Involved

After Ren Tianxue finished giving her statement at the police station, she finally returned home at four in the afternoon. She collapsed onto the living room sofa, feeling completely drained.

Yuan Jiancheng's ordeal kept replaying in her mind. The transformation from a distraught man to someone completely deranged was truly terrifying to recall.

Ren Jingshan was in a great mood today and had returned home early from work. He was surprised to find his daughter already back.

"Huh, didn't you have plans to go shopping with Xi'er?" Ren Jingshan asked, putting down his car keys with a puzzled look.

She pouted, her face etched with exhaustion. "Shopping, my foot. I got held up at noon and just got back from the police station."

Hearing "police station," Ren Jingshan immediately tensed up. He moved to sit beside his daughter and asked, "What happened? Were you taken to the police station?"

Ren Tianxue sighed. She got up, took a bowl of white fungus and rock sugar soup from the refrigerator, and began eating while recounting the day's events to her father.

Ren Jingshan listened, stunned. "You said the last guy went crazy?"

"Yeah! He was acting completely out of his mind, like he'd lost all reason," Ren Tianxue said, patting her own smooth cheek.

"What a shame. If he had held on until the restructuring and sold, his life would be completely different," Ren Jingshan lamented.

Ren Tianxue scoffed. "Why aren't you guys focusing on the important part! The point is, if he had listened to Shen Qiong earlier, he wouldn't be like this."

Ren Jingshan chuckled. "Right, right, you're absolutely right! You know, for the past half a month, you've been mentioning that kid's name every single day."

Ren Tianxue's face flushed. "I'm just stating facts."

"Alright, alright! Dad was just teasing you. I know Master Shen's abilities! Now you know your dad didn't trick you, right?" Ren Jingshan said with a smile.

Ren Tianxue blinked her big eyes, looking like a curious child. "By the way, Dad, how did you find out about Shen Qiong? I mean, how did you know his fortune telling was so accurate?"

Ren Jingshan raised an eyebrow, adopting an air of knowing everything.

"Oh, come on, tell me..." she pleaded, shaking his arm.

He laughed heartily. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you. I heard about him from an employee at my company."

"An employee at your company went to him for fortune telling too?" Ren Tianxue asked, surprised.

Ren Jingshan's company was located within the Second Ring Road, quite a distance from Shili Street.

"Yes. I don't know if you remember, but there was a report a while back about a gang of thieves being arrested. The location was on Hongqiao Street..." he began.

Ren Tianxue sat up straight, suddenly full of energy. "I know, I know! They arrested a boss who was selling stolen goods. This boss had gone to Shen Qiong for fortune telling back in the day."

Ren Jingshan narrowed his eyes, staring at his daughter. "You know about that too?"

"I looked it up! The specific details of that incident are still circulating on Weibo," Ren Tianxue said with a grin.

"That's right. But you probably don't know why that boss went to Shen Qiong for fortune telling," Ren Jingshan said mysteriously to his daughter.

"Huh?" Ren Tianxue asked, confused. "Wasn't it because he felt guilty about buying stolen goods and wanted Shen Qiong to tell his fortune?"

"Correct. That's exactly what happened. But he was able to find Master Shen through a friend's introduction. And that friend, He Junming, happens to work at my company," Ren Jingshan said smugly.

"When that news broke, it really scared He Junming. I happened to pass by and noticed he was acting strangely. After asking him about it, I finally figured out what was going on."

She blinked her big eyes, smiling at her father. "So you planned to send me over to help you investigate the truth of the matter, and also see if Master Shen was really that amazing."

Ren Jingshan pursed his lips and looked away. "Are you doubting your old man?"

"Forget it, I'm not talking to you cunning merchants anymore, hmph..." Ren Tianxue said, skipping cheerfully towards her room.

He looked at his daughter with a wry smile, then shook his head and let out a sigh for no apparent reason.

That evening, the recording of Shen Qiong's bet with Yuan Jiancheng was presented by Yuan Jiancheng's family as evidence against Shen Qiong, accusing him of indirectly driving a teacher insane.

"I, Shen Qiong, promise that if Yuan Jiancheng makes money in the stock market, I will pay him double what he earns within three months. If he wins ten thousand, I'll give him twenty thousand."

This recording was also uploaded online, accompanied by an article of over ten thousand characters criticizing Shen Qiong for his ulterior motives, his boastful bet, and his alleged manipulation of a financially struggling teacher into the stock market, ultimately leading to mental breakdown from the inability to bear the loss of his life savings.

The article, which touched upon the plight of a teacher, saw its click-through rate skyrocket. Many people felt indignant and began to condemn Shen Qiong.

The vast majority approached the article with a desire to watch the drama unfold and join the commotion, with few willing to delve into the background of the recording or the truth of the matter.

Meanwhile, the two main characters of the story were in vastly different situations: one was in the hospital undergoing restorative treatment, while the other was happily humming a tune and reading a novel.

Shen Qiong continued to immerse himself in his reading of Grave Robbery Notes. Certain issues concerning tomb formations and the placement of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams within the text made him frown.

He was no longer the clueless novice he once was. The accumulation of knowledge from his extensive reading had gradually brought him to an introductory level.

Shen Qiong pondered whether he could try writing similar books. Perhaps he could write a novel like Grave Robbery Manual or Underground Grave Mysteries, which might even become bestsellers.

With this thought, Shen Qiong suddenly remembered an article his sister had sent him last night. It was too long, so he hadn't had a chance to read it yet.

At this moment, Shen Qiong opened the article his sister had sent, titled How to Gracefully Break Up.

He chuckled. "The title sounds interesting."

After finishing it, he took out his phone and called his sister. "Ding ding dong!!! Miss me?"

Shen Shi's voice came through the phone. "Brother, you're becoming more and more like a child."

Shen Qiong laughed. "That just means my sister is growing up."

She smiled slightly, holding the phone between her shoulder and ear while writing something with her free hand.

"When does school start? I'll come pick you up."

"Soon, about half a month left," she joked. "By the way, how's business at the shop lately? You don't mean you can't even pay your employees, do you!"

Shen Qiong bared his teeth and grinned. "Absolutely, we're packed every day. People lining up to have your brother do their fortune telling are complaining it's hard to get an appointment."

Shen Shi covered her mouth and chuckled softly. "You're bragging again, I don't believe you."

"Really, when you're on break next semester, you can come back and see. I've replaced all the furniture and appliances in the old house," Shen Qiong said with a smile.

"Okay!" she replied cheerfully.

After they bantered for a few more sentences, Shen Qiong hung up the phone and said with a wry smile, "Why is what your brother says so unbelievable! There really are a lot of people coming to me for fortune telling..."