Chapter 56: Their Fated Paths Don’t Match

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Chapter 56: Their Fated Paths Don’t Match

After hearing Chen Yuan say that, Cao Yaozu slammed his glass down on the table with a flourish and put on a bold, carefree act.

“Fine! For the sake of my lifelong dream of finding someone who can actually tell my fortune, a thousand it is!”

Yu Shenliu’s displeasure deepened, and he slowly blinked once. Others might not have noticed, but he had caught on. Cao Yaozu clearly believed there was no way Chen Yuan could get his fortune right. That was why he had insisted on “no charge if you get it wrong.” He was probably counting on that to get out of paying.

What exactly was he relying on to think that even someone as capable as Chen Yuan would be unable to read his fate?

Yu Shenliu shot Cao Yaozu a sidelong glance, utterly unimpressed. At first, Yu Shenliu might have had his doubts about Chen Yuan’s abilities, but by now, he had become one of Chen Yuan’s most devoted believers.

He trusted Chen Yuan completely when it came to his abilities, and that trust was reflected in all the thoughtful arrangements and meticulous care he gave him. To Yu Shenliu, Chen Yuan was special. Chen Yuan did not understand that yet, but he would not remain oblivious forever.

“In that case, hand over the fee first.”

Yu Shenliu spoke up again. Chen Yuan was still not in much shape to talk, so he spoke for him. Yu Shenliu did not want anyone to misunderstand Chen Yuan.

There was no point trying to explain that metaphysics had nothing to do with personal relationships when none of these people would understand it anyway. He might as well take the blame himself.

A pained look briefly crossed Cao Yaozu’s face as he pulled out his wallet, counted out the money, and placed it on the table.

Only then did he say, “So I just need to give you my Bazi, right? Mine is—”

“You don’t know that your Bazi aren’t something you can just give out casually? You’ve had your fortune told plenty of times, haven’t you? You don’t even know that much? No wonder every fortune-teller you’ve met has been a fraud!”

Cao Yaozu actually knew that you were not supposed to casually give your Bazi to other people. Every fortune-teller he had consulted had told him as much.

But he had never taken it seriously. After all, in his more than thirty years of life, not a single fortune-teller had ever gotten his fortune right.

As far as Cao Yaozu was concerned, there was no reason to believe anything those fortune-tellers had told him. So he had never cared about the whole business of not revealing his Bazi to others.

And yet, Yu Shenliu had managed to catch him off guard with it at this particular moment.

By now, almost everyone at the wedding banquet had turned their attention toward Chen Yuan’s table at the head. Something this entertaining did not happen every day, after all.

So although everyone appeared to be chatting and eating and drinking, nearly all of them were keeping one eye on what was happening over here.

Reluctantly, Cao Yaozu leaned over and quietly recited his Bazi to Chen Yuan.

Without giving it much thought, Chen Yuan immediately began calculating Cao Yaozu’s fate. But as soon as he did, he realized something was wrong.

This couldn’t be right. How was that possible?

Chen Yuan’s expression turned strange as he looked Cao Yaozu up and down.

His slicked-back hair, reasonably fine Hanfu, healthy complexion, and slightly oily way of speaking and carrying himself all seemed perfectly ordinary in the setting of today’s banquet.

Yet after seeing Cao Yaozu’s Bazi, those same details suddenly seemed completely out of place.

Of course, to most people, Chen Yuan’s strange expression still looked as calm and composed as ever. Only Yu Shenliu, sitting beside him, noticed the change.

Could this otherwise unremarkable Cao Yaozu really have something unusual about him? Otherwise, with Chen Yuan’s abilities, why would he show an expression like that?

As Yu Shenliu wondered this, he gently patted Chen Yuan on the back, silently reassuring him to take his time.

In Yu Shenliu’s eyes, as long as Chen Yuan did not lose his composure, it was practically impossible for anyone to stump him when it came to metaphysics. He had complete confidence in Chen Yuan.

