Chapter 20: A Fool Refuses Good Advice

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Chapter 20: A Fool Refuses Good Advice

“Boss Wang, do you have any conscience at all?” The woman gripped the bamboo pole tightly, her face flushed red, veins bulging along her neck.

The middle-aged man, Boss Wang, was clearly furious as well. Even though his opponent was a woman, there was little softness in his response. He shot back angrily, “I have no conscience!? How don’t I have any conscience? Miss Yuan, did I deceive you about your feelings or something? And you’re saying I have no conscience!” His words were cutting enough that the people gathered around them all broke into strange smiles.

Still, saying something like that to a woman was simply too low. Chen Yuan frowned slightly but did not rashly step forward. Instead, he stared at the fragments of the mirror on the ground, examining them from a distance. Just as he had observed earlier, the mirror itself was nothing more than an ordinary mirror, except that its outer frame was made of iron. After being exposed to sun and rain, the frame had rusted as well. Yet whether because it was wiped every day or for some other reason, the surface of the mirror was exceptionally clean, without even a trace of shadow. One glance at it reminded him of the spotless glass at the store entrance.

Yu Shenliu leaned slightly toward Chen Yuan’s ear and glanced at Boss Wang. He immediately saw through him. “He’s putting on an act.”

“Hm?” Chen Yuan did not react for a moment. Looking more closely, he noticed that although Boss Wang’s face was full of anger, there was not much actual anger in his eyes. Instead, there was a faint hint of amusement.

He really was putting on an act.

“You, you!” Miss Yuan was so infuriated by Boss Wang’s words that her chest heaved. Still clutching the bamboo pole in one hand, she pointed at Boss Wang with the other, her fingertip trembling. “Shameless!”

“Miss Yuan, it’s really strange that you keep hounding me all day. If I didn’t deceive you about your feelings, what kind of deep-seated grudge could you possibly have against me that makes you refuse to leave me alone?” Boss Wang spread his hands, pretending to look helpless. “We’re all just running businesses here. What kind of grudge could we possibly have, huh?”

The moment Boss Wang finished speaking, someone from the group led by Miss Yuan shouted, “It’s because of that sinister mirror of yours!”

That one sentence was like a spark thrown into a powder keg. The whole group immediately erupted into a cacophony of voices.

“Ever since you put up that mirror, my shop has started having all kinds of inexplicable problems.”

“Exactly. We’ve never run into anything this strange before. There’s something seriously wrong with that mirror.”

“I don’t know what underhanded trick you used, but an old employee who’s worked for decades without ever making a mistake suddenly made a rookie mistake in my shop. How could that have nothing to do with that mirror?”

“He’s the only one on this street whose business is doing well. It’s definitely because of that mirror!”

“We absolutely can’t let that mirror be put back up!”

After listening for a while, Yu Shenliu had more or less figured out what was going on. It seemed everyone believed that after Boss Wang put up that mirror, their businesses had started doing worse, and they had begun running into all sorts of inexplicable bad luck. Meanwhile, Boss Wang’s store had been thriving. At first, none of them thought much of it. Later, someone remarked that there was something sinister about the mirror hanging there. Once they started looking into it, they discovered that quite a few others had felt the same way. Gradually, they became convinced that the mirror was the problem.

Once these shop owners had formed that opinion, they came looking for trouble at Boss Wang’s store every few days, demanding that he take the mirror down. Boss Wang, however, refused no matter what. Even when the mirror was stolen once, he simply found another one and hung it back up, leaving everyone at a loss for words. And no matter what anyone said, Boss Wang insisted that hanging a mirror outside the entrance was a local custom from his hometown, so he had to keep it there and it had nothing to do with anyone else.

Since the Huaxia government protected traditional customs and practices, there was little the others could do about it.

Today, Miss Yuan and the others had simply reached the end of their patience. So they had come in broad daylight with a bamboo pole and knocked the mirror down.

Watching the scene, Yu Shenliu still wore a calm expression, but Chen Yuan, standing beside him, keenly sensed that his mood was not particularly good. It was understandable. After all, Yu Shenliu was in charge of economic affairs as a deputy mayor, and yet while bringing Chen Yuan to this bustling commercial district in the heart of the city, he had happened upon something that carried more than a hint of “poor governance under his watch.” No matter how composed he was, there was no way he could be happy about it.

“Pretty damn nasty,” Chen Yuan remarked quietly, his voice low enough that only he and Yu Shenliu could hear.

Clearly, Chen Yuan was referring to Boss Wang.

Yu Shenliu very much wanted to know what Chen Yuan meant by that, and he also wanted to know what was so special about that mirror. But seeing the situation, he knew this was not the time to ask.

“Yu Shenliu, why don’t you go mediate?” Chen Yuan suddenly turned to him after criticizing Boss Wang.

Go mediate? In a situation like this…

Yu Shenliu instinctively wanted to refuse. From the perspective of a government official, he naturally hoped to mediate when something like this happened. But if he personally stepped in, what would the other officials think of him? There was a saying: “Do not meddle in matters outside your jurisdiction.” To them, this would not be a matter of casually helping out. It would be a complete loss of standing.

Yu Shenliu did not mind mediating a little, but given his current frustrating situation, if word got out, it would not look good.

Yet when he met Chen Yuan’s dark eyes, he paused.

“Okay,” he agreed.

Although Yu Shenliu was somewhat frustrated within the city government, to ordinary citizens, the title of deputy mayor was still more than enough. Under his intervention, the crowd blocking the entrance to the mobile phone store eventually dispersed. It was obvious, however, from the expressions on everyone’s faces that they were still full of resentment. Even though they had left for now, it would not be long before they started causing trouble again.

