Chapter 47

As the saying goes, a featherless phoenix is not even as good as a chicken. Seeing that Mr. Xie had fallen on hard times, there were indeed many people who were quick to kick him while he was down. Those who had borrowed money from Xie Dazhi for their businesses and had yet to pay it back seemed to have vanished without a trace.

By scraping together what he could and selling two villas in Shishi, Xie Dazhi barely managed to pay off the debt. This incident made him see the coldness of the world clearly.

However, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Apart from the bankruptcy of his company, Xie Dazhi still had some real estate, so he wouldn't be reduced to the point of not having food to eat.

But with that bureau chief around, Xie Dazhi knew he had no chance of making a comeback in Shishi. If the bureau chief ever became unhappy again, it wouldn't just be a matter of losing everything.

Thinking about this, Xie Dazhi decided to move his entire family to Jintian City, where he still had some business. It was close to the capital, and he believed that the bureau chief, considering his own political career, wouldn't pursue them to the bitter end.

What Xie Dazhi didn't expect was that his son was unwilling to leave, saying he wanted to wait for someone named Feng Lao Da to come out. This almost made Mr. Xie lose his temper and wish he had shot the rebellious son against the wall years ago.

In a fit of anger, Xie Dazhi left Shishi with his wife and father, leaving only the key to an unfinished house for Xie Xuan, without leaving a single cent.

"Wait a moment..."

Hearing this, Qin Feng couldn't help but interrupt Xie Xuan, asking, "Xie Xuan, your father's company went bankrupt, and he left. How did you and Yuanzi live?"

"Li Lao Da went to the train station to carry luggage."

Xie Xuan glanced at Li Tianyuan and said somewhat embarrassedly, "I... I set up a stall in Wenhua Alley. If I have good luck, I can earn a bit every day."

"What kind of stall? What do you sell?" Qin Feng was taken aback. He remembered that the first time he met this chubby boy, he was a second-generation rich kid. He never thought that he would actually lower himself to set up a street stall.

"Hehe, I just do fortune-telling and trick people into giving me a few coins."

Xie Xuan chuckled and proudly took out a robe with the Eight Trigrams from the mattress, which seemed like a treasure chest. He put it on and said solemnly, "Brother, I see that you have a radiant complexion and are full of energy. You must be having a great time recently, right?

However, the redness in your forehead is tinged with a hint of misfortune. You will surely face a disaster in the next few days. If you don't resolve it, you might have bad luck for three years!"

The chubby boy, dressed in his fortune-telling outfit, spoke with a serious demeanor. His method of first praising and then warning was such that even if someone believed him, they wouldn't resort to violence. If what the fat boy said came true, they would likely spend money to avoid the disaster.

"Tell me, who taught you this?" Qin Feng was first taken aback, then couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Qin Feng never imagined that Xie Xuan would take up fortune-telling, one of the eight unconventional trades, and that he would do it with some skill. If Qin Feng didn't know the ins and outs of it, he might have been fooled.

"My father is old-fashioned, and we have a lot of these books at home. I found them more interesting than textbooks, so I learned a bit."

Xie Xuan laughed proudly. Although he was living by trickery, he felt more grounded than when he used to ask his parents for money. Three months ago, his mother secretly visited him and gave him 5,000 yuan, but he sent it back to her bank account, feeling guilty towards his parents and wanting to live on his own.

However, this kind of deception often didn't happen more than once every few days. Their main source of income was Li Tianyuan's work at the train station, where he could earn enough for a basic living every day.

"Yuanzi, is it hard?"

Qin Feng turned to look at Li Tianyuan, who had just drunk a bowl of wine and was feeling hot, with a red mark on his shoulder from the heavy loads.

"It's not that hard, but damn it, there are people at that place who bully me. They all work hard, yet some want to be the boss and collect ten yuan from us every day!"

Hearing Qin Feng's question, Li Tianyuan's eyes turned red, and he said fiercely, "Brother Feng, you're out just in time. Tomorrow we'll go to the cargo yard and teach those bastards a lesson. If I don't show my strength, they'll think I'm a pushover!"

With Xie Dazhi's company bankrupt, Li Tianyuan naturally lost his job. He found another job as a driver, but on his first day, he hit someone.

As a result, Li Tianyuan not only lost his job but also had to pay medical expenses, leaving him with nothing. At that time, Xie Xuan's fortune-telling stall hadn't started making money, and the two of them were struggling to even afford food.

Li Tianyuan had considered going back to school to extort money from elementary school students, but he held back, remembering Qin Feng's words. Out of necessity, he became a laborer at the cargo yard.

"Yuanzi, do you know why I told you not to fight anymore?"

Seeing Li Tianyuan's anger, Qin Feng waved his hand and said, "I'm not saying you can't fight, but you need to consider whether it's worth it. Even if you beat up those guys at the cargo yard, you'll only save ten yuan. It's not a good deal."

"Right, Brother Feng is right. Fighting is too low-tech!"

Hearing Qin Feng's words, Xie Xuan jumped up excitedly and said, "I say, Brother Feng and Li Lao Da should come to Wenhua Street. We should drive away those old men and modernize the fortune-telling business!"

"Your skills aren't that high-tech either!"

Qin Feng poured cold water on Xie Xuan, "You're lucky you