The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Having said that, Fangzheng caught a drop of rain water and smeared it across Red Boy’s face, asking, “How does it feel?”

“Cold.”

“That’s right. When water stays on your body, it takes away the heat of your skin when it evaporates, which is why you feel cold. In the south, the air is humid, so it clings to your skin and evaporates, making you feel very cold and uncomfortable. This is also why northerners say that the coldness in the south goes deep into the flesh and bone when they come to the south and why they can’t stand it. Basically, northerners who come to the south easily suffer from rheumatism.”

Red Boy asked, “What about southerners? Are they really penguin spirits? Don’t they feel uncomfortable? Why don’t they get some fire stoves and heat up their houses?”

At this moment, Fangzheng looked at a card parlour by the road. There were a bunch of people gambling inside. The table had a cover over it. At this moment, someone raised his leg and opened a tiny hold in the cover, revealing something red inside. It was a tiny sun!

“Phew… I thought they weren’t afraid of the cold. So they are equally afraid of the cold,” Red Boy said, seemingly relieved of a heavy burden.

Fangzheng nodded in response. As the rain eased without having any intention to stop, the duo felt that just waiting there wasn’t a solution. They decided to head out to walk around. After all, they only felt cold and wouldn’t fall sick anyway. Therefore, the two of them went out again. Due to the rain, there were only a handful of people outside.

As the sun slowly set in the west, Fangzheng was prepared to bring Red Boy home seeing that it would soon turn dark.

At that moment, a figure garnered the attention of Red Boy and Fangzheng. It was an elder who tottered as she walked. She carried a huge bag on her back and held a blue basket in her hand. She staggered forward with an umbrella in hand amid the strong winds.

“Ma Guifen, isn’t that Patron Ma Guifen who the police took away? Why is she alone on the streets?” Red Boy asked curiously.

Fangzheng looked around.

“Master, what are you looking for?”

“An umbrella!”

Red Boy was taken aback before he spread out his palms. “We are so poor. Do we look like people with umbrellas?”

Fangzheng was instantly left speechless. However, Red Boy quickly ran towards Ma Guifen. “Amitabha. Patron, why are you on the streets again?”

Hearing someone call out to her, Ma Guifen wiped the rain from her face and squinted her eyes to see Fangzheng. Only after some time did her vision clear up enough for her to exclaim, “Master, why are you here too? Why aren’t you using an umbrella?”

Fangzheng was speechless. She still had the capacity to care about others despite her own situation? Do you think you are like This Penniless Monk who’s unafraid of falling ill? Fangzheng hurriedly led Ma Guifen to the entrance of a tiny convenience store to hide from the rain.

Ma Guifen followed but appeared rather reserved. It was as though she was bound by a curse and felt uncomfortable all over.

At that moment, the female boss who was sitting in the store looked up. She had a deadpan expression as she asked directly, “Are you buying something?”

Fangzheng was taken aback. Buying something? Seeing Ma Guifen’s drenched appearance, Fangzheng had planned on buying a towel to dry her, but when he stuffed his hands into his pockets, his face turned livid! He had come out in a rush and had forgotten to bring money!

Red Boy knew what had happened from Fangzheng’s expression. He rolled his eyes and sighed inwardly. “Why is this master of mine so unreliable? It’s no wonder Eldest Senior Brother doesn’t like leaving the mountain with him. Sigh…”

Without money, Fangzheng was helpless. Looking at the female boss’s poker face, he said, a little embarrassed, “Amitabha. Patron, This Penniless Monk didn’t bring any money…”

“I was asking if you were buying anything.” The female boss remained stoic with her frozen expression. At that moment, her repeating her question made the mood in the store a little awkward…

Red Boy pricked his brows and thought to himself, “She’s obviously not a good person at a glance. She doesn’t have any sympathy.” Unhappy, he couldn’t help but shout, “We don’t have money.”

“I’m asking about what you are buying,” the female boss repeated like a robot.

When Ma Guifen saw this, her heart palpitated. She looked at the items in the store and then at Fangzheng and Red Boy. Clenching her teeth, she said, “Give me a lollipop.” As she spoke, she fished out a gray cloth bag from her clothes and unwrapped it layer after layer. Inside there was some change.

When Fangzheng saw this, his heart winced as he hurriedly said, “Patron, put away the money. It’s not easy for you to come all the way to the city to search for someone. There will be plenty of opportunity for you to use money in the future.”

Ma Guifen shook her head. “It’s fine. I’m buying sweets for the child.”

“I don’t eat sweets!” Red Boy hurriedly exclaimed. He could tell that Ma Guifen was buying the lollipop because she felt uneasy not buying anything when entering the store to receive shelter from the rain. Therefore she wanted to buy something to ease the situation. However, she couldn’t bring herself to buy anything too expensive, and secondly, she couldn’t afford most things anyway. After all, she needed to get by as well. Therefore, she thought of buying him a lollipop as a symbolic gesture.

Ma Guifen was just about to speak when the female boss asked again, “Monk, what exactly do you want to buy?”

Red Boy was incensed when he heard that. Why is this person unable to read the situation? If you don’t want us to be standing here, you can ask us to leave. Why keep pressing us with that question? Seeing Fangzheng having no signs of getting mad, Red Boy continued putting up with it. He thought that if the poker-faced boss were to continue, he wouldn’t mind secretly finishing her.

When Fangzheng heard that, he was taken aback. He had already said that he didn’t have money, so why was the boss repeatedly asking him? Ma Guifen was taking out her money, but she didn’t ask Ma Guifen and instead directed the question at him. What was the meaning of this? Fangzheng fixed his eyes on her as she continued looking at him with a deadpan expression. As their eyes locked, Fangzheng seemed to see something as his heart skipped a beat. He provided a probing question. “She’s drenched, so This Penniless Monk wishes to buy a towel, a cup of hot water, and an umbrella.”

The female boss nodded, got up and went to the merchandise rack and took out two towels and two umbrellas before bringing them over. She also got some disposable cups and filled them with hot water before placing them on the glass counter. “Here are your things.”

“Boss, how much is it?” Ma Guifen turned flustered. Fangzheng was penniless and Red Boy was so young, so it was obvious he didn’t have any money. If the boss insisted on being paid, she would definitely be the one paying. But the underlying problem was that she didn’t have much either… Furthermore, she couldn’t part with the money to buy these items. She’d rather be drenched and remain wet. But when she looked at Fangzheng, she felt obliged to pay with how well he treated her. She felt pangs of hardship in her current situation. What was she to do?

Red Boy pulled at Fangzheng, his face wearing an accusatory expression as he whispered. “Master, Patron Ma doesn’t have much money. Why would you dare to buy these items?”

Fangzheng chuckled. “If we don’t have money, I’ll put you up as collateral, and you can work for them for a month.”

Red Boy immediately rolled his eyes at Fangzheng. Just as he was about to say something, he saw the female boss sit down again. She was looking at them with eyes that made her seem like a robot.