New Times, New Hell Chapter 117 - Halo of Buddhism

Chapter 117 - Halo of Buddhism

This scene was very different from what everyone had been imagining. They stared with jaws dropped. Everyone turned to look at Boss Tang, bewildered. Then, they turned to look at the female kinnara. Temporarily, no one knew how to react.

However, Madam Tang came back to her senses very quickly. She turned around and scanned Boss Tang’s friends. “Who notified Lao Tang in advance?”

Boss Tang’s friends were all lost too. They stared at one another and asked lowly amongst themselves, “You?”

“I didn’t have the time to. Wasn’t it you?”

“I called, but no one answered.”

After asking each other, they realized they didn’t know who had pa.s.sed the news on.

Madam Tang didn’t care either. This wasn’t the first time she was having a battle of wits with her husband. How could she not have a good understanding of Boss Tang’s acting skills? She instantly crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed while staring at Boss Tang. “Not bad, Lao Tang. Your reaction time is much better than before. You’ve already put your clothes back on.”

Boss Tang’s expression was full of disagreement. “Madam, you’re mistaken. Miss Jin Na and I are only discussing Buddhism.”

As soon as he said this, some people in the crowd couldn’t resist bursting into laughter. Even his friends’ faces were flushed red as they tried to hold themselves back. They almost laughed out loud.

Madam Tang was sneering too. “Lao Tang, how come you’ve gotten worse and worse? In the past, when you spent time in little artists’ rooms, you would still say that you were making professional plans. Now, you’re starting to discuss Buddhism. What’s next? Are you preparing to become vegetarian?”

The ridicule in her words was obvious. Unexpectedly, Boss Tang seriously considered this suggestion for a moment and actually nodded. “I truly do have such a plan.”

Madam Tang was furious because of the way Boss Tang was acting completely unbothered and like he didn’t know what was going on. She couldn’t keep her high and mighty pretense up anymore either. She turned to look at the female kinnara. “Little girl, it’s not good to learn to take shortcuts at such a young age. It’s easy to climb into a bed, but getting out is much more difficult.”

The female kinnara clasped her hands together in prayer. “Madam is mistaken. I’m only sharing the magic of Buddhism with Boss Tang in the hopes that Boss Tang will be able to achieve spiritual peace sooner.”

On the spot, Madam Tang burst into laughter out of anger. She scanned the female kinnara up and down; her gaze ultimately landed on the other’s slightly exaggerated stage smokey eye. With a mocking smile, she asked, “You were discussing Buddhism with Lao Tang? What Buddhist sutras do you know? Recite a few phrases for everyone to hear.”

From this, it was obvious to tell that she was making things difficult for the female artist. She wanted the other to humiliate herself. Unexpectedly, the female kinnara bowed politely once more and calmly replied, “Okay. What sutra does Madam want to hear? The Diamond Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra, and Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra are all ones that the general public is familiar with. Or perhaps you want to hear something else? If Madam wants to hear a deeper sutra, that might take more effort. It depends on if Madam has time or not.”

Madam Tang froze on the spot because of the female kinnara’s response. Someone from off to the side couldn’t help taking this opportunity to cause a commotion. “Then just recite the Diamond Sutra for everyone to hear.”

As soon as he said this, everyone else somewhat came back to their senses too. Which female artist didn’t know the names of a few sutras? If she truly had skills, she would need to actually recite the contents of the sutras.

This was also the first time Madam Tang was encountering such a situation while catching her cheating husband. She couldn’t help finding everything a bit comical. Amused, she gazed at the female kinnara. “Yes, I won’t trouble you either. Just tell everyone about the Diamond Sutra.”

