Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
Had he not suddenly received a call, Fatty would have overslept the very next day.
That couldn’t be helped. He had only logged off at 12:30 a.m. and fallen asleep at around 1 a.m. When the phone rang, he was still deep in dreamland.
Bleary-eyed, Fatty reached out for the phone and accepted the call. The person’s name on the screen was Priest Cillian.
“Hey, Fatty. Did you forget what you’re supposed to do today?”
Priest Cillian was an old man over 50 years of age. On his chubby face was a funny pair of small-rimmed glasses. He was Caucasian but he could speak Chinese fluently with the occasional touch of a Beijing accent.
Perhaps, it was because Cillian and Fatty were both fatties that they had clicked so well when they had first met.
Fatty finally remembered that it was Monday. The spring cleaning of the church always happened on Mondays. Everyone had to be present, which was why he’d still remembered that he would need to go to work the next day when he had been playing yesterday.
After replying to Old Man Cillian, he hung up and went to wash up.
Perhaps, Fatty’s job was considered very strange by other people, for people would usually become monks or Taoists instead of priests.
He was actually not really a priest, as he was still considered a trainee in the church. At most, he was a Westernized version of a monk, but not yet an official priest.
However, he had majored in theology at university, which was an extremely unknown profession.
Fatty put on his priest robes after washing up. Just as he was about to step out, he suddenly retraced his steps.
He carefully picked up a picture frame from the cupboard in the bedroom and wiped it clean. Then, he placed it back down lightly before turning and leaving the house.
In the picture was a couple with huge grins on their faces. The man was a little plump and looked quite similar to Fatty. The lady, on the other hand, who was extremely beautiful and had long black hair, was lying on the man’s chest. She was looking down at the infant she was cradling with a gentle, loving gaze.
It was clear that this couple was Fatty’s parents. The fat infant, who was drooling and closing his eyes in deep sleep, was indeed Tang Ji.
It was a very heartwarming picture…
When Fatty had still been around four or five years old, his parents had passed away in a car accident. His memories had all become very vague over time, so all he had left was this picture. Without a doubt, this picture was the most valuable item Fatty owned. Every morning when he woke up, he would carefully wipe it before placing it back in its original spot.
Fatty had grown up in an orphanage from then on, as he’d had no other relatives. As the government had changed, various societal benefits had improved so he had not experienced the sad life depicted on TV shows. He had grown up smoothly and managed to enter university.
Then, when he had come of age, he had inherited the wealth left behind by his parents, which was the very house he was living in. It was only later on that he had found out that the inheritance was managed by the regulatory authority, which made him feel thankful for the laws governing the region.
After he had moved into this house, Fatty’s yearning for his parents had increased rather than diminished. Could you imagine what his life had been like before this? No one had looked down upon him or bullied him in the orphanage. However, Fatty and the rest of the orphans had known that they were in the orphanage because they had lost their parents.
Therefore, the most common topic of conversation among the orphans was their parents…
Fatty had once seen this saying in a book: “Memories are like an earthen jar of wine. The deeper you bury it underground, the more fragrant and intense it will be when you take it back out…”
Fatty perceived this house as that wine. When he had received this house, it had seemed as though the lid of the earthen jar had opened, enveloping him with a piercing smell that made him feel like crying…
He really wanted to know if heaven truly existed. If it did, how were his parents faring there?
Therefore, when applying for university, he had chosen theology as his major. He believed that if God truly existed, He would allow him to see his parents based on the fact that he was serving Him.
It was a very foolish, but heart-wrenching explanation, for this was the only thing Fatty wished for his family…
Theology was a major that had opened as a result of a trend. In truth, not many people chose this major, but Fatty had managed to graduate with excellent results. When he’d graduated, a church had been constructed in the district he was living in. Hence, he had found a job there.
The district he was living in was quite old, but that was exactly why the greenery was flourishing and the environment was peaceful. Compared to the crowded modern living districts, the property monetary value in this district had increased over time. When he had first inherited this house, several dozen people had approached him with the intention to buy the house from him.
As the property there became valuable, quite a few houses had changed ownership ever since Fatty had moved in. The new owners were definitely extremely rich, for a house here was even more expensive than a newly-built bungalow in another district.
However, Fatty would not sell the house no matter how much it was worth. It was not a matter of money. This was the only home where his memories still lived…
While walking along the tree-lined path, Fatty listened to the birds singing, something one no longer experienced in modern cities, and reorganized his memories.
After all, he had traveled back in time to four years ago for some unknown reason. If his memory served him right, he had become a training priest in the Morris Church a little over a month ago. In other words, he had only known Priest Cillian and the other members of the church for about a month. They did not have the relationship they had built over four years of knowing each other…
He had to get ready so that he would not act too strangely.
The Morris Church was located at the very center of the district. Fatty soon arrived at the church. After standing outside and looking at the modern church, Fatty slowly let out a breath and walked in…