Trying his hand at fortune-telling (Part 1)

Jinling University, Tree-Back Dormitory, Dormitory Room 520.

Inside the room, Wang Nuli, the second eldest, and Zhang Zhengxiao, the eldest, were staring at the forum, their faces brimming with excitement.

"In just one hour, we've passed ten thousand views, and over a thousand people have paid to see the pictures. That means we made ten thousand yuan in an hour! If this stays popular, we'll probably have enough to buy that milk tea shop in less than three days." Wang Nuli's eyes gleamed as he kept licking his lips.

Zhang Zhengxiao nodded, equally stunned. "At first, I thought hardly anyone would pay to look. Turns out I still underestimated how much money the campus belle could bring in. Luckily, we didn't post a front-facing picture of Fourth. With how crazy those admirers are, they'd probably turn his asshole into a sunflower!"

They had barely finished speaking when the door to Dormitory Room 520 swung open. Jun Wangchen walked slowly inside, his face dark and a hint of anger in his expression.

"Second, why did you post that stuff on the forum?"

"You've got sharp eyes, kid. You figured out it was me already." Wang Nuli waggled his eyebrows and grinned. "Relax, I didn't post a front-facing picture of you. Once the money comes in, the three of us can split—"

Smack!

Before Wang Nuli could finish, Jun Wangchen slammed his palm onto the iron table, his eyes blazing with fury. The tremendous force left a deep handprint in the metal.

"Wang Nuli, if there's one thing I fucking hate, it's exploiting people for money like this! Did you even consider how I'd feel?"

Jun Wangchen's sudden outburst startled Wang Nuli. He hurriedly waved his hands and explained, "Fourth, don't get angry yet. Here's the thing: Eldest and I have been thinking about buying a milk tea shop on the back street, but we don't have enough money. We had no choice but to think of ways to earn some.

"I happened to hear that the forum had a paid-viewing feature, and then I remembered Zi Hanyan inviting you yesterday. So I thought I could make a post about it to earn a little money.

"Sorry, Fourth. I didn't know you hated this sort of thing. Hang on, I'll delete the post right now."

Wang Nuli acted quickly, deleting the forum post at once. Then he stood awkwardly to one side, not knowing what to say.

Seeing how aggrieved Wang Nuli looked, Jun Wangchen's anger slowly faded. He sighed. "Second, I don't object to you making money. It's just that we're brothers. Shouldn't you at least have told me before doing something like this?"

"Well... okay, I admit I was wrong. Sorry, Fourth." Wang Nuli rubbed his nose, looking thoroughly apologetic.

"Don't worry. Next time I secretly photograph you in the shower, I'll definitely tell you first."

Jun Wangchen: "..."

This bastard... give him an inch, and he takes a mile!

Jun Wangchen rolled his eyes at Wang Nuli, then turned to Zhang Zhengxiao. "Eldest, how much would it cost to buy that milk tea shop?"

"Five hundred thousand." Zhang Zhengxiao held up five fingers.

"That's a bit expensive, but our university is one of Jinling City's top three. It's normal for nearby storefronts to cost more." Jun Wangchen frowned and asked, "How much more do you need to reach five hundred thousand?"

Zhang Zhengxiao and Wang Nuli exchanged glances, then both held up five fingers.

"Fifty thousand?" Jun Wangchen paused, looking rather surprised. "You two actually managed to scrape together four hundred and fifty thousand? Not bad!"

Both men flushed. "Uh... we meant we're still short five hundred thousand."

Jun Wangchen: "..."

Sure enough, he should have seen that coming. With how broke Wang Nuli and Zhang Zhengxiao were, how could they possibly have raised that much money?

"You two certainly dream big. You don't have a penny, yet you're bold enough to take on a milk tea shop that costs five hundred thousand."

Wang Nuli gave a helpless smile. "What can we do? A man's got to have dreams. We're graduating soon, and Eldest and I don't know jack shit about our major. If we don't find something to do, we won't have the nerve to go home and face our parents!"

"Exactly. We only made that post because we were so short on funds. Otherwise, we wouldn't have resorted to it," Zhang Zhengxiao said with a rueful nod.

Looking at them, Jun Wangchen thought for a moment before asking, "Have you made a business plan and budget for after you buy the shop?"

"We have. Whenever there's nothing to do in class, we think about this stuff." Wang Nuli nodded, pulled a notebook out from under his desk, and handed it to Jun Wangchen.

Jun Wangchen took it and looked through it, unable to hide his surprise.

The notebook contained over twenty pages of plans for the milk tea shop, covering detailed questions such as whether they could acquire the equipment, whether ingredients could be sourced conveniently and reliably over the long term, whether to use someone else's brand or create their own, whether there were competitors nearby and what their prices and quality were like, and whether competitors might appear later if the location currently had none.

Honestly, given Wang Nuli's and Zhang Zhengxiao's personalities, he had never expected them to prepare such a thorough plan.

"Very good!" After reading a little more, Jun Wangchen nodded, pulled two bank cards from inside his clothes, and handed them over.

