Attracting petty schemers (technique)

On the way back with Li Xuan, she asked me, "Du Le said you can read people's fortunes too?"

Read fortunes? And "too"? Who else did she mean?

I looked at her in confusion and said nothing.

Li Xuan paused, then smiled. "Didn't we go to Lingyin Temple together before?

Du Le said you can actually do that yourself."

Oh! So by "too," she meant Lingyin Temple.

I explained, "What I do is a little different from what they do at Lingyin Temple. They invoke spirits. I use deduction."

"Deduction? To read fortunes?"

I was speechless. She really wasn't letting go of that phrase.

Fine, call it fortune-reading, then. I asked her, "What do you want me to look into?"

She said frankly, "My older cousin's been having a rough time. She keeps attracting petty schemers.

I was wondering whether it might have something to do with that sort of thing. I wanted to ask if you could go take a look."

"Does your cousin believe in this?" I asked.

People who didn't believe were on a different wavelength, and communicating with them was difficult.

Chasing after them to offer help was no good either.

"More or less. She's not particularly superstitious, but she doesn't reject it either. She's mainly worried about spending money. What's your appearance fee?" Li Xuan asked.

Appearance fee? That was a trendy term.

If her cousin was willing to pay, that meant there was at least some foundation of trust.

Maybe I would need to use her green card status to set up a company later. Taking this opportunity to check her fortunes wouldn't hurt.

So how much would be appropriate?

I thought it over.

She was worried about spending money, so I couldn't charge too much.

Too little, though, would make it seem unimportant.

"How about... half a day's wages?" I looked at Li Xuan.

I had no idea how much her cousin earned in a day.

Whatever the amount, half a day's wages would be a gesture of sincerity without being too much for her.

I added, "Whatever the amount, she has to pay it herself.

You can't pay for her."

Li Xuan nodded. "I think that'll be fine. Let me confirm with her."

With that, she stepped aside to make a call.

Before long, she came back smiling. "My cousin agreed too. Can we go now? Does it have to be at an auspicious hour?"

Apparently, she still hadn't understood what deduction meant.

I smiled. "Why would deduction depend on the hour? Let's go. Which bus do we take?"

When we reached the foot of her cousin's block, I tugged Li Xuan's arm.

She turned back and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Then she suddenly lowered her voice mysteriously. "Is there... sinister energy?!"

I said, "..."

From the look of it, she had read plenty of fantasy novels.

Exasperated, I said, "Let's eat down here before we go up. At this hour, if we go up on empty stomachs, should your cousin cook for us or not?"

There were usually coffee shops below Singapore's HDB blocks, much like the open-air food stalls back home.

Places like Starbucks were called cafés in Singapore.

Here, a coffee shop meant an inexpensive roadside place to eat.

Li Xuan thought it over and agreed with my suggestion.

After eating, Li Xuan and I walked around downstairs before heading up.

Her cousin was waiting at the door.

She looked plain and unassuming, honest and conscientious.

She was home alone.

After changing shoes, I wandered through the rooms. Fortunately, there were no major problems, nothing that required moving sand or earth.

Artificial flowers stood in prominent spots around the home.

I pointed at them and suggested, "You should put all of these away."

Her cousin asked, "Are artificial flowers bad? I only bought them recently."

Standing beside me, Li Xuan also looked over, waiting for my explanation.

"You can't make a blanket statement that they're good or bad.

Artificial flowers have no vitality.

They have the appearance of flowers but not their qi. Everything is only surface-deep.

What's real is yang; what's fake is yin.

People resonate with everything in the universe.

When you're surrounded by false appearances, the people you encounter will be the same, with no sincerity.

That's what people commonly call attracting petty schemers."

Li Xuan asked, "Doesn't that obviously mean they're bad? Why did you say you can't make a blanket statement?"

I explained, "In terms of the five elements, artificial flowers belong to wood and fire.

Wood nourishes the liver, and fire nourishes the heart.

