The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

“Baby, what did you…” Qin Xiao looked at her child with a pained heart.

The child looked up. “Mommy, I, I wanted to cook for you, but… Sob!” the child wailed out loudly.

Qin Xiao went over to embrace the child with a pained heart. Her heart ached for her child as well as the rice. They did not have much money left and could not afford to waste any food. But she knew that she could not berate the child on this matter.

At that moment, Qin Xiao’s cell phone vibrated once. Qin Xiao took a look and saw that there was a client! She immediately wiped the tears from her face. “Alright, Baby, it’s alright. Mommy will clean it up later.”

With that said, Qin Xiao quickly unlocked her cell phone’s screen.

“Boss, are you there?”

“Yes, which shoe model caught your eye?”

“This model of yours is too expensive. Others sell the same model for fifty, but you sell it at a hundred and eighty. Can’t you sell it cheaper?” The other party connected.

“Sorry, this is genuine and it’s already the best discounted price.”

“I don’t sense your sincerity. I’m asking you because I’m interested. Give me your lowest price.”

“It’s really the lowest. I can’t go any lower.” Qin Xiao did not know the trick to sales. She thought that she could make small profits for quick returns and had set the lowest price. She never expected that at such a low price, people would actually still ask for further discounts.

“Forget it, I’ll go elsewhere.” With that said, the client left.

“Mommy, did you sell the pair of shoes? You said that you would buy me sweets if you sell it,” Dong Jun came over and asked.

Upon seeing Dong Jun’s hopeful look, Qin Xiao wished to say that she had closed the sale and wanted to buy the sweets for him, but when she recalled the money in her pockets and her future, she really did not dare spend money frivolously.

Dong Jun looked at his mother’s eyes and suddenly lowered his head. “I was only saying it for fun. I actually do not want to eat any sweets at all. I’ll go pick up the rice.”

With that said, the little guy ran off and began picking up the rice grains one by one.

And behind him, Qin Xiao was already a sobbing mess…

At that moment, Qin Xiao’s cell phone vibrated again. She looked at it and realized it was Fangzheng who had sent a message: “Patron, different professions are different worlds. This Penniless Monk shall introduce you to someone in the business hoping that she can help you. Her name is Jing Yan.”

Nearly at the same moment, there was a knock on the door.

“Who is that?”

“Sis Qin, it’s me, Jing Yan. Did Venerable Fangzheng mention me to you?”

Qin Xiao thought for a moment and looked at her child. Finally, she opened the door and smiled, “Ms. Jin, well…”

“Sis Qin, there’s no need to say much. It’s best when nothing is said. See what I brought you?” Jing Yan took out three thick books. “These are the best strategy books for online sales on the market. It’s necessary to have them when opening online stores!”

Upon seeing Jing Yan not having any qualms about being left out in the cold while still remaining so warmhearted, Qin Xiao heaved a sigh of relief. She might not have known it without the conversation from a moment earlier, but the moment she had it, Qin Xiao realized how much of a layperson she was!

“Sis Qin, it’s wrong to set such a price! Set it higher, then allow for a discount of 20%! You shouldn’t earn money against your conscience, but you can’t sell something that loses you money, right? Look, everyone does it too. By setting it so low, what can you do when people ask for a discount? Everyone is already accustomed to haggling. Perhaps they do not care about their petty cash, but people like to feel that they got a good deal.” For her trip, Jing Yan had specially studied the business.

Soon, Jing Yan realized that Qin Xiao’s desire to learn far exceeded her imagination. She finished all three books in three days and rapidly put them to use. Furthermore, she succeeded in selling her first pair of leather shoes! That day, Qin Xiao specially added an additional dish and bought a bag of sweets for Dong Jun. The little guy hid it away, unwilling to eat it. Of course, Qin Xiao did not forget to thank Fangzheng, Jing Yan, and her neighbor.

“Patron, This Penniless Monk is very curious. Why are you unwilling to receive help from the country? Your husband sacrificed himself for the country. It is only normal for the country to take care of you, isn’t that so?” asked Fangzheng out of curiosity.

Qin Xiao fell silent for a moment and said, “He said before that since he donned that uniform, sacrificing himself was part of the job. How could he ask for money when it’s part of the job? Besides, there are many people worse off than us. They are even more in need of the money. When I married him, I was afraid of such a day, but I never expected it to come so fast.”

Fangzheng: “…”

At the same time, there was news from Li Xueying’s side. Her method was very simple. “Master, wait for the news! Hahaha!”

Fangzheng was puzzled. What was the lass up to?

The next day, Fangzheng found Dong Jun calling him only at night. The phone rang and when he picked it up, he heard the little guy cry out in excitement, “Daddy! Daddy! Mommy is awesome! She has been very busy these few days. She reads every day and has read many books! Also, she sells shoes every day. And I, I, I got to eat my sweets. There are so many!”

Fangzheng smiled when he heard that. Although he did not know what Li Xueying had done, it seemed like Li Xueying had formed a kind of tag-team with Jing Yan. Jing Yan was responsible for teaching Qin Xiao while Qin Xiao studied on her own. While she became better at managing the online store, Li Xueying also introduced people and began buying her shoes. The sales increased by the day, making Qin Xiao feel like her hard work paid off. She studied all the more diligently and felt proud of it.

“Patron, what did you actually do?” Fangzheng could not help but ask Li Xueying.

“I didn’t do anything? All I did was tell a story. I told Qin Xiao’s story to my friends and everyone decided on buying a pair of shoes. But there was an agreement that everyone had to act as an ordinary buyer! If anyone were to be caught, heh heh.” Li Xueying posted an emoticon with a devilish smile.

She continued, “It was meant to be a small-scale operation, but I never expected everyone to turn so passionate. Do you know what people were secretly fighting about? They were fighting to see who could buy more shoes from Qin Xiao without being caught! Heavens, those bunch of people are crazy now. Let me show you a picture of them. These bunch of weirdos are crazy!”

Then, Fangzheng saw very familiar faces. They had pairs of shoes displayed in front of them. Some took pictures of themselves wearing the shoes, posing from every angle possible.

“Ding! Congratulations, you successfully spread the love. You are rewarded with a chance at the draw.”

“Uh… That works too?” Fangzheng was taken aback.

“Of course, saving someone is of small merit, but to spread love to influence many people, causing more people to spread the love is great merit! You have gained a total of 374 merit points this time! How about it? Does it feel good?”

Fangzheng grinned and laughed out loud, “Awesome!”

Fangzheng finally realized at that moment that a person’s strength was limited. How much good could one person do? Only by spreading the love would it be great goodness! Great merit! Fangzheng immediately had a new goal.

“Stop laughing. To be honest, you are rather ugly laughing. Do you want to draw?”

“It’s because you can’t appreciate it. Draw!”

“Ding! Congratulations on obtaining a monastery door.”

“That can’t be. Our monastery already has one. Why are you giving me another one? What use is it?” Just as Fangzheng finished his sentence there was a loud clang. Monkey was heard screeching, “Monkey, no good. The door collapsed!”

Fangzheng ran out and indeed, the door had collapsed. Then, a blob of yellow light descended as an identical door appeared.

“It’s identical? System, are you kidding This Penniless Monk? You gave me this thing for such great merit?” Fangzheng touched the door as he asked, puzzled.