Chapter 199 - Dong Lan's After Story (1)

Once upon a time, there was a lady fortune-teller in the famous night market of the capital.

She seemed to be a young lady because her hands which showed from her closely wrapped body were very beautiful, ones which only women in their twenties or early thirties would possess.

Her eyes were very pretty too. And whenever she stood up and went out of her booth, one would be able to take a glimpse of her perfect S-shaped body.

The many regular guys lining up outside of her tent made a bet that she was a very beautiful woman, just that she was from the south where ladies hid their hair and body under thick fabrics.

The others were assuming she used to be a pretty lady, but got disfigured at some point in her life hence she was wearing a half-mask below her eyes all day.

Anyways, no matter her appearance, her booth was popular, not only due to her unseen face and air of mysterious, but because as people said her predictions were always accurate.

And she was not a fake.

The claim stemmed from the many rumors about her accurately divining everything about a person, not only love but also family, future, troubles... And this was without any medium apart from seeing the person seeking divination face to face.

The reason her service had no refund system was that there was no need for a refund. She would never make a mistake. Even if it would have proven later than expected. This fact had already become an urban legend of the place.

This was a regular day when people were lining up outside for the famous fortune-teller. Actually, the closing hour was nearing.

When there was only ten minutes left, the fortune-teller lady swept her fierce gaze to the young man idling by the side, playing with stocks on his phone and said, "Take over for me from now on."

The answer came immediately, "Pass. I'm busy!"

The most recent client had just gone out by then and the woman was annoyed that somebody was looking so relaxed in one corner of her tent, tapping on his phone's LCD.

She glared at him. "I said, take over here and assist the few remaining customers."

The man scratched the back of his neck and replied without lifting his head up, "Mom, I'm busy making money for you. Don't disturb me, okay? Anyways, there are only ten minutes before the closing time."

"Don't make me want to build a true internet rehabilitation school for you, Dong Lan." Annoyed, she spat out in a vicious tone.

This time, the young man felt the chill from her voice, all his hair stood up.

'F*ck, the old hag is angry.'

Sweating a bit, he put away the black phone in an instant and fixed his tie since he was still in corporate attire before standing up. "Mom, yes, I will be the one assisting the customers now. In fact, I'm going out now to invite my first customer in. He he."

He awkwardly laughed before darting to the tent's entrance. The veiled lady sneered then vacated her spot.

It was already dark actually since the time was past 8:30 pm. The fortune-telling booth was only available until 9 pm. When he checked, actually there was only one person there. A woman.

"Hello, next client, please come in." Politely inviting the woman inside, the man raised the curtain higher so she would have no difficulty passing through.

"Thank you."

The young lady lifted up her head and revealed a pair of blue eyes that made it obvious that she was wearing contact lenses. Those eyes hid the trouble and anxiousness. Now all that could be seen from them was that she was surprised.

Nodding, she commented with approval in her tone. "I didn't know this booth is so professional. Curtain-lifters have to wear fashionable corporate suits. Nice. The service is great despite the unseemly location."

While the office lady was looking around, inspecting every corner of the tent lit in yellow and violet light, the man behind her was rolling his eyes.

'What professional? I'm a proper corporate slave, alright! I'm just checking on the old hag. Who knows that she'll suddenly want to rest at one corner.'

Don Lan's eyes flickered to his left where the only other chair was located. But to his surprise, the witch was not there.

'Huh. When did she leave?'

Absentmindedly and still wondering how and where the fortune-teller went, he took her usual seat behind the tall table. The woman who had now sat down in front of him finally noticed that something was wrong. "Where's the famous lady fortune-teller?"

Dong Lan smiled apologetically at the girl. "I'm sorry, my mom has to go somewhere urgently and won't be back before closing time so I will take over for now. Don't worry, I'm a fortune-teller too. And has frequently helped my mom in her business. Even though I am not as famous as her, I did help many people and has yet to tarnish our tent's reputation. Please do tell me how can I help."

The woman had all the reasons in the world to be suspicious of him. Everything he said was a lie. The woman did not say anything about not being back before closing time. He had never helped her in this business, and thus it was not true that he had helped many people before.

But maybe because of his honest smile, the girl finally relented and began to speak. But Dong Lan did not miss the woman's hand going inside her hand bad and reaching out to what he suspected as a stun gun.

"Since you said so and I can't see anyone here..." Eyes uncomfortably looking around, she nodded and then said, "Okay, I'll tell you my dilemma. I mean, what I want you to divine."

"No problem. I am born a listener. Before anything though, may I know how to address you, miss?"

"You can call me, Miss Du."

"Alright, Miss Du. I implore you to speak comfortably with me. Don't worry, nothing seen, said, and heard from this small room would make their way outside. I can assure you that. I swear to the reputation of my mom." Gesturing with his hand, he said passionately.

The woman in white corporate attire nodded. "That put me at ease then. Let me begin."

Dong Lan patiently listened to the client's story for minutes... Not.

Although not as skilled as the fortune-teller, divining normal people's lives was quite easy for him so with just a glance he already knew what happened and what she wanted to consulted.

However, he was annoyed by the kind of glance he got from her when he told her he would be the one divining her, plus her remark about him being a curtain-lifter quite got into his nerve.

So yeah. He would let her stage a drama in front of him, telling him how she was suspecting she got cheated upon not only her heart but also money.

While the woman was already crying yet still looking up to stop the tears, he noted in his mind,

'Hmmm. She's familiar. I think I saw her already before. Where?'

