Chapter 155 Sir, this is not possible...
On the 28th day of the lunar calendar, the whole family gathered around the fireplace for dinner, discussing whether to visit Xiaolin's home during the Spring Festival. Xiaolin told me that she had also discussed this with her family.
My mother said, "Why not ask Sister Yu to be a matchmaker? Some things can be communicated more easily with a matchmaker." I called Xiaolin to discuss it, and Xiaolin agreed.
I called Sister Yu, and she smiled and said, "I've been your matchmaker for a long time."
I took turns to pick up a date and said, "Then I'll pick you up on the fourth day of the first lunar month."
My family doesn't have a good car, and my brother-in-law's Buick is a bit old, so I discussed with Brother Shi about borrowing his car.
Brother Shi was very generous and agreed immediately.
My brother-in-law said, "Shanhong, in the new year, you can pay off the loan slowly. First you need to buy a car." Everyone knew I had a lot of money in the bank, so they lowered their expectations and said let's buy a car worth more than 200,000 yuan.
I calculated the money in my hand, feeling a little more confident, and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll definitely buy a car."
My mother said, "Close the shop and have a good rest for a few days. Even beggars have to celebrate New Year's Eve."
As soon as my mother finished speaking, Yifan's phone rang. He stood up and walked to the side to answer it. After a few words, he covered the phone and asked me, "Now that there's business, are you still going to do it?"
I waved and Yifan handed me the phone.
"Hello, what's up? I'm Wan Shanhong."
"Oh, hello Mr. Wan, I'm already at the door of your studio."
My mother stopped me and said, "I said I'm not going to do business, so why are you still going there?"
"They've arrived at the studio door."
"Then tomorrow, no matter how much money you get, I won't let you work. That's called being busy from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. Only people who don't have enough food to eat are that busy."
I went downstairs to the studio and saw a Porsche parked in front. A man got out of the car and smiled at me.
I turned on the light and the man came in.
I said, "Please sit down." Then I made tea.
He sat down and introduced himself, "My last name is Qiao, and I live in the provincial capital. I have relatives here, and I originally came here for a birthday drink. Chatting, I learned that the gentleman could tell fortunes, and since it was on my way home, I came here specifically. Sorry to bother you during the New Year."
As I listened, I studied him. He drove a Porsche, had good taste in clothes, wore his hair in a slicked-back style, had a pale, beardless face, bright eyes, and a gleaming brow. It was obvious he was on a roll.
"Tea."
He looked at the cup, felt it was a little hot, and smiled at me.
"Tell me your date of birth."
He said it again.
I took my turn. I thought, this isn't the first time this person has had their horoscopes calculated; they've done this many times. So I asked, "Everyone who's done your horoscopes says you have the 'fire' element, right?"
He nodded repeatedly.
"All five elements belong to fire. What's your name?"
"Qiao Feng."
I thought to myself that this was a typical Fire Life Bazi, so it would be easy to calculate. So I first told him some past events to calm him down:
"Okay, listen. I was sickly as a child, injured in a fire at twelve, had bad luck at eighteen, stopped going to school, went out to make a living, was injured in a fire again at twenty-four, and at thirty-six, which means before November of this year, I'm bound to get into trouble again."
Seeing that I spoke without hesitation and with a firm voice, he picked up the teacup and drank from it.
This little gesture never escapes my notice. Whenever someone hits a sore spot, they pretend to be calm. Those who wear glasses take them off and wipe them. Those who don't either pretend nothing has happened, straighten their clothes, or, especially women, tuck their hair behind their ears.
He just changed the way he did it: drinking tea.
"You're not right. Leave now." I also picked up the teacup.
He put down his teacup and chuckled, "What you said before is all correct."
I looked at him with a smile, waiting for him to speak.
“Why am I always associated with fire?”
"You belong to the fire element, and yet you chose a name that invites trouble. I wonder who gave you this name."
"My grandfather."
"A scholar."
