Chapter 178: The Lord of Fate, Seeking Her Diligently
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“However… something still doesn’t seem right!” Ye Qianji touched her head, then pressed a few spots on her neck and back.
A person’s facial features can change, but their inherent nature remains.
“Only seventeen or eighteen…,” his old face wrinkled.
Jiang Fuyue grabbed one of his fingers and shook it lightly, just like when she was a child being led by him through the streets. “Master, if you see a cicada from afar, but upon closer inspection, you realize it’s just the shell it shed. However, when you touch it, you find out it’s actually moving. Would you say it’s still a cicada or just the shell?”
“How could a shell move? It must be the cicada!”
Jiang Fuyue nodded, tracing the lines on his palm. “It’s a cicada, but it’s not the same cicada as before. It’s a new one.”
Ye Qianji pondered, while Jiang Fuyue just smiled at him.
Hmm, still as obedient as when she was a child.
“Give me your hand.”
Following his words, Jiang Fuyue extended her hands and placed them in front of him.
Ye Qianji focused on the lines on her palms. “The fate palace is in Yin, with the Lord of Fate in Lu Cun. Although she aims high, her family background is poor, indicating a high risk of premature death.”
“Fortunately, there’s a turning point. Placed in a desperate situation, one can still survive, especially with the Lord of Fate in Zi, with the nature of the Greedy Wolf. As the saying goes, ‘Greedy Wolf rings fire, four tombs are noble and wealthy.’ It seems that my little moon is destined for great wealth and prosperity in this life, without worry about food and drink. However…”
He paused for a moment, pretending to be profound.
Jiang Fuyue raised an eyebrow, her eyes shimmering. “However, what?”
The old man grinned, wrinkles spreading around his eyes. “Greedy Wolf encounters Yang Tu in Hai and Zi, known as the ubiquitous water and peach blossoms. My little moon is even more attractive than before, what should I do?”
She raised her eyebrows. “With your level of knowledge, you should go and impress wealthy landowners. I don’t believe you.”
Ye Qianji was infuriated, glaring at her. “What do you mean by my level? Let me tell you, my skills are excellent now! Every prediction is accurate!”
“Then did you predict that you would be caught today? Hm?”
Ye Qianji: “…” That’s not cute!
“How have you spent these twenty years?”
“Just like before, wandering around, stopping and looking here and there. What else could I do?”
“Didn’t you look for me?”
The old man snorted. “Who would look for you? I’ve been living carefreely.”
“Oh,” Jiang Fuyue said softly, poking the small bag next to his hand. “But I found missing person notices inside.”
Ye Qianji immediately covered it. “You… you… you actually peeked! This is outrageous, showing no respect!”
She pushed back the tears in her eyes, turned her head, and smiled gently. “You’re just realizing it today? I thought you were used to it.”
Ye Qianji: “…” Furious, almost transforming.
“You made the little cards too ugly, the photo proportions are wrong, and you’ve distorted me.”
“Really?”
Jiang Fuyue nodded seriously. “Yes.”
“No, I have to go find that advertising company!”
“No need, I threw away all the cards and missing person notices in my bag.” She said casually.
“Threw them away? Why?”
“Now that I’m back, what do you need those things for?”
Ye Qianji protested, “What about the refund!”
“…”
“Where did you throw them?”
“What are you planning?” She asked warily.
“Of course, to find them back, it’s several tens of dollars!”
“Oh, in the trash can. I shredded them with a paper shredder.”
“!” Ye Qianji sighed, “You wasteful girl, don’t you know how to save!”
“I have money.”
“That doesn’t mean you should waste it! Even small flies are meat.”
“Yes, yes, you’re right.” Jiang Fuyue couldn’t imagine how Ye Qianji had spent these twenty years without her companionship and care.
Before this, she even suspected he might not be alive anymore.
It was Liang Bing’s string of Bodhi seeds that gave her hope, and everything fell into place afterwards.
When she first saw Ye Qianji just now, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he was dressed in tatters and his hair was messy, his complexion was healthy, and his spirits were high. At that moment, Jiang Fuyue was both relieved and melancholic.
Then, she found Lou Mingyue’s photo in the small bag that had been brought over, along with those missing person cards with photos, and half a bottle of unused sleeping pills…
The photos had become old and yellowed from years of handling. The missing person cards seemed to have been printed recently, with a strong smell of ink still lingering. The outer packaging of the sleeping pills indicated the maximum dosage he could take at his age.
If she hadn’t seen these, Jiang Fuyue might have believed his words – who was looking for you? I’ve been carefree all by myself.
