Striving for Science C29 pt1

He slept soundly through the night, accompanied by the stars. When he woke up in the morning, the window was shrouded in autumn mist. Shen Chang'an rolled over in his bed, the chill outside the blanket's barrier making him reluctant to get up.

After washing himself clean and changing into clean clothes, he threw his dirty clothes into the washing machine, set the washing time, and walked to the door. He turned back and took out the spare key to the apartment door from the drawer.

The fog was too thick in the morning, so he didn't dare drive too fast. When he arrived at the office building, he ran into Xu Ze, who had just gotten out of his car. Shen Chang'an had heard Chen Panpan mention that Xu Ze's family was well-off in the area, and his parents had bought him a car right after he graduated.

Xu Ze was taken aback when he saw Shen Chang'an get out of the car, then smiled and said, "Congratulations on buying a car."

"It's not mine." Shen Chang'an closed the car door. "My friend has a lot of cars at home. Seeing that it was inconvenient for me to commute, he lent me one to drive."

"It seems like your friend is very close to you." Xu Ze glanced at the brand new car. This brand of car was expensive, even the basic model would cost around 300,000 yuan. "They say that cars and partners can't be shared. He's even willing to share his car with you. Such a good friend is hard to find in the world, don't let him go."

Shen Chang'an thought, Dao Nian even shared a key to his apartment door with him, which basically meant he considered him family.

The two of them chatted and laughed as they went upstairs. As soon as they entered, they heard Ding Yang and Chen Panpan bickering. They were already used to their way of getting along, where they wouldn't be happy without bickering. Shen Chang'an and Xu Ze didn't even bother to say a word of persuasion, and went straight to their seats.

Xu Ze shared his breakfast with Shen Chang'an, and Shen Chang'an shared a bottle of milk with Xu Ze. By the time the two finished arguing, they had also finished their breakfast.

Director Du, with a big belly and thick wig, walked in, smiling and praising everyone. He emphasized that because Shen Chang'an from their department had subdued a very vicious criminal last night, the higher-ups had specially allocated a bonus for them, and they would be able to receive more salary this month.

"And this." Director Du took out a certificate of honor from his jacket pocket and placed it in Shen Chang'an's hand. "Our department is poor, we don't have anything good to reward you with. I bought this with my own money, don't dislike it."

Shen Chang'an: "..."

After Director Du returned to his office, Chen Panpan touched the certificate of honor and whispered, "I'm telling you, Director Du is really stingy. This certificate of honor must have been bought from a two-yuan store. Be careful when you hold it, I'm afraid you might accidentally break it."

"It's good enough to have a little booklet, it's better than a verbal reward." Ding Yang leaned towards Shen Chang'an. "Chang'an, tell us about your heroic fight against the criminal last night. With you in our department, no one should laugh at us for being a retirement department when we go to public meetings."

"The story?" Shen Chang'an felt that his actions last night didn't have much to do with "heroically fighting a criminal." "It was just a kick, a punch, and then I pressed him to the ground. There's nothing much to tell."

Ding Yang remembered the time Shen Chang'an beat up a street thug, and instantly fell silent.

How could he have forgotten Chang'an's terrifying fighting ability?

Shen Chang'an noticed that Aunt Juan hadn't come to work again. It wasn't until more than an hour after the afternoon work hours that she rushed back from outside, looking a bit haggard and preoccupied.

Could it be that the matter with her sister's family hadn't been resolved yet?

After work in the evening, Shen Chang'an went to several stores before he found a simple and elegant keychain. He hung his apartment key on it and was eager to drive to Dao Nian's place. Suddenly, he came to his senses and realized that he had only been back to his own place for one day, and he was already going to Dao Nian's place to mooch food and lodging. It seemed a bit inappropriate?

He looked down at the key in his hand and dejectedly turned the car around to go home.

After dinner, it was already dark. He had nothing to do, so he went downstairs to the square near the community. The houses here were older and the public facilities were also quite old. The square, which was already small, was crowded with old people dancing and vendors selling small items. It was noisy and lively, making the whole square feel a bit cramped.

Just as Shen Chang'an was holding a skewer of mutton and about to bury his head in it, a kind-faced monk wearing a sea-blue robe walked up to him. "May Buddha be merciful."

Shen Chang'an hid the fragrant mutton skewer behind him and wiped his mouth. "This... Dharma Master, what can I do for you?"

"This humble monk is Yan Yin. I am fortunate to have met the benefactor today. I would like to ask the benefactor a few questions. Please do not hesitate to enlighten me." Yan Yin clasped his hands together. "This humble monk is being presumptuous, please forgive me."

Shen Chang'an was puzzled. "I have never been exposed to anything related to Buddhism. Please forgive me, Dharma Master."

Yan Yin didn't get angry at the words, instead, he showed a gentle smile: "No, this humble monk wants to ask the donor something, not related to Buddha, but related to the world."

Shen Chang'an: "..."

He must have run into a scammer, unfortunately, this person looked kind and gentle, but his words were rambling and strange.

"Please rest assured, donor, this humble monk is definitely not a scammer." Yan Yin took out his Buddhist credentials, "This is a credential uniformly printed by the Buddhist Association, there is no way it's fake."

"You are a highly enlightened monk, if even you don't know the answer, I'm afraid I'll be even more confused." Shen Chang'an had been holding a skewer of mutton, so he didn't take the credential, but he looked at it carefully, pretending to understand.

