Super Pickle IV: Pickle Becomes a Monk
Ever since the spiders beat up Pickle that one time, they had their eyes on him. Every few days, they would have Pickle bring them tasty treats from home. If Pickle didn’t bring anything, they would intercept him on his way to school and beat him up. Afraid that Mabopai (his mother) would worry about him, Pickle didn’t tell her anything. Instead, he secretly started bringing food from home to give to the spiders. At the same time, Pickle began practicing martial arts in secret.
When the spiders bullied him, the ants saw the benefit the spiders were getting and also came to threaten Pickle, demanding that he show them some respect and give them some benefits. Pickle was so angry that one day, even though he had never hit anyone before, he lashed out. He vented all the anger he had been holding in against the spiders onto the ants and broke an ant’s leg.
Realizing he had caused serious trouble, Pickle decided not to go to school or return home. Instead, he went straight to Shaolin Temple. He felt that no matter what, he needed to learn some skills; this was no longer just about being successful or not.
Pickle arrived at Shaolin Temple, knocked on the temple door, and a little monk appeared. The monk bowed and asked, "Which temple do you come from?" This question confused Pickle. He touched his bald head and said, "I come from school. I want to become a monk. I haven’t been to any temple." The monk then asked, "Then why are you bald?" Pickle replied, "It's natural." The monk understood and said, "This is what Buddha has already arranged," and led Pickle inside.
The master took a look and said, "You don’t need to shave your head. It's quite convenient with all these bumps. Perfect for practicing Iron Head Technique!" And thus, the master accepted Pickle.
Pickle practiced very hard. After starting the Iron Head Technique, he stopped treating his head as a head but instead treated it like a ball or like a spider’s head, crashing into things with great force. As a result, several trees within Shaolin Temple were broken by his head.
One day, someone’s cow wandered in front of Shaolin Temple and ate all the cabbage planted there. Seeing this, Pickle became furious and charged at the cow. The cow didn’t back down either and charged at him. They ended up locking horns. After a few rounds of pushing each other back and forth, Pickle suddenly exerted all his strength and pushed the cow onto a tree branch. The cow sat on the branch, mooing and crying, "Master Pickle, please let me down! I will never dare to steal Shaolin Temple’s cabbages again!"
Seeing that Pickle’s Iron Head Technique had reached perfection, the master said to Pickle, "Pickle, you’ve completed your training. You can go home now." So, Pickle returned home.
When Pickle got home, he found the family even poorer than before. His mother, Mabopai, looked much older. It turned out that after he left, the ants came to their house demanding compensation. Mabopai gave away all their possessions to pay them off.
Pickle felt sorry for his mother and worked tirelessly to earn money. Gradually, their financial situation improved. Because Pickle had developed skills, not only did no one dare to bully him anymore, but people constantly sought his help. When the spiders heard that Pickle had learned extraordinary skills, they feared retaliation and invited Pickle for a drink, insisting on becoming friends with him. Seeing her son become a capable person, Mabopai was very happy.