Book 4: Chapter 72:1: Hoshiguma: How Expensive! Part 1
Soon, Chen Heng’s temporary business license was complete. This demonstrates why it is convenient to know people in high places. Under most circumstances, while it was possible for the license to be made immediately, the Lungmen Guard Department would not release it immediately. Instead, they would delay for a while. However, since this was for one of their own, they were much more efficient.
If they dragged things out, Madam Ch’en might come to have a word with them. That would not be worth it.
“Elder Sister Hoshiguma, since the business license is done, I’ll be leaving.”
“It’s already past four. The Lungmen Guard Department’s day shift ends at five. How about you wait for us, and we go have a meal together? There’s a restaurant nearby with pretty good rice noodle rolls. Ch’en loves it.”
“Ah! Rice noodle rolls! I do want to try some, but never mind. I still have two people waiting for me to bring them food at the hotel. They are my companions, so it would not be good for me to abandon them to have a meal with you.”
“Alright, then. Be careful. If you run into anything problematic, feel free to seek me out.”
“Goodbye, Elder Sister Hoshiguma.”
“Goodbye.”
After Chen Heng left, Ch’en appeared by Hoshiguma’s side after a while.
“Hoshiguma, how do you find my distant younger cousin?”
“How else? With my eyes.”
Glare!
“Alright, alright. Don’t look at me. I’ll stop joking. Your younger cousin is as Swire described. He is polite, but I can tell he is proud.”
“Proud?” Ch’en knew she was far from comparable to Hoshiguma at reading people. Hoshiguma had grown up in the mob, so she had seen people from all walks of life and had better judgment.
However, why couldn’t Ch’en see Chen Heng as proud?
“While I say proud, that might not be accurate. It should be self-confident. He is a very confident person. You can tell in his speech and mannerisms. Such confidence likely comes from his strength. Putting other things aside, your younger cousin has an excellent physique, not far from mine. He might even be stronger than me physically. Such a person is extremely strong but is a Sniper. Just imagine how powerful his sniping would be.”
“Is that so? You rarely praise people like this.” Ch’en entered deep thought. She never doubted Hoshiguma’s strength.
“Furthermore, if my judgment is right, your younger cousin should be an expert swordsman or bladesman. He is most likely a swordsman. You know that I was born in Higashi and have seen many swordsmen and bladesmen. Their gazes are similar to your younger brother’s—extremely sharp. In my opinion, if your younger cousin uses a sword, you cannot defeat him without Chi Xiao. I’m talking about just purely comparing in a swordfight. Overall, my evaluation of him is: unfathomable.”
“…It looks like I was right to come to you.”
“Why, thank you for your praise. Oh, right. Shall we go to the shop I mentioned earlier for rice noodle rolls? My treat.”
“I’ll go.” Why not? Someone else is paying, and it’s my favorite food. Why not go?
On the other side, Chen Heng walked back to his hotel room with his temporary business license, unaware of Ch’en and Hoshiguma’s conversation.
Although Chen Heng had the Absolute Precognition, it did not mean he would peep at the future of everyone he met. Of course, this wasn’t about Chen Heng respecting the privacy of others; he was just tired.
Did you think activating the Absolute Precognition consumed nothing? While the Absolute Precognition had grown stronger after strengthening, it also drained more Will Energy.
Although the drain was not that much, Chen Heng would still feel tired from having his Will Energy drained multiple times.
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Six in the afternoon:
After being busy for an entire day, Master Chen decided to set up his stall to break couples up to relax.
Although Master Chen enjoyed establishing his pleasure on the foundation of the pain of others, he had his principles. He would not break up true love.
Nightingale felt a sudden interest in joining Chen Heng, but he stopped her, as he would have some very special customers today.
He went to the same spot, at the same time, and used the same method. He wore Daoist robes and placed a table covered with a yellow cloth in front of him, with the crystal ball, the container of wooden lots, and tarot cards on the table. However, he also added a tortoise shell and bronze coins this time.
Chen Heng had reflected on this yesterday. The crystal ball was a divination tool of Western witches. Tarot cards were divination tools of the Gypsies. The wooden lots were tools used by Chinese monks. Hence, he decided to add the tortoise shell and bronze coins today to look more professional.
[TL Note: While the wooden lots are Chinese, they are used mainly by Buddhists. Taoists rely on various tools like tortoise shells and the Eight Trigram Compass. The professionalism bit is likely to make the tools match his outfit better. The tortoise shell functions as a container for three coins. One would shake the tortoise shell to make the coins fall out. Then the fortuneteller would read the positions of the coins, the sides facing up, and some other complicated rules. This is considered the most reliable Chinese traditional method of fortunetelling.]
However, all these items were just decorations.
“Hey! Isn’t this Chen Heng? You really set up a stall here again.”
Chen Heng looked to his right and saw Swire, Ch’en, and Hoshiguma.
“It’s Elder Cousin and the two elder sisters! Would you like to have your future read? I added a new divination tool today.” Chen Heng shook the tortoise shell in his hand.
“I found it strange when I came to you for the divination yesterday. While the three tools on your table are for divination, they do not have a connection with Yan.” Swire sat on the stool across from Chen Heng without ceremony.
Chen Heng looked at Ch’en and Hoshiguma, who were still standing, and took out two identical stools from under the table.
“Putting aside your divination ability, just your spatial talent alone is sufficient for an oracle grift.”
“Elder Sister Swire, even if you can eat nonsense, you can’t speak nonsense. I’m not an oracle grifter. At the very least, the things I predict all come true. Isn’t that right?”
“That is true.”
“By the way, Elder Cousin, why are you all here?”
“I was planning to have rice noodle rolls with Hoshiguma after our shift. This char siu cat ran over the moment we exited the Lungmen Guard Department and insisted we go eat char siu. We only changed Swire’s mind after arguing for a while. Then we went to have rice noodle rolls. After we finished eating, we saw it was almost six. Swire said she wanted to see if you would set up a stall here again, so we came over.”
This was truly rare. Ch’en spoke so much in one go—perhaps because Chen Heng was her younger cousin in name.
A person from Yan would feel slightly closer to a distant relative than to others. It did not matter whether they knew each other from before. The stern and overbearing Ch’en was no exception.
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