Five Hundred and Twenty Thousand Copper Coins

Chapter 10: Five Hundred and Twenty Thousand Wen

This man's face was like an over-steamed white flour bun, slick and shiny with grease. The rolls of fat on his cheeks wobbled incessantly, and when he opened his mouth, two rows of yellow teeth were revealed. His tattered clothes were stretched tight over his frame, stained with layers of oil that had clearly been accumulating for quite some time.

Looking at his messy hair, which was as wild and tangled as withered grass, the man looked like a complete and utter slob.

The surrounding crowd noticed him, and people began whispering to one another. They all recognized this fellow; he was a notorious scoundrel in the neighborhood.

He spent his days idling about, never doing any honest work, and loved nothing more than to pull wicked stunts to take advantage of others. At this moment, many felt a secret pang of worry for the handsome young Taoist, thinking that being entangled with such a rogue would surely lead to big trouble today.

Chen Ye looked at this scoundrel, a faint smile playing on his lips as he spoke leisurely, "Heh, it seems you are here to test me."

"What, can't figure it out? If you don't even have this bit of skill, how dare you tell fortunes for others? Isn't that just harming people?! Today, I, your grandfather, shall rid the people of this pest!"

The scoundrel shouted at the top of his lungs and made a move to throw a punch. However, just as he raised his fist, it was seized by Chen Ye. His wrist felt as if it had been clamped in iron pincers, unable to move an inch.

Chen Ye's smile did not fade as he said softly to the scoundrel, "If you don't believe me, why not try it out first? For this first divination, I only charge one wen. If I guess correctly, you give me one wen. If I am wrong, I will pay you back a hundredfold. How about that?"

The scoundrel struggled to pull his hand back, but a ring of swelling had already formed on his wrist, making him wince in pain. Yet, upon hearing Chen Ye's words, his eyes darted around, and he immediately changed his tune, asking, "If you guess right, you only charge one wen? If you guess wrong, you pay me one hundred wen? Is that for real?!"

Chen Ye's expression was resolute as he said in a clear voice, "A word once spoken is hard to take back."

The scoundrel immediately opened his mouth wide and bellowed, "All you neighbors heard that! This young Taoist said it himself: if he guesses wrong, he pays me one hundred wen. Fine, let me see what you're made of. Tell me, what is my surname?"

As this shout rang out, the hearts of the onlookers rose to their throats. They all broke into a cold sweat for Chen Ye, thinking that such a handsome young Taoist shouldn't be bullied by this rogue.

Chen Ye, however, seemed not to hear the surrounding concern and said to the scoundrel with a calm expression, "Very well, please write down your date and time of birth..."

The scoundrel shook his head and played the rogue, "Why should I tell you my birth date? You didn't say I had to provide that. Aren't fortune tellers supposed to be able to read faces? I've let you see this face; if you can't figure it out, then you lose."

Once these words were out, the neighbors felt a surge of anger, silently cursing the scoundrel for being too overbearing. Since when does a fortune teller not require a birth date? Without any information, how could he possibly calculate anything? Although they were secretly rooting for Chen Ye, they were also filled with a faint sense of anticipation, wanting to see how the young Taoist would handle this.

Chen Ye frowned slightly, a look of mild difficulty appearing on his face.

Seeing him like this, the scoundrel became even more smug, clamoring even more aggressively, "What, can't figure it out? Then pay up! Don't even think about welching on the debt; my older brother works at the yamen, and if you're even one wen short, he'll skin you alive!"

Chen Ye sighed softly, his expression turning solemn as he said in a deep voice, "Since you are pushing me so hard, this humble Taoist has no choice but to defy the orders of my ancestors and reveal my true skills."

With that, Chen Ye pinched his fingers together, muttering something under his breath. A moment later, he blurted out, "Your surname is Wang. Am I wrong?"

The scoundrel's face changed instantly, his eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out. But in a split second, he shouted, "Wrong, wrong, wrong... you're wrong! I... I am surnamed Li! Li as in wood and child!"

The onlookers let out a chorus of boos. Who didn't know that this scoundrel was named Wang Sanqi?

"Is this scoundrel Wang so desperate to win that he won't even acknowledge his own ancestors' surname?"

"Pah, can't even afford to lose one wen. What a piece of trash."

"Go tell his father. Let Constable Wang beat him to death."

Wang Sanqi's face turned pale then red. He seemed to be in a tight spot, appearing genuinely afraid that this would reach his father's ears. He could only stiffen his neck and say unwillingly, "Fine, you're good. My surname is indeed Wang."

Chen Ye smiled without a word and simply held out his right hand.

Amidst the jeers of the neighbors, Wang Sanqi, full of reluctance, fished out one wen and threw it at Chen Ye's feet, still provoking him relentlessly, "Hmph, you just got lucky like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse. But guessing that doesn't prove you have any real skill. Do you dare to bet again? Same stakes as before!"

The boos from the crowd grew louder, everyone thinking that this was clearly bullying.

