As the sound of Ge Qiuhua's footsteps completely vanished, Xu Ruoping, who had been plastered against the desk, sprang up like a corpse in a resurrection. Taking two steps in one, she sprinted over to the nearby bookcase, fished out a tattered book titled *Secrets of Heaven and Calculation*, and silently flipped to the chapter on divination.
She had something on her mind!
Although Xu Ruoping was usually carefree and seemed rather indifferent about her relationship with Xu Jun, tomorrow was their engagement banquet after all. No matter how broad-minded she was, she certainly did not want any flaws to pop up at this critical juncture.
Therefore, she made a last-minute decision to cast a divination for her fortunes tomorrow, for better or worse.
*Secrets of Heaven and Calculation* was a book left to her by Grandfather for divining the good or bad fortune of the future. She had studied its contents long ago; among the numerous books on esoteric arts, this was the one she had mastered most thoroughly. Moreover, drawing upon all she had learned, she had uniquely invented a modern, simplified method of divination.
She grandly called it the "Xu Family Coin Divination Technique"!
Before divining, one had to sincerely pray toward the east, then toss a one-yuan RMB coin casually into the air to see whether the national emblem side or the denomination side landed facing up.
If the national emblem faced up, it was a yang line, and she drew a circle on paper; if the denomination faced up, it was a yin line, and she drew a cross on paper.
Doing this six times in succession—drawing circles or crosses from right to left until six were completed—constituted a single hexagram. Then, she would simply analyze it herself by matching it against the contents of the sixty-four hexagrams under the divination chapter in *Secrets of Heaven and Calculation*.
She concentrated her mind, breathed quietly, and prayed sincerely for a moment. With a flick of her hand, the one-yuan coin traced a graceful half-arc in the air, then landed on the floor with a crisp *clink*.
Following the direction the coin rolled, Xu Ruoping's gaze fell upon it as it stopped vibrating—the national emblem was facing up.
She hurriedly drew a circle on the paper.
Over the next five consecutive tosses, Xu Ruoping drew three circles and three crosses. The sequence from left to right was: circle, circle, circle, cross, cross, cross.
The Pi Hexagram!
Xu Ruoping felt a tiny ripple of nervousness, her hand holding the coin damp with sweat.
She carefully looked up the commentary for the Pi Hexagram, seeing a line of bold, black Song-typeface characters written across it: *A tiger falls into a deep pit.*
She almost forgot to catch her breath. Unreconciled, Xu Ruoping went on to carefully peruse the few lines of small regular-script commentary below: *Pi means obstruction; blocked and impassable. Like a fierce tiger coming down the mountain to forage for food, unexpectedly running into a deep pit dug by people. Once the tiger is down there, all its majesty cannot be unfurled; there is much misfortune and little fortune.*
The judgment read: *A lost animal is hard to find, business transactions are unsettled, marriage is inauspicious, one must not act lightly.*
Scanning the text at a glance, Xu Ruoping instantly had the urge to smash this copy of *Secrets of Heaven and Calculation* to pieces. In the end, though, with her guilty conscience, she held the book suspended in mid-air and never followed through.
The "Xu Family Coin Divination Technique" proved truly miraculous indeed. Only this time, it wasn't that her snobbish mother had scared Xu Jun away by demanding an exorbitant bride price; it was that the man simply hadn't come at all.
Early the next morning, to show off, Ge Qiuhua had specially booked a VIP room at the locally quite famous Mingdu Restaurant. Seventh Aunt, Eighth Aunt, and the rest arrived one after another, and everyone waited from the scheduled nine o'clock in the morning until two in the afternoon. Forget Xu Jun in person, not even his shadow appeared.
Under Ge Qiuhua's repeated urging, Xu Ruoping made dozens of phone calls. The guy's phone was ringing through, but he never answered, and she sent dozens of text messages, which likewise sank into the sea without a ripple.
The relatives were worldly-wise and saw that this marriage was likely going to fall through. The deafening noise at the banquet from the very beginning had turned into an eerie silence; everyone ate as if they had fishbones stuck in their throats, and in the end, they each made excuses and hurriedly fled the smoke-filled scene.
Xu Ruoping remained silent throughout, absent-mindedly picking up food and putting it into her mouth. When a few of her married older sisters came over to say goodbye before leaving, she seemed to do nothing more than murmur a vague acknowledgment.
Finally, only her father, Xu Dalang, and her mother, Ge Qiuhua, were left at the table. Previously, Ge Qiuhua had been kept in check by Xu Dalang, but once the others left, she finally erupted. She slammed a palm down onto the table with such force that it nearly rattled the pots, pans, bowls, and dishes right off: "Girl, you better explain this clearly to me. What on earth is going on here?"
