Chapter 2: The Face Reveals the Heart

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Chapter 2: The Face Reveals the Heart

Chen Yuan watched as the woman approached, dragging a young girl behind her. One look at them was enough to tell they were mother and daughter. Right now, however, the mother was glowering and the daughter was sulking. They were clearly in the middle of a quarrel.

The woman looked genuinely furious. She dragged her daughter all the way over to Chen Yuan, then gave her arm a sharp tug, making the girl stumble forward a couple of steps. The girl said nothing. As soon as she was free, she folded her arms across her chest and stood off to the side, turning her head away from her mother. She even deliberately made her breathing louder.

“Read her face for me. Tell me how she’ll do in this year’s metropolitan exam.” The woman looked down at Chen Yuan, who was still sitting on the ground, and pointed a finger at him.

Chen Yuan’s gaze swept over the woman’s face. Her makeup still made her look striking, but it couldn’t hide the fine lines around her face or her dull, pale complexion. Her eyes were slightly slanted, and the pointed shape of her lips gave her an unpleasant air, suggesting she wasn’t exactly even-tempered.

In physiognomy, these features were traditionally associated with a quick temper, irritability, and a sharp tongue.

The saying “the face reflects the heart” wasn’t simply empty superstition. Her tendency toward anger kept the muscles in her face tense, which over time could lead to wrinkles. Frequent fits of anger caused blood to rush to her head, leaving her face relatively deprived of blood and therefore pale. Her slanted eyes reflected the way she habitually looked at others with contempt, while the shape of her lips had been influenced by years of speaking in a cutting, sarcastic manner.

People often thought physiognomy was some mysterious and unfathomable art. In reality, the way Chen Yuan had just judged the woman’s personality was also a form of physiognomy, and a very practical one at that. At the very least, it helped him gauge his customers.

From that one glance, Chen Yuan could tell that this woman had a short temper and only wanted to hear good news. A favorable result might not necessarily please her, but a bad one would almost certainly make her angry.

Not exactly an ideal customer.

But the young mystic Chen Yuan had always believed in taking life as it came. The more someone understood the so-called “fate,” the more calmly they could face life’s ups and downs. In Chen Yuan’s view, there was no point fighting what was already destined. If something was meant to be a blessing, it would be a blessing; if it was meant to be a disaster, there was no escaping it. He had dealt with difficult customers like this woman before, so why run from one now?

The girl standing to the side had her face turned away, leaving Chen Yuan with only a profile to look at. But how could one read someone’s face from just a profile? Tradition had always emphasized balance and the whole picture. Physiognomy was not limited to the face itself. A person’s overall bearing and aura also mattered, because all these factors could affect the final reading. Sometimes, even a piece of jewelry someone wore could influence the reading of the person as a whole.

“Could you turn around a little?” Chen Yuan asked the girl. His voice was calm and unhurried.

The girl didn’t move. She was still sulking at her mother.

The woman frowned, grabbed the fabric at her daughter’s shoulder, and roughly turned her around.

“Why can’t you ever just listen?” she snapped through gritted teeth.

The girl didn’t answer. She blinked, her eyes glistening with tears, clearly feeling deeply hurt.

Chen Yuan had no idea what had caused the argument between mother and daughter, nor did he have any interest in finding out. Everyone had their own life to live, and he had no right to interfere.

He simply studied the girl’s face carefully.

The girl had no bangs, her hair pulled back into a neat ponytail that left her forehead fully exposed. The upper sections of the forehead on either side were slightly narrow. In physiognomy, these areas governed one’s early years, and a narrow, underdeveloped forehead suggested that her fortunes in her youth would be limited.

Her ears were also somewhat thin, with the cartilage sticking out more than usual, making them noticeably prominent.

The shape of the ears was also important in physiognomy. Ears like hers were not a good sign. Thin ears were said to indicate a lack of blessings, while prominent ear cartilage suggested a rebellious, competitive nature. Ears that stuck outward were associated with a volatile temper and a tendency to hold grudges.

Neither mother nor daughter had particularly favorable features.

An ordinary fortune-teller would probably have used a few flattering words to send them on their way. After all, people didn’t come to have their fortunes read just to hear everything that was wrong with them. Even a charlatan trying to make a quick buck knew better than to start by criticizing a customer’s appearance. They would first heap praise on the person’s features, then add a well-placed “but” and eventually suggest that paying some money could ward off the bad luck.

