Chapter 54: Fate Is Not Entirely Predetermined

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Chapter 54: Fate Is Not Entirely Predetermined

For what Sis Li had said, Chen Yuan did not take it too much to heart. Fortune-telling was hardly some hidden profession, and there were actually quite a few people who knew how to tell fortunes. Especially in a world like this, where there had been no break in cultural inheritance, there were bound to be quite a few capable fortune-tellers. Chen Yuan simply had not encountered any yet. So whether it was Zhou Qin or Zhang San and Li Si, it made little difference to Chen Yuan.

With that in mind, Chen Yuan watched with great interest as Sheng Kong fought his way through every obstacle, braving danger after danger as he charged through the encirclement of a group of burly men, only to be thoroughly put through the wringer by the women waiting outside Huo Shu’s room. He had to pull out every trick he had before the young women were finally satisfied enough to open the door and let Huo Shu out.

Before they left, Yu Zhi placed a bridal crown on Huo Shu. The delicate beaded veil half obscured Huo Shu’s brows and eyes. Huaxia did not particularly like red bridal veils, believing that they completely covered the bride’s face and were too restrictive of women’s freedom. Instead, they preferred things like beaded veils or round fans to let the bride cover her face just a little.

Supposedly, this custom originated from the marriage of Nüwa and Fuxi. Since Nüwa was marrying her own elder brother, she used a banana leaf fan to cover her face out of embarrassment, and the practice gradually evolved into the custom seen today. No one really knew whether that was actually how it happened. Still, there was something rather beautiful about being half-hidden, half-revealed, like a pipa behind its veil.

As Huo Shu’s uncle, Yu Shenliu was naturally the one to carry her downstairs. There had actually been another candidate, Huo Jian, but just look at his skinny little frame. He wanted to carry Huo Shu? He had better be careful not to get crushed under her weight.

Chen Yuan watched as Yu Shenliu carried Huo Shu to the car, fulfilling his duty as her uncle to see her off. He looked around, and only after spotting Chen Yuan did he walk over.

“Yuanyuan, shall I give you a ride?” Although he spoke in a questioning tone, Yu Shenliu simultaneously reached out and grabbed Chen Yuan by the wrist, leading him toward one of the cars lined up downstairs.

“Huh? Oh.” Chen Yuan quickly followed Yu Shenliu’s lead. He was not very familiar with the ceremony that was about to take place, so going with Yu Shenliu was the best choice. He did not think much of it and simply got into Yu Shenliu’s car, completely missing the furtive looks from the group of people nearby.

Sis Li watched Yu Shenliu whisk Chen Yuan away with her arms crossed and could not help pouting. “How sly.”

Standing beside her, Yu Zhi smiled. “He may be sly, but he just doesn’t have the guts. I think that unless he makes his intentions clear, no matter how he acts, the other person won’t feel a thing.”

“So no matter how much that kid Yu Shenliu shows off, when it comes to this sort of thing, he still has to rely on us.” Sis Li nodded. “To be honest, I’m not even sure Chen Yuan would be interested in him. I used to think Yu Shenliu was always the one choosing others, never the one being chosen. But putting aside their personal relationship, when it comes to romance, I think Chen Yuan would be much more popular than him.”

“Which is why we have to give him a hand.” Yu Zhi lowered her head with a smile. “Let’s go too. The wedding banquet should be pretty much ready by now.”

After all the running around, it was already afternoon, and the venue had shifted from Yu Shenliu’s home to Sheng Kong’s.

Dozens of tables had been set up in the courtyard, ready for the banquet. At the very front were low tables and low couches in the traditional style. When they got out of the car, Sheng Kong carried Huo Shu down and walked with her to the low couch, where he had her stand directly on top of it.

Chen Yuan watched their movements with great interest. It was somewhat different from many of the ceremonies he was familiar with.

Even at a casual banquet where the dishes were served one after another, there was still a distinction between the upper and lower seats. As the bride’s uncle, Yu Shenliu naturally had a place at the upper seats. So after getting out of the car, Chen Yuan had planned to part ways with Yu Shenliu and slip to the back to mingle. But Yu Shenliu grabbed him and led him toward the head table as well.

“Isn’t this a little inappropriate? I’m technically an outsider.” Chen Yuan spoke softly as he pulled slightly at the wrist Yu Shenliu was holding. “I’ll sit in the back.”

“It’s fine.” Yu Shenliu’s answer was brief. “You don’t know that many people here. Sitting in the back would only make things awkward, so just sit beside me.”

In reality, he knew no one would say anything about Chen Yuan sitting in the upper seats. In fact, everyone who knew him, except Chen Yuan, had probably already noticed something. Having Chen Yuan sit beside him would not give anyone anything to gossip about. Besides, it could also count as Yu Shenliu staking his claim, right?

Unfortunately, this man kept making all these little moves but simply could not work up the courage to come clean to Chen Yuan. To be honest, the deputy mayor was still a little too shy when it came to this sort of thing.

Coming down from the car behind them with her husband on her arm, Yu Zhi had already noticed Chen Yuan and Yu Shenliu tugging back and forth over there. She figured things would only become more complicated if she did not lend a hand, so she walked over and patted Chen Yuan on the shoulder.

With a gentle smile, she said, “Chen Yuan, just sit up front with Yu Shenliu. You’ve helped with so much, so it’s only right that you sit up front.”

Chen Yuan was not very familiar with Yu Zhi, so when she said this, he did not directly refuse her as he would have Yu Shenliu. After hesitating for a moment, he went along with it.

