Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Amazed the Crowd
"...In the Eastern Continent, within the sea of Kingdom of Aolai, there exists a Huaguo Mountain, atop which a celestial stone gave birth to a stone monkey. The stone monkey discovered a cave at the source of a spring called ’Shuilian Cave,’ and was acclaimed as king by the monkey community.
One day, the stone monkey lamented the ephemerality of life and the inability to attain longevity, shedding tears of sorrow. Guided by an old monkey, the stone monkey traveled from the Nanshan Continent to the Western Continent, ascended the Mountain of Mind and Heart, entered the Three Star Cave, and met the Xuputi Ancestor Master, who accepted him as a disciple and named him Sun Wukong..."
The storyteller, with eloquent words, narrates how Sun Wukong learned the Immortal Way, mastered the 72 Transformations and Somersault Cloud, was eventually expelled from the sect, and then went to the Dragon King to obtain the Ruyi Jingu Bang weighing 13,500 catties. He erased the name of the monkey category from the Book of Life and Death in the World of Darkness, causing the Dragon King and King Yan to petition the Jade Emperor to subdue the demon monkey.
The story culminated in the great havoc in the Heavenly Palace and his suppression under Five Finger Mountain.
At this point, the story abruptly stops.
Those who were listening intently could not hold themselves back and clamored.
"What happens next? Why did you stop? Was Great Sage Sun really suppressed? Continue, go on with the story!"
"Indeed! I need to know immediately what happened to Great Sage Sun. Surely he escaped quickly, right? Don’t stop, continue speaking!"
"Great Sage Equalling Heaven is so powerful, surely he won’t be harmed."
"Not necessarily, that’s the Buddha, after all."
"Even if suppressed, it wouldn’t be for long, right?"
"I don’t know, the storyteller is too heartless to stop at such a crucial point! Too much suspense!"
"Continue, continue, continue..."
The crowd grew larger, raising their hands, urging for the story to go on, as their intertwined shouts echoed throughout the street.
Prince An stood at the front row, shouting the loudest.
"Continue! I’ll reward with one hundred taels!"
He had always harbored a hero dream, and hearing such a riveting story today had stirred his heart with passion, only to be halted at a critical point!
How could his Great Sage Equalling Heaven be suppressed?
Such a powerful Great Sage should certainly break through Tathagata’s Five Finger Mountain, battle for three hundred rounds, and ultimately succeed in occupying the Jade Emperor’s throne.
Yet the surrounding noise drowned out Prince An’s voice, and his promise of one hundred taels went unnoticed.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Pei and her group entered the restaurant from the back door and seated themselves directly on the third floor, just in time to hear the crucial part and realized they had arrived at the right moment.
But the storyteller had stopped again, leaving Mrs. Pei anxious.
"Where’s Fulan? Have her brought here. I want to ask her why she promised to continue the story today, but what’s happening now?"
Yueyuan responded to inquire about the situation, returned and said, "Mrs. Pei, Fulan requests that Mrs. Pei wait a little longer and have some milk tea to calm down."
"What milk tea? I don’t want milk tea now; I just want to hear the story. What happens next?" Mrs. Pei, despite her age, found herself unable to sit still.
It turned out that the day Qu Fulan prepared milk tea, Mrs. Pei had just eaten and did not drink it, giving it to Hua Hao and Yueyuan instead. Now that these two girls knew how tasty milk tea was, they were just about to persuade.
The second Miss, also unwilling to drink it, said dismissively, "This girl really knows how to create suspense, only hope she can wrap it up well."
The second Miss believed that Qu Fulan was deliberately using a story as a gimmick to attract business to the restaurant, as for the content of the following story, she surely hadn’t thought it through, otherwise why tease like this?
If nothing exciting follows today, or if the tale was not captivating, business aside, looking at the commotion downstairs, it might overturn the restaurant.
By then, Qu Fulan would be gravely culpable.
While they spoke, the server presented the milk tea, but Mrs. Pei was entirely focused on the sequel, utterly uninterested in drinking.
The second Miss looked disdainfully at the cloudy concoction, neither quite tea nor milk, what kind of thing was this?
Third Miss and Ying Man’er’s focus, however, was on the talented youths downstairs, who were bashfully glancing over, as such a straightforward opportunity to look at promising young men openly was not common.
At least Third Miss only gazed, being well-educated to understand the importance of parents arranging marriage, this was merely the infatuation of a young girl.
Ying Man’er was different; her focus was on the young men’s attire, if dressed ordinarily, no matter how handsome, she refused to spare another glance.
When seeing someone well-dressed, she started considering their wealth, comparing it to the eldest master’s.
Yet after numerous comparisons, ultimately, the eldest master still seemed superior, reinforcing her determination.
At this moment, the commotion among the crowd outside intensified.
Meanwhile, a carriage passing along Chang’an Street got stuck and couldn’t move forward.
Within the carriage, who else could it be but Heir Pei and Master Huideng?
"What’s happening?" Heir Pei lifted the curtain to ask the accompanying guards.
The guard riding on horseback naturally saw further, spotted the situation ahead, and said, "Reporting to the Heir, a restaurant ahead is opening, and someone is storytelling at its entrance, attracting a large crowd blocking the road completely."
An opening with storytelling?
Pei Ji’an immediately thought of Qu Fulan mentioning the restaurant opening today, yet didn’t expect it to draw such a crowd.
Turning to Master Huideng with contrition, he said, "Sorry for delaying your journey, I am truly embarrassed."
Master Huideng, however, did not mind, clasping his hands together, "Amitabha, no need to rush in these moments, since we are here, let’s be at ease, good, very good."
Having spoken thus, Pei Ji’an naturally ordered the carriage to slowly proceed to a high ground ahead, facilitating pedestrian movement, otherwise, a more serious traffic jam might be inevitable.
At the same time, the storyteller at the restaurant’s entrance called out loudly, "To know what happens next, wait until the restaurant unveils the plaque, then you may enter, sit quietly, and hear the story’s continuation."
"Why hasn’t the plaque been unveiled yet? Quickly unveil it, I want to go in and listen!"
"Yes indeed, what’s so significant about a plaque? If it’s not unveiled now, hurry up and unveil it!"
"Don’t delay, quickly unveil the plaque, so we can go in and sit!"
"Indeed, there’s no reason to keep guests outside?"
"Quickly unveil, quickly unveil, quickly unveil..."
After a round of clamorous coaxing, with the sound of a drumbeat, someone stood under the plaque, grasped the red silk, and gently pulled down, as the silk slid down, a distinguished plaque with three glittering characters met the crowd’s eyes.
Not far away, Pei Ji’an, looking for air, lifted the curtain, gazing towards that direction.
The plaque displayed three vigorous characters: "Flower Garden Ode."
At the same time, several red scrolls slid down the sides of the restaurant from high above, with inscriptions on them—
"Drinking Alone Under the Moon"
In the flower garden, a pot of wine, drinking alone without companions.
Raising a cup to invite the bright moon, becoming three persons with the shadow.
...
Pei Ji’an, gripping the curtain, was filled with exquisite astonishment.
"Such a name, such a poem, such a splendid quatrain."
The speaker turned out to be Master Huideng, who had been resting with closed eyes, yet Heir Pei unintentionally uttered aloud, causing him to hear and hence admire aloud.