The female kinnara nodded. As everyone else watched, she lowered her gaze and calmly opened her mouth to say, “The Diamond Sutra is a record of a conversation between Buddha, when he was still alive, and the senior monk Subhuti, along with his other disciples. It was recorded by the venerable Ananda. The conversation discusses the wisdom of emptiness and says that all life and phenomena are empty……”

“Thus I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the Jeta Grove of the Garden of the Benefactor of Orphans and the Solitary together with a gathering of great bhiksus, twelve hundred fifty in all. At that time, at meal time, the World Honored One put on his robe, took up his bowl, and entered the great city of Sravasti to beg for food. After he had finished his sequential begging within the city, he returned, ate the food, put away his robe and bowl, washed his feet, arranged his seat, and sat down.”

“This was the first preface. The Six Requirements. This was what the venerable Ananda personally heard Buddha say……”

In the beginning, everyone had all been joking when they had made the request. They hadn’t thought that the female kinnara would actually start reciting a sutra. Especially because her voice was clear and airy. As she carefully relayed her explanation, it actually sounded like Sanskrit. Unknowingly, this caused all these people who were addicted to worldly pleasures to momentarily become stunned.

Someone glanced at the person next to them, perplexed. “She’s really reciting a sutra?”

As soon as that person finished asking their question, they heard the female kinnara’s voice suddenly change. She was speaking a language that n.o.body understood. But as long as you listened carefully, you could still recognize it as being slightly familiar.

Everyone stared at each other. “What is she chanting?”

Someone said in confusion, “This seems to be the scripture music that temples play……”

Coincidentally, the female kinnara had finished reciting this section. She explained, “That was the original Sanskrit recitation. Back in the day, I had the fortune to hear the Honored One recite it once. The memory is still fresh in my brain. Today, I’m sharing it with everyone……”

Originally, the fact that she could recite a sutra was already astonishing enough. Unexpectedly, she could also teach Buddhism in two languages. The other one was also Sanskrit. Now, everyone was honestly astonished.

Yu Zhengdu was completely confused too. He turned around to look at Shang Que. “So, the service that Western emissaries give VIPs is prayer service?”

“Un?” Shang Que looked at him strangely. “Don’t n.o.bles and aristocrats spend tens of thousands just to receive the true Western scriptures?”

Yu Zhengdu gazed at him, speechless. He then glanced at the female kinnara who was diligently explaining the sutra. He temporarily didn’t know who to complain about.

What could be confirmed was, the investment Boss Tang had spoken about initially had absolutely not been an attempt at receiving a scripture.

Just as Yu Zhengdu was starting to suspect if he was going to hear a live recitation of the entire Diamond Sutra, Madam Tang finally returned to her senses. She yelled, “Enough. Say no more.”

The female kinnara stopped speaking. She looked at the other curiously. “Does Madam want to hear a different sutra? How about the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra?”

Madam Tang’s emotions hadn’t completely recovered from the previous sutra yet. It was only because she had been in the business world for so long and had good resolve that she hadn’t been so easily fooled by this female artist. However, she couldn’t possibly let the other continue reciting sutras either. Wasn’t this just being entertainment for everyone else?

It would be a bit difficult to continue to make things difficult for the other, though. They had suddenly barged in and witnessed a live Buddhist meditation lesson. The female artist had also recited a Buddhist sutra in two languages. Under these circ.u.mstances, if one was determined to say that she had something going on with Boss Tang, that obviously wouldn’t be convincing.

A moment later, Madam Tang slowly turned to look at Xu Hui. “Star Path Management, was it? Very good. Your company plans quite far into the future while training your artists. You even make your female artists learn Buddhist sutras……”

Xu Hui had just barely recovered from the halo of Buddhism too. Upon hearing this, he immediately expressed that he was being wronged. “Madam, you’re really mistaken……”

“Madam is burdened by emotional matters. It seems that your mind has been disrupted by worldly circ.u.mstances.” The female kinnara made a hand gesture and continued to tell Madam Tang, “If Madam doesn’t mind, how about inviting everyone else out of the room first? After I have a private discussion about Buddhist ideology with Madam, perhaps I can help Madam cleanse your heart……”

n.o.body had expected that at this time, not only was the female artist not avoiding the investor’s lawful wife, but she was actually inviting her to a private Buddhist lesson instead? How tough of a mentality was this? And how wild was such behavior?

