Yuyin reached out. "Stop changing the subject. Give me the mirror."
"What mirror? We should be talking about money right now." Xu Weiying pushed her hand away and shoved the mirror to the bottom of her backpack.
Yuyin had been orphaned at a young age, and her uncle's family treated her like a jinx and an ATM, completely ignoring whether she lived or died. Only this younger cousin of hers was somewhat decent—she worked and studied part-time, and was kind and filial, not at all like the rest of the Xu family.
During all these years at Lianxi Taoist Temple, apart from Master doting on her, this little cousin would secretly use her pocket money to buy her some snacks during every holiday and festival. This was why Yuyin trusted Xu Weiying.
"Cousin, that friend of mine is super rich. Why don't we fleece him for a fortune?"
"I'm not an oil press. Business requires treating young and old with equal honesty." Seeing that Xu Weiying had brought her sunflower seeds, Yuyin snatched them directly.
Xu Weiying hugged her arm, pouting and acting spoiled. "Cousin, the Sheng Family is extremely rich. Seriously, if we calculate this right, you'll get a huge cut."
"Which Sheng Family?" Yuyin turned her head to ask, her whole body perking up at the mention of the Sheng Family.
Her voice was a bit loud, and a few passersby caught a glimpse of her face and hurried away in fright.
Xu Weiying sidestepped to block Yuyin and put her own sun hat on her. "What other Sheng Family could it be? The second richest in Pingcheng, of course."
Hearing that it was the Sheng Family she was looking for, Yuyin nodded in agreement. As it happened, she was heading to the Sheng Family anyway.
Seeing her change her tune so quickly, Xu Weiying muttered inwardly, "Cousin, your expression is all wrong. You were so reluctant when I asked for your help earlier, but as soon as you heard it's the Sheng Family, you agree so readily. Don't tell me you have a crush on one of the Sheng Family's young masters?"
Seeing her gossipy face, Yuyin slapped her. "Close relatives can't marry."
Ah? What close relatives?
Xu Weiying was completely baffled, thinking Yuyin must be talking nonsense. Coming from the countryside, how could they possibly have any relation to the Sheng Family? They weren't connected in the slightest.
It was getting late, and Yuyin followed Xu Weiying to the hospital.
Along the way, quite a few people made remarks about her appearance, and several times Yuyin wanted to look in the mirror, only to be pulled back by a guilty-looking Xu Weiying.
The nurses in the hospital wore even weirder expressions and hurriedly pulled shut the doors of the wards next to Yuyin as she passed.
"Am I that scary?" Yuyin asked, pulling on Xu Weiying.
"You look great. They're just afraid the patients inside will get too excited seeing your beauty, which isn't good for their recovery."
Yuyin looked thoughtful. Now that they had money, they had even hired a caregiver to look after her grandmother. She didn't linger here; whenever her grandmother saw her, she would hide under the quilt, seeming not to want to look at her at all.
Yuyin was very puzzled. In the past, even if her grandmother didn't like her, she wouldn't act like this.
As the two walked out of the hospital, Xu Weiying saw a large mirror not far away and knew she couldn't escape anymore. She began to back away slowly, planning to slip away at any moment.
"Weiying, it must be your makeup job." Blaming everything on Xu Weiying, she said, "Go contact the Sheng Family and tell them we'll be over this afternoon."
Fearing that Yuyin would beat her up after looking in the mirror, Xu Weiying had long since vanished without a trace, leaving Yuyin only with the time they were supposed to go to the Sheng Family.
Passing the mirror, Yuyin stopped in her tracks.
Xu Weiying, you damn idiot...
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Xu Weiying came to pick up Yuyin, even bringing her own rattan switch to beg for punishment.
Still, she couldn't avoid a beating.
The person Xu Weiying wanted Yuyin to read fortunes for was the third son of the Sheng Family, her high school classmate, Sheng Feijin.
The villas where the Sheng Family lived were developed by the Cheng Family. Fewer than ten households lived in that gated community, every single one of them a Pingcheng aristocrat or celebrity, and the size of a single villa was as large as half a regular neighborhood.
The Cheng and Sheng families had a good relationship. Years ago, Gao Zixia even wanted her son Cheng Fangnan to marry Sheng Feiyan, but Sheng Feiyan was too proud and aloof to look down on Cheng Fangnan at all.
