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Some of the ladies were curious.

"How could such a strong and handsome young man have any emotional baggage?"

Chen Haoming also nodded with a smile. "My friends say the same thing. How could someone as cheerful, sunny, and talkative as me have any deep-seated issues?"

This only intensified his curiosity.

How did Master Chu manage to perceive his inner turmoil?

Chu Yuening chuckled. "Emotional baggage has nothing to do with one's physique or appearance. Once it takes root, it usually stays with a person for life."

"Although Mr. Chen is now a fitness coach and appears strong, from his birth chart, it shows that he had a rather challenging childhood. Due to inadequate nutrition, he was quite frail and skinny, like a bean sprout."

Chen Haoming openly acknowledged, "Master, your analysis is accurate. I really did have a weak constitution when I was young. I often fell ill with colds."

The ladies showed an unusual level of concern for Chen Haoming.

"With muscles like those, it's hard to believe you were undernourished as a child."

"When your fortune-telling session is over, Auntie Fang will surely help you boost your sales," Chu Yuening offered.

"But Auntie Fang has a condition – you have to bring me along for practice every day," she added.

The uncles present chuckled playfully at the exchange.

"Auntie Fang, stop it! Your eyes are practically glued to Brother Chen's muscles; how can you focus on practicing?" one of them teased.

"Feh!" Auntie Fang crossed her arms in defiance, then couldn't help but smile at Chen Haoming's face. "I call this admiration, not leering. You all carry on with your jokes."

Even the macho Chen Haoming blushed from the teasing.

Chu Yuening came to the rescue. "Everyone, quiet down, I need to concentrate on giving a reading."

The neighborhood was already fond of watching Chu Yuening's daily fortune-telling sessions. Seeing that they were disrupting her work, they quieted down at once.

Soon, the bustling stall fell silent.

Neighbors waved their hands in unison, "Ning Ning, as long as you ask, we'd willingly step back a hundred meters."

Chu Yuening nodded slightly. "Thank you all."

After a moment, she immersed herself in the reading and continued, "Your birth chart reveals your frailty. The significant change occurred when you were twelve, right?"

Chen Haoming recalled and nodded. "It should be around that age. Master, you really can read it!"

Chu Yuening delved deeper into the calculation. "That year, you had just started second-year junior high. There was a group of troublemakers in your class who enjoyed bullying others."

"Most of the time, you tried to avoid them. But fate had other plans for you."

Hearing this episode from a second person, Chen Haoming's tone lost its casualness. He fell silent.

"A new female student transferred into your class. She had just moved from abroad, so she couldn't speak Cantonese, only English. Before long, you noticed these troublemakers specifically targeting her after school to bully her."

As Chu Yuening calculated, she vividly saw the scene from those days.

Back then.

At just twelve years old, Chen Haoming, not yet reaching a height of 1.5 meters, held the straps of his heavy backpack with his bony, withered hands. Standing at the corner outside the school grounds, his gaze was fixed straight ahead.

Occasionally, boisterous laughter echoed through the alleyways.

Three delinquents blocked the path of a mixed-race classmate with fair skin.

"Hey! Give us some cash, do you know how to behave?" The leader, known as Big Brother B, extended his thumb and index finger, rubbing them together while widening his eyes. "Doesn't your dad give you HKD 100 every day? Hand it over to show respect!"

The other two bullies joined in on tormenting the girl.

One, nicknamed Rubber, continuously stuck chewing gum onto her fluffy, light brown ponytail. After each application, he chewed a new piece and repeated the action.

Rubber laughed as he saw the girl trembling. "Big Brother, look, this foreigner really doesn't cry."

Big Brother B spat out a toothpick onto the ground.

"That means we aren't ruthless enough. If we were, she'd be crying in an instant!"

With that, Big Brother B snatched the hundred dollars and pulled on the girl's ponytail, ignoring her sobs. He swung the bill around and sneered maliciously, "Isn't she crying now?"

"Ghost Sister, starting from tomorrow, ask your family for two hundred dollars. A hundred won't be enough for us brothers."

The female classmate's eyes reddened, tears welling up in her sockets as she felt a mix of pain and confusion. Trying to snatch back her hair from Big Brother B, she was pushed aside by the guy behind him.

"Bro, Ghost Sister doesn't understand two hundred dollars," the rubber-soled guy said, rubbing his head awkwardly.

Big Brother B sighed impatiently, "Translate it then! How is a hundred dollars enough for the three of us to drink at a roadside stall?"

Rubber Sole scratched his head again, whispering, "I've never been good at English."

With no other options, Big Brother B was about to release his grip on the girl's ponytail.

Then, a trembling voice echoed from the alleyway.

"Let her go!"

Twelve-year-old Chen Haoming, his face dirty and clad in tattered straight-leg jeans, stood with quivering legs. His voice was small but filled with bravery as he attempted to scare off the bullies.

Young Chen Haoming was no match for the three delinquents. Beaten and bruised, he watched as Big Brother B relieved himself in a corner, then shoved the boy's face into the puddle of urine.

Warm and pungent urine choked its way down his throat through his nostrils.

This tale of the past left the neighbors astonished.

No one had imagined that the cheerful and sunny young man had once been a victim of bullying.

"Master, your fortune-telling is truly accurate," Chen Haoming said after a while, forcing a bitter smile.

His recollection of that incident was vague. It only resurfaced in his dreams during the stillness of midnight.

Even at thirty, the humiliation he endured at twelve remained deeply etched in his heart.

"You protected your female classmate but also cast a lifelong shadow over yourself," Chu Yuening continued with the reading. "The girl expressed her heartfelt gratitude to you."

"As you wished, they didn't bully her anymore. But, you became the next target of their torment."