The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

It was autumn and, although everyone was very busy, Wang Yougui had promised that One Finger Village’s harvester could be used to help them reap the harvest! Therefore, those who were only a little busy ran over to help.

Instantly, villagers from several villages charged over, numbering in the hundreds!

Although the riverbed was wide, with hundreds of people rushing in and taking a spot before they went all out, the combined harvester instantly got drowned by the din…

Jiang Chaowei looked in a daze at the innumerable villagers in stupefaction. “Holy sh*t. These people are far too shameless! How did they get so many people? That’s just bullying our machine!”

The distant Sun Youqian was dumbfounded as well. He pointed to the hundreds of people in the distance and glared at Wang Yougui and Tan Juguo. “This… Aren’t you… being too unreasonable!?”

Wang Yougui chuckled and said, “Manager Sun, we aren’t being unreasonable. Why did your machine stop? Quickly get to work. Otherwise, you might lose.”

Sun Youqian’s face paled. After holding back for a period of time, he stamped his foot, and lost decorum. He cursed directly. “F**k! Compete my *ss!”

“Are you admitting defeat?” Wang Yougui asked.

“So be it! Little Jiang! Get off! Let’s go!” Sun Youqian was rather frank as he directly admitted defeat. He turned, planning to leave.

“Manager Sun, the agreement is still here! When will you give us our machine? Also, don’t you need to refund us the deposit for this machine?” Wang Yougui asked with a smile.

Sun Youqian waved his hand. “You can tell that to our sales department.”

With that said, Sun Youqian got into a car with Little Jiang and quickly vanished.

Sun Youqian had no intention to stay another second longer for it only made him feel like a retard! The way those people looked at him was as though they were mocking him for how retarded he was.

“Manager Sun, what do we do? Are we really going to pay them with a harvester?” Jiang Chaowei said indignantly.

“Pay? No way!” Sun Youqian sneered. “This kind of gambling agreement isn’t recognized by the country. It’s ineffective legally. Even if it is effective, we can always go to court over it if we aren’t paying! How can those bunch of hillbillies have any money to drag it out in court with us? Want to mess with me? I’ll make sure they don’t get a single cent. They will even have to pay extra!”

“Manager Sun, you live up to your name! Impressive!” Jiang Chaowei immediately began sucking up.

Sun Youqian smiled smugly.

When Sun Youqian and company left, Yang Hua once again started up the combined harvester and began clearing the fields. And since everyone was here, no one planned on leaving. Hence, hundreds of people began chatting while working and soon, a huge piece of land was cleared.

After some time, Fangzheng discovered that there were people everywhere he went. He was often chased away, so he could only stay by the river bank in resignation to wait.

Red Boy was also sent away. Squatting beside Fangzheng, he said, “Master, this Great Summoning Spell is awesome!”

Fangzheng roared with laughter. “Amitabha, of course! Eh? What are those two doing?”

After Fangzheng said that, he walked towards a soil mound where the boy and girl sat.

The two of them were watching the bustling scene in the riverbed in fascination. This was the first time they realized that such empty fields could be so lively. In their memories, fields were lands with few people, and each of them would be working hard alone silently and boringly… Watching them was as tiring as the work they put in!

“Sister, I wish to grow up faster. Then I can help Mommy and the rest with work.” The little boy pinched his thin arms.

“Yeah, when you grow up, you will definitely be better than Uncle Ziheng.” The little girl nodded in seriousness. With the little they understood of the world, all they knew was that people who were fast at farm work were good. They knew nothing else.

The two kids spoke longingly. All they thought of was to find a huge wheat field to clear and quickly finish it to earn a huge sum of money.

“Yes, we need to earn lots of money, then we can treat Granny’s illness. Daddy and Mommy will no longer need to work so hard then.” The girl looked ahead with a hopeful look. “This time, Daddy and Mommy will be earning some money right? We will be able to buy some medicine for Granny, right?”

“Definitely. It’s such a huge field after all.” The boy spread his arms to express its vastness as he smiled foolishly.

Fangzheng and Red Boy, who had planned on teasing the two kids, stood rooted to their spots when they heard the conversation. They exchanged looks and saw the heart-aching emotions and puzzlement in each other’s eyes.

Didn’t Zhou Zishan say that they were working hard to buy a combined harvester to become a modern wheat hand? Why were the two kids talking about their Grandma’s illness? What was going on?

“Oh? Your Granny is ill?” Fangzheng sat right beside the two children, and he knew very well that he didn’t need to beat around the bush when interacting with kids. There was no need to treat them as kids, but as peers.

After Fangzheng sat down, the two kids immediately tensed up. They looked at Fangzheng in silence.

Fangzheng grabbed Squirrel and hugged him. After Lone Wolf lay behind him, Fangzheng leaned back onto Lone Wolf.

