We Weren’t Fated, I Just Played My Cards Right - Chapter 16
At six in the morning, Liu Mumu was jolted awake by an urgent phone call.
A pale arm emerged from the blankets, fumbling across the nightstand before finally grasping the phone.
Squinting at the screen, she saw the caller ID: Jenny.
Before Liu Mumu could utter a word, Jenny’s sobs poured through the receiver, her voice repeating hysterically, “What should I do? What should I do?”
“What happened?” Yawning, Liu Mumu got out of bed and drew the curtains, morning light flooding the room.
“They weren’t there last night, but when I woke up this morning, red marks had appeared all over my body—just like my mom had. Liu Mumu, am I going to die? Why did my mother have to pass this disease to me?”
Jenny’s tearful words were barely coherent, her emotions clearly unraveling.
“Don’t think like that. Have you told your family yet?”
Jenny sniffled. “I haven’t figured out how to tell them.”
“Then don’t tell them for now.” Liu Mumu exhaled. “You didn’t call just for comfort, did you?”
There was a brief silence from Jenny on the other end of the phone: “…After my mom got sick, the hospital couldn’t do anything to treat her. If I go now, it’ll be the same. I want you to help me think of a solution. I know both your grandfather and you have special abilities—you can definitely help me, right?”
Liu Mumu’s voice turned slightly colder: “I can only do a divination for you. This reading will cost 10,000 yuan. Think it over and bring the payment when you come to see me.”
“But—”
Jenny seemed to have more to say, but Liu Mumu didn’t give her the chance, hanging up directly.
Liu Mumu felt heavy-hearted. Zhan Hongye had indeed started targeting Jenny. Based on what she’d observed, it seemed to be some kind of bl00d-related sorcery.
Moreover, judging from Aunt Zhang’s prolonged symptoms, this sorcery couldn’t be completed instantly—it likely required a continuous bl00d supply.
If Jenny could stay away from Zhan Hongye, there was an 80% chance she could escape unharmed.
But in Liu Mumu’s view, this approach wasn’t realistic.
Jenny wasn’t like Dong Zhenghao, who could be persuaded with just a few words. After all, Zhan Hongye was her biological father, while Liu Mumu was just an outsider.
Even if she spelled it out, Jenny might not believe her.
After hanging up, Jenny sat in the dimly lit room clutching her phone. She kept biting her lower lip until she tasted bl00d.
Liu Mumu was asking for 10,000 yuan without guaranteeing any help—this was a huge sum for her.
After nearly half an hour of hesitation, she finally made up her mind. She took out the bank card her father had given her and slipped out early in the morning before anyone else was awake.
She withdrew the money first, then met Liu Mumu at a breakfast spot near her apartment complex as arranged.
Liu Mumu had already ordered breakfast—two steamed buns, two bowls of porridge, and a plate of pickles.
Dressed in gray athletic shorts and a lemon-yellow tank top, her hair in a spiky bun that bounced with her movements, she radiated youthful vitality.
Jenny could never understand why Liu Mumu always seemed so carefree.
Before Jenny could finish her thoughts, Liu Mumu spotted her and waved, the little dinosaur hair tie on her pale wrist swaying.
Jenny sat down across from her.
“You haven’t eaten, right? Finish breakfast first.” Liu Mumu spoke around a mouthful of bun—they were generously sized and fragrant here.
Jenny had little appetite, just sipping some porridge while leaving the bun untouched.
When Liu Mumu was nearly done, Jenny leaned in urgently: “You said you’d do a divination for me—what exactly will you divine?”
“A turning point.”
Jenny’s eyes lit up, but then Liu Mumu added: “Let me be clear—whatever the result, you must follow through without questioning why. If you can’t do that, don’t come to me again.”
Jenny nodded hastily: “Don’t worry, I’ll listen to you.”
After a pause, she asked hesitantly: “Will you… flip a coin?”
Liu Mumu had always loved coin divination, sometimes even doing readings for classmates when in a good mood. Sometimes they were accurate, sometimes not—usually about trivial matters like whether someone would bite into a pebble while eating a bun that day. No one ever took it seriously.
“No, give me your hand.” Liu Mumu extended her hand toward her.
Jenny placed her hand in Liu Mumu’s palm.
