Chapter 30: Didn’t you hear what my girlfriend said? ...

When you suddenly start to meet someone you haven't seen for a long time, this person will appear in front of you frequently in the next period of time.

Shang Que

I forgot where I saw this sentence, and I never thought it would come true to me so accurately.

*

Ever since Ning Sheng's last visit, Shang Que suddenly felt the need to buy some furniture. The first thing he had to replace was the small round wooden coffee table in the living room. It was too small. It was enough for Shang Que when he was alone, but when guests came, it couldn't even hold two cups or even fruit.

So, on Thursday afternoon, after Shang Que finished her work, she headed straight to the nearest furniture store. She quickly selected a marble coffee table that matched her home's decor, signed the order, paid for it, and scheduled a visit—the entire process taking only a dozen minutes.

When they left the furniture store, it was still light outside. The orange-red sunset shone obliquely on them, bringing the unique dryness of early autumn. Shang Que felt his hungry stomach and decided to go to the snack street across the street to buy something.

Even before the busiest nighttime rush hour, there was only one fortune-telling stall on the overpass. A Bagua Tai Chi diagram lay on the ground, above which lay several rows of what looked like wholesale market amulets, still in their plastic packaging.

In front of the stall, a high school-aged girl with a high ponytail and a backpack was telling fortunes. Shang Que happened to overhear their conversation as he passed by.

"Little girl, your horoscope isn't very good. Wenchang is in the fate palace, which means you're depressed, worried, and schemed by villains. You originally had the appearance of Wenquxing, but because you're affected by things around you, you can't fully display your abilities, which leads to constant setbacks in your studies."

What bullshit.

When Shang Que heard his nonsense, he frowned and stopped subconsciously.

But the girl obviously believed it and asked worriedly, "What should we do? Is there any way to crack it?"

"There are ways," the fortune-teller in a gown and sunglasses pulled out a talisman from his bag. "Get a Wenchang talisman and wear it with you at home to see if it can help balance your fate. Since we're destined to be together, I'll give you two hundred yuan as a token of my sincerity."

"Two hundred?" The girl was shocked for a moment, then seemed to react and pursed her lips and said, "Forget it, I don't want it."

She was about to leave when the fortune teller suddenly stood up and stopped her: "Wait, you haven't paid for the fortune reading yet."

"Isn't it twenty? I gave it to you at the beginning."

"Twenty is for face reading, and later you will have to look at the horoscope, which will cost two hundred." As he spoke, he grabbed the girl's arm, as if he would not let her leave unless she took the money.

"You asked me to watch it, and you didn't ask for extra money." The girl became anxious when she realized she couldn't break free. "Let me go!"

Passersby were afraid of getting into trouble, so they all pretended not to see anything and hurried away.

Shang Que frowned, stepped forward and grabbed the girl's other hand, pretending to be angry and asking, "You disappeared when I bought something. What are you doing here? My mom will scold me if I get lost."

Her appearance made the two people who were arguing pause. The girl quickly reacted and cooperated, "Sister, he is asking for a higher price and won't let me go unless I pay."

The fortune-teller looked at Shang Que and didn't take her seriously. He continued to yell unreasonably, "How can you buy something and not pay for it? Since you are her sister, then you should help her pay for it, otherwise you can't leave."

As he was about to pull Shang Que, a hand suddenly grabbed his arm and threw it to the other side.

"Don't touch my girlfriend." Jing Ya said in an unhappy tone. He put one hand on Shang Que's shoulder and held her in his arms. His protective attitude was obvious.

Shang Que was slightly stunned, looked at the situation, and did not refute.

He was tall and looked tough. The fortune teller's hand ached slightly, and his momentum weakened instantly. However, he still stubbornly argued, "Business must be honest. I've already opened my talisman. How can you just say no to your girlfriend's sister?"

When the girl heard this, she immediately asked angrily: "Where did you open it? Don't spit blood!"

