The car glided onto the main road, and the streetlights cast bands of light across the windshield.
Wang Xiaoliang held back for a long time, but finally couldn't help himself.
"Uncle, how could you tell Qishan was a master?"
An Peiwen didn't answer right away. He rolled down the window, and the night wind rushed in. He narrowed his eyes.
"You're doing well."
"Just because of 'you're doing well'? How did you interpret those words?"
An Peiwen leaned against the seat, his arm resting on the car door.
"Exactly what they mean."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Wang Xiaoliang didn't believe him.
An Peiwen glanced at him and chuckled.
"When Hu Yang asked me to come, I did have something I wanted to ask."
"What was it?"
"My wife's pregnant."
Wang Xiaoliang froze for a moment. "Congratulations! Third Uncle suggested it last time, and you two got right to it. Uncle Wen, you really get things done!"
"Oh, get lost."
"All right, I'm gone. Please, go on."
"We already have two daughters, and we really want a boy this time. The elders don't say anything, but you know how they feel about it. We want a son ourselves."
"So you wanted Qishan to tell your fortune?"
"That was the idea before I came."
An Peiwen paused.
"But when he said those words, it suddenly struck me-this didn't matter at all anymore."
"It didn't matter?"
"If we have another daughter, we'll love her just as much."
An Peiwen sounded relaxed as he said it, not as though he were comforting himself.
"And not just the baby. Everything else, too. With one sentence-no, just those few words-he summed up everything about me. Doesn't that make him a master?"
Wang Xiaoliang opened his mouth but had no reply.
He mulled it over for several