Chapter 162: Take Care of Them All
The next day, I talked with Yifan for half an hour, and I elaborated on some of my ideas. Yifan said, "Uncle, I'll listen to you."
When there were fewer people around at noon, I walked into the guard room with two packs of high-end cigarettes, closed the door, and said, "Master Li, you know people often give me cigarettes in my profession. I'm not a heavy smoker, so here you go, let's share."
After saying that, I left.
It really worked. The guards at the gate loosened up a bit, and more people came to see me. Especially those who came for night talks, almost all of them could get through.
One day a man came in to ask for fortune-telling. He said that he had asked Blind Mo to tell his fortune, and Blind Mo said that he could not go to the north to do business. But his friend invited him to the north a few days ago, and this business was sure to make a lot of money, so he wanted me to tell him whether he could go or not.
I counted the circles on my fingers, raised my head and asked, "Sir, what's your name?"
"My last name is Li."
"Old Li, to be honest, I can calculate horoscopes, but your horoscope is a little hard for me to grasp. After all, this is an investment business."
"Is that so? You mean you won't count it for me?"
"It's not that I won't do it for you, but in order to get a more accurate reading, I recommend a famous fortune teller. Others call him Blind Zhou, but that's impolite. I call him Mr. Zhou. I've always admired him very much, so I suggest you ask him for a reading."
"Everyone says you're amazing."
My face darkened. "Who doesn't want to do business? But business should be based on professional ethics. You can't be like Blind Mo, who thinks everyone else is bad, but he is the only one who is number one. That will only hinder your business."
Lao Li said, "Master Wan, people say you're cruel and arrogant, but that's not the case."
I laughed and said, "You believe what others say? Laymen watch the excitement, experts see the doorway. Mr. Zhou is the master who is second to none."
Old Li sighed, "Master Wan, I'm the first person who refuses to do business with you. You are such a fair person."
I stared at him and warned him word by word, "Don't tell him I recommended it, or you'll hate me to death."
Old Li smiled and said, "What's wrong with that? Mo Xia was just being ambiguous. I came to you because I wasn't sure. Since you recommended Master Zhou, I'll go find him."
"Yes, go quickly, there's a queue there."
After the visitor left, Yifan couldn't help laughing.
I said, "Don't laugh. Every now and then, I recommend a few people to Master Zhou."
This trick really works.
People frequently went to Zhou Xia for fortune-telling, always claiming it was Wan Shanhong who recommended him. Zhou Xia was initially wary, but as time went on, even he melted. Director Xiang called a meeting with them, stating that the 1,000 yuan payment could only be given once, and some of those who came to him with money often offered more than 1,000 yuan each.
He was just a fortune teller, so he didn't need to ask you for help from the director. Instead, he developed a good impression of Comrade Wan Shanhong. In return for his kindness, he not only often spoke well of Comrade Wan Shanhong, but also praised my master.
Zhou Xia said, "This Wan Shanhong is, after all, a disciple of Taoist Master Hongyi. I won't comment on the Taoist master's professional level, but the Taoist master is a person who deserves respect. The disciple he brought up is very fair and honest. If you understand, you understand. If you don't understand, don't pretend to understand."
Someone complimented him, "After the Taoist priest left, Wan Shanhong praised you so highly. You can be said to be the number one in the Wuxiang fortune-telling world."
Zhou Xia was naturally delighted. The world of fortune-telling was just like any other: only by being at the top could one earn the best income, enjoy the highest prestige, and be respected. Therefore, he rightfully admitted, "How many people in the world of fortune-telling truly understand it? Besides me, that young man Wan Shanhong has some knowledge of it."
Someone asked, "How's Lao Mo?"
Zhou Xia laughed and said, "The last time I predicted someone's first child would be a boy, and a few months later, it turned out to be a girl. I can't even tell the difference between the sexes."
When Mo Xia heard this, he was more angry than if his family's ancestral graves had been dug up. Originally, he regarded himself as the best talker in Wu Township, but he had indeed made mistakes before. Who in this line of work has never made mistakes?
So, don't get angry and ask others, "Why does Blind Zhou tell fortunes? Do you know?"
Some older people know a little, but the younger ones are completely clueless. Mo Xia then revealed Zhou Xia's true story: "His brother wasn't home, so he sneaked into his sister-in-law's room in the middle of the night. His sister-in-law stabbed one of her eyes with a pair of scissors, and that's how he turned to fortune-telling."
When Zhou Xia heard this, he was so angry that he called a few apprentices and went straight to Mo Xia's house. Mo Xia was caught off guard and was beaten half to death.
Mo Xia was not willing to suffer any loss, so he also called a group of people and launched a surprise attack, breaking into Zhou Xia's house. The police station intervened and detained Mo Xia and several of his men for fifteen days.
My grandpa and grandma, you guys want to compete with me, Wan Shanhong, so just give it a try.
After Zhou Xia beat Mo Xia, and then Mo Xia beat Zhou Xia, people started to joke that Mo Xia was not accurate in his predictions. If he had predicted that the day was bad, he would have hidden away. Some people said that Zhou Xia was also not accurate, and that if he had not predicted correctly, Mo Xia would have come to beat him.
After the two bosses' actions, business declined. More people came to Wan Shanhong. Everyone said Wan Shanhong was neither hasty nor slow, never caused trouble, and was modest and cautious. He only spoke when he was sure, and kept silent when he was unsure.
You want to trick me together? Then try my skills. Sure enough, this so-called Wuxiang fortune-telling alliance was broken up by me in less than two months, and the infighting among them will never end.
One night, Brother Shi called me and said, "Brother, I advised you to go into business. Today I want to apologize to you. I said that wrong. This is the right thing for you."
I laughed out loud.
He said, "The disciples of the two factions have started fighting. Yesterday, Zhou Xia's disciples and Mo Xia's disciples had a fight in the hotel."
I deliberately asked, "Two people agreed to duel together?"
"No, they just happened to eat at the same hotel, and for some reason they started fighting. Blind Mo's apprentice was beaten by Blind Zhou's apprentice and ended up in the hospital."
"Those masters have money anyway, so if they win, they just pay for the other person's treatment."
Brother Shi laughed and said, "You are really good. You can make money steadily."
"If I don't have a stable income, how can I pay the rent on time?"
Brother Shi laughed even harder.
When other people come to me to talk about the dispute between Mo and Zhou, I always pretend to be surprised.
"Ah? Is that so?"
"Ah? That can't be true. They are just scholars, and they are resorting to violence?"
"Ah? This is the first time I've heard of this. Is there such a thing? No way."
Every time I acted surprised in front of different people, Yifan would take the opportunity to leave. I knew he really wanted to laugh.
Afterwards, I criticized him: "If you can't even control yourself like this, what great things can you achieve? In our line of work, we have to laugh when we should laugh. When we shouldn't laugh, if we want to laugh, you pinch your thighs so hard that it hurts and you can't laugh anymore."
Things gradually improved, and my mother no longer wanted me to learn to cook. During dinner, she even praised me, saying, "Shanhong still has some stability." Of course, she only knew that I was stable, but she didn't know how I managed to stay stable.
Business was stable, so I wasn't in a rush. Every time I passed the guardhouse, I'd give Lao Li a cigarette. But every time I saw Lao Li, he was always smoking low-quality cigarettes. I guess he'd exchanged my cigarettes for cash. Money really does make the world go round. He let everyone who came to see me pass.
As a result, the security guard Lao Li was replaced by the Xiang family.
All right, Xiang, you must fight me. Now, I can free up one hand to fight you. Let's see who's more ruthless, you or me, Wanshanhong.
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