Chapter 38: Contract of Fate Talisman
Li Hanyan also lifted her head to look at Jiang Jiajia and Xiao Nian. How had she not noticed anything amiss?
“Two years, huh? Does your father know, Jiajia?” Liu Chuxia’s gossip-loving heart ignited. She immediately ran over to sit next to Jiang Jiajia, looking at her with a smile.
“He knows. He just told us to find a way to leave behind a descendant, and he’ll take care of the rest,” Jiang Jiajia said, her face full of happiness.
“I didn’t expect your fathers to be so open-minded. I wish you a long and happy life together.”
“Mhm, I wish you a long and happy life together too.”
Liu Chuxia smiled and nodded, tacitly agreeing.
“Sister and Sister Hanyan are together? You two have finally made it,” Xiao Xu complained from the side.
Li Hanyan patted her. “Eat your food. A Xia, come with me.”
She led Liu Chuxia into the hidden door, into the talisman-drawing room.
“What are we doing here?”
“Preparing the talisman for the contract, the Contract of Fate Talisman.” Li Hanyan took a long yellow paper from the table, placed it in the center, then took the jade-colored brush, dipped it in some cinnabar, and began to draw.
“Watch how I draw. Only once.” Li Hanyan’s voice was a bit low, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Liu Chuxia kept her eyes on the tip of the jade-colored brush, watching the complex runes Li Hanyan was drawing, so she didn’t notice her pained expression.
After about fifteen minutes, Li Hanyan put down the brush and let out a breath. Her body was already soaked with sweat. Liu Chuxia turned her head and, seeing her like this, quickly went over to support her.
“Is this so tiring?” Liu Chuxia looked at her with worry.
Li Hanyan nodded weakly. “Because of the injury, my spiritual power is not enough. Let me sit on the hassock and rest for a while. You can practice drawing on the white paper in the drawer first, and then draw on the yellow paper.”
Liu Chuxia nodded, helped her sit down, then took the brush and practiced on the white paper she had taken out.
However, three clients suddenly arrived outside. Jiang Jiajia and Xiao Nian each received one, while Xiao Xu and Ke Yan received a young man.
He was about 170cm tall, looked to be only around 25, and was a bit thin. He wore a pure white short-sleeved shirt, a pair of straight-cut business trousers, and a pair of derby shoes. He wore a simple silver watch on his right wrist and a pair of rimless, clear white glasses. He held a small briefcase in his hand—a very business-like attire.
Ke Yan glanced at the man, then whispered something in Xiao Xu’s ear. Xiao Xu just nodded and patted her arm reassuringly.
Then she turned to the man, put on her professional smile, and asked, “Sir, may I have your name? Which community do you live in? And what is your request? Please give a brief description.”
The man was a bit reserved and nervous. He habitually pushed up his glasses and said, “My surname is Zhang, Zhang Shicheng. I live in Songlin Community. My request is…” The man nervously took a sip of water, his hands unconsciously clasped together. “Just a few days ago, when I came home from work, I found that the temperature at home was much lower than usual. I thought the air conditioner was broken, but when I went into the bedroom, I saw that the air conditioner was not on. It was a bit strange, but I was too tired after work, so I didn’t think much of it. I took a shower, had a quick meal, and went to sleep.
But in the middle of the night, I was woken up by the cold. Then I suddenly saw a white shadow standing by my bed. I was so scared I quickly got up and turned on the light. When it lit up, the white shadow was gone. But I really saw it. I’ve had a photographic memory since I was a child! It was definitely not fake!”
Zhang Shicheng suddenly became agitated, his eyes wide as he looked at Xiao Xu. His eyes were filled with fear, terror, and a hint of excitement? Xiao Xu thought she must have seen it wrong, but smelling the scent on this person, she felt it was possible.
“Mr. Zhang, please lower your voice. This is a bookstore, after all. Please cooperate, thank you,” Xiao Xu said in a deadpan voice. Ke Yan’s hands itched, wanting to tease her.
The man lowered his head and pushed up his glasses. “I’m sorry, I was too scared. I moved out of there afterwards and am now staying at a friend’s house. Then, when I was having tea at a tea house, your people found me. You should know the rest, so I won’t go into detail.”
Xiao Xu nodded. “Alright, Mr. Zhang, we understand. Please come with me to settle the bill.”
When they got to the front counter, Jiang Jiajia and Xiao Nian were already standing there, along with two other clients, a man and a woman.
Xiao Xu quickly walked over and said to the two clients, “Please state your name and the name of your community.”
The female client spoke first, “My name is Leng Duo. I live in Qingfeng Yayuan.”
The male client: “My name is Dai Chaoyang. I live in Tianyuan Community.”
Xiao Xu typed on the keyboard for a while, then looked up with a professional smile and said, “Alright, the three of you, please make the payment. It’s twenty thousand per person. We accept card and WeStar transfer here.”
Leng Duo dawdled, waiting for the other two to pay. She glanced at Xiao Xu and muttered to herself, “Oh my, why won’t this phone turn on all of a sudden? Tsk! Really!”
Then she turned to Xiao Xu with a smile and said, “Little one, you see, my phone won’t turn on. How about I come back and pay you tomorrow, okay?”
Xiao Xu also smiled and said, “Sure. But you have to come early tomorrow, because if you haven’t paid after 24 hours, even one second over will be considered overdue, and it’s twenty thousand per hour.”
The woman’s face immediately darkened, and she let out a sharp curse, “Isn’t this robbery? You’re just jacking up the price, aren’t you? Believe it or not, I’ll tear this place down! How can you do business like this? Twenty thousand for one case, who can afford that? And it’s overdue after 24 hours, starting at twenty thousand per hour. Why don’t you just go and rob a bank?”
The moment Leng Duo uttered the first syllable, Jiang Jiajia stealthily used a sound-insulating talisman on her, then stood there watching her curse silently. She couldn’t help but chuckle. The woman then turned to curse her, but she couldn’t hear anything. Jiang Jiajia didn’t care, but Xiao Nian stood in front of her, preventing the woman’s hand from touching her.
The two men on the side hadn’t left yet. They were a little surprised watching this strange scene. If they had been half-believing before, they were now completely convinced that this so-called bookstore could help them solve their problems.
Xiao Xu still had that standard professional smile. She said calmly to the woman, “Ms. Leng, if you don’t want to pay for the order, you can cancel it. We won’t force you. If you are truly in financial difficulty, we would have known in advance. A client who wants a freebie is not a good client.”
Leng Duo looked at the people around her and finally realized the problem. It seemed that others couldn’t hear what she was saying.
Seeing that she had finally quieted down, Jiang Jiajia removed the sound-insulating talisman. “Miss Leng, I believe I briefly told you before that one order is twenty thousand. You agreed to it readily. What are you trying to do now by backing out?”
Leng Duo was now so scared she wanted to turn and run. She had thought this was a group of scammers, specializing in swindling money. She had originally come with the intention of exposing them. But recalling what had just happened, and looking at the people reading in the main hall, none of whom were looking their way, it was enough to show that something must have blocked her voice just now.
“I… I’ll pay. I’ll pay right away,” she said, taking out her phone and paying. Then she ran off without looking back. The two men who were watching the show saw that the main character had run off, so there was no more show to watch, and they left.
“Serves her right for being sensible,” Xiao Nian said with an angry face, looking at the bookstore entrance.
“Alright, don’t be angry. I told you not to learn lip-reading. Look how angry you’ve made yourself now,” Jiang Jiajia said, patting her on the chest and comforting her.
