Chapter 17

The next day, the sky was just faintly bright, and Wang Pangzi dragged me out of bed, combing his two-inch hair, narcissistically asking me: "Hai Sheng, do I look handsome? Is it okay?" After that, he muttered to himself, as if his sleeves had grown a bit; after changing the sleeves, he muttered again, as if his belly had gotten bigger, wondering whether to alter it.

I… damn it, Pangzi, give up, your big belly—no matter how you alter it, it's still a Maitreya belly.

Just like that, Pangzi muttered to himself for over an hour, and my ears were tortured by him for over an hour.

Finally, Pangzi actually took a suit from QingSongShu's cabinet and put it on; amazingly, he managed to fit into it.

Along the way, wherever we passed, it was guaranteed to draw a 100% turn‑around rate.

Isn't that nonsense? Who's ever seen a student wear a suit to class, and then go to the countryside to pull weeds?

But this time, Pangzi was doomed to be disappointed, because Teacher Silijing was sick, so another teacher led the team.

Upon hearing the news, Pangzi's heroic bearing instantly collapsed into a large bitter gourd.

On the road, the fellow travelers kept casting us strange looks.

"Pangzi, can you take off QingSongShu's suit before speaking?" I poked Pangzi's back and whispered, "In this sweltering heat, I'm amazed you can endure it."

Pangzi had originally been sun‑scorched like a wilted eggplant, but who knew that my question would instantly revive his spirits; he even puffed out his chest and whispered proudly: "Hehe, Hai Sheng, you didn't notice the admiring glances the beauties around were throwing at me?"

…Damn Pangzi, are you sure their gaze is admiration, not them calling you a lunatic?

……………………………………………………

After the autumn harvest season, the land was also bustling with activity; the team‑leading teacher assigned us tasks for each area.

Pangzi and I were assigned to a corner to pick peanuts, while the other classmates each had their own tasks.

"One‑eye monster, big fatty… you two come over." A crisp, pleasant voice rang in our ears, yet the tone carried an indisputable command.

The speaker was a petite beauty with melon‑seed eyes and phoenix eyes, but this beauty was not cute at all.

Her name was Yao Yirong; even among the whole grade she ranked in the top ten beauties, and she was also the daughter of a big boss from the provincial capital. Her privileged upbringing since childhood shaped this girl's arrogant, overbearing, spoiled nature. In her eyes, serving her was a matter of course, and the world revolving around her was beyond doubt.

Needless to say, her singling us out this time certainly boded no good.

"Hey, you two come over and help me pull the weeds." Yao Yirong gave orders with an air of superiority; her little melon‑seed face, flushed red in the sun, really did look cute.

"No time." I pursed my lips, not buying it at all. Pangzi was all set to go help, bouncing eagerly, but I grabbed him and pulled him back.

"If you dare to go, there's nothing left for us brothers." After throwing out that harsh line, Pangzi could only grudgingly pull back his outstretched right foot.

"You… Chen Hai Sheng." Yao Yirong's face turned livid with anger.

I rolled my eyes, kept squatting to gather peanuts, and stopped worrying about this hot‑tempered miss. Since the last time Yao Yirong read aloud Wei Xiong's love letter to her in public, I could no longer muster any fondness for her.

Wei Xiong, the third brother I've befriended since coming to Guangdong aside from Pangzi, once wrote a love letter to Yao Yirong; she not only rejected it, but read it aloud in front of everyone, then tore it up publicly, showing no regard for his feelings, and even gloated over it in front of the crowd, thinking herself quite remarkable.

There's a saying: in life you'll always meet a pretentiously aloof, unreasonable girl; there's always a lecherous buddy whose morals have hit the floor; there's always a brother with a cigarette who'll pick up the knife for you… this… might just be youth.

Of course… there's also a gentle, kind, shy Burmese girl… like the one standing before me.

"Hai Sheng bro, Strong bro. My aunt knew I was coming today, so she cooked extra for a few friends—would you guys like to come over later to eat?" The speaker stood before us, fidgeting with her fingers, nervously awaiting our reply.

This girl is Meng Xue, also Pangzi's sworn little sister. She isn't particularly pretty, but she has an innate cuteness and is excessively kind. Sometimes when she's bullied, she'll even find excuses for others, and this nature often makes her a target of teasing.

Once, when Pangzi saw her being teased by a mischievous classmate, he forcefully stood up for her. From then on, I too became her good friend, and Pangzi, not knowing what came over him, insisted on taking her as his sister.

"Little Xue, don't worry, Hai Sheng and I will definitely go later. At our place, as the elder brother I ought to pay a visit to my aunt." Pangzi slung an arm around my shoulder and said shamelessly.

