The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

“Patron, what do you understand?”

Li Xueying said, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. A person’s desire is infinite. When I give them money, the money comes too easy. They will only develop desires and these desires will only degenerate them. What’s given can never satisfy their desire. The more is given, the worse the grudge. The ancients have a saying that a little help goes a long way, but plenty of help brings about disaster. Master, you taught people to fish and got them to earn money through hard work. Through this, they become rich. Becoming rich by their own efforts will satisfy a person’s inner desires. This will make them scoff at the thought of borrowing money to survive.

“But I still can’t get over it. How can humans be so greedy?”

Fangzheng smiled. “There’s no limit to greed. Outsiders will never be satisfied. The only ones that can fill our own desires are ourselves.”

Li Xueying said, “I had only mentioned part of it. You have no idea how tragic the situation is when I helped repair a road.”

Fangzheng led Li Xueying to a spot and sat down. “Please, This Penniless Priest is all ears.”

Li Xueying said, “That village of ours is very poor. Although the government has built a road, it has been riddled with potholes for years. Back then, the village cadres found me and wanted me to think of a way to fix the road. My mom also supported them… It’s not cheap to repair a road, but I can afford repairing a village road. Therefore, I donated and repaired the road.”

“That’s a good thing.”

Li Xueying said with a bitter smile, “Unfortunately, good things eventually turn into bad things. The road was fixed, and when the road was fixed, the villagers were filled with nice things to say about my family. The thumbs and praises were endless, but once the road was fixed, trouble came.

“Someone from the village said, ‘Li Xueying is a famous celebrity. She’s so rich. It’s just fixing a road. It’s nothing. What’s the point? If I had that much money, not only would I repair the road for everyone, I would also give everyone a small car!’

“Someone also said, ‘She’s so rich, but I’ve never seen her give anyone money. She wants to get a better reputation from repairing roads? What a greedy person!’

“Someone even said, ‘Humans forget their roots once they become rich. She has forgotten how everyone took care of her family back when she was in the village. If I were her, I would still fix the road, but I wouldn’t miss out on giving every household some money?’

…

“To be honest, when I heard that, I was disheartened. I wanted my parents to move out of the village. After all, out of sight, out of mind. But my parents are used to staying there, so they aren’t very willing to leave. Furthermore, they are already so old, so they aren’t used to uprooting themselves to live somewhere else.

“Fangzheng, I really don’t know what to do now. I just want to do something. I just want my family to live comfortably. Is that wrong?”

Fangzheng said, “Patron, of course it’s not wrong. What’s wrong is the human heart.”

Li Xueying said, “Fangzheng, what do you think I should do now? I’ve been exhausted by them. I’m really vexed. Recently, the village cadre came looking for me again. He said that the village is planning to renovate the village and prepare to build a new-era village. All the houses will be built like villas. However, where do they get the money? Are they asking me to pay for them to build villas?”

Fangzheng pricked up his brows when he heard that. “These people are quite interesting. Even if they are fleecing you, there’s no reason for them to go this far. It’s almost on the level of Ge You¹, that’s some copyright infringement.”

Li Xueying smiled bitterly. “I feel like I’m about to go crazy from being tormented by them.”

Fangzheng smiled. “This Penniless Monk does have a solution. I wonder if you are willing to use it.”

Li Xueying was taken aback. “What’s the idea?”

Fangzheng whispered something to Li Xueying. Li Xueying was taken aback. “That? This…”

Fangzheng smiled. “Remember, some help brings merit. While other help is nothing but sin. Not only are you nurturing others’ sins, you are also a culprit in these committed sins. Similarly, some things do not necessarily mean sins. Everything depends on the reason and outcome.”

Li Xueying thought for a moment and said, “I can give it a try. However, I would like to invite you to come with me. To be honest, it’s a little…”

Fangzheng smiled. “No problem. This Penniless Monk wishes to see how shameless a person can be.”

Li Xueying pursed her lips into a smile and said, “Master, did you just curse?”

Fangzheng said, “This Penniless Monk has never admitted that he is a master. This Penniless Monk is just… an ordinary person.”

Li Xueying laughed. She liked Fangzheng’s personality. Was he an ordinary person? His life environment, his actions, and so on were more like an accomplished monk than any other. Was he an accomplished monk? From time to time, the way he acted was completely different from an accomplished monk.

Looking at Fangzheng in front of her, Li Xueying had a nagging feeling that the monk in front of her was not a monk but a huge light bulb! No matter how dark the night was, she would always be able to find the light when she met him. As she looked at him, her heart felt warm and relaxed. She didn’t need to think too much when spending time with him. She liked this feeling.

Li Xueying’s house was not in the northeast but in a remote mountain village in the north. From the map, the village did not seem to be far from the sea. However, if one wanted to see the sea, it took a day or two over a mountain road. Therefore, the sea was almost nonexistent to them.

However, Li Xueying’s hometown was not a remote village. On the contrary, it was served by a train. It was more convenient to travel there than to One Finger Village. It had mountains, the ocean, and transportation…

Fangzheng stood at the train station and looked at the distant village. He shook his head slightly. There was only one reason for such a good environment to be poor—laziness!

Upon entering the village, Fangzheng saw a group of villagers smoking at the village entrance as they chatted. When they saw Li Xueying return, their eyes lit up.

As they were too far away, Li Xueying couldn’t hear what they were saying. However, she still remembered Fangzheng’s words. Therefore, she coldly swept a glance at the people before raising her head slightly. She became the Queen Snow Eagle in everyone’s eyes.

Li Xueying could not hear what they were talking about, but Fangzheng could hear them clearly.

“Li Xueying is back. Tsk, she’s finally back.”

“Look at her. She’s nothing but an entertainer, yet she’s so arrogant. What’s there to be proud of just because she has some money?”

“That’s right. Look at that glum face of hers. We are all from the same village and we watched her grow up. Does she think we aren’t aware of what she’s like? Who does she think she’s fooling with that act of hers?”

“An actress just puts a farce in front of outsiders. When she’s behind the camera, who knows which boss’s bed will she be in. She needs to take care of the business.”

“Isn’t the entertainment circle just a chicken coop? There’s a clear price tag… I don’t believe that she would be this popular if not for her sleeping with the director.”

…

Fangzheng frowned when he heard that. Was this the villager that she had always been helping? Was this the villager who had watched her grow up? Fangzheng felt indignant for Li Xueying.

Thinking back to the villagers of One Finger Village, they were worlds apart. Suddenly, Fangzheng realized that he was rather blessed. At the very least, he was better off than Li Xueying…

“Is this really fine?” Li Xueying was still worried.