The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

When Zhao Yumin and Ruan Xianghe left the monastery, they felt relieved of their burden. Although they were of considerable standing in society, they still felt uneasy facing gurus. Thankfully, everything went smoothly without any further problems. They were not greedy people, nor did they wish to take advantage of Fangzheng. Both of them believed that since they had made a mistake, they should visit to apologize. Otherwise, they would feel uneasy.

Just as the two were prepared to leave, a voice sounded.

“Patron Zhao, This Penniless Monk’s master wishes for me to hand this to you.” As he spoke, Red Boy handed over a note slip.

Zhao Yumin and Ruan Xianghe exchanged looks, their expressions filled with puzzlement. What was this?

When Zhao Yumin opened the note, he saw a few words written with great flair: “Sesame in Bloom.”

“What… What does it mean?” Zhao Yumin was puzzled.

Ruan Xianghe’s eyes lit up and said, “This is an adage. When sesame is in bloom, the sesame stalk puts forth blossoms notch by notch, higher and higher! Since this was given to you, it appears you will be promoted.”

“For real? I can still be promoted at my age?” asked Zhao Yumin.

“Won’t we know soon if it’s true?” Ruan Xianghe chuckled and left with Zhao Yumin.

Indeed, a day later, a notice was handed down. Zhao Yumin was being transferred to another huge hospital in Black Mountain City to be its director. He had gone from a county city to a city… That was indeed a promotion! Zhao Yumin and Ruan Xianghe exchanged looks and were truly amazed.

That night, Zhao Yumin and Ruan Xianghe came to One Finger Monastery again. After thanking Fangzheng repeatedly, they left behind 10,000 yuan in incense offerings before leaving.

When Fangzheng saw the wad of cash in his hands, he smiled so much that his eyes narrowed. He had money again~

Days passed and as the frost descended, the weather turned a lot colder. The cold air that came from Siberia seemed like a hooligan with blades. As it came by, it would slash through, causing all leaves to fall. It would strip off all the crowns from the lush trees, turning them naked.

Fangzheng stood under the bodhi tree and looked up at the still-lush bodhi tree. He mumbled, “Bro, the other trees are already switching to winter wear. Can you not stand out that much?”

Unfortunately, the bodhi tree rustled amid the cold wind, sending leaves flying everywhere. Yet, regardless of how many leaves flew, it remained luxuriant. Fangzheng even suspected that the leaves it dropped might be fake…

“Master, this bastard is doing it on purpose, right? It has dropped so many leaves the past two days. I can’t even finish sweeping them away,” Monkey said with a grunt.

“It’s possible.”

“Then can I not sweep for now?” asked Monkey.

Fangzheng shook his head. “You can choose not to sweep, but you will also not be able to eat.”

“I guess I’ll sweep…”

Monkey left.

At that moment, the System spoke up. “Want to have a draw?”

“Draw?” Fangzheng was surprised.

“The monastery is yours, and it doesn’t have a real Bodhisattva or Buddha present. When Bodhisattva makes an appearance to save people due to the monastery, you gain a portion of the merit. Since Jiang Ting escaped death, you naturally gained merit. However, this merit was halved. Even if you had a try at the draw, you definitely wouldn’t get anything good,” said the System.

Fangzheng thought about it and said, “Then, let’s do it. There’s nothing for me to do anyway.”

“Ding! Congratulations for obtaining a White Jade Cabbage seed! The System’s Merchant Shop has launched cabbage seeds. You can buy them at any time,” said the System.

Fangzheng was taken aback. Seeds? The System’s Merchant Shop now had cabbage seeds for sale? Only then did Fangzheng recall that in that crappy Merchant Shop, there was nothing besides Crystal Rice seeds. Now, there was something new! Tears immediately streamed down Fangzheng’s face for he was extremely touched.

Fangzheng had a blob of Buddhistic glow appear in front of him the next moment. As he crushed it, a seed that resembled pale-white jade appeared.

“System, if I were to plant this seed, how long would it take to grow? In addition, is it afraid of the cold?” Fangzheng asked the question that he was most concerned with.

“Products of Mount Numinous can ignore the environment. Just like Crystal Rice, it can mature in a day,” said the System.

Fangzheng was exhilarated when he heard that. Now that he had money, he naturally wished to change his daily menu. Although Crystal Rice was delicious, he still got sick of eating it daily. Since it was winter, there weren’t any vegetables, making him even more miserable. Now that he had vegetables, Fangzheng suddenly felt that he wouldn’t suffer this winter.

Fangzheng found a huge flower pot, dug a hole and placed the seed inside. He covered it with soil and watered it using Unrooted Clean Aqua. All that was left was to wait.

“I’ll have good food to eat tomorrow. Haha!” Fangzheng had great expectations for a vegetable that came from the System. Usually, without things on his mind, he would pass a day carefreely and quickly as he ate vegetarian and chanted the scriptures. But now that he was looking forward to something, he would check to see if the White Jade Cabbage had grown from time to time. It only served to make him more anxious and feel time pass by even slower…

Finally, Fangzheng decided to return to his room to sleep. Since time passed by slowly when awake, it would be faster sleeping, right?

However…

Fangzheng discovered that he was suffering from insomnia even though he usually fell asleep the moment he hit the bed.

“Indeed, a hero can’t fight against delicacies. This Penniless Monk has degenerated.” After a bitter smile, Fangzheng got Lone Wolf to go down the mountain with him.

Once they left, Lone Wolf’s nose began to sniff around constantly. “Master, do you smell a fragrance?”

Fangzheng also took a whiff and indeed, there was the fragrance of beans being cooked emanating in the air. Then, Fangzheng smacked his forehead and laughed. “We came at the right time! Let’s go! Let’s go get some good food!”

Lone Wolf turned spirited when he heard that there was good food to be eaten. He followed behind Fangzheng, and they entered Yang Hua’s place.

The moment they entered, the rich smell of beans wafted over. Lone Wolf subconsciously narrowed his eyes. At that moment, the golden retriever at Yang Hua’s place charged out. It came close to Lone Wolf and even circled to his back to sniff. It caused Lone Wolf to tighten his asshole as he turned around to smack it away. Then, he flung his tail and entered the house in a hurry.

By now, Lone Wolf, Squirrel, Monkey, and Red Boy were considered regulars in One Finger Village. Just like Fangzheng, no one treated them as outsiders. They were treated warmly wherever they went. The villagers also liked them and welcomed them.

“Jingfa, you are here again? Where’s your master?” Du Mei exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

Lone Wolf cleverly whimpered as a response, garnering Du Mei’s laughter.

“Amitabha. Patron, This Penniless Monk is here.” Fangzheng entered the house, but did not enter the room. He went straight for the kitchen outside where he saw Yang Hua. Yang Hua was sitting and adding timber to the furnace from time to time. The timber he used was different from the one Fangzheng used. Fangzheng used dried up wooden blocks on the mountain, but in the village, they didn’t have much wood. They typically burned dried straw or corn stalk. Not far from the furnace were three corn stalks. there was a huge pot of beans, which Du Mei kept stirring.

Above the pot was a window, and on the other side of the window was the stove bed in the room. Sleeping on it soundly were two infants.

The fragrance they had caught came from the beans that were being fried in the pot…