Xu Ruoping slowly raised her head, her gaze vacant as she replied, "Congratulations, Sister Hua, your bride price has gone down the drain!"
The moment she finished speaking, Xu Ruoping seemed to derive some bizarre pleasure, a long-lost smile actually appearing on her face.
Ge Qiuhua instantly blew her top, casually snatching up a damp towel and hurling it straight at Xu Ruoping's head. It hit Xu Ruoping right in the face before slowly sliding down off her wood-like body.
Seeing this, Ge Qiuhua's anger flared even hotter. She lunged forward, ready to fight Xu Ruoping to the death.
Beside herself with rage, she ought to have vented her fury on Xu Jun, but every single word out of Xu Ruoping's mouth was combustible fuel meant to court disaster. With nowhere to vent her overflowing anger, Ge Qiuhua used her to blow off steam.
Seeing the situation spiral nearly out of control, Xu Dalang hurriedly lunged forward to grab Ge Qiuhua in a death grip, barking, "What kind of madness are you pulling? The one who broke his promise is Xu Jun, get your facts straight, will you!"
He turned back and shouted at Xu Ruoping, "Girl, you'd better go find him yourself and find out what's going on, and see what the hell happened."
The old father's eyes were bloodshot. Beneath skin darkened by years of wind and sun were a pair of weathered, haggard hands. Overly agitated, the veins on his arms bulged like cords, nearly bursting through the skin.
Her father's words were like a sudden enlightenment. Xu Ruoping snapped back to clarity, looked up to meet his gaze of eager concern, uttered a heavy "Mn," grabbed her handbag, and sprinted out at full speed.
For days, apart from being worn out by work during the day, whenever Xu Ruoping had a spare moment she would exhaust every possible means to contact Xu Jun. Yet no matter what methods she used, she simply couldn't see the man himself, nor did she receive any reply.
Three months later, the truth finally came to light!
Xu Jun had married Xu Ruoping's younger paternal cousin, Yingdong. Her second sister had called to tell her the news.
Her second sister was a veritable "know-it-all," and she also spilled plenty of extra details to Xu Ruoping.
For instance, Yingdong had harbored all sorts of secret crushes on Xu Jun ever since she was in elementary school, secretly hoarding quite a few stealthily snapped photos of Xu Jun attending school union meetings and sports meets in her house!In a bizarrely familiar echo of the past, much like Chen Kunfeng and Han Qiaoqiao before them, Xu Ruoping had once again, true to form, been cheated on by her boyfriend.
It was midnight. A brilliant, full moon hung high in the sky. In a shadowy corner of a certain medical university's campus soccer field, mottled tree shadows cast pools of moonlight that slanted across Hu Yihui's handsome profile, making him look profound and effortlessly charming.
A dark figure materialized out of thin air, dropped to one knee, and reported in a ringing voice: "Reporting to the Young Master, the matter concerning Xu Jun has been taken care of. Not a single detail was missed!"
With his back to the newcomer, Hu Yihui plucked a leaf from a tree, popped it into his mouth, and chewed on it with relish. Without even turning his head, he asked, "And how is Daiyue?"
The figure in black hesitated for a moment before answering, "Princess Daiyue still seems unable to shake the shadow of her heartbreak. Right now, she is drinking with a group of friends at Miaoyin KTV. We have already dispatched the Ghost Shadows to keep watch nearby."
"Pffft." Hu Yihui spat out the leaf, pulled out a tissue to wipe the corner of his mouth, and said in a low voice, "Never mind, recall the Ghost Shadows. Daiyue is extremely alert; we mustn't blow our cover. I'll go meet her myself!"
Hearing this, the man in black looked anxious. He nervously crawled forward two steps on his knees, instinctively reaching out as if to grab the hem of Hu Yihui's robe. When his hand reached halfway, he seemed to lose his courage, pulled it back dejectedly, and blurted out anxiously, "Please reconsider, Young Master! Tonight is the night of the full moon, and your magical powers are greatly diminished. Your subordinates advise you to return to the Crystal Palace to recuperate instead."
Hu Yihui waved a hand. "No need. My father has recently been sending people everywhere to capture living souls for alchemy, and KTVs are frequent haunts for the Earth Demon. Daiyue's soul is pure and flawless, making her the prime target. I must go there myself."
Before he finished speaking, he vanished.
