Upon hearing the child secretly say this over the phone, the woman in the wheelchair cried. She tried her best to turn around and look out the window. She allowed her tears to flow down … All she did was shake her lips and dig at the armrest of the wheelchair. She wanted to cry. She really wanted to cry. She wanted to cry! But she couldn't … She knew that she couldn't show her weak side in front of her child. She couldn't even show her weak side in front of this society. Once she showed her weakness, she would admit defeat, and she would never have the courage to stand up again.
Fangzheng felt his heart wince when he heard the child's words. He had said the same thing when he was young. Back then, One Finger Monastery was too poor, and because he was a monk, Fangzheng had basically never eaten meat. But once, he had fallen ill and stayed in Tan Juguo's house. Tan Juguo had secretly fed Fangzheng a piece of meat. Now that he thought about it, he could still recall the fragrance of the meat. Later, he pestered Zen Master One Finger to eat meat, but he ended up getting beaten up. But after that, Fangzheng saw Zen Master One Finger sitting in the backyard crying … From that moment forth, Fangzheng no longer shouted about eating meat.
As for now, Fangzheng was mainly being watched over by the System. In addition, it was mainly because he was poor! As for the reason he had said to Red Boy previously, it was only to shut their mouths. Otherwise, if all of them clamored about eating meat, how could he live his life? Even if he sold himself, he would not be able to afford it. As for the child's situation, it was likely similar.
Hence, Fangzheng took a deep breath and whispered, "Child, do you know where meat comes from?"
"I don't know," said the little fellow very seriously.
"Have you seen chicks, ducklings, and puppies?"
"Yes, I have. They're very cute."
Fangzheng said, "The meat is cut off from their bodies. Do you think it hurts when the meat is cut off?"
"It hurts …" the little fellow said.
"That's right. Can you bear to make them feel pain?"
"I … I … I don't eat meat anymore."
Fangzheng felt his heart wince when he heard that. "Does your mother always feed you cabbage?"
"That's right. Mommy rushes to the morning market every morning. Bring me there. There are a lot of uncles and aunties who sell vegetables. They throw the vegetables on the ground and pile them up for us to take. They're such nice people, "the little guy said.
Fangzheng fell silent once again. It wasn't because they were good people. Fangzheng had seen such hawkers before, especially before winter. When the northeast was stocking up on cabbages, many hawkers would transport truckloads of cabbages for buyers to choose from. And the buyers would often pull down the bad, wilted, and rotten leaves and throw them away. This pile could make a huge pile. No one wanted this kind of vegetable, and the child and his mother probably picked up this kind of vegetable!
Fangzheng knew that their situation was probably very, very bad. However, without money, how could they afford to stay in the hospital?
At that moment, a female voice sounded. "Baby, it's late. Go to sleep. I'll talk to Daddy tomorrow. Mommy will talk to Daddy, okay? "
"Okay, give it to Mom. I'm so happy today. I have a father, not a child without a father, haha … "The little guy was very happy and handed the phone to the woman.
The woman did not say a word to Fangzheng. Instead, she hung up. Fangzheng sighed when he heard the busy tone. He felt mixed emotions. He always felt that his days were tough enough, but now, he at least had Crystal Rice to eat and Unrooted Clean Aqua to drink. He lived in a monastery and wore the White Lunar Monk Robe. It was neither cold in winter nor hot in summer. The sufferings of the world had little to do with him.
However, there were some people who fell into the mortal world and suffered endless pain without any salvation.
For some reason, Fangzheng returned to the temple hall once again. This time, he did not recite the Diamond Sutra or the Flower Dharma Sutra, but the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Original Wishes Sutra.
The night passed peacefully as the moon set and the sun rose. A brand new day had begun.
Monkey swept the floor, Fangzheng cleaned the temple hall, Red Boy cooked, Squirrel made snacks, and Lone Wolf gathered firewood. Everything seemed no different from usual. If there was anything different, it would be the monastery having an additional three incense sticks. It was the work of the construction team. Today, the mountain path was completely repaired and the construction team had already left. Liu Tao ran back to offer an incense stick and left behind two hundred yuan worth of incense money. Then, he bowed at Fangzheng before leaving.
With the departure of the construction team, Mt. One Finger turned silent once again. Fangzheng finished his breakfast and walked out the monastery. He looked at the brand new staircase and caressed the handrails on both sides. He felt delighted as he mumbled, "To be rich, first mend the road. Now that there's a road, what about riches?"
At that moment, his cell phone rang. Fangzheng took a look and indeed, it was a child. Up to now, Fangzheng still did not know the child's name. There was no way around it. Fangzheng could not ask. If he did not know his son's name, it would be easy for him to be exposed!
After picking up the phone, before Fangzheng could say a word, an exhausted woman's voice sounded from the other end. It sounded deeply apologetic, "Sorry."
Fangzheng was taken aback. "Amitabha. Female Patron, why do you say that?"
"So it's a master. I'm sorry. My child has caused you trouble recently. Thank you for bringing him joy last night." The woman's voice sounded deeply exhausted.
Fangzheng said, "Amitabha. Patron, you are being polite. The child is a good child. This Penniless Monk only wanted to make him happier." Following that, he asked out of curiosity, "Female Patron, can you tell me why you did this?"
"Sigh … This child is mischievous. There's nothing I can do about it. His father was a narcotics officer. A few years ago, he sacrificed himself during an arrest. He was the child's pride and joy. I was afraid that the child would not be able to take it if he knew the truth. Therefore, I never told him that he had been sick recently. It wasn't serious, but the child insisted on seeing his father. He refused to take his medicine unless he saw his father. I could only lie to him that his father was busy with work and was protecting the country. He couldn't come back.
However, the child refused to do so. He wanted to hear his father's voice.
I had no choice either. Back then, I had many things to do, so I randomly gave him a number, hoping that he could take his medicine in peace. Who would have thought that he would secretly use my phone to make a call … "When the woman said this, she choked up a little. A woman had to support a family. For her husband and children, she had to hide it. She had to support this family with her thin and weak shoulders. The pain and tiredness were not physical, but spiritual.
"Master, I'm sorry. I really never expected things to develop to this point," said the woman.
Fangzheng sighed. "Female Patron, it's fine. This Penniless Monk likes this obedient child. If there's a need in the future, This Penniless Monk can pretend to be his father at any time. "
The woman was taken aback before she replied, "Thank you. He's asleep. About that … If it's possible, can it be in the evening? He needs to take his medicine then. "
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