Unfortunately for these two, the person they had come to was Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan had been raised by the old Daoist himself, so he knew far more than the average fortune-teller. For instance, there was a reason fortune-tellers often gave vague answers. It wasn’t merely a trick to deceive their customers. There was also a saying in the trade: before someone’s fate was calculated, it could still change. But once it had been calculated and spoken aloud, that fate became fixed.

If a fortune-teller predicted a better fate for someone than they were actually meant to have, the missing blessings would have to be taken from the fortune-teller instead. Deliberately predicting a worse fate didn’t earn them anything either, but at least they wouldn’t be the ones paying the price. That was why most fortune-tellers avoided giving definite answers, keeping their predictions vague or even making them sound a little worse than they really were.

Chen Yuan wouldn’t deliberately make someone’s fate sound worse than it was, but neither would he exaggerate their good fortune just to please them.

“You’d better start making arrangements now,” he said, choosing his words as gently as he could.

Failing the examination was a foregone conclusion. But failing didn’t mean the girl had no future. There were still other paths open to her, and if they made arrangements early, she might still find a way forward.

The woman froze for a moment. Then, as soon as she understood what he meant, her eyebrows shot up and she exploded.

“What the hell do you mean? Are you cursing my daughter?!”

Telling the truth often provoked this kind of reaction. Chen Yuan looked calmly at the woman. He had merely stated the facts; whether she believed him was up to her.

“You’re trying to scam me, aren’t you? So how much do I have to pay to ward off this bad luck? I could tell at a glance you were just a little fraud!” The woman planted her hands on her hips, legs spread apart, spittle flying as she ranted. “Who talks to people like that? My daughter just finished her exam, and you’re already cursing her to fail! You picked the wrong woman to try that on. Do I look easy to fool?”

Chen Yuan simply looked at her, thinking that she really was as sharp-tongued, impulsive, and hot-tempered as her features suggested.

Seeing how calm he remained only made the woman angrier. She grabbed her daughter and said, “We’re leaving!”

“You don’t have to pay the consultation fee. Just do three good deeds instead.”

Chen Yuan’s voice followed them from behind. It was still as mild and unhurried as before, and he showed no anger at being insulted.

“Bah!”

The woman turned around and spat viciously in his direction before storming off without looking back.

Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow, feeling a little helpless. Still, he had done everything he needed to do. There was no point saying anything more. He gathered up his admission ticket and pencil case, looked around, and decided to find somewhere to eat first.

He had encountered customers like that woman before, and every time, he had done his part. Fortune-telling was different from an ordinary transaction. A mystic was supposed to receive payment whenever they read someone’s fortune. It wasn’t because they were greedy. If no payment was given, it would have negative consequences for both the person having their fortune told and the mystic, diminishing their blessings and good fortune.

When a customer like that woman stormed off without paying, Chen Yuan would usually tell them to do three good deeds in place of the consultation fee. At least then, he had asked for the payment he was owed. If they were willing to do some good, all the better. If they weren’t, that wasn’t Chen Yuan’s fault.

In fact, doing good deeds could help a person build up virtue and earn better karma. And as far as Chen Yuan knew, doing good was the only way to truly change one’s fate.

Yes. Change one’s fate.

Don’t be fooled by all those fortune-tellers claiming that donating two thousand yuan to Guanyin can ward off disaster. If only it were that easy. Having someone else take your misfortune for you, wearing talismans, and other such methods couldn’t truly prevent a calamity either. At its core, a calamity was simply a debt that had to be repaid. If someone else took that disaster on your behalf, you would only end up owing them instead, and that debt would still have to be repaid eventually. Talismans could only delay the inevitable. They treated the symptoms, not the root of the problem.

Doing good deeds and accumulating good karma, on the other hand, meant having fewer debts to repay. If you owed nothing, there would be no calamity. Naturally, your life would go smoothly, and things would go as you wished.

The principle was simple. But how many people actually lived by it?

Good and evil would always have their consequences. Chen Yuan understood that, which was why he neither resented nor blamed the woman for what had happened. He simply took it in stride.

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