The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Seeing that it was over, the crowd dispersed.

However, they didn’t notice that the white-robed monk and the huge dog that had made their way through the crowd followed after the girl.

“Master, why do you think that child is carrying that bag of vegetable leaves?” Lone Wolf asked, puzzled.

Fangzheng shook his head and said, “No idea. We’ll know if we follow her.”

“Master, why don’t you try getting hired? You might actually succeed. You can settle down below the mountain, get a wife and child. Wouldn’t that be nice?” Lone Wolf chuckled.

Fangzheng rolled his eyes. “Forget it. I still prefer to research and develop myself now rather than having children. But if it’s just a hire…”

“Master, are you really going to answer the hiring notice?” Lone Wolf looked at Fangzheng as he exclaimed.

Fangzheng pricked up his brows and retorted. “Why not? Can’t I?”

Lone Wolf hurriedly shook his head and said, “You can, you definitely can. Does that mean that we will be heading to that young patron’s place, uh—that’s not right. We will be heading to your place to eat and we won’t need to worry about starving?”

Fangzheng slapped him immediately. This darn dog had spent too much time with Squirrel, and now all he knew was to eat.

Seeing the little girl walk into an old district, Fangzheng sped up his pace and chased up to the girl, saying, “Amitabha. Little Patron, are you hiring a father?”

The girl was stunned as she looked at Fangzheng in astonishment. When she saw that Fangzheng was a bald monk with a genial smile, with him not looking like a bad person at all, she nodded slightly. She said apprehensively, “Yes, but I can’t give you a salary.”

Fangzheng was instantly amused as he asked with a smile, “Then, can This Penniless Monk ask why you are hiring a father?”

The little girl looked down at her toes and said softly, “I… I wish to have someone take care of Mommy. I’m too young, and I can’t take care of her.”

Fangzheng was taken aback. He had thought of many possible reasons, thinking that it could be a prank or that the little girl had been reprimanded by her father and was trying to vent her anger by doing something like this. Little did he expect that this would be her reason! Seeing her big, helpless eyes, and thinking back to what she said, Fangzheng’s heart winced. He rubbed his nose and said, “Then… Do you think This Penniless Monk can be your father?”

“You?” The girl was stunned. She wasn’t sure what the difference between a monk and ordinary person was, but the monk in front of her was too young, so young that he couldn’t look like her father. Yet, he looked so gentle that she felt extremely warmed by his presence. He was the warmest person she had interacted with in the past few days. Hence the girl nodded and said, “Yes, yes you can. After you become my daddy, you have to take care of Mommy.”

“Of course. Then, shall we go to your place?”

“Alright.” The girl nodded before looking at Lone Wolf who kept rolling his eyes at how his master was cheating a young lady. She asked curiously, “Is that your dog?”

Fangzheng ruffled Lone Wolf’s huge head and said, “Yes, this is This Penniless… This is my dog. Don’t worry about his size. He’s gentle.”

“Then does he have a huge appetite? There’s nothing to eat at home.” The girl didn’t seem to care about Lone Wolf’s gentleness but his appetite.

The moment that was said, Fangzheng and Lone Wolf felt their hearts wince. Children her age would usually look at Lone Wolf with curiosity, wondering if he was fun or if he would bite. Yet this little child before them had already learned to have the mindset of an adult. She was considering her food inventory and if her family could tide through whatever problems it was facing. To live on, she had already learned to give up her childlike innocence and had been forced to grow up quickly. It had to be said that it was quite a plightful matter for a child to lose its childhood years.

With this in mind, Lone Wolf went forward, sprawled on the ground and nudged the little girl, indicating that he was gentle and didn’t have much of an appetite.

Fangzheng said, “Don’t worry. Since I’m going to be your father, I’ll naturally be in charge of handling the food at home. Besides, this guy is only big in size. He doesn’t have much of an appetite.”

“Really?” The girl’s eyes lit up when she heard that Fangzheng would be responsible for food. A smile appeared on her worried face as a look of hope appeared in her big eyes.

Fangzheng smiled. “Of course, let’s go and take a look at your home. As your father, I have the right to see how our family is, right? By the way, what’s your name?”

“My name is Fang Ke. Everyone calls me Keke,” Fang Ke said happily.

Fangzheng was surprised as he subconsciously looked towards the sky. Was this fated? Keke was actually surnamed Fang.

Fangzheng narrowed his eyes and said, “It looks like we are fated. My name is Fangzheng.”

“Fangzheng? Wow, I’m Fang Ke, and you are called Fangzheng? Wow!” Fang Ke covered her smiling face as she cried out in astonishment and delight. Perhaps, she also felt that it was a fateful meeting arranged by the heavens.

Fangzheng could sense that his relationship with Fang Ke grew significantly and that Fang Ke was especially happy. “Let’s go. I’ll bring you to see Mommy. Mommy will definitely be happy…”

With that said, Fang Ke skipped forward. Only at this moment did she possess the innocence of a girl.

Lone Wolf came close to Fangzheng’s side and said, “Master, such a Fang Ke is really adorable. I felt so sad and uncomfortable seeing her in her earlier state.”

Fangzheng ruffled Lone Wolf’s head and said, “She’s a pitiful child who’s worthy of respect. Let’s go see what her house is like.”

Fangzheng and Lone Wolf followed after her.

Fang Ke’s place was on the third floor. She was extremely fast and climbed up the stairs like a monkey. She rushed up the stairs as Lone Wolf followed behind her to prevent her from accidentally falling.

When they arrived at the third floor, Fang Ke took out a red rope which had a key hanging from it. She tiptoed to open the door before happily running in. As she ran, she shouted. “Mommy, I found Daddy! Mommy, I found Daddy…” As she ran into the room, there was the sound of a woman coughing. She said with a stern, worried tone that had a tinge of horror to it, “What Daddy? Cough… Keke, what are you talking about?”

Lone Wolf, who wanted to rush in, had his tail pulled by Fangzheng. Although Keke had acknowledged them, she was still a child. There was an adult at home, and they were ultimately uninvited guests. If it were any ordinary person, their first impression would be to treat them as bad people. At the very least, they would be wary. After all, hiring a father was ridiculous in any situation, even if a woman in her prime with a child might not be able to find a suitable male partner, much less if she was ill.

Fangzheng wasn’t in a rush to enter. Instead, he gave the woman inside sufficient time to take in the news. As for him, he carefully sized up everything in the house. It wasn’t big. It had two bedrooms and a living room. The living room was spacious and from the decorations, the renovations must have originally been done pretty well. This family had once been wealthy.