Chapter 12

Mr. Ning's words left everyone in the room exchanging uneasy glances. Everyone knew what those four words, Star of Solitude, meant.

It was easy to laugh it off while watching television, but it was different when someone like that was right there beside you.

Zhan Hongye cleared his throat, breaking the tense silence in the private room. "Ahem, Mr. Ning is rather blunt. Don't take it to heart, brother-in-law."

How could Dong Zhenghao not take it to heart?

Liu Mumu was his biological daughter, and she was living in his house right now.

Who knew when one careless slip might bring disaster down on the whole family?

He glanced at Liu Mumu, who seemed to be lost in thought, his expression complicated. Then he hurriedly asked Mr. Ning, "Master Ning, is there any way to keep her from affecting her family?"

"That's easy. Just don't meet, don't get close, and keep your distance."

"But she's already been living at my house for days."

Seeing Dong Zhenghao's unease, Mr. Ning reassured him. "There's no need to worry, Mr. Dong. Brief contact won't have much of an effect. At worst, you might lose some money or suffer a minor injury. It won't cost anyone their life."

That explained everything!

Ever since meeting Liu Mumu, Dong Zhenghao had felt his luck turning bad. A business partner had died, costing him a large sum of money, and then his son had fallen and broken his leg, ending up in the hospital.

So it had all been because of Liu Mumu!

His sister-in-law had said before that Liu Mumu had bad luck and would bring misfortune to the family. He hadn't believed her then, but now he had no choice.

Dong Zhenghao had already made up his mind. No matter what, he would send her away as soon as they got home. He absolutely couldn't let her stay.

A trace of doubt stirred in Jiang Jia's heart. Why was Master Ning's explanation different from what they'd agreed on earlier?

Either way, they'd achieved their goal today. She turned aside to avoid the others and raised her glass toward Jiang Li.

Jiang Li smiled silently, feeling that perhaps her younger sister wasn't so annoying after all.

"Master Ning, you casually sever someone's family ties with a few words. Aren't you afraid of getting it wrong and ruining someone's life?" After listening to them talk as if she weren't there for so long, Liu Mumu finally spoke.

Master Ning seemed to find her words amusing. "Heh. I've never misread anyone. I know you resent me, but this is your fate. I'm only telling you what I've divined."

"That's enough. Master Ning was only telling the truth. Don't make a scene," Dong Zhenghao scolded.

In just a few moments, he'd become one of Master Ning's followers. He especially didn't want Liu Mumu saying something offensive and offending the master.

Liu Mumu ignored Dong Zhenghao and met Master Ning's gaze for a moment. "You can only read things this far? It seems you weren't being modest earlier. You really don't deserve to be called a master."

"Little girl, don't bother trying to provoke me."

"You spent all that time reading my dad's fate and came up with nothing useful. Did you even figure out his life pattern?"

Master Ning frowned. "You know fortune-telling?"

"I know more than you do. There's nothing special about knowing I have the Heavenly Fiend Clash Four Pillars life pattern. Anyone who's read a book on divination knows that. But you call yourself a master, and you can't even see the Four Pillars Hidden Fate. How do you have the nerve to tell other people's fortunes?"

Master Ning froze, then abruptly turned to look at Dong Zhenghao and rapidly worked through a series of finger calculations.

The more he calculated, the greater the shock on his face.

The Four Pillars Hidden Fate was an exceptionally subtle life pattern, one that happened to block all the negative effects brought by the Star of Solitude. Who could have guessed that a father and daughter would have life patterns that complemented each other so perfectly?

Seeing this, Zhan Hongye broke up their standoff with a cheerful smile. "Looks like even a master can make a mistake. Don't take it to heart, brother-in-law. Let's eat and talk."

He wanted to change the subject, but Liu Mumu wasn't about to let him. She was already half full, and whether anyone else was hungry wasn't her problem.

"Don't be so quick. I'm not finished."

She tapped her chopsticks against the cup in front of her. Once everyone was looking at her, she leaned slightly toward Master Ning, whose expression had soured. "There's something I've wanted to ask ever since I met this fortune-telling master. Do you have a Diviner's License?"

Master Ning was taken aback by her question. Then he caught on and countered, "How do you know about Diviner's Licenses?"