Madam Tang hadn’t expected for this female artist to be so bold either. She originally wanted to directly reject the other, but after brief thought, she realized that if she failed to catch her husband cheating today, others would treat this incident as a joke. Instead of leaving empty handed, it was better to hear what this female artist had to say. Perhaps she could find some evidence through this too.

As such, she glanced around her and told the people she had brought, “Then you guys head out. I’ll have a private discussion with Miss Jin Na.”

Who here hadn’t witnessed great things before? Upon seeing Madam Tang’s att.i.tude, how could they not know what she was planning?

Originally, Jin Na’s previous behavior had already caused quite a lot of people on the scene to trust her a bit more. This female artist had a clear gaze and acted openly. Additionally, she could easily speak about Buddhist scriptures and Buddhist ideology. Just now, in those few moments where she had been reciting the sutra, quite a lot of people had already been secretly touched by her. They felt that she seemed to have a natural power that could send those sutras, that normally sounded dry and dull, straight to the bottom of one’s heart. This absolutely wasn’t something that could be mastered in a short amount of time.

But Madam Tang wasn’t someone who was easy to fool either. She obviously hadn’t agreed to interact with Jin Na privately to actually listen to Buddhist sutras.

Upon seeing this, Yu Zhengdu was a bit worried too. Thus, he tugged at Shang Que. “Boss, nothing bad will happen, right?”

From start to finish, Shang Que had been completely uninterested. In the middle, he had even played a few rounds of his game. When he noticed that Yu Zhengdu was uneasy, he thought about it and called the female kinnara to a halt. The female kinnara politely bowed at him. Shang Que’s expression was very meaningful. He whispered, “If you’re explaining sutras to two people, remember to accept twice the money. Don’t lose money.”

Yu Zhengdu: ??? Wait. Was this the main point?

Surprisingly, the female kinnara actually nodded. “I know.”

Off to the side, Xu Hui hadn’t heard their conversation. His entire being was beyond agitated. At first, they had already managed to dispel the danger. Unexpectedly, Jin Na went looking for trouble herself once more. Thus, he wanted to go help dissolve the tension. But the people Madam Tang had brought didn’t give him the opportunity to do so at all. In only a moment, everyone had been asked to leave the room. They had offhandedly closed the door behind them too.

The plot was developing in a completely unantic.i.p.ated manner. A group of bosses – who were normally the ones giving orders – stood outside the suite and stared at each other. In the end, everyone’s gazes landed on the culprit, Boss Tang.

Exactly right. As the big boss of the highest status in this group, Boss Tang had also been asked to leave the room.

An old friend who had similar interests as Boss Tang secretly tugged at Boss Tang’s arm. “Lao Tang, nice. You’re even using the method of ‘learning Buddhism.’ Teach us later……”

Upon hearing this, Boss Tang’s expression stiffened. He yelled, “Uncouth.”

“Who do you guys think Miss Jin Na is?!” Boss Tang hrmph’d and scolded, “You people normally drown in riches and l.u.s.t; are greedy, angry, and foolish; and only think about alcohol and money. How terrible……”

Everyone stared, bewildered, at Boss Tang, who had suddenly started lecturing others. They were actually having secret mental breakdowns…… Wait no. Weren’t you the person who normally drowned in riches and l.u.s.t the most, Boss Tang?

On the other side, Chen ge and Ye Yingge had just recovered from the halo of Buddhism too. They had originally been hoping that Madam Tang would get pictures of a scandal involving the female member of Sagittarius Band. This would instantly ruin this band that had just gotten popular.

Unexpectedly, the plot had completely changed from their original antic.i.p.ations. They had just been in the middle of being reluctant to admit defeat when out of the blue, the tides had turned again. That female member had actually dared to suggest having a private chat with Madam Tang.

Madam Tang was infamously vicious. What was the difference between seeking death and speaking to her in private?

Chen ge had both arms crossed over his chest. With a mocking smile, he looked at Xu Hui. “Boss Xu, your company really has a unique way of training your artists.”

