The name of a novel long ago?

You may mean that Hao Fangjing became a monk at the age of seventeen. The specific content of the joke you are talking about here should be "A person went to Japan, went to an electronics store and bought something that could replace a housewife, but ended up buying a potato peeler".

Becoming a monk at seventeen is a novel by Hao, published in 1987. It tells the story of Yin Zesi, a high school girl, who became a nun after being persecuted in the 1980s. In the book, Yin Zesi, through different experiences, feels the difference between being in a different place, having affection, being in his hometown and other places, regains confidence after setbacks, and finally succeeds in becoming a monk with firm belief and courage.