“Did you know, sweetheart? That old man up ahead is incredibly accurate when it comes to interpreting fortune slips.”
“Really? How do you know?”
“I had my fortune told before, and he said I’d find a girlfriend this year. And look—I found you, my darling.”
“Wow, he really was accurate. What are you having him read this time?”
“Hehe…”
The couple in front of Ye Shuang and Chen Qin were whispering to each other. They kept talking about how amazing and accurate the fortune-telling master was, but Ye Shuang didn’t feel much of anything. He was only here to try it out.
Fortune-telling was much like astrology. In the eyes of most people, it was something both praised and criticized. Those who believed in it believed wholeheartedly, while those who didn’t scoffed at it. To Ye Shuang, however, it was more like forcing people into predetermined categories. After all, there were so many people in the world, and human nature was far too complicated to be defined by a few zodiac signs.
For example, it was impossible for every baby born in a maternity ward on the same day to have exactly the same personality. Even so, Ye Shuang still queued up with Chen Qin, enjoying the atmosphere.
One person after another went forward. After about twenty minutes, it was finally Ye Shuang and Chen Qin’s turn.
“Hello.” Ye Shuang handed the bamboo fortune stick in his hand to the old man before him. The man was dressed in a Taoist robe and looked the part—if one ignored the Huawei smartwatch on his wrist.
There was something vaguely off about the whole picture. But this was a modern society, after all. It was hardly unusual for Taoist priests or Buddhist monks to drive luxury cars and live in mansions, so Ye Shuang didn’t comment.
“Hmm… Young man, your financial luck and romantic luck are both quite good.” The old man examined Ye Shuang’s fortune stick as he spoke, while Ye Shuang merely smiled faintly.
After all, Chen Qin was beautiful, and the jewelry they were wearing was clearly not cheap. It wasn’t surprising that the old man had been able to make such a prediction.
Perhaps fortune-telling was really more about observing people.
“However…” The old man suddenly continued, “Did something bad happen to you in the past?”
Ye Shuang paused, feeling that the old man was simply fishing for information. “Yes. What do you think it was related to?”
“What was it related to?” The old man narrowed his eyes with a grin.
“I believe it was related to women—and not just one.”
Ye Shuang was a little surprised. He hadn’t expected this ordinary-looking old man to guess so accurately. He answered in astonishment, “That’s right.”
“Master, could you interpret our fortunes for us?” Chen Qin asked, sensing that the old man might actually know what he was doing.
“Hmm…”
The old man looked them over, then continued, “If I’m not mistaken, the two of you will encounter a difficult obstacle in the future. But once you overcome it, your lives will proceed smoothly from there on.”
“Here, I have a jade pendant that can help you get through that difficult time. Today, we don’t talk about money—we talk about fate. I’ll only charge you eighteen thousand yuan for the connection~”
As he spoke, the old man took out a jade pendant that looked as though it had been bought from an online bargain marketplace. It was dyed an almost absurdly bright green.
Ye Shuang: “…”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. Sure enough, he really couldn’t trust fortune-tellers too much. The old man had been so accurate just now that Ye Shuang had almost started believing him.
The old man’s yellow teeth were on full display as he smiled brightly.
He might as well put his faith in a fortune-telling fish.
“Can I transfer the money directly to you?” Chen Qin asked, taking out her phone to scan the payment code.
Ye Shuang froze when he saw that. He grabbed her by the wrist, and just as he was about to say something, Chen Qin gave him a sweet smile.
In the end, they still bought the jade pendant.
“Why do I feel like we were treated as easy marks?” Ye Shuang asked as he looked at the pendant in his hand. Chen Qin wasn’t stupid; surely she shouldn’t have been deceived by something like this.
Chen Qin looked at the pendant in her hand. “Wasn’t he very accurate? What if it really works?”
“There’s a ninety-nine percent chance it’s fake, and it cost more than ten thousand yuan.” Ye Shuang sighed.
“If you really run into trouble someday, Ye, even if this pendant only increases your chances of success by one percent, that would still be good, wouldn’t it?” Chen Qin said.
Ye Shuang was momentarily stunned, then let out a helpless laugh. “I really can’t win an argument with you.”
He looked at the low-quality jade pendant and chose to keep it anyway. Even though he was certain it was useless, it was a gift from Chen Qin, and he would treasure it as such.
Whether the pendant was genuine or not was another matter. Her love for him was real.
After having their fortunes read, Ye Shuang and Chen Qin went to the wishing area. Red cloth strips covered the branches of the tree. Once they reached the designated spot, they took a pen and a strip of cloth and began writing.
Ye Shuang didn’t know what he should wish for. But when he thought about everything that had happened recently, he silently wrote down his wish: that everyone around him would remain healthy and that everything would go smoothly for them.
“Are you finished?” After rolling up his strip of cloth, Ye Shuang asked Chen Qin.
He glanced at what she had written. It said: I hope my parents stay healthy, my husband regains his memory, and our baby grows up healthy.
“Hehe.” Chen Qin showed it to Ye Shuang. “Isn’t mine a good wish?”
Looking at what she had written, Ye Shuang simply said, “You forgot yourself.”
“Oh?”
“Don’t unconsciously leave yourself out.” Ye Shuang smiled.
“But you did the same thing, Ye. You wished for everyone around you to be healthy and successful, but you didn’t make a wish for yourself either.” Chen Qin glanced at what Ye Shuang had written.
The two of them then looked at each other and smiled.
One was just as bad as the other. Neither of them had any room to criticize.
At that moment, a staff member brought over a ladder. Ye Shuang climbed up and tied their strip of cloth to a sturdy branch, bringing their prayer ritual to an end.
Although the process was more or less what he had imagined, seeing their red cloth strip sway in the summer breeze alongside the slightly faded strips left by others made him wonder whether the wishes written on them had really come true.
Ye Shuang looked up for a while before withdrawing his gaze. “Let’s go.”
“Okay~”
…
There wasn’t all that much to see at the scenic area. Most of it consisted of old-looking buildings. Perhaps because so many tourists passed through, the rough stone paving had been worn smooth beneath their feet. Sunlight spilled across the stones, making them seem to shimmer with the colors of a rainbow.
Farther in, the sea and beach were practically within arm’s reach. From a distance, they could see quite a few people playing in the sand.
“Ye.”
“Hmm?”
Ye Shuang had just turned his head when Chen Qin, her hands clasped behind her back, leaned in and kissed him. Her eyelashes trembled lightly, and her cheeks flushed crimson.
Once Ye Shuang recovered from his surprise, he gently returned her kiss.
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