"One of these cards has two hundred thousand in it, and the other has four hundred thousand. Both PINs are six zeros. Use five hundred thousand to buy the shop, and the remaining hundred thousand for renovations, equipment, ingredients, and advertising. Count me in as a shareholder."

The two froze for a moment, then excitedly accepted the cards and wrapped Jun Wangchen in a fierce hug.

Wang Nuli was especially moved. He knew exactly where Jun Wangchen's six hundred thousand had come from. For Jun Wangchen to hand over such a huge sum without even batting an eye—now that was a true brother.

"Fourth—no, Brother Fourth! We love you to death! We can never repay your kindness. We'll be waiting for you in the little grove tonight!"

"Get lost, both of you. I'm a lesbian—I only like women." Laughing as he cursed them out, Jun Wangchen pushed them away and kept his distance.

Holding the bank cards, Wang Nuli looked confident. "Fourth, don't worry. We'll manage the shop properly. Just wait for the money to roll in."

"Exactly! Whatever difficulties we run into, Second and I will overcome them. We'll do everything we can to make the shop thrive, so you can depart in peace," Zhang Zhengxiao chimed in, clenching his fist.

"With that fighting spirit, I can rest... wait, depart in peace? Damn it, are you wishing me dead?" Jun Wangchen nodded in satisfaction, only to realize something was wrong. His face darkened.

Wang Nuli and Zhang Zhengxiao both looked up at the ceiling and whistled, guilt written all over their faces.

Ding-dong!

Just then, a text notification sounded from Wang Nuli's pocket.

Wang Nuli paused, took out his phone, and looked at it. Excitement immediately lit his face. "The milk tea shop's owner is downstairs outside the Tree-Back Dormitory. Sounds like he wants to discuss the transfer with us in detail."

"Sure. We have funds available now, so it's time we talked it through with him." Zhang Zhengxiao nodded, then looked at Jun Wangchen. "Fourth, want to come along and take a look?"

Jun Wangchen thought for a moment and agreed. "All right, let's go together."

Truth be told, he wasn't entirely comfortable leaving it to Wang Nuli and Zhang Zhengxiao. Their plan was good, but a plan was still just a plan. Carrying it out smoothly and successfully would require an on-site inspection.

After grabbing their ID cards and student IDs, the three quickly left the room and headed to the entrance of the Tree-Back Dormitory.

A black Land Rover was parked outside. As soon as Jun Wangchen and the others arrived, a sturdy, square-faced middle-aged man waved them over and welcomed all three into the car.

"Boss Jia, you're usually so busy. How did you find the time to drive over and pick us up today?" Wang Nuli asked with a smile from the front passenger seat.

"I was planning to head back to my hometown with my nephew this morning, but something held him up, so we can only leave this afternoon." Boss Jia smiled helplessly as he drove.

"I happened to have nothing to do this morning, so I came over specifically to discuss the milk tea shop and confirm your intentions."

Zhang Zhengxiao cupped his hands and smiled. "You really are approachable, Boss Jia. We do intend to buy the shop, but there are still a few matters we'd like to ask you about."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhengxiao gave Wang Nuli a meaningful look. Catching on immediately, Wang Nuli took out the notebook and opened it to their list of questions.

They were definitely going to buy the shop, so asking the owner a few questions while he had time could save them plenty of unnecessary trouble.

Boss Jia took the notebook and glanced through it, looking rather surprised.

He had run his milk tea shop near the university for three or four years and had met plenty of students starting businesses, but he had never seen anyone like Wang Nuli and Zhang Zhengxiao, who had listed practically every question related to running a milk tea shop.

Seeing how eager they were to learn, Boss Jia smiled warmly. He held nothing back, answering every question he could, one by one.

Sitting in the back seat, Jun Wangchen listened without interrupting. He remained silent, occasionally thinking through some of the points raised by his roommates' questions.

About fifteen minutes later, after answering most of their questions, Boss Jia retrieved a contract from somewhere in the front of the car and handed it to them.

"Since you two have the funds and are certain you want to buy my milk tea shop, you can take a look at this contract. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me."

Both nodded, then opened the contract and began reading it carefully.

As they turned to the second page, a paper talisman suddenly fell out.

They paused and took a closer look. It was covered in a jumble of drawings they couldn't make any sense of.

"Boss Jia, what is this?"

Boss Jia turned his head to look and was about to say something when Jun Wangchen suddenly spoke from the back seat. "That's Bagua Paper, a paper talisman commonly used in fortune-telling, invented by Zhuge Liang. Nine is the ultimate number, derived from the six lines through three times three. One gives rise to two, two gives rise to three, and three gives rise to all things.

"This piece of Bagua Paper has existed for so long that it's lost its spiritual energy. If that energy were replenished, its function could be restored: the Supreme Ultimate gives rise to the two forms, the two forms to the four images, the four images to the eight trigrams, and the eight trigrams transform into sixty-four lines, repeating in an endless cycle of change."

Wang Nuli and Zhang Zhengxiao exchanged glances, utterly bewildered by what they had heard.

Only Boss Jia went still. A glint flashed through his eyes as he abruptly turned to look at Jun Wangchen in the back seat.

"And this young man is...?"