Yu Shu used the excuse that she wouldn't accept money if she couldn't predict the future. In the morning, only three to five people stopped by their little divination stall. Whether it was asking for money or asking about misfortune, they didn't earn a single cent. Business was bleak. She and Xia Mingming spent most of their time sitting there like decorations.
When it was noon, Xia Mingming made a fuss and wanted to go back. Of course, Yu Shu didn't ask her to leave. She gave her a piece of silver and sent her to buy a scallion pancake to eat. Lunch was just like that.
In the afternoon, she did two free divination readings. When it was almost dusk, Yu Shu, under Xia Mingming's urging, unhurriedly closed up the stall.
When she got home, the sky was still dark. As soon as she entered the door, she smelled the smell of medicine. Yu Shu called out and heard Yu Xiaoxiu answering her in the kitchen. She asked Xia Mingming to push the cart back into the house and went to the west room to find Jing Chen.
There was a soft straw curtain hanging on the door. The door was half open, but Yu Shu still knocked on the door twice to go in. What surprised her was that Jing Chen wasn't lying on the bed. Instead, he was sitting at the table in front of the window, writing. When he raised his head and saw her come in, he held the brush in his hand and smiled at her. His expression was very pleasing to the eye.
Yu Shu looked at him openly. She walked over and stood at the side of the table. She asked, "What's wrong? I asked the doctor to take a look. Did he say you're better?"
Jing Chen nodded. He took a clean piece of paper and wrote on it, "It's a new prescription. I bought half a month's worth of medicine. I just drank it." Yu Shu lowered her head to look at the table. She wanted to see what he was writing just now, but she saw a piece of paper beside his hand. What was written on it was not words, but drawings. She let out a soft "eh" sound.
She took a closer look and saw a little thing squatting on the window sill. It was black and white. Kim Bao jumped out of the paper and naughtily jumped down.
Although it was not a proper painting, the ink color was well-proportioned, and the movement was balanced. It made Jin Bao look lively. Yu Shu liked it and asked Jing Chen for it. She took it back and pasted it on the inside of the house. It added some interest to the bare walls.
Yu Xiaoxiu cooked the porridge. Yu Shu cooked two hot dishes. Her cooking skills were average. She only made some home-cooked dishes. However, Jing Chen and Yu Xiaoxiu weren't picky. Xia Mingming didn't want to be picky because he was eating plain rice. The two dishes and soup were enough for the four of them. There wouldn't be any leftovers.
After dinner, the weather cooled down. Yu Shu asked Yu Xiaoxiu to bring a chair to the courtyard. She brewed a pot of chrysanthemum tea. The four of them enjoyed the cool air under the moonlight. Jing Chen and Yu Xiaoxiu listened to Xia Mingming talk about how Yu Shu read fortunes for people on the street for free during the day.
Yu Shu leaned on the chair and looked up at the stars. From time to time, she would chime in.
Only when someone yawned did they go back to their rooms to sleep.
No matter how reluctant Xia Mingming was, Yu Shu still woke her up the next morning.
"There aren't many people. Even if I go, I'll just sit there. It's such a hot day. Why do you want me to go?" Xia Mingming complained as she put on her clothes.
Yu Shu grabbed a comb and smoothed her hair. She said, "What if someone wants to read the fortune of marriage? I'm not good at it. Let's test your knowledge of the Six Lines."
The few things that Yu Shu could show were arranged in order. They were the prediction of the time of calamity, the weather, the position of the eight doors of life and death. As for Fengshui, she had learned a lot and lacked practice. So she didn't know much about it. As for the astrology, it was related to major events.
Xia Mingming had learned a lot from Yu Shu. It was not good to burn the bridge after crossing the river. She swallowed her dissatisfaction and followed her out.
Outside the same wine shop as yesterday, Yu Shu first went in to chat with Manager Sun. Then she came out to set up her stall. Most likely, the person who did free fortune-telling at her stall yesterday went back and mentioned that there were a few more customers today. What was interesting was that all of them were housewives who were short on money. None of them had any plans to spend money. But there were still many requests for fortune-telling.
When it was almost noon, another aunty with the surname He came. She said that her son had accompanied her daughter-in-law to visit relatives. They were late for a few days and did not return. She wanted to ask Yu Shu to see if there had been any accidents on the road.
Yu Shu took her son's and daughter-in-law's birthdays. After calculating and seeing that there was nothing wrong, she comforted her, "Aunty, don't worry. The two of them are safe and sound. It's probably because sister-in-law rarely returns home. Just stay for a few more days. It's not a big deal."
Aunty He half believed and half doubted, "Is that so? Are your fortune-telling accurate?"
Xia Mingming sat in the shade behind Yu Shu and curled his lips. Xiaoyi's people hated this phrase the most. Being asked 'accurate or not'. If he answered accurately, there's always a chance. If he did not answer accurately, then what's the point of talking.
Yu Shu had a good temper and said, "As long as you keep them safe in your heart, they will return safely. Don't always think that nothing will happen just because something happened."
Yu Shu's words were ambiguous and Aunty He was not very satisfied. She asked again, "Then help me calculate again, when will they return?"
Hearing this request, Yu Shu laughed, "Aunty, I can't calculate this."
Aunty He frowned and unhappily stretched out her hand towards Yu Shu, "Forget it. Give me the eight characters and I'll go ask around."
"Do as you wish." Yu Shu handed the eight characters back to her. This Aunty stood up and was about to leave.