"Yes, I can recite the Book of Songs and Mencius by heart."
"I think it must be someone like that, otherwise I wouldn't be able to come up with such a good name."
"Yes, he often told me proudly that this name is not something most people can come up with."
I sneered. "Let me analyze it for you. First, your last name. The easiest combination for 'Qiao' is 'Mu'. That's 'Qiaomu'."
He nodded. "That's exactly what my grandfather said."
"A tall tree is called a qiaomu. As for these two characters, they are mentioned in Mencius's commentary on the style of King Xuan of Qi, so I won't go into detail. Your name is Qiao Feng, which means a tall maple tree in autumn. Do maple trees have red leaves?"
He nodded and listened very carefully.
I began to summarize: "Your five elements all belong to fire, and the 'Maple' in your name belongs to wood, so the leaves you grow are all red. Are you all fire from head to toe, burning around a tall tree?"
He hurriedly asked, "Is this why I get burned by fire every year of my birth year?"
I nodded.
He leaned forward: "Is there any way to resolve this?"
"Yes. One is changing your name, and the other is changing your birthday. The so-called name change means changing it to a name containing water, and the so-called birthday change means your birthday was originally on the 27th of the lunar calendar, a fire day, so from now on it will be the 17th, celebrating your birthday ten days earlier."
He took out a pack of high-end cigarettes and said with a wry smile, "Your speech was so exciting that I forgot to give you a cigarette." Then he pushed the pack of cigarettes in front of me, took out another pack from his briefcase, took out a cigarette and gave it to me, then took out a metal lighter and lit it for me.
He took a puff and blew out the smoke. When the smoke dissipated, he smiled and said, "Master, please give me a name."
I wrote a line of water-related characters on the paper with a pen and pointed to two of them: "Xun" and "Bo".
He asked, "Take one of the characters?"
I shook my head. "You're a typical fire-prone person in your zodiac year. It's like one flood season has passed and the next is coming. So, taking two characters related to water, put them together to represent the coming of the flood season. You're ready to 'fight the enemy with force and drown the fire with water.' So, your name should be 'Qiao Xunbo.' Do you understand?"
He wrote these two words repeatedly on the palm of his hand, as if he was somewhat resistant to this unfamiliar name, yet also somewhat curious about it.
I picked up my phone and looked at it. He understood this was a sign to leave and said with a smile, "Excuse me, sir. This is my business card."
I picked it up and glanced at it: "Hongda Logistics, General Manager, Qiao Feng."
I wanted to stand up, but sat down again, staring at him: "Are you in logistics?"
"Yes, I've been doing it for more than ten years."
"Turn quickly."
"Then what should we do?"
"Aquatic products."
After hearing what I said, he clapped his hands and said, "Sir, you are a real fortune teller. In September, a friend of mine invited me to work in aquaculture. I am hesitant."
"Quickly stop the logistics, that's where the fire is gathering."
"Mr. Wan, I've had my horoscope read and everyone says I have a fire element, but no one has analyzed it so clearly and offered me advice like you. Thank you so much, it was truly worth the trip. These are new bills I exchanged at the bank. I was planning on giving them out as red envelopes."
After saying that, he took out a roll of brand new bills from his bag. Needless to say, it was ten thousand yuan.
"Not so much."
"Take it. We will be friends for more than just a day or two. I will have to trouble you a lot."
Seeing that he was sincere, I didn't refuse.
As we walked out the door, I held his hand and said, "I hope you listen to me."
"Don't worry, I believe you."
Thousands of lights illuminated the small town. There was actually a vendor selling candied haws by Fengqing Lake. The north wind blew, and he was lightly dressed. Who else would be walking around outside at this hour?
"Give me a candied haws."
His face was filled with happiness and he took one and gave it to me.
I gave him a hundred-dollar bill. He was embarrassed: "Sir, it's only three dollars. Do you have smaller bills?"
"No need to look for it, just go home early."
"Sir, no, sir, no."
I walked away with big strides.
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