Chapter 3

Even though Grandpa was gone, life still had to go on, so I went to open the funeral parlor again and waited for business all day. As Grandpa had predicted, not a single customer, let alone a ghost, showed up.

In the evening, Grandpa called me, saying he had already arrived in another place and that I shouldn’t worry. He told me to focus on maintaining the family business.

To be honest, I’ve never worried about my grandpa because of his fortune-telling skills. He wouldn’t go to places that would harm him.

I asked him when he would return, but he only said, "I’ll come back when it’s time."

That night, nothing else happened. The next morning, before I could go find the fat network administrator, he came running to pay the rent. I didn’t hesitate to charge him for three more months. This was for his own good, to prevent him from squandering all his money and not having enough to pay the rent.

After collecting the rent from the fat network administrator, I went to have breakfast and then opened the shop to prepare for the day’s business.

Usually, Grandpa would lie in the rocking chair, but today it was me. I didn’t turn on the small black and white TV because it only received two channels and was very noisy.

Lying in the rocking chair, I started thinking about the things Grandpa used to do. He said I had to do three things:

First, get married, which is something every man should do.

Second, save up to ten million yuan. He said there were many things he couldn’t tell me, and only when I had a certain net worth could I access things I couldn’t now.

Third, find out the true cause of my parents' death and avenge them.

This was definitely something I had to do. The police concluded that my parents had committed suicide, but every time this topic came up, Grandpa’s expression was always strange, clearly not agreeing with the police. There must be more to the story, so I had to find the real culprit who killed my parents.

Moreover, Grandpa said I had to do these three things in order, or I would never complete the third one, which was the most important thing I wanted to know in my life. I wanted to know what happened to my parents when I was seven years old...

These three things seemed unrelated, but I believed what Grandpa said. I had to complete the first two before I could achieve the third.

Among these three things, getting married seemed doable, but saving up ten million yuan was a distant goal. So from now on, I had to be frugal and save every bit I could.

While I was thinking about these things, the door curtain was lifted, and the two middle-aged men from yesterday came back. Seeing me alone, the one who spoke to me yesterday asked, "Where is the Master of Divination?"

I said from the rocking chair, "He’s gone!"

The middle-aged man was taken aback, "So suddenly? What illness?"

I replied, "He’s not dead, he’s just gone. I don’t know where. He told me not to look for him. By the way, if you want, I can help you with your divination. Of course, if you don’t trust me, you can leave now."

Hearing this, the middle-aged man was a bit upset but still took a deep breath and said, "Then I’ll trouble you to do a divination for me. You are the Master of Divination’s grandson, and you were so accurate about my situation yesterday. I can’t leave without getting a divination."

I stood up from the rocking chair and asked, "What is your surname, sir?"

The middle-aged man replied, "My surname is Liu, Liu Wenxuan, and I am forty years old."

I nodded and continued, "I can do the divination for you, but according to the rules set by my grandpa, the first divination is free. I already did a face reading for you yesterday. For the rest, you can choose from hand reading, bone reading, qi reading, shape reading, spirit reading, meat reading, divination, or word prediction. These are all things I am proficient in. If you want to use other methods, I can try."

Liu Wenxuan shook his head and said, "No, just divination. The Master of Divination helped me through a crisis twenty years ago with divination. That turning point led to my current success."

I stood up, took a pen and paper, and asked him, "Mr. Liu, write down three three-digit numbers on the paper, and I’ll do a simple divination for you."

Hearing that it would be a simple divination, Liu Wenxuan was a bit unhappy, "This is a very important matter for me. How can it be done so casually?"

I smiled and threw the pen and paper in front of him, "Write them down. If you don’t want a divination, you can leave now."

I said this because, through his facial features and the major influences of his age, I could deduce that his troubles were about to end, and there was no need for a complex divination.

Seeing my firm attitude, Liu Wenxuan had no choice but to take the pen and paper. I reminded him, "Think about the matter you want to ask about, then write down three three-digit numbers on the paper and give it to me."

Liu Wenxuan nodded and quickly wrote down the numbers "165," "166," and "126." I took the numbers and did a quick calculation, which revealed that Liu Wenxuan was asking about the "Jing" hexagram, and the changing line was the main line.

This method is something that anyone with some fortune-telling skills can do. The first set of numbers divided by "8" gives the remainder for the lower trigram, which is the inner trigram. The second set of numbers divided by "8" gives the remainder for the upper trigram, which is the outer trigram. The last set of numbers divided by "6" gives the remainder for the changing line.

