Luckily, the old village head was enthusiastic and scared the foolish and greedy woman, telling her that it was national law to provide nine years of compulsory education. If she didn’t send the child to school, she would be arrested...
This scared the foolish, greedy village woman, who begrudgingly sent Wang Chuyi to school until middle school.
However, after middle school, his stepmother naturally refused to spend any more money on his education—besides, he wouldn’t be able to get into high school, not even a vocational or technical school.
His brain simply couldn’t handle studying. He was always at the bottom of his classes from elementary to middle school.
At fifteen, Wang Chuyi finished middle school and left home—somehow, he was noticed by the old monk in the wild temple on the mountain, who took him in as a disciple, making him a monk.
His stepmother had long thought of him as a burden; she couldn’t have been happier to see him leave, eager to sever ties.
After sending Wang Chuyi to the mountain temple, his stepmother sold the house and land in the village and remarried elsewhere.
The village head knew of this event but didn’t intervene with Wang Chuyi becoming a monk this time.
Chen Yan later heard the village head discussing this with his elderly grandmother. The village head’s thought was: Chuyi wasn’t bright; even if he went out to work, he’d suffer greatly without someone to look after him—this kid had no good prospects for the future.
Moreover, a half-witted boy like him wouldn’t attract any girl, making it hard for him to marry in this lifetime!
The old monk in the temple was actually a decent person and a local. There was also a vegetable garden behind the temple, contracted from the village.
When the elderly monk died, the temple and garden would be passed to Chuyi. It would mean a stable livelihood for the child.
A kid like Wang Chuyi couldn’t hope for a better future—this was considered quite good.
At the time, the village head sighed. But with Chuyi’s parents gone, outsiders had limited ways to help; reaching this point was already the end of the line.
The incense burning in the mountain temple wasn’t great, but it was the only temple within ten miles, so they collected some incense money.
Whenever there were funeral events in the village, the temple was always involved, inviting monks to chant and perform rituals, which earned them some extra money—when Chen Yan’s grandmother passed away, Wang Chuyi helped out with his master.
Plus, with the temple’s land growing vegetables daily,
together it ensured both master and disciple were adequately fed and clothed.
After becoming a monk, Chen Yan met with Wang Chuyi and chatted with him.
The kid didn’t really understand the concept of being a monk—it wasn’t clear in his mind.
In his view, he just regarded the old monk as his master, learning a craft from him.
Daily, he worked in the garden behind the temple, fetched water, and took care of the elderly monk. Even chanting was considered learning a craft.
With the village head’s help, they tried to get the wild temple certified, but years passed without success.
Eventually, the village head decided to take a more indirect approach.
Without certification, it was a wild temple, and the old monk was a fake, right?
So they arranged adoption, and the old monk officially adopted Wang Chuyi.
Legally, the old monk became Wang Chuyi’s adoptive father.
This added Wang Chuyi’s name to the land contract, allowing the temple and land to be passed on to him.
Chen Yan encountering Chuyi wasn’t surprising.
The village tradition was that before the New Year, the monks from the temple would come to the village to collect alms, and the villagers, holding a long-standing relationship, would be willing to contribute a bit before the New Year.
If not cash, they would give cooking oil or grains to build good karma.
Usually, the old monk and Chuyi would come to the village together, but today, Chen Yan saw Wang Chuyi alone.
"Where’s your master?" Chen Yan asked with a smile.
"Master... is ill." Chuyi shook his head slowly, "He hasn’t gotten out of bed for three days. Master said if we don’t collect alms before New Year, there won’t be any reason to beg during the New Year."
Chen Yan frowned, "Ill... Have you been to the hospital?"
"No, the village doctor came and gave him an IV and asked him to rest for a few days," Wang Chuyi replied slowly.
Because of a childhood fever, Chuyi had this slow reaction, and Chen Yan was used to his sluggish speech.
Thinking for a moment, Chen Yan reached over to Chuyi’s shoulder bag and pulled out a card with a QR code attached.
Nowadays, even monks must keep up with technology; collecting alms without a QR code means no donations—people mainly use digital payments now, even in rural areas.
The old monk normally had a mobile phone, using the card with the QR code for begging. Now, Chuyi carried it.
Chen Yan took out his phone, scanned the code, and transferred a thousand yuan.
"It’s cold and snowy; head back early," Chen Yan said, then added, "If your master doesn’t get better, go to the hospital. If you run into trouble, come find me in the village."
"Okay," Chuyi nodded, then thoughtfully said, "Thank you, Brother Xiao Yan."
He hadn’t yet learned the formal monk gestures. With his slow mind, he couldn’t grasp school subjects, so scriptures were even harder.
Moreover... it was just a wild temple. His master probably didn’t know much about Buddhist scriptures either.
Wang Chuyi had been a monk until he was eighteen, remaining slow-witted. Over those years, he just recognized a couple of the deities:
One was the Tathagata Buddha, the other the Bodhisattva Guanyin.
Any more than that, he couldn’t remember.
Wang Chuyi thanked Chen Yan, then carried the collected grains and walked through the snowy village toward the back mountain.
Chen Yan stood by the roadside and suddenly noticed Gu Qingyi had gotten out of the car and stood beside him.
Young Lady Gu was also watching Chuyi’s retreating figure. But... Chen Yan noticed Gu Qingyi’s gaze was unusual.
She seemed intrigued, her eyes shining with interest?
"Do you know this person?"
"Yes, a village boy, known him since childhood," Chen Yan frowned. "Why?"
Gu Qingyi glanced at Chen Yan, then whispered, "Use the Qi Observation Skill to look at him."
Chen Yan felt a stir and activated his Primordial Qi, using Qi Observation to watch Chuyi’s back.
At this sight, Chen Yan’s expression turned peculiar, "Huh?"
Through Qi Observation, Chuyi’s fortune was clear to Chen Yan!
His head was covered with solid fortune, faintly tinged with a beam of light, a purplish-red glow flowing within his fortune.
Chen Yan felt a moment of realization! Purple light in one’s fortune indicated an auspicious symbol!
From observing the fortune, Chuyi would experience great luck soon!
Chen Yan squinted, his brows furrowing.
This luck... didn’t seem right.
Apart from the purple auspicious light, Chuyi’s fortune contained a faint black aura, coiling together with the purple, as if they stemmed from the same source!
Chen Yan said solemnly, "He’s going to have a great fortune soon, but it’s tainted with demonic energy.
This fortune... has an ill-gotten origin."
[You’ve said six thousand words were short, is ten thousand long enough?
But updating , I can’t save any drafts... troubling...]