Chapter 5 — Vegetarian Restaurant Behind the Temple Gate

Monk Thich Giac Vien was in the hospital for exactly a week when he was diagnosed with severe heart failure, requiring long-term rest and temporarily unable to manage the temple's work as before. That news spread quickly throughout Bo De Alley and the whole town of Ben Truc, causing the atmosphere around Tinh Lien Pagoda to become completely quiet - the morning bell still rang regularly, but it seemed like something was missing, as if the very breathing of the temple was waiting for some reassurance that had not yet arrived.

Ten days after that incident, the local Buddhist Sangha officially appointed a monk to assist in managing the temple while the monk recuperated. This news was first announced through little monk Nho. He ran to the shop to tell Yen Nhi right after the short meeting between the monks in the temple, his voice still breathless from running quickly.

"Miss Yen Nhi, this afternoon a new teacher came to our pagoda! Master Tue Thong, a great monk, I heard he is very good, already manages several big pagodas in the province."

Yen Nhi nodded in thanks, a feeling of curiosity and anxiety that was hard to name arose in her heart. Since the day the monk was hospitalized, she has often visited the temple every afternoon, bringing a few servings of porridge or tea to send to the monks, which is also a way for her to feel like she still maintains a connection to the place that has been with her family for many years. But the appearance of a new manager, even if only temporary, still made her feel like something was about to change, a change whose nature she could not yet predict.

That afternoon, when the sunlight began to soften, dyeing the ancient Bodhi leaves in the temple yard yellow, Yen Nhi brought a tray of green bean sweet soup with coconut milk to the temple as usual. As soon as she passed through the side gate, she saw a strange monk standing in the middle of the yard, hands clasped behind his back, eyes looking around the campus with a meticulous, somewhat judgmental look - not like the way monk Giac Vien usually stood looking at the temple yard with a calm, leisurely look.

The Venerable looked a bit younger than the forty-five years old that Little Nho had said. He was tall, had a square, determined face, and sharp eyes hidden behind thin-rimmed glasses. The robe he wore was flat and neat down to every fold, completely different from the simple, somewhat slovenly style of monk Giac Vien. When he saw Yen Nhi entering, he turned around and clasped his hands in greeting according to protocol.

"Amitabha Buddha. Is this the owner of the restaurant next door?" he asked, his voice was calm but somewhat decisive, without beating around the bush.

"Yes, I am Yen Nhi, the daughter of Mrs. Cam Thi Xuan - the founder of An Tam Vegetarian Restaurant." She clasped her hands in response and bowed her head slightly. "I heard that you were recently sent by the Church to support our temple."

"That's right. I am Tue Thong." He nodded, his eyes quickly glanced at the tea tray she was carrying, then looked back at the shop, his eyes stopping a bit longer at the old tile roof and the small yard in front. "I heard brother Giac Vien and the monks here mention your family's restaurant. I heard they have been attached to the temple for a long time."

"Yes, it's been twenty-five years," Yen Nhi replied, trying to keep her voice natural even though a vague sense of wariness rose in her heart at that assessing look.

Venerable Tue Thong nodded, then invited Yen Nhi to sit on the stone chair under the Bodhi tree, where monk Giac Vien often sat to receive guests every afternoon. Yen Nhi placed the tea tray on the small stone table next to her, sat down on the edge of the chair, keeping a moderate distance, being polite but not hiding her reserve.

"I've only been here for half a day, but I've already gone around to observe the temple grounds," Venerable Tue Thong started, his voice calm but straight to the point. "To be honest with you, the current situation of our temple is not very positive. The roof of the main hall has leaked in many places, the old electrical system poses a risk of fire and explosion, the surrounding walls are degraded piece by piece. Meanwhile, the monks here are mostly older, the donations from Buddhists are becoming less and less compared to previous years. This is a difficult problem that I need to solve in the near future."

Yen Nhi listened quietly, feeling the sincerity in the monk's voice - these were not empty complaints, but numbers, specific problems that a real manager must face. But right after that, he continued, and it was the next sentence that really caught Yen Nhi's attention.

"I have looked at some documents related to the temple grounds," Venerable Tue Thong said, still looking straight at An Tam restaurant in the distance. "The land where your family's shop is located, along with a portion of vacant land behind the pagoda, are all owned by Tinh Lien Pagoda, right?"