Xia Mingming could not hold back his words any longer. Seeing that this person did not pay for his fortune-telling and did not even say a word of thanks, he coldly snorted, "I advise you to save a few steps. Even if this was brought to the Celestial Commissioner, no one would be able to answer."
Aunty He was about to leave but when she heard this, she turned her head back and said unhappily, "Why can't you all tell? Why can't I go ask around? What kind of nonsense are you talking about? My legs are on my legs.
I can go wherever I want, it's none of your business! This middle-aged woman's body was sturdy and her voice was loud. When she spoke, it was like she was quarreling. Two sentences attracted the gazes of everyone on the street. Yu Shu secretly sighed and quickly raised her hand to cover Xia Mingming's mouth. She did not give him a chance to quarrel with her and said to Aunty He, "I'm sorry, my brother's mouth was a bit too fast. You can go ask around. Whether this fortune-telling is accurate or not, I won't charge you."
Seeing that she had the upper hand, Aunty He said in a bad mood, "I see that you two are still young and haven't learned your skills. You're learning to come out and fool people. I advise you to go home early and not harm others and yourself."
After saying this, they turned around and left. The passersby on the street took their words out of context and thought that the two of them were trying to swindle people. They pointed at them and whispered to each other, but none of them said anything good.
Not only did they not help, they were also bitten. Xia Mingming was so angry that he wanted to chase after the woman, but Yu Shu grabbed him tightly. She only let him go when the woman disappeared.
"Why are you grabbing me? Look, she ran away!" Xia Mingming turned his head and angrily said to Yu Shu, "Now we can't even explain ourselves!"
"What reason do you have?" Yu Shu wiped the saliva on her palms on her clothes and sat down again. She was very calm even though there was a group of people on the street looking at her.
"Of course we have reason. We were kind enough to help her read her fortune, but she wrongly accused us of swindling people." Xia Mingming angrily swung his arm.
Yu Shu casually fiddled with the abacus and said in a voice that was neither loud nor soft, "That's because she's unreasonable, not because you're reasonable. She came to ask for her fortune. If we can calculate it, that's because we're capable. Whether she believes us or not is her business. If we can't calculate it, she can go wherever she wants. The road is wide open, how can you control where she goes?"
Xia Mingming didn't refute. He more or less understood that she had caused trouble by talking too much. He wanted to lose his temper but couldn't, so he angrily said, "You're the most reasonable one. I'm going back!" Yu Shu didn't stop her and watched as she walked away. Because she had been here twice before, she wasn't afraid that she would get lost.
The wine shop's Shopkeeper Sun heard the commotion and came out to ask Yu Shu a few questions. Yu Shu told him the truth. Shopkeeper Sun was old and had seen many things, so of course he wouldn't echo what others said. He comforted her with a few words: "A long journey tests a horse's stamina, and time reveals a man's heart. If you really have the ability, then don't be afraid of one or two gossips. Stay on this street for a while and see a few more faces, it won't be bad for you."
He then called for a waiter to bring out a pot of tea. Yu Shu thanked him. No matter how the people on the street looked at her, no matter if there were people asking for her fortune, she stubbornly stood guard in front of the divination booth for the entire day. A straight body doesn't fear a crooked shadow, and a hard back doesn't fear a poke.
Because Xia Mingming had caused trouble, he didn't have the nerve to imitate Yu Xiaoxiu and Jing Chen when he returned home. When he was asked why he returned home early, he made up a lie, saying that he wasn't feeling well. When Yu Shu returned home in the evening, she didn't expose him. However, when she woke up early the next day, she didn't wake her up again.
In the three streets of Autumn Osmanthus Lane, there were only a few things that could be talked about all day long. As the saying goes, good news doesn't leave the house, but bad news travels a thousand miles. In just one night, almost half the street had heard of a young man setting up a divination booth to swindle money from people.
Today, when Yu Shu opened her booth, she didn't see a single person asking for fortune telling. Instead, there were people who specially came to this street to see who was the 'swindler'.
Today, she had learned to be smarter. When she came, she brought a book to read. Even if no one came, she didn't just sit there and do nothing. Instead, she studied the five elements of feng shui and arranged a row of divinations. She treated this messy street as her own study, not paying attention to the outside world as she sat there for the entire day.
Before sunset, she closed her booth an hour earlier. It wasn't that she couldn't sit still, but that there was a rain in the evening and she had forgotten to bring an umbrella.
Just as Yu Shu was about to reach home, rain began to fall from the sky. This rain came so suddenly that many people who didn't have umbrellas in Autumn Osmanthus Lane ran into the nearby shops to hide from the rain.
As the rain grew heavier, the wind became cold. Just as Shopkeeper Sun was about to ask the waiter to close the windows, he saw two rare guests walk in, patting the rainwater off their shoulders. Shopkeeper Sun dismissed the waiter and walked around the counter with a smile: "Young Master Xi, are you here to hide from the rain or to drink?"
"I made it." The youth walking in front smiled and turned his head to the youth behind him: "Brother Rui, let's first go upstairs and wait for the shopkeeper to go down to the cellar to get some wine. Today, we'll drink Ah Choo!" Before he could finish his words, the youth suddenly sneezed, shivering from the cold wind blowing at him. The youth wrinkled his eyebrows and ordered Shopkeeper Sun: "First boil a pot of hot tea and bring it over."
The youth rubbed his nose and said in embarrassment: "It's nothing, just a bit of wind. It's not a big deal. We're here to taste wine, what's the point of drinking tea."
The youth ignored his protests and took out a clean handkerchief and placed it on his forehead. Turning around, he went upstairs.
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