The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Xu Yin had an idea when he heard that, and he immediately flared up. “How can that be? Venerable Fangzheng is CEO Liu’s guest. How can he not have his full? Go buy some noodles!”

“It won’t be nice for us to give the Venerable One ordinary noodles, but the good ones need to be bought from the city. The return trip would take two hours,” Song Keling was quick to react as she replied.

Xu Yin secretly gave her a big thumbs up. Nice collusion! Then Xu Yin looked towards Fangzheng. “Venerable One, what’s your opinion?”

Fangzheng beamed with a radiant smile which relaxed Xu Yin slightly. From the looks of Fangzheng’s expression, the monk knew how to hold back. But then he heard Fangzheng say, “Amitabha. That’s fine. This Penniless Monk can wait. Patron, go ahead.”

Xu Yin and Song Keling were instantly rendered speechless. They had seen shameless people, but never had they ever seen someone as shameless as this! But after a while, Xu Yin just nodded and said, “Go buy the noodles.”

Song Keling gritted her teeth and left but did not return the entire afternoon.

After Song Keling left, Fangzheng put down the bowl and was about to say something. Xu Yin hurriedly said, “Venerable One, considering the hot weather, why don’t you have an afternoon nap? We haven’t arranged the bed for you yet, let me go take care of that.”

With that said Xu Yin walked out. He was afraid. If Fangzheng requested for more to eat, he would really not have anything to feed him. Everyone had little money left. Besides, Fangzheng was not his direct downline. Even if he was roped in, he would not receive much money from it. There was no reason for him to put in the investment.

Fangzheng smiled. “Alright, there will be plenty of time in the future.”

Weirdly enough, Xu Yin had said the exact same line to many rookies in the past. Every time he did, he would be somewhat gleeful about it. Rookies would also say the same words in return, but they would quickly regret doing so. But when delivered by the monk, these words made Xu Yin feel like a cold chill was running down his back.

The living quarters provided to Fangzheng were nothing special. He was just given a bed in a room. The ground was carpeted, and the room was twenty square meters. About eight people lived in it, both men and women. Upon seeing this, Fangzheng felt a little discomfort. He was a monk after all. He was fine if he had to live with others and could ignore the untidiness, but it wasn’t right for him to sleep in the same room with women, right? Although he was a little excited, Fangzheng made a Buddhist proclamation when he saw the women’s looks. He strove to maintain his minimum standards.

Xu Yin also found it unsuitable, but there was really no place for Fangzheng. “Venerable One, we only have such living conditions for the time being. Once the condominiums are ready, things will be better.”

Helpless, Fangzheng nodded in agreement. He just needed to keep his eyes away from things he should not see.

The group of people looked at Fangzheng grudgingly the moment he entered. It was this son of a gun who had won all of their money the moment he came. Who wouldn’t be angry?

Fangzheng ignored their angry glances. He had not brought any bedding with him, but Xu Yin provided him with a set of sheets. They weren’t very clean, but they could still be used. Looking at the people around him and the room, Fangzheng could not help but sigh. Back when One Finger Temple was poor, his clothes might have been patched, but his clothes and bedding had always all been very clean. In Zen Master One Finger’s words: “Clothes are meant to keep you warm. Their aesthetics are not important, but cleanliness needs to be maintained. This is to show respect both to yourself and others…”

Therefore although Fangzheng’s clothes had been tattered, they had never been dirty. Fangzheng secretly shook his head when he saw the situation before him.

He looked up and saw a string of words written on the wall opposite him. They read: “Work hard for a hundred days, enjoy the chips fall where they may!”

There were also the following words below: “Humility. Education. Obedience. Compliance. Confrontation.”

By the bed’s headboard, there were the huge words plastered: “Strive for excellence, don’t say anything negative.”

Fangzheng shook his head slightly. These were correct in spirit, but they were wrong in implementation. When used in this context, adherence would only result in people being stuck in an inescapable situation. They would later pull their friends in who would then also not be able to extricate themselves. The world’s most depressing situation was not to end up being cheated out of one’s money, but to hand over one’s soul to others. Losing one’s self was equivalent to death. The only reason for living in such a situation was to be a tool of others, failing to benefit oneself at all!

However Fangzheng did not say a word. He quietly sat there and took out his Buddha Beads as he began reciting the scriptures. He still knew nothing of this place, so there was little he could do to help these people. In addition, he wanted to see how these people tricked others.

As expected, Song Keling did not return the entire afternoon. She only came back in the evening, panting. She said to Fangzheng with a somewhat exaggerated seriousness, “Venerable One, you might be unaware, but I traveled the entire city before I managed to buy some superior noodles. I have no idea why that happened. Why is a pack of noodles so difficult to buy? The city is just too small. Once we earn enough, we should go to a big city and eat anything we want.”

Fangzheng stifled his laughter as he smiled. Even a three-year-old would not believe those words! But Fangzheng did not say a word. Fangzheng received special attention for dinner again, but he had no idea what the others ate. However his special dinner only consisted of three mantous. It was obvious what sort of food the others would get to eat.

Xu Yin found Fangzheng in the evening and said that the environment was a little bad. He claimed that he wanted to get a hotel room for Fangzheng, which would require his identity card. Fangzheng acted ignorant and generously handed his ID to Xu Yin.

And of course Xu Yin returned only after nine at night, saying, “Aiyah, Venerable One. Something happened. While I was reserving the room at the hotel, the police came to enforce the anti-vice rules. They took away your identity card. It looks like it will take a few days before they will return it to us.”

Fangzheng smiled. “That’s fine. This Penniless Monk can wait, since This Penniless Monk is in no hurry to leave.”

“Yes, no hurry to leave. Stay a little longer and have some fun. There’s no rush.” Xu Yin was also delighted, acting like a little cunning fox. However he failed to see that the tiny bunny in front of him had fangs!

Xu Yin left before coming back with a basin of water. He placed it in front of Fangzheng and smiled. “Venerable One, let me wash your feet for you. You must be tired today, right? My massage techniques are pretty good!”

Fangzheng was stunned rooted to the spot as he hurriedly shook his head. “Patron, forget it. Let This Penniless Monk do it himself.”

“How could I allow that? The moment you enter our compound’s doors, you are family! A family doesn’t say such things. Here, I’ll wash your feet for you. Don’t stand on ceremony.”

When the black-shirted man saw this, he immediately ran over. “Family Carrier, why don’t you leave it to me?”

Xu Yin did not reject his offer and gave the black-shirted man the job. The man quickly placed the basin by Fangzheng’s feet.

Fangzheng looked at Xu Yin and then the man and found it difficult to turn down their kindness. Hence he placed his feet in the basin. To his surprise, despite the black-shirted man’s below average looks, his skill at washing feet was pretty good.

Fangzheng could not help but ask, “Patron, do you wash the feet of others often?”

“Often? No. It only happens a little over ten times a month. It depends on the situation too. But don’t call me patron. Call me by my name. My name is Sun Pu, Pu as in simple.”

Fangzheng nodded as he looked at the dilapidated surroundings. “Your parents sure had great foresight. This name is really apt!”