Chapter 25 Part 1

When they received Lin Qingye's message, Guan Chi, Ji Yan, and Shi Si were out for a late-night snack together. Guan Chi had even brought his wife along.

All three of their phones buzzed in unison. After reading the message, they looked at each other for a moment. Shi Si said in surprise, "What's going on? Is our captain actually planning to seriously pursue a dream in the entertainment industry? He's even canvassing for votes himself?"

Ji Yan clicked the link. "...No, it seems like he's pursuing his ex-girlfriend's dream."

Guan Chi and Shi Si's phone pages finally loaded, and a tattoo page popped up. They were stunned. 'What's this about? Who are we voting for?'

Ji Yan had already scrolled down the page to find Xu Zhinan and showed it to them. "Who else could we vote for besides the Light of Pingchuan?"

As she spoke, she tapped her index finger and cast a vote for Xu Zhinan.

Guan Chi and Shi Si also voted for her one after another. Guan Chi then copied and forwarded it to his wife. Everyone at the table cast their own vote.

Shi Si was still bewildered. "Why did the captain suddenly send this to the group chat? Didn't those two break up a long time ago?"

"They can get back together even if they broke up," Ji Yan said.

"They got back together?!" Shi Si said in shock. "The captain doesn't seem like the type to get back together with someone, right? He's actually going back to his ex?"

Ji Yan recalled hearing Lin Qingye say 'Ah Nan' that night and shook her head. "It's probably not quite right to say that."

Shi Si breathed a strange sigh of relief. "They didn't get back together?"

"They didn't. Given the current situation, it should be the captain unilaterally wanting to get back together."

Guan Chi: "..."

Shi Si: "..."

Ji Yan: "I ran into the Light of Pingchuan at the hospital today and sent a message to the captain. He was having a meal with the show's crew, but he rushed over without a second thought. He's probably just sent her home after accompanying her for her shot."

"If he even took her home, they must be getting back together." Shi Si felt that them already being back together was easier to accept than Lin Qingye unilaterally trying and failing.

"I think it'll still take some work," Ji Yan said. "The Light of Pingchuan was probably well-protected by her parents her whole life. Seeing our captain, this type of scoundrel, for who he is for the first time... it won't be that easy to forgive."

She smiled heartlessly and licked her lips. "It's her first time being deceived, after all. It has to leave a deep impression."

Ji Yan couldn't quite explain why she felt this way.

She just felt that someone like Xu Zhinan, though she looked soft, was actually stubborn and had her own set of standards. Falling for Lin Qingye the first time was an accident; a second time was basically impossible.

Shi Si, only half-understanding her reasoning, asked again, "Why did you go to the hospital today?"

"Oh, my leg was hurting a bit. From teaching dance."

Shi Si: "Is it serious?"

"It's fine. I thought I had dislocated a bone, but it turns out I just pulled a muscle. No big deal. I guess it's been too long since I've trained like that." Ji Yan rubbed her forehead and sighed. "Making money is hard."

Guan Chi sent a photo of the barbecue stall to the group chat.

[Guan Chi: I had my wife vote too. Captain, want to come grab a late-night snack with us?]

[Lin Qingye: It's too far for me to come over. You guys go ahead.]

[Guan Chi: But I looked at the poll. The Light of Pingchuan is still quite a few votes behind the ones ahead of her. Just the few of us voting isn't going to be enough.]

[Lin Qingye: Mm, I posted it on my Moments.]

Guan Chi nearly spat out a mouthful of his drink. The others also leaned in to look, then opened their Moments. Sure enough, the very first post was from Lin Qingye.

Lin Qingye's Moments was just like his Weibo account with its millions of followers—he never posted anything.

Clicking into it revealed nothing but a solitary voting link.

Lin Qingye posting on his Moments for the first time ever immediately drew a flood of replies.

Shi Si said in a daze, "He really has changed."

Guan Chi's wife, who was beside him and didn't know the whole story, just asked casually, "Aren't you guys going to help share it? This Xu Zhinan is your Sister-in-law, right? It looks like she's about to surpass sixth place. To be honest, her work in seventh place is much better-looking than the one in sixth."

In the past, Shi Si had indeed called Xu Zhinan Sister-in-law.

But it was just a casual form of address. He couldn't very well call her the Light of Pingchuan to her face, and calling her by her full name felt strange, so he simply called her Sister-in-law.

But he had never truly thought of Xu Zhinan as his sister-in-law. She was just one of his captain's girlfriends, the kind that could be replaced at any moment.

Now, it seemed the situation had completely changed.

"Fuck." Shi Si stared at the Moments post and cursed under his breath. He said to Ji Yan, "Didn't we once bet right in front of her which girl would be the first to confess to the captain? If the captain finds out, we're gonna get beaten up, right?"

Ji Yan snorted. "Look at you."

That said, since even Lin Qingye had shared it, there was no reason for them not to help. They all shared it one after another.