Miaoyin KTV was housed in a row of commercial buildings next to an abandoned parking lot, just two blocks away from the apartment building where Xu Ruoping rented a place. Today, she had broken all her rules and drunk several bottles of red wine. She was tipsy and suffered from an alcohol allergy; whenever she drank, hives broke out all over her body, itching unbearably. Sitting on the sofa felt like sitting on pins and needles, so she finally made an excuse to slip away and hide by a telephone pole, rubbing herself against it in misery.
Just as she was frantically scratching herself all over, a low, magnetic voice suddenly sounded right beside her ear—a voice that actually sounded somewhat familiar. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Who would have thought that the great beauty Xu could ever look so utterly unsightly? If you're lonely and can't take it anymore, I'd be more than happy to step in!"
Sensing a wisp of eerie wind brush across her face, Xu Ruoping's wrist flicked, and a paper talisman slid silently into her palm. Only then did she slowly turn around and look properly. Standing right across from her, smiling at her with a cheap, roguish grin, was none of other than Hu Yihui.
The corners of his mouth turned up as his narrowed eyes fixed on Xu Ruoping's rising and falling chest. His gaze was burning and uninhibited, almost making him drool.
What an absolute beast in human clothing!
Xu Ruoping thought to herself, letting out a cold snort from her nose. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
Facing Hu Yihui's blatant flirtation, Xu Ruoping remained unmoved—neither angry nor receptive.
Subconsciously, she couldn't shake the feeling that the terrifying gust of wind from just now had been somewhat inexplicable. For some reason, ever since she stepped into the KTV today, she had felt a murky, foul atmosphere everywhere, accompanied by gusts of an eerie, biting cold.
It really fit the mood—just like her own heart.
Seeing her unsteady gait, Hu Yihui stepped forward and naturally reached out to steady her.
Xu Ruoping swatted his wandering hand away with the back of hers and snapped, "What are you doing? Trying to take advantage of someone in trouble?"
Hu Yihui shook his head with utter helplessness. "Hey, Xu Ruoping, I might have a natural fondness for beauties, but I would never take advantage of someone's vulnerability. I saw you couldn't even walk straight and kindly came over to give you a hand. You really are treating my good intentions like a donkey's lung."
Ignoring him, Xu Ruoping shot him a cold, scathing look. "Thanks, but no thanks! We aren't that close."
With that, she turned and walked off on her own.
Hu Yihui hurried after her, tilting his head slightly as his gentle gaze fell upon Xu Ruoping's face. He urged, "It's already very late, you should just head home first. It's very dangerous for a young woman to be out drinking late at night."
Xu Ruoping's eyes suddenly turned red. Fighting back her tears, she shouted, "If you're a friend, get back inside and drink a couple more rounds with me! Otherwise, get lost!"
Lately, whenever Xu Ruoping closed her eyes, all she could picture was Xu Jun whispering sweet nothings to her while simultaneously philandering with her cousin Yingdong. Over and over, her mind conjured up the scumbag image of a man playing a double role, riding two boats at once, and emerging victorious on all fronts.
Of course, she had entirely fabricated all of this herself. She could never wrap her head around it: why would Xu Jun toy with her feelings? Was it simply to get revenge for being dumped by her back in middle school?
Hu Yihui's heart felt as though it had been violently clutched by something, a flash of pain swiftly crossing his eyes before instantly returning to calm.
He gave a feigned, light cough, patted Xu Ruoping's shoulder nonchalantly, and said, "I've heard all about what happened to you. The road of life is long. With your qualifications, any number of outstanding men will throw themselves at your feet. Why worry about not finding someone better than him? Why hang yourself from a single tree?"
For a fleeting moment, Xu Ruoping suddenly felt that Hu Yihui's look just then was an exact replica of the gaze Chen Kunfeng and Xu Jun had given her when they were passionately in love, as if she had once been a couple with him as well.
She vigorously shook her head, thinking to herself, *How is that possible? I must really be out of my mind from drinking today.*
Seeing her shake her head and drift off into a daze, Hu Yihui instantly put on his signature, mischievous grin. "Well? Come to your senses? If you have, hurry up and go home, wash up, and get some sleep!"
Too lazy to speak to him further, Xu Ruoping walked straight back toward the KTV room. When she pushed the door open, she found that everyone inside had already cleared out. Only a single waiter was lingeringly cleaning up the table. Seeing her return, the waiter hurriedly handed her the bill and said with relief, "Good thing you're back. I thought you'd skipped out on the tab again."
A chill went through Xu Ruoping's heart. She silently took the bill to the front desk to pay, and then once again walked alone down the street like a stray, helpless little lamb!