521: Chapter 521 Even pigs don't eat meat, so will pigs become Buddhas before you?

Ye Chen: "???"

No...

What did Bai Wanqing mean by that?

Was that a blatant hint?

Ye Chen's mind whirled for several cycles, and for a moment, he actually didn't know how to respond.

Say yes?

Wouldn't that be a tacit admission of something?

Say no?

Wouldn't that be even stranger?

This woman was no simple character; she had just thrown him a riddle for the ages!

Bai Shanshan, walking ahead, hadn't heard what Bai Wanqing said. She turned back and saw Ye Chen's constipated expression, unable to help but frown.

"What are you two dawdling back there for?"

"Hurry up, I'm starving!"

Bai Wanqing withdrew her gaze and stepped forward, leaving Ye Chen with only the view of her slender back.

Ye Chen stood there, watching her figure as his mouth twitched slightly.

Damn it!

Suddenly, it was as if she had never said anything at all...

As expected!

A woman's heart is just too hard to guess!

...

Xiamen City, a restaurant near the pier.

Calling it a restaurant was a stretch; it was actually just an open-air Food Stall.

Well...

It was the place Bai Shanshan had picked.

The reason was simple.

First, it was down-to-earth.

Second, Western food never fills you up.

Reasons like that were practically impeccable.

Ye Chen glanced at the greasy plastic table and chairs, then at Bai Wanqing's custom-made outfit, and couldn't help but speak up: "Your sister is dressed like this, and you're bringing her to a Food Stall?"

Bai Shanshan sat down with full confidence.

"What's wrong? My sister isn't that delicate!"

Bai Wanqing smiled, said nothing, and sat down as well.

Luoshui stood to the side, her brow furrowed into a knot as she looked at the greasy tabletop and plastic stool.

She had cultivated at Qingyin Nunnery and Shenni Nunnery since childhood, eating vegetarian meals and living in meditation rooms. When had she ever been to a place like this?

"Sit down."

Bai Shanshan patted the stool beside her.

Luoshui pursed her lips and eventually sat down.

But her posture was as straight as a bamboo pole, her entire being practically screaming the words 'out of place'.

Ye Chen picked up the menu, scanned it, and waved to the proprietress.

"Over here, we're ready to order."

The proprietress was a woman in her forties wearing an apron. Holding a small notepad, she walked over with a smile: "What would you all like to eat?"

Ye Chen flipped through the menu.

"One order of Braised Pork Hock."

"Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs, large portion."

"Two plates of Spiced Beef."

"Roasted Lamb Chops, extra cumin."

"Steamed Sea Bass, make sure it's fresh."

"And some Braised Pork Belly, the kind with five layers."

He closed the menu, thought for a moment, and added: "Oh, and a pot of Spare Rib Soup, with plenty of goji berries."

The proprietress scribbled frantically and looked up at him: "Young man, there are only four of you. You're ordering this much?"

The most ridiculous part was...

It was all meat dishes; there wasn't a single vegetable.

Yet there was clearly a nun sitting right there...

Could it be?

Are monks nowadays all fakes, and have nuns caught up with the times too?

"We can finish it," Ye Chen said calmly.

Bai Shanshan rolled her eyes: "You're ordering so much meat, aren't you afraid of being sickened by the grease?"

Ye Chen replied as if it were obvious.

"I exert a lot of energy; I need to replenish my protein."

Bai Shanshan: "???"

No...

What kind of energy did you exert?

She was clearly the one doing all the work just now!

Bai Wanqing didn't object, simply letting Ye Chen order whatever he wanted.

But Luoshui, sitting to the side, couldn't hold it in anymore: "You... you've ordered only meat dishes. What am I supposed to eat?"

Ye Chen glanced at her and said flatly.

"Aren't you sitting right here?"

"We're eating together, of course."

Luoshui's face instantly turned green: "I am a monastic! I don't eat meat or pungent foods!"

"Oh right, I forgot."

Ye Chen slapped his forehead as if having a sudden realization, then shouted to the proprietress, "Ma'am, add an order of Smashed Cucumber Salad!"

Luoshui: "..."

Smashed Cucumber?

Just one order of Smashed Cucumber?

Her mouth twitched: "You... you're letting me eat nothing but a plate of cucumbers?"

"What's wrong?"

Ye Chen tilted his head.

"Aren't you a monastic?"

"Aren't monastics supposed to have few desires and live on simple fare?"

"A plate of cucumbers is simple enough, isn't it?"

Luoshui took a deep breath, trying hard to suppress the anger in her chest.

"I..."

"Alright, alright."

Ye Chen waved his hand, speaking with the tone of an experienced elder, "Let me tell you, those rules of you monastics should have been changed long ago."

"What rules?" Luoshui snapped in annoyance, "Those are precepts!"

"Precepts?"

Ye Chen sneered, "Do those precepts say you can't eat meat?"

Luoshui paused and instinctively replied: "Of course they do! Meat and pungent foods are strictly forbidden for monastics!"

"Was that written for you nuns to see, or for the Buddha to see?"

"Naturally, it was written for us."

"Then does the Buddha eat meat?"

Luoshui was stunned by the question.

