Ten: Five Hundred and Twenty Thousand Wen

Ten: Five Hundred and Twenty Thousand Wen

The man's face looked like an overproofed white bun, shiny with grease. The jowls sagged and wobbled, and when he opened his mouth, two rows of yellow teeth showed. His shabby clothes clung tightly to his body, caked with grease stains that must have accumulated over who knew how long.

His hair was just as bad, wild and tangled like dried grass. The whole man looked like a thoroughly filthy slob.

People nearby had already begun whispering among themselves. They all knew the fellow: he was a notorious street thug and scoundrel around these parts.

He spent his days idling about, never doing an honest day's work, and loved nothing more than taking advantage of people and doing whatever scummy thing he could. At that moment, many of them were secretly fretting for the handsome young Daoist, thinking that now the scoundrel had latched onto him, he was in for a heap of trouble.

Chen Ye looked at the thug, a faint smile playing at his lips, and spoke leisurely. "Heh. You're testing me, then."

"What, can't figure it out? You don't even have that much skill, yet you dare tell people their fortunes? Aren't you just leading them to ruin? Today, I'll rid the people of this scourge!"

The thug bellowed, winding up to throw a punch. But as soon as he raised his fist, Chen Ye caught him. The man's wrist was clamped like iron, and he couldn't budge.

The smile never left Chen Ye's face. He spoke softly to the thug. "If you don't believe me, why not test me first? I'll charge just one wen for this first reading. If I'm right, you pay me one wen. If I'm wrong, I'll pay you back a hundredfold. How about it?"

The thug struggled to wrench his hand free. His wrist had already swollen in a ring, and he grimaced in pain. But when he heard Chen Ye's offer, his eyes rolled, and he immediately put on a different face. "If you get it right, you only charge one wen? If you get it wrong, you pay me a hundred wen? You mean it?!"

Chen Ye looked certain of himself and declared loudly, "A word once spoken cannot be taken back."

The thug immediately threw his head back and shouted, "Neighbors, you all heard him! This young Daoist says that if he gets it wrong, he'll pay me a hundred wen. Fine, then. Let's see what you can do. Tell me my surname!"

At his roar, the onlookers' hearts leaped into their throats. They all worried for Chen Ye, thinking that the handsome young Daoist shouldn't be bullied by this scoundrel.

Chen Ye acted as though he hadn't heard their concern. Calmly, he said to the thug, "Very well. Please write down your birth date and time..."

The thug shook his head and started playing dirty. "Why should I tell you my birth date and time? You never said I had to give you that. Fortune-tellers can read faces, can't they? You've seen mine. If you can't figure it out, you lose."

The neighbors were furious at his words, cursing him under their breath for picking on Chen Ye. What kind of fortune-telling could be done without a birth date and time? If he gave nothing, how was anyone supposed to calculate it? Though everyone felt Chen Ye was being treated unfairly, a part of them was also eager to see how the young Daoist would respond.

Chen Ye furrowed his brow slightly, looking somewhat troubled.

Seeing his expression, the thug grew even more pleased with himself and shouted all the louder. "What, can't figure it out? Then pay up! Don't think you can wriggle out of it. My big brother works at the county yamen. If you're short even one wen, he'll skin you alive!"

Chen Ye sighed softly. His expression turned solemn as he said, "Since you insist on making things difficult for me, this young Daoist has no choice but to disobey my master's command and show you my true skill."

With that, Chen Ye formed hand seals, muttering under his breath. A moment later, he blurted out, "Your surname is Wang. Am I wrong?"

The thug's face changed dramatically, and his eyes bulged as if they might fall out. But in the next instant, he started shouting again. "Wrong, wrong, wrong... I'm surnamed Li! The Li with the 'wood' and 'son'!"

The watching neighbors burst into a chorus of boos. Who didn't know that this scoundrel was called Wang Sanqi?

"Wang the thug is so desperate to win that he's disowning his own family name?"

"Bah! He can't even afford to lose one wen. What a piece of trash."

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

Wang Sanqi's face flushed red, then pale. He seemed unable to save face, and perhaps genuinely feared word would get back to his father. At last, he could only stiffen his neck and admit reluctantly, "You're good, I'll give you that. I really am surnamed Wang."

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

Amid the neighbors' jeers, Wang Sanqi reluctantly fished out one wen and tossed it at Chen Ye's feet. Still, he kept needling him. "Hmph. You only got it by blind luck, like a blind cat stumbling on a dead rat. But that doesn't prove you have any real skill. Dare to bet again, same stakes as before?"

The neighbors booed even louder, thinking he was clearly just bullying Chen Ye.

