Chapter 29: Boldly Going to a Date

I couldn't help laughing:

"A fortune teller becomes dull if he doesn't have a challenge."

She still looked distrustful of me.

I made a big move: "Your father's career was not going well in his middle age. Is that right?"

The woman kept her mouth open for a long time, but this time she gave in and nodded, saying, "You're absolutely right."

I began to comfort her: "You want to find a strong man, not because you really want to, but because your father was too busy with his career when you were young and didn't take good care of you.

When you were a teenager, your father suffered setbacks in life, which made you feel ashamed. So, from that time on, you longed to have a man in your family whom you could look up to.

Therefore, during your school years, you could say you never had feelings for any boys. You thought they were childish, even ridiculous.”

The woman started looking around for something. I knew that being nervous made people sweat, and when you sweat you need to drink water, so I pointed to the water dispenser.

She poured a glass of water and asked, "Sir, you are right. What kind of partner should I look for?"

I said, "Love you."

She asked, "Isn't it okay for the person I love?"

I smiled and said, "I didn't say no, it's just that he loves you more, that's the best marriage."

She shook her head: "I don't quite understand."

I sneered, "Your marriage is in your hands. Isn't it just the simplest word 'one'?"

This time, she really almost slipped off the chair. No matter how much knowledge she had, she couldn't understand how I could accurately determine that she wrote the character "一" without opening it.

She wasn't paying much attention to her marriage anymore. Instead, she was filled with suspicion about my magical fortune-telling skills. She asked, "How did you know I wrote the character '一'? You must have a camera installed in your room, right?"

Only then did I realize how difficult it was for Mr. and Mrs. Xiao to communicate with their daughter.

I said, "You can doubt me, but let me be frank. We can no longer communicate. You don't trust anyone. You can leave now. I will also notify the bar and will not charge you."

She was a little surprised and froze there, stubbornly trying for a long time before she managed a smile:

"I know I have a bad temper and tend to be stubborn. I admit my mistake. But what does this word 'one' mean?

I said, "It's the beginning of the character 'death' and the end of the character 'life'. Think about what it means?"

She looked confused and couldn't speak for a long time.

I said, "If you don't understand, your current relationship is the one in which you must die. At the same time, new opportunities are born."

She tilted her head to the side, as if she was angry with me.

I rang the bell, and after a while, the waiter came in. I said to the waiter, "Bring the next one, Miss, you want the bar without charging."

The waiter nodded.

The woman stood up and turned away without even saying thank you.

I shook my head, feeling a sense of defeat I'd never experienced before. I sighed and said, "With this personality, it's better for her to marry a black man, rather than harm the Chinese."

The second person who came in found a hundred yuan on the stool, and then I realized that she still refused to eat the "free dinner".

The next day, I told my master what happened last night.

The master said nothing.

Unexpectedly, three days later, I received a call from Mr. Xiao. He asked on the phone: "Mr. Wan, when are you free?"

I said, "I'm basically free during the day, what's up?"

He said, “I want to meet you and talk.”

I told my master about the situation, and upon hearing it, he said, "Maybe you spoke frankly to his daughter, and she had an accident, so she's looking for trouble with you?"

"I don't think so."

The master shook his head and said, "When you're in the underworld, you have to be cautious when meeting someone you've only met once. He then gave me a phone number and said, 'If you encounter any difficulties, just call him and call him Brother Long.'"

I smiled and said, "Master, you're overthinking it, aren't you? Besides, I always carry 'fixing powder' with me."

The master said with a fierce face: "We should try to avoid making enemies with others. It's not good to spread the word of using 'fixing powder' casually. Let Brother Long handle this matter. It will save a lot of trouble."

Since Master took it so seriously, I couldn't take it lightly. While driving, I thought: One possible outcome is good, like the girl changes her mind and Lao Xiao will thank me. The other possible outcome is bad, like after reading the fortune and the girl does something extreme, like trying to commit suicide, and Lao Xiao will get me into trouble.