Xu Hui coldly glanced at them. “What benefits do you guys get from doing this?”

“Ey, same old. Without evidence, don’t spout bulls.h.i.t.” Chen ge said with a smile, “And don’t talk about benefits or anything. You guys used uncouth methods yourself. If anything goes wrong, you can’t blame anyone else.”

Xu Hui said, “If we’re talking about uncouth methods, how could we be more uncouth than you? Back then, to successfully allow Ye Yingge to break his contract, how many bad rumors did you make up about Star Path?”

He lifted his gaze to look at Ye Yingge. “Star Path didn’t mistreat you. We don’t hope for your grat.i.tude, but you should’ve just peacefully left. Instead, you gave the company a bad name. What is that considered?”

“Enough. The past is in the past.” Ye Yingge felt a bit guilty. While putting on a confident front, he said, “You’d better worry about your current artist instead.”

He twisted his mouth and glanced in the direction of the room. His tone was filled with amus.e.m.e.nt. “Your artist doesn’t really want to explain a sutra to Madam Tang, right? How truly naive and cute.”

Now that they had mentioned Jin Na, Xu Hui instantly became nervous once more. He hurriedly looked at Boss Tang out of his periphery in the hopes that Boss Tang would suddenly discover his morals and help them out this one time.

Only to see that after lecturing his friends, Boss Tang had turned to stare at the tightly closed door once more. He sighed. “My wife is really so…… She’s normally full of fire and refuses to place too much trust in anyone. I only hope that she won’t make things difficult for Miss Jin Na……”

Everyone: ……Don’t you have a f.u.c.king clue about why Madam Tang never trusts anyone?

Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que weren’t close with these people. The two of them stood close by and calmly watched, almost as if this whole situation had nothing to do with them. The more they observed, the more they felt like something was off.

Yu Zhengdu was perplexed. “Why is this Boss Tang so strange?”

Shang Que was slightly confused too. “It’s true that he doesn’t really seem like a normal Buddhist disciple.”

Yu Zhengdu had a hunch. He glanced at the horseheaded male next to him. “What’s wrong with Boss Tang?”

The male kinnara made a noise of realization and guessed, “Jin Na probably accidentally added in some of Old Bald Donkey Jue Yin’s cult ideology while discussing the scriptures.”

He chuckled sheepishly, somewhat embarra.s.sed. “We travelled far and wide with Jue Yin for many years. Some things have become second nature……”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

No wonder Jin Na had brainwashed Boss Tang so quickly. A real Western emissary plus modern marketing techniques. How could it possibly not be quick?

The people outside the door all had their own thoughts. Just as they waited in agony, the door finally opened.

Madam Tang walked out with the female kinnara, expression peaceful. She was still muttering something to herself. The people she had brought hurriedly stepped forward and asked, “Madam, do you need us to do anything?”

“Can’t you guys be more optimistic?” Madam Tang glared at them. After, she bowed at the female kinnara. “Thank you for your lesson, Miss Jin Na. You’ve helped me clear the blockage in my mind. Given the opportunity, in the future, I hope I’ll be able to converse with Miss Jin more frequently. Endless grat.i.tude.”

The people who had originally thought that they would see the official wife scolding a female artist, even to the point that they might yank at each other’s hair, felt a string of question marks pop up over their heads.

The female kinnara lowered her gaze and smiled. It looked like she was bathed in the glow of Buddhism. “It’s Madam who has innate insight, which has allowed you to reach such realizations. In the future, you just need to remember to take care of your emotional and physical needs. The path to enlightenment is in the heart. There’s no need to be hung up over format……”

Her voice was bright. Each word and pause made the listener feel like they were in the middle of a spring breeze. One felt like everything she said reached the bottom of their heart. They thought to themselves, it is truly rare for such a transparent and indifferent woman to exist in this world.

Only to hear the female kinnara slightly hesitate. Then, she suddenly changed the topic and chuckled softly. “If Madam is interested in engaging in a more intimate collaboration, I can also ask my company to facilitate a more detailed discussion.”

