The Materialist

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the almanac advised marriages and travel, but warned against staying at home.

Especially staying at home and getting caught by a swarm of nosy aunts and relatives.

Early in the morning, Chen Zhi was already terrified by the interrogation from the relatives gathered in the living room.

"Xiao Zhi, have you found a girlfriend at Peking University yet? Let me tell you, you need to find a local girl, someone whose background we know inside and out."

"I heard you're starting your own business? How much do you make a month? Is it even five thousand?"

"Oh my, why has this child gotten so thin? Is studying too hard? Do you want your second aunt to get you some free-range eggs to nourish you?"

Faced with this suffocating, all-encompassing care, Chen Zhi decisively chose to run for his life.

Making an excuse, he grabbed Lin Wanwan, who had just come over to visit, and slipped out the door like a refugee fleeing a disaster.

Jiangcheng was quite lively during the New Year.

Red lanterns hung across the streets and alleys, and the speakers at the storefronts competed to be the loudest.

They took turns playing various versions of songs wishing people prosperity.

Lin Wanwan had changed her outfit again today. Since Chen Zhi was still wearing his long black puffer jacket, she had changed into a long white puffer jacket.

Standing together, they looked like they were wearing matching couple outfits.

Because Chen Zhi rarely asked Lin Wanwan out to hang out before and mostly stayed at home, she was quite excited about this rare invitation.

"Chen Zhi, Chen Zhi! I want to eat that!"

Lin Wanwan pointed at a grilled squid stall by the road.

Chen Zhi took out his phone to pay.

Two minutes later, holding two skewers of teppanyaki squid bigger than her face, Lin Wanwan took a big bite.

"Delicious! Smells so good!"

She chewed a couple of times, then shoved the rest of the large skewer right up to Chen Zhi's mouth.

"Here, the rest is yours."

Chen Zhi looked at the sizzling, oily squid. "Are you part cat? You're only eating one bite?"

"Oh, come on, this squid is too high in calories." Lin Wanwan patted her little tummy. "I still have that variety show to record after the New Year. It won't look good on camera if I get fat. But I really wanted to taste it, so I have to trouble you."

"So I'm just a human food waste bin, huh?"

Chen Zhi sighed, resigned to his fate, took the squid, and finished it off in a few bites.

For the next half block, it was basically a loop of this exact pattern.

Stinky tofu: Lin Wanwan ate one piece, and Chen Zhi finished the rest.

Candied hawthorn: Lin Wanwan bit off the top strawberry, and the remaining hawthorns all went into Chen Zhi's stomach.

Milk tea: Lin Wanwan drank the milk cap on top, and Chen Zhi was responsible for finishing the tea base.

By the time they reached the end of the street, Chen Zhi felt like he was about to die from overeating.

"I can't do it anymore. If I eat another bite, I'm going to throw up." Chen Zhi waved his hands, firmly rejecting the half-eaten roasted sweet potato Lin Wanwan handed him.

Lin Wanwan looked at the piping hot sweet potato in her hand and pouted with a bit of pity. "Alright then."

Before long, she pointed to a stall not far away that was surrounded by a large crowd.

"I want to play that! Ring toss!"

The stall was quite large. A red cloth was spread on the ground, filled with all sorts of trinkets.

From keychains and playing cards at the very front, to piggy banks and even live little turtles in the middle, and finally a row of giant plush toys at the very back.

Lin Wanwan pointed at the largest pink StellaLou plushie in the back row. "Chen Zhi, I want that one!"

If a straight-laced guy heard his girlfriend wanted to play this, he would definitely say, "How much does this thing cost online anyway? Why pay this idiot tax?"

But he was currently a scumbag with three girlfriends, so he knew very well that what girls really wanted was a sense of ceremony and emotional value.

Chen Zhi glanced at the distance.

It was at least five or six meters away.

Moreover, the boss was very sneaky. The pink StellaLou's head was extremely large, while the plastic rings looked small and light. Trying to loop it was harder than climbing to heaven.

"That's a bit difficult." Chen Zhi stroked his chin.

"I don't care, I want that one!" Lin Wanwan tugged at his sleeve and acted cute. "Look how adorable it is. It will definitely be super comfortable on my bed."

Chen Zhi could never resist this routine of hers.

"Alright, alright, let's toss!"

Chen Zhi stepped forward and scanned the QR code.

"Boss, give me fifty rings!"

The boss was a balding middle-aged man. Hearing this, his face bloomed into a huge smile.

"Alright! The handsome guy is generous! Wishing you a hundred hits out of a hundred!"

The boss swiftly counted out fifty colorful plastic rings and handed them over.

Chen Zhi rolled up his sleeves, weighed the rings in his hand, and felt full of confidence.

"Watch closely. Today, your big brother is going to clear out this whole stall for you."

He took his stance, aimed at the pink StellaLou, and threw with force.

"Go!"

