Chapter 6: Failure

Liang Jian, who had been silent, suddenly called out to Lu Yang, “Yangzi, I want to go back.”

Lu Yang stopped joking and said seriously, “Okay.”

Before leaving, he didn’t forget to throw a harsh remark at Qin Qing, “You’d better not move. Next time, I’ll bring my girlfriend Yangyang. Then you’ll know how wrong you were.”

Qin Qing waved her hand.

Why should she argue with a man who was about to be dumped? Let him enjoy his last few minutes of happiness.

At a nearby stall, an auntie who had been eavesdropping leaned over and said, “Little girl, can you give me a discount and tell my fortune too? Look, your place is the most expensive here. How can you do business like that? You charge twenty, I’ll give you twenty to support your business.”

Qin Qing: “No bargaining, 100 yuan minimum.”

Auntie: “Thirty, I’ll add ten yuan for you.”

Qin Qing ignored her directly, pointed at a trash can seven or eight meters away, and instructed Mumu, “Go, throw your leftover lunchbox in there.”

The auntie turned back disgruntledly and went to find the previous “immortal.”

Mumu lowered its head, picked up the empty can, and ran towards the trash can in the direction she pointed.

The trash can was taller than it, but it didn’t give up. It circled around for a while. It jumped onto the flower bed behind the trash can, stood halfway up using the edge of the flower bed, and pushed the can into the opening of the tall bin.

It wagged its tail and came back. Qin Qing didn’t hesitate to show her approval. She stroked its head, praised it from beginning to end, regardless of whether it understood, showering it with compliments.

Finally, she elevated the meaning, concluding, “From now on, keep up the good work. Clean up your own food bowl.”

–

Five minutes later, Lu Yang, who was descending the mountain, received a call from his girlfriend, Liu Yang.

Liang Jian subconsciously checked the time: 10:19.

Lu Yang wasn’t so meticulous and had forgotten about it.

He happily answered the phone, “Yangyang baby, you’re awake! What do you want for breakfast? I’ll order it and send it to you. I’m hiking, I’ll be back soon. How about we have lunch together then? Let me tell you, I met a fortune teller today while hiking, she was so unprofessional and unreliable, she said…”

A tired female voice on the other end interrupted him, “Lu Yang…”

For some reason, Lu Yang felt his heart beat a little faster.

After a moment of silence, Liu Yang said decisively, “Lu Yang, let’s break up. Don’t come looking for me, I won’t see you.”

Lu Yang’s mind went blank, and he could only instinctively ask, “Wh-why?”

“I’m sorry.”

Liu Yang hung up the phone.

At this moment, Liang Jian looked at the time again: 10:20.

Exactly as Qin Qing had said.

He patted his friend’s shoulder, “Don’t just stand there, let’s go.”

Lu Yang was dazed and asked, “Is there really such a thing as metaphysics in this world?”

Liang Jian didn’t answer.

And Lu Yang didn’t seem to need his answer; he was just talking to himself.

Liang Jian returned home. His father, Liang Jinguo, was making tea and looked at him with annoyance.

“Where did you run off to again so early in the morning? Your brother wanted to play tennis with you but couldn’t find you. He waited for a long time.”

Liang Jian didn’t speak.

Liang Jinguo felt a bit uneasy facing this son. Usually, he would have argued back by now. His silence meant he was planning something big?

He coughed twice, trying to cover up, “Have you eaten? Your aunt told the kitchen to save you some food…”

“Dad…” Liang Jian began.

Liang Jinguo flinched. His son speaking to him nicely was more frightening than his son arguing with him.

“You, you, you… just say what you need to say, don’t try that. I, I, I… won’t be soft-hearted.”

“I’m not your biological son, am I?”

Liang Jinguo’s body instantly stiffened, exasperated, “You… you… you don’t even want to acknowledge me as your father now? Who told you that?”

Liang Jian closed his eyes. From his father’s reaction, he already knew the answer.

–

[Directly assisting Liang Jian, a key figure in the development of a vertical domain, to resolve his inner conflict, starting research topics ahead of schedule, indirectly promoting the development process of related fields, increasing Experience Points by 60 points.]

[Cumulative Experience Points Level 3 (62/40), level promoted to Level 4, rewarding 8 Energy Points, Blank Notebook*1.]

The System Panel notification sound was mechanical but loud.

Qin Qing immediately sat up straight.

She clicked on the System Panel, and the experience bar on the far left of the light screen had changed.

[Level 4 (22/80)]

The corresponding number also appeared in the energy bar in the upper right corner.

[Energy: 8]

A key figure in the development of a vertical domain?

This chuunibyou-like cool kid Liang Jian is a future big shot?

What field?

She had carefully read the System Panel earlier and hadn’t seen any special Talents in his Talent bar. But perhaps for high-intelligence big shots, as long as they want to, most industries are easy for them, so it doesn’t count as a special Talent?

She didn’t know, this was just her guess. The System Panel attributes didn’t give more detailed explanations, so it seemed she had to keep exploring.

Liang Jian gave 60 experience points, more than catching a wanted criminal yesterday. Qin Qing was waiting for the Experience Points feedback from Lu Yang.

She waited for a long time, but there was no movement.

Well, that’s fine. Anyway, she didn’t play any role in Lu Yang and his girlfriend breaking up, she just informed him about it.

It seemed that Experience Points were something rare and hard to come by, and not every use of the System Panel would increase experience.

With 8 Energy Points in hand, Qin Qing browsed the Energy Exchange Mall and unhesitatingly bought two attributes. One was the [Health] upgrade (3 Energy Points), and the other was the one-step [Relationship] upgrade (5 Energy Points).