The fortune teller took out an unwrapped amulet from his bag and said, "How am I slandering you? Isn't this it?"

"you--"

"What kind of talisman is this?" Jing Ya suddenly asked.

"The Wenchang Talisman is for academics. This girl is still a student, and she has no integrity at all."

Jing Ya looked down and then raised his eyelids: "This is a harmony talisman, which promotes harmony between husband and wife."

The fortune teller was stunned and immediately changed his words: "I made a mistake, I took this."

"This is the Six Ding and Six Jia Talisman, used to protect the fetus." Jing Ya frowned, his already limited patience completely exhausted. "Are you sick? Do you want me to draw a talisman to drive away ghosts and kill you, a short-lived ghost?"

The fortune teller immediately realized that he had run into a tough guy. He didn't dare to argue with him and let go of the girl's hand: "Forget it, forget it, it's my bad luck, you can go now."

As he spoke, he rolled up his stall and prepared to run away. Shang Que suddenly said, "Wait, return my sister's twenty yuan."

"That's—"

"What is it? Didn't you hear what my girlfriend said?" Jing Ya joined in impatiently.

Seeing this, the fortune teller quickly took out a twenty-note bill from his bag, stuffed it into the girl's hand, then picked up his things and ran away quickly.

After seeing him leave, the girl who had been trying hard to pretend to be calm had tears in her eyes and thanked them both repeatedly in fear.

Shang Que calmly slapped away the hand still on his shoulder, took out a tissue from his pocket and handed it to him, comforting him, "It's okay. Be more careful next time and don't easily believe these street fortune tellers."

"I don't usually believe it." The girl sniffed and couldn't help but confide, "But I haven't done well in the last few exams. My teachers and my parents said I've regressed and told me to find the reason myself. But I don't know why. I'm not playing around or not paying attention in class, but I just can't do well on the tests. Now my mind goes blank when I take an exam. I'm taking the college entrance exam next year, and I really don't know what to do."

As she spoke, tears suddenly burst out and she collapsed, covering her face and crying: "I just suspected that I had no talent for learning, so I wanted to have it calculated, but I ended up being deceived."

Every age group has its own difficulties. For example, people who are already working will go crazy because of the repeatedly revised plans and nitpicking leaders, and people who are still in school will break down and cry because of the pressure of exams.

Shang Que walked over and hugged her, coaxing her softly, "That's not true. How could you not have talent? Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

The girl stopped crying after a while, wiped her tears, and obviously didn't believe her words. She sobbed and said, "Thank you for comforting me."

"It's not consolation," Shang Que thought for a moment, "Why don't you let this brother do it for you? He's the 82nd generation descendant of Maoshan. You just saw that liar was speechless after being confronted by him."

Jing Ya cooperated and said, "Well, don't be afraid. You can do well in the exam, but you need to adjust your mentality. Sometimes a bad mood can also affect your horoscope."

"Really?"

"Really? When you take exams, does your heart beat really fast, your palms get sweaty, and you feel like you're possessed. You know the answer in your head, but when you write it down, it's wrong?"

A look of surprise appeared on the girl's face: "Yes!"

"Relax and don't let your emotions affect your destiny. If you perform normally, you will have no problem taking the exam."

"Okay!" Hearing this, the girl nodded vigorously as if she had received a shot of adrenaline. "Thank you."

After she left, Shang Que frowned and said, "What were you making up just now?"

"As long as it's useful, that's all." Jing Ya tilted his head slightly and glanced at her. "How come I didn't know that I'm the 82nd generation descendant of Maoshan? Hmm? Shang Que, can you explain?"

"How can she believe you if you don't say that?" Shang Que snorted, "You should explain why you suddenly appeared here, right?"

Jing Ya casually replied, "It's a bad fate."

“…”

Seeing her speechless, Jing Ya was in a good mood: "After all, I helped you, Shang Que, and you didn't even say thank you?"

"Who needs your help? It's not like I can't beat him."

