Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

Old Madam Zhang didn’t know that there is a popular Internet saying in contemporary times: ideals are full, but reality is skinny.

On the first day, she successfully met Xuanzang. The handsome young monk smiled at her across the crowd and clasped his hands together. Although he did not call her grandma, he obviously recognized her.

"Good grandson, you are nothing like his cold-hearted mother." Old Madam Zhang, with tears in her eyes, pulled him to a secluded corner and whispered, "Jiang Liu'er, do you know that your mother and father have divorced? Your father is very sad. He can't eat or sleep well. There are also a bunch of villains who think he has offended your grandfather and are trying to report him to the emperor. Your father is almost angry to death."

The smile on Xuanzang's face slowly froze: "I will go back to the meditation room first."

"Go ahead." Mrs. Zhang thought he was going back to pack his luggage, so she let him go first, but he never came out again. Mrs. Zhang waited for a long time before she realized that she had been fooled by Xuanzang. Monks don't lie, but Xuanzang only said he was going back to his room, but didn't promise to come back to see her.

The next day, Madam Zhang caught up with him in the dining hall and took him to a secluded place again. This time, she did not rush things, but communicated with him emotionally first: "Jiang Liu'er, your father misses you so much. Let's go home with grandma to see him."

Xuanzang said gently, "Please allow me to finish my vegetarian meal." The monk next to him said, "Monks do not eat after noon. Old lady, please allow us to fill our stomachs. If we miss the time, we will not be able to eat for the whole day."

Chen Guangrui's current residence was at least an hour's journey from the Jingye Temple. Old Madam Zhang was not shameless enough to ask Xuanzang to go home with her immediately at the cost of starving for a day. She came to get close to him, not to make an enemy. She had no choice but to let him go, but she was afraid that he would run away without saying a word again, so she had to wait at the door of the dining hall with her maid. Who knew that when the monks put back the tableware, the bald heads gathered together, and the two of them were dizzy and didn't keep an eye on him, and he climbed through the window and left again.

In the third chapter, the gate of Jingye Temple was closed, saying that they would not receive outsiders. Old Madam Zhang did not believe this and forced her way in by relying on her age. She gave the abbot a handful of silver coins and found out that Xuanzang was in seclusion. Seclusion? She did not believe it. It was obvious that he was hiding from her. This unfilial grandson, she was his grandmother, not a tiger, could she eat him?

No matter how dissatisfied she was in her heart, as she needed him now, Old Lady Zhang had to endure it. Not only did she have to endure it, but she also had to find ways to please this grandson who was indifferent to her feelings. Ignoring Wen Jiao and the little monk, she pushed open the gate and walked into the house: "Jiang Liu'er, grandma is worried that you don't eat well in the temple, so she asked the cook at home to prepare milk cakes. Your father likes to eat this at home, and you and your son must have similar tastes..."

Seeing that she was about to step onto the stairs, the young monk frowned and quickly stopped her: "Female donor, Master Xuanzang is in retreat. If you have anything to do, please wait until he comes out before coming."

So the little monk is neither blind nor deaf? Old Madam Zhang has her dignity, and she feels that it is really embarrassing for her, a fifth-rank official, to chase after a monk and call him grandson, so she hides her relationship with Xuanzang and doesn't want people to know. Just now, she was careless and revealed her relationship with Xuanzang. Now she found that the little monk heard it clearly, and it was too late to regret it. She simply said with a thick face: "It doesn't matter. He can't come out. I, as a grandmother, can go in by myself. I have a few words from the heart to say to my eldest grandson, so you don't have to serve him. Nenghong, give him a piece of cake and let him eat it aside."

It turned out that the maid who came with her was Neng Hong, Chen Guangrui's personal maid in the past. Chen Guangrui sold servants and maids, except for the two important skilled jobs of cooks and rough servants, but she was the only one he was reluctant to sell. She and another maid named Biyu, who had the best appearance, successfully became the only two non-rough servants left. Biyu was responsible for taking care of the pregnant Li Aman, and Neng Hong took care of both. When Chen Guangrui went to work, she served in front of Mrs. Zhang, and when Chen Guangrui came back, she served beside him. In just one month, her pretty face had become quite haggard. After listening to Mrs. Zhang's instructions, she took out a piece of cake and handed it to the little monk.

The young monk took two steps back and avoided the situation, saying bluntly: "What I meant is that the cakes and pastries brought by the female donor should be left here, and you can go now."

Old Madam Zhang's face turned serious: "Hey, you little bald donkey, are you deaf and didn't you hear that? The magician inside is my grandson. As a grandmother, is it your turn to stop her?"

"Once you enter Buddhism, you will naturally cut off all your past. I don't know anything about grandmother and grandson, and Master Xuanzang certainly doesn't know anything about them either." said the little monk.

Old Madam Zhang frowned. As a widow who had raised her son to study, it was impossible for her not to have a fierce temper. Seeing that the young monk was not receptive to soft words, she immediately got angry: "Even his father came out of my intestines, let alone him. You have become a monk and you don't care about human ethics? Get out of my way!"

Neng Hong had no choice but to put down the food box and push the little monk aside: "Little Master, please move aside."

When Yin Wenjiao was the wife of the Chen family, Mrs. Zhang was a virtuous and respectable person, but now she became violent when she said something careless. Wenjiao laughed and followed into the courtyard with a sword in hand: "I thought Master Xuanzang was a famous new star in Buddhism, but I didn't expect that my grandmother from a secular family could be so vulgar and ignorant. It really opened my eyes."

Neng Hong hurriedly stood in front of Zhang's mother, staring at the sword in her hand without moving, and her voice trembled a little: "Miss, what do you want to do?"

No matter how fierce Madam Zhang was, she could not be more fierce than a sword. Facing the young monk, her arrogance immediately shrank. She said kindly, "In broad daylight, in a pure Buddhist place, Miss, please speak nicely. I am old and cannot stand being frightened."

Wen Jiao looked at this old woman who looked strong but was actually weak, and felt it was absurd for a moment. Was Yin Wen Jiao's hope for life taken away by such an old woman who bullied the weak and feared the strong, and her cold-hearted son?

She lowered her eyes, her thick and long eyelashes were as graceful as flying feathers, and she was filled with indignation but had no place to vent it, so she asked the young monk: "Little Master, this old lady said that Master Xuanzang did not care about human relations. I dare to ask, do Buddhists really not care about family ties at all?"

The little monk said solemnly, "Of course not. The Buddha is merciful. He said in the Sutra on the Difficulty of Repaying the Kindness of Parents, 'The kindness of parents is immeasurable and boundless; the faults of unfilial piety are difficult to repay.' Therefore, if you want to repay your parents' deep kindness, you need to write and recite this sutra, repent of your sins, make offerings to the Three Jewels, observe the fast and precepts, and make donations to cultivate merit."

He added, "But when I was in retreat, my grandmother, who had left home before becoming a monk, would break into my house and watch me eat cakes. The Buddha never said whether this behavior was filial piety."