After all, he didn't know what a real credential looked like, so even if the other party showed him a fake one, he wouldn't be able to tell: "Ask away, if I can't answer, please forgive me."

"Donor, you have a connection with my Buddha, even if you can't answer today, you will find the answer in the future." Yan Yin smiled at Shen Chang'an with a tolerant smile, as if even if Shen Chang'an pointed at the night sky and said "the sun is so bright tonight", he would probably smile and say, "Seeing the sun through the moon's appearance, donor, you truly have wisdom."

Staring at such a gaze filled with tolerant light, Shen Chang'an couldn't help but take a step back.

"How does the donor view the world?" Yan Yin clasped his hands together and bowed.

"View the world?" Shen Chang'an had never thought about this question, because he himself was a part of the world, he couldn't even figure out his own life, how could he have the right to view others?

"Master's question..." Shen Chang'an smiled, "The world doesn't need anyone to view it, everyone has to face their own birth, aging, sickness, and death, there's no time to look at others, and of course, they don't care how others view their life. Master, I can't answer your question."

Unexpectedly, Shen Chang'an would answer like this, Yan Yin suddenly understood, in Shen Chang'an's heart, he was one with the world, so he wouldn't stand above the world to judge them, to look at them.

Yan Yin couldn't help but think, they, these people who practice outside the world, claiming to have pure six senses, are they subconsciously looking down on them?

"Donor's insight is enlightening, I am ashamed. Donor has merit and is connected to my Buddha, why don't you…"

"Why don't you what?" Uncle Zhang, who had finished practicing Tai Chi sword in the square, popped out from somewhere, blocking Shen Chang'an with a fierce look, "Young people just don't have life experience, they dare to talk to anyone, aren't you afraid of fraudsters pretending faking a monk?"

"I..." Shen Chang'an hadn't finished speaking when he was interrupted by Uncle Zhang: "Go eat your mutton skewers, I'll handle this." He pointed to the corner with a look of disgust, asking Shen Chang'an to move away, as if he was about to draw his Tai Chi sword and fight the monk at any moment.

After Shen Chang'an squatted down in the corner, Uncle Zhang looked at Yan Yin with a blank expression, holding his Tai Chi sword: "Master Yan Yin, you came all the way here just to poach people?"

"What does Master Zhang mean by that?" Yan Yin clasped his hands together, his kind smile filled with Buddhist love for the world, "Donor Shen is an ordinary person, of course, he has the freedom to learn about Buddhism…"

"The country has already made regulations, prohibiting preaching in public places." Uncle Zhang took out his phone, "Do you believe me or not, I'll report you right now."

Yan Yin: "..."

They are all practitioners, isn't it a bit unrefined to call the police at the slightest disagreement?

Shen Chang'an stood a short distance away, observing Uncle Zhang and the Dharma Master talking. He guessed they might know each other, so he didn't rush over. He finished all the grilled skewers, wiped his mouth clean, and then slowly approached them. "Uncle Zhang, are you friends with this Dharma Master?"

"Don't you know I'm an old man without feelings? Who would be friends with this monk?" Uncle Zhang turned to look at Shen Chang'an. "Let's go back."

"Amitabha, Daoist Zhang, fate brings us together from a thousand li away. Tonight, this humble monk has troubled you." Yan Yin saw Uncle Zhang and Shen Chang'an were about to leave, and he followed them with a smile.

Uncle Zhang ignored him and turned to educate Shen Chang'an: "Let me tell you, those temples and monasteries have a lot of rules and regulations. The most important thing is that they will develop a very terrible side effect, which is to see a good young man and think that he has a connection with Buddha, and their cheekiness will also become thicker and thicker."

"Uncle Zhang, so you think I'm a good young man." Shen Chang'an sighed. He thought Uncle Zhang didn't like him very much.

Uncle Zhang: "..."

Can this stupid kid even grasp the point?

"Have you heard the story of the Golden Cicada reincarnating for ten lives and finally becoming a Buddha?" Yan Yin asked, seizing the opportunity.

"What reincarnation of the Golden Cicada for ten lives? Isn't that just the story of Xuanzang in Journey to the West?" Uncle Zhang sneered. "If there wasn't Sun Wukong, he would have been eaten by demons long ago, bones and all."

The more he listened to them talk, the more Shen Chang'an felt something was wrong. Why did this monk suddenly mention the reincarnation of the Golden Cicada for ten lives? Did this monk see that he was a ten-life merit body? If he knew, then did Uncle Zhang also know?

He didn't know how powerful his so-called ten-life merit body was, but seeing that this Dharma Master clearly had the intention of bringing him into Buddhism, it proved that this merit body was somewhat useful.

Shen Chang'an couldn't figure out the Dharma Master's intentions. In comparison, he actually trusted Uncle Zhang more, who had a bad temper and loved to roll his eyes. At least this stubborn old man, besides failing to take him to see ghosts and liking to stuff him with unknown ginseng and Ganoderma lucidum, hadn't done anything else.

They didn't say anything, so Shen Chang'an pretended not to hear anything and planned to take this opportunity to probe their true thoughts.

No matter what Yan Yin said, Uncle Zhang would always retort with a flat face, until finally he shut his mouth and maintained the mysterious air of a high monk.