It was almost like being stroked like a cat. Being soothed by Yu Shenliu like this gave Chen Yuan a strange feeling, but he immediately pushed the thought aside.

The important thing now was that this Bazi simply did not match the person standing in front of him.

Chen Yuan had just made a rough calculation based on the Bazi Cao Yaozu had given him, but the result was astonishing. The fate indicated by the chart was extremely bleak.

The person was narrow-minded, born into poverty yet unwilling to improve himself, unable to tell right from wrong, and drifting through life in a daze. His life would be filled with setbacks.

He would do nothing but complain instead of striving to better himself, sleep by the roadside waiting for handouts, and never have a chance to rise above his circumstances.

Cao Yaozu’s Bazi could practically be described as the destiny of a hopeless beggar. Yet the man standing before Chen Yuan looked like an ordinary middle-class citizen.

His personality might not have been particularly admirable, but compared with the fate indicated by this Bazi, the difference was simply far too great.

The Four Pillars method Chen Yuan used primarily determined a person’s fate from the “day” of their birth. So even if the exact birth time was somewhat unclear, it would not cause such a huge discrepancy with reality.

At most, there would be some minor differences in the details. And Cao Yaozu’s stated birth time was not anywhere near the point where two calendar days overlapped, so a difference of a few minutes could not possibly have shifted his birth date.

In other words, the discrepancy could not have been caused by an imprecise birth time.

Then could Cao Yaozu have deliberately lied about his Bazi? Otherwise, why had he been so casual about giving it out just now?

Chen Yuan could not help wondering this.

Yet when he looked at Cao Yaozu’s expression, there was not the slightest hint of guilt. Instead, he was watching Chen Yuan with a faintly smug look.

In other words, this really was his Bazi.

It made no sense. The fate indicated by his Bazi was far too different from the life and fortune this man actually had.

For a moment, Chen Yuan even wondered whether Cao Yaozu’s parents had accidentally been given the wrong baby at the hospital, or whether he had actually been adopted without ever knowing it.

But both were extremely unlikely.

Still, unlikely did not mean impossible. Someone like Chen Yuan, who made a living reading people’s fortunes, encountered all kinds of strange destinies.

Situations that anyone else would insist could never happen did, in fact, exist. So even a possibility this absurd could not be completely ruled out.

With that thought, Chen Yuan immediately focused on Cao Yaozu’s face.

If his Bazi could not explain things, then he would read his physiognomy. Surely that would reveal some clue.

Yu Shenliu’s hand had already slid down from Chen Yuan’s back and found his hand resting at his side, taking it once more.

As he watched Chen Yuan’s expression, he noticed the subtle change.

There really was something strange about Cao Yaozu’s fate. Otherwise, with Chen Yuan’s abilities, he would have been able to describe Cao Yaozu’s fate in just a few words.

Now, Chen Yuan was probably studying his physiognomy to confirm his suspicions. To think Cao Yaozu had actually made Chen Yuan use one method after another. He really was not as simple as he looked.

Yu Shenliu thought this to himself as he watched Chen Yuan with concern.

Compared with Yu Shenliu’s practically flawless features, Cao Yaozu’s face was utterly ordinary.

There were no moles indicating great wealth or nobility, nor were there any lines suggesting poverty and hardship. No matter how Chen Yuan looked at him, he had the face of an ordinary person.

And that was precisely what made it so strange.

His Bazi clearly indicated the fate of a beggar, yet his face in reality was completely ordinary, and his actual life reflected the same. There was nothing remarkable about him at all.

Chen Yuan went over Cao Yaozu’s Bazi again and again in his mind.

In the end, his gaze fell on a fairly large mole on Cao Yaozu’s chin.

This birth date, and a mole in this exact spot… Could it be!?

Who would have thought he would actually encounter such a rare situation?

In a way, this was Cao Yaozu’s good luck. Chen Yuan sighed inwardly before asking, “That mole on your chin wasn’t there when you were born, was it? It should have appeared later?”

