Chapter Ninety-Five: A Shabby Trick

When Wang Yiqing returned to the waiting hall, she saw Xiaolin bent over his phone, absorbed in a game. Her eyes rolled, and she tiptoed quietly up behind him. Then, with a sudden slap to his back and a deliberately loud cry, she announced her return.

Xiaolin jumped in fright. Looking up and seeing that it was Wang Yiqing playing a prank on him, he could only frown helplessly. "Yiqing, if you're coming back, just come back. Why scare people like that? You're like a child."

"This is punishment for ignoring me just now," Wang Yiqing said, pouting with a spoiled, haughty look.

At that moment, her phone rang.

"Haha, Yiqing, we're on the bus. How are you two doing?"

"Uh... Linlin, we're still in the waiting hall..."

...

"Who was that?" Xiaolin asked.

"Tang Linlin. She's on the bus with Xu Tong, calling to let us know."

"Oh." Xiaolin nodded and went back to his game.

"Xiaolin, what are you playing on your phone? You're so absorbed in it," Wang Yiqing said, a little dissatisfied with how much he liked games.

Xiaolin raised the phone. "A high-IQ game. Two Thousand Forty-Eight. It's not for little fools." When he said "little fools," he deliberately glanced at Wang Yiqing, his eyes clearly saying that she was the little fool.

That look irritated Wang Yiqing. She knit her lovely brows and said, "Who are you calling a little fool?"

"Whoever it is knows it," Xiaolin said, giving his hair a stylish toss, his face carrying a trace of wild defiance.

"I'll fight you..." Wang Yiqing waved her tiny pink fists, ready to pound the hateful boy in front of her.

Their playful scuffle was just seen by Liu Yidao, who had followed them. "Wang Yiqing. Nice name. This little girl has a boyfriend, huh? Heh, doesn't matter. I like breaking up young couples the most. Pole, did you remember what I just told you?"

"Got it, boss. Don't worry. This kind of job isn't new to us. It's just that there are so many people in the waiting hall. It won't be easy to make a move," the skinny boy said with some concern.

"You know nothing." Liu Yidao snorted. "Of course we can't do it here. If we draw the patrol officers over, it'll be trouble. Our goal is to trick those two out of here, then send that brat off wherever he wants to go, and the pretty little girl will be mine." By the end, the lewd look in his eyes had only grown stronger.

After carefully instructing his underling a few more times, Liu Yidao put on an old black cap, smoothed down the false beard he had just attached, and leaned on a cane stolen from who knew where. In this way he shuffled, one step at a time, toward the seats where Xiaolin and Wang Yiqing were sitting. The skinny boy followed after him, though both pretended not to know each other.

When Liu Yidao reached Wang Yiqing's side, he deliberately let his foot slip. "Oh!" He clutched his leg and collapsed beside her seat, while casually dropping a fortune-telling book to the floor.

"Sir, what happened?" Seeing him fall, Wang Yiqing hurriedly stood up and reached out to help him to her seat. But before she could even extend her hands, Xiaolin stepped in first and helped Liu Yidao into his seat. By then, the skinny boy had also taken a seat nearby.

"Yiqing, sit down. Let this gentleman take my seat," Xiaolin said. He could not bear to have her standing.

"Thank you, young man, thank you, miss. My legs are not so good, and I've caused you trouble," Liu Yidao said, deliberately wearing a grateful expression.

"This is what we should do," Wang Yiqing said with a faint smile. She picked up the book from the floor, and just as she was about to hand it back, she noticed the words on the cover: "The Eight Trigrams and Fate by the Book." Unable to help herself, she asked, "Sir, why do you read this kind of book? Isn't this superstition?"

Hearing this, Liu Yidao was secretly delighted. The fish had taken the bait. He composed his face at once and said gravely, "Miss, this is not superstition. This is knowledge handed down by our ancestors: the Eight Trigrams, the Book of Changes, the Mysterious Door art, the Purple Star methods. It contains everything. Study it deeply, and you can know the heavens above and the earth below, understand yin and yang, and see both past and future..." He spoke at length, sounding like a great scholar. In truth, he did not understand the Book of Changes or the Eight Trigrams at all. He had only taken that fortune-telling book from a street stall. Whenever he had nothing to do, he used it to deceive a few women and coax them into some nonsense about the union of yin and yang.

His words left Wang Yiqing a little stunned. She did not understand any of it, but Liu Yidao's mention of ancestral teachings struck a chord with her. She thought of the solemn ancestral worship ceremony in Snow Village, and a trace of respect rose in her toward him. Xiaolin, however, felt differently. He was not drawn in by Liu Yidao's few words. On the contrary, he felt that this man was somehow strange, and the way he looked at Wang Yiqing always carried a sinister edge.

"Sir, then you must know quite a lot about this," Wang Yiqing said, her tone carrying a hint of respect.

"Heh, I wouldn't say I'm a master, but reading a face and calculating fate, or checking a marriage match, I can manage with fair accuracy. I see that your brows and eyes are delicate, like a lotus fresh from the water. There is a saying in the books: one may judge a person by a single character. I daresay your name must contain the character for rain," Liu Yidao said, stroking his fake beard, his expression full of mystery.

Wang Yiqing looked astonished. "Amazing, sir. How did you know that my name contains the character for rain?"