This group of people had nothing else in their WeChat, but they did have a lot of friends, most of whom were the type who liked to hang out. It could really create a ripple effect, spreading from one to ten, and ten to a hundred.

Xu Zhinan was completely unaware of all this, already deep asleep.

Lin Qingye didn't drive away until he saw her ranking climb to fifth place. The bustling and noisy nightlife in the city center of a metropolis like Yan City continued until two or three in the morning, making it seem like a completely different city from the area around Xu Zhinan's home.

Lin Qingye had no interest in this kind of nightlife and drove straight toward his apartment.

He took a shortcut on a narrow road. An intersection away from his apartment, a rear-end collision had just occurred. Two sports cars had crashed into each other, a red Aston Martin hitting a yellow Porsche.

The two car owners were standing in the middle of the road, probably waiting for the traffic police and insurance to handle it.

But with the two cars blocking the middle of the road like that, it was impossible to drive past.

He was already very close to his apartment, only needing to cross a small alley. Too lazy to turn back, Lin Qingye simply parked his car in a spot on the side of the road, grabbed a mask and a hat, and got out.

The small alley was silent and empty. A light rain had just fallen for half an hour, and raindrops were still trickling down from the eaves.

Lin Qingye pulled down his mask and lit a cigarette.

In the pale white smoke, he suddenly saw the silver-gray-haired woman again—the female charlatan he had encountered here before.

The items she had were more abundant than before. Next to the broken wooden table, a pole was set up, and on it was a red flag with a yellow border, inscribed with the words "Divination and Fortune-telling."

Lin Qingye stood in place for a moment, exhaled a puff of smoke, and walked up to her table.

The female charlatan didn't even raise her head as she spoke, "Why are you here again?"

Lin Qingye paused, took the cigarette from his lips, pointed at the "Divination and Fortune-telling" flag, and said flatly, "Whatever it is you do, that's what I'm here for."

The female charlatan laughed and shook her head. "Young man, you have no respect in your heart. It's useless even if I do a reading."

Last time, she had taken out a QR code for him to scan for a five-yuan fortune-telling fee.

Lin Qingye took his wallet out of his pocket, pulled out a red one-hundred-yuan bill, and placed it on her table.

The female charlatan glanced at the money, reached out to take it, held it up to the lightbulb propped on the pole next to them as if to verify its authenticity, then stuffed it into her pocket before finally looking at Lin Qingye.

"I told you last time, your love life is ill-fated." The female charlatan had been bought by the hundred-yuan bill.

"Yes."

She flicked the banknote with her finger. "I see your career is going very smoothly. A boundless future. No need to worry about that."

Lin Qingye: "No drawing of lots?"

"No need. You don't believe in the gods. It's useless even if you draw." The female charlatan said hauntingly, "If you want to resolve the misfortune in your love life, it's very simple. You must be sincere in your heart."

Lin Qingye didn't speak. She continued, "Not just sincere towards the gods and Buddhas, but more importantly, you must be sincere to the one you are fated to be with. Only by treating others with a true heart can you achieve a lasting outcome. You must understand this point."

"I also told you last time, your inner demons are too strong. They harm others and bring no benefit to yourself. You should find a way to dispel them."

Lin Qingye was quiet for a moment, then asked, "What if I can't?"

In the silence of the deep night, Lin Qingye, tall with long legs and a roguish figure, stood before such a fortune-telling stall. Across from him sat a wrinkled, eccentric old woman. The scene was very strange.

"If you can't, then you must confess everything to your fated one. As I said, only by treating others with a true heart can you achieve a lasting outcome." The charlatan fiddled with the container of fortune sticks, making some noise. "Besides, the one you are fated to be with is a devout person of profound blessings. She can enlighten you."

Too bad his fated one had no intention of seeing him ever again.

Lin Qingye let out a self-deprecating laugh and prepared to leave.

"Oh, right," the charlatan called out to him, pulling a small packet wrapped in kraft paper from her sleeve. "Of course, you can also borrow external force. For the sake of your fated one, I'll sell you this powder packet today."

Lin Qingye looked down and recognized it. This was the so-called secret formula she had tried to sell him for five hundred yuan last time.

"How much."

"No haggling." She held up one finger and wagged it from side to side. "One thousand yuan."

Lin Qingye snorted, his tone playful. "Your prices sure do rise fast. The price doubled in just a few days."

The charlatan shot him a reproachful glare and pointed an index finger at him. "That is great disrespect!"

Her words suddenly made Lin Qingye remember the past.

After the first night they met at the bar, the two added each other on WeChat but hadn't contacted each other for a long time. Until one day, he sent Xu Zhinan a message, asking where she was.

Xu Zhinan replied: What's up?

Two minutes later, she sent a location pin. It was a temple in the suburbs.

[Lin Qingye: What are you doing there?]

[Xu Zhinan: Getting some Buddhist scriptures from the master.]

Lin Qingye raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised: You believe in this stuff?