The old lady kept kowtowing to Zhang Chu, pleading for him to find a way to turn her son back into a boy.
But Zhang Chu didn’t help her up.
At that moment, he simply said calmly, “I’m sorry, but I’m powerless in this matter.”
“What? Why not?” the old lady asked.
Zhang Chu explained, “Truth be told, you and your husband were indeed fated to have a son. But in this lifetime, you’ve accumulated a lot of bad karma.”
“What bad karma?” the old lady immediately denied.
Zhang Chu continued faintly, “Let’s take the character you wrote earlier as an example.”
With a casual gesture, Ye Lei quickly fetched the piece of paper and handed it to Zhang Chu.
Pointing at it, Zhang Chu said, “This character is short and somewhat distorted. In feng shui, this is called a ‘sin pattern.’”
“If a child has ever died by your hand, this kind of sin pattern appears.”
“Though the character you wrote is simple, the sin pattern has formed a line. I think the real reason is something only you know, madam.”
Hearing this, the old lady admitted, “Yes, I used to work in family planning, giving abortion injections to women.”
“But that was my job! What does it have to do with me?”
Zhang Chu replied calmly, “Taking a life with your own hands creates a sin pattern. As for the reasoning, arguing with me won’t change it. The cycle of heaven brings retribution upon you.”
“Then why punish my son? Punish me instead!” the old lady cried.
Zhang Chu said evenly, “It has been punishing you and your husband. I’d wager your husband died of illness, and you’ve got cancer—that’s the retribution.”
“As for your son, perhaps because you and your husband had strong fates, you lived safely in your youth, so part of the retribution shifted to him.”
Sighing, Zhang Chu added, “Madam, get up and go home. I can’t help you.”
“As for your son—no, your daughter now—becoming a woman might not mean a life of suffering.”
“Maybe, for her, being a woman is a better destiny.”
After hearing Zhang Chu, the old lady seemed to lose all strength, collapsing to the ground with a thud.
Zhang Chu waved a hand, “Ye Lei, see her out.”
“Oh,” Ye Lei responded, looking helplessly at the old lady.
Soon, she left.
From start to finish, Zhang Chu didn’t take a penny from her.
Because her life was nearing its end, and since he’d seen her imminent death, per the fortune-telling trade’s rules, he couldn’t charge unless she offered first.
By evening, a fat man stepped into the shop.
One look at his face, and Zhang Chu’s eyes lit up.
From that glance, he sensed a major issue with the man’s ancestral grave.
Typically, such grave troubles hinted at encountering a “dragon.”
In some cases, a snake in a graveyard could be deemed a “dragon.”
So, seeing this fat man enter, Zhang Chu was instantly delighted.
The man carried a leather bag under his arm, dressed neatly despite a big belly. With a flat-top haircut, he looked approachable yet carried the air of a big boss.
“Well, well, you must be Zhang Chu, the divine Zhang!” Though a boss, he bowed and offered a cigarette, clearly a people-pleaser.
Zhang Chu quickly said, “I don’t smoke.”
Hearing this, the fat man promptly tucked away the cigarette he’d been about to light, then carefully sat across from Zhang Chu.
“Divine Zhang, let me introduce myself. My surname’s Zhu. Call me Boss Zhu or Old Zhu, whatever works.”
Zhang Chu nodded, “Alright, what do you want to know?”
Though he’d spotted the issue, fortune-telling usually started with the client’s request.
Old Zhu jumped in, “Divine Zhang, it’s a big deal. My wife’s parents’ grave got dug up. We reported it to the police, but two days later, there’s still no lead.”
“My guys suggested getting a fortune-teller to check it out. Then it hit me—your reputation!”
“Can you figure out where my wife’s parents got taken?”
Zhang Chu paused, “What’s that? Your in-laws’ grave was dug up?”
“You bet!” The fat man looked frantic. “What kind of thief does that? There’s nothing valuable in my in-laws’ grave.”
“My father-in-law’s been dead ten years, my mother-in-law over three. Why would anyone steal their coffins?”
Zhang Chu’s expression turned odd.
He sensed that this fat boss’s own ancestral grave had issues too—signs of “coffin disturbance.”
But since the man wasn’t here for that, Zhang Chu wanted to hear about his in-laws first.
“Tell me slowly, let’s figure this out,” Zhang Chu said.
The fat man began, “Here’s the deal: a few days ago, my wife had bad luck. She twisted her ankle at a temple while burning incense, and a thief snatched her phone.”
“That day, I didn’t think much of it. But when I mentioned it to some employees, one of them—an amateur feng shui buff—said sudden bad luck might mean trouble with the ancestral grave.”
“He’s a bit of a dabbler, so I brushed it off.”
“But when I got home and told my wife, she decided to visit her parents’ grave the next day.”
“She got there and found their grave dug up, coffins gone…”
Zhang Chu asked, “Just this incident?”
The fat man nodded, “Yeah, just that. I reported it that day, but her parents’ hometown is a rural mountain area—probably a tough case to crack.”
“Then it hit me: maybe a skilled feng shui master could help. So here I am.”
Zhang Chu nodded, “I can handle this, but I’ll need to see your wife and visit the grave site.”
“Great! Can I pick you up tomorrow?” the fat man asked.
Zhang Chu agreed, “Sure.”
It was already evening. After settling the matter, the fat man left a business card and some deposit money, then bid Zhang Chu farewell.
Zhang Chu had Ye Lei close up, planning to check the grave tomorrow.
And maybe, while sorting it out, he’d find some “dragon-moving earth.”
