The Greatest Conglomerate Ever With the American Lottery

13. Alive?

On the way home, just when I thought I had done enough, I remembered the elderly woman monk who had given me this prayer bead for good luck.

I wanted to thank her and do something to help since she said she was taking care of the poor children.

At that time, the digital complex where our company was located was located in Geumcheon-gu, so I thought it would be faster to find it through the Geumcheon-gu office.

It could have been Guro-gu, but I had a feeling it was Geumcheon-gu.

I went to Geumcheon-gu Office and asked for the department in charge of welfare, but they thought I was a welfare complainant and told me to take the elevator upstairs.

When I got off the elevator on the 7th floor, I saw a place where people in shabby clothes were coming and going, so I headed there.

Oh, no!

When I asked what all the fuss was about, I realized that there was a welfare office on the left, and a bank teller’s window on the right, where welfare complainants were waiting for their turn, and when they got their turn, they were chatting with the officials.

“Why not!”

“No, sir, the welfare office can’t help you that far!”

“Are you really doing this? You’re making fun of me because I can’t afford it!”

“No, it’s not that—.”

“Oh no, now you’re looking down on people like this!”

“Ha—.”

It was a mess.

I’ve never been to a place like this before, and I really didn’t expect it to be like this.

You could hear the cries of the complainants outside, and the welfare officials were soothing and calming with superhuman patience, as if this was their daily routine.

Really?

Welfare officials have it so bad?

The moment you get annoyed here, you’re going to get turned over again?

Honestly, it was a bit ridiculous.

Finally, it was my turn.

“How are you?”

“Yes, hello. How may I help you?”

Then came the eardrum-splitting yell from the next teller.

“Hey, b*tch, it’s your money, it’s your money!”

“I refuse to talk to you if you swear!”

“Do it, do it, what’s your name, I’ll file a complaint, I’ll fire you!”

Oh my God, what a mess!

As my mouth dropped open in disbelief and I looked to the side, the government employee in front of me yelled at me.

“You know, if you look at me like that, you’ll get into a fight, right?”

“What?”

“I don’t know if this is your first time, but if you stare at me like that, you might get into a fight.”

“Oh, yeah—.”

“Yeah, how can I help?”

“Well, first of all, I was going to ask you something, but then I came here to make a donation for a personal cause—.”

“Hey, hey, hey, you don’t sound right!”

“…”

“…”

My trailing off didn’t seem to be heard over the snarl of the teller next to me.

“Excuse me, sir, but what did you say—.”

Cutting to the chase and getting out of there seemed to be a constant.

If I stayed any longer, I’d go insane.

“I want to donate! Donate! Donate!”

“Oh! Donate?”

The government lady immediately brightens up.

“Yes, I’m not here to get anything, I’m here to donate.”

“Hey! Hey!”

I exclaim.

“I’ll open the office door over there on the right, if you’d like to come that way. It’s a little hard to talk to you today.”

“Yep!”

I hurried to the right and went to the glass office doorway, where a government employee who had entered the office through the side door connected to the teller’s window ran to open the door for me.

“Gee, how do you work, I don’t think I’d last a day if I were you.”

“Ho-ho, it’s not like this every day, although there are a lot of people who are basically rough.”

“You really do have a tough job.”

“I’m glad you noticed. Now, why don’t you come over to this table?”

“Okay.”

I sit down at a small table next to the aisle where the official lady gives me a drink and sits across from me.

“Thank you.”

“Ouch, you came all the way here to donate, and this is all we have to offer you.”

“hahahaha, it’s hot, I just needed something cool.”

“Hey, you’re donating?”

“Yeah, I have some questions, but first I need to donate.”

“I’ll make it easy for you, it’s all about the tax deduction, but—.”

“Excuse me.”

“What?”

“I don’t care about the deduction, and I’ll make the donation anonymously.”

“Oh, my God, you’re not from the company, are you?”

“Huh?”

Company? What company?

“What company?”

“Oh! I thought you were from a company in the building, and since it’s August, that’s when the companies start coming in to donate items and take corporate tax deductions, and you’re dressed nicely, so—.”

“Aha!”

I knew what he meant.

It was coming out of his mouth.

In short, if it’s the second half of the year and it looks like you’re going to owe a lot of corporate taxes for the year, you donate the company’s bad inventory.

From what I heard, it was better than selling it at a huge discount.

It’s better than selling it at a huge discount.

Of course, that’s only true if it’s profitable.

“It’s not like that at all. It’s a personal donation.”

“Well, thank you very much. How much do you want to give then?”

“I guess I’ll just give you this.”

I pulled a pre-prepared envelope out of my jacket pocket and held it out.

“What?”

“Open it. It’s my donation.”

The government employee, a lady named Yoon Young-sil, took the envelope I offered and carefully opened it.

And then,

“One, one hundred million?”

Oh no, my voice was too loud.

“What? One hundred million?”

“One hundred million?”

“Really?”

I could feel the office erupting in laughter and hovering over our table.

“No, why are you yelling?”

“Sin, I’m sorry, it’s just an unexpected amount of money—.”

“Oh, never mind, it’s for the less fortunate kids in the building, you can specify that much, right?”

