Chapter 34

Old Ye suddenly felt a glimmer of hope when he heard Tang Zhendong’s words. He had always thought that feng shui and physiognomy were merely tools for making money, but after hearing Tang Zhendong’s explanation, he realized that working in these fields wasn’t so dishonorable after all!

However, Old Ye didn’t expect that the gap between himself and a true feng shui and physiognomy master was so vast. He was just a charlatan.

Suddenly, Old Ye thought of a question: How did Tang Zhendong know about feng shui and physiognomy? And his explanation seemed quite reasonable. The key was that he couldn’t understand what Tang Zhendong was saying, but his intuition told him that Tang Zhendong was right.

For Old Ye, who made a living by deceiving people, this was simply unbelievable.

"Xiao Tang, you said it so well! You’ve spoken my heart," Old Ye said with great emotion.

"Hehe, truth is not clear until it is spoken, and matters are not clear until they are explained. Some mysterious things that haven’t been encountered will never be understood unless they are spoken about."

"Xiao Tang, do you also know fortune-telling?" Old Ye asked, as if he had found a kindred spirit.

"I know a little, but I’m not as proficient as you, Brother!" Tang Zhendong laughed heartily.

Ye Xian watched the two charlatans engage in enthusiastic conversation, as if they were like mountains meeting water, or Ziqi meeting Boya, feeling a deep sense of regret for not meeting earlier. Ye Xian turned her head and went back to her room, took out her small mirror, and handed it to Tang Zhendong, "Here, install it!"

Her mother had felt much better the past few days, and Ye Xian had noticed it. She also knew that there were many things in this world that her knowledge couldn’t explain. Perhaps this feng shui and physiognomy really did affect her mother’s health. Better to believe it exists than to doubt it. So, Ye Xian took out the small mirror she usually cherished.

Huang Xiuqin looked at Ye Xian, "Xianxian, isn’t this your teacher’s—"

"Mom, don’t talk. Nothing is more important than your health," Ye Xian said with determination.

Tang Zhendong saw the back-and-forth between Ye Xian and her mother and touched his nose, "Actually, we don’t necessarily need to use this small round mirror. Other things would work just as well."

"No, use this one!" Ye Xian suddenly became resolute, and her tone left no room for argument.

Tang Zhendong nodded, took the mirror, leaned halfway out the window, and firmly fixed it in the southwest corner of the balcony, perfectly reflecting the arrow-piercing-the-heart formation created by the pagoda.

"Done!" Tang Zhendong clapped his hands, completing the task.

Seeing Tang Zhendong’s confident demeanor, Ye Xian couldn’t help but admire him. Even she didn’t know why she was attracted to a small charlatan. Perhaps it was because she had put aside her feelings for her teacher, or perhaps it was Tang Zhendong’s slightly dark complexion, healthy skin, and optimistic smile that infected her, or maybe it was the focused expression on his face when he massaged her mother that moved her. Who knows what the reason was!

In any case, Ye Xian felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and she turned to a new life. At that moment, the refined appearance of her philosophy teacher could no longer leave any ripples in her heart.

"Will this really work?" Old Ye, being a charlatan himself, had some discernment despite his limited knowledge and deceptive nature. Although he saw Tang Zhendong’s confident smile, he couldn’t afford any mistakes when it came to his wife, and he felt uneasy.

"It will!" Tang Zhendong’s tone was full of strong confidence, enough to infect everyone around him.

When the four of them sat back down at the table, Old Ye took out a bottle of Maotai that had been aged for over a decade, "Xiao Tang, let’s drink this today." He was about to open it.

Although Tang Zhendong drank a lot, he knew that Old Ye had taken out a good bottle. He grabbed Old Ye’s hand, "Wait, Old Ye, we’ve known each other for a year, and we’ve gotten along well. Although there’s a significant age difference, we can still be considered close friends. Since we’re close friends, it’s all about the bond, and any drink will do!"

Old Ye opened the bottle with a snap, "Xiao Tang, if you thought I was being frugal before, it was because I needed to save money for my wife’s treatment. Today, I won’t save it. Let’s be generous and finish this bottle of Maotai!"

Since Old Ye had said that, Tang Zhendong couldn’t stop him. In fact, he didn’t know the real value of this bottle of Maotai. According to current market prices, a bottle of 53-degree Feitian Maotai already sold for 1,200 yuan. In high-end hotels, a bottle of Maotai aged for over ten years could cost over 10,000 yuan. This bottle had been in Old Ye’s home for at least 16 to 17 years, and he had planned to save it for his daughter Ye Xian’s wedding. If calculated by age, this bottle of Maotai was worth nearly 20,000 yuan.

Even if Tang Zhendong knew it was a good bottle, he didn’t expect it to be so expensive. So when Old Ye insisted on opening it, he didn’t object.

Drinking a glass of liquor worth over a thousand yuan, Old Ye started talking more, "This isn’t drinking; it’s like drinking gold."

Tang Zhendong asked how much the bottle cost, and Old Ye said it was at least 10,000 yuan. Tang Zhendong thought it would be at most a few thousand yuan, but he was surprised to hear it was over 10,000 yuan. He waved his hand, "Old Ye, why didn’t you say so earlier? I wouldn’t have let you open it. Such an expensive bottle, what a waste!"

"It’s not a waste. I’m happy today, but it’s a pity for my daughter. I originally planned to save this bottle for her wedding."

When Old Ye said that, Tang Zhendong couldn’t respond. But Ye Xian blushed and lowered her head.

Tang Zhendong rarely drank. He was a student before, then a convict, and after his release, he started a small business, selling fruit from a second-hand tricycle. All the alcohol he had drunk in recent days was either with Old Ye or his prison friend Wang Meng.

"Xiao Tang, since you’re also in the field of physiognomy, let’s work together. You’re not planning to continue selling fruit, right? Besides, selling fruit isn’t a promising career."

Tang Zhendong definitely had reservations about working in feng shui and physiognomy. First, this wasn’t a legitimate profession in the eyes of the public, who often saw it as a form of deception. Of course, there were many who firmly believed in feng shui and physiognomy, attributing unexplainable phenomena to these practices. Tang Zhendong’s original intention after his release was to find a legitimate job, but he had been rejected by all the companies he applied to because of his eight-year imprisonment for murder. In today’s society, with so many people, why would companies hire such a dangerous individual? This was the consistent view of all HR managers. After facing many rejections, Tang Zhendong realized he had no place in the corporate world and turned to small business, buying a second-hand tricycle to sell fruit.

The second reason for his hesitation was his master. When he was released, his master didn’t give him any instructions about the feng shui and physiognomy he had learned. So, Tang Zhendong was unsure of his master’s intentions.

However, Tang Zhendong was a decisive person. After a moment of contemplation, he made up his mind, "Alright, let’s do it. But do we have any business?"