Chen Ye, too, looked displeased. "I've already read your fortune once. That proves I'm no fraud."

Wang Sanqi refused to let it go. "What does getting lucky once prove? Dare to calculate my birth date and time? Same stakes as before!"

Chen Ye fixed a cold gaze on the thug and said in a low voice, "It seems you're determined to make things difficult for me. Fine. I'll make you accept it wholeheartedly today. But we're changing the stakes!"

At that, Wang Sanqi immediately jumped up and down, shouting, "Changing them how? We agreed on one to a hundred. How can you go back on your word?"

Chen Ye seemed to have been so infuriated by the thug's shameless behavior that he'd lost his patience. He sneered, "One to a hundred is fine, but you can't bet one wen. For this reading, you bet two wen. If I lose, I'll pay you two hundred. For the third reading, you bet four wen, and if I lose, I'll pay you four hundred. And so on. Bet on as many readings as you like; I'll take them all. But you have to double your stake each time. Do you dare?"

Wang Sanqi's eyes darted about. He thought, What kind of fool would make a deal like this? I could just take out a hundred wen, and that would be enough for dozens of readings. Is he really going to get every one right? With that, he readily agreed, raising his voice. "Fine, you said it! What a fool. I could take out a hundred wen and have you read my fortune dozens of times. There's no way you'll get every reading right! It's a deal. Neither of us is allowed to back out!"

The watching neighbors were all stunned by Chen Ye's audacity. Wasn't he asking for trouble? No matter how skilled he was, there was no way to guarantee every reading would be accurate. And even if he did get them right, what if the thug asked some tricky question only he himself knew the answer to, then refused to pay? Wouldn't Chen Ye be bound to lose? Everyone was sweating for him.

Wang Sanqi didn't care. He kept urging him on. "Enough talk. Figure out my birth date and time. If you can't, you lose!"

However, as if he'd known it all in advance, Chen Ye answered at once. "The thirteenth day of the seventh month in the Jiachen year, at the first quarter of the Hai hour. You're twenty-seven this year."

Wang Sanqi's eyes widened again. From the look of him, Chen Ye had hit the mark once more.

But Wang Sanqi's eyes darted about, and he was just about to deny it outright when someone nearby called out loudly, "Wang the thug, dare to lie through your teeth? We'll go tell your father!"

There was always someone who loved a good show, especially when it came at someone else's expense. Wang Sanqi had a terrible reputation, and everyone was eager to watch him make a fool of himself.

Wang Sanqi whipped around with a vicious glare, but couldn't see who had spoken. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Fine, you're good. You got it right again. But it's only two wen. Let's go again!"

Chen Ye held out his hand toward Wang Sanqi. "Then pay me the two wen first."

Wang Sanqi waved him off and started playing dirty again. "Put it on the tab. You think I'm going to stiff you for two wen? We'll settle the bill all at once when we're done!"

The neighbors booed again.

"Shameless!"

"Can't afford to lose!"

"Have you no shame at all?"

Wang Sanqi seemed to have a face as thick as a city wall. He paid no heed to the insults, acting as if he hadn't heard them, and continued, "For the next reading, tell me how many people are in my household!"

Chen Ye sneered. "Your parents are alive and well. You're nearly thirty, still cooped up in a shabby house, unable to find a wife, and you spend your days cadging meals at your older brother and sister-in-law's home. Should I say your household has only one person, or count your parents, brother, and sister-in-law too?"

At that, the onlookers burst into applause.

Wang Sanqi's family was exactly as Chen Ye had described, without a single detail wrong. This young Daoist was astonishingly accurate.

Wang Sanqi had been struck where it hurt. His face turned crimson, but he still wouldn't give up. Gritting his teeth, he asked again, "This time, tell me what color my dog's fur is!"

"You can't even feed yourself, so you don't have a dog."

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

"West."

"What's it made of?!"

"Willow wood."

"What kind of wine do I like to drink?"

"When you're flush, you like Yubingshao. When you're hard up, you steal whatever you can drink."

"You long-eared Daoist, how dare you slander me?!"

"Heh."

"I've written a character on my palm. Guess what it is."

"You wrote the character for Wang, but you got ink on your thumb, planning to add one stroke and turn it into the character for jade after I say Wang."

The two went back and forth like this. No matter how tricky Wang Sanqi's questions became, Chen Ye answered immediately, as if he truly could see everything.

Wang Sanqi seemed to have lost his head over the mounting losses and was about to keep betting, when Chen Ye said to him, "Wang Sanqi, you've lost eighteen times. You owe me 524,287 wen, including the one wen you've already paid. You still owe me 524,286 wen. I'll round it down for you: you owe me 520,000 wen. Do you still want to keep betting?"