The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

“Old Chang, impressive! That’s a perfect target. She’s the example of a human ATM!” the man in the yellow down jacket said with a smile.

“Keep it f**king down, will you?” Old Chang reprimanded him.

“Look at you. My voice isn’t loud to begin with, alright? Who can hear it? Hiss! Huff! This crappy weather. Just snow is fine since it’s fun. But why must it be snow mixed with rain? It’s freezing! Do it quick. Once we are done, let’s have some chicken dinner,” the man in the yellow jacket said with a grunt.

Just as he said, their voices were suppressed well. Unfortunately, the man and wolf by their side had good ears. They naturally heard their conversation.

Fangzheng’s eyes lit up the moment he heard that. He patted Lone Wolf on the head and said, “Go!”

Lone Wolf was stunned as he answered, “Master, to do what? Aren’t we soliciting donations?”

Fangzheng rolled his eyes and said, “What soliciting? Get money!”

Lone Wolf asked in excitement, “Master, you still had something set aside? Why didn’t I know?”

“There’s plenty of things you aren’t aware of. Hurry up and follow them,” Fangzheng said.

Lone Wolf happily narrowed his eyes as he whipped his huge tail and followed.

Fangzheng kept quite a distance from the duo, but he could hear everything they said. The two were rather alert. After what they said before, they immediately stopped discussing the elderly woman. Instead, they began talking about chicken dinners ¹ —things like 8x scope, level 3 helmets, and how they had caused a teammate to die yesterday, etc, were mentioned… It left Fangzheng puzzled. He thought, “This Penniless Monk is someone who’s quite knowledgeable and knows many hidden means to chicken, but never has This Penniless Monk heard of any chicken with a level 3 helmet, a level 2 vest, or an 8x scope. What kind of chicken dinner are they having? Some old fowl? A prostitute?”

At the same time, Fangzheng also learned the name of the man in the orange-yellow jacket. Old Chang called him Three Seconds, apparently because he couldn’t survive three seconds after parachuting onto the map while having chicken dinner. He protested being called that in the beginning, but he later accepted it.

As they spoke, the two came to an intersection. Nearby was a tiny bridge and from afar, one could see a figure sitting by the bridge. The figure was wrapped in a black old-styled jacket. In the figure’s bosom was a thick blanket which cradled a baby boy. The young boy was chewing on a lollipop, and his face was ruddy. It was unknown whether his face was ruddy due to the warmth of the blanket or because it was too cold due to the wind. However, he looked like he was sleeping soundly.

The elderly woman was holding an umbrella in one hand to block the sleet. However, the umbrella couldn’t block the cold wind as she trembled under it.

Placed before her was a tiny stall. On it were needle-sewn gloves and insoles. By the side, there was some high incense wrapped in transparent plastic. It prevented it from getting wet by the sleet. Clearly, the locals relied on selling incense sticks for a living as they were close to the sacred land of Buddhism and Daoism which was Mount Heng.

Lone Wolf looked up at Fangzheng and said, “Master, isn’t she cold sitting outside in such cold weather?”

Fangzheng caressed his head and said, “She’s cold, but that’s the price of survival.”

Lone Wolf grinned. He didn’t know what life was, but as a wild animal, he knew the meaning of survival very well. At times, there were no limits to what one had to do to live on. There was no hard work one couldn’t accept. In the animal world, the animals who worked hard to survive were usually the most miserable. A lifetime’s worth of hard work only to live an additional day was quite sad…

Hence, Lone Wolf looked pitifully at the elderly woman and child. Then, his eyes turned stern because Old Chang and Three Seconds had already arrived in front of her stall.

After changing angles, Fangzheng and Lone Wolf finally saw their faces. The two of them weren’t too old with them looking in their twenties. They looked rather decent as well.

At this moment, Old Chang bent down and looked at the gloves. Then he asked Three Seconds, “Three Seconds, do you want some gloves for this cold weather?”

“No, they don’t have any brand. Who knows which factory this was made in?” Three Seconds shot a glance and said with a disparaging look.

The elderly woman wasn’t angry when he said that, but she instead looked at the two with hope. “Buy them. I sewed them myself with good thread. They’re really warm.”

“You sewed them?” Upon hearing her say that, the duo was stunned. Three Seconds gave Old Chang a doubtful look, only to receive a placating look in return.

The elderly woman nodded. “That’s right.”

When Old Chang heard that, he looked at the black glove in his hand. There was a picture of a sparrow sewn onto it, looking especially realistic and beautiful. Old Chang was rather surprised that such an exquisite glove had been sewn by this elderly woman. He looked at her with doubt…

At this moment, the grandson around her bosom moved, dropping the lollipop in his hand. He woke up and tried to pick it up without any concept of dirtiness—he was just a one-year-old after all. All he knew was that it tasted good and that he wanted it.

When the elderly woman saw this, she hurriedly stopped him. Although her heart pained for the loss of the lollipop, she berated him. “It dropped on the ground. It’s dirty, so you can’t eat it.”

As she spoke, she reached out to pick it up, only to miss. It took her several times before she grabbed it.

When her grandson lost his candy, he immediately protested. “Candy! Candy…”

While saying that, the grandson reached out his hand to grab, but the elderly woman pressed his hand down. “It’s dirty. You can’t eat it until Granny washes it for you.”

As they spoke, the elderly woman got up to get a water bottle.

Upon seeing this scene, Old Chang and Three Seconds exchanged looks as though they saw hope. They gave each other a knowing smile in unison.

Old Chang said, “Three Seconds, these gloves are pretty good. I’ll buy them for you.”

With that said, Old Chang asked while the elderly woman was getting the water bottle, “Auntie, how much is this glove?”

“Ten yuan. Ten yuan a pair.” The elderly woman felt energetic when she heard that Old Chang was buying something. She hurriedly answered him, but she failed to get the water bottle as a result. With the candy not getting washed, the grandson protested while wailing, and he shouted “Candy!” in a rather muffled voice. As he shouted, he struggled to snatch the sweet from his granny’s hand.

As the elderly woman tried to stop him from getting up, she had to hold onto the umbrella with one hand and the candy with the other. This made it impossible for her to get the water. Hence, she could only scold him. “Cut it out. Behave yourself. Once Granny sells the gloves, she’ll buy you some nice food, alright?”

However, her grandson was still too young. His understanding of words and his knowledge were still limited. All he wanted was the candy, so he kept struggling, causing the elderly woman to be left in a fluster.

When Three Seconds saw this, he said, “What do you mean you’ll buy them for me? I’ll buy them myself.”

“Forget it. I’ve already taken out the money. Just wait.” Old Chang pushed Three Seconds away, and he handed a hundred-yuan bill to the elderly woman.