I also nodded and said, "Okay."

After all, for such a kind girl I really couldn't bring myself to refuse.

After receiving the answer, Meng Xue skipped away happily, while Pangzi and I continued squatting to dig up potatoes.

"Ah… Hai Sheng, what do you think of my sworn sister? Though she lacks bust and figure, her worth lies in her pure heart—why don't you…?" Pangzi raised his eyebrows and leered.

"Get lost."

Running into such an older brother truly is a case of bad company.

I ignored Pangzi and kept squatting to pick peanuts.

"Ah‑choo, ah‑choo" Suddenly Pangzi sneezed repeatedly, he glanced around, then furrowed his brows and began calculating on his hand.

"Something's off! Really strange." While calculating, Pangzi muttered under his breath.

I rolled my eyes and snapped, "What's off about it?"

Pangzi's method of calculation is to cast a hexagram using the Mei Hua Yi Shu.

Mei Hua Yi Shu is an exquisite art within Qimen Dunjia. Although its predictions aren't as comprehensive as Zi Ping's, it is especially accurate for divining specific matters and is easy to learn.

He based it on the numbers of the primordial eight trigrams—Qian 1, Dui 2, Li 3, Zhen 4, Xun 5, Kan 6, Gen 7, Kun 8—allowing him to cast a hexagram anytime, anywhere, using many methods such as sound, direction, time, movement, geography, season, or persons.

A few years ago, QingSongShu took the two of us to visit his martial uncle, Old Man Qiuqiu. That day, a middle‑aged woman also came, having heard of his reputation, to request a reading.

At first, Old Man Qiuqiu asked nothing, didn't inquire about the eight characters, nor chatted with the woman; he simply asked the middle‑aged woman: "What do you want to have divined?"

The middle‑aged woman replied in one sentence: "I want to have my marriage divined."

Just from that single sentence, Old Man Qiuqiu accurately stated at what age the woman would marry, at what age she would divorce, when she would find another boyfriend, that boyfriend's height and hometown, and what conflict had arisen between her and the woman now.

The middle‑aged woman was frightened, thinking Old Man Qiuqiu was a divine being, and almost fell to her knees to kowtow.

To outsiders, Old Man Qiuqiu indeed seems miraculous—he needs no eight characters, no small talk, just asks what you want to divine, and immediately reveals the past related to that matter.

In fact, Old Man Qiuqiu had already divined when nobody was aware, and his method of divination is something insiders themselves don't know.

He used precisely Mei Hua Yi Shu. Mei Hua Yi Shu is especially accurate for divining particular matters such as marriage and wealth, and there are many ways to cast a hexagram; at that time Old Man Qiuqiu took the middle‑aged woman as the upper trigram, her seated direction as the lower trigram, combined with the current hour to produce the lines, and via Mei Hua Yi Shu divined the woman's past and the difficulties she faced.

Outsiders don't know this, and think Old Man Qiuqiu has grown an extra eye on his back that can see through people's past and future.

This is also the wonder of Mei Hua Yi Shu: as long as you ask, you can cast a hexagram based on the time of your question, what you're wearing, your tone of voice, etc. However, Mei Hua Yi Shu has one feature: "No divination without cause, no casting without movement." Hence, Old Man Qiuqiu must first clarify what the middle‑aged woman wishes to divine before he can cast a hexagram.

I've heard that in ancient times people would cast a hexagram upon hearing a dog's bark to predict when guests would arrive, or sense falling plum blossoms to forecast when thieves would appear.

Nowadays, Wang Pangzi simply sneezes a few times, uses those sneezes, his standing direction, and the hour to cast a hexagram. But as for Pangzi's divination, I completely disregard it. This guy is always bored, casting hexagrams at the drop of a hat, whether there's something to divine or not. Moreover, his skill is far from decent—he gets it wrong ten times in a row, hasn't even reached the level of Mei Hua Xin Yi, let alone compare with QingSongShu or Old Man Qiuqiu.

Still, I don't bother him; for me, the greatest pleasure is to give him a hard smack whenever he gets a divination result.

"Kan is water, Zhen is wood, Kan below is zi water, Zhen below is mao wood, zi‑mao mutual punishment… the lines also show a ghost line… and the hidden ghost belongs to water." Pangzi muttered haltingly, then suddenly he grabbed my shoulder nervously, eyes wide, and shouted: "Hai Sheng, it's bad—we need to run, there's a water ghost, someone's going to die……"

I scoffed and said dismissively, "In broad daylight, where would it come from……

"Oh no, oh no, someone fell into the water!" Suddenly, from the nearby riverbank came a clamor of frightened cries, the shouts tinged with panic.

Holy shit……it actually came true…….