As apricot leaves from Mount Zhongnan drifted down into the lattice windows of the Yi School, Zhang Yifan stood on the podium, gently shaking his Abacus Bead Pouch. Huwa squatted on a ceiling beam, carving a piece of wood, while his eyes were fixed on the bamboo slips of the Tao Te Ching in Zhang Yifan's hand. Daoist Master Yuqing stood by the window holding a broom, the abacus bead patterns on her grey Daoist robe cut into pieces of golden light by the sunlight, and the small abacus bead figurine serving as a hairpin ornament seemed to be licking the pages of a book with its tongue.
"Today we are covering Chapter Sixty of the Tao Te Ching," Zhang Yifan's abacus beads bounced among the eight characters of 'governing a great state is like cooking a small fish.' "What does 'cooking a small fish' mean?" Huwa immediately held up a carved wooden fried fish, his eyes fixed on the knife marks on the fish. "Brother Fan says you mustn't flip small fish around casually, or they'll break!"
"Precisely so!" Zhang Yifan's abacus beads bounced into the shape of a fried fish. "Managing a Daoist temple is just like running a merchant caravan; it requires the same approach as frying fish—" He suddenly pointed at Daoist Master Yuqing. "Daoist Master, you sweep three hundred baskets of fallen leaves every day. Have you ever thought of letting the autumn wind sweep them for you?" Yuqing's horsetail whisk paused mid-air. "How could the autumn wind obey my commands?"
Chapter 125