The first one is easy to deal with, but the second one is worrying. Having a dispute is not a big deal, but I am afraid that the other party has a group of people secretly hiding, who will suddenly attack, besiege, blackmail, or even attack.

However, I had my medication with me, so I was confident nothing would go wrong. So, I agreed with Lao Xiao to meet at Fenghuaxueyue. Once we got to Fenghuaxueyue, I wasn't afraid anymore. This was my home turf, and not only the boss, but the employees all knew me.

I didn't call Brother Long. I trusted my intuition and knew that Lao Xiao was not here to cause trouble.

We booked a room in box 207. About ten minutes later, Lao Xiao arrived. We exchanged a few pleasantries, and the waiter brought tea. I picked up the cup and said, "This is high mountain tea from Alishan, Taiwan. Enjoy."

Lao Xiao took a sip, looked back, and walked over to close the door.

I looked at him, keeping my signature smile.

Lao Xiao asked: "Do you drink?"

My master taught me that people in our line of work shouldn't drink with strangers, so I shook my head.

He rang the bell and the waiter came in. He said to the girl, "I'll pay for this private room. Bring me a bottle of Erguotou and a plate of peanuts. Oh, and I want a half-jin bottle of Erguotou."

I said to the waiter, "Sign my bill."

Lao Xiao shook his head and said, "No." He was also worried that the waiter would not understand who was paying, so he stopped the girl and said, "Don't sign this bill. I'll pay for it. Do you understand?"

The little girl nodded.

Lao Xiao said: "Sit down, I need to drink some wine, then we can talk."

After Lao Xiao waited for the waiter to bring the wine, he poured a glass, took two sips, and said:

"Mr. Wan, it's a long story. I don't have anything important to say, I just wanted to talk to you. A few nights ago, my daughter came to take a fortune test, right?"

I deliberately said, "A girl came in for a divination and got the number 'one'. I wonder if she is your daughter."

He said, "Yes, yes. My wife and I asked her to come for the test."

I was concerned about her reaction after the fortune telling, so I asked, "How was she after she got home?"

Lao Xiao took another sip of wine, waved his hand, and said:

"Take your time, listen to me. When she came back from Guangzhou, my husband and I told her that we had someone do a fortune telling, and it was very accurate. We then explained everything to her. Her mother said, 'Why don't you go and do it yourself?'

My daughter was so stubborn she refused to come. Her mother kept nagging her, and in a fit of rage, she said, "Okay, I'll get tested." As for your situation, she went home and said nothing.

He slept all day the next day and didn't get up to eat until dinner. On the third day, before leaving, he spoke to me privately, saying he didn't want to be angry anymore and would find someone we could trust.

I took a long breath and said:

"Old Xiao, I'm not saying your daughter has a bad personality, but she really needs to change. We basically couldn't reach an agreement, and when she left, she didn't even say thank you. That's fine, a wave, a smile, just to show she's leaving would be fine. But she just stood up and left, leaving me in the cold."

Lao Xiao looked ashamed: "Mr. Wan, I apologize to you."

After saying that, he stood up and bowed to me.

I said, "Hey, hey, hey, don't be so grand."

Lao Xiao sat down, drank the wine, wiped his mouth with his hand, put down the wine glass, looked at me and asked, "You haven't found a partner yet, right?"

I shook my head.

He seemed drunk, pointed his index finger at me and said, "Please, please, choose a good quality one. It doesn't matter if it's a little ugly."

After hearing this, I felt that there was a story, and I became interested and asked:

"Your profound lesson?"

Lao Xiao raised his head and took a sip, smacking his lips: "Good wine, good wine, very enjoyable."

This time he didn't wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, but took out a napkin. After wiping his mouth, he said, "Mr. Wan, I said something wrong, please don't take it seriously. I'm in the same business as you."

I was surprised and asked, "Traveling together?"