The next day!
It was 7:30 pm.
Lin Fan woke up refreshed and more energized than ever.
"Ho! Today has to be better than yesterday!"
He hurriedly changed out, brushed his teeth and washed his face without hesitation. Lin Fan was all ready to walk his new path of becoming a fortune-teller.
He took in a deep breath as he opened the door. His morale was at an all-time high.
"I can do this!"
"Oh? You're up early. Your leg injury hasn't gotten you down I see," Old Man Wang said as he sipped his morning tea while sitting on his front porch.
"None of your business," Lin Fan retorted. Old Man Wang was such a drag. "Your fortune tells me that you will have a disastrous day."
"Haha! How absurd! A disastrous day for you I suppose," Old Man Wang said indignantly.
Lin Fan didn't say anymore. He turned his back on Old Man Wang and made his way to his shop.
As he reached the front door.
"Lil' Fan…"
A voice rang out. It was warm and familiar.
That can't be right, Lin Fan thought to himself. Who was familiar with him anyway?
Lin Fan turned his head around, seeing Aunt Zhang and her son along with a whole group of neighbors.
"Aunt Zhang? What's up?" Lin Fan pretended he didn't know what was going on. He knew that they were here to thank him for what he did yesterday.
"Lil' Fan, I can never thank you enough. If I believed what you said at first, Pearl would have never gone through so much suffering."
After saying that, Aunt Zhang bowed down in thanks to Lin Fan.
"Ah, you don't have to bow!" Lin Fan said cheekily. "We're all neighbors here so we should help one another. As long as Pearl is fine, there's nothing to worry about. Next time you shouldn't be this careless"
Lin Fan shrugged it off naturally as he thought that it was nothing really. It didn't require any effort at all and they didn't have to keep going over it.
As Lin Fan kept on doing that, Aunt Zhang felt a greater sense of gratitude as it was really important to her.
While she tried to sleep last night, she kept on thinking how things would have turned out if Lin Fan hadn't warned her. The more she pondered, the more frightened and fearful she became.
Mao Zhongxing suddenly did something out of the ordinary, causing even Lin Fan to be amazed"
*Plop!*
Mao Zhongxing fell on his knees, head bowed. "Lil' Fan, I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. I can't thank you enough for saving my beloved daughter's life. You sincerely wanted to save my daughter, but I shrugged it off then. I hope you can forgive me!" he said reverently, "If it would please you, you can even kick me a few times."
Mao Zhongxing was now profusely thanking Lin Fan, which was such a stark contrast from his aggressive behavior towards Lin Fan yesterday. How the tides have turned.
"Brother Mao, please get up. I am not worthy of this…" Lin Fan said, "I didn't control my emotions yesterday. To be honest my words were a little frank yesterday. If any father had heard that their daughter would be hurt, I am sure they would also have reacted the same way." Any bad blood between the two had dissipated.
When Lin Fan was telling Pearl's fortune, he also received an idea of how her father was like. Despite walking astray in his youth, he still grew up to be a fine man. If it was anyone else, it would have been out of the question to kneel in front of others in gratitude.
The neighbors saw how sincere Mao Zhongxing's apology was, to the extent of kneeling in front Lin Fan. Lin Fan couldn't stay angry at Mao Zhongxing.
"Lil' Fan, let us all go into the house to talk, it's too hot standing outside here"
The neighbors who followed Aunt Zhang and Mao Zhongxing were all curious. They wanted to see what kind of abilities Lin Fan had.
A master fortune-teller who could divine the future was as good as a god to them.
Oh, what mysteries await!
Lin Fan wanted to open a fortune-telling stand a first, but seeing the current situation, he didn't think it was possible anymore.
Even the skeptical Old Man Wang became curious after seeing the large crowd say for so long.
"Old Man Ji, what are you guys doing?" Old Man Wang asked.
"We're all watching Lil' Fan. He's almost like a god. I'll let my fortune to be read by Lil' Fan"
"That bastard…" Old Man Wang said indignantly. He looked at Lin Fan, eyebrows raised and snorted. What blasphemy!