The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon says the liver opens into the eyes. That's why so many people say looking at green plants is good for your eyes.

If someone's qi is abundant enough that the little disruption to vitality from artificial flowers doesn't matter, they might deliberately use them to strengthen the energy of wood and fire.

But people whose qi doesn't flow freely are better off avoiding objects that have this sort of effect."

"Do we need to set up an arrangement to ward off petty schemers?" Li Xuan asked.

I smiled. "No. When upright qi is strong, outside evils can't intrude. When you're full of vitality and strong in yourself, negative people and events won't align with your fortune, and they'll naturally drift away."

Her cousin asked, "After I throw out the artificial flowers, can I just replace them with real ones? Does the variety matter?"

That was a good question.

"There are plenty of principles concerning flowers. Every spot in a home has its own five-element energy.

Every object does too. Plants, for example, belong to wood.

If you put them anywhere you please, they can easily suppress earth and harm the spleen and stomach. It's not good for gynecological health either.

It's best to keep your home simple and tidy, with as few unnecessary things as possible.

Think of five-star hotels. Their rooms and lobbies are so spacious, yet they contain very few objects.

That's called leaving space. When a place is spacious and bright, qi flows freely, and your fortunes improve."

"Then should I just leave the vases sitting here empty?"

"No, no, no, no!" I hurriedly said.

Only then did I truly appreciate how, when "reading fortunes" for someone, a single insufficiently clear explanation could cause trouble.

I cautioned her very seriously, "Never keep empty vases in your home, especially ones that are tall and deep, with narrow mouths and opaque sides."

Li Xuan asked mysteriously, "Novels often say ghosts hide inside vases. Is that what it's about?"

Her cousin jumped, her face turning pale. She slapped Li Xuan hard on the arm and scolded, "It's late at night. Don't talk nonsense!"

Li Xuan protested, "It's true! That's what all the books say."

Ghosts? How was I supposed to explain this?

Explaining ghosts properly would take more than the whole night.

Besides, her cousin already looked rather pale.

It was late. I shouldn't frighten her any further.

After a moment's thought, I explained, "The inside of an opaque vase is empty and dark, which can easily make people feel psychologically unsafe.

Especially for people with sensitive nerves, it's more likely to set their imaginations running and become a source of mental distress.

If there's wind, it might also produce a resonating sound as it passes over the narrow mouth.

That makes it seem even eerier and leaves people imagining things."

"So it's not really haunted?" Li Xuan pressed, unwilling to let it go.

"Uh..." How should I put this?

Neither yes nor no seemed appropriate.

While I was considering how to explain, her cousin slapped Li Xuan again. "I told you not to talk nonsense, and you're still at it!"

Li Xuan covered her mouth and grinned, waggling her eyebrows.

That was the end of the subject.

Besides the artificial flowers, there were a few other minor details. I offered suggestions for each.

They were all simple adjustments, and we finished them quickly.

It was getting late, so we didn't linger. Once we finished, we headed back.

That night, I was reading at home when QQ suddenly lit up. I glanced at it: "Singapore coffee shop Little Bun Shanghai airport."

She had sent only two words: "You there?"

We hadn't been in touch since arriving in Singapore. Remembering our meeting at Shanghai airport, I replied, "Yeah."

As soon as I sent it, she placed a voice call.

I hesitated.

It was late at night. I had no idea what she wanted.

We were only passing acquaintances. Surely she wasn't calling out of nowhere just to ask how I was doing?

After hesitating for a few seconds, I answered.

"Sanhe... sob... sob..." As soon as the call connected, I heard her crying so hard she could barely catch her breath.

"What's wrong?" I froze. What terrible thing could have happened to make her cry like that?

"I... sob... I got tricked... sob... sob... I... sob..." She kept choking on her tears.

Tricked?

I breathed a sigh of relief.

At least nothing life-threatening had happened.

"Oh? Tell me what's making you unhappy so I can have a good laugh!" I joked.

