Chapter 34: Physiognomy Can Reveal Minor Fortunes

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Chapter 34: Physiognomy Can Reveal Minor Fortunes

The saying went that a new official always made three bold moves. After having endured so much frustration before, Yu Shenliu had barely been transferred and given real authority before he was practically itching to put his power to use. During the period when he had little to do, he had already gotten a clear understanding of the situation within the city administration, so now that he could get straight to work, he found himself quite at ease.

Of course, that also meant he was busy. Compared with the days when he had nothing to do, Yu Shenliu no longer had nearly as much time to spend lazing around with Chen Yuan. Even outside working hours, there were often meetings, big and small, along with one document after another and one directive after another. For Yu Shenliu, the situation was both painful and satisfying. For reasons he couldn’t exactly put into words, he regretted becoming so busy. He always had the feeling that if he left Chen Yuan alone for too long, someone else would sweep him away. On the other hand, being able to finally make full use of his abilities was something Yu Shenliu couldn’t bring himself to give up.

So all he could do was keep deepening their bond during the brief periods they had together. At least, that was what Yu Shenliu thought.

In the evening, after dinner, Chen Yuan idly played with several old copper coins he had picked up somewhere. His eyes were unfocused, as though he were lost in thought.

Sitting beside him and stealing occasional glances at Chen Yuan, Yu Shenliu felt that he should say something. After holding it in for a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out, “Tomorrow, I’m going to inspect the major private schools.”

“Hm?” Chen Yuan snapped back to reality. He didn’t understand what Yu Shenliu meant by saying that out of nowhere. He simply turned his head toward him unhurriedly and gave a questioning hum.

Seeing that the other man’s attention had finally turned to him, Yu Shenliu secretly rejoiced. Once he realized what he was doing, he couldn’t help laughing at himself inwardly. Even such a small gesture from the other man could move him this much. He was completely different from his usual self. Love really was something… Tsk, tsk.

Although this was what he was thinking about, his words and actions were another matter entirely. Yu Shenliu put on a casual expression and said, “Maybe it’s because I’ve suddenly got real authority in my hands. I just feel a little uneasy. How about you take a look at my physiognomy?”

It was really just an excuse he had come up with on the spot, but Chen Yuan caught a few particular words. Yu Shenliu had said he felt a little uneasy. The arts of metaphysics weren’t something everyone could master, but everyone had things like a sixth sense. It was simply a matter of how strong it was. As Yu Shenliu had said, his uneasiness might be nothing more than a psychological effect, but on the other hand, it could very well be intuition. In other words, as an ordinary person, he might be sensing something that was about to happen to him.

Since Chen Yuan studied metaphysics, he naturally paid attention to cases where ordinary people had such premonitions. Hearing Yu Shenliu say this piqued his interest. He adjusted his posture, leaning a little closer to Yu Shenliu, and turned his gaze toward him.

Thinking his attempt to strike up a conversation had worked, Yu Shenliu had no idea that the reason he gave had happened to pique Chen Yuan’s interest. Feeling Chen Yuan’s gaze on him, he silently straightened his back, pretending to be relaxed while doing his best to present himself in the best possible light. Those little thoughts of his were practically like a student secretly crushing on their deskmate, childish yet adorable.

“Turn your face toward me,” Chen Yuan instructed. With Yu Shenliu sitting beside him and only showing half his face, Chen Yuan couldn’t see him clearly.

At that, Yu Shenliu turned to face Chen Yuan directly. He worried inwardly that there might be something wrong with his expression, but he still pretended to be calm, meeting Chen Yuan’s gaze with his own unwaveringly.

Chen Yuan casually raised his eyes and met Yu Shenliu’s gaze. He paused slightly, wondering why Yu Shenliu’s eyes seemed so intense. There was something about that eager gaze that made him feel a little uncomfortable.

And the moment their eyes met, Yu Shenliu felt a subtle surge of delight. It was small, but impossible to ignore.

When reading someone’s physiognomy, especially someone whose face you have seen before, the shape of their bones and their features generally won’t change. This is what is known as the unchanging greater trend. When it comes to the details, however, even a difference of just one day requires attention to changes in facial lines, moles, and even pimples. These subtle factors can often indicate changes in a person’s minor fortune beneath the greater trend.

There is an old story about a man who had a facial line beside his mouth known as the “starvation line.” As the name suggests, it indicated that he was destined to die of hunger. However, after he found a large sum of money and returned it to its owner, the physiognomist discovered that the starvation line beside his lips had changed in length and had instead become a line indicating great wealth and honor. The story was meant to encourage people to do good, but its details also demonstrated something: even the slightest change could make the results of a physiognomic reading vastly different.

So when Chen Yuan examined Yu Shenliu’s face, he no longer paid attention to the deep blessings he already knew were there. The first thing he looked for was whether any new moles had appeared.

Within physiognomy, there was a separate discipline devoted to reading moles, which showed just how much moles could reflect a person’s fate. On the same face, a mole in a different location could give rise to an entirely different destiny.

Under Chen Yuan’s careful scrutiny, Yu Shenliu felt a little nervous and instinctively tensed his face.

Other than the official’s mole beneath his eyebrow, there were no other moles. After examining him for a while, Chen Yuan raised his eyebrows, confirming this.

Normally, after being around someone for a long time, shouldn’t you already know whether they had developed any new moles? But Chen Yuan didn’t particularly like looking at people’s faces in everyday situations. His face blindness made it difficult for him to distinguish people by their facial features, and looking at someone’s face too often could actually make you form a fixed impression, making subtle changes harder to notice.