Chen Ye also showed a hint of anger and said to Wang Sanqi, "I have already performed one divination for you, which has proven that I am no fraud."

Wang Sanqi refused to let it go, saying, "What does one lucky guess prove? Do you dare to calculate my birth date?! Same stakes as before!"

Chen Ye stared at the scoundrel, his expression cold and stern as he said in a deep voice, "It seems you are determined to make things difficult for me. Very well, today I will make you admit defeat. But the stakes must change!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Sanqi jumped up and shouted, "Change what? We agreed on one to one hundred! How can you be so untrustworthy!"

Chen Ye seemed to have lost his patience with the scoundrel's behavior and sneered, "One to one hundred is fine, but you cannot bet just one wen. For this divination, you must bet two wen; if I lose, I pay you two hundred wen. For the third, you bet four wen; if I lose, I pay you four hundred wen. And so on. I will bet with you for as many divinations as you want, but the stakes must double each time. Do you dare?!"

Wang Sanqi's eyes darted around. He thought to himself, where in this world could there be such a fool? He could just pull out one hundred wen, and it would be enough for this young Taoist to calculate dozens of times. Could he possibly get every single one right? Thinking of this, he immediately agreed loudly, "Fine, you said it yourself! I can't believe there's such an idiot in this world. I can just pull out one hundred wen and it'll be enough for you to calculate dozens of times. I don't believe you'll be that accurate every time! It's a deal, and neither of us is allowed to back out!"

The onlookers were shocked by Chen Ye's boldness, thinking that he was just digging his own grave. No matter how high his cultivation, he couldn't guarantee every divination would be accurate. Even if he could, what if the scoundrel asked tricky questions only he knew the answer to and then refused to pay? Wasn't this a guaranteed loss? Everyone broke into a cold sweat for Chen Ye.

Wang Sanqi, however, didn't care at all and urged him incessantly, "Stop the nonsense! Calculate my birth date. If you can't, you lose!"

Yet, Chen Ye acted as if he had foreseen it all, speaking immediately, "Year of the Jia-Chen, seventh month, thirteenth day, at the first quarter of the Hai hour. You are twenty-seven this year."

Wang Sanqi's eyes widened again; it seemed he had been hit correctly by Chen Ye once more.

But Wang Sanqi's eyes darted around, and just as he was about to deny it, he heard someone shout from the side, "Scoundrel Wang, if you dare to lie, we'll go tell your father!"

There were always those who loved to stir up trouble. Wang Sanqi's reputation was terrible, and everyone was waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

Wang Sanqi turned back fiercely, but couldn't find who had spoken. He could only grit his teeth and say, "You're good, you got it right again. But it's only two wen. Let's go again!"

Chen Ye reached out his hand toward Wang Sanqi and said, "Then pay me the two wen first."

Wang Sanqi waved his hand, playing the rogue, "Put it on my tab! Do you think I'd short you two wen? We'll settle it all at the end!"

The neighbors let out another round of boos.

"Shameless!"

"Can't afford to lose!"

"Truly shameless!"

Wang Sanqi, however, seemed to have skin as thick as a city wall; he turned a deaf ear to these rebukes, acting as if he hadn't heard a thing, and continued to say to Chen Ye, "For the next divination, calculate how many people are in my family!"

Chen Ye sneered and said, "Your parents are still alive, yet at nearly thirty, you still hole up in a squalid room, unable to find a wife, spending your days sponging meals off your brother and sister-in-law. Do you want me to say there is only one person in your family, or should I count your parents, brother, and sister-in-law as well?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the onlookers clapped and cheered.

Wang Sanqi's family background was indeed exactly as Chen Ye had described, not a single detail off; this young Daoist was truly incredibly accurate.

Stung in his most sensitive spot, Wang Sanqi's face turned bright red, yet he refused to give up, gritting his teeth as he asked again, "This time, calculate the color of my dog's fur!"

"You can't even feed yourself, you don't own a dog at all!"

"Does my front door face south or north?!"

"It faces west."

"What kind of wood is the door made of?!"

"Willow."

"What kind of liquor do I usually like to drink?!"

"When you're flush, you enjoy Yubingshao, and when you're strapped for cash, you steal whatever you can get your hands on."

"You Daoist priest, how dare you slander me?!"

"Heh."

"I'll write a character on my palm, you guess what it is."

"You wrote the character for 'King', but your thumb is stained with ink, and you were planning to add a stroke to turn it into 'Jade' once I said 'King'."

The two of them went back and forth like this; no matter how tricky Wang Sanqi's questions were, Chen Ye answered them the moment he opened his mouth, as if he had truly divined everything.

Wang Sanqi seemed to have lost his mind from the gambling, and just as he was about to continue, Chen Ye said to him, "Wang Sanqi, you have already lost eighteen times. You owe me 524,287 wen; counting the one wen you already paid, you still owe me 524,286 wen. Let's round it off—you owe me 520,000 wen. Do you still want to keep gambling?"