Chapter 63 Online Banking Opening

It was still dark, but the old man from Solo Village got up early.

He tied the straw sandals over and over again with the straw rope, then stood up and stamped his feet. Only then did he feel satisfied when he felt the sandals fit his feet very well.

He is going on a long journey today. If his shoes break halfway, his feet will suffer.

Therefore, we must not be careless!
"Old man, I've packed the vegetable cake for you, don't drop it."

The old man and his wife came over and handed over a vegetable cake wrapped in sackcloth.

The old man took it and carefully hid it in his clothes on his chest.

This will be his meal for the day. He holds it against his chest, feeling at ease. It is still warm when he eats it.

"Old lady, I'm leaving!"

The old man greeted him, grabbed the oil basket containing the chicken on the table, opened the door, and prepared to leave.

"Hey, old man, the villagers said you should ask more about the points, don't be cheated. How can you give money for nothing in this world? Selling chickens is the real thing."

The old woman couldn't help but remind him.

"Got it. You should stay home and take care of yourself. If your waist is not in good condition, don't go digging wild vegetables."

"I know. Go ahead!"

The old woman nodded perfunctorily and waved her hand to drive him away.

"Hey!"

The old man nodded, tightened the oil basket in his hand, and walked into the early night.

When they reached the land temple outside the village, the old man stopped, walked into the temple, took out the incense he had prepared last night from the oil basket, burned it and said:

"Lord of the Land, Lord of the Land, please bless me so that I can sell the chickens soon and have a smooth and safe journey."

The old man recited it several times before lighting the incense stick, picking up the oil basket and leaving.

Amid the smoke of incense, Wu Bogong from Solo Village emerged from the doorway and looked at the old man walking away with a complicated expression on his face.

Lao Cazi is a derogatory name given to this poor old man by the villagers of Solo.

He is not a local.

He was a stranger who fled to Solo Village to escape famine. Because he spoke with an indistinguishable dialect accent, he was nicknamed Lao Cazi.

This cry has been going on for more than twenty years.

So much so that no one knows his real name.

The old man was hardworking and capable, but he was a stranger and had no land. He had to rely on being a tenant farmer to make a living, and he lived a very poor life.

I have seven or eight hens at home, but I have never tasted eggs.

Now he is getting old, and although he has raised his two sons to adulthood, he has no land to his name. His two sons, like him, work as tenant farmers and live a very poor life.

Even people who don't have enough food often offer incense to him.

Make him feel ashamed.

Because he received incense, but was unable to help.

Now seeing him going into the city again, thinking about today being the day when online banking officially opens, if nothing unexpected happens, the old man might be able to exchange for a few buckets of grain.

This made him happy, but also filled him with unspeakable pain.

He didn't understand why Gu Yunli was openly selling incense and blaspheming faith, but he was unable to refute it?

This even made him doubt his own persistence. Was there any meaning in it?

……

……

When people are hungry, they have only one worry; when they are full, they are troubled by worries all day long.

That's what the old man is like.

He walked at night and soon felt hungry.

He touched the vegetable cake on his chest, and the hunger in his stomach seemed to subside by three points.

After all, as long as you have food in your pocket, you won't be worried.

He looked at the sky which was gradually turning blue, gritted his teeth and continued walking, his heart full of hope.

If he could hold on until noon, he would be able to reach the county town.

At that time, I could sell eggs and eat vegetable cakes at the same time. If I was lucky, I could even ask for some tea at a tea stall.

After all, you won’t starve.

It is much better than fleeing famine when there was no village or shop nearby and we had no idea where our next meal would come from.

As the sun gradually rises.

The number of pedestrians on the official road gradually increased.

The old man's pace slowed down a lot, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

He had to slow down his pace to relieve his fatigue. He walked blankly for an unknown period of time before the county town finally came into sight. For some reason, there seemed to be a lot of people at the entrance of the county town today.

"What day is this? Why are there so many people?"

The old man looked confused, but he cheered up and quickened his pace.

As he entered the city gate, he was suddenly shocked all over.

However, he was shocked to find that a towering building had appeared beside the East Gate Street. The building was crowded with people, and it was as lively as the New Year's Day.

The old man was full of curiosity, so he held the oil basket in his arms and walked closer. He saw countless people gathered at the door, forming a crooked line under the supervision of several immortal-looking people.

From time to time, people come out of the building with excited faces;
Either empty-handed or carrying a cloth bag.

"Young man, what happened?" The old man came closer and asked.

"What?"

"What's this?"

The old man knew there was something wrong with his accent, so he pointed at the building and repeated the question.

"Oh, old man, you don't know yet? Online banking, a place where you can exchange points for cash!"

The old man was confused and wanted to ask a few more questions, but a young Taoist priest with a dignified bearing came over and scolded him:

"Queue up, queue up! Don't cut in line!"

The old man was swept into the line by the crowd without knowing what was going on.

He wanted to leave, but when he saw the Taoist disciples who were bright and beautiful and looked like gods, he felt very timid and did not dare to leave.

I thought, I am so old that I can hardly walk, but they won’t force me to do hard labor, right?

Looking at the team in front and behind, there were old people, teenagers, and women, and I felt a lot more at ease.

The noisy chattering in his ears, coupled with the dizziness from being tired and hungry, made the old man feel dazed.

But at least I understood something.

As the team moved, an unknown amount of time passed before the old man finally entered the magnificent building. The shiny floor, shining on his hunched body, made him even more uneasy.

Amidst various greetings and scoldings, I entered a room.

"Burn incense and log on to the Internet."

In the room, a young Taoist boy handed over a stick of incense in a hoarse voice.

There was impatience between his brows.

He had been repeating this process for the entire morning and was exhausted both physically and mentally.

"what?"

"Burn incense - log on to the Internet -"

Seeing the old man's confused expression, the Taoist boy frowned and raised his voice.

The old man understood the key words, and immediately burned incense, prayed, and logged into the Internet.

"You have 432 points. According to the rounding rule, you can exchange them for five coins or a bushel of fine grain. You have 132 points left. What do you want to exchange for?"

"Ah? What do you mean? I, I don't understand?"

The old man looked embarrassed and rubbed the oil basket in his arms nervously with his hands.

The Taoist boy, who had seen countless similar scenes, sighed and said weakly:

"Exchange for money or for food?"

"Really, really give me food?"

"Give!"

"Then, I'll exchange it for food."

"Click the red button, the round icon, to indicate your agreement."

"..."

The old man completed the verification operation with many twists and turns without knowing why.

The Taoist boy then opened the sliding door, took out a bag of food from the inner room and handed it over.

The old man looked at the food handed over by the Taoist boy, his eyes widened, and pointed to his chest: "For me? You don't want money?"

"It's for you, no money required."

The old man held the food in disbelief, feeling its heavy weight, and his confused thoughts became even more confused at this moment.

After making sure that he could leave, he carried the oil basket in one hand and the sack in the other, hunched over and turned to leave, but suddenly he put down the food, knelt on the ground with a plop, and kowtowed.

The Taoist boy, with an impatient look on his face, suddenly froze.

An indescribable emotion, like lightning, pierced his chest, making his heart waver!

(End of this chapter)