Taking advantage of the lull, Chen Yuan ignored the curious gaze of the store employee and casually picked out a phone and a SIM card, paid for them, and then walked outside. He found an inconspicuous corner and waited there. The owners who had come looking for trouble were now wearing mild expressions, as though they had already let go of their anger, and returned to their respective stores. Yu Shenliu remained where he was, chatting with Boss Wang, but his eyes kept sweeping across the mobile phone store as though he were looking for someone.

Only then did Chen Yuan step forward and walk over to Yu Shenliu’s side. He greeted Boss Wang, “Boss Wang.”

“Hello, hello. And you are?” Boss Wang smiled warmly and cupped his hands in greeting, while asking Yu Shenliu about him. So this was the person who had come with deputy mayor Yu earlier? He wondered what their relationship was.

Before Yu Shenliu could answer, Chen Yuan cut in, “Regardless of who I am, Boss Wang, could I have a word with you in private?”

They were nothing more than strangers, yet Chen Yuan was being rather direct. Boss Wang’s expression immediately became somewhat surprised. Yu Shenliu showed nothing on his face, but he too found it strange. Then he thought of that mysterious feng shui mirror and Chen Yuan’s abilities, and understood.

Although surprised, Boss Wang saw that Yu Shenliu did not seem to object, so he did not make a fuss. He led the two of them directly into the back room.

Secretly, he was rather pleased. Perhaps after today, people would think that deputy mayor Yu had some connection with him? That would certainly be something to brag about.

In the back room, Chen Yuan had barely sat down. Before he could even be served tea, he opened with, “Boss Wang, I advise you to stop hanging that so-called feng shui mirror. It’s damaging your yin virtue.”

Boss Wang froze for a moment, then gave an awkward laugh. “Well, you see, Sir, as you know, hanging mirrors is a custom where I come from. It just doesn’t feel right to me if I don’t have one hanging there.”

“Is it really a custom?” Chen Yuan asked in return.

Without even thinking, Boss Wang answered, “Of course. How could I possibly lie in front of Mayor Yu?”

Yu Shenliu said nothing. This was the first time he had seen Chen Yuan take such an aggressive, confrontational tone, and he knew the matter was clearly more complicated than he had thought.

“Boss Wang, if you keep this up, you can forget about your business continuing to prosper. Before long, you’d better start worrying about losing your family and everything you have.”

Chen Yuan was blunt to the point of being almost jarring, without the slightest attempt to soften his words. It made them distinctly unpleasant to hear.

Although Boss Wang was often confronted by people coming to his store to cause trouble, there had always been a reason behind those incidents. This time, however, a complete stranger whom he did not even know had suddenly said such things to him, leaving him feeling rather humiliated. If there had not been a deputy mayor sitting beside him, he might well have thrown them out.

Even so, his tone became somewhat cutting when he spoke. “Sir, you can’t just say things like that. I run an honest business. When have I ever done anything shameful? Are you cursing me?”

Chen Yuan stared at Boss Wang, then shook his head and stood up. “Yu Shenliu, let’s go.”

At his words, Yu Shenliu followed Chen Yuan out of the mobile phone store.

The conversation had been strange and completely lacking in context. Boss Wang did not understand it, and neither did Yu Shenliu.

In any case, they had already bought the phone. The two got into the car and prepared to head back. Only then did Yu Shenliu ask, “What exactly was going on?”

“Just seeing whether there was still any hope for him.” Chen Yuan’s tone had been sharp and forceful when he was talking to Boss Wang, but now he had returned to his usual unhurried manner. “That so-called feng shui mirror harms others for his own benefit. That’s a serious loss of yin virtue. Once you squander your accumulated merit and virtue, you’re bound to suffer the consequences. From the looks of him, those consequences aren’t far off.”

“What exactly is going on with that mirror? Why did you try to persuade Boss Wang?”

“You have so many questions. Are you thinking of becoming my disciple like Huo Jian?” Unlike usual, when Chen Yuan would readily explain everything related to these matters to him, this time he merely glanced at Yu Shenliu and threw out that question.

Yu Shenliu was momentarily at a loss for words, then shook his head. During this time, whenever something related to these matters came up, Chen Yuan had generally explained it all to him. He had gradually gotten into the habit of asking Chen Yuan whenever there was something he did not understand.

He had forgotten, however, that Chen Yuan was under no obligation to answer him.

“Either way, you should at least tell me why you wanted me to mediate, right?” Taking a step back, Yu Shenliu asked another question. The look Chen Yuan had given him earlier had clearly meant something, or he would never have actually gone to mediate in the first place.

“I just wanted to give you a chance to do something good,” Chen Yuan replied, his eyes drifting toward the scenery outside the car window.

“I don’t believe you.”

“To give you a chance to accumulate some merit. Consider it my way of repaying you.” Chen Yuan turned his gaze back to Yu Shenliu and looked at him as he spoke.

In the rearview mirror, Yu Shenliu could see Chen Yuan’s expression and eyes.

He was telling the truth.

But even if mediating a dispute could help accumulate merit, how much merit could he possibly gain from something like that? Yu Shenliu genuinely could not understand.

Seeing the unusually sullen expression on Yu Shenliu’s face, Chen Yuan smiled. “Let’s go back. I’ll explain it to Huo Jian.”

Did that mean he could listen in too? And why did Chen Yuan have to explain it to Xiao Jian? Could it be that Chen Yuan really intended to take Huo Jian as his disciple?

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