We Weren’t Fated, I Just Played My Cards Right - Chapter 24
Having narrowly escaped the collapsing desk, Liu Mumu finally managed to stand up. She’d only taken two steps toward the door when her feet slipped, sending her tumbling forward. Yan Xiu rushed forward and caught her by the shoulders.
Liu Mumu looked up at him with a bright smile, revealing a row of white teeth: “Thanks.”
After steadying her, Yan Xiu surveyed his office—destroyed by what could have been either natural disaster or human folly—and remained silent for a long moment.
Fang Chuan cautiously poked his head in and asked Liu Mumu: “What exactly happened here?”
Liu Mumu didn’t hide the truth: “Side effects of fortune-telling.”
“Wow… those are some serious side effects.” Fang Chuan looked at her with awe. “I thought maybe Consultant Yan rejected you again and you decided to take his office down with you this time.”
Liu Mumu gave a dry laugh, thinking that if he’d left her in the outer office earlier, his own workspace would be in the same state now.
“When will these side effects end? What should we do next?” Fang Chuan asked.
“Next, please call my dad to come pick me up.” The only person who could save her now was her dear old father.
“Huh? Where’s your phone?” Fang Chuan didn’t understand why he needed to make the call.
Liu Mumu pointed to her phone lying in pieces in the corner, having met its demise alongside one of Consultant Yan’s prized mineral specimens.
Fang Chuan sucked in a sharp breath—good lord, that rock was supposedly worth over a hundred thousand!
Realizing this mess was beyond his pay grade, he decided the best course was to call Liu Mumu’s father.
Maybe if the consultant saw that her father could afford the damages, he wouldn’t take his anger out on him.
The call connected quickly. Dong Zhenghao, thinking he’d been “found out” again, answered with trepidation.
He said hurriedly: “Officer, what’s the matter? I’ve been extremely law-abiding recently, absolutely no contact with those people anymore.”
Fang Chuan’s lips twitched as he said, “It’s unrelated to the case. Liu Mumu is your daughter, right?”
Without waiting for further questions, Dong Zhenghao immediately declared with absolute certainty, “My daughter is also a law-abiding citizen!”
Fang Chuan found himself at a loss for words regarding Dong Zhenghao. He couldn’t help feeling this Mr. Dong’s sense of humor was completely misaligned with everyone else’s.
“Here’s the situation. We have a case requiring her cooperation in the investigation. We brought her to the station earlier, and now she’d like you to come pick her up.”
“But I’m not in Qing City right now…” Worried about being misunderstood, Dong Zhenghao quickly explained, “I’m just on a business trip to the neighboring city. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon—definitely not fleeing from justice.”
Although the police had only verbally instructed him not to leave the province after his release that day, he still cautiously provided this explanation.
“We’re not suspecting you… So you can’t come get her now?”
“That’s right. Should I have her aunt bring her younger sister to pick her up instead?” Dong Zhenghao assumed his eldest daughter might be in a bad mood after being taken in for questioning and wanted her father’s comfort.
With Dad unavailable, maybe her little sister could provide consolation—though the child couldn’t go alone, so having her mother accompany her would be perfect.
While Dong Zhenghao remained hopelessly entrenched in his son-preference mentality, he clearly understood one thing: in his eldest daughter’s eyes, his precious son ranked a full tier below her younger sister.
Hadn’t she been voluntarily giving the little one daily fortune-telling sessions? Even he, as her father, had to sweet-talk her with compliments just to get a free reading slot. How times had changed—he used to be the one receiving flattery before Mumu returned home.
“Hold on, let me check with her.”
Putting down the phone, Fang Chuan went back to ask Liu Mumu, “Your father’s on a business trip in the neighboring city and won’t be back until tomorrow. Would you like someone else to pick you up?”
Liu Mumu covered her face in despair—damn you, Old Dong!
“No need.”
“Alright then…” Fang Chuan suddenly felt an ominous chill, sensing something terrible was about to happen.
After turning down Dong Zhenghao and promising to ensure Liu Mumu’s safe return home, Fang Chuan hung up.