"Yes, that's right," Yen Nhi replied, her voice a bit stiff. "My mother has rented a symbol from the temple for more than twenty years, only paying a very small amount each year. Monk Giac Vien has always considered it a support for my family, without calculating anything."

"I understand," Venerable Tue Thong nodded, but his eyes still remained thoughtful and calculating. "But you must also understand, in the context of the pagoda needing a large amount of funding for restoration, I am forced to look back at the overall effectiveness of the pagoda's land use. A beautiful piece of land, located right in front of the entrance, is only used to..." He paused for a moment, as if considering words, "to serve a small restaurant, while its potential could be much greater if exploited properly — that is something I need to consider thoroughly, for long-term benefits." of both the temple and the Buddhist community."

Venerable Tue Thong's words were not harsh, nor did they have a threatening or dismissive tone - on the contrary, they were spoken with a calm, almost cold reason, which made Yen Nhi feel even more uneasy than if he had been aggressive. She clearly felt an invisible distance forming, not between herself and a specific person, but between two completely different views of the same land - one side was the memory, the twenty-five years of attachment, the place where her mother's breath was kept; On one side are the numbers, the problem of efficiency, the "potential" that needs to be exploited.

"I understand that you have your own difficulties in managing the temple," Yen Nhi said, trying to keep her voice calm, polite but no less clear. "But my family's restaurant is not just an ordinary restaurant. It's the place my mother built after my father died in the flood. It's a place that has served vegetarian meals to people around here for many years, including the monks in the temple. I hope you will consider carefully before deciding anything."

Venerable Tue Thong looked at her for a moment, his eyes softened a bit, as if he also felt the sincerity in Yen Nhi's words. "I have no intention of making any hasty decisions, don't worry. I just got here, I still need time to thoroughly research everything. But I also hope you understand that my role right now is to consider the entire temple and the monks, and not just rely on personal feelings or past attachments."

That sentence, even though said with a peaceful attitude, still made Yen Nhi's heart sink a beat. She realized that this was not a simple meeting between two neighbors, but the first encounter between two positions that would collide many more times in the future. Venerable Tue Thong is not a bad person - in every word he said, Yen Nhi still recognized a sincere concern for the temple, a heavy responsibility that he had just taken on. But it was that cold practicality and sobriety that made her feel more insecure than anything.

She stood up, clasped her hands in farewell, and left the tray of green bean soup on the stone table for the teachers to use. Venerable Tue Thong also stood up, clasped his hands in response, and his face returned to its usual calm and polite look.

"Thank you for bringing the tea. If I have a chance, I will stop by the restaurant to eat, to understand more about this place," he said, his voice softening somewhat.

"Yes, I always welcome you," Yen Nhi replied, bowed her head, then turned and walked out of the temple yard.

On the way home, she walked slowly through Bodhi Tree Lane. The afternoon sunlight had turned pale orange, spreading long shadows on the old brick floor. She passed by the tree where monk Thien Tam used to sweep leaves every morning, but now it was absent - he was still at the hospital taking care of his monk and had not returned yet. That feeling of emptiness, combined with the conversation just now, made Yen Nhi's heart heavy with a vague but persistent anxiety.

She remembered Mrs. Nu's words a few days ago, when they were sitting on the porch at dusk: "What truly belongs to me, even if times change, it will still be there, my child. I'm just afraid I'll let go first." At that time, Yen Nhi just nodded her head, but now, amid the rapid changes in just a few short weeks - from the strange car to the measurement, to the monk's illness, to the appearance of a new manager with pragmatic considerations - that sentence suddenly took on a completely different weight.

Returning to the restaurant, she stood silently in front of the old wooden sign with the name "An Tam Vegetarian Restaurant", the handwriting had faded from the sun and rain but was still clear, still there like a silent promise left by her mother. The sunset dyed the western sky red, casting the long shadow of the porch pillar onto the yard floor, and in Yen Nhi's heart, a new feeling of insecurity, deeper than ever, crept into every corner of her mind - an unanswered question about whether this small shop, where her mother's entire life, her entire childhood, could still stand in the face of the changes that were quietly coming.

The temple bell rang later than usual that afternoon, ringing long in the quiet space, like a sad note closing a tumultuous first chapter of the journey that Yen Nhi, whether she wanted it or not, had begun to embark on.