The moment Chen Yuan asked, Yu Shenliu knew he must already have an idea of what was going on.

He gave Chen Yuan’s hand another gentle squeeze.

Chen Yuan squeezed back, then waited for Cao Yaozu’s answer.

Cao Yaozu was still rather confused. Wasn’t Chen Yuan supposed to be telling his fortune? How had they suddenly ended up talking about the mole on his chin?

He did not think much of it and simply nodded.

“Mm, that’s right.”

The mole had appeared when he was in elementary school, and it had grown surprisingly large in no time. He had lived with it for so many years that he had long since gotten used to it.

He had never thought there was anything wrong with it.

Chen Yuan nodded. Just as he had expected.

He gathered his thoughts and began, “I’ve finished the reading.”

“Actually, your fate is rather unfortunate.”

The moment those words left his mouth, the people nearby who knew what Chen Yuan was capable of immediately frowned or pursed their lips.

Chen Yuan had always been bluntly honest, so if he said Cao Yaozu’s fate was bad, then it really was bad.

Yet Cao Yaozu remained remarkably calm. He did not seem worried in the slightest about what Chen Yuan might say.

Shouldn’t he have been getting nervous at a time like this?

“Your fate can basically be described as a ‘beggar’s fate.’”

Chen Yuan did not mince words and simply stated his conclusion outright.

A collective gasp went through the people around them, and the way they looked at Cao Yaozu changed instantly.

Cao Yaozu, however, merely gave a derisive laugh.

“That’s what all those other fortune-tellers said too.”

Chen Yuan ignored him and continued.

“You were born into poverty and hardship, with little stability in your life. You tend to drift through life without much direction or ambition. You’re easily deceived and prone to acting on impulse.”

Chen Yuan had deliberately softened some of the harsher aspects of the reading to spare Cao Yaozu some embarrassment.

The original wording had been that he could not distinguish right from wrong, but putting it that bluntly would sound insulting and naturally make people uncomfortable.

The meaning was essentially the same, but phrasing it differently gave it an entirely different feel.

“You don’t place much importance on money and have a carefree personality.”

The original wording actually meant that he spent money recklessly, the sort who was foolishly generous.

“You value friendship, but you tend to meet the wrong people.”

Put more bluntly, the people he met tended to be drinking buddies and petty schemers.

“Taken together, these things point to a life of poverty and hardship, with little comfort or fulfillment. This is a very typical beggar’s fate.”

A “beggar’s fate” did not necessarily mean someone would literally become a beggar. It was simply a general way of describing a particularly poor or unfortunate destiny.

By the time Chen Yuan finished, Cao Yaozu was wearing a victorious smile, while the people around them looked increasingly doubtful.

A few were already looking at Chen Yuan as though he were a fraud. If not for Yu Shenliu sitting right beside him, their suspicion would probably have been even more obvious.

Was he kidding?

Some of the personality traits Chen Yuan had described were indeed similar to Cao Yaozu’s, but a life of poverty and hardship was clearly a far cry from Cao Yaozu’s actual circumstances.

Everyone was left wondering. How had Chen Yuan gotten it wrong this time? Could Cao Yaozu really have something unusual about him?

Even Yu Shenliu found it strange.

But he knew there had to be a reason Chen Yuan had asked about Cao Yaozu’s mole earlier, so unlike everyone else, he did not whisper to the people around him or wonder whether Chen Yuan had finally made a mistake.

Seriously, other people might think it was impossible for Chen Yuan to accurately divine someone’s fate. But as far as Yu Shenliu was concerned, if Chen Yuan actually couldn’t figure something out, that would be what was impossible.

By now, Cao Yaozu had raised his chin with considerable satisfaction.

“Master Chen, this sounds exactly like what those fortune-telling frauds told me.”

“Don’t rush. I’m not finished yet.”

Chen Yuan shook his head, his expression calm.

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