The bamboo ring traced a graceful arc in the air, hit a porcelain cup nearby, and bounced away.

"A mistake, my hand slipped." Chen Zhi kept a straight face and continued throwing.

Three, five, ten...

The rings were flying everywhere.

The pink StellaLou didn't even have a single hair touched.

After throwing all fifty rings, the ground in front of Chen Zhi was completely empty. He hadn't caught a single thing.

Lin Wanwan was laughing so hard beside him that she couldn't stand up straight.

"Chen Zhi, can you actually do this or not!"

The scene was extremely awkward for a moment.

Chen Zhi's face flushed red. Gritting his teeth, he bought another thirty rings.

A flurry of clattering sounds followed.

"Only the last one left."

Lin Wanwan stopped laughing and leaned in to cheer Chen Zhi on. "It's fine, it's fine, it's the participation that counts."

Chen Zhi looked at the final yellow ring in his hand and took a deep breath.

He refused to believe in this bad luck!

In this life, he was a man with a system. Even though the system didn't boost his agility, his luck couldn't possibly be this bad, right?

"Go!"

Chen Zhi used all his strength and threw the last ring out.

"Oh! A hit, a hit!"

Although the boss was a bit regretful that he didn't make pure profit on this last ring, he was still quite happy. "Handsome guy, you have good luck!"

The boss ran over, picked up the clownfish keychain, and handed it to Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi looked at the poorly made, ugly fish with one eye bigger than the other in his hand, and his face darkened with imaginary black lines.

Dozens of bucks, just to exchange for this?

This was the kind of stuff you could get on a cheap app for nine-ninety-nine with free shipping, right?

"Here." Chen Zhi handed the keychain to Lin Wanwan, feeling a bit embarrassed. "The StellaLou is a lost cause. This thing is all that's left."

Unexpectedly, Lin Wanwan took it as if she had received a precious treasure.

She held the ugly fish up and looked at it against the sunlight.

"It's quite cute! Look at these eyes, one big and one small, just like you."

"..." Chen Zhi was speechless. "Since when are my eyes one big and one small?"

"Anyway, it just looks like you!"

Lin Wanwan directly hung the keychain on her Chanel bag worth tens of thousands of yuan.

"Let's go, let's go, we're going to Changchun Temple!"

In a great mood, Lin Wanwan linked her arm through Chen Zhi's and walked forward.

Changchun Temple was a famous Taoist temple in Jiangcheng. It was said that the fortune sticks here were incredibly accurate, and every Spring Festival, large crowds of people would come to burn incense and pray for blessings.

The two of them squeezed into the temple along with the flow of people.

Inside, it was wreathed in smoke, and the smell of incense was very strong.

Lin Wanwan pulled Chen Zhi to kowtow three times to the founding master first, and then excitedly ran over to the place for drawing fortune sticks.

"Chen Zhi, Chen Zhi, let's draw a fortune stick for marriage!"

Chen Zhi originally had no interest in these feudal superstitions.

But on second thought, considering he had actually encountered things like rebirth and a system, the mysticism in this world might actually hold some truth.

"Alright, let's ask for one."

The two knelt on the futons, holding the bamboo cylinders and shaking them vigorously.

Clack.

Lin Wanwan shook one out first.

She picked it up and saw it was a highly auspicious fortune.

The fortune read: A good marriage destined from a past life, a smile upon meeting brings natural intimacy. A well-matched pair with no high or low, in times of joy, ask not of poverty or wealth.

The old Daoist interpreting the fortunes nearby took a look, stroked his beard, and smiled. "Little girl, this is a great fortune. A match made in heaven, mutual affection. As long as you treat each other with sincerity, you will surely grow old together."

Hearing this, Lin Wanwan was so delighted that her eyes narrowed into little crescents.

She turned to look at Chen Zhi. "Your turn, your turn! Shake it quickly!"

Chen Zhi took a deep breath, silently praying in his heart: May all the gods bless me, bless my harem with harmony, and please don't let it crash and burn.

He shook the cylinder with all his might.

Clatter.

A bamboo stick fell out.

Chen Zhi picked it up and focused his eyes on it.

Four lines of poetry were written on the fortune:

A hall full of warblers and swallows in spring, blinding the eyes and confusing the truth. Once the wind rises, each flies their own way, leaving only an empty courtyard and a solitary figure.

Chen Zhi's heart skipped a beat.

Wasn't this fortune a bit too targeted?!

He was currently juggling three girls, walking a tightrope all day long. This broken fortune actually directly exposed his current situation, and even clearly predicted his miserable fate after everything blew up.

In his past life, Chen Zhi would have absolutely laughed it off after reading it, treating it all as feudal superstition.

But he had experienced ridiculous things like time travel and rebirth, and even had a system in his head that occasionally went crazy.

He couldn't help but panic. Could the founding master of this Daoist temple actually have some real power?

He was a reincarnator, a chosen one with a system. Was he really going to end up like that?

"What did you get? Let me see!"

