"Yes, yes, that bag of yours is ancient and honorable, but it’s also getting on in years. Let it retire already," Chen Yan laughed.
The old man waved his hand dismissively, but eventually picked up the pack of Huazi cigarettes Chen Yan had brought. He opened one, pulled out a stick, and lit it, taking a deep puff. "Alright, I’ll enjoy this little treat from you."
Then, the old man suddenly gave Chen Yan a stern look. "I have something to ask you! A lot of people in the village have seen you lately. You brought back two young and pretty girls to your house. What’s going on?"
Uh...Chen Yan sighed inwardly.
Old man, don’t blame me for lying again.
The truth is, I can’t tell you the real story!
Lu Sisi is easy to explain. I can say she’s my girlfriend, and the old man would be happy to hear that.
But Gu Qingyi? There’s no way to explain her.
Tell the old man that she’s my dad’s official wife who I’ve never met? My consort mother? That I’m actually an illegitimate son?
She’s twenty-one, I’m twenty-two, but I have to call her mom?
Does that make any sense?
Who would believe that!!!
"Just... a classmate and a girlfriend," Chen Yan answered vaguely.
Uh, technically that’s not wrong...
Lu Sisi, we’re around the same age. Although we’re not from the same school, we’re in the same University City. Calling each other classmates isn’t wrong, right?
And at the same time, Lu Sisi is also my girlfriend, so that’s not wrong either, right?
So, I said a classmate and a girlfriend came to the house, nothing wrong with that, right?
I just didn’t introduce Gu Qingyi, that’s all.
The old man squinted at Chen Yan, "Are they really just a classmate and a girlfriend? You’re not lying to me, right? You wouldn’t have picked up any bad habits from the city, doing shady stuff, would you?"
"Absolutely not!" Chen Yan quickly replied. "They really are a classmate and a girlfriend! Both are decent, clean-background university students!"
"Alright then." The old man nodded, then started fishing in his pocket.
Out came a worn-out wallet. The old man pulled out a red bill.
"Here, your New Year’s money."
Chen Yan eagerly accepted it with a wide smile. "Thank you, Master Zhao."
The old man snorted. "If you have time, bring your girlfriend here to play, so I can take a look."
Chen Yan carefully put away the red bill the old man gave him and smiled. "I thank you on their behalf! But bringing them over... maybe next time. I’ve just started dating this girlfriend; she’s shy and embarrassed, and a lot of things are still uncertain.
Next time, when I come back and our relationship is more solid, I’ll definitely bring her to meet you."
"Alright." The old man knocked on Chen Yan’s head. "Actually, it’s not important whether you bring her to see me! But you better take her up the mountain to your grandma’s grave, let her meet your grandma!"
"Got it, I’ll remember!"
Chen Yan immediately promised.
After being so warmly lectured by the old man, not only was Chen Yan not annoyed at all, but he felt a strange sense of satisfaction in his heart...
It was like...coming home in previous years when the old lady would use this tone to educate him.
He always felt that something was missing this New Year.
After being nagged by the old man.
Hey! Everything felt complete!
This was the feeling...
Looking at the old man’s cheerful face, Chen Yan suddenly had an idea and quietly started his Qi Observation Skill to check the old man’s fate.
The old man saw Chen Yan’s look and waved his hand suddenly. "What are you doing? Don’t think I don’t know... you want to use your grandma’s skills, give me a fortune reading? Look at my face? Calculate my luck?"
Chen Yan was taken aback, then laughed. "Master Zhao, you know a lot!"
"I’ve known your grandma for decades." The old man laughed, then put on a serious face. "Don’t you dare look at my fate!"
"When your grandma was around, I wouldn’t let her look at my fate either."
"..." Chen Yan fell silent.
Old man, are you being stubborn? Do you know who would beg my grandma for a fortune reading? That West Lake Little Horse...
But you, you don’t want it even if it’s given to you?
"Why not?" Chen Yan laughed. "Knowing your fate, avoiding misfortune, isn’t that great?"
The old man sneered, then said something that even Chen Yan found unexpected.
"If fate is clearly laid out before you, what’s the point of living?"
The old man smiled proudly. "I, Master Zhao, have lived a just and upright life! I do no wrong, so I fear no ghost knocking on my door! If someone like me must suffer some damn calamity,
then the heavens must be blind!
If the heavens are really blind, what’s the point of reading fate?"
Chen Yan was stunned!
The old man continued to laugh:
"In this lifetime, I’m over seventy. I have children and grandchildren; my family is prosperous and blessed. There’s no shortage of money or food. If I speak loudly, people in the ten-mile radius will listen to me seriously.
Living isn’t because I read my fate and followed some dogshit path for good fortune and avoiding misfortune.
It’s because I, step by step, made my own way!"
Chen Yan was deeply moved!
It was as if a part of his understanding of cultivation and fate, which had always been somewhat unclear, was touched by the old man’s words...
Is fate truly predetermined?
Does fate decide a person’s encounters, or do a person’s encounters and actions, in turn, decide their fate?
The old man patted him on the head, seeing Chen Yan deep in thought. "You, always full of sneaky thoughts since you were a child! I won’t let you read my fate because you might sneak a look anyway.