If the numbers are divisible, the remainder is the divisor.

Then, based on the eight trigrams corresponding to the numbers "1" to "8" (Heaven, Marsh, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Water, Mountain, Earth), the main hexagram is determined. Liu Wenxuan’s numbers gave remainders of "5," "6," and "6," which correspond to the "Wind over Water" hexagram, "Jing."

The changing line is "6," which is the main line.

According to the hexagram, Liu Wenxuan’s luck was about to improve, and he would soon gain fame and fortune. However, his home needed to be protected from water, which could be natural rain or a broken pipe. Additionally, the hexagram showed that Liu Wenxuan’s kidney qi was weak, and he might have a kidney problem.

I patiently explained the hexagram, and Liu Wenxuan didn’t rush me.

After a moment, I said, "Mr. Liu, listen to me. Go back and do what you normally do. Your luck will soon turn around."

"Your business will improve, and the relationship with your half-brother will never be good. I advise you to distance yourself from him to avoid future entanglements. If you have a house near water, don’t stay there recently. If not, check your home’s drainage system to prevent small accidents. Also, you’ve been overworking yourself, and your kidney qi is weak. You need to take care of yourself!"

Liu Wenxuan was surprised, "How did you know that my previous troubles were due to my half-brother?"

I replied, "Your face shows it, and the changing line indicates that everything else is fine except for your kidneys. It’s not your own problem, so it must be due to someone else. Combining this with your face, it’s not hard to deduce."

Hearing this, Liu Wenxuan’s attitude changed, and he respectfully said, "Master Li, I didn’t expect you to surpass your grandfather."

I quickly shook my head and said, "I’m not as good as my grandfather."

Liu Wenxuan said I was too modest and then asked how much I wanted. I thought about it. The fortune-tellers by the river charge about 20 to 30 yuan per divination. Since I’m a bit better, I decided to charge 100 yuan.

I held up one finger, and Liu Wenxuan didn’t hesitate to ask the old man next to him to pay. The old man handed me a stack of 100-yuan bills.

I was stunned.

Liu Wenxuan said, "Master Li, this is your payment. I hope you don’t think it’s too little. I will definitely come back to you in the future, so please accept the money."

I replied, "Mr. Liu, just call me Li Chuyi. Don’t call me Master Li, it sounds strange. Also, I really can’t take this much money. One hundred yuan is enough..."

Liu Wenxuan shook his head, "I know your rules. How about this: I’ll take all the goods from your shop, and consider it as my way of supporting your business."

I looked at Liu Wenxuan, "My shop only has a few thousand yuan worth of goods, and they’re not expensive. Why do you want them?"

Liu Wenxuan said, "Better to be prepared! I’ll send someone to move the goods tomorrow."

He really wasn’t afraid of bad luck.

After saying this, Liu Wenxuan thanked me a few more times and left. I was left holding the stack of bills, wondering if I had just become rich.

My shop only had a few thousand yuan worth of goods in stock. If someone wanted to buy, I usually ordered them on the spot, so my shop would be empty.

After collecting the money from Liu Wenxuan, I closed the shop, went to the bank, and opened an account to deposit the money.

The next day, Liu Wenxuan indeed sent people to move all the goods from my shop. Even after they were all moved, I still felt a bit indebted to him, so I gave them the small black and white TV that Grandpa often watched.

I didn’t give them the rocking chair that Grandpa often used.

With the shop empty, I thought about restocking, but as I was about to call, an idea struck me. Why continue running a funeral parlor? Why not open a fortune-telling shop? Maybe this could even help me raise the rent for the second floor.

With this plan in mind, I started looking for the fortune-telling tools Grandpa used to use. To my surprise, he had taken them all with him. If I wanted to do fortune-telling, I would have to get a new set.

I thought about it. To open a new shop, I needed some investment. So I decided to go to the second-hand furniture market to find some antique Chinese-style furniture to create an atmosphere.

Speaking of furniture, I knew someone in the county, Ning Haoyu. He had a shop in the furniture market on the east side of the county. He was a fair-skinned, good-looking man, and many of his furniture pieces were antiques. Some of the valuable pieces were even made from coffin boards dug up from graves.

Regardless, he was knowledgeable, and I should go ask him for advice.