Chapter 313: A Single Divination Determines Life and Death

He Yuzhu brewed a cup of jasmine tea, pushed it in front of Zhao Yingzi, and said, "Sister Yingzi, my mother often praised you as a heroine among women and said you helped her a lot. I heard you are getting married, so I'm offering my congratulations in advance."

Zhao Yingzi took the teacup but didn't drink; she just sighed, "I know that old woman Jia Zhangshi is a terror. But I think Jia Dongxu is alright... his appearance is decent, too. My father is quite satisfied with him; as soon as the matchmaker mentioned it, he agreed. I—I have no choice either."

"Then why did you come to find me, Sister Yingzi?" He Yuzhu asked.

Zhao Yingzi suddenly raised her head, her gaze sharp: "You told Qin Huairu that Jia Dongxu was short-lived; is that true?"

"False!" He Yuzhu subconsciously denied it.

"Tell the truth!" Zhao Yingzi's voice carried a sense of pressure.

He Yuzhu scratched his head helplessly: "It's true. This person, why is her mouth so loose?"

"Don't blame her; she just happened to mention it during our idle chat. I just want an explanation from you. Our family believes in these things. If you don't make it clear to me, I won't feel at ease getting married!" She stared at He Yuzhu with burning eyes.

"Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed; I cannot say, Sister Yingzi, don't force me!" He Yuzhu waved his hands repeatedly.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yingzi immediately took off her cotton-padded jacket, revealing the undergarment inside, and reached out to undo her waistband.

He Yuzhu was scared out of his wits and hurriedly rushed over to stop her: "Sister Yingzi, what are you doing?"

"If you don't tell me, I'll go out right now and shout that you, He Yuzhu, ruined me! Let's see if you still want your reputation as a great hero!" Zhao Yingzi said with her neck stiffened: "Unless you tell me why you said that!"

Seeing her so reckless, He Yuzhu had no choice but to surrender: "Fine, fine, my dear aunt, I'll tell you everything!" He lowered his voice, "When I was a child playing at Qianmen, an old Daoist said I had some spiritual roots and taught me a few tricks. I cast a divination for Jia Dongxu; he... has a major hurdle in 1961. If he can't get past it, he's gone."

"Then I won't marry him!" Zhao Yingzi blurted out.

"Aren't you making me act unbenevolent and unrighteous by doing this?" He Yuzhu gave a bitter smile.

"Is there any way to break the curse?" Zhao Yingzi asked urgently.

He Yuzhu said with a grave expression: "You must swear that today's words will rot in your stomach and you won't tell anyone. If it leaks, even if he passes that year, he will still face disaster!"

"If I let it slip, may I be struck by lightning!" Zhao Yingzi swore without hesitation.

"Start secretly storing food from 1957; don't let him go hungry. When 1961 comes, find a way to break Jia Dongxu's leg so he can't go to work. If you make it through that year, he'll be fine," He Yuzhu said in a low voice.

"You... what kind of rotten idea is this!" Zhao Yingzi's eyes widened.

"As long as he can't go to the factory, this shouldn't be difficult for people like you who do Doudao business, right?" He Yuzhu smiled pointedly.

"Bullshit! Who does Doudao? We are legitimate hunters! We only ran here because we saved Hu Yanbin back then and offended mountain bandits!" Zhao Yingzi bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Alright, alright, I was wrong!" He Yuzhu changed his tune readily, "To put it plainly, it's a matter of food and money. If you have food and money in your hands, you can weather the storm."

"I understand." Zhao Yingzi took a deep breath, her emotions calming down.

"In the future, don't go around taking off your pants whenever you see someone; what does a young lady look like doing that?" He Yuzhu joked.

"Don't flatter yourself! That was a tactic I used!" Zhao Yingzi scolded in embarrassment, grabbed her cotton-padded jacket, and turned to leave.

He Yuzhu sent off this fierce spirit, clutched his heart which was still pounding, and secretly resolved: I must stay away from her in the future; this woman is too dangerous.

As the end of the year approached, He Yuzhu prepared to go to Qianmen to purchase New Year goods.

Seeing He Yushui jumping rope in the courtyard, he called out: "Big brother is going to Qianmen to buy things; is Yushui going?"

"I want to go! But I want to take Xiaomi, Dahua, and Xiaoqi with me!" He Yushui ran over, looking at him expectantly.

"I know. You don't need to say this in the future; as long as you say 'Yushui wants to do something,' I'll know it's the four of you," He Yuzhu smiled and pinched her little cheek, "It's lucky your brother has some skills, otherwise I'd definitely be eaten into poverty by you lot."

