Chapter 3: A Mole Reveals He’s No Good

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Chapter 3: A Mole Reveals He’s No Good

“Thank you.”

After politely thanking the owner of the noodle shop, Chen Yuan headed in the direction of the inn the owner had recommended.

A meal at a small noodle shop like this cost five or six yuan at most. Chen Yuan had only spent that much because he had asked the owner to add two eggs, partly to celebrate finally finishing his exams and partly because he had just transmigrated to another world. Now that he knew roughly how much food cost, he had a general idea of the price level in this world.

Since he had no valid identification, his only option was an inn that didn’t require an ID as a deposit. The accommodations wouldn’t be great, but they wouldn’t cost much either. The hundred or so yuan in his pocket would be enough for now.

Today was taken care of, but there was still plenty more to deal with. He urgently needed to find somewhere to live long-term and get some form of identification.

As for finding a place to live, he had very little money and could only save up a small amount before renting somewhere. Getting identification was even more troublesome. If he tried to handle it himself, he wouldn’t even know where to start. He didn’t know whether this world’s household registration system worked anything like the one in his old world. His best bet was to find someone with enough connections and influence to help him get it sorted out.

As he walked, Chen Yuan thought through his plans for the future.

The streets looked much the same as those in his old world. Cars traveled back and forth along the road, with trees lining both sides. But on closer inspection, the roads weren’t paved with smooth sheets of concrete. Instead, they were made of small stone bricks packed tightly together to form a solid, level surface without making the ride bumpy.

The cars looked much like the ones Chen Yuan was used to seeing, but there were no visible exhaust pipes, so naturally there was no exhaust pollution either. Combined with the trees lining the streets, the whole place felt surprisingly peaceful rather than hectic and cluttered.

Though perhaps the person up ahead didn’t feel the same way.

A stylish-looking car was parked by the roadside. Beside it stood a young man in a loose white T-shirt and light-brown shorts, headphones hanging around his neck and giving him a distinctly hip-hop look.

Across the car, beside the driver’s door, stood a beautiful woman in a skirt suit with long, waist-length curls.

The young man was standing by the passenger-side door, talking animatedly to the woman. His hands were flying as he spoke, and he looked extremely agitated.

As Chen Yuan walked on, he inevitably had to pass them. By the time he was close enough, the young man’s loud voice carried clearly enough for him to make out a few words.

“That man… a liar… Sis…”

“Listen to me… Think about Mom and Dad! You can’t…”

Whatever the young man was saying, the woman merely shook her head and waved him off. She looked calm enough, but it was obvious she wasn’t listening to him at all, or perhaps simply couldn’t bring herself to hear him out.

From the few words he’d overheard, Chen Yuan could more or less guess what was going on. Most likely, it was another case of a relationship the family refused to accept. The young man seemed to be trying to persuade his sister to give in to their parents, but judging by the woman’s expression, her mind was already made up. No matter what he said, she wasn’t going to change it. And judging by how impatiently she was moving, she was about to lose her temper.

But it had nothing to do with Chen Yuan. He continued toward his destination. This world was still far too unfamiliar to him, and the sooner he found somewhere to stay, the sooner he could sort through everything and start gathering information. For instance, he needed to figure out how time was measured here. That would be important if he wanted to use a person’s Bazi to calculate their fortune.

Huo Jian was beside himself with frustration. No matter what he said, his sister remained just as stubborn. He was only trying to look out for her happiness, yet the sister who was normally so understanding had turned as stubborn as a mule over this. There was simply no getting through to her.

Neither he nor their parents thought Rong Yan was a suitable match for her. Even her friends had tried to talk some sense into her, but she was completely convinced that Rong Yan was the right man for her and refused to believe anything they said.

Was it really true that women lost all common sense when they fell in love? How could she possibly think a man like that was worth dating?

Huo Shu was just as irritated. Ever since she and Rong Yan had gotten together a month ago, practically everyone had been telling her what was wrong with him. Her parents, her brother, her friends… they all looked at Rong Yan through the same prejudiced lens.

“Xiao Jian, you can’t keep being so biased against Rong Yan. Sure, he didn’t come from a good background, and he dropped out of school, but how many successful people dropped out of school too? He’s always been ambitious, and he’s good to me. I don’t understand why all of you keep targeting him.”

