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Wang Tianlu held a teacup, stirring the surface with its lid. "Back then, your father only knew Uncle Tao as the wealthy man. Initially, we thought the master was a fraud, but after acknowledging Uncle Tao, our lives really improved."

Finishing his sip, Wang Tianlu smiled warmly. "Uncle Tao's fortune has been good to you. You should listen and interact more with him."

"Not just good, it's like we've exchanged lives. This villa that spans hundreds of square feet, we used to visit as guests, always enviously touching everything." Sun Shuzhen beamed with pride. She surveyed the villa. "Now, it's our home, while Tao Haizhou's family is living in a partitioned flat."

The more she spoke, the more she couldn't stop.

Back then, she had coveted Tao Haizhou's wife's expensive jewelry, perfumes, and branded clothes. Tao Tai had casually given her a few items as if dealing with a beggar.

Sun Shuzhen still remembered it vividly.

After purchasing the villa, seeing the Tao family move to a poverty-stricken area to live in a subdivided flat, she had been overjoyed.

Wang Hao asked, "Dad, you said that becoming sworn relatives brings prosperity, the closer the bond, the more prosperous one becomes. Now that Uncle Tao has gone bankrupt, will anything unfortunate happen to me if I stay too long?"

Sun Shuzhen also realized the gravity of the situation. She turned to her husband, deeply concerned. "Yes, we were close before because Tao Haizhou was thriving. But now that his luck has changed for the worse, will our son be affected by being too close? Maybe it's better to cut off contact altogether."

She had worked hard to earn this money, and she didn't intend to give it up easily.

Wang Tianlu held his teacup, hesitating. "Tao Haizhou was the one who introduced us to business and even helped us connect with many clients. Now that he's in a tough spot, is it too obvious to cut off all ties?"

"Father, I've given Uncle Tao 400,000 yuan. That's already showing enough kindness," his son said.

Wang Tianlu pondered and was about to nod in agreement when a sharp rebuke echoed from outside the hall.

"Enough kindness? You've shown me more than enough kindness!"

Tao Haizhou never imagined hearing such heartless words. He had thought his friend was unaware of the implications of their adoptive relationship, but it turned out that not only did he understand, but he had planned it from the beginning!

Wang Tianlu hastily stood up to grab Tao Haizhou's arm, trying to explain. "Haizhou, things aren't as you heard them."

Tao Haizhou angrily shrugged him off. "Trying to deny it? I'm not deaf."

"Godfather," Wang Hao approached, his face pale, also wanting to explain. Originally, he had planned to gradually reduce their interactions. Now, by exposing everything at once, he had torn away the mask of his righteous facade.

He had deliberately put on an act in front of Tao Haizhou's son. Even if they didn't maintain contact, he wanted Tao Haizhou to believe that he was a better son than his own biological child.

"Enough," Tao Haizhou refused to acknowledge the title, looking at the hypocrite before him. He realized now that he had truly been blind, to have once believed that Wang Hao resembled him more than his own kind-hearted son.

"Our ties are severed from this moment on. You're no longer my adopted son, and you're not allowed to use my family's name to deceive others! Your dishonesty will eventually lead you to become nothing but trash!"

With those words spoken, it was as if a barrier had been shattered.

Tao Haizhou felt a weight lifted off his shoulders, the pent-up frustration from his bankruptcy vanishing. Only a sense of inner peace and relaxation remained.

Recalling the serene master in Temple Street, he was deeply grateful.

If not for the master's guidance,

the Tao family would have been dragged down to ruin by this long-planned pseudo-kinship, clueless as to why.

Chapter 96

In Temple Street, the crowd was still discussing Tao Haizhou's situation.

"There really is a risk in taking on an adopted child."

"Before, my aunt took in a foster child because the other family's living conditions improved significantly, but her own family ended up declining in fortune."

"They always say not to casually take in foster children."

"Listening to you all, I'm starting to feel scared too. Now I regret taking in a foster child."

Seeing that the neighbors were alarmed, Chu Yuening stood up to pour tea from the pot into cups, soothing them, "There's no need for everyone to be overly frightened. If you've taken in a foster child and haven't noticed any significant changes for the worse at home, and your family's health remains unaffected, then there's nothing to worry about."

"However," she sat back down, "it's best to consult the Eight Characters (a Chinese astrological practice) before fostering a child, to see if they align with each other's."

Neighbors echoed in agreement.

If they were incompatible, wouldn't they end up like Tao Haizhou? It was best to avert such risks beforehand.

Several people present, who had taken in godparents, grew anxious and hurried home to have their fortunes read alongside their spiritual parents.

Chu Yuening put down her teacup, smiling. "Alright, next."

The next contestant stepped forward with a beaming face.

Chu Yuening recognized at once that her elder brother was none other than Zheng Xin, the man she had encountered in the rice noodle shop the previous morning.

Zheng Xin had long been an ardent admirer of Master Chu Da's psychic prowess, having read numerous tales about the master's fortune-telling skills. However, due to his frequent sea voyages, he never found the time to visit the Temple Street.

Today marked the first time he had the chance to meet the man in person.

Supporting himself on the table, Zheng Xin sat down and couldn't help but feel a growing sense of familiarity as he gazed at the elegant and distinctive young woman before him.

Not one to keep his thoughts to himself, Zheng Xin, filled with curiosity, asked hesitantly, "Master, were you at Ah Ming's rice noodle shop the other day?"

Aware that she had been recognized, Chu Yuening smiled lightly and acknowledged, "Yes, I have been there before."

Zheng Xin slapped his forehead in regret. "Ah! If I had known Master was present, I shouldn't have been boasting. It would have been much better to let the Master speak for themselves right away."

Chu Yuening poured a cup of tea and offered it to him with a faint smile. "What do you want to calculate?"

Zheng Xin accepted the tea with a nervous smile, chuckling awkwardly. "To be honest, I'm not even sure what category to put it in."

Zheng Xin was a sailor, often voyaging across seas with his ship, spending 300 out of 365 days a year at sea. When he found himself with nothing to do on board and longing for home, he would peruse the newspapers he had brought from Hong Kong, particularly the astrology column written by Journalist Li from the Dahxi News Agency.