Chapter 5

Peace Road is one of the most bustling streets in Haicheng, lined with large office buildings and international brand stores on both sides.

In the middle is the Xinhua Bookstore and Haicheng's largest book wholesale market. Next to the market is a lane, which serves as Haicheng's second-hand goods trading market and antique street.

On both sides of the road near the book wholesale market, a row of over twenty college students each held a sign.

These were all college students seeking private tutoring jobs, with the subjects they could tutor written on their signs.

Since he had no classes in the afternoon, Lu Li left school after eating and took a bus to Peace Road, his purpose naturally being to earn money.

It was extremely difficult to prepare the Great Nourishing Essence Liquid, and given his family's financial situation, he had no choice but to earn the money himself.

After getting off the bus, he crossed the road and turned into the antique street next to the wholesale market.

Although he was a student at one of the two key universities in Haicheng, earning money through private tutoring was too slow to meet his needs. However, having been reincarnated eight times, he had been a general, a famous doctor, a successful scholar, and even a ghost catcher in his previous lives, so making money wasn't actually that hard.

Walking into the antique street, on both sides of the road were shops selling antiques, as well as people setting up stalls. Some sold antiques, while others read fortunes and faces, with a variety of activities.

In his fifth reincarnation, Lu Li had topped the imperial examination, excelling in both calligraphy and painting, and even earned a reputation as one of the four great calligraphers of the Qing Dynasty. Appraising calligraphy and paintings was a piece of cake for him.

He had originally hoped to find a bargain, which would solve everything.

However, he soon realized that this was a naive thought. There were no famous calligraphy or paintings from hundreds of years ago here, and even those from last year were few and far between, let alone anything older than ten years.

"Ah, it seems I have no choice."

After walking around, Lu Li felt quite helpless. He found an empty spot, took out a piece of paper from his backpack, laid it on the ground, and stood there with his eyes closed, waiting for customers.

"This is interesting! Fortune-telling, face reading, and feng shui, one session for ten thousand. Healing and saving lives, antique rewards, price negotiable."

A young man passing by saw the introduction on the paper and looked puzzled, then laughed loudly, "Brother, you're truly all-around. Is there anything you can't do?"

Lu Li glanced at him and ignored him.

"Tsk, ten thousand for a fortune-telling session, you might as well rob people."

The young man said this with a sneer and walked away.

Two hours passed quickly. Apart from some idle people pointing and commenting on Lu Li's sign, no one approached him.

Looking at the bustling street, Lu Li felt quite depressed.

Whether it was fortune-telling, face reading, appraising antiques, or healing, the older one was, the more respected they were. As a student, it was indeed difficult to gain others' trust.

Actually, he had another skill he hadn't mentioned: drawing talismans and catching ghosts. However, this was even more exaggerated than fortune-telling and face reading, and writing it down would surely make him seem like a lunatic.

Moreover, with his current abilities, drawing talismans was manageable, but catching ghosts was a different story; he would be lucky not to be caught by the ghosts himself.

"Damn, is there no one who can appreciate this?"

Seeing it was getting late, Lu Li had no choice but to pack up and return to school.

His first day of street vending ended in failure.

For three consecutive days, Lu Li practiced the Three Yang Fist in the morning and evening, and went street vending whenever he had free time during the day, but unfortunately, he didn't get a single customer.

The weekend arrived, and the antique street was bustling with tourists, which gave Lu Li a bit more confidence.

...

At the street entrance, a family of three was walking over.

Leading the way was a five or six-year-old girl, beautifully delicate, hopping along cutely.

"Daddy, I want to buy a gift for grandpa too."

"Sure, what do you want to buy? Daddy will buy it for you."

"No, I don't want you to buy it. I want to use my own lucky money," the little girl said with big eyes.

"Alright, our little treasure is growing up," the woman said, looking at her daughter affectionately.

As they walked and talked, they passed by Lu Li's stall, glanced at it, and quickly moved on.

