Physiognomy and Benefactors

When people are young, they are fearless and have all sorts of expectations for the future. In their prime, they feel that they have a stable life and their confidence is extremely inflated. But when they get old, their physical strength declines and all that is left is a little bit of shallow knowledge from the past few decades.

Lacking the physical strength of youth, it is difficult to be able to earn a living in old age.

The able-bodied men of Zhang Household Village go out hunting, while the older men, having been caught up in the turmoil of recent years, are still physically stronger than most of their peers, but they are no longer capable of hunting far away or accompanying the new emperor on his hunt.

In this life, people either hunt, mine, smelt, or fabricate. The former requires extremely high physical strength, while the latter is monopolized by the government, making it difficult for ordinary people to enter and exit normally.

As people moved to Chang'an City, they gradually abandoned farming. Firstly, the fields were too far away to take care of, and secondly, most of them were hunters and had little farming experience. So far, only Xu Ji, Xu Yuan, and a few others are managing the fields used for seed production.

Many people live comfortably, but they feel restless and bored if they do nothing and just eat for free every day.

When Zhang Xuezhou brought out the Physiognomy Technique, Zhang Baojia and the others realized they had found a new direction for employment.

"You want to learn a skill to set up a fortune-telling stall?"

After Zhang Baojia and others explained their points, Zhang Xuezhou was understandably taken aback.

"But this skill isn't very reliable," Zhang Xuezhou said. "I've been beaten up a lot over the years because of it!"

"You're a very capable person, at a higher level. We're at a different level!"

Zhang Baojia pointed in the directions of the West Market and the East Market, indicating that the crowd could neither presume to know the fate of high-ranking officials nor provoke cultivators.

They tell fortunes for ordinary people, people who won't cause any major problems, and even if they get beaten up, it won't be a big deal.

"That makes sense!"

Zhang Xuezhou is never stingy.

After listening to everyone's explanations, he felt that what they said made sense.

Physiognomy falls under the category of statistics, and all statistics inevitably have omissions. In other words, physiognomy has an accuracy rate problem. Furthermore, based on factors such as the quality of the portrait, the ability to understand it, and the level of judgment by comparison, there will be errors. It is impossible to be perfect.

Even if they make a mistake, the consequences of the trouble they cause are limited.

Many elderly people in Chang'an City were indeed feeling stifled, unable to earn money to support their families, and felt like they were just freeloading every day, even Zhang Zhong and others felt the same way.

Only the daily tasks of cooking and preparing food brought them some peace of mind, but these tasks could not keep them busy for a whole day. When they were idle, they felt Kongxu inside, and the longer the time went on, the more stifled they felt.

"This is a lie..."

Real skills don't lie!

Zhang Xuezhou brought up Zhang Baojia's previous statement, which made Zhang Baojia's neck turn red as he emphasized it.

"We learned this skill, and if the prediction is inaccurate, we don't charge money; if it is accurate, we only charge money," Jia Zhiyuan said.

"Great idea!"

Jia Zhiyuan is an educated man, and his mind works better than the average person's.

This method of charging money if the prediction is accurate and not charging money if it's not is called "the fortune teller's saying".

Simply put, based on physiognomy and supplemented with deception, it has become a widely accepted skill for making a living.

Zhang Xuezhou didn't stop the elderly from finding something to do.

Not to mention Zhang Baojia and the others, even the old Sequence Holder in the Old Age Mansion were just as bored. If it weren't for things like the Mental Strengthening Chapter keeping their lives busy, these people would have given up long ago.

How much money you make is secondary; what matters is not feeling Kongxu inside.

Zhang Xuezhou's gaze couldn't help but sweep over the aged-looking Zhang Zhong and Lady Yourong, recalling Li Shaojun's mention of their limited lifespans.

He pursed his lips, then went on to introduce the new face reading and mention its features.

For young people with limited life experience, remembering faces is difficult. However, for older people with much life experience, they can recall people they have known throughout their lives and thus categorize faces to specific individuals, making their memories more reliable.

"I can't believe someone with my looks is considered a pedantic and unproductive person, destined for a life of mediocrity!"

"I must say, Jia Zhiyuan's face reading is quite accurate. At least I'm quite satisfied with it, so I won't keep criticizing him and still Qi Ingestion!"

"I'm honest and straightforward, but I lack the tact and diplomacy skills; this kind of appearance makes it difficult to succeed in business!"

"No wonder those years in the Northern Army were the most memorable time of my life; that was my peak!"

As Zhang Xuezhou continued to draw, the faces involved people that everyone knew. People found their own place in the faces and even recalled the highlights of their lives.

Rong Tianding looked solemn, while Yi Shuo found it difficult to remain calm and composed.

Zhang Xuezhou's physiognomy has debunked the efforts of many. Upon learning their fate from their faces, the expressions of the people varied, some turning slightly pale, others ashen, while still others remained calm and composed, accepting their fate with equanimity.

"Don't worry, my cousin said that a person's appearance changes constantly throughout their life due to opportunities and living conditions; it's not fixed at any given moment!"

When Yi Shuo and the others found the relevant information in the face reading chart, her expression changed, and her heart almost sank. It wasn't until Rong Tianding whispered the news to her that Yi Shuo's complexion improved.

"If I were to judge by the appearance that Brother Dongfang is describing, I would be a miserable person, spending my entire life entangled in unresolved grudges. My end will be when I have avenged my great enemy; either I will die or live a plain and uneventful life," Yi Shuo whispered.

"That's why many people want to change their fate," Rong Tianding whispered back. "We can only change our fate by borrowing the power of a benefactor!"

"A benefactor!"

As Yi Shuo murmured those two words, she suddenly remembered the Empress Dowager that Zhang Xuezhou had recommended to her at the fourth watch of the night. She knew in her heart that Zhang Xuezhou had pointed out the direction of using someone to change her fate.

If she hadn't encountered Zhang Xuezhou's lecture, she would still be in the dark, unable to understand, and could only rely on trust to follow his advice.

But now that the explanation was clear, Yi Shuo also understood the scope of her own abilities.

If she cannot effectively leverage her resources, everything she has now may be the highest point in her life, after which she will return to mediocrity.

Even Yi Shuo's current strength and status are largely due to the help of several key figures over the years, which allowed her to escape her predicament.

The most troublesome thing about people is that they believe their success is due to their own efforts. But hard work is just icing on the cake in life; without opportunities and support, hard work is nothing.

The higher you go, the less impact effort can have, and the harder it becomes to break free from your destiny.

After a brief moment of studying the face reading, Yi Shuo almost understood her destiny and knew how she should strive to improve herself in the future.

"What's wrong with your fate...?"

"Drifting with the tide, destined for me to achieve nothing—that was my fate in the past. And here I am now!"

Then the matchmaker examined the appearances of the women and found that Rong Tianding's face was just average.

However, after Zhang Xuezhou continued to draw subsequent facial diagrams, Rong Tianding found a more fitting facial feature.

Excluding those with significant differences in facial features, there are still many refined facial features where subtle distinctions can lead to completely different interpretations.

Rong Tianding looked at his past appearance and then at his changed appearance now.

Clearly, through his continuous following of Zhang Xuezhou, he has transformed from a young man in Hibiscus City who only knew how to paint pigs into a person who now lives a stable life in Ankang, no longer destined to be as insignificant as weeds.

If it weren't for his insufficient flying skills making it difficult to keep up with Zhang Xuezhou's current needs, Rong Tianding felt that his appearance would definitely not be judged by current standards, but would likely be evaluated at a higher level.