When the two of them hailed a cab and arrived at the villa's front gate, the security guards stopped them dead in their tracks and refused to let them in.
"Young lady, who are you looking for?" The security guard looked down his nose, casting a disdainful glance at the pair.
Xu Weiying ingratiatingly stepped closer and showed him the photo of her and Sheng Feijin. "I'm here to see him. We made an appointment."
Recognizing him as the third son of the Sheng Family, the guard turned and blocked Yuyin instead. "You can go in, but the cleaning lady can't. Unauthorized personnel aren't allowed in the villa area."
Before coming, in order to look professional, Yuyin had worn a faded Taoist robe that made her look like a country bumpkin. From a distance, she really did look rather like a cleaner.
"Cousin, the people here just talk like that. You'll get used to it once you deal with rich people." Fearing Yuyin would get angry, Xu Weiying hurriedly called Sheng Feijin.
"Feijin, I've brought the master you asked for, but the security guards at the gate won't let us in. Why don't you come out and pick us up?"
"A master? Which going-out-of-business dilapidated temple did you snatch this master from? She looks nothing like a human being."
"You can't judge a book by its cover. She is Master Huian's closing disciple."
With that, Xu Weiying handed her phone to the security guard. After taking the call, the guard's attitude changed drastically, his eyes crinkling into smiles.
"Young ladies, let me drive you in. It's quite a distance from here to the Sheng Family residence." The guard gestured toward his patrol cart.
Yuyin got into the patrol cart and didn't give the guard a friendly look, but Xu Weiying chatted away with him warmly.
"Little sister, is your cousin mute?"
Xu Weiying smiled with her lips pursed. "Of course not. She is a Mystic Gate Master. She can tell fortunes, read feng shui, and catch ghosts—she does it all, and her prices are fair. If you need anything in the future, you can look for me, and I'll introduce you."
The guard's eyes lit up. Every household had its share of troubles, so of course he had needs, but he wouldn't let a middleman like Xu Weiying make a profit off the difference.
"Master, can we exchange phone numbers?"
Yuyin started playing mute; she held the longest grudges.
Thinking Yuyin was deliberately giving her an opening, Xu Weiying hurriedly leaned in. "See? Masters are always unfathomable and keep strangers at a distance. If you want to reach her, you have to go through me."
The two exchanged numbers, and the guard looked at Yuyin with even greater adoration. This female master really was different from the ones he had seen before—young and aloof.
"It's my first time meeting a Mystic Gate Master, so I was inexperienced and treated you two poorly. Call me when you leave later, and I'll come pick you up." The guard held up his phone, looking at the two of them with nervous apprehension.
Xu Weiying immediately smiled. "You got it, big brother. Thanks a lot!"
The guard was well over thirty, and hearing a teenage girl call him big brother made him immensely happy, instantly making him feel much younger.
When the two arrived outside the Sheng Family villa, Yuyin stared at it intently and immediately spotted the problem.
The plants in the front yard hedge were drooping, there was a subsidence in front of the villa, and there was no birdsong in the surrounding trees—this was a household whose fortune was heading downhill.
Upon entering the house, Xu Weiying saw Sheng Feijin's mother watering flowers on the balcony in an apron, holding a mud-stained iron trowel in her hand.
"Auntie, this is my cousin, Yuyin." Xu Weiying hurriedly pushed Yuyin forward and made a casual introduction.
Yuyin looked over Madam Sheng, seeing that her expression was serene, dignified, and elegant, except for a few strands of white hair at her temples and heavy dark circles under her eyes.
She should give her a check-up later; this was a severe case of sleep deprivation, being tortured by nightmares.
The Sheng Family's housekeeper led the two of them to Sheng Feijin's door.
Just as Yuyin was about to step forward, Xu Weiying pulled her back.
"Weiying, you said you could invite Master Huian, but you ended up bringing her apprentice instead." Seeing Yuyin, Sheng Feijin looked disappointed and impatient.
Yuyin felt an itch in her throat and coughed twice. "In that case, please excuse me."
If other people didn't appreciate her, she didn't want to cater to them either.
"Feijin, since she's here, just let her try. My cousin is really good." Cold sweat beading on her forehead, Xu Weiying tried to persuade the two of them from both sides, terrified that whichever ancestor lost their temper would ruin the deal.