“How about I arrange for someone to drive you home later?” Fang Chuan tentatively offered upon returning.
Yan Xiu didn’t object, apparently not planning to make Liu Mumu compensate for his destroyed office—at least for now.
“I don’t think that would work,” Liu Mumu regretfully declined.
Her safe return after that fateful fortune-telling session had only been possible because the breakfast shop was close to home.
The municipal police station was quite a distance from her home. If she took a car back, who knew if it might trigger some terrifying incident like a chain collision.
“Why not? I won’t use a police car—I’ll drive you back in my own car,” he said, assuming Liu Mumu was worried about drawing attention by being dropped off in a patrol vehicle.
Captain Fang had just bought a new car last month on loan and hadn’t given anyone else a ride in it yet.
“I’m afraid—”
Before Liu Mumu could finish her sentence, an officer rushed in, accidentally bumping into an office chair by the door in his haste.
The chair had wheels, and they watched helplessly as it maneuvered around every obstacle in its path before heading straight for Liu Mumu.
Fang Chuan reacted swiftly, stomping on it to stop it. The chair tilted, sending one of its wheels flying into the air, hitting Fang Chuan squarely on the head before bouncing off and disappearing.
Rubbing his head, Fang Chuan turned to Liu Mumu and asked, “How does your bad luck even spare innocent bystanders trying to help?”
Liu Mumu shrugged. “Accidents like this will keep happening over the next two days. If you insist on driving me home, I’m afraid your car might not survive the trip.”
“A car crash?” Fang Chuan grew nervous—this was definitely outside his experience.
“Or maybe something falling from the sky, like a person or a meteorite.”
Back when she first developed this ability, her grandfather had actually found a meteorite near her. Surprisingly, it turned out to be quite valuable.
Fang Chuan was already regretting inviting Liu Mumu over. What was that saying—easier to invite the devil in than to send him away?
He had met plenty of masters before, but none as troublesome—or dangerous—as this one.
“Consultant Yan, maybe you could help her out?” Fang Chuan tentatively suggested. “Don’t you mystics have something like a luck charm to counteract this?”
Liu Mumu also looked at Yan Xiu expectantly.
After a brief silence, Yan Xiu rummaged through the ruins of his office, found some cinnabar and yellow paper, then went outside to a flat surface to draw a talisman.
The moment the folded talisman was placed in Liu Mumu’s hand, it burned up as if set on fire, turning to ash in seconds.
The officers watching nearby gulped in unison and took a step back. That was intense!
During their last case involving cursed bone jars, anyone who touched them would suffer misfortune—until Consultant Yan used a single talisman to fix the problem.
But Liu Mumu’s effect was roughly equivalent to a hundred of those jars.
Next, Yan Xiu mixed a drop of his fingertip bl00d with the cinnabar and swiftly drew another talisman.
This time, though the paper still darkened, the process slowed significantly, suggesting it would last at least an hour or two.
When the talisman was placed in Liu Mumu’s hand, she felt a wave of warmth envelop her body, dispelling the chilling sense of hostility from all directions.
“Seems like it’s working?” she ventured, taking a few cautious steps forward without encountering any mishaps.
She approached Yan Xiu eagerly. “Could you make me twenty more? No, fifteen would do!”
This side effect would gradually weaken over time, becoming far less dangerous by the final day. If she used them sparingly, fifteen talismans should see her safely through the next two days.
Given how quickly Yan Xiu could draw them, the request shouldn’t be too much trouble.
“No.”
Flatly rejected, Liu Mumu’s face fell.
Seeing her dejected expression, Yan Xiu rarely offered an explanation: “Bl00d talismans have an expiration date. They lose their effect after two hours.”
In other words, stockpiling talismans was out of the question.
Liu Mumu grabbed his sleeve. “Is there really no other way?”
Between the lingering effects of fortune-telling and the ominous hexagram she had drawn that morning, she felt certain that without some kind of solution, she’d be joining her grandfather in the afterlife by the end of the day.
