Fame Increase

Another early morning, Shen Qiong was feeling quite depressed. Ever since he discovered he could use WeChat's "People Nearby" feature to view girls' bare-faced photos, he'd started paying extra attention to girls when he went out, feeling that pretty girls were all just products of makeup.

People often say that knowing too much isn't a good thing.

In the past, Shen Qiong would have definitely cursed that nonsense, thinking that being kept in the dark would just make him a fool.

But now, Shen Qiong's favorite saying was that seeing too clearly isn't a good thing either.

Since the era of the great internet arrived, all sorts of internet celebrities have emerged, even raising the aesthetic bar in the entertainment industry by several notches, and people's standards have soared.

Now, looking at bare-faced photos again, Shen Qiong was about to collapse! Where was the trust between people? Why did they look like a completely different person after putting on makeup?

At this moment, he thought of that girl named Ren Tianxue. She was a true natural beauty. Although he didn't know if she usually wore makeup when she went out, she looked so good without it, she'd definitely be a goddess when she did.

It was just a shame that this girl didn't live nearby. He had only managed to find her once within a kilometer radius.

"Maybe she was just passing by!" Shen Qiong sighed.

Just then, the sound of gongs and drums suddenly erupted outside Gudao West Street.

Shen Qiong muttered, "Is there a new shop opening nearby?" He went out to take a look and saw a lion dance troupe approaching.

The owners of several nearby shops came out to watch the spectacle. One of them, with bright eyes, immediately recognized the person leading the lion dance with the lion head as Zhu Deshou, who had come to collect management fees a couple of days prior.

"Isn't that Brother Zhu?" someone recognized him and called out.

Zhu Deshou was well-connected in both legitimate and illegitimate circles and was quite a well-known figure on this street. Immediately, several shop owners came out to offer their congratulations.

"Brother Zhu, where is this grand lion dance troupe headed? Are you perhaps opening a shop on West Street too?" an internet cafe owner, who was more familiar with Zhu Deshou, teased.

The lion dance troupe stopped in front of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion. The moment Shen Qiong saw Zhu Deshou, he guessed that this was for him.

Zhu Deshou walked up to Shen Qiong and, in front of everyone, cupped his hands in a bow, "Master, I keep my word."

With that, Zhu Deshou turned around and shouted to the surrounding neighbors, "From today onwards, anything concerning Master Shen of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion is my business. I ask for your continued support, neighbors."

As the boss of Gudao West Street, he naturally had ways of finding out Shen Qiong's name. He had even found out which university Shen Qiong had graduated from.

Shen Qiong's background was nothing special, but this Heavenly Secrets Pavilion was an old establishment on Shili Street. He found out that some important figures had frequented the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion in the past. It could be said that if it weren't for the state's strong crackdown on feudal superstitions over the past thirty years, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion would never have fallen to its current state.

Zhu Deshou was an old hand and knew that Shen Qiong was a master with real skills. Since he hadn't heard of such a master, it meant he lacked popularity. So, he devised this plan to help Shen Qiong gain popularity and fulfill his promise.

With Zhu Deshou's endorsement, the attitude of the surrounding neighbors towards Shen Qiong immediately became warmer. They flocked to strike up a conversation. "We're all neighbors. Come to our shop next time, and I'll give you a 20% discount," a shoe store owner said with a smile.

Zhu Deshou chuckled, "I'm a rough man, and this young man is younger than me, but I still have to call him Master. Why? Because Master Shen gave me a piece of advice a couple of days ago, and it was precisely that advice that helped me overcome a major hurdle."

The surrounding owners then exclaimed, "So that's how it is."

"No wonder! I was wondering why Brother Zhu would make such a grand show for a small shop."

"I know the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion. It's been here since my grandmother's time."

"An old shop, but it seems to be for fortune-telling and divination. Don't the news channels always say these things are fake?" a passerby remarked.

The internet cafe owner glanced at him disdainfully, "What do you think! The Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, Feng Shui – these are ancient metaphysics. Fortune-telling and physiognomy are skills passed down from ancient times. Even emperors in ancient times treated them with respect."

"Yes, my grandfather once told me that when he was young, he met a master who knew Lightness Skills. But unfortunately, my grandfather's aptitude wasn't good, and he didn't receive the true teachings. My grandfather is eighty now, and he can climb six flights of stairs without even breathing hard. So, some skills are real, but most have been lost." a young man said.

"To be so highly praised by Brother Zhu, I think Master Shen, despite his young age, might actually have some skills."

Some people shook their heads, "Not necessarily. People in these circles are superstitious to begin with. I think they might be in on it together."

Regardless of what others thought, Shen Qiong knew that the fame of his little shop had been established. At least, everyone in the surrounding villages knew about it.

Beep beep beep!

Shen Qiong looked at his phone. A WeChat message popped up, congratulating him on leveling up.

He excitedly opened the "People Nearby" interface.

[User: Shen Qiong]
[Level: 1 (Just starting out)]
[Level up by increasing your fame and reputation. Current Reputation: 106 (Insignificant)]
[Hint: You can unlock one of the following pieces of information]
[1. Professional Title]
[2. Family Member Information]
[3. Luck Value]

Shen Qiong muttered, "I can only unlock one of these three? How stingy!"

He could roughly guess what each of these represented. The first, Professional Title, should allow him to see the other person's industry and position.

The second, Family Member Information, should allow him to see who their family members are, their ages, their relationships to each other, whether they are father and son or uncle and nephew, etc...

However, it was the third item that Shen Qiong was most interested in: Luck Value? It should be a statistic similar to health points, reflecting how lucky or unlucky a person is.

"Alright! I'll choose Luck Value. The first two can help me better fool people, but they don't play a crucial role. Luck Value is the real data."

After choosing to unlock Luck Value, the question marks behind the Luck Value indeed disappeared, replaced by a number from 1 to 10.

He casually tapped on someone's data. Luck Value: 3 (As dark as shit).

Shen Qiong chuckled. The description "as dark as shit" was truly fitting. The highest luck was 10 points, and this person only had 3 points, meaning they were indeed very unlucky.

He then discovered that the number of people he could search for had increased by two, from five to seven. He clicked on each one to view them, finding that most people's luck hovered around 4 to 6 points.

He had finally escaped the awkwardness of only being able to rely on health points to deceive people. From now on, he could point at someone's head and say, "I see a dark aura around your forehead and your eyes are listless. You're bound to have bad luck today."

Once the shop gained fame, he wouldn't have to worry about customers anymore. After leveling up, he gained another Luck Value, giving him one more method to deceive people. Good things come in pairs!

Shen Qiong was in a great mood. In the afternoon, as the shop was about to close, he refreshed WeChat's "People Nearby" again. This time, his eyes lit up. It was her.

On the WeChat screen was a girl with a beautiful smile. Shen Qiong remembered her clearly: whenever there was any school event in high school, she was always the first to sign up enthusiastically. Even during the 1500-meter race at the sports meet in the final semester of their senior year, she had signed up. It was that event that left a deep impression on Shen Qiong.