Finally, amidst everyone's envy, Xu Lin took the fan.
He couldn't help but laugh to himself because he had just said it casually.
He had a twelve zodiac system, so he mentioned the twelve zodiac animals, and it turned out that the painting was of the twelve zodiac animals.
"Xu Lin, not bad."
"I just said it casually. Everyone was guessing animals, so I thought it might be the twelve zodiac animals."
"That's still impressive. The painting is really beautiful, but 900 yuan is too expensive. If I bought it, my dad would definitely scold me."
Su Qingwan took the fan and played with it, liking it more the more she looked at it.
"I'll give it to you."
"No, no, you guessed it right. I can't take it. There's a fortune-teller over there. Do you want to check it out?"
Su Qingwan glanced around again and finally spotted a stall surrounded by many people, who were chatting and saying the fortune-telling was very accurate.
"Aren't these all scammers?"
Qin Yunhe was full of disbelief. If she hadn't glanced and seen that it was an elderly man, she might have directly intervened. Even though she wasn't going to intervene this time, she would still need the man's ID information in case someone got scammed out of a lot of money. If it was just 10 or 20 yuan, she wouldn't worry about it.
But as they got closer and listened more carefully to the conversations of the people around, they found out that he only charged one yuan, and only accepted coins.
"Want to try? Officer Qin, you can't say this is a scam now, right? He doesn't even make 100 yuan a day."
"One yuan is fine, but I'm not going. Xu Lin and Wanwan, you two go."
"Huh? You're really not going?"
"No, you two go ahead."
Seeing Qin Yunhe insist, Xu Lin and Su Qingwan squeezed through the crowd.
You couldn't just get your fortune told; you had to roll a die and only a roll of one would qualify you.
"I'll give it a try."
Su Qingwan was still excited and went first, placing a coin and then rolling the die. A few seconds later, a solid one appeared in the bowl.
The elderly man, wearing a worn-out hat and with an indistinguishable appearance, nodded and signaled her to sit on a low stool beside him.
Su Qingwan sat down, looking at the wrinkled chin of the old man. For some reason, she started to feel a bit nervous.
"Stretch out your hand."
"Okay."
She extended her hand, and the old man placed a finger on her wrist as if taking her pulse.
"Why does this feel like a medical check-up?"
Qin Yunhe, who had initially been skeptical, also leaned in closer. Xu Lin held her in his arms to prevent others from intentionally bumping into them. It wasn't that Qin Yunhe was in danger; he was just worried she might directly knock someone out.
"Let's see. Everyone says he's pretty accurate."
"I don't believe it."
A few seconds later, the old man removed his finger, chuckled softly twice, and spoke.
"You belong to the horse zodiac. You're in good health, but your mind is in conflict. A red thread is entwined, indicating that your fate is already decided."
Hearing this, Su Qingwan's eyes lit up. She had just wanted to try it out, but it turned out to be so accurate!
Knowing her zodiac could have been a coincidence, but her conflicting emotions perfectly matched her recent state of mind!
"I..."
"You can ask me three questions, only three. Everyone is the same."
Su Qingwan originally had a bunch of things to ask, but since she could only ask three, she had to calm down and think carefully. If he was completely accurate, she needed to ask questions that would impact her life.
After a few seconds, Su Qingwan made up her mind. She took a deep breath and looked at the elderly man.
"My first question: Will my parents develop any serious illnesses in the future? When will it happen? I want to know."
"That's two questions, but it's very filial of you to ask this first. I'll count it as one. Your father will, but your mother won't. It will be a lung disease, accumulated over time."
"I understand."
Su Qingwan recalled that her father loved smoking, though he had cut down a bit in recent years. But he hadn't quit… It seemed she needed to be more strict with him.
"Second question."
"About my love life."
"The conflict in your heart will become reality."
"Really?"
"Is that your third question?"
"Uh… no." Su Qingwan quickly covered her mouth, her heart still racing.
Did that mean the three of them would be together? How would that work? Never mind, onto the third question.
"What will be the health of my future children?"
"You're so young, thinking so far ahead?"
"Yes."
"With so many children, aside from two being weak in their early years, the rest will have no major illnesses in their lives."
"Thank you!" Su Qingwan stood up and bowed. Whether true or not, everything he said was positive, so she accepted it all.
But what did he mean by many children?
Could she really have so many, or did he include children Qin Yunhe might have?
"Alright, you don't need my blessings."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing."
The elderly man smiled kindly and then lowered his head. Su Qingwan had no choice but to leave.
"Sister Qin, it was so accurate. Aren't you going to try?"
"No… with so many people watching, it's too exposing."
Su Qingwan's session had turned Qin Yunhe's skepticism into slight belief, but exposing her privacy was still too much; it could be social suicide.
"If you ask in a subtle way, only the two of you would understand."
"I still won't go. I feel like I wouldn't roll a one anyway."
"Xu Lin, do you want to try?"
Su Qingwan tugged at Xu Lin. Xu Lin was torn, wanting to go but not wanting to, as his questions weren't easy to ask publicly.
"Give it a try." Qin Yunhe nudged Xu Lin. She didn't want to go, but Xu Lin could give it a shot.
"Uh… I'll just give it a try."
Why was he overthinking it? He probably wouldn't even roll a one, which was only a one-in-six chance.
He rolled the die casually, and it landed on a six. Xu Lin shook his head, ready to leave.
"Wait a moment."
"Are you calling me?"
Xu Lin looked at the old man, confused. The old man stood up and put his bowl and chopsticks into a tattered bag.
"Everyone, that's it for today. I'm leaving."
"I rolled a one, Master!"
"That was your second time. My eyes are still sharp."
"Hahaha!" The surrounding people laughed, and the man quickly put on a mask and slipped away.
"Everyone, see you again if fate allows. Young man, you are the last. So, I'll give you a free fortune."
"Thank you, sir!"
"No need to thank me…"
Xu Lin felt that the old man's tone seemed unusually respectful towards him. Was it just his imagination? It felt strange.
"This fortune," the old man continued, "this hexagram indicates that your wish is reflected on the fan and will come true. It is destined to come true."
Xu Lin glanced at the twelve zodiac signs on the fan and was about to nod in gratitude when the old man quickly walked out of the crowd, heading down the mountain, singing a song.
"The breeze blows gently through the forest, and thousands of things are entangled in the clear clouds! The snow blows in the daytime, and the phoenix feels warm, stepping on——"
The song grew fainter, and Xu Lin tried to catch up to hear the rest of it. But after a few steps, the old man had vanished.
"Xu Lin? Why did you suddenly start running?"
Qin Yunhe and Su Qingwan hurried over. Su Qingwan, out of breath, clutched her stomach.
"Nothing... I just felt like I saw a real immortal."
"An immortal? Just because he can predict accurately doesn't mean he's an immortal."
"Maybe, but he is to me."
Before Xu Lin could stand up straight, he heard a familiar voice behind him—Liu Qinnuan, the girl he'd been avoiding.
"Hey? Isn't this Xu Lin?"
Xu Lin smacked his forehead. What was supposed to be a quiet date was quickly turning into a group outing!