A Valiant Life

The next day at Cloud Street, Block 8861.

The newly opened shop did not attract a lot of customers. However, it did catch the attention of the service staff of the surrounding shops.

“Looks like the fortune-telling shop opposite has a new operator.”

“Nobody really believes in these tricks anymore, it’s no wonder the business only lasted a few months.”

“The new boss looks really young and handsome.”

“That’s even worse, he would be even more unreliable since he’s so young.”

…

On the first day of opening, Lin Fan was full of energy and enthusiasm.

Shanghai was like a goldmine. As long as one worked hard and gained the respect of people, it would be extremely easy to become rich.

Fraud Tian sat there as there was nothing to do at all. He was drinking his tea while reading ‘The Judgment of Xiao Xiang”. He was wearing a robe which made him feel more in character while he was reading the book.

Time quickly passed from morning to afternoon. Despite scores of people walking up and down the street, Lin Fan didn’t even get a single customer.

Fraud Tian couldn’t take it. He was almost done with reading his book. Then, he just stood up and said, “I can’t go on like this… not like this! I need a different course of action.”

“Say what?!” Although Lin Fan was good at what he was doing, business was non-existent for him despite having opened for half a day.

Fraud Tian stood at the door, inconspicuously looking at the people walking past under his sunglasses, his eyes darting around for potential customers. At that very moment, Fraud Tian took a step forward to block the path of a young man.

Fraud Tian said without hesitation, ” Hi sir, your facial features look out of the ordinary…”

The young man immediately cut him off, “Get away from me, scammer! You are the scum of the earth!”

“Huh?!” Fraud Tian was taken aback. Then, he waited for the young man to leave before cursing under his breath, “Your sister…”

Upon seeing what happened to Fraud Tian, Lin Fan shook his head and heaved a sigh. It was nothing like what he had thought would happen.

It was only the first day and there was absolutely no business at all. This was absurd.

Lin Fan brainstormed and came up with an idea. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, taking out his phone to access Weibo.

“Eh!?”

At that moment, a user with the nickname SpongeBob Kawaii Pants left a message.

“Chen Xin Yi, Female, born on the Fourth of March, 1994, microblogger.

It had never occurred to Lin Fan that Weibo microblogging was more popular than what he thought it would have been. It was almost a crime.

It looked like Lin Fan had to offer his fortune-telling services online for free. He wanted to charge a fee but seeing his current situation, it wasn’t a wise move.

After Lin Fan read the fortune of Chen Xin Yi, he found out that she was actually a small-time celebrity, starring as a side cast in the show ‘Love in Tokyo’. Although she wasn’t the main cast of the show, she was destined to have a bright future.

Lin Fan’s fortune telling ability was almost god-like. Just one look at a person and he could tell all about the person and he knew that Chen Xin Yi’s big break was tomorrow.

“Keep the faith, tomorrow will be your lucky day.”

These words didn’t really mean much on their own, but Lin Fan felt that it conveyed all that he had to say.

Lin Fan was just about to close his Weibo page when he stumbled upon Chen Xin Yi’s Weibo page. It contained some of her photographs and information of the shows that she had acted in.

But all these pictures only showed her acting in supporting roles, mostly as a maid. Furthermore, she only had twenty thousand followers, of which was almost as good as nothing when compared to the mainstream stars.

But one couldn’t deny that she was young and good-looking.

…

In a rented apartment in the capital.

“Xin Yi, there’ll be an audition for a soap opera tomorrow. Do you think I’ll be able to get the part?” She was a young foreign girl in her early twenties who was living and working in Beijing. Apart from a few supporting roles, she also hadn’t had her big break yet.

“I have no idea, all I know is that we’ll continue to try out best.” Chen Xin Yi placed her slender, snow-white legs against the wall and pouted. Things weren’t looking good for the audition tomorrow.

“If the I’m able to make it big by playing dirty, I wouldn’t hesitate, since I would get laid someday anyway. I should just do it for the sake of my career.”

“Luo Dan, you can’t possibly be serious, right?” Chen Xin Yi stared at Luo Dan in disbelief.

“I was reciting from the script for the audition tomorrow, I didn’t have any intention to play dirty,” Luo Dan chirped. “Oh, what about the fortune teller on Weibo, what nonsense did he spout? My aunt told me to tell you not to believe such things. All of them are just scammers. If fortune-telling was real, why would we have to work so hard? We should just be fortune-tellers instead.”

“If you believe it, it’ll come true. If not, it won’t come true at all.” Chen Xin Yi whipped out her mobile phone and took a quick glance. “The fortune-teller replied.”

“Keep the faith, tomorrow will be your lucky day.”

“That is as good as not saying anything! Our faith in anything has already been destroyed by reality.” Luo Dan said grudgingly.

“Unlike you, I still have hope.” Chen Xin Yi looked back at the line Lin Fan sent her. It was oddly reassuring.

“Eh? No hope? We’ll see after the audition tomorrow if you still have hope.” Luo Dan jumped onto Chen Xin Yi and just a while later, they were in a mess.

“Don’t move, I need to reply the fortune-teller first. Okay, I’m done! Luo Dan, I’m going to kill you…”

Friendly laughter permeated the whole room.

…

Chen Xin Yi thought of the fortune teller. She looked up at the ceiling. Where was her god? It was today or never.

“Fraud Tian, let us get to work.” Lin Fan thought for a while before standing up and he was determined to get things done.

“What action?” Fraud tian stared at Lin Fan blankly. He didn’t understand what was going on.

“Let’s get to the streets and look for business instead of sitting here waiting for something to happen!” Lin Fan said.

“I’ve said this to you before! We can only solve the problem if we take action,” Fraud Tian closed his book and put it aside, all ready for the next move.

At that moment, an animal-like sound roared across the street.

“Gosh! How expensive is that car?” Fraud Tian exclaimed as his sharp eyes saw a menacing looking sports car.

“Eh, take a look. That sports car stopped in front of your shop. Could it be he’s here to get his fortune read?” Fraud Tian enthusiastically said. “Quickly, a rich man is arriving! We must take the opportunity!”

Behind the sports car stopped a black Mercedes Benz. Two men stepped out of the Mercedes, one of them holding a briefcase. The other man went to the door of the sports car and waited patiently.

When the sports car appeared on the street, it caught the attention of all the passer-by. A handsome man who was wearing fitting clothes stepped out from the sports car.

A few young females from the crowd squealed with excitement as they saw that scene.

“How dashing! He even has a sports car, he must be filthy rich!”

Wang Ming Yang put on his sunglasses, tilted his head upwards and grinned to himself.

“HAHA!”