The young man frowned after listening to Master Yuan ramble. Everything Master Yuan said was so vague that he might as well have said nothing, but the young man still paid for the fortune-telling.
"Are you here to have your fortune told too, young man?" Jiang Hailin asked Ye Fan, finding him vaguely familiar.
Ye Fan was actually quite famous in Cang City-infamous, of course. But many people had only heard his name and never seen him. Although Jiang Hailin had met him before, Ye Fan's clothes and bearing had changed so much that Jiang Hailin failed to recognize him at first.
Ye Fan's stepmother did not want him to inherit the Ye Family's businesses, so she naturally played down his existence. As a result, Ye Fan rarely attended banquets, and very few people had met him.
Ye Fan shook his head. "I sell talismans."
"What kinds of talismans do you have?" Jiang Hailin asked.
"Only Peace Talismans and Illness-Expelling Talismans," Ye Fan said.
"Do you have anything else?"
Ye Fan studied the young man for a moment, rubbing his chin. "Do you want a Ghost-Expelling Talisman? You have yin energy and ghostly energy on you, but it's nothing to worry about. Your yang energy is strong. Rest for a few days and you'll be fine. You don't need a Ghost-Expelling Talisman..."
Jiang Hailin stared at Ye Fan in shock. "You know I..."
Ye Fan shook his head and gave him an inscrutable smile. Of course, he would have looked more like a true master if he had not been gnawing on a chicken drumstick while smiling.
Ye Fan wiped his mouth. "Want an Illness-Expelling Talisman? People often get sick after encountering a ghost. Why not buy one to stay safe?"
Jiang Hailin frowned. "How much does one cost?"
"Fifty thousand each!" Ye Fan said without hesitation.
Jiang Hailin frowned. "That expensive?"
"Mine are genuine, so naturally they cost more. If you want fakes, you can get those for five yuan. Go somewhere else," Ye Fan said lazily.
Jiang Hailin gritted his teeth. "Give me five Peace Talismans and five Illness-Expelling Talismans!"
Ye Fan blinked. "Young man, you really know quality when you see it! People with your discerning eye are rare these days!" He shook his head helplessly. It was precisely because this place was full of ignorant idiots that he could not get rich.
"You know about Ghost-Expelling Talismans. Can you get hold of one?" Jiang Hailin asked.
"Well... not at the moment!" Drawing a Ghost-Expelling Talisman was much more complicated than drawing Peace Talismans or Illness-Expelling Talismans. With his spiritual power so weak, Ye Fan could not draw one yet.
Ye Fan counted out ten talismans for Jiang Hailin, who took them and left, still full of doubts.
"Young man, you've raised your prices?" Master Yuan asked with a frown. A few days ago, those talismans had cost thirty thousand yuan. Now, just days later, the price had already risen to fifty thousand.
Ye Fan nodded. "Yes, I raised them. They were on special offer a few days ago. Today they're back to the regular price."
Master Yuan glanced at Ye Fan, unable to help feeling envious. He had just earned a thousand yuan, while Ye Fan had made five hundred thousand. If he had known selling talismans was so profitable, he would have bought some to sell too. Still, making money this way carried considerable risks...
"You should lie low for a few days. Rich young men like that are easy to fleece, but if they find out they've been cheated, you'll be in big trouble. He'll round up a bunch of people to make trouble. If you don't want a beating, why not move somewhere else? You've already made plenty from this one sale."
Ye Fan: "..."
Ye Fan considered that he still had some of the medicine he had bought earlier. This money, together with what he had left, would keep him going for a few more days. He figured he could take a few days off.
"Ah! It's still early, but I can pack up now," Ye Fan said.
"You're really lucky, young man! You keep landing big customers, one after another."
Ye Fan decided he needed to visit the municipal library. He knew little about many of Earth's plants, and some did not match the ones he was familiar with. He decided to look through illustrated plant guides at the library.
Carrying a stack of over a dozen books, Ye Fan sat down and began flipping through them at lightning speed.
With his nine-colored divine soul, Ye Fan could remember anything he saw. His reading speed was far beyond that of ordinary people.
After sitting down, Ye Fan noticed several girls repeatedly glancing his way. He figured he must be so handsome that he had set their hearts fluttering. After all, this world had plenty of fangirls!
Ye Fan had swiftly reached his third book when one of the girls stood up and walked over to him.
"Ye Fan, you can stop putting on an act."
Ye Fan looked up at the woman approaching him, baffled. "Do you need something?"
"Ye Fan, let's not beat around the bush. You have no chance with Tingting. Stop indulging in wishful thinking."
Ye Fan stared at the girl in bewilderment. "The staff at the psychiatric hospital really aren't doing their jobs. How could they let a crazy woman like you out?"
"You!" Jiang Rou glared at Ye Fan, grinding her teeth.
Ye Fan spotted Liao Tingting with her back to him. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he finally understood why these women kept looking his way.
"What rotten luck!" Ye Fan put down the books, shot Liao Tingting a look of disgust, and left the library, planning to return another day.
The Liao Family, into which Liao Tingting had been born, was also one of the Four Great Families of Cang City. Beautiful and well-born, Liao Tingting had been a goddess in the original owner's eyes. His engagement to her had always made him happy, yet often left him feeling unworthy.
The original owner had worshipped Liao Tingting as a goddess, but Ye Fan felt nothing for her. After all, he had seen plenty of beautiful women in his previous life. Besides, he always felt that beneath her gentle exterior, Liao Tingting had a venomous heart. She might even have had a hand in the honey trap that had ruined his reputation.
Ye Fan left in anger without even greeting Liao Tingting.
"At least he knows his place!" Jiang Rou said irritably.
Recalling Ye Fan's retreating figure, Liao Tingting vaguely sensed that something had changed. "He might not have come looking for me. Maybe he came to read."
"Read? He was flipping through those books so quickly that he was obviously distracted. Who reads like that?" Jiang Rou said dismissively.
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