“Hey, why bother with other solutions? Just have him draw one for you every two hours,” Fang Chuan said, rather pleased with his own brilliance.
A nearby officer nudged him in the ribs and whispered, “But what about at night?”
Fang Chuan glanced at Yan Xiu’s expressionless face and Liu Mumu’s suddenly bright eyes, then wisely shut his mouth.
In the end, Yan Xiu neither agreed nor refused, but he didn’t send Liu Mumu away either.
Though it was midday, they had just apprehended Ning Yuan, and both Fang Chuan and Yan Xiu needed to head to the interrogation room. Liu Mumu was left in the outer office, where an officer even brought her a meal from the cafeteria.
Once they stepped out, Fang Chuan sidled up to Yan Xiu and murmured, “She only ended up like this because she helped us catch the killer. Those side effects are terrifying—we can’t just leave her to deal with it alone, can we?”
Yan Xiu shot him a look. “Since when have you been so eager to help others?”
“Well, isn’t she your future girlfriend?” Fang Chuan hadn’t forgotten that detail. After all, it had come from a fortune-teller’s lips—how could it not be credible?
The usually cold and unflappable Yan Xiu, paired with a sharp-tongued troublemaker of a girl—it was a match made in heaven!
He couldn’t wait for the day they got together.
“I already told you, she made a mistake. There were other people on that floor at the time—including you.”
Fang Chuan waved a hand dismissively. “Nah, we’ve got different tastes—no chance. The girl actually said my face was a bit square. Square? This is rugged masculinity!”
Yan Xiu pinched the bridge of his nose. As if enduring Fang Chuan’s daily torment wasn’t enough, now there was another one.
Seeing his silence, Fang Chuan pressed on. “Taking her home might not be the best idea. How about booking two hotel rooms nearby? Deliver a talisman every two hours to get her through the night.”
“Tomorrow’s not too busy—just Ning Yuan’s interrogation and waiting for the Zhan siblings to wake up. You could take half a day off before coming back to the station. What do you think?”
Priorities were priorities, and Liu Mumu’s current condition did seem more urgent. Fang Chuan wasn’t about to hold back.
Only when they reached the interrogation room door did Yan Xiu finally give a quiet “Mm” of acknowledgment.
The afternoon’s interrogation of Ning Yuan didn’t go smoothly.
He cooperated fully, answering every question—just none of the answers Fang Chuan and the others wanted. Without concrete evidence, they couldn’t pry anything useful out of him.
“Officers, I’ve told you everything I know. If you insist on calling me a fraud, so be it. The court can decide my fate when the time comes. As for Mr. Zhan Hongye, our relationship was simply that of a fortune teller and his client. While I regret his death, this matter truly has nothing to do with me.”
“Zhan Hongye had a son and daughter. Do you know them?” Fang Chuan remained unmoved, having heard this rehearsed speech multiple times.
“Yes, I met his son during a dinner gathering. His daughter I saw at Mr. Zhan’s funeral.”
From the moment he was brought in, Ning Yuan recognized this interrogation room. Yet he remained confident—no evidence could possibly implicate him. His tracks were meticulously covered, leaving neither physical proof nor witnesses. Even these specialized officers dealing with metaphysical cases couldn’t convict him without evidence.
“When was your last meeting with the Zhan siblings?”
“Just that one time at the funeral.”
“Is that so?” Fang Chuan locked eyes with Ning Yuan. “Jenny tells a different story.”
Ning Yuan’s body momentarily stiffened, his pupils dilating slightly—microexpressions that didn’t escape the observant officers.
With a forced smile, he countered: “Officer, I bear no grudge against that girl. I genuinely don’t know why she’d say such things.”
Fang Chuan ignored the deflection. “You reacted noticeably when I mentioned Jenny.” Leaning forward, he pressed: “Is it because you thought she was dead?”
Ning Yuan’s lips sealed shut, his silence speaking volumes.
After several fruitless questions, Fang Chuan gathered his files and exited. Outside, he told Yan Xiu: “Liu Mumu’s insight was spot-on. This guy’s almost certainly our mastermind.”