"After the fight, what happened? He went to the hospital, you went to the police station, and tomorrow's entertainment news will have another story about a popular actress beating someone up in the street." Jing Ya pushed down the brim of her hat, her tone blatantly malicious, "You really killed three birds with one stone, Shang Que."

Shang Que almost stumbled forward and fell into his arms. After regaining his balance, he slapped his hand hard, saying, "That's none of your business."

"Then next time you encounter this kind of thing, I won't help you."

"There won't be a next time," Shang Que took a step back, glared at him and said, "It's a bad fate anyway, it's best not to do it again in the future.

Met him.

Jing Ya raised his eyebrows: "That's not necessarily true."

*

It was not until he saw him on a variety show the next day that Shang Que understood why his tone was so confident.

"First of all, friends from the group Shang Que and Ji Jingchuan, let us welcome Jing Ya to the Friendship House."

After the director finished speaking, Ji Jingchuan immediately waved his hand and shouted, "Brother!"

Jing Ya's gaze shifted over, pausing on Shang Que for a few seconds, and he said meaningfully, "Long time no see."

Unlike the formal and dignified look he'd worn last time at the jewelry store, he had his hair slicked back today, with a few strands of hair casually draping across his forehead, revealing his well-defined features. He was wearing a casual, collarless suit, a hand-embroidered shirt buttoned to the top, and a casual yet restrained air.

[Fuck, he's so handsome! ]

[Wait, isn't this Shang Que's friend? Ji Jingchuan also knows him?]

[And they seem to have a very good relationship. It's rare to see Ji Jingchuan so enthusiastic towards others.]

[Could it be a mutual friend? But why is Shang Que acting so calm?]

"Yes, it's been a while." Ji Jingchuan didn't realize something was wrong and asked him to sit next to him. He introduced him, "Shang Que, this is the brother I told you about, Jing Ya."

"Shang Que should know him, right?" Lu Zhixu suddenly smiled and said, "The wedding rings we bought last time were given to us for free by him because of Shang Que's kindness."

Ji Jingchuan left the country right after the variety show ended, and his flight only landed last night. He hadn't had time to check the trending searches, so he didn't know what happened at the time. Hearing Lu Zhixu's words, he was stunned for a moment and asked curiously, "Do you know each other?"

Shang Que's reaction was normal: "We're from the same university, what's wrong?"

Ji Jingchuan thought for a moment and said, "Oh, yes, Brother Jing Ya studied abroad. But you never told me."

"You didn't say it was him you knew."

Shang Que guessed it, but he didn't expect Ji Jingchuan to invite Jing Ya to the show.

No wonder he was so arrogant yesterday.

【What a strange fate triangle this is. 】

You know me, I know him, and he knows you, but you don’t know that I know him, he doesn’t know that I know you, and I don’t know that you know him.

【I'm reciting a tongue twister here. 】

Ji Jingchuan didn't get suspicious and said stubbornly, "Who knew the world was so small?"

Jing Ya agreed: "Yes, it's a small world. Shang Que, don't you agree?"

Seeing that Shang Que ignored them, Ji Jingchuan snorted and began to form cliques: "Brother Jing Ya, we will ignore her too."

Shang Que rolled his eyes and moved aside.

Two childish ghosts.

The director spoke at the right moment: "The next person to arrive is Lin Jinyi and Jiang Yizhe's friend."

Just as he finished speaking, a girl with curly hair and a bun wearing a light yellow denim skirt came in from the door and waved at them playfully: "Hello everyone, I'm Song Xiyue."

[Fuck, that voice of the troublemaker is giving me goosebumps.]

[Is she not acting like a spoiled young lady today?]

[Maybe because everyone present was more famous than her, so she didn't dare to act like that, hahahaha.]

Song Xiyue is one of the members of a girl group that recently debuted through a talent show. Because of her spoiled temper and her complaints on the show, many people on the Internet hate her.

