The Sixtieth Section: Cause and Effect

  Ye Ziran nodded and said: "Master, I agree with your explanation. Ordinary people and things, where does absolute transcendence come from? As long as a person has a heart that inclines towards goodness, they have attained the Tao. But I have one thing to ask Master, when Confucius praised the Zhou Yi, he said 'A family that accumulates good deeds will certainly have excess blessings, a family that accumulates evil deeds will certainly have excess calamities.' I am quite puzzled by this."

  Kude and Shang asked: "Why?"

  Yeziran said: "The Buddha spoke of cause and effect, and retribution; all are self-inflicted and should be borne by each individual. If so, why would it accumulate to the descendants?"

  Kude and Shang looked at Ye Zhen deeply and said, "The ancients have long discussed the accumulation of good deeds and virtues in their writings. Laozi once said, 'The Way of Heaven has no favorites, it is always with the good people.' This means that Heaven does not have a biased heart, but rather constantly protects the good people. Those who do good will certainly receive Heaven's blessings. This is also a case of cause and effect. Why? All people are reincarnated, and those who accumulate good deeds have already had their descendants planted with good causes by Heaven when they were arranged to be reincarnated. The good causes of this life are the good results accumulated in the previous life. Therefore, only families that accumulate good deeds will have a surplus of celebrations."

  Ye Ziran suddenly said: "It turns out that reincarnation is also a kind of cause and effect, and cause and effect will also reincarnate. The master's words are a bit profound."

  Kude and the monk said: "The Buddha said, 'All things are empty, cause and effect are not empty.' The cycle of cause and effect has always been so. Can you understand, Master Xiaoye? When I first met you, I knew that you were a person who had accumulated great virtue and merit, and giving you the jade pendant also had the intention of 'borrowing flowers to offer to the Buddha'."

  Ye Ziran was taken aback and lost his smile. "Master, why do you say this? I am just a common man, only walking in the world, rarely entering temples."

  Kude and Shang smiled slightly and said: "It seems that Master Xiaoye doesn't know he has a connection with the Buddha."

  Ye Ziran glanced at Kude and the monk, but his heart was a bit strange. The monk had said many times that he had a Buddhist affinity, could it be that he still wanted to lead him into the empty door and tonsure him? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Master, the more you talk, the more mysterious it becomes. I'd like to hear you say how I have a connection with Buddhism?"

  Ku De and the monk were not annoyed at all, and continued to say: "Doing good deeds and doing good deeds is cultivating Buddha. Cultivating Buddha is not about making people leave the world and enter the pure land on the other side. In the future, Xiaoye Shizhu will do good things in the officialdom, and the prosperity of the people's livelihood is also cultivating the Buddhist cause in the officialdom, which is far superior to that of the monk. This time, when you were in trouble, didn't Guanyin Bodhisattva give you a jade pendant and use her magical powers to save you from a great disaster? You should know that there must be a reason for every consequence, and there must be a cause for every result."

  Ye Ziran smiled and said: "Master, are you saying that I am now an official also cultivating Buddhism?"

  Ku De said, "In the eyes of a monk, officialdom, business and Buddhist temples are no different. Look at the incense guests in the temple, they come in with three knocks, what for? No more than seeking the blessing of Buddha and Bodhisattva to help them escape suffering. In my opinion, it's better to go out and do a few good deeds, accumulate some virtue and get more effective results."

  Yeziran said: "The monk's words are quite reasonable. Without these incense guests, wouldn't the monks all starve to death?"

  "Amida Buddha, if everyone were virtuous, this temple would have no need to exist and monks and laymen would not be distinguished."

  Yezhen laughed and said, "These are extreme idealistic thoughts. The world has never been the same, so don't worry about it, monk. It's getting late, I'm going down the mountain now. I'll come back to have tea with you when I have time."

  Kude and the monk smiled slightly, stood up with ease, made a Buddhist greeting gesture, and bid farewell to him.

  Ye Ziran left the temple gate, all the way down the mountain, the sunset's afterglow scattered among the trees on the west mountain, and the birds returning home chirped with joy. In this environment like a paradise on earth, the unpleasantness caused by the suspension of work disappeared without a trace.

  Another day passed, and at 7:00 am on the seventh day, Ye Zhenran rode his bike to the county committee's compound, where he met up with Zhang Lipen, Liu Bing, and Huang Rucheng. They were preparing to attend the commendation meeting. Also traveling with them were County Committee Secretary Tang Guoqiang, County Committee Propaganda Department Head Wu Xiaoping, County Public Security Bureau Head Shang Zhijuan, and Ma Shi Township Party Committee Secretary Qin Daming.

  The commendation meeting was held grandly and warmly, with Vice Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee Gu Songlin in attendance. Zhang Quan, Secretary of the Municipal Politics and Law Committee and Director of the Public Security Bureau, and Wu Minhong, Director of the Municipal Propaganda Department, delivered speeches respectively. Ye Zhenran and Zhang Liping also spoke at the meeting.

  Then, the municipal leaders personally presented awards to Ye Zhenran and three others, announcing that each of them would be awarded a major merit once. Later, the head of Changja County Public Security Bureau read out the promotion decisions for Zhang Liping and Liu Bing at the meeting. Zhang Liping was promoted to the position of Director of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the county public security bureau as he had wished, while Liu Bing was promoted to the position of Director of the Mashitown Police Station.

  The rewards for Ye Zhenran and Huang Rucheng would be decided by another meeting of the Changja County Party Committee. At the same time, each of the four individuals received a reward of 50,000 yuan from the Public Security Department of the Yangtze River Province.

