Chapter 289: with translation of chapter title

The next day, the sky was just faintly bright, and 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 kept muttering to himself, as if his sleeves had grown a bit; after changing his sleeves, he muttered again, as if his belly had gotten bigger, wondering whether he should alter it.

I… damn it, Pangzi, give up, your big belly, no matter how you alter it, it's just 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% turnaround rate.

Isn't that nonsense? Who ever sees a student wearing a suit to class, and then going to the countryside to pull weeds?

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

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

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

'Pangzi, can't you take off QingSongShu's suit before speaking?' I poked his back and whispered, 'In this scorching heat, it's amazing you can endure it.'

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

…you dead fatty, are you sure their gaze is admiration, not them cursing you as 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-eyed monster, big fatty… you two come over.' A crisp, pleasant voice rang in our ears, yet the tone carried an indisputable command.

The owner of the voice was a small beauty with melon-seed eyes and phoenix eyes, but this beauty was not cute at all.

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

Needless to say, her summoning us two this time surely meant no good.

'Hey, you two come over and help me pull out the weeds.' Yao Yirong commanded with an imperious gesture, her small melon-seed face flushed red in the sun, indeed looking quite cute.

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

'If you dare to go, brothers are done for.' After uttering that harsh line, Pangzi could only resentfully retract his right foot that had stepped out.

'You… Chen Hai Sheng.' Yao Yirong's face turned ashen red with anger.

I rolled my eyes, continued squatting to gather peanuts, and no longer bothered with this hot-tempered miss. Since the last time Yao Yirong read aloud Wei Xiong's love letter to her in public, I couldn't muster any fondness for her.

Wei Xiong, besides Pangzi, is the third brother I've befriended since coming to Guangdong. Last time, Wei Xiong wrote a love letter to Yao Yirong; she not only rejected it, but also read it aloud in public. After finishing, she tore it up in front of everyone, showing no regard for his feelings, and even gloated, flaunting it before the crowd as if she were something great.

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 in hand who picks up that knife for you… this… might just be youth.

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

'Hai Sheng bro, Xiong bro, my aunt knows I came today and specially cooked extra food for a few friends; would you guys like to come over later to eat together?' The speaker stood before us, fiddling with her fingers, nervously awaiting our reply.

This girl is called Meng Xue, also the dead fatty's adopted sister. She isn't particularly pretty, but she belongs to the innately cute type, and is overly kind. Sometimes when bullied, she even finds excuses for others; such a 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, along with me, we became her good friends; Pangzi didn't know what came over him, but he insisted on recognizing her as his sister.

'Little Xue, don't worry, Hai Sheng and I will definitely go later. My aunt's place— as the older brother, I ought to pay a visit.' Pangzi slung his 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 harvest potatoes.

'Ah… Hai Sheng, what do you think of my adopted sister? Although she lacks breasts and figure, her worth lies in having a pure heart— why don't you…' Pangzi raised his eyebrows and lecherously laughed.

'Get lost.'

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

I no longer paid attention to Pangzi, and continued squatting to pick peanuts.

'Ah-choo, ah-choo' Suddenly, Pangzi sneezed several times in a row; he glanced around, then furrowed his brows and began calculating on his hand.

'Something's off! Really strange.' While calculating, Pangzi muttered quietly.

I rolled my eyes and replied irritably, 'What's off about it?'

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

Mei Hua Yi Shu is an exquisite art within Qimen Dunjia. Although its predictions are not as comprehensive as Zi Ping's, it is especially accurate for divining specific matters and is simple 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 hexagrams to be cast anytime, anywhere, with many methods: using sound, direction, time, movement or stillness, geography, heavenly timing, 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, seeking a divination.

At first, Old Man Qiuqiu asked nothing, not even the eight characters, nor did he chat with the woman; he simply asked the middle-aged woman: 'What do you want to divine?'

The middle-aged woman replied in one sentence: 'I want to divine marriage.'

With just that sentence, Old Man Qiuqiu accurately stated at what age the woman would marry, at what age she would divorce, when she would later find a boyfriend, that boyfriend's height and hometown, and what conflict had now arisen between her and the middle-aged woman.

The middle-aged woman was frightened, thinking Old Man Qiuqiu was a deity, and almost knelt to kowtow.

To outsiders, Old Man Qiuqiu indeed seems miraculous— needing no eight characters, nor chatting with others, just asking what they want to divine, and immediately revealing the past related to that matter.

In fact, Old Man Qiuqiu had already divined when no one knew, 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 specific matters such as marriage and wealth, etc. Moreover, there are many ways to cast a hexagram; at that time Old Man Qiuqiu used the middle-aged woman as the upper trigram, her seated direction as the lower trigram, combined with the current time‑slot 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, thinking Old Man Qiuqiu has grown an extra eye on his back, able to see through people's past and future.

This is also the marvel of Mei Hua Yi Shu: as long as you ask, even based on the time of your question, what you wear, your tone of voice, etc., you can cast a hexagram. However, Mei Hua Yi Shu has one characteristic: '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, some people would cast a hexagram upon hearing a dog's bark to predict when guests would arrive, or sense falling plum blossoms to divine when thieves would appear.

Nowadays, Wang Pangzi simply sneezes a few times, uses those sneezes, his standing direction to cast a hexagram, and matches the time‑slot to produce the lines. However, regarding Pangzi's divination, I completely dismiss it. Because this guy is always bored, idly casting hexagrams at the drop of a hat, whether there's matter or not. Moreover, his skill in casting is far from decent— he gets it wrong ten times out of ten, hasn't even reached the level of Mei Hua Xin Yi, let alone compare with QingSongShu or Old Man Qiuqiu.

However, I also don't bother him; for me, the greatest pleasure is to harshly strike him down when Pangzi 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 intermittently, then suddenly he nervously grabbed my shoulder, glared, and shouted: 'Hai Sheng, it's bad— we must run, there's a water ghost, someone will 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 not far away at the riverbank came a clamor of startled cries, the cries filled with panic.

Holy shit…… It actually really came true……

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