Chapter Eleven

At Guangrong Mall in the center of Qingcheng, Jiang Li walked ahead, carrying a bag worth over a hundred thousand yuan, dressed in an expensive skirt and clicking along in high heels like a rich lady on a stroll.

Behind her, Dong Zhenghao and Liu Mumu trudged along like soulless puppets, wishing someone would drag them forward.

Maybe Jiang Li had slept badly and woken up with something wrong in her head. First thing in the morning, she'd announced to her husband and stepdaughter that she was taking Liu Mumu shopping for clothes, and that they both had to come along.

She'd hurried them out so quickly that Liu Mumu hadn't even had time to do her daily divination before leaving the house.

After a whole morning of shopping, they were in such despair that they felt half dead. Liu Mumu thought her toes might be trying to run away from home.

"Let's stop here for today." Dong Zhenghao didn't mind spending the money, but his body simply couldn't take any more. Facing Jiang Li, who was still full of energy, he spoke with a hint of awe.

Jiang Li turned around. Seeing the two of them looking half dead, she raised an eyebrow. "Fine. Let's eat first. I've already made a reservation."

Dong Zhenghao couldn't even be bothered to ask where she'd booked. As long as they didn't have to keep shopping, anywhere was fine.

Before long, the three of them arrived at a private club Jiang Li had reserved in advance.

They had only just sat down and hadn't even had time to order when someone knocked on the private room door. Jiang Jia then walked in.

"What a coincidence, brother-in-law. You're eating here today too."

Dong Zhenghao thought it was quite a coincidence as well. He smiled and greeted her. "Are you here to eat with a friend?"

"No, I'm here with my Old Zhan. Since we've run into each other, why don't we eat together?"

"Let's not impose on you." Dong Zhenghao politely declined. His relationship with Zhan Hongye was complicated, and they didn't have much to talk about.

But Jiang Li cut him off and accepted on the spot. "Sure. There's something I want to talk to you about."

Then she turned to Dong Zhenghao and urged him, "Come on. The banquet was so rushed the other day that we never properly introduced Mumu to my brother-in-law."

"Exactly. Old Zhan's been saying for days how he regretted only getting to meet your daughter once. He wanted to introduce her to Zhan Ni."

Since his wife and sister-in-law were both saying so, Dong Zhenghao didn't insist. "All right."

The three of them went to the private room next door.

It was a large room that could seat more than a dozen people. Before they entered, only Zhan Hongye and a middle-aged man they didn't recognize, dressed in a black Zhongshan suit, were inside.

Seeing there was someone else here, Dong Zhenghao assumed Zhan Hongye was meeting a business partner and couldn't help regretting that he'd agreed to come.

Zhan Hongye, however, stood up to greet them warmly. "You're here. Please, have a seat."

Once Dong Zhenghao sat down, Zhan Hongye introduced the man in the Zhongshan suit beside him. "This is my brother-in-law, Dong Zhenghao."

Then he introduced the man to Dong Zhenghao. "This is Mr. Ning, a friend of mine."

Even though the two men didn't get along behind the scenes, they were both quite good at keeping up appearances.

Dong Zhenghao held out his hand to Mr. Ning. "Hello, Mr. Ning."

Mr. Ning looked somewhat aloof, but he reached out and shook hands with him.

"Everyone, have a seat." Zhan Hongye then turned to Liu Mumu and smiled at her. "You're Mumu, right? I was so busy that day that I forgot to introduce you to Xiao Ni. Come visit us sometime."

Zhan Hongye was good-looking and warm and courteous toward others. Sitting beside the middle-aged, slightly chubby Dong Zhenghao, he made the difference between them painfully obvious.

Liu Mumu clicked her tongue inwardly. That's what happens when you don't take care of yourself. You get outshone.

Since he was being so polite, she returned his smile.

As they spoke, Mr. Ning kept staring at Liu Mumu. His gaze was so direct that she couldn't ignore it.

She looked up at him, but he turned his gaze away again.

Liu Mumu didn't think much of it. She was tired and hungry, and all she wanted was to eat.

The dishes for Zhan Hongye's table had already been ordered. They'd only added a few more after the others arrived, so the food began coming out soon.

Liu Mumu kept her head down and focused on eating, paying no attention to the adults chatting around her.

Somehow, the conversation suddenly turned to Wang Guixiang, who had passed away.

Dong Zhenghao certainly hadn't brought it up. Even now, he would sometimes be overcome by grief over his mother's death. Instead, Mr. Ning was the one who mentioned it first.

Seeing that Dong Zhenghao wasn't drinking and had switched to tea, Mr. Ning smiled. He took a sip of his own tea and said, "It's rare nowadays to see someone like you, Mr. Dong, still willing to observe the traditional mourning rites."

Dong Zhenghao froze for a moment, then looked at Zhan Hongye.

Zhan Hongye also looked surprised. Before Dong Zhenghao could say anything, he asked, "How did you know my brother-in-law is in mourning, Mr. Ning?"

Mr. Ning said casually, "A baleful star occupies Mr. Dong's Parents Palace. Someone close to him must have passed away recently."

His words were rather cryptic, but Dong Zhenghao still looked at the two men suspiciously, wondering if Zhan Hongye was setting him up.

Besides, the news that his mother had died was no secret.

