We Weren’t Fated, I Just Played My Cards Right - Chapter 42

“So, how do you want to do this?” Xu Yonglin asked with a chuckle.

Liu Mumu placed three coins in his hand and said, “Just shake them.”

Xu Yonglin clicked his tongue and shook his head—this was way too casual. Still, he shook the coins and spread them out for her to see. “Don’t I need to shake them a few more times?”

He remembered that three-coin divination usually required six shakes.

“Just a quick reading, no need to be so formal.” Liu Mumu was completely nonchalant. She nudged the coins in his hand. “Let’s see what your near future holds.”

Xu Yonglin waited as she began to divine his fate.

“Hmm… your luck hasn’t been great lately.”

Here it comes—the most basic tactic: praise after criticism. Whether this girl had real divination skills was uncertain, but she certainly knew how to play the game.

“How so?” Xu Yonglin played along.

Liu Mumu tapped the coin with one finger and looked up to meet his gaze. “Disaster looms near—imprisonment is at your doorstep.”

The moment their eyes met, Xu Yonglin shuddered involuntarily at the sight of those hollow, emotionless eyes. He instinctively took a step back—a grown man startled by a young girl.

“W-what do you mean?”

Liu Mumu withdrew her hand, her expression now unreadable.

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re going to be arrested. Not only will you face imprisonment, but your life will be cut short. I doubt you’ll make it out of prison alive.”

Even though he was convinced Liu Mumu was just playing him, hearing such words would unsettle anyone.

Besides, the work he did with his brother was the kind that could cost him his head. The idea that he might get arrested wasn’t entirely baseless.

Xu Yonglin’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he forced a dry laugh. “Is there any way to avoid it?”

Liu Mumu studied him for a few seconds, thinking he had remarkable patience. Most strangers would have tried to hit her after hearing something like that.

“There is,” Liu Mumu smiled. “But even if I told you, you probably wouldn’t believe me. Let’s talk about your impending imprisonment instead.”

“Alright, go ahead.”

“You won’t be arrested for your own crimes—you’ll be implicated. But the charges will be serious enough to keep you locked up for the rest of your life. Unfortunately, your fate is poor—your remaining years will be pitifully short.” She glanced at him, her tone hovering between sympathy and mockery.

“Is that all?”

This kind of ominous prediction wasn’t too extreme—the more terrifying the prophecy, the higher the fee for the “solution” would be later.

Xu Yonglin believed he had seen through her tactics.

Liu Mumu wasn’t blind to his skepticism. She continued, “Not long after you’re imprisoned, your sister will die.”

Xu Yonglin scoffed. “I don’t have a sister.”

Liu Mumu tilted her head. “Are you sure about that?”

Under her penetrating gaze, Xu Yonglin felt as if she could see right through him. His heart clenched, and his smile faded.

His only bl00d relative was his older brother, Xu Yongshuang.

But he did have a sister—the biological daughter of his adoptive parents. For over a decade, he had lived with them and her.

“T-then what?” His voice trembled slightly.

“She had no other family. Her body wasn’t discovered until days after her death. Eventually, someone contacted you in prison. You were devastated, filled with regret, ready to confess everything—but then you suddenly died.”

“That’s it?”

“You still don’t believe me,” Liu Mumu observed.

Xu Yonglin stayed silent—this time, he simply couldn’t believe it.

Liu Mumu pulled out a wooden pendant hanging around her neck and dangled it before him. “Does this make my words any more credible?”

His eyes narrowed. “A… diviner’s token?”

When he was adopted, he still retained some childhood memories. He had once lived in a prominent household, and during holidays, visitors would come to pay respects. He had seen this very token before.

The elders in his family had told him that it was called a Diviner License, and anyone who possessed such a token was a formidable master of fortune-telling.

He remembered it so clearly because, at the time, the guest had glanced at him and said to his elders, “This child’s fate is rather unfortunate.”

Later, his family fell into ruin, and he was sent to live with adoptive parents. Then, in pursuit of money, he deceived people and was caught. He thought this life was proof enough that his fate was indeed ill-fated.

But now… was there more to it than that?

“You’re a diviner?” A chill crawled up Xu Yonglin’s spine.

This Diviner License meant that what the other party had just said wasn’t some money-grabbing scheme—it was real.

“Are you one of them?” Xu Yonglin suddenly asked.

“Huh?” Liu Mumu looked utterly bewildered. “Who are ‘they’?”

“…The police?” Her expression made Xu Yonglin hesitate. Had he guessed wrong?

“Do I look like a police officer? I’m still so young—how old do you think I am?” Liu Mumu was particularly displeased. Did she really look that old? She hadn’t even graduated yet!

Xu Yonglin leaned back slightly. No need to get so worked up—he’d just thrown out a random guess.

“You weren’t waiting here specifically for me?”

“I live there.” Liu Mumu pointed at the neighborhood where Xu Yonglin had just met his defeat. “Didn’t I already tell you?”

“Then why did you tell my fortune?” This was what Xu Yonglin couldn’t figure out. These days, the odds of randomly running into a diviner were about as low as getting hit by a falling anvil.

