Chapter 75: The Blind School of Divination

"How many people are in your family, old sister?"

"Five people: my son, my daughter-in-law, my little granddaughter, and an old girl," the old lady said, sitting on a small stool. "I just want you to tell my fortune."

The Xia Laohan plucked his strings and sang: "I calculate: a person's life in this world is entirely crafted by fate. These Eight Characters are decreed by Heaven and have always been hard to change. Wealth and status are always determined by Heaven; the number of descendants is set, and the blessings were cultivated in a previous life."

"That's right, that's exactly what I want you to calculate!" the old lady said. "My daughter-in-law, can she actually give birth? And my eldest daughter, can she marry into a good family?"

"How old are you this year, old lady?"

"Forty-four!"

"That's right, forty-four... Yin Tiger, Mao Rabbit... old lady, you were born in the Year of the Rooster, aren't you?"

"That's truly divine! How did you know?"

Hu Jinhua laughed: "I can do this kind of fortune-telling too."

Xu Jia also laughed and couldn't help but say: "If you could really learn this routine of his, you wouldn't need to learn from people; you are already a human spirit."

"I calculate that your life was difficult when you were young. You married at fifteen or sixteen, gave birth to a son in your twenties, and then raised a daughter. Oh my, it is a life blessed with both a son and a daughter!"

"Oh my, that's too accurate! How did you know I got married at sixteen? Life was bitter when I was young; the family was poor, and I suffered after going to my husband's house. When the matchmaker came to the house back then, I thought his family had little farmland, so I would have less work to do. I didn't think that little farmland meant the family would be poor!"

"I gave birth to a son at nineteen and a daughter at twenty-two. My husband was a short-lived ghost, and he left me behind when my son was only seven or eight years old~~"

The old woman could not control her emotions and burst into tears all of a sudden.

Xia Laohan comforted her: "Your husband had a short life; he was meant to go first. If he hadn't died, you would have had a baleful star."

"Although life is bitter, you will definitely enjoy blessings later. In your fate, you have a son first, then add a daughter. If the daughter were before the son, her life would not be able to survive."

"Ah, this is too accurate! How did you know I had the son first and the daughter later? My son has been married for two or three years, but there's been no movement in my daughter-in-law's belly. Can you tell me if I can hold a grandson this year?"

Xu Jia was amused and couldn't help but say: "Old lady, you are destined to have a grandson, but you will hold a girl first for your first grandchild. What a coincidence, a sweet girl. This big girl comes to scout the path first; she will attract family wealth and bring in gold ingots, and your life will flourish."

Xia Laohan looked toward Xu Jia in surprise: "You also know our Blind School of Divination?"

Xu Jia laughed: "No, but I just learned it."

Xia Laohan pondered for a moment and said: "You are a master; please don't ruin my way of making a living. Although my eyes cannot see, I can faintly see a ball of light, and even the person beside you seems to be no simple character."

Xu Jia said: "How could I be trying to ruin your business? I am helping you."

Only then did the Xia Laohan feel at ease. He began to pluck his strings and sing again, saying at one moment that the daughter-in-law was afflicted by a star and needed to return to her maiden home to hide, and at another that the old lady needed to guard against petty people.

The old lady was startled and hurriedly took out a cloth bundle, counting out a dozen copper coins and placing them in Xia Laohan's hand: "How can I resolve this?"

"My wife is known as the Sha Huofo. If you let her touch your head, she can bestow blessings and mark you, which will surely resolve the baleful star!" The old lady believed it immediately, prostrating herself on the ground to kowtow to the foolish Living Buddha.

The foolish, happy fat woman reached out to touch the old lady's forehead.

Hu Jinhua opened her big eyes, hoping to see some signs of a Divine Ability, but there was nothing at all.

The old lady left, satisfied. Before leaving, she even said she would introduce her neighbors to come for fortune-telling. Meanwhile, the old men and women nearby, who had just watched the whole scene and hadn't seen any problems, swarmed over to grab a spot: "I want a reading too, I want one too..."

Xia Laohan did two more readings and then said he would not do any more.

He had earned fifty coins in total.

He began to pack his things, pulling the Living Buddha along as the two prepared to leave the market.

Xu Jia followed them and asked: "Where are you two from? You aren't locals, are you?"

"We are from Wuzhou," Xia Laohan sighed. "It is shameful to say, but we, husband and wife, have no children in our fate. Yet, we picked up a daughter from under a bridge. Last year, our daughter suddenly went missing. We heard she was abducted. We are both blind and foolish, and we have no ability to save our daughter. We could only ask for information and beg for a living along the way until we found this place."

"What does your daughter look like? I have some connections in the local area; perhaps I can help." Xu Jia spoke, intending to help them.

"I am a blind man and cannot see. Although my wife can see, she cannot speak. But I see light on everyone, and I recognize the light on my daughter... To tell the truth, this is also because I was too greedy. My master said back then that I was destined to have no children, and that I would be a person without a wife or companion."

"But I didn't listen to my master. I found a wife first. When I found her, she had been locked in a sheep pen by her brother and sister-in-law. Children threw stones at her and broke one of her legs, yet she was still happy. I thought to myself, I must save her."

"At that time, I wasn't completely blind; one eye could still see a little. After I married this wife, I went completely blind. But it didn't matter; the two of us lived our lives quite comfortably. She needed me, and I needed her. We were in such a rush that we didn't choose our path, we were so hungry we didn't choose our food, and we were so poor we didn't choose our wife."

"Later on, I picked up my daughter. Everyone advised me not to, saying a daughter is a money-losing burden, and that we were struggling to survive ourselves. Raising another one wouldn't be saving her, but harming her."

"I often feel I owe her," Xia Laohan sighed. "It was my own selfishness. I thought that when we got old, there would be someone to take care of us. I would have been fine, but I couldn't let her go... This foolish woman, she knows nothing and understands nothing. I have to help her put on her clothes. When her leg was broken back then, she was still smiling and happy; she didn't even know how to feel Vitality."

"I didn't listen to my master. I didn't believe that my life would be lonely, childless, and naturally disabled..."

"Now, what my master said has indeed come true. What is not in my fate is simply not there. Now I must find my daughter and trade my life for hers. I cannot drag her down... She is still young; she shouldn't be like this..."

As Xia Laohan walked, he used his cane to probe the path. The foolish woman was happily gnawing on a pancake, occasionally making "ah-ah" sounds. She was curious when she saw flowers, and whenever she saw a puddle, she would grab Xia Laohan's hand to warn him.

Xu Jia couldn't help but ask: "You are a successor of the Blind School of Divination, so do you believe in fate or not?"

"I didn't believe in it before, but now I do," Xia Laohan said. "My skills are not refined; I only know how to swindle and deceive. My master had true ability, but it is a pity that I went blind too late. I still had a little light back then, but I couldn't learn the essence before my master passed away."

"Now, chasing along the way, asking about gods and ghosts, in the dark and in the light, we are always on the road. When we encounter a big market, we earn some money to spend."

(End of this chapter)