Everyone: “……”

But Madam Tang was ecstatic. “That’s great. That’s exactly what I was planning on doing.”

She looked up and glanced at Xu Hui. “It’s with Star Path Management, right?”

Xu Hui was still completely lost. He had already come up with several PR plans for the worst case scenario. Unexpectedly, everything had changed. The dark was suddenly light. Not only was Madam Tang not tugging at Jin Na’s hair, she also actually wanted to collaborate with their company!

Upon noticing that Madam Tang was looking over, Xu Hui immediately stood up straighter. He straightened out his suit jacket and was just about to step forward when he saw Jin Na shake her head. “No.”

“These two are our company’s CEO and CTO, Boss Shang and Boss Yu.” The female kinnara led Madam Tang over to Shang Que and Yu Zhengdu and introduced them to each other.

As soon as Madam Tang saw Shang Que and Yu Zhengdu, her eyes lit up. She hurriedly held a hand out. “Boss Shang, Boss Yu. My apologies.”

“Un, h.e.l.lo.” Shang Que remained the same. He nonchalantly held a hand out and shook her hand. Then, he very kindly handed her a business card. “If you show my business card, you’ll get discounts while purchasing products. Investments are separate, though.”

Yu Zhengdu was speechless. He could only silently hand over his own business card too.

At this moment, Boss Tang walked over as well. He no longer acted as arrogant as he had before. He seemed very sincere and cordial. “Boss Shang, my discount is still the same, right?”

Shang Que nodded. “Okay.”

Madam Tang thought about it and pulled out her phone too. “How about adding each other on WeChat?”

Boss Tang: “Add me too.”

Thus, the Tang couple, who could cause waves in the entertainment industry, pitifully added Shang Que and Yu Zhengdu on WeChat in this manner. Shang Que felt like nothing else was going to happen; additionally, it was quite late. Thus, he didn’t continue talking with them and said his goodbyes. He was still thinking about quickly taking his mother and father in law back home for some rest.

After Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que left, the atmosphere instantly grew cold.

Madam Tang put her phone away and calmly glanced at Chen ge and Ye Yingge. “What were your intentions in lying about such matters? You almost made me a.s.sume the wrong thing about Miss Jin Na.”

Boss Tang furrowed his brows. “You guys were the ones who tattled?”

Chen ge and Ye Yingge had never, not even in their wildest dreams, thought that things would progress in this manner. They had believed their plan to be immaculate. Even if they offended Boss Tang, they would at least be able to gain a connection to Madam Tang. They had thought that in the future, they would still be able to get an abundance of resources. Who could’ve known that Sagittarius Band was so strange? A band was actually so educated in Buddhism? And they had somehow earned so many compliments from the couple that faked getting along the most in the entire investment industry?

So not only could they make rock Sanskrit, they could also actually broadcast true Sanskrit music?

But at this time, it was already too late to say anything. Chen ge and Ye Yingge stared into the Tang couple’s eyes – those eyes didn’t look Buddhist at all. They felt chills crawling up their spines.

Xu Hui was already uninterested in Chen ge and Ye Yingge’s situation. Something more important had come up for him.

He silently walked over to the two kinnaras and seriously discussed, “Guys, the next time you introduce your boss and company to investors, can you also add Star Path into the lineup?”

The two kinnaras made eye contact. The female kinnara answered, “That’s no problem, but Star Path needs to give some extra profits to Luofeng.”

Xu Hui was rendered temporarily speechless. He sincerely asked, “Honestly speaking, do you guys own Luofeng stock?”

Otherwise, why would they put Luofeng first all the time?

“No.” The kinnaras squeezed their hands into fists. Their eyes were full of determination. “But we have the chance to get a labor contract from Luofeng with no fixed deadlines. Thus, we must work even harder!”

Xu Hui: “……”

At this moment, he really wanted to take a lesson from Shang Que. How could a capitalist achieve such success?!