Soon it was September. Before people realized it, they had entered the Autumn season.
There were many advertisements for mooncakes, reminding everyone that the Mid-Autumn Festival was coming. Although the Mid-Autumn Festival had not yet arrived, there was already a festive atmosphere.
Qi Yan remembered that when he was a child, his master would buy him a mooncake as big as a face. At that time, the mooncake fillings were either peanut or sesame, and the hard and dry skin was sprinkled with some sesame seeds. After putting it on the altar and praying, one could eat the mooncake.
Now there are many new flavors of mooncakes. Many people do not pay tribute to the moon when they eat mooncakes, instead what they miss the most is the nostalgic taste.
Bringing his signboard, Qi Yan found a street corner where there were not too many people, but there were no patrol officers. Perhaps his luck was bad that day, as no one wanted to have their fortune told by him even though he’d waited for about two hours. Those who were interested left when they heard that it cost 500 yuan.
Qi Yan bought a small stool, a bottle of drinks, and several packets of snacks from the small supermarket next to him while waiting for customers. If it wasn’t for his clothes, people might think he was begging.
As noon approached, there were even fewer people on the streets. Qi Yan stood up and stretched his sore legs, and was about to leavel.
“Are you really a fortune teller?”
Qi Yan turned his head, and a thin woman with withered hair stood in front of him. The thin windbreaker on her body fluttered in the wind, and the poor-quality fabric rustled.
“Please sit down.” Qi Yan put the stool next to the woman, squatted down and looked at her, “What do you want to know?”
The woman took out five hundred-yuan bills from her jacket. She seemed to be in a bit of a pinch. She didn’t seem to care about the money at all. The woman seemed to be in her thirties. She looked skinny, and there was no vitality in her eyes, but she sat in an elegant manner, and it could be seen that she was raised in a strict household.
“I’m not sure either.” The woman stroked the slightly messy bangs on her forehead and pursed her dry lips, “Tell me whatever you know.”
Qi Yan glanced at her, got up and said, “Wait a minute.”
The woman didn’t speak nor look at Qi Yan. She didn’t care if he would run away with the five hundred yuan, but she just stared numbly at the wooden sign in front of her, or perhaps she wasn’t looking at anything at all.
“Your lips are a little dry,” Qi Yan ran out of the supermarket quickly and handed her an unopened bottle of peach juice. The woman looked at the juice and paused for two seconds, before taking it. The corners of her lips moved, as if to say thank you, but Qi Yan didn’t hear it clearly.
Qi Yan smiled at her, lowered his head and struggled to take a lip balm out of its packaging. He handed it to the woman, “I hope you don’t mind using this cheap lip balm. Apply it to prevent the corners of your lips from cracking and bleeding.”
The woman stared at Qi Yan in a daze, then she took the lip balm and applied it on her lips. She felt a bit of coolness and tingling sensation. She clenched the lip balm tightly, and the corners of her lips trembled, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Qi Yan put away the wooden sign and said softly, “Since you don’t know, we can have a chat. I don’t charge for extra time.”
“Are all fortune tellers like you?” The woman smiled, “So… gentle?”
“I am special,” Qi Yan shook his head, “Because my fortune-telling is accurate, and I’m considered a demi-god. Ordinary masters cannot compete with me.”
The woman smiled lightly. She carefully put the lip balm into her trench coat, twisted the lid of the drink with great effort, and took a gulp. The sweet aroma of peach instantly filled her nostrils, making her want to cry. But maybe she had already cried too much, so there was not a single tear in her eyes.
“It’s very sweet,” The woman lowered her head, preventing Qi Yan from seeing her expression, “Thank you.”
“Drinking something sweet will make you feel better.” Qi Yan didn’t look at her. He sighed, “My master used to say that I like sweets, like a girl. Now that he has passed away, and I don’t have any other relatives, no one cares about what I eat.” He picked out a bag of potato chips from the gave it to the woman, “Let’s eat this together while I tell your fortune.”
“You…” The woman took the potato chips and looked at the young man with a gentle smile. She couldn’t believe that such a young boy had no other relatives. “Your…” She hesitated for a while, but didn’t ask. She was worried that asking about his parents might be too painful for him if something bad had happened to them.
“I don’t have parents. I was adopted by my master when I was a child” Qi Yan smiled. He didn’t mind bringing up his past. “I think you have a good life.You should have parents who love you very much.”
“Yeah, they loved me very much and treated me like a jewel,” The woman smiled bitterly, “It’s a pity that I’m an unfilial daughter, and broke their hearts for a man.” After she graduated from high school, she insisted on staying with that bastard. Her parents persuaded and even begged her to no avail. She remembered the day when she came to the Capital City with that man and saw her mother crying while looking for her at the train station, but she cruelly pretended not to see her. She got onto the train without even turning back.
