The New Year Dharma Assembly at Jincan Temple was exceptionally lively. Both inside and outside the temple, worshippers were packed shoulder to shoulder, a shifting sea of people amid a dense fog of incense. The unending sounds of bells, drums, gongs, firecrackers, and the chanting of scriptures filled the air.
This kept all the monks of the temple, big and small, in a frantic state of high stress, particularly the novice monks of the Xiāngjī Kitchen, who were run completely off their feet.
Yet if anyone was busier than the kitchen novices, it was undoubtedly Fang Yi. Fetching water and chopping firewood, he did not have a single idle moment. Everyone said that this year's New Year Dharma Assembly was grander than any in previous years. It seemed Jincan Temple's reputation was growing larger by the day.
Chapter 114