The Immortal Philanthropist chapter 1

Arar was a well – known figure in a remote small town of a Middle – Eastern country. Strangely enough, in this place swarming with bandits, he had remained unscathed for decades.

Arar’s old servant knew well that there was nothing strange about it. Arar was a third – rate novelist and, more importantly, a philanthropist. He donated all his meager royalties to the suffering people. In this war – torn and extremely poor area, there were few people like Arar. People respected and supported him whole – heartedly. Who would have the heart to harm him?

The old servant, filled with extreme admiration, voluntarily became Arar’s servant. Of course, he also managed to avoid hunger and cold because of this.

However, almost overnight, Arar became the target of the bandits’ attention.

It turned out that Arar loved buying sports lottery tickets. He went to the neighboring country once a week and only bought one ticket each time. Every time, he hoped that Allah would bless him to win a big prize so that he could help more poor people. After twenty years of perseverance, he finally won a prize yesterday. Although it wasn’t a million – dollar jackpot, the one hundred thousand US dollars was enough to cause a sensation in the small town.

The first one to set his eyes on Arar was his neighbor, Said. Everyone knew that Said was a thief. But there were so many thieves in this place that people had become accustomed to it and just took care of their own homes.

This time, Said hesitated a lot before taking action. Arar needed absolute quiet when writing, so his house was built like a bunker. There were no windows around, only a narrow door. And the old servant guarding the door was as loyal as a dog. Without the master’s order, no one could enter that bunker.

However, nothing could stump Said. He blinked his eyes and came up with an idea. He would impersonate Arar, deceive the old servant’s dim eyes, and break into the bunker!

Actually, it wasn’t difficult to imitate Arar. In this country where men generally wore beards, thick turbans, and loose robes, Arar was an exception. Although he also had a full beard, he didn’t wear a turban but a wide – brimmed hat; instead of a robe, he wore a black cloak. Said quickly got these two things and put them on. Looking at himself in the mirror, he looked exactly like Arar!

After night fell, Said came to Arar’s door and knocked. The old servant opened the peephole to take a look and asked while opening the door, “Sir, didn’t you go out for a drink? Why are you back so soon?”

He had actually deceived the doorkeeper at the first attempt! Said was overjoyed. He quickly imitated Arar’s tone of speaking and said, “Look at my memory. I just realized I forgot to bring money when I went out!”

Said smoothly entered the “bunker” and then Arar’s room. With his thief’s instinct, he quickly found the black leather bag containing the money. When he opened it, oh my god, several bundles of brand – new US dollars dazzled his eyes! He quickly zipped up the bag, tucked it under his arm, covered it with his cloak, and swaggered out. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to tell the old servant, “Keep an eye on the house!”

Since Said was pretending to be Arar, he couldn’t go back to his own home right away. He had to find a secluded place to get rid of his disguise first…

Now, let’s turn to another side. After Arar won the prize, he also caught the attention of another bandit. This bandit was called Bazaar. He was one step behind Said because he preferred to rob openly. He bought a grenade, planning to blow up the door of the “bunker”, kill the doorkeeper, and then rush in to rob during the smoke.

It was now completely dark, and the bright moon was hanging in the sky. Bazaar was on his way to the “bunker”. Hey, wasn’t that Arar walking towards him!

Bazaar had sharp eyes and immediately saw the black leather bag under the other person’s arm – he mistook Said for Arar. Was there money in this guy’s leather bag? If he could succeed here, why waste a grenade to blow up the “bunker”? So he greeted him actively, “Mr. Arar, where are you going so late?”

Said was stunned for a moment before realizing that the other person had mistaken him for Arar. But he couldn’t explain, so he had to go along with it: “Ah, I’m just taking a walk. But sir, I don’t know you!”

Bazaar said, “But I know you. You’re a great writer and a great philanthropist! Why are you taking a walk with a leather bag? What’s in the bag?”

Said was startled and quickly said, “It’s nothing, just a manuscript to be sent to the newspaper office.”

Go to hell! Who goes to the newspaper office to send a manuscript in the middle of the night? Bazaar sneered in his heart and pulled out the grenade from his belt. Before Said could figure out what was going on, he was hit hard on the head. His eyes went black, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

Bazaar grabbed the bag and opened it. He couldn’t help but be overjoyed. He kicked Said and said, “You’re a philanthropist, and I need money. It’s a win – win situation!” Such cases happened almost every day, and the local police were unable to solve them. So Bazaar wasn’t panicked at all. Instead, he turned around and walked towards the brightly – lit city center. This place was so poor that he hadn’t had a decent deal for many days. He was going to have a good drink today.

Arar left home in the evening to find a police friend who also loved charity work to discuss how to donate the one hundred thousand US dollars. He had never seen so much money at once. Both of them lived simply on a daily basis. It was rare for them to meet in a tavern. After three glasses of wine, they started to talk a lot. After finalizing the donation plan, both of them were a bit drunk. The police friend insisted on sending Arar home, and Arar had no choice but to agree.