"?!..." She froze, even forgetting to cry.

After a long pause, she shouted through gritted teeth, "Wang! San! He!"

"Haha, there, you've finally stopped crying!" I laughed. "You were sobbing so much I couldn't make out what you were saying.

Since you called me, at least explain what happened first. Then I can see whether I can help."

"You're willing to help me?" She sounded a little incredulous.

"Then why did you call me...?"

"I just wanted to cry."

I said, "..."

"If you're willing to help, that'd be wonderful!" Suddenly, her tears turned to laughter.

I said, "In that case, maybe you should cry a little longer!"

"I can't cry anymore, hahahaha!" She laughed without a care, as though she hadn't been the one sobbing breathlessly a moment earlier.

"Sanhe, have you cultivated into an immortal yet?"

I said, "?!"

"I mean, back at Shanghai airport, didn't that immortal old man open your heavenly eye? He even gave you a few secret cultivation manuals."

I said, "Mm... and?"

"What level have you reached now?"

This conversation was getting almost impossible to keep going...

"I'm... still human."

I genuinely didn't know how to respond, so I took the initiative instead. "You said you got tricked. What happened?"

"Sob..." She was about to cry again.

"Stop!" I hurriedly shouted. "Crying one minute and laughing the next-don't drive yourself crazy. Just talk properly!"

"Pfft!" She burst out laughing again, giggling uncontrollably.

I was utterly speechless.

So I simply stopped talking and waited for her to explain at her own pace.

After taking a little time to settle herself, she explained, "Didn't I come here to work in a coffee shop? I thought the workplace would be like Starbucks! But it turns out that in Singapore, a coffee shop means roadside stalls, an open-air food court!"

"What about the pay?" I asked.

"The pay is what they promised. It's just that the workplace isn't pretty, there's no air-conditioning, and there aren't any handsome guys or pretty girls," she complained.

"And then?" I asked.

"And then? There's no 'and then,'" she replied blankly.

I was exasperated.

"When you said you were tricked, you meant the workplace has no air-conditioning?" I wasn't quite sure what had made her cry earlier.

"Not entirely..." She thought for a moment. "Mostly, I've been working here all this time, and I've realized there aren't any handsome guys."

At that, she seemed ready to cry again.

"Uh..." I quickly spoke up, trying to distract her, even though I hadn't decided what to say.

Sure enough, she stopped and asked curiously, "What were you going to say?"

I gathered my thoughts and asked, "Apart from no air-conditioning and no handsome guys, are there any other problems?"

"Hmm... the workplace wasn't pretty," she said after thinking it over.

"Okay, anything else besides those three things?"

"No."

"All right, then let me ask you this: before you went, did the agency promise you air conditioning, handsome guys, and a beautiful workplace?" I asked.

"Well, no," Little Bun said honestly.

"So when you say you were deceived, you mean reality didn't match what you imagined, not what they promised you. Is that right?" I asked.

There was a long silence on the other end before she finally squeezed out, "Wang Sanhe, you're bullying me!"

I laughed. "Just tell me, yes or no?"

"Hmph! I don't want to talk to you anymore!"

"Do you remember what Master said last time about opinions and facts?"

"Hmph, I don't want to talk to you anymore!"

Ah, crossing paths with someone is a matter of fate. I might as well see this good deed through.

"How about this? Which café do you work at? We don't have classes tomorrow afternoon, so after class lets out at noon, I'll bring a friend along to visit you."

"Really? That's great! I'm in Wuluo."

We happily arranged to meet the next day, and then I called Du Le.

"That's great, bro! It's settled, then. I don't have classes tomorrow morning, so I'll go do my part-time job first, and we'll meet in Wuluo at noon. I've actually got something I need to talk to you about!" Du Le said in a rush.

"What is it? If it's urgent, you can tell me now."

"It's hard to explain over the phone. Let's talk when we meet!" Du Le hurriedly hung up on his end.