It’s been ten years since. At the beginning, the man was fine, and he was gentle and considerate to her. But a year later, he showed his true colors, who was abusive and an alcoholic, but he would beg for her forgiveness every time. Later, she became pregnant, but miscarried after being hit by him. When the doctor told her that she could no longer conceive a child, she collapsed. The man then had an affair with another woman and blamed her for being infertile.
In the end, she left the abusive marriage that her parents had advised her to in the beginning.
One needs to pay for their own mistakes. She hurt her parents, and was naive and stupid. She deserved it. When she was most helpless, she seeked help on the Internet, and some people said that she deserved it because she was a fool.
Now that she thought about it, they were right. An idiot like her did not deserve to live.
She chose an abandoned construction site with no body water nearby. If she jumped, she would neither waste police resources nor pollute water. The only trouble was that after she died, the police would have to collect her body and whoever finds her body would be shocked. But there was nothing else she could do. She couldn’t die at home because her landlord was a good person and she couldn’t cause him trouble.
She was going to the abandoned site. When she saw the young fortune teller while crossing the street, she remembered that she had a few hundred yuan left on her, which was the money left after paying the rent for this month. She wouldn’t need the money anymore, so she might as well give it to those who need it. She wondered if this was considered a good deed?
“No, I see that you were loved as a child. Then, you met a bad person, but 10 years later, your life will get better.” Qi Yan shook his head, “It’s normal to encounter bad people at least once in your life. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“Get better?” The woman laughed at herself, “How?”
“You will have luck in both love and career,” Qi Yan pointed to her eyebrows. “Your eyebrows are neat and delicate, and your ears are droopy and fleshy. You are a blessed person.”
“Luck…” The woman shook her head with a smile, “Thank you, but I don’t think so.”
“Trust me, I’m pretty accurate,” Qi Yan frowned, “But I see that your forehead has a yellowish tinge, and it should be because your family is in trouble. If I’m not wrong, it’s related to your mother’s health, but it’s mostly not serious. Instead, it’s a disease of the heart. You have already missed out some years with her, so as her daughter, you should spend more time with her and take care of her.”
The woman’s face finally showed panic, “What did you say? There is something wrong with my mother’s health?”
“From the looks of it, yes,” Qi Yan nodded. “I don’t think you have any other siblings. As a daughter, you should be more considerate of your parents.”
“Yes, I don’t have any other siblings.” The woman stared at Qi Yan in a daze. She didn’t expect Qi Yan to know that she had no other siblings. Her lifeless heart started to beat again and the scene of her mother crying while looking for her reappeared in her mind.
Every time she thought of this, she could barely breathe. She couldn’t face her parents.
Regardless of whether it’s true or not, she should secretly visit them. What if… what this young man said was true? She suddenly stood up and said, “Master, thank you for waking me up, thank you!”
Seeing that she was about to leave, Qi Yan quickly stopped her, “Wait.”
The woman turned her head in confusion, not knowing what the young man still had to say to her.
“I’ve accepted your money.” Qi Yan took out three thousand yuan and a business card from his wallet and handed it to the woman, “I’ll lend you two thousand yuan, and when you have a successful career, remember to pay me back double.”
The woman looked at the young man in shock. How did he know that she had no money on her? Could it be that she really met a real fortune-teller?
“Take it,” Qi Yan put the money into the woman’s hand, picked up the stool and the bag of snacks, and said to the woman with a smile, “Goodbye, see you if I see you.”
“Wait!” The woman felt that she couldn’t accept the money just like that, but the young man walked very fast. Then, he got into a car and drove away.
With this money, she bought a train ticket. Back then when she first came to the Capital City, it was a crowded train, but now it was a fast and beautiful train. The journey that used to take several days was completed in one day.
Stepping on to the station that looked unfamiliar, she walked out of the gate blankly, listening to the familiar local accent. When she passed the bulletin board at the station and saw a missing person notice, she couldn’t help but crouch in front of the bulletin board and wept.
The announcement seemed to have just been posted. There was a photo of her wearing a school uniform from ten years ago, but the description in it was the way she dressed when she left.
She had long forgotten what kind of clothes and shoes she wore when she left ten years ago, but her parents still remembered and they were still looking for her every day. They didn’t know that their unfilial daughter was afraid that they would find her, so she asked someone to make a false ID.
“Miss, what’s wrong?”
“Don’t cry. We’ll go to the police station if something has happened.”
“Yes, exactly.”
Although this station looked unfamiliar, the folks here were still warm as she remembered them to be. Looking at the concerned eyes around her, she slowly stood up. Her desolate heart seemed to have found a foothold.
“Hooo…” Qi Yan blew on the hot chicken soup in the bowl, transferred 500 yuan to a charity and drank the delicious chicken soup. He raised his brows proudly. His soup cooking skills were getting better and better, but it’s a pity that he couldn’t use this skill to make a living.