In fact, twenty years ago, after exhausting all the resources of the Qianji Pavilion and still unable to find Lou Mingyue’s whereabouts, Ye Qianji simply abandoned all high-tech methods and embarked on the arduous journey to find her alone, using the most primitive methods.
The stacks of plane tickets, boat tickets, and high-speed rail tickets in the small bag were all evidence of this.
But he didn’t say anything, even suppressing his happiness, not showing it outwardly.
Because too much joy might lead to sorrow. He was afraid that if he was too happy, heaven would take back its kindness to him, and everything that happened before him would be embellished as a beautiful dream.
Similar situations had occurred many times over the twenty years. In the middle of the night, he would call out “Little Moon”, but all he got in response was the empty silence of the room. He couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night, unless he took sleeping pills.
But in recent years, the sleeping pills seemed to have lost their effectiveness.
“Master…?” Jiang Fuyue laid on his knees, smiling with her eyebrows curved, “I’m really back, don’t believe me? Shall I pinch you?”
“Oh! Are you really going to pinch me? Twenty years and you haven’t grown up, still as wild as before!”
Although he said that, he gently rubbed her head with his big hand. “What’s your name now?”
“Jiang Fuyue.” She wrote with her finger in the air for him to see.
“Fu rises straight up, embracing the yue. The girl from before couldn’t suppress such a name…”
Jiang Fuyue was stunned.
Ye Qianji then patted her back lightly, like coaxing a child, “Flowers bloom and fall in their own time, everything has its destiny, don’t force it.”
The next moment, his tone changed, “Whether it’s Jiang Fuyue or Lou Mingyue, they’re both my Little Moon…”
Ye Qianji wanted to ask what happened twenty years ago, whether her sudden disappearance was related to the Lou family, but he thought better of it and stopped.
If Little Moon wanted to say, she wouldn’t need to be asked; she would tell him directly. If she remained silent, it meant she didn’t want to bring it up.
In that case, he would just follow her lead!
No need to speak if she didn’t want to. Whenever she wanted to say, he would listen.
“Master, do you remember this place?”
Ye Qianji then began to look around. When he came in, he was too preoccupied with arguing with that young man to notice.
“This is…”
“The Qianji Pavilion’s former base in the Imperial Capital, used to be a bar, called Red Charm or Blue Charm?”
Ye Qianji: “How do I remember it being called Purple Charm?”
Jiang Fuyue: “…”
“Now it’s called Dang Gui.”
“Who changed it?”
“Niu Chunhua.”
“Isn’t that a Chinese medicine name?”
Jiang Fuyue: “Dang Gui, Dang Gui, she’s hoping we’ll come back soon. Now that we’re back, everything’s good.”
“Yeah,” his old eyes softened, “back…”
Back then, Ye Qianji entrusted the Qianji Pavilion to Niu Chunhua in order to find Lou Mingyue, and twenty years later, it had become what it was now.
“Do you recognize that young man who just came in?”
His old face turned dark, “Who?”
“Guess.”
“…Xiao Niu Er?”
As soon as the just returned Niu Rui heard this, he immediately turned around to flee.
But too late—
“Xiao Niu Er? What, don’t recognize me anymore? I even held you when you were a kid.”
Niu Rui approached with a stiff head, taking a deep breath. “… Grandmaster.”
“Hey~”
“You did well today, leading people to block me, with the fishing net and the stuffy nose all ready, huh?”
The strong survival instinct made him deny implicitly, “It wasn’t me! It was her! I was just following orders.”
Ye Qianji turned to look at Jiang Fuyue, raising his eyebrows.
“Hehe… Master, listen to me, if we didn’t use this method, we won’t find you like this.”
Niu Rui nodded quickly, “Yes, yes, before this, we searched all the internet cafes in the East City District, but found nothing.”
“Whose idea was the fishing net?”
Niu Rui pointed to the side, while Jiang Fuyue touched her nose, smiling awkwardly.
“And the stuffing nose?”
Niu Rui continued pointing.
Jiang Fuyue: “…”
After finally finding him, Ye Qianji settled down in Dang Gui, and there were plenty of rooms on the second floor.
Niu Rui bought him several sets of new clothes.
He even planned to get a new backpack, but Ye Qianji said, “No need, I want this one.”
“Okay.” You’re the boss, your word is final.
Jiang Fuyue still had to rush back to school, so she arranged to come see him again the next day.
They had agreed so nicely at the time, but the next afternoon, Jiang Fuyue received a call from Niu Rui—
“The, the old man, he ran away again!”
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