Chapter 87

San Yan's residence was still in the main house of the courtyard, consisting of two hall rooms. Ding Ning walked in and took a look, finding that the place was quite simple, with almost no household appliances. Usually, San Yan didn't come back to stay here.

After entering the room, San Yan asked Ding Ning, "Brother, do you really want to stay here and extort a large sum of money from that young girl?"

Ding Ning waved his hand, "A gentleman loves wealth, but he obtains it in a righteous way. I won't do such things. But you can rest assured, what's yours will be yours. For the next few days, you don't need to come back. I'll handle things here. Go back to Fenglu Garden."

San Yan nodded in agreement and left without lingering.

After San Yan left, Ding Ning tidied up the room a bit. There wasn't much to clean, just sweeping the floor and wiping off some dust.

After a while, Guangzi came over to visit.

"Ding Brother, are you busy?"

Ding Ning glanced at him, "Sit down."

Guangzi sat down and started making small talk, "Ding Brother, your arrival has given us a backbone. Now, these developers are really heartless. Our courtyard will be the entrance to their mall. Shouldn't they give us more? They are so stingy."

"How much did they offer?"

"15,000 yuan per square meter."

Ding Ning pondered for a moment. This price was indeed not low. The price of buildings in the old city area was about the same. These people asking for 30,000 yuan was like asking for the moon. Even in the city center, it might not reach 30,000 yuan.

Seeing that Ding Ning didn't speak, Guangzi hurriedly said, "Our courtyard has good feng shui, Ding Brother. You don't know this, but a professor from the capital city university once lived here."

"Haha, is that so? I didn't know. I only know that San Yan, that rascal, came from this courtyard."

Guangzi was taken aback, then said, "Also, our courtyard attracts wealth. Have you seen the lottery station across the street? Two years ago, someone from this courtyard won five million and moved away."

"Oh, won a big prize?"

"Yes, that guy used to play with me. He got rich overnight. Damn, I've bought a lot of tickets since then, but I haven't won a single cent."

Ding Ning thought for a moment, "If someone won five million here, it means the courtyard has some good fortune. But good fortune is limited. That person took all the good fortune away, even the luck of everyone else. It can be said that this courtyard no longer attracts wealth."

"Does Ding Brother know about these things?" Guangzi looked doubtful.

"Somewhat. Let me go check out that lottery station."

Ding Ning got up and left the room. Guangzi, having nothing to do, followed behind.

As they walked, Ding Ning thought that to make the residents move, he needed to take some drastic measures. They were attached to this courtyard, so starting today, Ding Ning would make the courtyard thoroughly unpleasant, so that no one would want to live here, or even dare to live here.

Violence wouldn't work for this. He needed a new identity.

A fortune-teller!

As they walked through the courtyard, the residents kept greeting Ding Ning. Regardless of age, they all treated him as an equal. The older ones called him "big brother," the younger ones called him "Ding Brother," and those around Guangzi's age, like him, called him "Ding Brother."

This was the first time Ding Ning had experienced such treatment. It seemed that one shouldn't be too low-key. Now, with a good outfit and a bit of authority, people immediately looked up to him. Of course, they mostly hoped he could negotiate with the developers to get them more money.

But regardless, he had gained some respect, which would be beneficial for future actions.

"Big brother, you're going out with Guangzi. Come over for dinner tonight. My fish stew is famous. Guangzi, remember to bring your Uncle Ding over for dinner."

The woman's name was Li Shuqin. She was holding a fish and stood at the door, calling out to Ding Ning.

Guangzi's face showed a bit of embarrassment. Ding Ning was clearly younger than him, but because he was a big brother in the society, Guangzi called him "brother." Now, Li Shuqin had upgraded him to "uncle."

Ding Ning, who was expected to refuse, said calmly, "Sister Li, you're too kind. Guangzi and I are about the same age. We'll just call each other by our names. He can call me 'Ding Brother.'"

Li Shuqin smiled, "Alright, alright. Guangzi, buy some wine on your way back and have a drink with your Uncle Ding."

"Sure thing!"

Guangzi agreed and followed Ding Ning out of the courtyard.

The lottery station was right across from the courtyard. It was a small place, but it was quite busy.

Ding Ning stepped into the lottery station, and immediately someone recognized him.

Someone greeted him with a smile, but there was a hint of fear in their eyes. In today's society, if you act tough, people will respect you more.

If you're not tough, you need to be rich or have a high position. If you lack all of these, people will look down on you, if not outright step on you.

Ding Ning just hummed a few times in response to their greetings and sat down on a chair.

The lottery seller was a chubby man in his thirties. He had seen everything that happened at the courtyard entrance. Seeing Ding Ning, he immediately smiled, "Ding Brother, are you here to try your luck?"

Ding Ning glanced at him, somewhat disdainful of this man in his thirties calling him "brother," but he didn't show it on his face, "I'm not here to try my luck. I've studied physiognomy and can tell if someone's fortune is good or bad. I'm here to read people's fortunes. I can't promise much, but I can tell if you'll win the lottery or not."

People turned their heads but didn't respond. Though they didn't say anything, their meaning was clear: they thought Ding Ning was a fraud.

Ding Ning, seeing their expressions, stood up and moved to the center of the crowd.

Suddenly, Ding Ning pointed at a man in his forties, "Sir, what did you buy?"

"Double Color Ball."

"Then congratulations, you'll win a small prize of 300 yuan tonight. Come back tomorrow to claim it."

After his realm advanced, Ding Ning's ability to read people's fortunes had improved. He could now observe more details, and based on someone's fortune, he could tell how much they would gain or lose in the short term.

With this confidence, Ding Ning could come here to read people's fortunes.

The middle-aged man didn't take Ding Ning's words seriously, but an old man in his sixties asked, "Young man, what about me?"

Ding Ning glanced at the old man, "You bought about 200 yuan worth of lottery tickets, right?"

"Oh! You can tell that?" The old man was clearly surprised. He had bought the tickets a while ago and had been chatting with his friends. How could Ding Ning, who came later, know how much he had bought?

"I can not only tell that you bought 200 yuan worth, but I also know that you won't win anything. Don't believe me? Wait for the results tonight."

The old man was a bit upset, "I studied carefully. Even if I don't win the big prize, I should at least win some small prizes of 5 or 10 yuan."

"If studying helped, everyone would be rich."

Ding Ning didn't show extra respect just because the old man was elderly. He coldly laughed and then said to the lottery seller, "You also bought 50 yuan worth, right?"

The man had been watching the show, but he didn't expect Ding Ning to suddenly say he had bought 50 yuan. The old man buying 200 yuan was known to many, but as the lottery seller, he had bought the first ticket for himself, 50 yuan, and no one else knew about it.

Seeing the man's expression change, Ding Ning knew his fortune-telling was very accurate, and he had a good grasp of the man's short-term fortune.

"Your 50 yuan will only win one small prize of 5 yuan, a loss of 45 yuan."

At this point, the people around had to take Ding Ning seriously. If he was lying, it would be quickly exposed, as the results would be announced that night.

If he was right, he truly had some skills. Moreover, he had clearly predicted the situations of the old man and the lottery seller, which was quite amazing.

After saying this, Ding Ning didn't comment on anyone else in the room. It was best to keep a bit of mystery.

"That's it for today. I've read three people for free, but only for today. Starting tomorrow, I'll charge for readings."

With that, Ding Ning left the lottery station.

Guangzi immediately followed behind, eager to see if Ding Ning's predictions would come true that night. If they did, this "Ding Brother" would be truly amazing, and following him would be a good choice.