Lone Wolf rolled his eyes. Was he being bullied again? He wasn’t a backrest!

Looking at Fangzheng’s comfortable position, the two kids revealed looks of envy.

Fangzheng asked, “This Penniless Monk heard you say your Granny is ill?”

The two kids exchanged looks. Although the girl remained silent, the boy said after some thought, “Mommy doesn’t want me to say it.”

Upon hearing this, Fangzheng immediately understood. It was likely true that their grandmother was ill. It was no wonder the entire family had gone out in full force. Furthermore, they were experienced wheat hands, so it was impossible that they couldn’t purchase a harvester. It was quite apparent that they had met with financial difficulties and had to go back to their old jobs and travel from the northwest to the northeast with a sickle in hand.

With this in mind, Fangzheng patted the boy on the head. “Why doesn’t Mommy want you to say it? You should know that perhaps others can help you with your problems if you talk about them. It can also make you more relaxed.”

The boy immediately shook his head incessantly and said, “Mommy said that we are able people! We cannot request help from others!” With that said, the little guy clenched his fists and looked seriously at Fangzheng as though Fangzheng had humiliated them.

Fangzheng was taken aback by the boy’s words. Because they were able, they didn’t wish to request help from others? Although Fangzheng seldom went out, he was on his phone every day and had kept abreast with the news. There were able people who begged on the streets and lived off their parents at home. To put it nicely, they were hoping for an opportunity to come, but in actuality…

Fangzheng suddenly realized that Zhou Zishan’s family was really extraordinary! They had will and had never given up hope, always working hard. Previously, Fangzheng believed that they had been working hard in the wrong direction, but from a new perspective, they were without opportunities. Despite knowing that what lay ahead was bleak, they had no choice but to continue down that path. At the very least, that was the only opportunity and hope they could seize!

Perhaps, the little girl felt that the boy’s words were a little too harsh. She was a little older after all, so she tugged at her younger brother and said softly, “Mommy said that we need to rely on ourselves and not on the pity of others. To rely on the pity of others can only last a moment, not an entire life. Besides, we are able, so there’s no need to go as far as asking the help from others and being a burden to others. Granny also said that it was not easy for our country to become strong. It’s good as long as we don’t add to our country’s burden. So they refuse to let us tell others that we are earning money for Granny’s illness. We can only say that it’s to buy a combined harvester to improve our lives.”

Fangzheng felt his heart wince when he heard that. His eyes reddened a little as he looked at Zhou Zishan, Zhou Ziyuan, Zhou Ziheng, Shen Aijia, and Ma Jingru with respect. Some people were noble not materialistically or culturally. It did not matter if what they said didn’t sound classy or if they didn’t speak foreign languages. Nor did it matter if they didn’t throw trash or curse. What mattered was that they could support a family in destitute conditions while upholding their morals. This was because Fangzheng had seen too many cases of people who brought harm onto others simply because they were poor. They claimed that it was a result of circumstances, but in truth, they had already lost their humanity at a fundamental level.

Therefore, Fangzheng felt how noble these people were. He ruffled the heads of the two kids and said, “You have a good granny and mommy. They are great people. You are right. You have the ability to support a family, so there’s no need to rely on the pity of others.”

Upon hearing Fangzheng say that, the two kids lifted their heads up as they brimmed with pride. Although this was the first time they had been praised on their entire journey, they were satisfied to gain the acknowledgment of others. They were broadminded, so broad that they could still uphold their morals in destituteness, but their hearts were also tiny, so tiny that they would be satisfied with receiving a word of acknowledgment.

Fangzheng did not inquire on the specifics and instead sat with the kids and chatted with them. They chatted about his youth in the monastery. Midway, Squirrel ran off and came back with some wild fruits. The two children ate them as bright colors filled their mouths. There was no end to the pearly laughter.

With so many people joining in, work that would have taken two days was finished by the afternoon.

After declining Wang Yougui’s offer of a treat, everyone left. Fangzheng thanked each and every one of them and sent them off. After Fangzheng, Wang Yougui, and company were done sending everyone off, they turned their heads to see that Shen Aijia had set up a metal pot to boil some water. She was about to put wide, dry noodles into the pot.

Fangzheng, Wang Yougui, Tan Juguo, and company were taken aback. They rushed over immediately.

“Patron Shen, what are you doing?” asked Fangzheng, puzzled.

Shen Aijia said with a laugh, “Cooking…”

Wang Yougui said in exasperation, “Sis, come on. How can you cook for yourself when you are in One Finger Village? Come, come to our village to eat. Eat something delicious so that you have the energy to do more work.”

“No, no, there’s no need to. We brought noodles. We are used to eating noodles, not rice.” Shen Aijia shook her head rapidly.

The two kids nervously tugged their parents’ clothes when they heard about the delicious food. They wore looks of desire, but ultimately, they did not say a word, afraid that they would end up being beaten…