The phone kept ringing, Qi Yan was too lazy to pick up the phone, so he turned on the loudspeaker, and Wang Hang’s voice was heard.
“Qian Qian!”
“Yeah?” Qi Yan was very calm, in stark contrast to Wang Hang’s excitement.
“You are so close with Fifth Master Cen!!” Wang Hang was almost shouting, “Are we not friends anymore? You don’t tell me about such important things.”
“Don’t you know that being low-key is one of my many positive traits?”
“Shameless.”
Qi Yan sneered, and then explained, “There is actually nothing to say, if I tell you, it will look like I’m showing off to you. Besides, whether I and Baihe are friends or not, you are still my close friend.”
“I know you have a sweet mouth,” Wang Hang snorted on the other end of the phone, but he also understood what Qi Yan meant and didn’t keep asking about it, “You know, Lao’er has a girlfriend. He invited us to dinner tomorrow to meet up.”
“Isn’t he doing research at school? How did he find the time to get a girlfriend?” Qi Yan put down his bowl, “I can’t believe he’s the first one among us to be taken.”
“Life is unpredictable. We the bachelors can only watch in envy.” Wang Hang’s voice was a little anxious, “I got to go now, I’m working on a proposal, I will try to finish it today so I have time for you guys tomorrow.”
After he hung up, Qi Yan shrugged and continued to drink the chicken soup. However, the phone rang again before he could swallow. This time it was Lao’er. He basically told him the same thing and invited him to dinner tomorrow.
Qi Yan agreed immediately, he also teased him a little.
After they hung up Qi Yan finished his soup and didn’t feel as lonely as a single person. He took the bowl to the kitchen and cleaned up the kitchen.
Before returning to the computer, he saw a missed call from Cen Baihe. He wiped the water on his hands, and called Cen Baihe back.
As soon as the call was made, Cen Baihe picked up the phone.
“Qian Qian.”
“Baihe, what’s up? I was cleaning the kitchen and didn’t hear the phone ring.”
“There is one thing I want to ask you,” Cen Baihe chuckled lightly, “It’s not convenient to talk on the phone, I’ll come and pick you up later, and we’ll have dinner together in the evening.”
Qi Yan glanced at the time, it was three or four o’clock in the afternoon, “Okay, but I had a late lunch, so let’s not go to Qianweiju.” It would be a pity if he couldn’t finish the food.
“Why did you eat so late?” Cen Baihe said with concern. Even through the phone, Qi Yan could feel the concern. He smiled and said, “It’s the first fortune-telling of the month. So I waited until noon and came back a little late.”
“In the future, you should pay more attention to your health. Telling fortune is fine, but your health is more important.”
“Fortune-telling depends on fate,” Qi Yan said softly, “Besides, a life is more important than a meal.”
“What?”
“Nothing, I’ll go take a nap. Call me in advance before you come later, so I can get up in time.”
“Okay.” Cen Baihe waited for Qi Yan to hang up, raised his head and said to Liang Feng, who was waiting beside him, “Who is here?”
“Mr. Meng, CEO of Qianfei Technology,” Liang Feng added, “He made an appointment before.”
“Okay, I’ll go over now.” Cen Baihe walked out in a good mood, Liang Feng followed behind and closed the office door.
Qianfei Technology was a new company that was only founded two years ago. Recently, they had a lot of publicity and became quite famous. Cen Baihe did not expect the CEO of this company to be a young man under thirty years old.
After the polite exchange between the two, the young man named Meng Xuan talked about the new software of his company. He was very confident that they would make a good profit if Cen Baihe decided to invest in them.
After Cen Baihe looked at the proposal, he said calmly, “I will consider it.”
There were no visible emotions on Meng Xuan’s face. The two only talked for half an hour, he didn’t want to appear too eager, so he hid his anxiety. “I look forward to hearing good news from you.”
Cen Baihe took a sip from the cup, “You are young and promising, you will have plenty of opportunities in the future.”
“But the opportunity to cooperate with you is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Meng Xuan took the opportunity to flatter him, “Many people in the industry are looking forward to working with you, and I am no exception.”
“You’re too kind. I am just a businessman, I’m not that popular.” Cen Baihe glanced at his watch, “It’s late now, I have something else to do. I hope you don’t mind.”
Meng Xuan immediately stood up and said, “I’ve disturbed you enough today, I should go too. Goodbye.”
“This way, please.” Liang Feng shook hands with Meng Xuan and took him out of the room.
Cen Baihe sat on the sofa with a calm expression, waiting for Liang Feng to return from seeing off the guest, “In the future, there is no need to consider cooperating with this person.”
Liang Feng paused a while and said, “Understood.”
“Do you know why?”
Liang Feng nodded.
“The proposal is bad.”
Cen Baihe took a sip of tea and said, “More importantly, the name of the company is not good.”
Liang Feng: ??
