Zhang Rong and the others gave serious thought to the hypothetical question I had posed.
Then one senior fellow disciple said, "Hand it over to the police. After all, we're not talking about one or two thousand, but over a hundred thousand. Whoever lost it must be frantic. They might need it urgently."
Zhang Rong nodded too. "Finding a hundred or two is good luck, but if it's too much, that money isn't ours. Keeping it would show a lack of integrity, and there'll be karmic retribution. In the end, we'd lose even more money in some other way."
Everyone offered their opinions, and all of them said they would hand the money over to the police.
Finally, they asked me in unison, "What about you, Chen Mo? What would you do with the money?"
I answered without hesitation, "I'd keep it and spend it myself."
The four of them stared wide-eyed. "You have absolutely no integrity!"
I laughed. "In this hypothetical scenario I've set up, I'd definitely keep the money, because I'm struggling right now and happen to need it. I didn't steal it or rob anyone. Not only would I keep it, I'd take it with a clear conscience."
"Yes, the money wasn't originally mine. Maybe doing that would be wrong, but that's me, the real me."
"Now suppose that after taking the money, I suddenly learned that it belonged to an old lady who'd sold everything she could to pay for her husband's medical treatment. Then I'd definitely hand it back, because my upbringing and the humanity I'd developed through it wouldn't allow me to keep that money anymore. So I'd hand it over."
"But if the owner were a rich person, I still wouldn't hand it over, and I'd keep it with just as clear a