Huo Shu’s attitude only made Huo Jian more frustrated. He wanted nothing more than to run his hands through his hair and vent his exasperation, but all he could do was keep trying to reason with her.

“Sis, I’m telling you, that guy doesn’t look like a good man at all. None of us are trying to hurt you. Mom and Dad think so, I think so, and which one of your friends doesn’t think so too? I’m telling you, you could grab any random passerby off the street, and they’d tell you the same thing. That guy is definitely bad news!”

As he spoke, Huo Jian glanced around. Just then, he spotted Chen Yuan walking past them. In desperation, he grabbed Chen Yuan without worrying about whether it was rude.

“Sorry, could you help me for a second?”

Chen Yuan had assumed the matter had nothing to do with him, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

He wasn’t surprised or bothered by being stopped so suddenly. He looked Huo Jian directly in the eye and replied politely, “How can I help?”

Huo Jian was slightly surprised by Chen Yuan’s reaction. It wasn’t what he had expected from most people. But that was hardly important right now. His emotions were running high, and he quickly pulled out his phone, opened a photo, and shoved it in front of Chen Yuan.

“Take a look at this guy. You can tell at a glance that he’s no good, right?”

Chen Yuan subtly leaned his head back. Huo Jian had gotten a little too enthusiastic, and the phone was practically touching his nose. It was hard to see anything properly from that close.

The photo showed the woman beside them posing with a man in a close-up shot. The man was fairly handsome, but that wasn’t what caught Chen Yuan’s attention.

What he noticed first were the two moles on the man’s face.

Moles were an important part of physiognomy. Their position could carry different meanings, and sometimes a person could have an otherwise excellent face, but a single mole in the wrong place could ruin the entire reading.

The man had two moles on his face. One was slightly to the left of the center of his face, near his hairline. The other was directly beneath his left eye, a little closer to his nose.

Neither was in a favorable position. And the implications weren’t limited to the man himself. For a woman involved with him, these two moles were especially inauspicious.

Even though Chen Yuan was merely giving advice on the side of the road, he had no intention of brushing the matter off. Sometimes, one or two seemingly casual words could change someone’s entire life. For someone like him, that was all the more reason to give his advice seriously.

“He has a mole near his hairline that suggests a violent temperament. You might not notice it at first, but you’ll understand once you’ve spent more time with him. The mole beneath his left eye is a sign that he’ll bring misfortune to his wife. Your brother is right. This man isn’t a good match for you.”

Chen Yuan spoke with complete seriousness, leaving Huo Jian stunned.

Did I really just pick a random passerby who happens to be into this metaphysics ?

Huo Shu had expected the stranger to smooth things over and try to make peace between her and her brother. After all, he was just a passerby, wasn’t he? She hadn’t expected him to come out with something like that, delivering his verdict so seriously and matter-of-factly that he actually sounded as though he believed every word. She was stunned at first, then she got angry.

“Xiao Jian! You’ve gone too far!” Huo Shu was clearly furious. “It’s one thing for you to keep saying Rong Yan is no good, but now you’ve actually found someone to play along with you and put on this ridiculous act in front of me!”

She yanked open the driver’s door and got in, then leaned across to pull the passenger door shut before starting the car.

“Huh? Sis?” Huo Jian was completely caught off guard. He grabbed onto the car window and shouted inside, “You misunderstood! I didn’t ask him to put on an act!”

“I’ve seen enough. You’re all just biased against Rong Yan!”

That was all Huo Shu said before she drove off. Huo Jian managed to cling to the window for a few moments, but as the car picked up speed, he had no choice but to let go and stand there watching it disappear down the road.

What a mess.

Huo Jian turned around and looked at Chen Yuan, who was standing there with the same calm expression as before. He let out a breath.

“Bro, be honest with me. You weren’t sent by my parents, were you?”

Chen Yuan shook his head.

“Then what was all that you just said?”

“Just the truth. I know how to read faces.”

Huo Jian blinked.

“…What?”

“Twenty yuan. Thank you for your business.” Chen Yuan held out his hand, palm up, in front of Huo Jian.

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