Seeing that Chen Zhi's expression was off, Lin Wanwan snatched the fortune stick away.

She only saw the last line, leaving only an empty courtyard and a solitary figure.

Lin Wanwan froze for a moment, then slapped the stick onto the table and handed it back to the little Daoist with a huff.

"What kind of garbage fortune is this? It's not accurate at all!"

She turned around, cupped Chen Zhi's face with both hands, and rubbed it vigorously.

"Chen Zhi, don't believe this. Feudal superstitions are all scams."

Lin Wanwan looked into his eyes and said seriously, "I will always stay with you. You couldn't drive me away even if you tried. How could you ever be alone? Unless you don't want me anymore."

Looking at the bright and beautiful face in front of him, the chill in Chen Zhi's heart dissipated a little.

That's right.

Human effort can change destiny.

Are you telling me that a few carbon elements arranged in a pattern on a stick will cause my harem to catch fire and leave me with lifelong regrets?

I have a freaking system. If I can't even secure the happiness of a few women, I might as well smash my head into a block of tofu and die.

Just then, a young Daoist suddenly leaned in from the side.

The young Daoist looked to be in his twenties. He held a handful of red strings and looked at the two with a beaming smile.

"Patrons, I see your foreheads are shining. You two share a great destiny."

The young Daoist shook the red strings in his hand. "Although that fortune stick just now showed some bumps in the road, it's not impossible to resolve. Would you like to take a look at our red strings? These have been blessed by Yue Lao and our founding master. Wearing them on your wrists will lock in your marriage and make your relationship as solid as a rock. No matter how big the storm, it won't blow you apart."

Although Lin Wanwan had just been comforting Chen Zhi, her ears still perked up upon hearing this.

"Is this... really effective?"

"Sincerity brings results," the young Daoist said, pushing harder when he saw she was interested. "Moreover, this red string is woven with a unique technique called the Lover's Knot, meaning forever united in heart. Once you two wear them, you'll be a match made in heaven that no one can tear apart."

Lin Wanwan was somewhat tempted.

Although she wasn't short on money, she wasn't the type to spend it recklessly either.

"Then how much is this?"

The young Daoist gave a bow, looking profound and mysterious. "Talking about money is too vulgar. We speak of destiny here. Since you two have a destiny with our founding master, this pair of red strings only requires 131.4 yuan."

"A hundred and thirty?"

Lin Wanwan's eyes widened. "That's way too expensive! These are just two ordinary strings. You can buy a whole handful outside for two bucks!"

Although she was a little rich lady, she wasn't a fool.

This was clearly a scam to fleece tourists.

"Let's go, Chen Zhi, we're not buying this. It's just an idiot tax." Lin Wanwan pulled Chen Zhi, getting ready to leave.

Who knew that Chen Zhi would stand there without moving.

He stared at the red strings in the young Daoist's hand.

A hundred and thirty?

Let alone a hundred and thirty, even if it were thirteen thousand, as long as it could break that lonely and deserted fortune, he would be willing to pay!

It's better to believe it exists than to not believe it at all!

Chen Zhi directly pulled out his phone and opened his payment code.

"Give me two pairs."

The young Daoist was just preparing to spout a few more lines of nonsense when he froze upon hearing this.

Lin Wanwan also froze, stopping in her tracks to look back at him. "Why are you buying two pairs? Do you have four hands?"

Chen Zhi's expression didn't change as he scanned the code to pay while spouting nonsense, "Wasn't that fortune just now bad? I thought I'd buy an extra pair to show more sincerity, so that Yue Lao and the founding master will bless me a bit more seeing how willing I am to spend money."

"..." Lin Wanwan was completely baffled by this logic.

The young Daoist reacted extremely quickly, immediately smiling so widely that his eyes disappeared. "Good! Very good! With such sincerity, Yue Lao and our founding master will definitely be moved! Your true blessings are yet to come!"

Beep.

Payment successful.

Chen Zhi took the four red strings.

He picked up one of them and gently tied it around Lin Wanwan's fair wrist.

The red knot set against her snow-white skin truly looked quite beautiful.

Although Lin Wanwan complained about the price, looking at the red string on her wrist, she couldn't stop her lips from curling upwards.

She also picked one up and tied it around Chen Zhi's wrist.

"Alright, although it's a bit expensive, seeing how thoughtful you are, this lady will reluctantly wear it."

By the time the two walked out of Changchun Temple, it was already afternoon.

The setting sun cast their shadows long on the ground.

Lin Wanwan held Chen Zhi's hand, occasionally looking down at the red string on her wrist with a silly smile.

"I'm really happy today."

Chen Zhi raised an eyebrow. "Because I threw fifty rings at the ring toss and didn't catch a single thing?"

"Ah, no!" Lin Wanwan laughed and punched him lightly. "It's because I'm with you."

Chen Zhi smiled, reaching out to tuck her wind-blown hair behind her ear.

...