She became poor again.

She wasn’t spending money blindly; she chose them to match the development needs of her “diviner” profession.

Especially the [Relationship] map, which clearly displayed the deep social relationships and blood relatives of the person being viewed. She could even click to view the System Panel of the people on this map.

Checking people remotely! How cool.

Earlier, when Liang Jian asked about his biological father, Qin Qing was helpless. If he stood in front of her now, she could definitely tell him the whole story and collect another fee.

Qin Qing thought the health upgrade would be something like a medical examination report, but it wasn’t that complicated, after all, it only cost 3 Energy Points. There was a [Click to view details] button after the health attribute. She tried it. After clicking, a floating window appeared, with three grids, showing the three most serious non-healthy conditions of the person being viewed.

She checked her own, and all three grids showed blank, proving that she was very healthy!

Mumu too.

Happy.

They were both lucky ones who could live long.

Then she looked at the “immortals” sitting nearby.

Cerebral thrombosis, cataracts, lumbar disc herniation, arthritis, osteoporosis, bone paralysis…

None of these old men were healthy.

It was tough for them, climbing the mountain with illnesses at such an old age to earn money.

As lunchtime approached, Qin Qing packed up, ready to go home. She had been busy all morning and earned 2200. With this daily wage alone, wasn’t it better than working a regular job?

A middle-aged man in a gray linen suit, carrying a thermos and wearing a string of beads on his wrist, came to her stall.

“How’s business?”

“Not bad.”

The man clearly didn’t believe her: “When I entered Baiyun Temple just now, there were two boys at your place, but after I finished burning incense, there was no one. Did they leave?”

“Going home for lunch.”

“Little girl, you’re not very enthusiastic about doing business.”

Qin Qing finally looked up at him, “I’m more enthusiastic with customers.”

“Okay, then tell my fortune too. I just passed by and heard you talking so convincingly, let me try your skill.”

She pointed to the QR code, “100 yuan, please.”

After the pleasant sound of money arriving, Qin Qing changed her expression to one of hospitality. She began to check the System Panel.

The man was also calm, letting her observe him.

The man was named Chen Daguang. There was a lot of readable and speakable information, but the most pressing point at the moment was that, according to the prediction in his character log, he would jump off a building in six months, the root cause being a contract signed tonight.

Chen Daguang was a businessman, in manufacturing.

Businessmen never thought they had too much money. With some liquid capital, they wanted to invest it to make more money. But he himself knew nothing outside his own industry. Coincidentally, one of his friends was particularly good at investing. In the past two years, this friend had helped Chen Daguang turn hundreds of thousands into millions.

Hundreds of thousands were just a drop in the bucket for Chen Daguang’s wealth.

With such a high return on investment, he had long wanted to invest more capital, but his friend always stopped him, saying there were risks. After being stopped so many times, Chen Daguang was getting annoyed. It was frustrating to see money right in front of him but unable to earn it.

Not long ago, his friend let slip that there was an opportunity, but the investment capital had a requirement: at least tens of millions. But the returns were truly generous.

Chen Daguang said, “What are we waiting for? Let’s do it directly.” His friend said, “No, no, no, I didn’t say that.” Chen Daguang said, “You don’t treat me as a friend, you don’t let me earn money when there’s money to be made. If that’s the case, let’s break off our friendship.” His friend reluctantly took him on, but still repeatedly advised him that although the returns were high, there were also risks, and he should be cautious.

Chen Daguang: You talk too much.

He checked his current available funds and repayment period, and decided to invest 80 million. He would sign the contract and transfer the money tonight. He came to Baiyun Temple today to worship the God of Wealth, hoping that the God of Wealth would further increase the return rate.

Qin Qing: “…”

This was a clear Pig Butchering Scam.

However, the schemers had planned for a long time, lurking deep, and even invested several millions in the early stage to lure Chen Daguang.

She used the newly added Relationship Map to check, and that person was indeed on Chen Daguang’s social network. The prerequisite for appearing on this network was that the intimacy or hatred reached a certain threshold, which showed that Chen Daguang truly regarded the other party as a close brother.

But this close brother was planning to abscond with the money, and the other party was a repeat offender with a history of economic crimes.

“No, girl, your face is as serious as if I had some serious illness and was about to die. Why don’t you say something?”

Qin Qing: “You didn’t hit the mark, but it’s close.”

She organized her words and decided to speak directly: “You cannot sign tonight’s contract. The other party is a habitual fraudster. They will leave immediately after getting the money.” She raised her hand to stop Chen Daguang from speaking and continued, “I know you won’t believe me, after all, the other party is your wife’s best friend’s husband. You’ve known each other for over three years, and they even helped you make money. But that was all bait.”

“Who are you? What do you want?”

Qin Qing pointed to her paper sign: “Your Life Consultation master. I know it’s inconvenient for you to understand, so calling me a fortune teller is fine too. Meeting me is also a kind of fate. But whether you can escape this disaster depends on yourself.”

The gray predicted text on the other party’s log in the System Panel did not disappear, not even flickering. This indicated that the scammer had managed well over the years and was very popular. So far, Chen Daguang hadn’t even wavered.

She didn’t know if he would continue to follow his original trajectory in the end.

Qin Qing couldn’t help but say a few more words: “We have no conflict of interest. I’m telling you this because you paid. In fact, given the importance of this matter, 100 yuan is definitely not enough. But if you don’t believe me, the crisis won’t be resolved. Then I won’t have played any role, and I can’t charge you more. The person who is scamming you has a criminal record, so it should be easy to investigate.”

Finally, she said, “Good luck, Mr. Chen.”

Chen Daguang didn’t say a word.