Ning Yuan’s initial confidence and subsequent reaction to learning Jenny survived revealed everything.
“Pity his background’s scrubbed clean,” Fang Chuan added. “We can’t trace who employed him.”
“No matter.” Yan Xiu stood hands in pockets, his chiseled profile cold as he stared at the interrogation room. “The siblings’ survival remains classified. If our theory holds, someone will eventually come to claim the Zhans’ assets.”
“Hopefully. Any updates from the hospital?”
“Zhan Huitian regained consciousness around four,” Yan Xiu reported.
“Excellent! Let’s visit him.” Fang Chuan turned back abruptly. “Should we bring Liu Mumu? If nothing urgent comes up tonight, you two could proceed directly to the hotel?”
Yan Xiu’s silence was taken as consent.
Meanwhile, Liu Mumu had spent the afternoon confined in the office. Yan Xiu replaced her protective talisman every two hours but otherwise remained absent.
Deprived of her phone and company, she’d resorted to doodling angry birds on scrap paper.
Fang Chuan peered at her artwork. “What are these round things?”
She turned with baleful eyes. “Angry birds. Representing my current mood.”
The detective hastily retreated, unwilling to incur the wrath of either the sketched fowl or their creator.
“Let’s go visit Zhan Huitian at the hospital. Want to come along and see the classmate you saved too?”
“Let’s go!” Liu Mumu immediately jumped up and rushed out.
Fang Chuan grabbed his car keys and followed, but when they reached the parking lot, he suddenly remembered something. He lowered his voice and negotiated with Yan Xiu, “How about we take your car instead?”
His “baby” had only been home for a month, and he wasn’t ready for an accident that might leave him single again halfway through the trip.
Yan Xiu tossed his car keys to him. Fang Chuan grinned as he caught them, then threw his own keys to the two subordinates trailing behind.
As the three approached the car, Liu Mumu leaned in to check the emblem—a little angel with wings. She didn’t recognize the brand, but: “This car looks crazy expensive.”
After settling into the driver’s seat, Fang Chuan proudly introduced, “One of Consultant Yan’s rides.”
Liu Mumu climbed in and asked Fang Chuan, “How can someone as broke as you afford to hire him?”
Fang Chuan’s fortune, at least in terms of wealth, wasn’t exactly promising—though his career prospects seemed solid. She hoped she wasn’t misreading him.
Fang Chuan sighed. “Who said I could afford him? Our department can’t even cover his expenses. His costs are reimbursed by headquarters, and his salary comes straight from the top—totally separate from our system.”
Their unit had only recently been established, with a consultant assigned to each region. Rumor had it that trained officers would be transferred in later, but for now, understaffing had left every district grumbling.
Still, Fang Chuan thought Yan Xiu was a cut above the other consultants. The cases they handled had gone smoothly so far, and none of their team had been lost.
These cases might seem straightforward, but the dangers lurking beneath could easily cost a life.
“Wow, how much does he make?” Liu Mumu asked curiously.
“Way more than us, that’s for sure.”
The two chatted openly about Yan Xiu’s salary as if he weren’t even there.
“So rich…” Liu Mumu stroked the luxurious leather seats, genuinely envious.
Fang Chuan glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “Don’t fortune-tellers like you make bank? Charging a few hundred thousand for a reading for some wealthy businessman seems pretty standard, no?”
“Someone like me? Would you trust me to give you a reading?”
“Fair point.” Fang Chuan wholeheartedly agreed. He’d looked into Liu Mumu before and knew she’d only recently been taken back by her father, Dong Zhenghao. In her case, having a rich dad to rely on was definitely better than struggling on her own—at least she’d live longer.
“So, the one who taught you divination… was it your master or…?” Fang Chuan hesitated, unsure how to phrase it.
“My grandpa. He wasn’t famous—the blind fortune-teller Liu from the next street over had better business than him.” Liu Mumu didn’t mind Fang Chuan’s probing and had no issue sharing who’d taught her.