See? When it came to professional matters, you really had to leave them to the professionals.

Yu Zhi winked at Yu Shenliu, who responded with a raised eyebrow.

First, they pay respects to Heaven and Earth, becoming one from this day forth, their fates intertwined.

Next, they pay respects to their elders, giving thanks for their parents’ love and kindness. From this day forth, they will build a family and establish a home of their own.

Finally, they bow to each other, promising to respect and honor one another, and to share their lives from this day forth.

These three bows contained far more meaning than they might seem to. To an outsider, the three bows were simply a wedding ritual, nothing more. But in reality, from the perspective of metaphysics, the fate that could be divined for a person before marriage could be different from the fate that could be divined after marriage.

Marriage, or what is commonly called starting a family, marks a major change in a person’s fate. Before marriage, a person is still part of the family they were born into, and their fate is influenced by that family.

This influence also has its own layers. The influence that stays with a person throughout their life comes from the blessings and misfortunes accumulated by their ancestors. When fortune-tellers talk about someone spending the first thirty years of their life under the “ancestors’ fortune,” they mean the fortune passed down to them by their ancestors. After that, they are said to enter their “own fortune,” living according to what they have accumulated themselves.

This explanation is not entirely precise, but it does point to one of the ways people’s fates are believed to be formed.

Apart from this so-called “ancestors’ fortune,” while a person remains part of their family, the family’s overall fortune also affects their own. If the family runs into trouble, they will be affected as well. If the family is flourishing, they may also enjoy good fortune.

After they marry, however, their connection to their original family’s fortune becomes much weaker, especially in modern times, when married couples generally move out and establish households of their own. In ancient times, separating from the family and establishing an independent household had a greater effect on this kind of fortune than marriage itself.

After a couple marries, their fortunes also become connected to a certain extent, influencing each other in turn. A common example is when people say that a woman has “husband-supporting luck” or that she “brings prosperity to her husband.” This refers to someone whose fortune can benefit the other person in the family.

Conversely, there are also sayings about someone “bringing misfortune to her husband,” “bringing misfortune to his wife,” or “bringing misfortune to their children.” This kind of influence was quite apparent even in ancient times, when extended families often lived together. That was why couples would often have their birth charts matched before marriage, in the hope that their destinies would complement each other and that their combined fortune would be favorable.

Less rational, however, were the customs of simply rejecting women born in the Year of the Tiger or the Year of the Goat, regardless of their birth charts. Women born in the Year of the Tiger were supposedly “ Tiger Women ,” who were believed to have fierce, domineering natures that made them ill-suited to marriage, while those born in the Year of the Goat were said to have “ Goat Destiny ,” a traditional superstition claiming that women born under that sign were destined for hardship and misfortune.

That was simply superstition, and rather ridiculous at that.

Chen Yuan had previously matched Huo Shu and Sheng Kong’s birth charts, and they had shown every sign of a happy and harmonious marriage. Watching them go through the ceremony now, he could not help feeling a little gratified. After all, he had played a part in bringing this marriage about.

The merit of bringing two people together in a happy marriage was actually no small thing. There was even a story in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio about a corrupt official who had committed countless evil deeds. After he died and went to hell, he was spared the suffering of the Eighteen Levels of Hell because of one thing he had done: he had helped reunite a married couple who had been separated.

Chen Yuan had no idea whether the stories in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio were actually true, but the idea that bringing two people together in marriage was a great merit was clearly present in many belief systems.

“It is better to tear down ten temples than to break up one marriage.” That saying was hardly an exaggeration.

Chen Yuan silently reflected on the gains and losses of everything he had done recently when Yu Shenliu leaned over and spoke close to his ear.

“What do you think of this wedding?”

The warm breath against his ear made it itch, and Chen Yuan instinctively shrank his neck and moved slightly away before answering, “Mm, I think it’s pretty interesting.”

“This is just one way of holding a traditional wedding. Even among Chinese-style weddings, there are all kinds of variations.” The corners of Yu Shenliu’s lips curled up. “A yin-yang wedding is done this way. A pure-yang or pure-yin wedding would be different.”

His words carried a subtle hint.

Pure yang? Pure yin?

Chen Yuan blinked, unable to understand what Yu Shenliu meant. His first thought was that perhaps a yin-yang wedding meant one held at dusk, while a pure-yang wedding was held at noon and a pure-yin wedding at midnight. His mind immediately wandered down the path of metaphysics.

Judging from Chen Yuan’s expression, Yu Shenliu knew at once that he had completely missed the point. He could not help feeling a little disappointed. Although pure-yang and pure-yin marriages were fairly common in this era, there were indeed people like Chen Yuan who simply paid no attention to such matters.

Once the ceremony was over, dusk had deepened, and the slanting sunlight lay half-spent along the horizon, seeming ready to disappear but lingering just a little longer.

The bride and groom went inside while the guests continued drinking and eating, the banquet descending into cheerful chaos. The elders from both families busied themselves welcoming the guests, and the whole courtyard was lively and bustling.

After wearing Hanfu for so long, Chen Yuan felt terribly hot and loosened his collar a little.

People periodically came up to Yu Shenliu to offer him a drink. Chen Yuan paid little attention as people came and went, until a man stopped in front of him and raised his glass.

“So you’re… Master Chen?”

Chen Yuan looked up at the man. He was a young man whose hair was slicked back so smoothly that the only way to describe it was as shiny and greasy.

Chen Yuan did not recognize him. He wondered who this person was before asking, “May I ask who you are?”

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