"Aunt Zhang, I can't possibly accept this gift."
Aunt Zhang pushed whatever she was holding to Lin Fan's hands.
There was a slaughtered chicken, several bottles of rice wine and a few other gifts. They were all expensive gifts, amounting to a few thousand dollars.
"Lil' Fan, I insist. If you don't, my heart will not be at peace. You have my household a huge favor."
Whatever Aunt Zhang said did make sense.
If Lin Fan had never told Aunt Zhang, Pearl would most certainly have died.
Lin Fan was on cloud nine. It felt good to be praised this much.
Other people came up to him to thank him profusely all because he helped them with fortune telling. They even came up to him to offer gifts. This definitely better than selling scallion pancakes for a living.
At this point in time, Mao Zhongxing took out a red packet and shoved it into Lin Fan's pocket.
"Brother Mao, what is the meaning of this? I can't possibly accept this as a gift!" I've already received wine from your wife, that's good enough!
"Lil' Fan, please accept it. My household isn't exactly wealthy but just a thousand dollars to express my gratitude is nothing. Just take it as the fees for fortune telling." Mao Zhongxing's face had a look of desperation to it.
'I guess it can't be helped,' Lin Fan thought to himself, as he pocketed the red packet.
Lin Fan's conscience was clear. After all, it was hard earned money through the use of his abilities.
After all, the saying goes that saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-floor pagoda. A thousand dollars as a gift couldn't be said to be a lot as repayment, but it wasn't a small amount after all. This definitely beats selling scallion pancakes.
Seeing so many people crowd around Lin Fan, Old Man Wang couldn't help but feel jealous and envious of him. Not only did he get gifts, but also received money. Old Man Wang sighed.
"Hey! Stop getting scammed by this youngster. To even think that he's a god. All those fortune tellers from the overhead bridge have already gone," Old Man Wang scoffed. " Who knows? Maybe it was just blind luck, or maybe it was him who released the gas!"
Lin Fan's mood immediately flipped as he frowned at Old Man Wang. He clearly deserved a spanking for saying such slanderous words.
While Lin Fan was seething with rage, a scuffle happened at his side.
*Whomp!*
Mao Zhongxing lashed out, kicking Old Man Wang in the abdomen.
"Wang Zhongming, keep on saying those blasphemous words, I dare you. I'll break your face!" Mao Zhongxing said aggressively. Lin Fan was the benefactor of his household. He could not bear to hear such impudence.
"Brother Mao you… you…" Old Man Wang looked at Mao Zhongxing fearfully. When Mao Zhongxing walked astray in his youth, Old Man Mao was especially terrified of him. After all these years, he hadn't forgotten the things that happened.
He didn't dare to say another word.
"I'll make sure you remember that Lil' Fan is my household's benefactor, and if you have any problem with that, I'll deal with you… personally."
"Don't fight, guys!" Lin Fan said. "We're all neighbors. A kick is good enough." Lin Fan felt like laughing. He predicted that Old Man Wang would have received a bearing. But where was the blood?
Old Man Wang resentfully looked at Lin Fan, and stood up and turned back to his house. While walking on the stairs, he accidentally lost his balance and fell onto the floor, hitting his nose. He started bleeding profusely from his nostrils.
"Oh, so that's it means when I predicted the bloody disaster."
…
"Lil' Fan, please read my fortune!"
"Is that how you should address him? You have to address him as Master Lin in future, not Lil' Fan anymore…"
"Yes, Master Lin sounds good. We're all neighbors here, please read our fortunes!"
Lin Fan saw how lively the crowd was. Naturally, he was ecstatic too.
These neighbors didn't really give him any trouble and it wouldn't do him any harm to read their fortunes a little. In fact, it might even be good for his reputation.
"Sure, sure! One at a time!"
Lin Fan waved his hands. It was show time. The audience better have come prepared.