After a few steps, the woman suddenly stopped, looking surprised and turned back.

After a moment, she seemed to finally recognize Lu Li and quickly pulled the man next to her. She then approached Lu Li with excitement, staring at him and asked, "Lu Li, why are you here?"

"Are you?" Lu Li carefully examined the woman, a light bulb went off in his head, "Are you Sister Lu?"

"Yes, yes," Lu Fang was delighted to be recognized by Lu Li and quickly pulled her daughter, pointing to Lu Li and said, "Jiajia, he is your savior. We visited him in the hospital before, quickly thank your big brother."

Jiajia looked at Lu Li with confusion, a bit dazed.

"Little brother, thank you so much last time," Liu Zhongtian said, gripping Lu Li's hand warmly, his face full of gratitude, "If it weren't for you, Jiajia might have..."

Lu Li didn't feel like a savior towards these two.

On one hand, it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time, and his character wouldn't allow him to stand by and do nothing.

On the other hand, after the incident, they visited the hospital almost every day, later invited experts from Beijing for a consultation, and paid all the medical expenses.

Additionally, according to his mother Xiao Junlan, Liu Zhongtian even wrote a check for five million, though Xiao Junlan refused it.

They hadn't met since he was discharged from the hospital, and it was quite a coincidence to meet them here.

Little Jiajia finally reacted, her face full of joy as she ran to Lu Li, "Big brother, thank you for saving me."

Looking at the beautifully delicate little girl, Lu Li genuinely liked her. He bent down to pick up Jiajia and smiled, "You're welcome." Holding Jiajia, he couldn't help but carefully examine her face.

Upon closer inspection, Lu Li's brows gradually furrowed.

Her eyes were slightly red, and there were black threads on her face, with signs of spreading at the corners of her eyes.

"Brother Liu, do you believe me?"

"You are Jiajia's savior, of course I believe you," Liu Zhongtian said with a smile.

Lu Li looked at Liu Zhongtian and said thoughtfully, "Brother Liu, I know a bit about face reading. If I'm not mistaken, Jiajia will soon face a bloodshed disaster."

"Bloodshed disaster?"

These four words weren't to be said lightly, usually a trick used by scammers.

Liu Zhongtian was taken aback, subconsciously looking at the sign on the ground, his expression becoming strange.

Seeing her husband's skeptical look, Lu Fang glared at him and still smiled at Lu Li, "Lu Li, how serious is the bloodshed disaster? Is there a way to avert it?"

Lu Li naturally saw that Liu Zhongtian and his wife didn't believe him, but were only saying this out of gratitude for his past help.

Despite his desperate need for money, he was a proud person and particularly disliked being pitied.

He carefully examined Jiajia again, "It's not a big deal. For the next three days, try to stay at home as much as possible."

"Oh."

Lu Fang let out a disappointed "oh." She wasn't doubting Lu Li's sincerity; after all, he hadn't taken the five million, so he certainly wouldn't be greedy for ten thousand.

However, hearing that staying at home was enough made her think Lu Li was exaggerating.

Lu Li read their expressions and thought, "Do you only believe me if I make it sound more serious?"

Compared to Lu Fang's understanding, Liu Zhongtian was more direct. He pointed at the sign on the ground and said, "Little brother, are you short of money? If you need it urgently, I can lend you some."

"I do need money, but with my abilities, earning it isn't a problem," Lu Li said calmly, not feeling that being short of money was a big deal.

Lu Fang interjected, "Lu Li, didn't you just read Jiajia's face? It's clearly marked, one session for ten thousand." Saying this, she took out her handbag, ready to pay.

"No, no," Lu Li quickly waved his hands, "I just wanted to give you a heads-up, I didn't do anything."

"Then—how about you read my face too?" Seeing that Lu Li didn't want to accept their gratitude without reason, Lu Fang smiled, "I've been feeling unwell lately, short of breath, and occasionally coughing."

"Um?"

Lu Li was taken aback, then nodded.