong took a bite of the meatball, much to their immense surprise!

The little monks were shocked once more!

“You…are you eating meat?”

“You’re not allergic to meat anymore?”

“Oh, my gosh, that’s terrifying! Brother, I want to go home!”

Xiao Jingkong, being not completely evil-minded, confessed the truth about the meatballs after flaunting them, “They’re vegetarian meat, Jiaojiao said monks can eat them too!”

At first, the three little monks hesitated, fearing that Jingkong might lead them to break their vegetarian vow. In the end, it was Jing Fan, the boss among them, who bravely tasted it first. And then, they couldn’t stop themselves.

For the first time in his life, Xiao Jingkong who always stole food from others, had his food stolen!

He was stupefied for three seconds!

He, the expert in stealing food at the temple who’s been practicing for three and a half years, was actually robbed of his food one day?

Not only his vegetarian meatballs but also his desserts and wild fruits were stolen.

The three previous losers seemed to have their skills peaked overnight and caught Xiao Jingkong off-guard.

Xiao Jingkong sorrowfully pounded his chest with his little fists, realizing that what goes around, comes around eventually!

It was only today that the three little monks found out how delicious the food from the mountain foot was!

They suddenly also felt like going down the mountain, what to do?

Aside from the food thieving incident, the interactions among the four were rather harmonious.

Xiao Jingkong described his life at the mountain foot to the others. Upon learning that he was currently hosting his brother-in-law every day, Jing Fan asked, “Who’s your brother-in-law? Your dad?”

As they were still young and unlike Xiao Jingkong with his extraordinary intelligence, they didn’t understand what brother-in-law meant, but it seemed like the male master of the house should be their dad.

Xiao Jingkong sighed, “He’s like a temporary dad, Jiaojiao can replace him at any time.”

Although Xiao Jingkong called her Jiaojiao, he was thinking of Gu Jiao as his mother in his heart. But whether Xiao Liulang was his dad, he simply couldn’t guarantee.

After all, based on his observation these days, this potential dad hadn’t officially taken his position and could be at risk of losing his job at any time.

As they chatted, the conversation turned to their homework.

Little Monk Jing Fan said, “During your time down the mountain, we’ve recited so many Buddhist scriptures! You haven’t recited any, have you!”

Jingxin agreed, “Exactly, exactly!”

Jingshan nods profusely.

Xiao Jingkong raises an eyebrow: “Oh? What have you all learned by heart?”

Monk Jing Fan: “The ‘Heart Sutra’!”

Xiao Jingkong spreads his hands: “I memorized that when I was two.”

Monk Jingxin: “The ‘Sutra of the Medicine Buddha’!”

Xiao Jingkong shrugs: “I memorized that at two years and three months.”

Monk Jingshan: “The, um, ‘Sirangama Sutra’!”

Xiao Jingkong vacantly sighs after checking his ears: “It’s ‘Sirangama Sutra’, dummy. You can’t even say the name right; did you really memorize it?”

The little monks blush.

Did they actually learn it? They just remembered the names. And it took them several days to remember the tongue-twisting names, exhausting their little brains!

“Oh, it’s no fun discussing scriptures with you. I’m going to find the Abbot.” Xiao Jingkong hops down the steps and heads for the Abbot with his small legs.

The Abbot had just sat down in the main hall, preparing to give a sermon to the monks, when suddenly, a novice monk rushed over: “Abbot, it’s terrible, Jingkong is here to see you! He wants to discuss scriptures and Zen with you!”

The Abbot’s body shakes, and the Buddha beads in his hands drop in fright.

That little bugger is coming to discuss Zen with him?

Holy moly!!!

Since young, Xiao Jingkong has been studying Buddhist scriptures, and everything about the scriptures intrigues him. The Abbot says one thing, and he asks ten, coming up with questions that the Abbot simply cannot answer!

“‘All forms are illusory’. So if there’s a form, it’s illusory, right? Is the Abbot illusory? If the Abbot is illusory, then whatever the Abbot says to me is also illusory! So I should not believe the Abbot! And if I don’t believe the Abbot, I won’t believe the scriptures the Abbot tells me either! So the scriptures are also illusory!”

Abbot: Although you’re just arguing semantics, I admit there is a tiny bit of logic in there…

The Abbot, maintaining a high level of professionalism, turns back and patiently explains it to him.

After the explanation, he says, “I think you’re wrong!”

Abbot: “Why am I wrong? Is it because you’re too young to understand?”

Xiao Jingkong: “The Buddha is so smart, he would surely make me understand. You just didn’t convey his meaning well. This is not my problem, it’s the Abbot’s!”

Conversations like this are numerous, and more often than not, the Abbot can’t convince him. Instead, he successfully leads the newly arrived monks astray with his own logic.

Fear of being dominated by Xiao Jingkong surfaces, and the Abbot could hardly breathe.

By the time Gu Jiao finally came to pick up Xiao Jingkong, he had, single-handedly, thoroughly frazzled the entire main hall of monks!

“Abbot, I’m leaving. We’ll discuss this issue next time!” Xiao Jingkong’s hand is held by Gu Jiao as he turns and waves to the Abbot with the other hand.

Abbot, who wishes he could die on the spot, is as white as a sheet: Please, don’t come back…

The siblings walk hand in hand down the mountain.

Xiao Jingkong seems restless, as if wanting to sprint down.

However, as it had just rained and the road was slippery, Gu Jiao, worried he might tumble down like a rolling winter melon, didn’t dare to let go of his hand.

“Did you have fun today?” Gu Jiao suddenly asks.

“Fun!” Xiao Jingkong says adorably, raising his little hand to start counting, “Today, I met Jingxin, Jing Fan, Jingshan, my older disciple brother Jingchen and the Abbot..”

He rattles off a long list, basically everyone he met at the temple was counted.

“Didn’t see your master?” asked Gu Jiao.

Xiao Jingkong sighs: “He kept disappearing and rarely stays on the mountain.”

Old man?

Gu Jiao recalls the weird monk in the forest; that monk looked very young and couldn’t be the “old man” Xiao Jingkong was talking about, could he?

What Gu Jiao didn’t know was that the term “old man” was just a reference Xiao Jingkong used in comparison to his own age. His master was not old at all, in fact he was more than twenty years younger than the Abbot!

Gu Jiao then asks, “So… are there any good-looking monks at the temple? The most handsome kind.”

The beauty of that monk competed with that of Xiao Liulang, and it would be hard to find a second one in the world.

“Yes!” Xiao Jingkong very sincerely lifts up his head and points at himself, “Me!”

Gu Jiao: “…”

Gu Jiao: “Besides you.”

Xiao Jingkong with utmost certainty says, “Then there is none. I’m the most handsome little monk in the world! Aside from me, none of them are handsome!”

Even master isn’t handsome!

Because his master claimed he was the most handsome in the world, but Xiao Jingkong believed that he was the most handsome. So he absolutely wouldn’t acknowledge that his master was handsome!

Gu Jiao grunts.

Could that person not be a monk from this temple?