A Taoist fortune teller

  "Master, are you setting up a fortune-telling stall at our house entrance?" I asked a Taoist priest who looked dignified and elegant, with an air of refinement. "Is it accurate? Did you just run here to cheat people? Is your Taoist skill sufficient?"

  The Taoist wore a blue Taoist robe, with a hat on his head, looking like he was in his 50s, with many wrinkles on his face, dark brown skin, and a long goat beard under his chin. He heard my words and looked at me with confusion, his face full of uncertainty.

  I smiled and reached out to pull on the Taoist's beard, feeling it was quite hard. The Taoist's face contorted in extreme pain.

  "Alright, stop pretending, you goat-bearded guy. Over there on the street, 10 yuan can buy one get one free and also comes with a roll of double-sided tape." Then I pinched the Taoist's face again "Hmm, the wrinkles on your face are real, but why did you change to such a hard beard? Didn't you make a mistake? You stuck it on so tightly, it'll be a lot of trouble when you take it off later. And this outfit of yours, 50 yuan outside, what's with all these things in front of you - eight trigrams, red graph paper, bamboo tubes, signs, and that ancient blue leather book? It must have taken a lot of effort to waste like this. If you don't meet the person you want to cheat, won't you be at a loss?"

  As I said that, I lit a cigarette and touched the small earring on my ear. "You can't even talk, others are just pretending to be blind to tell fortunes, what's with this advanced stuff, pretending to be mute? You're pretending to be mute, how do you cheat people, if you don't cheat people, how do they get deceived, and how do you make money? You see, got it, stop pretending to be mute, speak up.

  The Taoist listened to my words and nodded thoughtfully "Young man"

  "Huh?" I lowered my head, then heard his words, looked up at him and smiled "Is that right? Pretending to be mute is not interesting, can't write with hands, right? Smoking?"

  The Taoist shook his head, "You must have just experienced some great sorrow."

  "Are you cursing me?!" I was a bit angry. "Listen, Taoist priest, from the time I was in school, someone had my fortune told once, and since then, whenever I see a fortune teller, I get angry. Either you leave now, or I'll call the city management, if not, I'll smash this stall of yours, no matter how much money it costs, I'll compensate you." I pointed at the fortune-telling tools in front of him. "Alright, alright, hurry up and pack them away, stop cheating people here."

  "I'm not a fortune teller, this is Taoist Dharma, passed down through the ancestors of Zhou Yi"

  "Does a turtle become something else just because it puts on a horse's armor?"

  The Taoist stroked his beard again, "Young man, looking at your face, you have thick eyebrows and big eyes, fair skin, and a faint dark color in the Renzhong acupoint. The Yintang is slightly red, I think that recently, you must have experienced something very unpleasant, am I right?"

  I was stunned for a moment, and then I muttered to myself, "Is this real or fake? Is he following me?" What does this Taoist mean? How did he know? But after thinking about it, I still didn't say all that out loud. "Taoist, listen up! Don't try to deceive me, you can't fool me."

  The Taoist smiled and said, "May I borrow it from you for a look?"

  "Get out of here!" I threw the cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. "You're still addicted, aren't you? I'm telling you to leave our neighborhood entrance and go scam people in another area, got it?" As I spoke, I pointed at his stall, "If you don't leave now, I'll smash your stall!"

  The Taoist didn't reason with me, he just stretched out his hand and grabbed mine, saying "Wait".

  I originally wanted to pull my hand back, but unexpectedly, the Taoist's strength was so great that I pulled hard twice and couldn't pull it out. Embarrassed by my face, I didn't dare react too much. In my heart, I thought, let him see it for now, anyway, I just came out of the internet cafe and spent my last 10 yuan on membership. If he wants money later, that's his problem, even if he wants my life, I won't give it to him.

  The Taoist gazed for a while, then nodded and stroked his beard. He muttered to himself, occasionally chuckling.

  "You're saying I'm a turtle, aren't you? You old thing, nodding your head like that."

  "Hey kid, you've been through emotional setbacks, then friendship setbacks, and later academic setbacks. At one point, you even had thoughts of ending your life, right?"

  I stood still, suddenly not knowing what to say. I thought of my ex-girlfriend and the photo of her in my wallet. Remembering how she used to hold my arm and sweetly call me "Liu Liu lao gong" (a term of endearment), my eyes stung and I almost lost control.

  The Taoist pointed to a small stool on the ground and said, "Come, sit down. Draw a divination slip. I'll show you a clear way, without taking your money. Don't worry."

  I thought for a moment and then sat down again, anyway I won't die from waiting "Speak"

  The Taoist sat down and smiled in a very ethereal way, "Tell me about your recent situation and what's been troubling you. Let me take a look and see how to resolve it." After the Taoist finished speaking, he looked at me without saying a word, then smiled again, "We've never met before, there's no need to be so anxious and cautious. Just tell me about your experiences, I'll definitely find a way to resolve them."