“Raising such an impressive granddaughter must mean you’re quite remarkable yourself,” Fang Chuan said skeptically.
The two chatted idly throughout the journey, and Fang Chuan was still engrossed in their conversation when they arrived at the hospital.
After getting out of the car, a doctor discreetly led the three of them to a corner on the fifth floor of the inpatient building, where they entered a private room.
Inside, Zhan Huitian lay on the hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Only when he noticed Fang Chuan and the others enter from the corner of his eye did he turn his head slightly. His gaze finally showed a flicker of life when it landed on Liu Mumu, who was walking at the back.
“How are you feeling?” Fang Chuan asked.
“Fine,” Zhan Huitian replied hoarsely. “It feels good to be alive.”
He had almost thought he would die there. Who had tried to kill him? Mr. Ning? Zhan Huitian sank back into his thoughts.
“Let me introduce myself. I’m Fang Chuan, captain of the Special Cases Investigation Unit, which handles cases involving metaphysics. We’ve obtained conclusive evidence regarding your use of a cursed artifact to murder your father, Zhan Hongye. Do you have anything to say?” Fang Chuan’s words snapped Zhan Huitian out of his reverie.
After a moment of stunned silence, Zhan Huitian shook his head. “No.”
Though he had lost a lot of bl00d at the time, he still remembered this man—and the one standing behind him. That man had drawn something on his face, and the bleeding had stopped. It was clearly not an ability an ordinary person possessed. He had always thought Mr. Ning was extraordinary, but now he realized he had been a frog at the bottom of a well.
And yes, he had indeed killed Zhan Hongye with his own hands.
“Do you know Ning Yuan? Tell us everything about him.”
While Fang Chuan and the other officers continued taking Zhan Huitian’s statement, Liu Mumu quietly slipped into the adjacent room.
A police officer stood guard outside, but since they knew she had come with Fang Chuan, they didn’t stop her from peering through the glass window on the door.
Inside, Jenny lay on the hospital bed, surrounded by monitoring equipment. She still hadn’t woken up.
Liu Mumu sensed someone approaching and turned to see Yan Xiu standing behind her, also looking inside. She hadn’t noticed when he had arrived.
“Jenny only hit her head. Why hasn’t she woken up yet? Didn’t the doctor say her concussion wasn’t severe?” Liu Mumu asked, not expecting Yan Xiu to answer.
Surprisingly, he did. “Your earlier guess was correct. Ning Yuan may have used some method that caused damage to her brain. The equipment can only detect abnormal brainwave activity for now.”
“What about you? Can’t you do anything?”
Yan Xiu shook his head. This wasn’t his area of expertise. He could only confirm that Jenny’s unconsciousness wasn’t due to the fall.
“Is it possible she might never wake up?” Liu Mumu couldn’t quite describe her feelings, but her mood instantly darkened. Was this Jenny’s just deserts?
“Perhaps. If she remains unconscious, we’ll send her to the capital.”
Even if she never regained consciousness, she was still a criminal. Both she and her brother would be sent to a special prison—one for regular confinement, the other likely to the facility’s medical center for treatment.
After checking on Jenny, Liu Mumu returned to Zhan Huitian’s room. As soon as she entered, she heard him ask, “Officer, does my sister know I’m in the hospital? Where is she now?”
Fang Chuan glanced back at Yan Xiu, then turned to Zhan Huitian: “Your sister…”
“She’s in the next room,” Yan Xiu’s cold voice interjected. “After attempting to curse you to death, she tried to commit suicide but was saved. However, she suffered head injuries from the fall.”
“C-curse me?” Zhan Huitian seemed incredulous. “Why? Why would she want to kill me? I returned the vase to Mr. Ning as promised. How could she…”
Zhan Huitian became visibly agitated, prompting doctors waiting outside to rush in and calm him down. It took some time before he regained his composure.
“So it was Jenny who wanted me dead,” Zhan Huitian murmured weakly, as if all strength had left him. “What poetic justice.”