Does the Buddha eat meat?

This...

She didn't know!

But generally speaking, he probably... doesn't?

She was losing her confidence.

Because no one had ever told her whether the Buddha actually ate meat or not.

Ye Chen leaned back in his chair and spoke with a smile.

"I heard that back then, the Buddha went on alms rounds with a bowl. He ate whatever people gave him—if they gave meat, he ate meat; if they gave vegetables, he ate vegetables. He was never picky."

"Furthermore, the most original Buddhist teachings say that 'Threefold Pure Meat' is allowed."

"Tell me, if even the Buddha ate it, why can't you?"

Luoshui's brow furrowed tightly. She wanted to argue, but found herself unable to find a rebuttal in the moment.

Especially since...

The concept of 'Threefold Pure Meat' did indeed exist.

Bai Wanqing asked curiously: "What is Threefold Pure Meat?"

Ye Chen cleared his throat and explained.

"One: You didn't see the animal being killed specifically for you."

"Two: You didn't hear the animal's cries as it was being killed specifically for you."

"Three: You have no suspicion that the animal was killed specifically for you."

Bai Wanqing understood, but Bai Shanshan was left dumbfounded.

She never expected...

Ye Chen would actually use the Buddha to trick a little nun into eating meat?

This was just too ridiculous!

Luoshui was silent for a good while before gritting her teeth to speak.

"That... that's two different things!"

"The rules of the past were for the past; the rules of now are for now!"

"How is it two different things?" Ye Chen said with a serious face, "If you don't even dare to eat meat, what kind of cultivation are you doing?"

Luoshui's face turned red with anger.

She had never encountered someone so capable of twisting words.

He was clearly talking nonsense, yet he said it with such conviction that one didn't know how to argue back.

"I... I'm not eating it regardless!"

She turned her head away, no longer looking at Ye Chen.

Ye Chen sighed and shook his head.

"Look at you, your level of attainment isn't high enough."

"True cultivation is when the heart is not swayed by external things, not intentionally avoiding them."

"You think not eating meat is cultivation?"

"Even pigs don't eat meat; are pigs going to attain Buddhahood before you?"

Luoshui: "???"

Bai Shanshan finally couldn't hold it in. She collapsed onto the table laughing, her shoulders shaking.

Bai Wanqing couldn't keep a straight face either, lowering her head as her mouth twitched incessantly.

Luoshui's face turned ashen: "You... you are insulting me!"

"How am I insulting you?"

Ye Chen spread his hands, looking innocent. "I'm trying to reason with you. If you don't believe me, go back and flip through the sutras to see if the Buddha really only ate vegetables back then."

Luoshui bit her lip, her eyes turning slightly red.

She suddenly felt...

She hadn't stayed behind to make amends for her mistakes.

She was here to undergo a tribulation.

Bai Shanshan finished laughing, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and patted Luoshui's shoulder.

"Little nun, don't bother arguing with him. You can't win."

"This guy's tongue is even more powerful than his fists."

Luoshui took a deep breath and didn't respond.

She decided...

From now on, she would ignore Ye Chen.

Not a single word.

The proprietress brought out the dishes.

The Braised Pork Hock was a bright, glossy red.

The sweet and sour aroma of the spare ribs wafted through the air.

The spiced beef was sliced thin and arranged neatly, topped with minced garlic and cilantro.

The roasted lamb chops sizzled with fat, the scent of cumin filling the air.

Luoshui's nose twitched slightly.

That scent...

It was too overpowering.

She had grown up in a temple eating bland, watery food. When had she ever smelled something like this?

She instinctively swallowed her saliva, then immediately snapped back to her senses, quickly turning her head away and silently reciting scriptures in her heart.

Ye Chen picked up a piece of braised pork, put it in his mouth, chewed twice, and let out a satisfied sigh.

"Mmm... fatty but not greasy, melts in your mouth. This cooking is superb."

He picked up a piece of sweet and sour spare ribs.

"These ribs are well-made too. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, the heat was just right."

Luoshui couldn't continue her recitation.

The aroma kept drilling into her nose, and Ye Chen's commentary kept pouring into her ears.

Her stomach gave an uncooperative growl.

It was very soft.

But everyone heard it.

Bai Shanshan, holding back a laugh, gave instructions to the proprietress.

"Ma'am, please make a few vegetable dishes, whatever you're best at!"

She knew that if she let Ye Chen keep acting up like this, Luoshui might actually break her precepts.

The proprietress nodded with a strange expression and turned back to the kitchen.

Luoshui kept her head down, her ears so red they looked like they might bleed.

She wished she could find a hole to crawl into.

Seeing her embarrassed state, Ye Chen stopped teasing her and placed a piece of smashed cucumber in her bowl.

"Eat. There's no problem with cucumber, right?"

Luoshui kept her head down and didn't move.

After a short while...

She finally picked up her bowl, used her chopsticks to lift the piece of cucumber, and began to eat it in small bites.

However.

Just as she took a bite, the roar of engines sounded from the distance.

It wasn't just one or two cars, but an entire convoy approaching from afar, their headlights forming a dazzling band of light in the night.

The display was incredibly grand.