Chapter 9
Xia Sheng merely glanced at the old man, said nothing, and continued packing up her things, preparing to take Fang Rong to find a place for lunch.
Fang Rong was still in a dazed state, not knowing what to say.
She had lived in poverty all her life, and now suddenly had such a capable daughter. She was both happy and felt unworthy to be her mother, worried that her child would look down on her, her feelings extremely complicated.
Originally, she had wanted to raise this child herself, to make up for her absence over the past decade or so.
But it turned out her daughter didn’t need her to raise her at all.
In fact, even her food and lodging were now all taken care of by her daughter.
Xia Sheng noticed her mother’s silence. After tidying up, she took the initiative to link arms with her. “Mom, what do you want for lunch?”
The young girl still wore that cool and indifferent expression, but the physical closeness dispelled the unease in Fang Rong’s heart.
Fang Rong said, “Whatever Sheng’er eats, Mom will eat. I’m not picky.”
Xia Sheng didn’t have anything in particular she wanted to eat, so she planned to stroll around the area with Fang Rong to look for food.
Just as they were about to leave, a Cayenne stopped right in front of the mother and daughter.
The window rolled down, and Jiang Zhongqing’s kindly smiling face appeared in Xia Sheng’s line of sight.
“Little Celestial Master, what a coincidence. What are you doing here?”
Xia Sheng replied, “Telling fortunes at a stall. I just finished packing up.”
Jiang Zhongqing asked in surprise, “You set up a stall? Little Celestial Master, if you want business, you can just tell me. I can help you find clients.”
Taking on those orders from wealthy families-just one would be worth several years of Xia Sheng’s earnings from fortune-telling at a stall here.
Xia Sheng said calmly, “I don’t tell fortunes just for the money. But if you have any wealthy contacts who need my services, you can reach out to me.”
She wanted to help as many people as possible who couldn’t afford to hire someone to tell their fortunes, but she certainly intended to earn money from the big shots in the elite circles as well.
After all, the money she donated could help a lot of people, and at the same time, it would allow her to accumulate Merit for herself.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhongqing looked at Xia Sheng with even more respect in his eyes.
As expected of a Master-truly someone with the world in her heart.
“Little Celestial Master, let’s have lunch together. The Misfortune-Dispelling Talisman you gave me yesterday saved my life again this morning. Let this meal be my way of repaying you.”
The Li Family had stolen Jiang Zhongqing’s food formula, shamelessly claiming it was developed by their own people after producing it, and even snatched several of Jiang’s business partners by undercutting prices.
Jiang Zhongqing immediately sued them. When the Li Family heard about it, they tore off all pretenses and sent people to cause trouble at his factory this morning. He almost got into an accident while handling the situation, but fortunately, the Misfortune-Dispelling Talisman Xia Sheng had given him warded off the disaster.
Now he owed Xia Sheng two lives. Forget just one meal-even ten million, a hundred million, would be what he owed her.
Xia Sheng didn’t stand on ceremony and nodded.
She opened the car door. “Mom, get in.”
Fang Rong had worked for the Xia Family for over a decade and had seen plenty of luxury cars. She could tell at a glance that this one was expensive. Coupled with the fact that this man said her daughter had saved his life, Fang Rong finally believed that her daughter had really made a million in a single day yesterday.
After all, to these truly wealthy people, a million was nothing.
She shook her head and said awkwardly, “Sheng’er, you go ahead. I’ll just go home.”
She walked with a limp and dressed plainly. She was afraid that going out with her daughter would embarrass her.
Jiang Zhongqing said, “Since you’re the Little Celestial Master’s mother, you should come along. Who invites a child to a meal and sends the parent home alone?”
Seeing that both Jiang Zhongqing and Xia Sheng insisted, Fang Rong had no choice but to get in the car.
The other fortune-tellers watched as Xia Sheng got into the luxury car, all of them widening their eyes.
“How can this young lady be so rich and still come down here under the bridge to set up a stall? Is she just experiencing life?”
“I vaguely heard that this Little Celestial Master saved that rich man’s life. Looks like this Little Celestial Master really has some skills.”
“Being able to tell the fortune of such wealthy people, this Little Celestial Master clearly isn’t short of money. Someone just accused her of hiring shills-what a joke!”
As he spoke, he deliberately glanced at the old fraud who had mocked Xia Sheng earlier.
The old man, burning with anger, packed up his stall and went elsewhere to set up shop.
Jiang Zhongqing drove Xia Sheng to a restaurant, with Fang Rong closely following Xia Sheng, nervously observing everything around her.
Once seated in a private room, Jiang Zhongqing handed the menu to the mother and daughter.
Fang Rong looked at the densely packed dishes on the menu and finally ordered a sirloin steak.
The waiter asked, “How would you like it cooked?”
Fang Rong replied awkwardly, “Well done.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the waiter let out a stifled laugh.
Fang Rong became even more embarrassed, unsure what she had said wrong.
The waiter explained, “Sorry, ma’am, our restaurant doesn’t serve well-done steaks.”
No well-done? Then what options are there?
The waiter didn’t offer any choices, and Fang Rong didn’t know what to pick. Her hands, resting on her lap, curled up anxiously.
Just as Xia Sheng was about to say something, Jiang Zhongqing, sitting across from them, spoke up, “I’ll have a sirloin steak as well-well done.”
Jiang Zhongqing was a regular here and knew the menu inside out.
The waiter knew he couldn’t possibly be unaware of the restaurant’s rules and had intentionally ordered well-done.
The waiter quickly apologized, “Mr. Jiang, I’m sorry, that was my mistake. I’ll have the kitchen prepare well-done sirloin steaks for you and this lady.”
Once the three had ordered, the waiter immediately took the menu and left.
Fang Rong looked at Jiang Zhongqing and said, “Thank you.”
She could tell Jiang Zhongqing was helping her out of an awkward situation.
Jiang Zhongqing smiled nonchalantly, “No need to thank me. I just happened to want a well-done steak myself. Who knew this place didn’t even offer well-done? I had to ask them to make it special.”
Fang Rong also smiled, visibly relaxing.
Jiang Zhongqing turned to Xia Sheng, “Little Celestial Master, the Misfortune-Dispelling Talisman you gave me yesterday saved my life again today. How about I pay you fifty million later as your fee?”
He wasn’t sure what amount was appropriate for Xia Sheng, so he wanted to discuss it with her.
Xia Sheng replied, “No need. Just donate it directly. You were supposed to die yesterday. Although you’ve escaped disaster, Heaven will return a minor calamity.
“The more you donate to accumulate Merit, the better you’ll avoid those retributions.”
Jiang Zhongqing asked, “How much should I donate?”
“That’s up to you. There’s no limit.”
“Alright, I understand.”
Jiang Zhongqing agreed, planning to donate a quarter of his personal account once he got home.
Halfway through the meal, Xia Sheng got up to go to the restroom.
The restroom was nearly full, with only one stall left unoccupied.
She pushed open the door and went in. Soon after, two young women entered the restroom.
“Weiwei, it looks like all the stalls are taken. Should we check downstairs?”
The other girl replied, “Going downstairs is too much trouble. My cousin is still waiting for me at the door.”
“True. Weiwei, I feel like you’ve gotten prettier lately.”
The girl called Weiwei sounded a bit smug, “Not really. I’ve always looked like this.”
“Really? But I feel you’ve changed a lot. There’s a rumor in our group that you’ve had cosmetic surgery…”
“How could I have had cosmetic surgery?” Weiwei’s voice rose slightly. “I think they’re just jealous! Who said that? I’ll tear her mouth apart!”