“Of course! As long as it doesn’t have anything to do with deductions, you’re welcome. By the way, I’m not going to tell you this, but I’m going to ask you, is the director and the mayor here?”

Why would I want to see the mayor?

“Stop! If you keep talking like this, I’ll take it back!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Please don’t talk about donations again, but I just want to ask you one thing.”

“Sure, ask me anything.”

“I’m looking for a person, an older woman monk. You say she’s a bhikkhu?”

“A woman monk?”

“Yes, because I heard that you take in poor children, and I was wondering if there’s a place like that in town that’s run by a woman monk?”

“Well? I don’t remember a place like that run by an older woman nun… Yang Hye-won? No, it’s a man who runs it.”

Strange?

Something definitely drew me to this place.

The prayer beads didn’t give off any light, but it felt like they were guiding me.

“No?”

“Hold on, let me ask someone who’s been doing this longer than I have.”

“Sure. I’d appreciate it if you could.”

A few moments later, Ms. Yoon returned with a middle-aged male government employee.

“Hello, my name is Kim Deok-bae, and I’m looking for a nursery school run by an elderly nun?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“There are no nursery schools run by female monks in our jurisdiction.”

“Oh, yes—.”

Beads disappointed.

“However, there is one that is similar.”

“What? What do you mean, a similar place?”

“It was founded by a monk named Purification Monk, and he took care of the children, but now he’s old and has long since stepped down as the head, so we, Yun Zhu, don’t know about it.”

“Ah!”

Chung exclaimed.

There!

“Where is it?”

“At the very end of the hall, at the foot of Mount Samsung. I’ll give you the exact location.”

“Thank you.”

Chief Kim wrote the detailed address on a notepad, so I quickly picked it up and stood up.

“I really appreciate this. Goodbye, then.”

“No, wait!”

“What?”

“What if you leave like this?”

“Huh?”

“No. It’s hard for us to deal with you if you donate 100 million and don’t tell us anything. The least you can do is give us some basic human information, right?”

“Is that what you’re saying?”

“Something like that.”

Reluctantly, I gave him my name, address, and social security number.

“Anonymous, Anonymous, if I leave my name out there, you won’t come back?”

“Huh! You’re going to donate again?”

“Every year, I’ll do this much, bye.”

Leaving the dumbfounded Ms. Yoon and Ms. Kim behind, I hurried out of the ward office, took a picture of the navigation system, and drove off.

Following my navi’s lead, I drove down Siheung-daero, turned left, went up an alleyway, and finally saw the shabby sign for Yang Hye-won.

Ah! Here it is!

I’ve found it.

It was a small, shabby place at the foot of a mountain.

I parked in the yard and got out, and the children looked at me curiously.

They had no parents, or if they did, they had abandoned them.

I don’t know if it’s a preconceived notion, but I felt bad because they looked so helpless.

I was in too much of a hurry.

To come to a place like this and come empty-handed.

Anyway, this is where the monk is.

It’s a place with a connection, so I’ll have to keep paying attention to it, and I’ll have to take care of things, so I went inside.

“Hello? Hello?”

After calling out a few times, there was a buzz from what sounded like an office in the back, and the door opened, revealing a middle-aged man.

He’s wearing a robe and pants, so I’m guessing he’s related to Buddhism, but he’s not a monk because he’s grown his hair out.

“What can I do for you?”

“Excuse me, you’re the purification monk here, aren’t you? You’re the older woman, and you’re kind of a gentleman? Oh, I’m sorry. Should I call you a bhikkhu monk?”

“What? A purification monk?”

Why are you freaking me out?

Is he making me nervous?

“Yes, the purification monk, I’m here to see him, can I see him for a moment?”

“Excuse me, but what are you looking for with the Purification Monk?”

“I met you once before, and I was so impressed with you that I came to see you again, and to offer you some help in caring for the children?”

“Ah! The beads! You must be the one who saw the monk?”

“Do you know this bead?”

“Yes, it was the monk’s favorite beads when he was alive.”

Thump!

My heart sank.

What? In his lifetime? In his lifetime?

Did that mean what I thought it meant?

“Bird, what do you mean, in life?”

“The purification monk passed away not long ago.”

“Passed away? You mean he died?”

“Yes, unfortunately, he passed away.”

“Well, how can that be, he looked so healthy?”

“He was older than he looked. He was over eighty years old.”

“Huh? Is that weird?”

The last time I saw him, he looked to be in his mid to late sixties at most.

“Hey, do you happen to have a picture of the purification monk? I was wondering if you might be the one I’m looking for.”

“Oh, sure. It’s a picture I took of him with the students earlier this year.”

The middle-aged man takes out his smartphone and shows me the photo—.

Oh, yes. It’s the monk.

But he’s in his eighties?

“hahahaha! You look so young, I’ve often gotten that misconception. You’ve come a long way, by the way.”

“Hah—. Oh no. I should have come a little earlier—. When did you die, anyway?”

“In March.”

“March?”

How many days after seeing me in March did you die?

“Excuse me, but when exactly did he die?”

“March 6th. He was admitted in the evening.”

“When?”

“March 6th, that is, Friday evening.”

“Uh, uh—. That can’t be right.”

The hairs on my body stood on end.

Friday evening, March 6th?

That’s when I met the purification monk?