Grandpa was gone, but life had to go on. So, I reopened the funeral clothing shop door and waited for business all day. Just as Grandpa had predicted, not a soul showed up – not even a ghost.
That evening, Grandpa actually called me. He said he'd already reached another city and told me not to worry, just to focus on guarding the family business.
Truth be told, I never worried about my Grandpa. With his formidable fortune-telling skills, he wouldn't go anywhere that wasn't advantageous for him.
I asked him when he'd be back. He just said, "I'll come back when it's time to come back."
Nothing else happened that night. Early the next morning, before I could go find the chubby internet cafe manager, he rushed over excitedly to pay his back rent. I unceremoniously charged him three extra months. It was for his own good, saving him from blowing all his cash and having nothing left for rent later.
After collecting the rent, I went for breakfast, then opened the shop for a new day.
Usually, it was Grandpa lying on that reclining chair; today it was me. I didn't turn on the little black-and-white TV – it barely picked up any channels and was noisy as hell.
Lying on the recliner with nothing to do, I started thinking about the things Grandpa had said when he was here. He told me I absolutely had to do three things:
First, get married. Honestly, that's something every man should do.
Second, save money. And the amount had to reach ten million yuan. He said there were many things he couldn't tell me. Only when my net worth reached a certain level could I access things currently beyond my reach.
Third, find out the true cause of my parents' death and avenge them.
This last one was definitely something I had to do. The police had concluded my parents died by suicide. But whenever this topic came up, Grandpa's expression always turned strange; he clearly didn't agree with the police. There was definitely something big hidden there. So, I absolutely had to find the real killer of my parents.
Grandpa also said I had to do these three things one by one, in order. I couldn't break the sequence, otherwise, the third thing would forever be impossible to complete. And that was the thing I wanted to know most in this life – what truly happened to my parents when I was seven years old…
These three things sounded completely unrelated to the last one, yet I believed what Grandpa said. Only by accomplishing the first two could I smoothly complete the last one.
Of these three tasks, getting married seemed like something I could probably manage, albeit barely. But saving ten million yuan? That felt incredibly distant. So, from this moment on, I had to become stingy, saving every penny I could.
Just as I was pondering these things, the shop door curtain was pushed aside. The two middle-aged men from yesterday walked in again. Seeing me alone, the one who spoke yesterday asked, "Where is Master Diviner?"
I lay on the recliner and said, "He's gone!"
The man froze. "So suddenly? What illness?"
I said, "Not dead. Gone. Where to? I don't know. He told me not to look for him. Oh, and about your request for a divination – I can handle it for you. Of course, if you don't trust me, you can leave right now."
Hearing my words, the man seemed a bit irritated, but he took a deep breath and said, "Then I'll trouble you, young master, to divine for me. You are the Master Diviner's grandson, and you were spot-on about my situation yesterday. I didn't come for nothing. Please divine for me."
I stood up from the recliner and asked, "What's your surname, sir?"
The middle-aged man replied, "Liu. Liu Wenxuan. Forty years old."
I nodded and continued, "I can divine for you. But according to the rules Grandpa set for me, the face-reading divination is complimentary. I already did that for you yesterday. For the rest – palmistry, bone divination, aura divination, form divination, spirit divination, flesh divination, hexagram casting, character analysis – you can choose one. I'm proficient in all of these. Other methods I'm not as skilled in. Of course, if you want something else, I can try."
Liu Wenxuan shook his head. "Nothing else. Use hexagram casting. Master Diviner used hexagram casting twenty years ago to help me overcome a crisis. It was that turning point that led to my success today."
I stood up to fetch pen and paper and asked him, "Alright, Mr. Liu. Think of three three-digit numbers and write them on this paper. I'll do a simple divination for you."
Hearing me say "simple divination," Liu Wenxuan looked displeased. "This matter is of utmost importance to me. How can it be done casually?"
I smiled, tossed the pen and paper towards him, and said, "Write them. If you don't want the divination, you can leave right now."
The reason I dared to say this was because, based on the flow of fortune in his facial features and the Five Elements major cycles corresponding to his age, I could already deduce that his troubles were coming to an end. There was no need for elaborate divination.
Seeing my firm stance, Liu Wenxuan reluctantly took the pen and paper. I reminded him, "Focus on the matter you seek guidance on, then write three three-digit numbers on the paper and give it to me."
Liu Wenxuan nodded and quickly wrote down three numbers: "165," "166," "126." I took the numbers and quickly calculated. Liu Wenxuan was seeking the "Well" hexagram (Jing), and the changing line was the original line (unchanged).
The calculation method itself is something anyone with basic divination knowledge could do: Take the first number, divide it by 8, the remainder corresponds to the lower trigram (inner trigram). Take the second number, divide by 8, the remainder corresponds to the upper trigram (outer trigram). Take the third number, divide by 6, the remainder corresponds to the changing line. If any number divides evenly, the remainder is considered to be the divisor itself.
