"Have you heard? There's an old fortune-telling shop on Shili Street," two people at a breakfast stall were chatting.
"You still believe in that stuff?"
The man chewing on a fried dough stick said seriously, "I didn't used to believe in it either, but I heard the predictions are freakishly accurate."
"It's all a bunch of scams. Don't believe it," the other man warned him.
The man set down his fried dough stick and smiled. "I heard the master is a young guy, and he's got a lot of rules. He says he'll only read the fortunes of people he's destined to meet. If you're not destined to meet him, you could offer him a fortune and still not get a word out of him."
"Bullshit. He won't read my fortune for a hundred yuan? Then how about a thousand? Or ten thousand? Who turns down money?" the other man yelled.
The man smiled wryly. "That's what I thought at first, too. But I heard someone really did get kicked out yesterday. The master said they weren't destined to meet and refused to read their fortune. And some neighbors passing by heard him say, 'Even if you offered me a million, I still wouldn't read your fortune.'"
"Huh? What a load of crap. I bet he's a shill. Scammers these days have all kinds of tricks!" The other man still didn't believe it.
Just then, several burly men with arms covered in tattoos walked by. They immediately grabbed the man. "Who are you talking about? You can't just go around slandering Master Shen!"
The man turned pale with fright. "No, no. I was just saying it offhand."
One of the burly men shoved him aside and warned him, "Don't let me hear you badmouthing the master again. Got it?"
"Sure, sure! I definitely won't." The man scrambled to his feet and hurriedly apologized.
These burly men were, of course, Zhu Deshou's men, but they genuinely admired Shen Qiong.
"Brother Li, why are you so fired up today?" one of the underlings joked.
The burly man they called Brother Li was the one who'd lost his temper just now. "It's not that I'm fired up. I just can't stand them slandering Master Shen."
"Uh, forgive my ignorance, but what's so impressive about Master Shen?" One underling who'd just started hanging around Shili Street remembered what Shen Qiong looked like. He was only a young man in his early twenties, so he couldn't understand why Big Brother Zhu thought so highly of him.
Brother Li chuckled. "You guys don't know the whole story. You remember how I lost three thousand yuan the day before yesterday, right?"
"Yeah! I saw you playing cards at Old Lady Wang's place," one of the underlings said.
"Well, Master Shen warned me that my luck would be bad that day. I wouldn't listen, and sure enough, I lost money." Brother Li continued excitedly, "I couldn't accept it, so yesterday I went back and asked Master Shen again. He said it was fine, that my luck was great and I could win all my money back."
One of the underlings asked in surprise, "So? How'd it go? Did you win or lose yesterday?"
Brother Li was beaming. "I played from morning till night yesterday and crushed them. I won over ten thousand yuan."
"Not bad, Brother Li..."
"Yeah! You should treat us to a meal!" a few of the underlings teased.
Since Brother Li had won money, he was feeling generous. "No problem. Let's go. But I'm telling you, Master Shen is the real deal. If any of you ever need help, you can go ask him, too."
Shen Qiong had just woken up from his afternoon nap and yawned. Four or five people were already waiting outside his shop to have their fortunes read.
He first logged into WeChat and opened People nearby, memorizing the appearances of everyone who showed up in the search. Then he went to the entrance and sent away those who hadn't appeared in the search.
"You can leave. You're not destined to meet the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion today. Come back next time."
"You can stay," he said, pointing at a boy of about sixteen or seventeen.
The neighbors knew Shen Qiong's rules, so they left reluctantly. The only one remaining was a teenage boy standing at the entrance.
Before Shen Qiong could say anything, the boy shouted, "Fraud! You're a big fraud!"
Since they were still outside the shop, everyone's attention immediately turned their way.
Shen Qiong thought something was off. He hadn't even said anything. How had he become a fraud?
There was never a shortage of people who liked to watch a spectacle. In an instant, a crowd had gathered around them, listening to the boy keep shouting that Shen Qiong was a fraud.
"Then tell me, how did I scam you?" Shen Qiong asked helplessly.
The boy first glanced at the crowd, then nodded at someone hiding in a corner. "You're a fraud, that's what! You read my fortune that day and said my mom would be fine, but now... now she's sick in the hospital."
The boy was so worked up that his eyes actually turned red.
The crowd immediately buzzed with excitement. Everyone had recently heard how amazing Shen Qiong was, that his readings were always spot-on. But hardly anyone had actually gone to him for a reading. Now that they'd heard Shen Qiong was a fraud, they were all too happy to gloat.
"Good thing I didn't go. I'd have been conned, too."
"I knew it. If you said you could treat illnesses, I'd believe you. But fortune-telling? Come on! Who'd believe that?" someone hiding in the crowd shouted.
Shen Qiong furrowed his brow. This guy had come with bad intentions. He was sure he'd never read this kid's fortune. So someone was deliberately trying to make trouble for him?
"Don't talk nonsense. Just answer me this: was it you who came for a reading, or your mom?" Shen Qiong asked coldly.
The boy's eyes darted around. "I came. My mom wasn't feeling well, so I came to get her fortune read."
Shen Qiong sneered. "That's nonsense. Anyone who knows my rules knows I never read the fortune of someone who isn't present."
He gave readings through WeChat's People nearby feature. He wouldn't do readings for people who weren't there by having someone else stand in for them.
Some people nodded at Shen Qiong's explanation. "I think that's right."
The boy gritted his teeth. "I don't care! I came that day, and you read my fortune. You kept saying my mom would definitely be fine. I gave you the money I'd saved for her medical bills, and now she's sick. You have to take responsibility!"
Holy crap! That was a slick move!
"What kind of person takes the money someone needs for medical treatment?"
"That poor kid!"
Shen Qiong's face darkened. So this kid was trying to pin a scam on him. Did he really look that easy to bully?
Wait!!!
He picked up his phone and checked the boy's information again.
Sun Wenbin (within 100 meters) Age: 16 Height: 163 Health Value: 79 Luck Value: 2 (imprisonment)
After reading it, Shen Qiong smiled coldly. Good thing he hadn't misremembered. The other party's Luck Value was very low.
What did that mean? It meant the kid was out of luck today. Why was he out of luck? Because he'd tried to scam Shen Qiong.
Shen Qiong glanced around. The other party's Luck Value was 2, which meant there had to be a way to make sure the kid came to a bad end.
"Fine! Tell me what you want," Shen Qiong said.
The boy heard that Shen Qiong was giving in and immediately smiled. Without realizing it, he turned his head and looked to the left.
Shen Qiong immediately followed his gaze and spotted an old acquaintance skulking in the crowd, signaling to the boy.
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