"I asked you a question. Please answer it directly. Do you have one or not?"

Master Ning's tone turned icy. "That's none of your business."

Liu Mumu leaned back. "I'm afraid it has quite a lot to do with me."

She looked around the room. "You don't have a Diviner's License, yet you spout nonsense and try to harm me. There's nothing wrong with reporting you for fraudulently passing yourself off as a diviner."

"Mumu, perhaps Master Ning has his reasons for not having a license. There's no need to make this such a big deal." Zhan Hongye tried to mediate. After all, he was the one who'd invited the man.

No one there was a fool. They could all see that Liu Mumu now had the upper hand, and that everything hinged on the Diviner's License she'd mentioned.

No one understood how Liu Mumu had suddenly learned so much about fortune-telling. Only Dong Zhenghao seemed to have an idea.

Liu Mumu smiled at Zhan Hongye. "If you think what he's selling is good and want to support him, that's fine. But if he insists on forcing his services on me, reporting him for operating without a license only proves that I'm an honest person."

She looked up at Master Ning. "Isn't that right, Master Ning?"

Master Ning shot to his feet, his chair clattering loudly.

Liu Mumu held up her phone and took a picture of him. "What, trying to run? No need to make it complicated. These days, you can report a fraud with a photo. Once they've seen your picture, running to the ends of the earth won't help you."

"What do you want?" Ning Yuan had been about to leave, but he stopped in his tracks. His face twisted with frustration.

"You said something wrong and hurt someone. Don't you need to apologize to the person you harmed?"

Ning Yuan gritted his teeth. "I'm sorry. I read it wrong."

He said it through clenched teeth, forced to lower his head against his will.

Liu Mumu pursed her lips, less than satisfied. "You don't sound very sincere, but fine. I'll be the bigger person."

Before the other man could relax, she added, "I've also suffered a serious emotional blow. Shouldn't I get some compensation?"

"Of course!"

Liu Mumu gave him her bank account details. Before long, she received a compensation payment large enough to keep her happy for a month.

As she read the bank's text message, poking at her phone to look it over several more times, she said without looking up, "You're not so stupid that you'll turn around and accuse me of extortion, are you?"

"I know the rules." Master Ning sat back down, his face dark.

What he'd paid wasn't compensation. It was hush money.

He'd been walking too close to the river for too long, and now his shoes were wet. He was an unlicensed vendor who'd been caught with his hand in the till.

No one had expected that the unassuming young girl was part of their circle too, or that she'd grabbed him by his weakest point.

Too bad this was Qingcheng...

He seethed inwardly. Today, he'd lost face and taken a real hit.

For the rest of the meal, Liu Mumu was the only one who still enjoyed the food. The others could barely taste it.

At last, they finished eating. Zhan Hongye said his goodbyes, then left with Jiang Jia and Master Ning, leaving the three of them—the plastic family—sitting together.

Dong Zhenghao hesitated again and again before finally speaking. "How about I buy you a new villa, and you move there?"

The earlier conversation had ended too quickly, and he hadn't understood the subtleties of what they'd said. Either way, his own life mattered more.

But now that his daughter had shown some ability, he thought it best not to offend her too badly.

"Scared of dying?"

Dong Zhenghao nodded despite himself.

"Don't be. Grandpa personally read my fortune. My life pattern might be a little terrible, but your fate is good enough to suppress the misfortune it brings."

Dong Zhenghao still wasn't reassured. "Really?"

Liu Mumu stood up. "Dad, you don't really think I'm willing to live with you because of some earth-shattering father-daughter bond, do you?"

No. Dong Zhenghao had always thought she was after his money.

"I remember you already promised me before, Dad. Breaking your word now wouldn't be a good idea. If I get angry, I might use unconventional methods on you. Want to find out?"

Dong Zhenghao quickly dodged his daughter as she leaned toward him. "No need!"

Then, still uneasy, he asked again, "It really won't affect me?"

"Whatever it is, it won't affect you. Have some faith." Then she glanced at Jiang Li, who'd been unusually quiet beside them. "If it does affect someone else... you can just get yourself a new wife."

Without caring how Jiang Li reacted, she left the private room with a light step.

Dong Zhenghao: ...

He suddenly felt just a tiny bit tempted.