Then, based on the numbers 1 to 8 corresponding to the Eight Trigrams (Heaven, Lake, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Water, Mountain, Earth), you derive the primary hexagram. Liu Wenxuan's three numbers had remainders "5," "6," and "6." The first two derived the primary hexagram: Wind over Water - the "Well" hexagram (Xun over Kan).
The changing line was "6," meaning the original line was unchanged.
According to the hexagram interpretation, Liu Wenxuan's fortune was about to take a significant turn for the better. He would soon gain prestige, and wealth would come rolling in. However, he needed to address water issues at home – this "water" could be natural water from heavy rain, or water from a burst pipe in his house. Additionally, the hexagram indicated excessive "kidney water" and insufficient kidney qi, suggesting possible kidney problems.
I patiently interpreted the hexagram while Liu Wenxuan waited without hurrying me.
After a moment, I said, "Alright, Mr. Liu. Listen to me. Go back, continue doing what you're doing. Your luck is about to turn very soon."
"Your business will also develop positively. As for you and your half-brother, your relationship will never be good. I advise you to cut ties with him sooner rather than later to avoid getting implicated again in the future. Also, if you have a house near water, avoid staying there recently. If not, then check all the plumbing in your home; otherwise, there might be a minor mishap. Furthermore, you yourself have been overworking lately, leading to insufficient kidney qi. You need timely recuperation!"
After listening, Liu Wenxuan exclaimed in surprise, "How did you know my previous misfortune was due to my brother's involvement?"
I replied, "It showed on your face. Also, your changing line indicated that apart from the kidneys, everything else was basically alright. Since it wasn't a problem originating from you, naturally it was due to external involvement. Combining that with your face made it easy to deduce."
After hearing me out, Liu Wenxuan's attitude towards me instantly changed to one of respect. "Young Master Li, the diviner! I didn't expect... you truly surpass your grandfather!"
I quickly shook my head, saying I didn't dare accept that. Compared to Grandpa, I was still far behind.
Liu Wenxuan said I was being too modest. Then he asked how much he owed me. I thought about it. Fortune tellers by the river charged maybe twenty or thirty yuan. I was a bit better than them, so I'd round it up to a hundred.
Thinking this, I held up one finger. Without a word, Liu Wenxuan signaled to Lao Qiu beside him to hand over the money. Lao Qiu directly gave me a stack of hundred-yuan bills.
I was dumbfounded.
Liu Wenxuan said, "Young Master Diviner, this is your payment. I hope you don't find it too little. I will certainly trouble you again in the future, so you absolutely must accept this money."
I responded, "Mr. Liu, please just call me Li Chu Yi from now on. Don't call me 'Young Master Diviner,' it sounds strange. Also, I really can't take all this money. I only want one hundred..."
Liu Wenxuan shook his head. "I know your rules. How about this: I'll take all the stock in your little shop. Consider it me supporting your business."
I looked at him. "My shop only has things for the dead. They aren't worth much. What do you want them for?"
Liu Wenxuan said, "Better safe than sorry! I'll send someone tomorrow to collect the goods."
He really wasn't afraid of bad luck.
After saying this, Liu Wenxuan thanked me several more times and left. I was left alone, holding that stack of bills, utterly bewildered. Had I just struck it rich?
The total stock in my shop was only worth a few thousand yuan. Usually, if someone wanted to buy something, I ordered it on the spot; I didn't keep much inventory. This meant my shop was going to be completely emptied.
After accepting Liu Wenxuan's money, I immediately closed the shop, went to the bank, opened an account, and deposited all the cash.
The next day, Liu Wenxuan indeed sent people to clear out all our stock. After everything was moved, I still felt a bit indebted to him, so I gave them the little black-and-white TV Grandpa often watched. I couldn't bear to part with Grandpa's reclining chair, though.
With the shop empty, I thought about restocking. But just as I picked up my phone to make a call, I had a sudden idea: Why keep running a funeral clothing shop? Wouldn't it be better to open a small fortune-telling shop? Maybe I could even raise the rent for the second floor.
With this plan, I went to search for Grandpa's old fortune-telling tools. As I rummaged, I froze. It seemed Grandpa had taken all those things with him when he left. If I wanted to tell fortunes, I'd need to get a new set of tools myself.
I thought about it. To open a new shop, some investment was necessary. So, I decided to go to the second-hand furniture market to find some antique Chinese-style furniture. That would give the place the right atmosphere.
Speaking of buying furniture, I actually knew someone in the county town. His name was Ning Haoyu. He had his own shop in the furniture mall on the east side of town. He was fair-skinned and looked a bit like a pretty boy. His family had a lot of antique furniture. I heard some of the really valuable pieces were even made from coffin boards dug up from graveyards.
Anyway, he was someone who knew the trade. Asking him would be the right move.