Chapter 1: Will my daughter-in-law give birth to a son or a daughter?
In the winter, as the Lunar New Year approaches, South Street in Pingyao County is bustling with people.
Fourteen or fifteen-year-old Jingwu, dressed in an old cotton-padded coat, sat in front of his fortune-telling stall, looking at every passerby. Beside him sat a burly man selling sweet potatoes.
She was originally the eldest twin daughter of the wealthy Jing family, but due to her special destiny, she was sent to Shuangcheng Temple at birth. It wasn't until recently that a letter arrived asking her to return to the Jing family.
She had only been back at the Jing family home for a day when the entire family moved away to avoid trouble because they had offended the princess who was traveling incognito. When she woke up, she found the house deserted, and she was the only one left in the huge mansion. They hadn't even left her anything of value.
It was her uncle Shao Che, who came to check on her, who took pity on her and feared that keeping her in the mansion would incur the princess's wrath. So he took her back to his home in Green Bamboo Village and had a big argument with his aunt before finally letting her stay.
After Jingwu settled in, he discovered that the Shao family had three sons who made a living by growing and selling grain. This year's harvest was poor, and the family was struggling financially.
Just then, Shao Che was about to take advantage of the year-end to carry out the sweet potatoes from his home to sell in order to make a good New Year, so she came along.
Seeing an empty seat nearby, she set up her fortune-telling stall. Although she was young, her fortune-telling was very accurate, and she could always earn some money to have a good New Year.
"Awu, are you hungry? Want some dried sweet potatoes to tide you over?" Shao Che was initially against her coming along, worried that she would catch a cold in this freezing weather. But seeing that she insisted on setting up her fortune-telling stall, he let her have her way, treating it as a child's fun. He told his wife to take out an old cotton coat to wrap her up warmly before taking her out.
"I'm not hungry." Jingwu glanced at the time and said confidently, "Uncle, my first guest will be here soon."
Shao Che paused slightly, not believing these things, but still indulgently agreed with her, saying, "Okay, Uncle will wait for A-Wu to earn money for steamed buns for Uncle."
Before the words were even finished, Aunt Chen, who was selling pickled vegetables nearby, heard this and jokingly asked with a smile, "Little A-Wu, how much does this divination cost?"
Jingwu turned his head, looked at her face, and knew that she was his first customer today. He then smiled and said, "Ten coins for a divination, no charge if it's inaccurate."
"I see." Aunt Chen lowered her head and thought for a moment before agreeing. She had just earned ten coins today, enough for a fortune telling: "Alright, can you tell my fortune? My daughter-in-law is due in a month. Do you think she's having a boy or a girl?"
A passing man overheard this and chuckled, "A baby is either a boy or a girl. She can guess with a 50% chance of being right even if she just says it offhand. You're just giving her ten coins for nothing."
Jingwu turned to look at the man, his brows furrowing slightly. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Aunt Chen speak.
“It’s her skill that she guessed correctly, and I accept that,” Aunt Chen said to the girl. “Awu, can you help me calculate it?”
"I need your birth date and time."
Aunt Chen paused for a moment, then realized what she meant and whispered her birth date and time into the girl's ear.
Jingwu carefully examined her face, combined it with her birth chart, and calculated with his fingers. He smiled and said, "Your children's palace is full, indicating that you will have two sons and two daughters in your life. Your philtrum is broad and deep, indicating that you will have many descendants. Looking at your birth chart, your first grandchild will be a boy, and your daughter-in-law is carrying a boy this time."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Chen jumped up immediately, slapping her thigh with joy, attracting the attention of many passersby: "Good heavens, this is wonderful! My daughter-in-law has been married for three years and hasn't gotten pregnant. The neighbors all say she can't have children, and that she has a small bottom and can't give birth to a son. Now that's great, those gossipy women will be so ashamed!"
"Hey, you actually believe what this little girl says? What if it's all fake?" The man stood in front of the stall, looking Jingwu up and down. "She's so young, what real skills could she possibly have? She's just here to swindle and cheat, isn't she?"
Jingwu narrowed his eyes, glanced at his face, and sneered, "Your name is Zhen Yun. You live behind the pig farm on North Street. You were the only son of your parents, and they have both passed away. You are all alone now. Before your father passed away, he left you five taels of silver so you could get married and rent some land. But you were lazy and didn't listen to your father. You spent all the money in less than a year and have been living by pawning your belongings. You are an idle person who likes to cause trouble, which makes all the neighbors hate you. So now you are over forty years old and no one has come to find you a wife. You are all alone."
"Where...where did you hear that?" The man's face turned pale. He knew she was telling the truth, but with so many people around, he was too proud to admit it. "You're talking nonsense. You're a complete liar."
As he spoke, he was about to step forward and overturn her stall, but Shao Che stopped him.
Zhen Yun looked at the tall, imposing man, took a step back, still feeling resentful, but could only mutter under her breath because of the man in front of her.
"If you still don't believe me, just wait here for two hours, and you'll know whether my divination for Aunt Chen was true or false." Jing Wu sat steadily on the bench, his face as calm as ever, unaffected by him.
Upon hearing this, Aunt Chen realized what was happening and asked, "What do you mean?"
“Your daughter-in-law will trip over a stool at home in a little while and fall, causing premature labor. I advise you to go home quickly.” Jingwu looked at the hesitation on the old woman’s face and added, “You only have your daughter-in-law at home, right?”
Upon hearing this, Aunt Chen immediately stood up. Ah Wu was right; her daughter-in-law was indeed alone at home, as her husband and son had gone out to work. It would be fine if Ah Wu's calculation was wrong, but if it were true, and her daughter-in-law fell and no one was home, it could lead to a major disaster.
Thinking of this, she disregarded her stall and hurriedly ran home.
Jingwu turned his gaze away from her back and looked at the crowd that had gathered around them. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but he didn't say anything.
Only after realizing it did he remember that he hadn't taken the money from Aunt Chen's fortune telling. He slapped his thigh in annoyance, looked at Zhen Yun who was still standing not far away, gossiping with others, pursed his lips, and quietly made a hand gesture, giving him a little lesson.
As Zhen Yun was vividly describing Jing Wu's charade, the next second, she lost her voice and could only make "ah ah" sounds.
He frantically tugged at the sleeves of the people next to him, gesturing for them to take him to the clinic, but no one understood him after he babbled for a long time, and he could only stand there anxiously.
Suddenly, he met Jingwu's smiling eyes and instantly understood what was happening. He immediately panicked and ran away while shouting.
Jingwu ignored it. Anyway, the silencing spell would be lifted tomorrow; it was just a small lesson for him.
Seeing that it was almost time, she got up to pack up her stall.
The passersby who were watching this scene thought they wouldn't get a result today, so they decided to leave.
The next second, Aunt Chen came running towards them with a beaming smile.
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