"It seems you don't trust me very much, Mr. Dong." Mr. Ning smiled. "You seem to think I already knew about it and deliberately brought it up."

"Not at all, Mr. Ning." Dong Zhenghao replied placidly, brushing him off. He wasn't some inexperienced young man; naturally, he knew how to keep his composure.

Instead, Mr. Ning seemed to be getting a little riled up. "There's no point talking about something everyone already knows. Why don't I tell you something no one else knows?"

"Go ahead."

"When you were eleven, you fell and broke your leg. Your family couldn't afford treatment, so your mother sold her blood to pay for it."

The smile disappeared from Dong Zhenghao's face. He studied Mr. Ning.

The incident had happened so long ago that the only trace left was a pale scar on his leg. Even Jiang Li didn't know about it, and his mother had never mentioned it. She hadn't wanted him to know that she'd sold her blood; he'd heard about it from someone else.

When Mr. Ning began making his Iron-mouthed predictions, Liu Mumu finally shifted her attention from the exquisite dishes in front of her to him across the table.

She suddenly had a feeling that something unexpected might happen today.

"Anything else?" Dong Zhenghao asked after a moment of silence.

Mr. Ning smiled faintly, as if pleased with Dong Zhenghao's expression. "When you were twenty-two, you left home to make your fortune. Unfortunately, your business failed and you lost everything. It drove you to the brink of jumping into a river, but your first wife helped you, didn't she?"

Dong Zhenghao tightened his hands, which were clasped together. "You can figure that out too?"

No one else knew about this apart from him and his ex-wife. She had been a little naïve back then and had come to stay with relatives. When she saw him standing by the river, she thought he was going to kill himself. After he told her that his business had failed, she lent him some money, allowing him to keep the truth from his mother.

"It's not difficult. A person's face can usually tell me a lot of secrets."

In everyone's eyes, Mr. Ning instantly seemed profound and mysterious.

Seeing their reaction, Zhan Hongye spoke up. "Let me introduce him again. This is Master Ning, a master fortune-teller."

Before this, Dong Zhenghao had always scoffed at fortune-telling, but Master Ning had shattered his preconceived notions.

Master Ning only waved a hand at Zhan Hongye's words. "I'm no master. I'm just an ordinary fortune-teller. It's only my personal opinion, so take it with a grain of salt, Mr. Dong."

Jiang Li chimed in at just the right moment. "You're too modest, Master Ning. We've all seen what you can do. Could you tell my Old Dong's fortune?"

"What would you like me to tell?"

"Well..." Jiang Li only knew a little about fortune-telling, so his question left her at a loss.

Seeing her like that, Master Ning didn't press her. He simply said, "All right. Fortune-telling it is. I'll tell Mr. Dong's fortune."

Dong Zhenghao wasn't as resistant as before. Everyone was curious; people always wanted to know what their future would be like, and Dong Zhenghao was no exception.

"Do you remember your birth date and time, Mr. Dong?"

When he heard Mr. Ning ask for the Four Pillars of Destiny, Liu Mumu frowned slightly. But no one else present noticed, and Jiang Li rattled off Dong Zhenghao's lunar birthday, even giving the exact time he was born.

After listening, Mr. Ning raised a hand and began calculating. A while later, he said, "Mr. Dong has two wives in his fate, and he'll grow old together with his second wife. He'll also have one son and two daughters, all of whom will be successful. And most importantly, his wealth luck is good. He may not become the richest man in the country, but he'll have enough to live without worry."

That was an exceptionally good fate.

Dong Zhenghao couldn't help looking pleased. As for becoming the richest man, that had just been a joke.

"Could you read Mumu's fortune too, Mr. Ning?" Jiang Jia asked suddenly. She smiled at Liu Mumu, who was listening to them talk. "This child had a hard life growing up. I wonder if things will get better for her when she's older."

"Oh?" Mr. Ning looked at Liu Mumu. "Do you have her birth date and time?"

Liu Mumu said nothing. Dong Zhenghao answered for her. "I do. I remember clearly. Mumu was born on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, just after midnight."

It wasn't that Dong Zhenghao cared especially much about this daughter. Her birth time had simply been so unusual that it was hard to forget.

Mr. Ning looked somewhat surprised. He'd only been asked to help out with a small favor, but it seemed he wouldn't even need to do that.

Mr. Ning stared at Liu Mumu for a long while without saying anything. Jiang Jia grew a little anxious and pressed him. "What did you find, Mr. Ning?"

Mr. Ning pondered for a moment before finally saying, "This young lady's fate is not very good."

Jiang Li's lips curled slightly. Jiang Jia followed up at just the right moment. "How bad is it? Is there any way to fix it?"

Mr. Ning seemed to have developed a great interest in Liu Mumu. He studied her face for a long while before shaking his head. "Forgive my bluntness, but this young lady has the most ominous fate I've ever seen. Her Heavenly Fiend clashes with all four pillars."

"What does that mean?" Dong Zhenghao asked.

"Put simply, she's what you'd call a Star of Solitude. Her fate is cursed, and she brings misfortune to her family. Most of those who grow close to her meet a bad end."

Jiang Li's expression changed slightly. "Isn't that a bit harsh, Mr. Ning?"

Mr. Ning's expression remained unchanged. "If you don't believe me, take her birth details to any fortune-teller you like. Anyone with even a little knowledge of yin-yang and the Eight Trigrams will see it."