He Yuzhu drove the Jeep, carrying the four chattering little girls to Qianmen.

Approaching the New Year, Qianmen Street was bustling with noise and excitement.

Stalls selling sugar figurines, candied haws, firecrackers, and pinwheels, as well as peanuts and melon seeds, were lined up one after another; Yangliuqing New Year pictures and couplets were a sea of red; there were also street performers and crosstalk artists, drawing crowds three layers deep—it was truly packed with people, shoulder to shoulder.

Fearing the children would get lost, He Yuzhu hurriedly took them into Chen Xueru's clothing store.

Business in the store was also very good, and there were several foreign customers with high bridges on their noses.

Chen Xueru greeted them with a smile, followed by Lou Xiaoe.

As soon as Lou Xiaoe saw He Yuzhu, her eyes lit up: "Brother Zhuzi! You're a great hero now!"

He Yuzhu waved his hand and joked: "Average, average, third in the world."

Lou Xiaoe was amused and giggled: "My father often praises you! He said he saw long ago that you were a dragon among men."

"Thank Boss Lou for me when you go back; I'll visit him during the New Year. I didn't do a good job as that Security Section Chief back then, I'm sorry," He Yuzhu said.

"Don't be so polite; Uncle Wang and Li Shu, whom you recommended, are doing quite well," Lou Xiaoe said, then warmly invited, "Brother Zhuzi, let me treat everyone to dinner tonight!"

"My father is Uncle Wang!" Wang Xiaomi said.

"My father is Li Shu!" Li Dahua said.

Lou Xiaoe said: "Then we've met today; you can come to my house to play when you have time."

He Yushui ran over and took Lou Xiaoe's hand: "Sister Xiao E, how are you and Sister Daya doing with your Kung Fu studies?"

"Hmph, now boys my age can't beat me anymore!" Lou Xiaoe proudly lifted her chin.

The four little girls were excitedly picking out clothes in the store, chattering non-stop, and Lou Xiaoe accompanied He Yushui on the side as a consultant.

Chen Xueru pulled He Yuzhu aside and whispered: "Help me design some winter clothes! Recently, many foreign customers have come to the store. They've wholesaled a lot of fashionable single-layer clothes, but they look down on our traditional front-button cotton-padded jackets, calling them ugly. If we can get the cotton-padded jacket business going, the profit will at least double!"

"That's easy to handle; I'll draw you a few outdoor styles. Where they live, it's often twenty or thirty degrees below zero in winter, so you have to make those thick ones with hoods," He Yuzhu picked up a pen and, relying on his memory, roughly sketched out various outdoor down jacket styles popular in later generations.

In less than an hour, over a dozen sketches of men's and women's clothing of various lengths covered the table.

"After spring starts, you can cooperate with Wang Xia. She raises ducks and geese for braised food; you can collect duck down and goose down here to make high-end down jackets for export, and you can make a lot of money! Very few people in the world are doing this right now," He Yuzhu added.

Looking at these novel and beautiful styles, Chen Xueru's eyes were filled with the light of surprise.

He Yuzhu cautioned: "International trade isn't simple; you must remember one principle: no payment, no delivery. Never sell on credit, no matter how good the relationship is."

Chen Xueru nodded solemnly.

He Yuzhu asked again: "My second uncle, is he still hanging around in front of your store looking for work?"

"He is. Most of the manual labor in the store is given to him; he can earn over 200,000 a month, so life is no problem."

He Yuzhu nodded: "Have someone call him over; I have something to ask him."

Chen Xueru turned and shouted to the clerk: "Shunzi, go invite Master Cai Quanwu over."

Shunzi trotted out.

Not long after, Cai Quanwu followed along. Seeing He Yuzhu, he happily patted his shoulder hard: "Good lad! A war hero! I told my friends you were my own nephew, and they simply wouldn't believe me!"

He Yuzhu smiled and turned to the main topic: "Second Uncle, I'm looking for you because I want to ask about someone. There used to be a guy named Li Hua under Xiao Erduo; do you know him?"

"Li Hua? I know the guy. Big head, square face, a bit of a harelip, and he speaks with a lisp. But I haven't seen him lately," Cai Quanwu recalled.

He Yuzhu took out 100,000 yuan and handed it over: "Second Uncle, please help me find this person as soon as possible. This bastard is mixed up with Bald Party spies. You must be careful and don't let it slip that it's you looking for him."