  After the meeting, everyone had a simple meal together, and others went back to Changsha directly. Tang Guoqiang kept Ye Zhenran alone in Ji'nan city, which was decided last night, and Ye Zhenran knew what it was about. Because Qin Daming had told him the day before yesterday that he didn't need to go back to Mashan Township after the meeting, and could go directly to the provincial capital, Ye Zhenran didn't ask for leave again.

  Tang Guoqiang has been working in the municipal party committee's organization department for many years and owns a house in Jianan City. His wife and children followed him to Changsha, so usually only his parents live in their city home. Fortunately, although they are old, they are both healthy and can take care of themselves.

  The venue is located in the central area of Jiannan City, not far from Tang Guoqiang's home, a ten-minute drive.

  After the two left the meeting place, Tang Guoqiang said to Ye Zhenran: "Little Ye, come home with me."

  Ye Ziran asked: "Secretary Tang, is this convenient?"

  Tang Guoqiang said: "It's convenient, my house is very big, Yu Jia is not here either, one more of you doesn't matter."

  Ye Ziran got into Tang Guoqiang's car and headed to his home. Along the way, he looked at the tall Chinese parasol trees standing upright on both sides of the street, shading the sky and blocking the sun, with a different style from Changnan County. He knew that Jianan City was a medium-sized city in Jiang Province, with a population of over 800,000 in the urban area, about 200 kilometers away from the provincial capital, adjacent to the provincial capital and the only planned single-listed city in the province. In nearby cities, Jianan also had some reputation. Ye Ziran had been to the urban area several times before, but each time he came and went in a hurry, not familiar with the urban area. However, since the early 1990s, urban construction began to accelerate, the most obvious sign of which was that super-high-rise buildings that were previously only found in prosperous cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou began to rise, and road construction gradually entered a state of excellence.

  After entering the community, Tang Guoqiang asked the driver to go to the hotel by himself and took Ye Zhenran home.

  Secretary Tang's home was an old-fashioned villa, which was very clean. When the two entered, the elderly couple had just finished their afternoon nap and were surprised to see Tang Guoqiang bring back a refined young man, asking: "Guoqiang, why did you come back so early?"

  Tang Guoqiang first introduced Ye Zhenran to the two elders: "Dad and mom, this is Ye Zhenran, the deputy head of Mashixiang Township in Changji County. He came to the city today to attend the commendation meeting. Little Ye is the township head who killed 'Two Lis'."

  Ye Ziran didn't wait for the two old men to finish speaking. After listening to Tang Guoqiang, he stepped forward and bowed, saying: "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Tang!"

  Tang Lao smiled and looked at Ye Zhenran, praising him: "Indeed young and vigorous, a good sapling."

  As soon as he spoke, Tang Lao's very kind face appeared again. Although his age was advanced, his eyes were still bright and spirited. Ye Zhenran knew that Tang Lao used to be a government official, with an aura and authority that ordinary people would not possess. He guessed that this house was allocated to Tang Lao by the government for him to live in.

  Tang Guoqiang's mother smiled and said: "Xiao Ye, come in and sit down, be casual, don't be restrained."

  Ye Ziran walked to the edge of the living room sofa and saw Tang's mother pick up a teacup to pour tea for him, so he quickly stepped forward and said: "Grandma, you rest, I'll do it myself." He took the teacup from Tang's mother's hand, first poured a cup of water for Secretary Tang, and then poured a cup of water for himself.

  Tang's mother nodded in approval as she watched Ye Zhen Ran, seemingly pleased with his behavior. She said to the two of them, "You chat, I'll go out for a walk with Old Tang."

  "Mom, I'm going to have dinner with Xiao Ye outside and we'll be having a gathering tonight. Let him sleep in Tang Kang's bed at our place."

  Tang's mother smiled and said: "Alright, I understand."

  When Tang's mother walked out, Ye Zhenran praised: "Secretary Tang, both Old Tang and Grandma are in good health and spirits, kind and lovely. I feel like I'm back home."

  Tang Guoqiang smiled and said, "Then you can come often." After drinking a few sips of tea, Secretary Tang said, "Tonight we'll have dinner with Secretary Gu. Although Changsha is small, the situation is also changing unpredictably."

  Ye Ziran asked: "Secretary Tang, has the situation changed? Come to think of it, County Magistrate Yin's side won't let things go easily."

  Tang Guoqiang nodded and said, "Hmm, they're coming in a mighty rush!"

  Ye Ziran apologized and said: "Secretary Tang, I'm afraid I've caused you trouble."

  Tang Guoqiang said: "It's not entirely the case, their goal is to create momentum for Yin Mingquan, aiming at the adjustment of district and county leaders in November. Your matter is an episode, they also want to take advantage of it to gain some benefits."

  Ye Ziran had been in the official circle for two or three years, and had seen all sorts of extraordinary tricks, with the aim of gaining political or economic benefits. Did they really think that by doing so, they could bring down Tang Guoqiang and take his place?

  Ye Ziran tentatively said: "Secretary Tang, actually, if County Magistrate Yin goes to another county to take office, it would be possible to give Changxia a stable and united working environment."

  Tang Guoqiang exclaimed, "Ah!", turned his head to look at Ye Zhenran and said: "This statement is indeed enlightening. If that's the case, both parties will benefit greatly, which will be more conducive to the next step of work arrangement and implementation." Tang Guoqiang thought about it more and felt the cleverness of the move, and couldn't help but praise Ye Zhenran again, "Little Ye is great, with a flexible mind and practical thinking. This is a good method to solve problems once and for all, I will mention it to Secretary Gu."

  With Tang Guoqiang's words, Ye Zhenran knew that this matter had a certain degree of maneuverability. As long as Secretary Gu had the intention to promote it, Deputy Director Yin would also cooperate and make an effort. After all, this could solve the difficulty of Yin Mingquan's promotion and open up space for his nephew's next step in development. Why not take advantage of it?

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