Volume One, Chapter 100: A Sorrow Marked by Love

Zhu Bei'ai looked around in bewilderment, but his room was so small that a single glance took in everything. There was no way anyone could be hiding there; even a mouse would have been spotted.

"Master, are you suggesting I ran into a ghost and made up nonsense?"

Qin Yu shook her head. "You didn't speak nonsense, nor did you encounter a ghost."

Her slender fingers pointed to the painting behind him. "The girl you've been searching for is right behind you."

As her words fell, the only painting in the room stirred as if touched by a breeze. The crowd's gaze shifted from Zhu Bei'ai's face to the artwork.

Fine, dense rain, like silver needles, slanted into the water's surface. At the endless edge of a lotus pond stood a young woman holding an oil-paper umbrella. Pale pink peach blossoms on the umbrella's surface blurred into the rain, blooming like a splendid lotus. The woman, with a charming smile, had a lively little black mole between her brows, and her emerald gauze dress complemented the boundless lotus leaves behind her.

Except for the unfinished nose and mouth, all the features matched the man's description.

Zhu Bei'ai shook his head in denial, unable to accept it. "No, impossible! I saw her last night! How could she be nothing but a figure on paper?"

"What’s wrong with a paper person? Paper people never break character! Paper people never betray! Paper people are forever!"

"I like paper people too; my paper husband will never change his heart."

Qin Yu said, "Think carefully—who is this girl in the green dress?"

Zhu Bei'ai fell into recollection, and the entire live stream shifted to follow his memories.

"Bei'ai, come downstairs for dinner!"

A voice urged from below. Immersed in painting, the man ignored everything. He gazed at the picture in his hands, eyes glazed with obsession. "She’s so beautiful! The most beautiful woman I've ever painted!"

He treasured the painting, gently caressing the girl's face, as if he saw her smiling at him. He neglected food and drink for the artwork, even hugging it to sleep at night.

Half a month passed in a blur, and he forgot what was real, what was false, what was dream, and what was reality.

And so, the scene at the beginning—his insistence on searching for someone—came to be.

Zhu Bei'ai collapsed to the floor, clutching the portrait.

He had fallen in love with his own creation?

He had fallen in love with his own creation!

He had fallen in love!

"Hahaha!"

He suddenly threw his head back and laughed. "I found you! I found you! Wonderful! I found you!"

The live stream faded to black amid his ecstatic cries.

"What? What does that ending mean? Did he go mad?"

"I suddenly believe that love can drive you insane—he really lost his mind. Terrifying."

"I think it’s quite sad. The painter fell in love with his painting; it was impossible from the start."

"Love obscured by ink and water."

The barrage of comments continued, but Qin Yu frowned slightly.

When the scene disappeared, she saw the painter’s fate—"born for the painting, died for the painting."

Qin Yu prepared to send out her last lucky bag for the day and finish her session.

But as she sent the lucky bag, the network lagged, and when it resumed, Qin Yu was nearly in despair.

She stared at the eleven lucky bags that had been snatched up in the backend, lost in deep thought.

Wasn't this just giving herself more work?

"Damn, I got a lucky bag? I must have incredible luck!"

"I got one too? Weren’t there supposed to be only one left? What does mine count as?"

"I think I got one as well."

"What's going on? Why so many lucky bags?"

"I checked—Master sent out eleven lucky bags."

"So many? If I'd known, I'd have snatched one too! What a loss!"

"I strongly suspect Master’s hand slipped, hahaha."

Qin Yu: ...

A sharp suspicion. Next time, don’t suspect—just believe.

Qin Yu cleared her throat and explained, "Sorry, everyone. The network lagged just now and accidentally sent out ten extra lucky bags."

"What do you mean, Master? You’re not planning to renege and refuse to read for us, are you?"

"Kind-hearted, beautiful, adorable wife—even if you sent the wrong lucky bags, you wouldn’t make the babies in the stream pay for it, right?"

"Master, I’ve been waiting in line for days. Finally got one today, you won’t be so ruthless as to refuse, right?"

Qin Yu: ...

The viewers anticipated her reaction so precisely, she was now caught between a rock and a hard place.

If she fulfilled the readings, she’d have to work overtime.

If she didn’t, she’d be accused of breaking her word.

She smiled wryly. "Of course, Master Siqiu keeps her promises!"

"But..."

"To save everyone’s time, let’s do it together."

Qin Yu invited the eleven viewers who grabbed the lucky bags onto the mic one by one.

The live stream screen split again and again, and soon twelve faces appeared on the phone, so blurred only the outlines could be seen.

"Hahaha, for some reason this is hilarious."

"You can’t even see the features—can the host still read faces?"

"Don’t underestimate my wife! Even if the faces were a hundred times smaller, she’d still see through them."

Qin Yu braved the exaggerated claims of her fans.

This batch really loved a lively spectacle.

She hadn’t expected the clarity to be so low, though—it was impossible to see any facial features.

She covered her face and coughed lightly to hide her embarrassment. "Please remit your divination fees, everyone."

Qin Yu had expected some would not pay, sparing her some workload, but everyone dutifully sent their True Love Arrivals.

Qin Yu: ...

She randomly enlarged one viewer’s screen and muted the others’ microphones.

"What would you like to ask?"

The main screen now showed a woman in her fifties, her head wrapped in a beautiful silk scarf, looking noble and graceful. Nestled in her arms was a cat, a snow-white feline stretching lazily.

"Hakimi, hakimi, hakimi!"

"The cat is adorable! I want to hug his mom!"

"Big sister, what breed is your Hakimi? So pretty, I want one too!"

"If you’re a beginner, don’t consider such an expensive breed~"

"Just tell me the price so I can give up."

"The less refined ones cost between fifty thousand and eighty thousand."

"I want to know whether my daughter likes men or women?"