Ma Sheng couldn't listen to the old man's words, but he still cried. His crying alarmed the neighbors. They came to see, asked why, and reported the case to the police. Several policemen came overnight, holding batons and other things, as if they were committing the crime. It was as if the bad guys had been caught, creating a scary atmosphere. However, they investigated the scene several times in and around Ma Sheng's house. In the end, they found no clues and left the matter alone.
Later, Ma Sheng became miserable and didn't even have money to eat. Some people sympathized with him and sent him rice or rice. It was of course good to give him rice. Just open his mouth like before. It was a bit troublesome to deliver rice. He was too lazy to cook. He was very hungry, so he grabbed uncooked rice and ate it all. There were fewer and fewer people who sympathized with him, which meant that not many people cared about him. , he has to go hungry more often and cry when he is hungry.
That evening, the old man passed by again carrying wood-making tools on his back. He heard Ma Sheng crying loudly again, so he walked in and persuaded, "Xiao Ma, you are young, you should learn carpentry with me!" Eat hundreds of meals, and you won’t have to worry about three meals a day. Maybe Ma Sheng was too hungry. With tears in his eyes, he looked at the old man and nodded.
The old man immediately patted him on the shoulder and said, young man, you must have backbone and rely on your own abilities to support yourself. Isn't it? Before it was stolen, you certainly had gold bars at home that could be used as money, so you had no worries about food and clothing. This is a good thing and a bad thing. If you say it is a good thing, it means that having money is convenient; if you say it is a bad thing, it means that having money will also harm you. If you feel that you have something to rely on, you will not study or work, and develop the bad habit of laziness. .
Ma Sheng couldn't listen to the old man's advice. He only watched the old man's cheeks bulging as he spoke. This made him think of eating because the old man's mouth was moving. He wiped his tears with his sleeves and said, "Master, I'm hungry, can you get me something to eat?"
OK! You are my apprentice now, how can you not even provide food?
At that moment, he asked Ma Sheng to lock the door of his room and walk 10 kilometers with him at night to a brightly lit village in the west of Vulture Mountain for a late-night snack and tooth-beating ceremony.
Ma Sheng had to obey the master's rule. The old man taught him how to use an ax to chop firewood and chop boards, how to use light and heavy force, and how to use balanced force. He slowly learned to do it. The old man was doing his own technical work, such as drawing paper, pressing ink lines, carving dragons and phoenixes, etc. While doing it, he said, Ma Sheng, your gold bars were stolen, which is a bad thing, but how can it not be a good thing? Ma Sheng was a little surprised and looked at him distractedly, Master, what does this mean?
The meaning is very simple. It is good to have gold bars, but it is better to have technology than gold bars. Gold bars disappear when the money is used up. Skills learned are more valuable than gold bars. The more you use skills, the better they become, the more money you make.
Ma Sheng listened very seriously, almost stupidly seriously. He stopped working with the ax in his hand and stared at the old man, just like a listener. The old man was a little unhappy and said that you can listen and don't have to stop what you are doing.
Seeing Ma Sheng working again, the old man stroked his beard and continued, if your gold bars had not been stolen, you would definitely not learn carpentry from me. Learning carpentry skills is equivalent to mastering the ability to eat, so It’s said to be a blessing in disguise, but a blessing in disguise! You are the same, you lost your gold bars and established a creed of life, which cannot be bought with money.
Ma Sheng listened as if he didn't understand. His mind continued to wander. He accidentally used too much force with the ax and broke the skin on his left index finger. It hurt. He screamed and threw away the ax. He saw the blood pouring out from the wound. His hands were all over it, and thick blood was dripping on the ground.
The old man came over, picked up the ax, cut off a piece of his own clothes, and bandaged Ma Sheng's wound. Ma Sheng screamed ouch, and the old man said calm down and don't be distracted from work in the future.
It was you who distracted me by talking about this and that, so I cut my hand. Ma Sheng looked at him resentfully. The old man said kindly, it was my fault and I will admit my mistake to my disciple.
I don't want to be your apprentice anymore. Ma Sheng had a straight face, with tears on his face. He also shouted, I want to go back and stop studying.
The old man didn't reply and planned to wait until his mood stabilized before starting work. Ma Sheng, who had never suffered, couldn't bear this little pain. He said he wouldn't work, so he stopped and insisted on going back. The old man couldn't persuade him to come back, so he had to let him go. The willful Ma Sheng returned home at that time. The bleeding stopped and he stopped moaning. He sat in the hall with the door open and stared at the sky in a daze.
Suddenly a young man from the village came over and said to him, Ma Sheng, Ma Sheng, the world is really cold, even the matchmaker Wu in the village is that kind. I heard that your money was stolen and you became a pauper, so I will no longer match you. The girl I talked about before wanted to come to see you, but she broke the news and said that you were a lazy man and that there would be no future in being your wife, so that girl just gave up on it.
Ma Sheng seemed not to have heard anything. It was as quiet as the wooden armchair he was sitting on. The young man approached him again and asked, Ma Sheng, why don't you speak? You have to have backbone, have the courage of a man, and do something upright for others to see. Ma Sheng still didn't speak and looked dull. Seeing the young man approaching, he stretched out the finger that had been cut by the ax and was wrapped with a strip of cloth and said, "It hurts. I will never learn to be a carpenter again."
How did you bruise your finger? Seeing that he remained silent, the young man wondered if he was injured by a carpenter's ax or chisel.
It's an axe, I'll never do it again. Ma Sheng said in a playful manner. Seeing his stubbornness, the young man's good impression of him was gone.
Ma Sheng's predecessor was a mentally retarded man named Shi Lan. On the eve of his reincarnation, Pluto sent a message to the gods and arranged for two gods of wealth to help Ma Sheng, who would be born as an adult in the future, make a fortune. God is right. Pluto immediately summoned two gods of wealth, one named Lin and the other named Hong. He ordered that after eighteen years, Ma Sheng will grow up, and you two should do your best to assist him.
Lin Caishen asked, how to help? Ma Sheng was born in the Yimao year, and his fortune is wood. He can seek wealth in forested areas and mountains. Your two trees form a forest, just in time to help him gather wealth and become rich. Thanks to Pluto for his guidance, Lin knew it. Lin Caishen resigned. Hong Caishen asked Pluto again and learned that Ma Sheng was born at the end of the Xu lunar month. There are three layers of earth. The prosperous earth generates gold. When the time comes, Ma Sheng can dig out very valuable treasures in the earth and make a fortune. fiscal. Of course, all this requires the guidance of the God of Wealth.
Time flies, the years fly by, and eighteen years have flown by. Lin Caishen and Hong Caishen, who often play chess together, suddenly remember Pluto's instructions and dare not neglect, and go to Ma Sheng's place where the five elements are prosperous. Wait and respond to him. But Ma Sheng never showed up.
Lin Caishen had been waiting in the mountains for several years. Once he followed a carpenter who felled trees into a mountain village, but there was still no sign of Ma Sheng, so he had to wander in the forest area. The same goes for the God of Hong Cai. Every time the Xu lunar month is waning and the sun is waning, he seeks the help of the Earth God and patrols near some cellars containing gold, silver and jewelry, waiting for Ma Sheng to appear to guide him in the excavation. For some reason, Hong Caishen rarely meets Ma Sheng.