“Do I need a reason to tell someone’s fortune?” Liu Mumu retorted, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Xu Yonglin thought about it. When they, the gu masters, cast curses, they at least needed a reason. But diviners? If they were in a good mood, they’d tell your fortune. If they were in a bad mood, they’d still tell your fortune. There really was no logic to it.

He decided not to dwell on it and instead asked sincerely, “Then… Master, in my situation… is there still hope?”

After a pause, he added, “Even if you can’t save me, saving my sister would be enough.”

“Only you can save her. I can’t do anything. Before that, what you should be thinking about is how to save yourself. If you die, your sister definitely won’t survive either.”

“I…” Xu Yonglin hesitated.

At that moment, his phone rang again.

He picked it up and glanced at the screen—Xu Yongshuang’s name flashed across it.

Liu Mumu stole a look at the screen and said to him, “You only get one chance to choose. Miss it, and there won’t be another.”

Xu Yonglin tightened his grip on his phone, as if he had made some kind of resolution at that moment: “I understand.”

Liu Mumu reached out to him: “Payment for the divination.”

Xu Yonglin placed a crumpled ten-yuan bill in her hand, feeling somewhat embarrassed at the amount: “Uh, I didn’t bring more money with me.”

He knew the rules—ten yuan wasn’t even enough to buy a punctuation mark from a fortune-teller’s reading.

“It’s fine.” Liu Mumu gave him a meaningful look. “There’s plenty of time ahead. If you have any thoughts, it’s best to act on them now—before it’s too late.”

Xu Yonglin nodded heavily. “Master, I have urgent matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave. If… if there’s a chance, I’ll visit you again.”

Making this decision was difficult, but as he turned away, he felt a sudden lightness. The words of this inexplicably appearing young master had solidified his resolve.

Watching Xu Yonglin leave, Liu Mumu turned around—only to slip and fall flat on the ground. Fortunately, her thick winter clothing cushioned the impact, so it didn’t hurt much.

Home was just within reach, yet the path back felt impossibly far.

The moment Xu Yonglin appeared outside Dong Zhenghao’s residential complex, the news had already been relayed back. The plan had been to continue surveilling him for a while, but the officer on duty noticed Liu Mumu approaching him.

This officer happened to be under Fang Chuan’s command, and no one in their department was unfamiliar with Liu Mumu—the woman who had boldly declared she would win over their consultant, Yan Xiu. Not only had she not been blacklisted, but she also casually strolled into Yan Xiu’s office from time to time, earning everyone’s admiration.

Thus, the news of Liu Mumu’s contact with the suspect was immediately reported to Fang Chuan.

“Did you actually tell her last time to call the police first if she encounters dangerous people?” Fang Chuan was utterly baffled when he heard Liu Mumu’s name.

Why her again? Why was it always her?

Yan Xiu shot him a cold glance and remained silent, the atmosphere in the car growing heavier by the second. Fang Chuan shut his mouth. Of course, he had told her—but the girl clearly hadn’t listened.

While Liu Mumu was telling fortunes for ten yuan, Yan Xiu’s car was already nearing her home. By the time Xu Yonglin left and Liu Mumu was struggling to crawl back, Yan Xiu had just stepped out of his car.

“Consultant Yan, the target just left,” the officer reported to him.

“Understood. Continue tracking and report to your captain at all times.” Yan Xiu tapped his earpiece, cutting off the communication.

Liu Mumu was sprawled at the entrance of the residential complex, being “trampled” by a husky when Yan Xiu intercepted her. She had just managed to reach the gate when, out of nowhere, a husky charged at her with a “war stomp,” sending her crashing to the ground.

Next, the guard booth’s glass was probably going to shatter—Liu Mumu guessed, already covering her head in advance.

She regretted her stubborn insistence on walking back. She should’ve just asked Old Dong to carry her home earlier.

Before the glass could shatter, a large hand covered her face. She felt the person’s finger press lightly against her forehead, cool to the touch. Instinctively, she tried to reach up, but her wrist was caught. A deep, magnetic, and all-too-familiar voice sounded above her: “Don’t touch.”

Liu Mumu tilted her head back to look at the strikingly handsome face now inches from hers. “What are you doing here?”

Yan Xiu hauled her up, his voice cold. “Because the suspect appeared here.”

Liu Mumu froze, realizing who he was referring to.

Yan Xiu’s dark eyes bore into her. “I distinctly remember telling you just yesterday not to go out recently.”

“I just went for breakfast,” Liu Mumu said with an innocent expression.

“And conveniently struck up a conversation with the suspect?” Yan Xiu nearly laughed in exasperation. “Didn’t I warn you not to handle such situations yourself? You even gave him a fortune-telling session.”

“He paid the divination fee. I couldn’t just refuse,” Liu Mumu muttered in weak protest, showing him the ten-yuan bill in her hand.

Yan Xiu closed his eyes briefly, restraining himself from doing something he might regret. “And now you’ve had financial dealings with a suspect too.”

Liu Mumu puffed her cheeks. “That’s slander.”

Ignoring her, Yan Xiu maintained his stern expression as he dragged her outside. Just then, his phone rang.

It was Fang Chuan calling.

When he answered, Fang Chuan’s loud voice was audible even to Liu Mumu: “Xu Yonglin just turned himself in to the police and said he wants to report his brother. What kind of bizarre development is this? What on earth did Liu Mumu do to him?”