Senior year of high school was perhaps a turning point in many students' lives. By then, it seemed as though everything had to take a back seat to studying.
That included video games, basketball, soccer, music...
In the past, you could play games without a care in the world, staying up all night, or spend every afternoon after school sweating it out on the basketball court.
You could stay up all night watching the Premier League or the Champions League, cheering every move and every goal!!!
But once senior year began, all entertainment had to stop. Teachers found all sorts of ways to put the countdown to the college entrance exam right in front of you. You could even see pledges to do well on the exam posted along the hallways.
Studying hard and getting into the university of your dreams seemed to be the only goal for high school seniors.
Fang Yongkang was a senior. He had endless practice papers to get through every day, and the weight of his schoolbag had crushed many students.
He shut himself in his room, listening to his favorite music as he worked through practice questions.
He had been gripping his pen and studying since half past eight. By half past eleven, he was so exhausted that his head was spinning. He set his practice paper aside and logged on to Song Dream to see if his uploaded songs had received any new comments.
Just then, a woman pushed open his bedroom door. When she saw her son playing on the computer, she said, "Kangkang, why are you still on the computer? Turn it off right now! Have you finished your homework? If you have, then read a book or memorize some vocabulary. You can use the computer anytime..."
Fang Yongkang let out a heavy sigh. "Mom, I've been doing practice papers all night. I just want to take a break."
"Then take a little break. Try to listen to English songs when you can. At least that'll help you practice your listening." She knew how much her son loved music.
Fang Yongkang wanted to tell her it wouldn't help at all. A lot of English songs had their pronunciation altered to fit the emotion and rhythm of the music, so they weren't much use for improving listening comprehension.
But he didn't have the energy to explain. It was already a blessing that his mother had agreed to let him listen to music.
Fang Yongkang's daily life was much the same, but now his schedule included one more task: making time every Saturday or Sunday to book a fortune-telling appointment at the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion in Lingxi City.
At the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, Ren Tianxue propped her chin on her hands and blinked her bright, watery eyes.
"How did you know that man was an art teacher?" She stared at Shen Qiong like a curious little kid.
The corners of Shen Qiong's mouth lifted slightly. "I guessed."
"Bullshit. I don't believe you!" she said skeptically. "Tell me, do you have someone else on the side?"
As soon as she said it, she realized how that sounded and hurried to explain, "I mean, have you hired any other assistants to find out about your clients?"
Shen Qiong smiled. "Looking after you is already enough to wear me out. How would I have the energy to deal with anyone else?"
"Who asked you to look after me?" Ren Tianxue turned her head away.
She had realized that this jerk could always tease her with his words, making her misspeak all the time.
Shen Qiong had been telling the truth. He really had guessed. WeChat couldn't reveal someone's occupation, but that man's teaching and drawing skills were both quite high, so Shen Qiong had been able to guess correctly.
Just then, Shen Qiong received an unexpected phone call.
He answered at once, delighted. "You finally remembered I exist, you punk."
Gu Liming looked disgusted. "You haven't contacted me either. So now it's my fault?"
"How is that the same? I've been busy with business! You've been busy chasing girls. Who else am I supposed to blame?" Shen Qiong protested.
"Oho, look at you! Busy with business, huh? Don't tell me you really took over your dad's shop and started telling fortunes?" Gu Liming laughed.
Shen Qiong raised an eyebrow. "You guessed right. Your buddy's made it big. Everyone calls me Master Shen now."
"Yeah, right! You're talking so big, you'll have the cows flying. I know exactly what you're capable of." Gu Liming laughed. They'd shared a dorm room for four years and been best buddies; he knew Shen Qiong inside out.
"Ever heard the saying, 'After three days apart, you should look at someone with new eyes'?" Shen Qiong said with a grin.
Gu Liming rubbed his nose. "Whatever. I'm not arguing with you. Hurry up and come pick me up at the airport. I've arrived in Lingxi City."
Shen Qiong's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed excitedly, "You're back in the country?"
"Of course. Hurry up, I'm waiting at the airport! Afterward, we'll find somewhere and catch up properly."
Shen Qiong glanced at Ren Tianxue and spoke into the phone. "Sure, I'm on my way. There are a few things I need to take care of at the shop, so I might be a little delayed. Find somewhere to sit for now."
After hanging up, Shen Qiong took four slips of paper from his desk drawer and wrote on them: Great Fortune, Plagued by Illness, Further Studies, and Just for Fun.
Four more clients were due to come in for fortunes, but Ren Tianxue had already asked over the phone what they wanted to know. So Shen Qiong had written down fortunes tailored to their questions.
He handed her the four slips. "I have to go out for a while. When the clients arrive, give them these slips. Tell them I had an urgent matter to attend to, but I've already written down their fortunes, so they can just read them."
Her eyes lit up as if she'd discovered a whole new world. That worked too? If they did things this way, wouldn't they be able to fit in many more fortune-telling clients each day?
Shen Qiong knew exactly what the girl was thinking and immediately put an end to the idea. "No. This method isn't suitable for everyone. After all, clients pay a lot, and handing them a slip of paper would make it seem like we weren't taking them seriously."
"Oh!" she answered indifferently. Not everyone? So some people could be handled this way?
Only after Shen Qiong had left did she secretly unfold the slips to take a look. The first client wanted to know about their luck, and the slip Shen Qiong had left read, "Great Fortune."
She unfolded the second slip. She remembered the second client had asked about their health, and the corresponding fortune read, "Plagued by Illness."
Ren Tianxue was speechless. Good grief, Shen Qiong didn't even need to meet his clients to tell their fortunes. He usually put on such a mysterious act, but it turned out he already knew the answers.
Curiously, she opened the third slip. It said, "Further Studies"?
She paused, then opened the notebook. Only then did she see that the client was a university student who seemed unsure whether to continue their studies and take the graduate entrance exam.
A situation like this usually required speaking with the person before analyzing things and deciding what to do. She understood that this client was exactly the sort Shen Qiong had meant when he said he couldn't just send them away with a slip of paper.
The fourth client wanted a fortune about their talents. She was especially curious about how Shen Qiong told fortunes about talent. Other fortune tellers could predict someone's luck or health, but Shen Qiong was the only one who dared claim he could tell someone's talents.
She opened the last slip and saw the words, "Just for Fun."
What did that mean?
If Shen Qiong had been there, he would have told her that "Just for Fun" described the client's level of talent: they weren't good enough to show off their skills and could only entertain themselves.
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