After introducing herself, she cupped her hands together and said in a pretentious tone, "I'm very happy to meet you. Don't believe the rumors online. I'm very easy to get along with. Really, I wouldn't even kill a mosquito."

"Song Xiyue." Lin Jinyi interrupted her, "If you go crazy again, tell your aunt."

"I was wrong, cousin." Upon hearing this, Song Xiyue immediately sat down honestly, not forgetting to say: "Although I'm not an easy person to get along with, I'm glad to see you guys. This is sincere."

[Lin Jinyi and Song Xiyue are cousins???]

[No wonder I felt Song Xiyue's personality was familiar. She solved the case, and it's a family tradition to be a troublemaker.]

【Compared to this, Lin Jinyi's temper is much better.】

[But why is it that Song Xiyue's timid look in front of Lin Jinyi is a little cute?]

【You must be pretending.】

[No, no, no, there's no need to pretend at all. This is the legendary bloodline suppression.]

The last group is the friends invited by Ning Sheng, and they are also the second male lead, Jiang Chi, who makes the male protagonist feel a sense of crisis and directly expresses his feelings to the female protagonist in the original plot.

After greeting everyone, he squeezed into the double sofa and said bluntly, "Sister Shengsheng, I specially postponed two announcements to come here."

"I didn't know you had work these days," Ning Sheng said apologetically, "I shouldn't have bothered you if I had known."

"It's not a bother, it's not a bother." Jiang Chi curled his eyes, "Your invitation has the highest priority."

[Is Lu Zhixu angry? ]

[Hold high the banner of Xuxu Rusheng and see who dares to destroy our sweet couple! ]

【Take advantage of the chaos to eat some shengjiang. 】

[Come on, more Shura Fields, it’s so good! 】

Shang Que also liked to watch, especially since Lu Zhixu had drawn his anger on her twice. Now she was having fun watching it without any psychological burden.

This time, the mission was to be held in the countryside, where each group would spend three days and two nights enjoying the countryside with their invited friends. After everyone arrived, they set off to catch a bus.

When Shang Que passed by the lonely Lu Zhixu, he asked, "Do you know why the latecomer wins?"

Lu Zhixu turned around and looked at her.

Shang Que curved his lips and said, "Because the latter is fighting and vying for it."

Leaving him there to think, Shang Que followed the person in front of him out and got into the car.

Because there were too many people, they divided into three buses according to the groups. Shang Que didn't want to pay attention to the other two childish guys, so he got on and found a separate seat to sit down.

Not long after, Ji Jingchuan called her from behind: "Shang Que, do you want to play cards?"

"No."

"If you don't want to fight, then don't fight," Ji Jingchuan turned his head away in annoyance, "Brother Jingya, let's fight."

"How do two people fight?"

"Sure, can you play Pinocchio?"

The familiar name made Jing Ya raise his eyebrows. "You know how to play." He then asked, "Did Shang Que teach you?"

Ji Jingchuan was surprised: "How did you know?"

Jing Ya didn't answer but asked, "Did you guys bet on anything?"

Because there was no live camera on the road, Ji Jingchuan said frankly: "It's a gamble. If I lose a card, I will be a slave to the other party for a day."

Jing Ya was not surprised at all and raised his voice: "What a familiar bet. Come to think of it, it seems like someone owes me more than two thousand days."

The next second, Shang Que in the front row suddenly teleported in front of the two of them.

Ji Jingchuan was startled: "Shang Que, what are you doing? Didn't you say you don't want to fight?"

"Fight," Shang Que sat down on the chair next to him and turned to look at Jing Ya. "Implement the slave transfer system. Ji Jingchuan now owes you 1235 days."

Ji Jingchuan was confused: "What what?"

Jing Ya raised his eyebrows: "That's still more than 800 days."

"Why don't we just fight back now?"

Ji Jingchuan reacted and angrily asked, "Shang Que, did you sell me out?"

"Shut up. I'll redeem you later." Shang Que commanded, "Shuffle the cards."