Chapter 4: Showing Off His Talent
On my first day at work, the Taoist priest gave me two books, one called "How to Choose a Date" and the other called "Secrets of Fortune Telling." He said, "Read them all in one month."
I finished reading it in half a month. At work, I hesitantly said, "Teacher, can I exchange two books?"
He looked me up and down and asked, "What are the ten methods of fortune-telling?"
I was born with a good memory, and I recited: "Head installation test, foot connection test, heart penetration test, dragon wrap test, crack test, add pen test, subtract pen test, match test, pick word test, plum blossom viewing test."
I took a breath and continued reciting, "Besides these basic rules, there are also the three methods of pictographic, ideographic, and transliteration..."
The Taoist priest nodded slightly. At this moment, two girls came in.
One is thin, the other is fat. The thin girl urged the fat girl:
"Write it down, write a word and let the master predict your marriage."
The fat girl hesitated and wrote the word "信".
The thin girl then said, "Master, please help my cousin predict her marriage."
The Taoist priest suddenly raised his chin at me and said, "He will test you."
This exam is coming up way too soon. I've been studying with the class during the day and cramming notes at night, so I'm confident I have a good grasp of it. So, I might as well show off my skills.
I said in a tone that brooked no argument, "You are not here to have your fortune told."
The thin girl explained, "He's here to have his fortune told."
I shook my head and said, "Don't lie. You were just passing by the yard and out of curiosity, you suddenly decided to give it a try."
The thin girl blushed, and the fat girl blushed all the way to her neck.
The thin girl who was my cousin smiled shyly: "You are right."
The Taoist priest folded his arms across his chest, his face expressionless. I knew he was pretending, but in reality, he was quite satisfied.
I glanced at the word "faith" and said to the fat girl, "Your marriage is only blooming, not bearing fruit."
Fat girl: "What do you mean?"
"People often introduce you to boyfriends. Some meet once and nothing happens. Others date for a few days and nothing happens again. Anyway, every time you date someone, they fall apart."
The fat girl blushed, and the thin girl couldn't help but interrupt: "Why?"
I smiled faintly.
The fat girl also became anxious: "Master, this is..."
I said firmly: "You are a person without a strong opinion."
The thin girl leaned back in shock. "That's so accurate. How can you tell her character from just one word, 'faith'?"
I pointed to the word "信": "This word is composed of the character '人' + the character '言'.
She nodded in unison.
"When someone stands nearby and speaks, it's called—other people's words.
You met a guy today, and your best friend said that the boy was not tall. You were originally satisfied, but after listening to your best friend, you stopped talking about it;
I'm going to talk to someone tomorrow, but people say the boy is too honest, so I don't want to talk to him anymore;
I started dating someone the day after tomorrow, but people said the boy was too sweet and unreliable, so I broke up with him again..."
The fat girl blushed more and more as she listened, and she wished she could dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it.
The thin girl laughed so hard that she slapped the table and chairs: "You are so accurate, so amazing, it's like you were there."
I stole a glance at the Taoist priest. He had his arms crossed over his chest, his face expressionless.
The thin girl said, "I'm still short of two legs. I need to borrow one to kneel before you." Then she asked, "Can my cousin find a boyfriend?"
"Whenever you like someone in the future, trust your own feelings and don't listen to other people's nonsense!"
The thin girl thanked him repeatedly, counted the money, and dragged her cousin away.
The Taoist priest nodded slightly: "Your wisdom is quite spiritual."
Half an hour later, another woman in red came in and smiled at the Taoist priest as soon as she entered the door.
The teacher looked at her without any expression.
She said: "Master, please help me test my marriage."
I pushed the paper and pen to her.
She wrote the character "立".
I looked at the character "立" (standing), feeling uncertain. The character "信" (trust) I had just written was split into two parts using the splitting method.
The character "立" itself is difficult to split, so we can only use the "adding stroke method". What should we add?
The Taoist priest had no intention of letting me get started. He glanced at me and said slowly:
"You want a divorce?"
The woman was stunned. I was also shocked. Why did he assume that she wanted a divorce just by looking at this word?
The woman nodded.
The Taoist priest said slowly:
"This character '立' is the upper half of the character '辛' in '勤苦' (hard work)."
He used the method of adding strokes, adding a "cross" to this simple character for analysis.
"Your marriage is very difficult. Let me help you analyze it."
The woman in red leaned forward.
"Your marriage is your own decision. Everyone in your family is against it, no one supports you. But you are like someone who has taken a drug and you insist on getting married."
The woman's eyes almost popped out of her head as she hurriedly asked, "Is there any hope of redemption?"
The Taoist priest frowned and said, "The previous part is about fortune-telling, and we're going to discuss the matter based on the words. If we want to discuss the hope of reconciliation, we need to hear about the origins and current status of your marriage."
The woman in red lowered her head for a moment before raising her face. "I've been holding it in for a long time, rarely telling anyone, because you're so accurate. I'll tell you everything."
The woman in red recounted her sad past:
She is from Henan Province and came to Wuxiang City to work as a foot washer. During her time there, she met a local boy who treated her very well. Not only did he often ask her to wash his feet, but he also invited her to have supper.
After a few interactions, they developed feelings for each other and became romantically involved. The boy took her to the movies, had late-night snacks, and went to karaoke bars. When the woman told her family about her relationship, they were all against it.
He believed that Henan and Wuxiang were so far apart that his daughter would no longer be able to take care of him. However, she insisted on getting married, causing a falling out with her family. The two of them didn't hold a formal wedding, but instead went on a trip as a way of getting married.
Six months later, the woman discovered the man was a drug addict. She hugged him and cried, urging him to change his ways. The man cried too, saying he was sorry and promising to quit.
It was like a cycle. Every time the woman hugged the man and cried, the man swore a vow. After that, the man smoked again, cried again, and smoked again...
After listening to the woman's story, the Taoist priest asked, "Do you believe he can quit?"
The woman shook her head hopelessly.
The Taoist priest looked at the woman and said, "I am only fortune-telling. As for how to handle this matter, I dare not give you any advice. You should do it on your own."
The woman nodded, wiped her tears, counted the money, and turned away.
After the woman left, I asked, "How can you tell from the word 'li' that she wants a divorce?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
