Chapter 9: Don't Smoke the Cigarettes Your Boyfriend Gives You

"Yan-yan, look, a handsome guy!"

Sun Feiyan looked on with disdain, but her friend Jin Ling, who was walking with her, tapped her arm in pleasant surprise and whispered excitedly.

"What handsome guy? That's a con artist!"

Sun Feiyan grabbed her friend's hand and muttered fiercely, "Let me tell you, con artists deserve to be punished by everyone!"

Jin Ling’s eyes flickered, and she gave a light cough. "Alright, alright. I know your aunt lost a lot of money to a fortune teller and ended up jumping off a building and becoming paralyzed, but..." She looked closely at Su Chen. "That doesn't mean all fortune tellers are con artists."

"How are they not? Fortune telling is just superstition. We’ve studied for so many years; we have to believe in science."

Jin Ling was rebuffed and gave an awkward, sheepish laugh.

Although their conversation was quiet, it wasn't inaudible, and Lin Jingyu heard every word clearly.

He picked at his ear. "Beautiful, you believe in science—but do you even know what science is?"

"What?"

"So-called science is a system of knowledge based on verifiable explanations and objective... orderly principles..."

Sun Feiyan and Jin Ling were instantly petrified. Su Chen’s eyes also glazed over slightly.

Lin Jingyu continued to hold forth, "The Earth revolves around the sun, yet Giordano Bruno was burned alive for the heliocentric theory. Was it because he didn't believe in science? No. In the torrents of history, everyone tends to go with the flow."

"Here is the question: you see fortune telling as superstition, but in a hundred years? A thousand years? Would you be any different from the mob that clamored to burn Bruno at the stake?"

"How does one avoid becoming part of an ignorant rabble? It requires us to possess dialectical thinking..."

Su Chen: "..."

*I'm getting dizzy!*

Sun Feiyan and Jin Ling were equally bewildered.

Lin Jingyu finally clapped his hands. "Therefore, as the great leader once said, practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. If you want to know if it's superstition or a scam, try it yourself."

Su Chen was taken aback, then let out a laugh.

Seeing Sun Feiyan frown, Lin Jingyu raised an eyebrow. "What? Are you just like a couple of shrews, opening your mouths to spout nonsense without daring to verify it?"

Provoked, Sun Feiyan lost her temper.

"Who are you calling a shrew? Fine! It's just fortune telling, right? I'll do it!"

Jin Ling grabbed her arm. "Yan-yan, are you crazy? Didn't you see the sign that says 20 per session? That's so expensive! And don't forget, we're here for a party; let's not delay."

Seeing Sun Feiyan hesitate, Lin Jingyu scoffed. "How long could a fortune telling session possibly take? Or are you two beauties out shopping without any money, hoping a man will pay for you?"

Sun Feiyan gritted her teeth and immediately pulled out her small purse.

"It's only 20 yuan, right?"

"Here!"

Lin Jingyu took the two ten-yuan notes and beamed.

"Ah, my apologies, my eyes were clouded by prejudice. Come, come, have a seat, beauties. Tell my partner here what you want to know."

Sun Feiyan felt satisfied by his sudden subservience and raised her chin triumphantly. But as she met Su Chen's eyes, she suddenly realized she didn't actually want to have her fortune told.

What was there to tell?

Her parents and family were healthy, her studies were going smoothly—there was nothing to ask.

Lin Jingyu whispered a reminder, "Wealth, love, even finding missing things—we can tell it all."

Sun Feiyan blushed and cleared her throat.

"Then... how about, love?"

Jin Ling covered her mouth to hide a giggle, earning a glare from Sun Feiyan.

Su Chen smiled. "Beautiful, please give me your birth time and date."

Sun Feiyan looked around, hesitant. "Should I say it out loud? Is that okay?"

"You can write it down, and I will burn it after reading."

Lin Jingyu quickly offered a pen and paper.

After reading the information, Su Chen calculated for a moment, his brow suddenly furrowing.

Seeing this, Jin Ling quickly said, "What's wrong? Don't tell me it's another 'bloody disaster'—I’m telling you, we don't believe in that!"

"Exactly," Sun Feiyan nodded repeatedly. The con artist her aunt had met had told her about a bloody disaster.

Su Chen asked Lin Jingyu for a matchbox, burned the paper with Sun Feiyan's birth details, and then said, "You have wealth, status, and education in your chart. Wealth is money, status is your career, and education is your degree. At your age, you should be in university right now."

As soon as these words were spoken, someone nearby exclaimed, "Whoa, this beauty is a university student? That's impressive!"

In the 1990s, university students were not yet common. Getting into college was difficult, and graduates were guaranteed job assignments. It was essentially a golden ticket to a stable, lifelong career.

Sun Feiyan straightened her back slightly.

"You guessed right."

"What 'guessed'? This was calculated," Lin Jingyu said, sounding displeased.

Su Chen waved a hand, signaling him not to argue, and continued:

"You come from a comfortably well-off family. Your parents are both employed and very loving, which is why you, too, long for a beautiful romance."

Sun Feiyan remained silent.

"But..."

Su Chen said only one word, and Sun Feiyan wore a knowing look, crossing her arms as if waiting to see what nonsense he would come up with next.

"Your fated partner will appear quite late. He will enter your life when you are 30, and you will marry at 35."

Jin Ling was stunned. "What? Yan-yan, you won't marry until you're 35? Won't you be an old maid by then?"

Sun Feiyan was also shocked, then reacted, shouting excitedly, "Impossible!"

Jin Ling nodded quickly. "Exactly! Yan-yan is so pretty, she has so many people chasing her. How could she marry so late? You must have calculated it wrong—no, you're just a con artist!"

"Right, you fraud! How could I possibly..."

"Someone has already given you a promise, right?"

Sun Feiyan froze. "What?"

Su Chen looked calm. "Beautiful, I need to remind you: every man you meet before your fated partner is nothing but a 'rotten peach blossom'—a bad relationship."

"How could that be? We were in high school..." Sun Feiyan anxiously tried to explain, but stopped halfway, realizing she had let something slip. She looked at Jin Ling, who looked completely shocked.

"Yan-yan, you're dating someone?!"

"Ling-ling, I, I..."

"I said before, your chart is auspicious. Before you marry at 35, your work will be stable, your life smooth, and your health good. After you marry at 35, your family will be happy and harmonious. However, there is a trial in your fate, and as it happens, this trial falls today."

Without realizing it, a crowd of a dozen people had gathered around the stall.

Hearing this, most of them wore strange expressions.

Someone couldn't help but chime in, "Isn't that a bit too coincidental?"

"Yeah, so coincidental—it really smells like a scam."

Lin Jingyu was furious. "How is it a scam? You don't know, my friend can even catch ghosts! Just a moment ago..."

Before he could finish, Su Chen cut him off.

"This trial is not life-threatening, but it is related to fire. If you cannot pass this trial, your body and mind will suffer great damage. You will drop out of school, flee to a distant place, and die at the age of 35."

Sun Feiyan was terrified for a moment. "Ho-how is that possible?"

Jin Ling nodded. "Exactly. Yan-yan would have to be crazy to drop out of school. We're about to graduate from university, for heaven's sake."

"Is that so? What if she ends up with her reputation ruined?"

"What?"

Su Chen smiled. "You have a proud nature. If your reputation were destroyed, would you still have the resolve to finish your studies?"

Sun Feiyan bit her lip, unable to answer.

Seeing this, Su Chen sighed helplessly. He couldn't bear to watch such a girl fall into ruin, so he chose to offer a precise warning.

"In five minutes, miss: don't smoke the cigarette your boyfriend gives you."