Around midnight, the old man knocked on my door. As soon as I opened it, I saw that the old man was covered in sweat. His face was twisted in pain, and he was trying to cover his ears with both hands.

From the looks of it, the chanting of Buddhist scriptures was echoing in his ears again.

I made him sit down, then I took a deep breath, smiled and asked, "Mister, do you have a headache?"

"Nonsense!"

"If you could use 100,000 renminbi to stay healthy, would you accept?" I asked.

"Are you blackmailing me?" The old man looked at me as if he was going to eat me alive.

I waved my hand. "That's not it. It was just an example."

The old man clenched his teeth and said after a while, "I would!"

"Very well. How much money did you collect at today's dinner party? Return it all," I said. "Consider it the price to buy back your health."

The old man got angry. "Did you put a bug on me? How did you know that I collected money?"

I smiled. "The prayer beads told me. A senior monk that follows the correct path resides in the beads, and he keeps an eye on you...