  I glanced at the Taoist and sighed, "In high school, I didn't study hard, so my scores were too low. I didn't even have a chance to fill out college applications. At first, it didn't seem like a big deal, but then all my friends around me started going to university, getting jobs, or joining the army. Now it's just me left behind. I want to retake classes, but I'm not motivated to study on my own. I thought about attending a private university, but my family won't let me. They're also worried about my education and I feel a lot of pressure. The atmosphere at home has been bad lately. It's already October and I still don't have a place to go to university."

  "Emotionally, she's my girlfriend, misunderstood me and didn't listen to my explanation. I called her for a month, sent messages for a month, but she ignored me. She completely cut ties with me. Then her brother even went crazy and threatened me over the phone. Her brother is a big thug and also a police chief. I'm so depressed, it's like his sister doesn't want to be with me anymore, I'm heartbroken. But then he says if he sees me again, he'll kill me, saying I wronged his sister, saying he understands her. Now whenever I call, it's always him who answers, and he just scolds or threatens me. I'm innocent, but now all the blame is on me. So I've given up too, completely letting go."

  "In terms of friendship, those brothers who made a pact with me in high school are now out of touch. We used to keep in contact more often, but now it's getting less and less. Everyone has gone their separate ways and is no longer together, so the feeling has faded a lot. I think about the past and feel very sad."

  Saying this, I felt depressed again and casually picked up a cigarette to light it.

  The Taoist stretched out his hand and took the cigarette from my mouth. "Don't smoke for now, how about this? I'll do a divination for you. You draw a lot. I won't charge you any money. After it's done, if it comes true, just help me with one thing. How does that sound?"

  I thought about it and figured I wouldn't lose anything anyway, so I shook the lottery tube with my hand, one stick fell out.

  The Taoist picked up the sign, examined it for a while, and then smiled. He stretched out his hand to stroke his beard again, nodding his head "Within one day, fortune will come."

  "Is it true or false?" I said indifferently "I don't have any money to give you, speaking nicely won't work either."

  The Taoist shook his head, "Not a single cent will be taken, child. Remember my words, within one day, fortune will come to you."

  "What if it doesn't turn?"

  "It won't harm you." The Taoist said casually, "But I've told you, within a day, your luck will change. I have one piece of advice for you: let go of past events and let things take their natural course."

  I thought for a moment, "Alright, since you said something so auspicious, I won't say anything to you. Today, I won't even drive you away. If what you said doesn't come true within one day, then the next time I see you, I'll definitely smash your stall."

  The Taoist nodded as if he had expected it all along "Is that so?"

  "I spread out my two hands and said, 'If it's really effective, what do I need to do? You say, as long as it's not against the law, anything is fine.'"

  The Taoist smiled at me and said, "If it's true, I only need you to help me with one thing."

  "say"

  The Taoist looked around cautiously, then with a tone as if he was about to reveal a state secret, he stuck his mouth next to my ear and whispered: "In the south of the city, on Business Street, at the entrance of Xu's Alley, there is a fortune-telling monk. Around 50 years old. At noon when it's crowded, smash his stall. Can you do that?"

  "What the... Are you still a Taoist?" I was somewhat incredulous "Did I hear that wrong?"

  The Taoist shook his head "You just need to do it, can you?"

  I couldn't help but smile wryly, and I wondered what kind of grudge this monk and Taoist had. But since it's come to this, I'll just agree for now, no need to actually go through with it. So that's settled, if you don't change your luck, then you'd best pack up and leave, don't let me see you again from the entrance of our family courtyard.

  The Taoist smiled and said "Naturally."

  I turned around and was about to leave, then suddenly thought of something, turned my head back, and looked at the Taoist priest. "Taoist priest, why can't you get along with that monk?"

  The Taoist sighed seriously, "Now the industry competition is too fierce, and counterfeit products are emerging one after another. Our genuine version has been bullied by pirated versions to the point of being battered and bruised. What's even more hateful is that I've become a pirated version myself now. So, you have to help me with this matter. I'll help you break your bad luck. Did you hear?"

  "This is also a way to predict one's fate." After saying that, I turned around and started walking. As I walked, I couldn't help but laugh "Haha, this is really interesting, something new, it's always like this every year."

  I walked a few meters before the Taoist priest laughed from behind and shouted, "Fated person, three years later, I will be here to continue casting another divination for you. Remember our appointment. Cause and effect cycle, remember, remember."

  I didn't see the Taoist priest, walked down to our building, turned around, the Taoist priest was no longer at the door, went upstairs. Opened the door, returned home.

  The old lady prepared a table full of sumptuous dishes. And was very happy. Humming songs in the kitchen.

  "Mom, I'm back. What's today? Did we win 5 million or lose our phone? There are so many dishes."