Liu Mumu held Jenny’s hand, her eyes suddenly losing focus, as if she had transformed from a living person into some lifeless object. For a brief moment, Jenny shivered at the sight of her expressionless face.
But soon, Liu Mumu returned to normal and released Jenny’s hand.
“Tonight, your family is going to attend a banquet. Don’t go. Stay in your bed with the lights off. Don’t leave your room no matter what you hear. At exactly 9:05, stand outside your father’s study for two minutes, then go back to your room and sleep. Don’t let anyone notice you. Understood?”
Jenny wanted to ask more, but Liu Mumu clearly had no intention of explaining. Seeing that Jenny wasn’t eating the remaining baozi, she simply picked it up and stuffed it into her own mouth.
Her cheeks puffed up as she chewed, completely shedding her earlier cold demeanor.
Jenny felt like Liu Mumu was toying with her—what did any of this have to do with her illness?
But right now, she had no better options. She could only trust her for the time being.
“I understand,” she said, then stood up to leave.
Liu Mumu looked up and tapped the table with her finger. “Payment.”
Jenny pressed her lips together, took an envelope from her bag, placed it on the table, and walked away without looking back.
After she left, Liu Mumu picked up the envelope, pulled out a bill to pay for breakfast, and left the shop.
As she stepped outside, a car passed by, its tire somehow kicking up a pebble that shot straight toward Liu Mumu’s head.
She immediately ducked, narrowly avoiding the flying stone. A passerby carrying a bag of soy milk walked past her, but before they had taken two steps, the bag suddenly burst, scalding hot soy milk splashing all over them.
In the few hundred meters from the breakfast shop to her home, Liu Mumu felt like she had survived a horror game called Final Destination.
When Jenny returned home, no one noticed she had ever left.
All day, she seemed distracted.
Jiang Jia noticed her odd behavior but paid it no mind, humming a tune as she went upstairs to pick out an outfit.
Around four in the afternoon, Zhan Hongye and Zhan Huitian returned home together and informed Jenny that the whole family would be attending a banquet that evening.
When she heard the word “banquet,” Jenny was so stunned that she didn’t respond for a long moment.
“What’s wrong?” Zhan Hongye asked gently.
Jenny looked up at her father’s kind eyes, then lowered her gaze and whispered, “I don’t feel well—my stomach hurts. Can I stay home?”
Zhan Hongye was momentarily stunned before understanding dawned on him. “Of course you can. Rest well at home, and I’ll make you some brown sugar water, okay?”
Jenny nodded.
By six in the evening, everyone in the Zhan household except Jenny had left. The villa’s lights were turned off, plunging it into complete darkness.
Jenny was somewhat afraid of the dark, but remembering Liu Mumu’s instructions, she resisted turning on the lights. She buried her head under the blanket, checking the time every now and then.
And so, nine o’clock arrived.
She heard footsteps ascending the stairs, which then stopped right outside her room.
Three knocks sounded at her door—”Knock, knock, knock.”
She quickly turned off her phone and pretended to be asleep.
Not long after, her bedroom door was pushed open. After a while, it was closed again.
Jenny’s heart raced wildly. Everything was happening exactly as Liu Mumu had described, as if she had witnessed it herself.
At 9:05, she tiptoed barefoot out of her room.
Her father’s study door was slightly ajar, a sliver of light escaping through the gap.
She found a spot where she could see into the study without being noticed, holding her breath as she stood outside.
Inside the study, Zhan Hongye took down a rough-looking gray vase from the antique shelf—a style Jenny didn’t recall seeing before.
Then, he pulled out a bl00d collection tube from his desk drawer.
The tube made a faint sound as he opened it. Carefully and meticulously, he smeared the bl00d along the rim of the vase.
He repeated this process over a dozen times until all the bl00d had been absorbed by the vase.
The sight nearly made Jenny collapse. She couldn’t mistake it—that was the bl00d drawn from her during her hospital tests.
Earlier, Liu Mumu had even remarked that the nurse had taken too much bl00d. Jenny hadn’t paid much attention at the time, but she had glanced at it.
Her legs felt weak, and her mind was in turmoil, but she remembered Liu Mumu’s instructions and didn’t dare delay. Silently, she retreated back to her room.
About ten minutes later, someone opened her door again, seemed to glance around, and then closed it.
Jenny hid under the thin blanket, trembling uncontrollably.