Seeing her surprise, Liu Yidao was delighted. Little girl, when you were chatting with your little lover, your Uncle Liu was listening very carefully. But though he thought this, what he said was, "This is the art of physiognomy from the Book of Changes. I can even tell that you are an only child." As soon as he said it, he felt a little uncertain. He was guessing. He did not know whether Wang Yiqing was truly an only child, but she looked like a girl from a big city, and families like that usually had only one child.

And he happened to be right. Wang Yiqing's face filled with astonishment. "Wow, sir, you're really incredible. My name is Wang Yiqing. I'm from the East Sea, and I'm the only child in my family. Sir, you're amazing."

"Heh." Liu Yidao smiled smugly. "Why don't I take a look at your palm? I'll see your career line, your life line, and your marriage line. That way I can also calculate your romantic fate."

"This..." Wang Yiqing hesitated. She had never believed in this sort of thing, but this gentleman had just been so accurate, and on top of that he had offered to tell her marriage fate. Girls were always a little curious about fortune-telling, horoscopes, and such things.

"All right then. I'll trouble you, sir," Wang Yiqing said after a few moments of hesitation, unable to resist her curiosity. She wanted to know what fate she shared with Xiaolin.

Hearing her agree, Liu Yidao could hardly suppress his joy. "Men use the left hand, women the right. Please extend your right hand, miss, and let me have a look."

Wang Yiqing did as he said and stretched out her right hand. Liu Yidao was just about to reach for it when Xiaolin, who had been watching from the side, stopped him.

"Sir, didn't you just say you were going to read her palm? What's with the hands-on approach?" Xiaolin asked with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

"This... touching the palm with the hand makes the reading more accurate," Liu Yidao explained with an awkward laugh after seeing Xiaolin block him. This little brat is ruining your Uncle Liu's good business. Just wait until we're outside; I'll deal with you then.

Wang Yiqing shot Xiaolin a glare. She thought he was jealous.

"The lines on the girl's palm are very clear. Her palm reading is excellent, and this life line is long, which proves she will surely live to a ripe old age. And this career line is joined with the life line, which shows she will be a person of great fortune and status..." Liu Yidao began spouting nonsense. When he was about to mention the marriage line, he gave the skinny boy a look.

"Hey, sir, why don't you read my palm?" the skinny boy said at once, hurrying over after seeing the signal.

"You little rascal, can't you see I'm reading for the girl? You don't know the least bit of manners," Liu Yidao said, pretending to be displeased.

"It's fine, sir. You can read his first," Wang Yiqing said with a soft smile. "Our bus won't be here for a while yet. There's no hurry."

Liu Yidao took the chance and nodded. "Very well. Since you've asked, miss, I'll take a look at his hand first."

Hearing this, Xiaolin's suspicions deepened.

Liu Yidao looked the skinny boy's palm over from left to right and even pinched it in a convincing manner. Then he shook his head and sighed. "Child, your life will be full of hardship and calamity!"

"Ah, master, what do you mean by that?" the boy asked, fear on his face. Of course, he was only pretending.

"Truthfully, it's not your fault. It's because of your parents. If I am not mistaken, your father and mother do not get along, and they often quarrel, don't they?"

Your parents are the ones who don't get along, the boy cursed inwardly, but still put on a shocked expression. "Master, you're amazing. You even know that."

"Child, this really isn't your fault. It's because of your parents. Their signs are incompatible. When they came together, they clashed, but they insisted on staying together and even had you, so you were the one burdened with calamity after calamity later in life."

"Ah, master, then what should I do?"

"There is nothing to be done now. If your parents had asked me to break their conflicting signs earlier, there might still have been a chance. But now it's too late," Liu Yidao said regretfully.

The skinny boy then wore a vacant, dumbfounded look and said nothing.

"Come, miss, let me see your marriage line." Liu Yidao turned his full attention back to Wang Yiqing.

Wang Yiqing held out her palm, worried. After hearing what Liu Yidao had said about the boy, she was a little afraid that her own sign might be incompatible with Xiaolin's.

Sure enough, she saw Liu Yidao frown, and she asked uneasily, "What's wrong, master?"

"What sign were you born under, miss? And what sign is this young man?" Liu Yidao asked in return.

"I'm a dog. He is..." Wang Yiqing was just about to say Xiaolin's sign when Xiaolin stopped her. Squeezing her shoulder, he said, "I'm a pig."

At this, Wang Yiqing was about to object, but Xiaolin's fingers tightened a little. Though puzzled, she did not speak. Confusion spread across her face.

"Oh dear, this is troublesome. Your signs are in conflict. If you force yourselves to be together, even the child you have will suffer hardship and calamity. Luckily, you two met me. I happen to have a way to break this curse, but you'll need to come with me for a moment so I can buy some talismans and cinnabar ink."

Liu Yidao did not care what signs Xiaolin and Wang Yiqing were actually born under. Whatever they said, he would claim their signs clashed. Then he would trick Wang Yiqing outside; once they were out of the station, he would have his chance.

Hearing this, Xiaolin immediately understood. He suddenly stepped forward and sent a flying kick straight at the leg on which Liu Yidao leaned his cane. But Liu Yidao reacted instantly, springing up from the seat and hopping back with surprising agility.

"Heh, sir, your legs seem to be fine after all."

At the same time, Xiaolin narrowed his eyes, a sharp glint flashing through them. "Pulling a trick like that, you picked the wrong target."