With no new moles, the next thing to examine was the facial lines. The area around the eyes was smooth and unlined. To many people, this would simply be a sign of good skincare, but lines around the eyes were about more than that. There was a type of line that formed in many layers at the corners of the eyes and extended downward toward the cheekbones. It looked unattractive, all crinkled and wrinkled, yet this was actually a facial pattern found only in people who had done great good. Only those who had truly done countless good deeds and accumulated profound blessings, blessings that extended to their descendants and even into future lives, would develop such lines.

There were no lines descending from the bridge of the nose or beside the lips either, no different from what he had seen before. On his second examination of Yu Shenliu’s face, Chen Yuan took in all his facial lines and confirmed that there was nothing unusual. Then his gaze moved directly to the area between Yu Shenliu’s eyebrows.

Being examined so thoroughly by Chen Yuan felt rather strange. On an emotional level, Yu Shenliu quite enjoyed being watched so intently. At the same time, however, the rational part of him kept reminding him: Chen Yuan had been looking at him for so long. Could there really be something wrong?

Chen Yuan had no idea what Yu Shenliu was thinking. The area between the eyebrows was an essential part of any physiognomic reading because a person’s immediate fortune could generally be reflected there. It usually reflected a person’s mental state and their fortune in the period ahead. Even ordinary people could say a thing or two about how to read it, mostly thanks to television dramas and charlatans. They would talk about things like the area between the eyebrows turning red or black.

As it happened, reading this area really did involve distinguishing between red and black. But when examined in detail, it was nowhere near that simple. One had to consider the depth and shade of the color, changes in width, and combine them with other features before making a judgment. Even Chen Yuan wasn’t capable of determining someone’s fortune with near certainty simply by looking at this one area.

In Chen Yuan’s eyes, the area between Yu Shenliu’s eyebrows was tinged slightly red, but there was also a trace of gloomy black mixed into the red. Looking closely, however, the red itself seemed rather faint and insubstantial. The color was very light. Redness in this area could indicate many things: great fortune, a happy event, romantic luck, bloodshed, a fire-related disaster, dizziness, and so on. When red was mixed with black, however, it could be taken as a sign that trouble would follow. And the faint, insubstantial quality of the color gave Chen Yuan an idea.

“Which places are you going to inspect tomorrow?” Chen Yuan suddenly asked Yu Shenliu.

Yu Shenliu thought for a moment, but he wasn’t entirely sure. His secretary usually handled arrangements like this, so he couldn’t say off the top of his head. “I’m not entirely sure. Uh, but the main stop should probably be Zhuowen Academy. After all, Zhuowen is the best private school in Jincheng City.”

“I heard Zhuowen Academy has a lot of flowers and greenery, and people go there for spring outings every year?” Chen Yuan asked, seemingly offhandedly.

Yu Shenliu nodded honestly. “Mm. The academy planted a lot of trees and flowers many years ago. It’s well known throughout Jincheng as a garden academy.”

Hearing this, Chen Yuan was basically certain. He held out his hand toward Yu Shenliu.

One look at the gesture and Yu Shenliu understood what Chen Yuan meant. Somewhat amused, he said, “I know. To pay off the debt.”

Only then did Chen Yuan withdraw his hand. Given the circumstances, it wouldn’t be long before he could pay Yu Shenliu back in full.

“You’re going to run into trouble when you go on your inspection tomorrow.” Chen Yuan began with this blunt declaration, shooting Yu Shenliu a sidelong glance while secretly snickering to himself. He already knew what was going to happen, but there was no harm in giving Yu Shenliu a little scare. Wasn’t that what he had done the last time with the bloodshed omen?

Completely oblivious to Chen Yuan’s latest bout of mischief, Yu Shenliu was taken aback by his words.

Something would happen tomorrow? What kind of trouble? This was an important assignment he had taken on after his transfer, so if something major really happened, that would be bad.

However, when he saw how relaxed Chen Yuan looked, Yu Shenliu immediately realized that even if something happened, it probably wouldn’t be anything serious.

Otherwise, given Chen Yuan’s personality, he would have already given him some advice. How could he possibly be sitting there so calmly?

“What’s going to happen?” Yu Shenliu asked.

Still playing with the copper coins in his hand, Chen Yuan lowered his head, his eyes darting around where Yu Shenliu couldn’t see them.

“It’s not that anything will happen to the school.” He began with that, then raised his head and told Yu Shenliu with a completely expressionless face, “You’re going to encounter a peach blossom calamity.”

A peach blossom calamity? Yu Shenliu was initially relieved when he heard that. He knew it wouldn’t be anything too serious. Then, a moment later, he finally processed what Chen Yuan had said.

“What? A peach blossom calamity?!”

Chen Yuan was practically doubled over with laughter inside, but he maintained the demeanor of a master, his expression calm and gentle. “Yes, a peach blossom calamity. Is there something wrong with that?”

Wait, wait. What exactly did this mean? Chen Yuan had said that he was going to encounter a peach blossom calamity. Could it be that he would run into someone at the school tomorrow who would start pestering him?

The moment he thought of the word “pestering,” Yu Shenliu was reminded of what Huo Shu had gone through before. He couldn’t help shuddering, a chill running down his back.

No, the real problem was how he felt about Chen Yuan right now… If someone else suddenly inserted themselves into the picture, how was he supposed to slowly grow closer to Chen Yuan and eventually achieve a perfect ending?

The moment he thought about these problems, Yu Shenliu felt an immense amount of pressure.

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