Team Appointment with Master Shen

"Mom, why don't we go ask Master Shen to do some fortune telling for me, to see if I have talent for singing?" a student asked excitedly, standing at the kitchen door.

His mother, who was stir-frying bean sprouts, turned around in surprise. "When your Father and I suggested you try signing up for music classes, you said you didn't want to!"

"I wanted to go, but everyone else had a better foundation, and I hadn't practiced at all."

"So what are you thinking now? Why the sudden interest?" His mother put down the spatula and looked at him helplessly.

The child shyly scratched his head and said, "It doesn't have to be singing. Painting, playing the piano, anything is fine. You and Dad always said it's best to have a skill."

"No... then what exactly do you want to learn?" His mother asked with a wry smile.

"I don't know, but Master Shen might know. I want to try," he said, his eyes darting around.

Click! His mother turned off the stove and pulled her son into the living room.

"What Master Shen? Tell me what's going on?"

"Mom, it's like this..."

In an instant, countless similar scenes unfolded in various families. A plump little kid complained to his grandfather in the study, "Grandpa, Dad won't let me go. He says fortune tellers are all scammers."

The grandfather, in his early seventies with white hair, frowned and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Why don't you let your sister accompany you?"

Upon hearing this, the little chubby boy jumped up excitedly, "Okay!"

At this moment, a displeased voice came from the living room, "What time is it, and you're not focusing on your studies, always thinking of crooked ways." A man with a full beard walked over impatiently.

"What crooked ways? I asked, there's no rule about how much money to give Master Shen for fortune telling. It doesn't cost much," the little chubby boy quickly explained.

The chubby boy's father's brows furrowed, and he said displeased, "I told you to play less computer games and read more news. What era is this? Can fortune telling be trusted? Even if there were such skills in the past, they're long lost."

"So what if I believe it? Mom believes in astrology too! And my sister plays tarot cards all day, isn't that the same?" the little chubby boy retorted angrily.

"I don't care. Anyway, I've already made plans with my classmates. I'm going on Saturday."

"You..." His father stared at him, furious.

The chubby boy returned to his room and quickly took out his phone to send a message on QQ to a contact saved as "Qingqing."

"How is it, how is it? My grandpa said my sister can go with me." He also sent a grinning emoji.

About ten seconds later, the other party replied with a crying emoji, "No! My brother won't let me go. He says they're definitely scammers."

The chubby boy typed quickly on his phone, "I remember your brother also graduated from No. 73 Middle School! He should know about this!"

"He graduated three years ago, how would he know? Anyway, he said I can't go." The girl replied with another crying emoji.

Seeing this, the chubby boy felt a pang of sympathy. He quickly replied, "It's okay, I won't let my sister go with me. I'll go with you."

"Really?" the girl replied quickly.

"Of course. We'll go secretly, regardless of your brother," the chubby boy said, stepping up like a "man."

Three seconds later, the girl replied, "Okay!"

"Yes!!!" The chubby boy shouted excitedly, raising his phone high.

Meanwhile, Shen Qiong naturally had no idea that someone was using the excuse of coming to get their fortune told to secretly ask a girl out.

After all, it was two different cities, and many high school girls were afraid to travel to an unfamiliar city alone, especially to see a fortune-telling master with a mysterious aura.

At this time, the boys didn't care if Master Shen was real or not. This was a great opportunity to flirt. Traveling a long distance, were they afraid of not having a chance? Heh heh...

At this moment, Shen Qiong was comfortably lying in the living room waiting for his good buddy to cook. Gu Liming was once called the "chick magnet" in their university dorm. He was about 1.8 meters tall, had long legs that girls liked, and was very good at sweet-talking. What made Shen Qiong most speechless was that this guy could also cook well.

"Here you go, braised eggplant, and this is steamed egg with fresh shrimp..."

Gu Liming, wearing a scarf, brought out the dishes one by one from the kitchen and then looked at Shen Qiong with disdain, "Can you help out a little? All you do is eat."

Shen Qiong chuckled and replied, "Coming, coming."

"Try it. Let me tell you, when I was in Germany, girls would flock to my place and not want to leave, all because they couldn't bear to part with my godly cooking skills," Gu Liming boasted.

Shen Qiong chuckled twice, "Godly cooking skills, huh? You think this can cover up your shortcomings of being short, strong, and quick in battle?"

"Get lost, get lost, get lost. Who's short and strong? This brother is a long spear and big cannon." Gu Liming picked up a fragrant piece of eggplant and put it in his mouth, looking like he was enjoying it.

"Tsk tsk tsk, you're quite the actor. I think you could participate in those food tasting shows. Just your expression alone is enough," Shen Qiong teased.

Gu Liming chuckled, "I'll take that as a compliment."

Just then, Shen Qiong's WeChat popped up with a message. He saw it was a voice message from his sister.

Since they were eating, Shen Qiong simply turned on the speakerphone. "Hee hee, I have good news for you." A young and sweet voice came from the phone.

At this, Gu Liming got excited and immediately exclaimed, "Holy crap, Shen Qiong, you've been hiding this well! Where did you pick up this girl? You said I hit on high school girls? This voice sounds like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, no doubt."

Shen Qiong looked at him with disgust. "Hit on what? This is my sister."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot you have a sister," Gu Liming said with a smile, wiggling his eyebrows at Shen Qiong.

"Alright, don't give me that look. Let me tell you, it's no use!" Shen Qiong knew what he was thinking and immediately refused.

Gu Liming pleaded, "No, come on! I'm good buddies with her brother, we've been through thick and thin. I should at least get to know her."

"Get lost, who's wearing the same underwear as you?" Shen Qiong was about to kick the guy away.

He picked up his phone and tapped on a voice message, asking, "What's the good news?"

A short while later, Shen Shi sent a screenshot. Shen Qiong looked and saw a message from a magazine editor saying her submission had been accepted and the relevant payment would be sent to her bank account on the first of next month.

Shen Qiong excitedly typed on his phone, "A short story? Submitted to a newspaper or magazine?"

"A serialized middle-length inspirational story, for a novel magazine!" Shen Shi replied.

Shen Qiong chuckled playfully, "Oh wow, my sister is a big writer now."

"Hmph, I knew you'd laugh at me, I'm ignoring you," Shen Shi replied deliberately.

Gu Liming, while serving himself food, watched Shen Qiong's face light up with a "weird" smile. He exclaimed in astonishment, "Oh no, no wonder you've been single for two years after graduation, turns out you have a 'sister complex'."

Shen Qiong glared at the guy, "I wouldn't give you my sister's WeChat even if you called me a pedophile."

Gu Liming shrugged, "Suit yourself!"

However, as soon as Shen Qiong put his phone down, Gu Liming snatched it with lightning speed.

"What the f***! You're playing me?" Shen Qiong cursed loudly and lunged forward to grab his phone.

The two of them wrestled together, fighting over a girl