Chapter 3: One Hundred! Is That Possible?

Although Lin Jingyu was nearing forty, he still possessed a warm and righteous heart.

Seeing Su Chen look like a swindler, his sense of justice surged.

But he also knew that to catch a thief, one must catch the stolen goods.

Without evidence, simply calling Su Chen a fraud wouldn’t convince the street vendors or passersby.

Thinking quickly, an idea came to him.

Before Su Chen could even prop up the newspaper, Lin Jingyu asked, “Brother, how much for one reading?”

“How much?” Su Chen hadn’t really thought about it before.

As he pondered, his eyes caught the average wage on the newspaper—just over two thousand a year.

That translated to roughly two hundred a month.

Su Chen quickly made up his mind. “Twenty.”

“Twenty?” Lin Jingyu twitched at the corner of his mouth.

Wasn’t that a hefty price to accuse someone of being a swindler?

He sold little comics for two cents each; twenty bucks would mean selling a hundred comics.

But then he noticed the sign said, “No charge if you don’t want to pay.”

Satisfied, he felt confident. “You can read anything?”

Su Chen smiled and nodded. “Sure, but big brother, if you lend me the paper and some ink, this reading is on the house.”

A sugary trap, no doubt.

Trying to bribe me? No way.

Just wait—I’ll expose your true colors.

Clearing his throat, Lin Jingyu began, “Well then…”

What should he ask about?

His life had been smooth sailing; there wasn’t much to worry about. Financial luck? Or something else?

His gaze soon fell on an elderly woman sitting dazed near a nearby house. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

Got it! He called out, “Grandma.”

The old woman, still lost in thought, didn’t respond after several calls, so Lin Jingyu jogged over and gently pulled her along.

“Brother, this grandma’s daughter has gone missing. Can you help her find out where she is?”

At the mention, the old woman’s unfocused eyes sharpened, but upon seeing Su Chen, her gaze dimmed again.

Feeling a twinge of guilt, Lin Jingyu knew the moment had come—he couldn’t back out now.

He comforted the woman, “Grandma, let’s have a reading first. It’s free anyway, so maybe there’s still hope.”

Only then did she nod.

Clutching Su Chen’s hand anxiously, she said, “Young man, my daughter Yingying disappeared four years ago. She married into Jiangwei and used to come home two or three times a month. But that June, she never showed up. I went to Jiangwei to look for her. The village chief said they’d quarreled, and she left in the middle of the night. He thought she had gone back to her parents’ home, so he didn’t worry. I searched all over Jiangwei but found no trace. Even on the river, I used a bamboo pole to probe, checked the cesspit, but nothing—no Yingying…”

Lin Jingyu sighed and added, “Yingying and I grew up together. After she disappeared, I went with Grandma to look for her in Jiangwei. We asked around, and some said Yingying once expressed a desire to work down south, preferably in Hong Kong, since the pay was good but it was hard to get there. She even asked me first, but after I explained, she gave up the idea. Besides, if she had gone to Hong Kong, what would Grandma do? Yingying was filial; even if she left, she wouldn’t disappear without a word.”

Su Chen instinctively wanted to activate his spiritual eye to examine the old woman but suddenly froze.

He nearly forgot this body had no cultivation, let alone the ability to open the spiritual eye.

Fine. Until his skills improved, he’d have to rely on conventional means.

He studied the elderly woman closely—her hair graying, forehead high, cheekbones prominent, but the area under her eyes was deeply sunken and darkened.

Seeing this, a heavy feeling settled in Su Chen’s heart.

Her eyesight was poor. Su Chen’s subtle expression change went unnoticed, but Lin Jingyu’s heart skipped a beat.

No, no bad news, please.

Of course, he was being a jinx.

Sure enough, the next moment Su Chen said, “Grandma, please accept my condolences.”

The old woman was stunned, slowly letting go of his hand. She staggered and then broke into sobs, “My Yingying…”

Lin Jingyu hurried to support her, glaring at Su Chen. “Brother, it’s the end of the year. Can’t you say something more uplifting?”

Su Chen smiled wryly. “Big brother, a reading is what it is. Truth or not, it can’t be lied about.”

Lin Jingyu opened his mouth to retort, “What kind of swindler are you, then? Always so formal.”

Then Su Chen said, “From Grandma’s face, I can see she’s had a hard life. The first half was full of hardship, probably during those wandering years she met her husband. Unfortunately, before they could settle down, he passed away. Destiny shows she had two sons and a daughter. Both sons died young, probably before age three. The daughter was posthumous. Is that correct?”

Tears welled in Grandma’s eyes, her lips trembling. “How… how do you know?”

Lin Jingyu stared at her, eyes wide in astonishment.

They had been neighbors for decades. He only knew Grandma’s husband had died unexpectedly, prompting her to move to Green City with her daughter. The two lived alone, pitifully so. His parents often told him to help them if he could.

So Grandma had two sons before?

Su Chen sighed. “It’s from your face, Grandma. Now, near year’s end, your daughter has been gone for so many years, it’s time for her to come home. Do you have her birth details? I can calculate where she is.”

Grandma quickly wiped her eyes. “Yes, yes, it’s at home. I’ll get it now.”

In her grief, her legs grew weaker, so Lin Jingyu volunteered to run the errand.

When he returned, breathless and clutching a red paper inscribed with birth details, a crowd had already gathered by his stall.

Grandma’s house was nearby. In the summer, she sold jelly desserts out back, so most vendors knew her.

Naturally, many had heard about her missing daughter.

Hearing she wanted to find Yingying’s whereabouts, everyone perked up. When Su Chen accurately described Grandma’s two deceased sons and the posthumous daughter Yingying, curiosity grew, and more bystanders joined.

Lin Jingyu squeezed into the crowd as Su Chen studied the birth chart carefully.

Since the daughter had been missing for so long, Grandma seemed mentally prepared. After her initial tears, she had calmed.

Looking up, she shakily said, “Young man, speak boldly. Grandma can bear it.”

“I still need to collect Yingying’s remains, choose a burial site, and hold a memorial ceremony. There’s so much to do, but I’m fine.”

Lin Jingyu’s eyes reddened at those words.

The onlookers’ eyes also grew moist.

Su Chen smiled gently. “Grandma, your daughter is about fifty kilometers east of here.”

Lin Jingyu slapped his thigh. “That’s Jiangwei.”

He turned to the old woman. “Grandma, I said Yingying was harmed by someone in their village. See? This proves it.”

“Let’s go report it to my brother and catch the culprit.”

Grandma nodded repeatedly but soon asked, “But Jiangwei has many households. Which family did it?”

Lin Jingyu looked at Su Chen expectantly.

Su Chen sighed. “We’ll need to go to Jiangwei to find out. Unfortunately, I have to keep my stall open.”

“I’ll pay!” Lin Jingyu quickly dug into his pocket. “Twenty—no, fifty… no, a hundred! How’s that?”