There was once a poor young man by the name of A Mao. One day, he saw everyone burning incense to worship the God of Fortune, but the temple of the God of Poverty nearby was empty and deserted. A Mao felt that this was somewhat unfair, so, he also bought some incense, and prepared to worship the God of Poverty. Seeing this, others laughed at him and said, “A Mao, worshipping the God of Poverty will only make you poorer!”“Since the God of Poverty is the god of the poor, it is only natural that I should worship him.” After he started worshipping the God of Poverty, A Mao became even poorer. But he continued to burn incense at the temple regularly.

“Oh God of Poverty, it is I, A Mao. I have come again to burn incense for you.”After placing the incense, A Mao was just about to leave, when he heard a voice from behind, “A Mao, wait!”

A Mao turned around to see the statue of the God of Poverty come to life. The god jumped down the altar table and smiled at him. Seeing that A Mao was too stunned to speak, the God of Poverty told him, “A Mao, thank you for continuously burning incense for me. I am returning to the heavens now. Since I’m the God of Poverty, I have nothing fancy for you, but here is a cotton jacket and two carrots, which I am giving to you as presents. These will bring you good fortune!”With this, the God of Poverty vanished, leaving A Mao behind with the presents.

The next day, the weather felt cold, so, A Mao put on the cotton jacket that the God of Poverty gave him. He thought to himself, “If only I could enjoy a hot bowl of noodles right now, that would be so delightful!” No sooner had he thought this than he found himself sitting in the noodle shop. It was only then that A Mao realized that the cotton jacket from the God of Poverty was a magical treasure. However, all of this was observed by Miss Wang from the jewelry shop across the street. Miss Wang was renowned for her beauty in the area, but she had an impatient personality, and had to have whatever she wanted.

“Such a wonderful treasure! I have to have it!”, she exclaimed. Miss Wang hatched a plan and stole A Mao’s cotton jacket. After putting it on, she found that it could really bring her wherever she wanted to go. Having lost the cotton jacket, A Mao felt sad and asked one of the carrots, “Oh, carrot ~ Do you know where my cotton jacket is?” Strangely, something happened. The carrot started to turn red and gave off a rich fragrance. Miss Wang happened to pass by, and once she smelled the fragrance, she became desperately hungry for it. So, she put on the cotton jacket and appeared in front of A Mao. She grabbed the carrot from A Mao and disappeared back home into her own room.

“Wow! This carrot looks so delicious!”  Miss Wang had just taken a bite of the carrot, when her body began to change. Long hair began to sprout from her body, and she was turned into a lioness. Miss Wang was so frightened that she screamed in fear. When her family rushed over to see what happened, they were also terrified. Just then, A Mao arrived at Wang’s house. He wanted to ask Miss Wang to return his carrot. To his amazement, he saw everyone in the Wang family running about in panic.

“Excuse me sir, what happened?” A Mao asked the family butler. The butler shook his head and replied, “I heard that Miss Wang turned into a lion after eating a carrot!” “Carrot? Lion?” A Mao was still deep in his thoughts when the other carrot in his pocket started to turn red and give off a rich fragrance. Upon smelling the fragrance, the lion that had been Miss Wang approached A Mao, and nodded desperately, as if she was asking him for the carrot. A Mao couldn’t bear to see her so distressed, and offered the other carrot to Miss Wang. After taking a bite from the other carrot, Miss Wang slowly returned to her human form, and looked even prettier than before.

The Wang family was overjoyed, especially Mr. Wang, who immediately asked A Mao to become his son-in-law. Blushing, Miss Wang also nodded her head in consent. From then on, A Mao learned how to do business from Mr. Wang, and made lots of money. This was truly the good fortune promised by the God of Poverty!

從前有個貧窮的年輕人，名叫阿毛。有一次，他看到大家都在燒香拜財神，而旁邊的窮神廟卻冷冷清清的，阿毛覺得有點兒不公平，於是他也買了香，準備拜窮神。別人笑他：「阿毛，你燒香燒給窮神，會越來越窮的！」「窮神是窮人的神，我當然得拜囉。」阿毛自從拜了窮神以後，真的越來越窮了，可是阿毛還是固定去窮神廟燒香。

「窮神呀，我是阿毛，我又來給你燒香了。」阿毛插好了香，正想離開，卻聽到背後有個聲音傳了過來：「阿毛，等等！」

阿毛回頭一看，窮神竟然動了起來，跳下供桌，對他微笑。阿毛嚇呆了，窮神又對他說：「阿毛，謝謝你一直給我燒香，我現在要回到天上去了，窮神嘛，沒有什麼好東西，這兒有一件棉襖和兩根蘿蔔，我要送給你，這些東西會帶給你好運的！」窮神說完就消失不見了，只剩下阿毛和放在供桌上的禮物。

第二天，天氣有點兒冷，阿毛穿上窮神送的棉襖，心想：「要是能吃碗熱麵，不知道多好呀！」阿毛才一想完，就發現自己已經在麵店裡坐著了，他才知道窮神送的棉襖真的是件寶貝，但是這一切都被對面銀樓的王二小姐看在眼裡。王二小姐是這個地方出名的美人，可是她的個性很急，想要的東西一定要得到。

「這麼好的寶貝，我真想要！」王二小姐想了辦法，終於偷到阿毛的棉襖，穿上它，真的想去哪兒就去哪兒。阿毛弄丟了棉襖，心裡很難過，拿起蘿蔔問：「蘿蔔呀蘿蔔，你知道棉襖去哪邊了嗎？」奇怪的事發生了，蘿蔔忽然開始變紅，散發出濃郁的香氣。王二小姐剛好經過，一聞到香氣，就想吃得不得了。於是王二小姐穿上了棉襖，一下子出現在阿毛面前，搶走了蘿蔔，馬上又回到自己的房間。

「哇！看起來好好吃喔！」王二小姐才咬了一口，身體忽然產生變化，慢慢長出長毛，最後變成一頭大獅子。王二小姐嚇得大吼大叫，家人趕過來一看，也嚇得要命。就在這個時候，阿毛到了王家，打算跟王二小姐要回蘿蔔，卻看見王家的人跑來跑去，不知道在忙些什麼？

「請問，發生什麼事了？」阿毛拉住王管家，王管家搖搖頭回答：「聽說小姐吃了蘿蔔，就變成一頭獅子了！」「蘿蔔？獅子？」阿毛正在思考的時候，口袋裡的另外一根蘿蔔竟然也開始變紅，散發出濃郁的香氣。王二小姐變成的獅子聞到了香氣，她走近阿毛，拼命地點頭，好像要求阿毛給她蘿蔔吃的樣子。阿毛不忍心，就把蘿蔔送給王二小姐了。王二小姐一吃下蘿蔔，就慢慢地變回原來的樣子，而且比以前更漂亮。

王家人都很高興，尤其是王老闆，他馬上要阿毛當他的女婿，王二小姐也紅著臉答應了。從此之後，阿毛跟著王老闆做生意，錢越賺越多，這真是窮神帶來的好運呀！