"I.. It's a relationship that has been going on for more than seven years. But he... he, I think he's really cheating on me j-just because I.. I refuse to..." Crying and couldn't continue, the lady stopped and buried her face in her hands.

It took her a long time to recover. By then Dong Lan had already browsed her past to check who she was.

He exclaimed with amazement in his heart. 'Oooh, nice. So she's that short-haired girl before who became friends with that Ren Lian when we all escaped!'

A goofy expression almost showed on his face upon thinking the girl used to be his schoolmate. Wow, although he didn't know her, they were still a bit acquainted. Couldn't believe, the bratty girl had grown up into a beautiful lady. Sadly, heartbroken.

At the same time that Dong Lan was shaking the thoughts off of his head, the other party finally laid down her request as she slipped in some paper bills inside the money box. "H-hey. C-can you please, check for me... If I really have no fate with him?"

"Sure, I just need your permission to check on your future in this timeline. What kind of fate do you want to confirm by the way?"

Nodding, the woman replied, "I... A-at least, I want to know who I will end up with... Is it him... or somebody else?"

'All the dramas and tears, just for the sake of knowing who she will marry in the future. Why can't women just be straightforward?' He shook his head inwardly.

But with a polite and professional smile of the merchandising department's head, he explained. "Alright. I heard your request and I will be starting now. Will it be alright if you look at my eyes for ten seconds straight without blinking? This is a necessary step so I could take a glimpse of your future."

He was clasping his hands on top of the table, looking honest and in the know. The girl seemed determined to know the answer so she readily nodded but first requested some time to wipe the tears on her face and let the redness of her eyes fade away a bit. Watching her action, he almost burst into laughter.

'Wow, this is quite enjoyable. Next time, if another babe seeks the old hag, I'll request to be the fortune-teller, he he. If possible I'll hold hands with them while staring into their eyes. Who knows, maybe in that way, I can embed my face into their memories. He he he.'

There was no need for a staring contest for whatever number of seconds. The dishonest man was simply having fun deceiving the other. And he was not feeling guilt whatsoever in his heart since only he knew of this, the fortune-teller was not around, or so he thought.

Without his knowledge, the woman was actually still inside the tent. Standing near the tent's entrance and with her arms crossed, she sneered and disdainfully watched her disciple amusing himself through a dishonest way. 'In a few seconds, let me see boy if you can still have that inerasable smile in your lips. Idiot.'

In her country from the South, there was a phrase, 'devil's tongue', referring to how a person could sometimes utter malicious or bad predictions which always come true. The witch, who could predict things very accurately, just said something which could be taken for that.

The result showed exactly ten seconds after Dong Lan started peeking into the girl surnamed Du's future. He saw her breaking up with the person she was currently dating. After that, she went into a severe depression due to always thinking of the past seven years she spent with the man.

One time, she charged towards the other girl's apartment and made a scene there, making her ex feel disgusted with her more. She didn't care about the insults and pity thrown at her, but when her ex, the one she had loved and dedicated herself for years, exploded in front of her and threw many hurtful words at her, that was when her little remaining self-esteem broke down for real, leading her to attempt suicide numerous times.

'Well, seems to me her suicide attempts are not serious and mere ways to attract attention, his specifically, again. Tch. Foolish women. When they are cheated, they became angry, but instead of fighting the ones who hurt them, they go for the other woman first. Wow. This is why the guys approved of that annoying duckling's Love Yourself song.' Dong Lan shook his head inwardly and then continued browsing the memories.

After fast-forwarding the images, he finally saw the person destined for her. And a 'huh?' escaped out of his lips involuntarily.

'No way, right? Haha.' At first, he laughed at the next images that appeared in his vision.

Not long after, as his cheek went red and his brain became muddled, he muttered, "F*ck. It can't be!"

The eye contact was broken. The misty-eyed girl before him repeatedly blinked and fetched her handkerchief inside her blouse's pocket. While wiping her tears, the woman asked, "How did it go? Can you tell me what you saw in my future?"

The man who was still in a daze parted his lips slightly, then swallowed, before opening them again. "M-Miss. I know this is abrupt. But would it be alright if you tell me your name first?"

"I thought I already told you you can address me as Miss Du." With knitted brows showing both her displeasure and confusion, she replied. Her eyes looked around for a couple of seconds, heart feeling relieved after finding a small trash can on the table's left side.

The man watched her question for some time before saying, "By the way, my name is Dong Lan and I can always be found in this booth."

"Ah, okay?"

Nervously, he added, "About your question, well... You'll break up with your boyfriend... And in the future..."

As nervous as he was was the girl who unconsciously pulled up another pack of tissue from her bag.

"You'll marry me!" He spat out with a red face. 

"..."

The lady who thought she encountered a fake: Ah. I knew it. He's a damn con artist!

A loud smacking sound then followed.

...

That day, Dong Lan finished the business hours with a bright red palm print on his left cheek. The woman had left with a huff. He was dumbfounded there, sitting and watching as she gave him a sharp glare before closing the curtain. In one corner of the place, the laughing fortune-teller suddenly appeared, canceling whatever dark spell she conjured to make herself invisible.

"You should be realizing by now that I helped you meet your fate, no?"

"I'm sure you also saw me making a fool out of myself there," listlessly, the young man said.

The fortune-teller tidied up her workplace while throwing amused glances at her adopted son. It was the first time that he had truly acted pitiful, like a drenched puppy in the middle of the rain. Who asked him to have stupid thoughts in the middle of a session though? And why answer the lady just now in that way?

As the woman recalled this scene a few years later at his wedding, she would laugh and tell herself, 'I found a very too-faced, and stupid apprentice. How nice!'