The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Walking around the artificial rockery, Fangzheng felt the world in front of him brighten up.

Behind the rockery was a verdant lawn, and behind that, there was a stone house that looked like it came out of a fairy tale. The house was perfectly integrated into nature. The roof was covered with green grass and trees. The circular windows weren’t big, and the entire Windhouse resembled a magical world from a fairy tale. Every part of the building had something unique about it. It was really beautiful, and there was a charm to it.

Phelps chose a room. It didn’t appear very large from the outside, but it was quite spacious on the inside. It had a long, wide table that could seat more than ten people.

Phelps said generously, “Master, as long as we don’t talk shop, you can eat as much as you want. Eat your fill!”

Fangzheng smiled. “In that case, This Penniless Monk will not stand on ceremony. Patron, don’t worry. This Penniless Monk doesn’t eat meat, only vegetables.”

Phelps smiled even more happily. Although Windhouse’s vegetarian dishes were expensive, vegetables were just vegetables. No matter how expensive they were, they weren’t more expensive than meat. Besides, he knew very well that Chinese monks didn’t drink alcohol either. This would save him a huge sum of money.

The more he thought about it, the happier he became. He appeared to be very pleased. He said to the waiter, “Serve all your vegetarian dishes and let the master taste them!”

“Sure thing, Mr. Phelps.” The waiter immediately responded and left.

Phelps leaned back into his chair and said in a rather relaxed manner, “Master, don’t hold back when the food arrives. Eat as much as you want.”

Fangzheng said, “Thank you, Patron. This Penniless Monk will let loose with the eating.”

“Haha, that’s the spirit. As for money, don’t worry. Actually, I’m a major shareholder of this restaurant. You can eat as much as you want.” Phelps laughed.

Fangzheng took a glance at Red Boy who chuckled in return. He instantly understood what Fangzheng meant.

Soon, the dishes were served.

As expected of a high-class restaurant, the plating was very artistic. In the middle of a huge plate, there was a serving that was enough for two to three bites. This was one dish.

Fangzheng, who was from Northeast China, subconsciously pursed his lips when he saw the amount of food. “Patron, in Northeast China, we eat with basins. There’s just too little here.”

Phelps rolled his eyes at Fangzheng, thinking, “What a lack of class!”

However, he said, “It’s good food. You can eat less of every dish but have more variety. That’s what true pleasure is. Master, let loose on the food. Although each dish might not be a lot, we have plenty of variety. Eat to your heart’s content.”

Fangzheng nodded and began eating.

Fangzheng couldn’t help but marvel as he took a mouthful of the food. “This taste is truly excellent.”

“That’s for sure. All the chefs here are top chefs.” Phelps laughed.

Although Fangzheng did things in a slow and composed manner, his every move was somewhat Zen-like. Such a monk’s actions were indeed beautiful. Even the natural charm within resembled the traditions of the Way of Tea. It was pleasing to the eyes.

But Fangzheng’s disciple stopped Phelps from smiling.

Red Boy grasped his chopsticks, and each time Fangzheng took his share of a dish, Red Boy would immediately pick whatever remained. Then, he would open his mouth wide and swallow it all!

Fangzheng looked slow, but his movements weren’t slow. Red Boy followed closely behind.

In no time, all thirty-six dishes were finished.

Although each dish didn’t have a lot of food, most people would be full from eating thirty-six dishes.

However, the duo didn’t seem satiated. Red Boy even licked his lips and said, “Is this the appetizer before the main meal? The serving is a little too small.”

Phelps had claimed that they could eat their fill; therefore, he immediately made someone serve more dishes. However, while the dishes were served, Red Boy would sweep right through them. Even when Fangzheng stopped eating, Red Boy continued ravenously, having no intention of stopping.

Towards the end, Phelps couldn’t remain calm anymore. He looked at the mountain of plates that were as tall as a person and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He got the waiter to quickly clear the plates and then added, “Increase the quantity served. Fill every plate!”

There was nothing he could do about it. With Red Boy clearing each plate with one mouthful, there was no way the serving of dishes could keep up with the clearing of plates. As the chairman of the Gaia Group, how could he allow an empty table when he was treating someone? Besides, he also understood that the quantity was lacking per dish, and the food was being served too slowly. With Red Boy eating so quickly, he would be able to digest while waiting for new dishes to be served.

Therefore, as a calculative businessman, Phelps’s plan was to serve large plates of food and fill him up at once. It would save him money!

Soon after the waiter left, large plates with copious amounts of food were served.

Indeed, Red Boy was clearly taken aback when a large plate of food was served. Only when the table was filled with food did he grin. “There’s so many people. I’m a little embarrassed.”

Phelps sneered inwardly. Embarrassed? Why didn’t I see your embarrassment before? I’m afraid you won’t be able to eat anymore, right?

Thus, Phelps said with a smile, “All of you can leave.”

The waiters left.

Phelps said to himself, “Let’s see how much more you can eat!”

Red Boy smiled bashfully at Phelps when he saw everyone had left. Imagining that Red Boy was afraid, Phelps said with a sinister smile, “Eat. It’s not good for children to waste food.”

Red Boy said, “Alright, I want to be a good child!”

With that, he opened his mouth.

Phelps’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets! He saw the huge mouth open so wide that the corner of his mouth cracked open all the way to his ears. When Red Boy opened his mouth, half of his head was opening and closing! At the same time, Red Boy grabbed a plate of vegetables and threw the plate into his mouth. Once the mouth closed, crisp cracking sounds could be heard.

But Phelps felt his scalp go numb. His entire body turned cold. This was a problem!

Red Boy ignored the dumbfounded Phelps and stuffed a plate of food into his mouth. In the blink of an eye, the entire table of dishes was finished!

Red Boy patted his belly and revealed his sharp canine teeth at Phelps. He said bashfully, “Patron, I’m not full yet. Where’s the food?”

Phelps wiped the sweat off his forehead. He suddenly realized that his little schemes had backfired.

However, at that moment, he had no other choice. He was afraid that he would be eaten by the little demon if he disagreed! Therefore, he hurriedly ordered for more dishes to be served.

As a result, Phelps saw plates being served and disappearing one by one. The child was like a bottomless pit that could never be satiated.

An hour passed, and Red Boy was still eating.

Phelps wiped his sweat.

Two hours later, Red Boy was still eating.

Phelps was about to cry.

Half a day later, a waiter came over and whispered, “Mr. Phelps, we have almost run out of food…”

After wiping the sweat from his head, Phelps looked at Red Boy and said, “Little Venerable One.”

When there were outsiders, Red Boy would rest for a moment. When he heard Phelps call out to him, he wore a radiant smile as he looked at him and said, “Patron, I’m not full yet… As you must know, once a person is hungry, they can eat everything.”