Page 365

"About a month ago, a man suddenly appeared at the Nine Dragons Market. He didn't say anything at first; he just examined my stall. I was gutting fish at the time, so how could I bother with him? I let him look all he wanted. After all, what did I have to lose from his gaze?"

"Well, when I finished gutting the fish, he said he wanted to buy all the fish in the tank and have them delivered to a villa."

"It would be foolish to turn down money, right? I didn't think too much about it and scooped up all the fish from the tank. I delivered them to the address he gave me. After that, he started coming to my stall regularly. Sometimes he'd stay for the whole afternoon, and as he left, he'd ask me to send fish over according to our usual arrangement."

The fishmonger vividly remembered being awestruck by the size of the villa when he arrived.

As he reminisced, a hint of yearning appeared in his eyes.

"The villa was enormous, hundreds of square meters. The kitchen alone was as big as my room, and there were several Bentleys in the parking lot. At first, I thought I had encountered a wealthy man who appreciated the quality of my fish."

"But then, he actually came almost every day to the fish stall."

Mai Yufeng's expression turned pained as he recalled those days.

Initially, Mai Yufeng hadn't given it much thought.

He assumed the gentleman was simply bored and visited the market to watch him gut fish for amusement.

Until...

"He started inviting me to dinner at his villa, saying he wanted to get to know me better."

At this point, Mai Yufeng's emotions grew agitated. The mere thought of being on another man's radar made him shiver with goosebumps.

"Neighbors, tell me, what does a man want when he says he wants to understand another man? You won't believe it, but there was one time he even asked me to go to the bathroom together."

"At that time, I didn't think much of it. But once we were in there, he kept sneaking glances at me down below."

Recalling this scene now, Mai Yufeng still couldn't help but feel the urge to protect himself.

Horrible.

Absolutely horrifying.

"How is this a wealthy man? He's a plain psychopath!"

Mai Yufeng's neighbors burst into another round of laughter at his tale.

Mai Yufeng continued, "I was so scared that I ran away. After that, when he approached me again, I ignored him."

"He must have seen that I wasn't responding, so he tried to entice me with an offer. He said his friend owned a five-star hotel and needed a lot of seafood. He asked me to deliver it sometime and promised a whole ten thousand yuan for a single order."

The neighbors gasped in astonishment.

"Ten thousand yuan! Think about it, Mai Yufeng could actually make a profit from this."

"Exactly. Just one look from him could potentially bring in tens of thousands, a million wouldn't be a problem!"

"Well, if it's only for a look, you could let him see you a few more times for ten thousand yuan."

"Mai Yufeng, with such a lucrative opportunity right in front of you, are you really going to let it slip?"

"Since he likes you, why not pretend to reciprocate his feelings and switch to another place to sell fish after you've made the money?"

Seeing that his neighbors weren't sympathetic but were instead egging him on, Mai Yufeng wore a tragic expression.

"Are you kidding? Although I, Mai Yufeng, am short on cash, I would never sell my body for just a small profit."

Mai Yufeng couldn't endure the harassment from his own gender any longer and hastily sought help with a pleading look towards Chu Yuening.

Chu Yuening, sipping her tea, silently analyzed Mai Yufeng's words.

"Master, please find a way to assist me," Mai Yufeng said, feeling both amused and exasperated.

"Alright," Chu Yuening put down her teacup and took hold of Mai Yufeng's birth chart. "I'll calculate for you first. Sometimes, one's affinity with the same sex can also be seen from their birth chart."

Upon hearing that she could calculate it, Mai Yufeng immediately sat up straight, even waving his hand to dispel the stench around him, afraid of offending the master with the odor.

Chu Yuening continued, "Let's start with your family situation. In your birth chart, except for the day pillar, all the other pillars are odd numbers, indicating solitude. The day pillar also connects to the parent stars. This suggests that you are an only child and the last-born in your family."

"People with such a birth chart usually have a very affluent childhood, deeply cherished by their parents."

Recalling his childhood, Mai Yufeng's anxious expression softened into a smile. "Master, you're correct. I am indeed my parents' last-born and have been greatly doted on by them."

Chu Yuening proceeded with the calculation, "During adolescence, your parents' blessings came to an end. Due to your body odor, you couldn't continue school and took over your father's fish stall."

Mai Yufeng nodded repeatedly. "Master, you're spot on. My body odor did worsen after my teenage years."

"That's something that can be inferred without calculations," Chu Yuening explained. "Body odor, also known as bromhidrosis, is caused by excessive secretion from the apocrine glands. Before puberty, when the sex glands haven't matured yet, it's rarely noticeable. But once you reach puberty and the sex glands develop, it becomes more evident."

"Makes sense now," Mai Yufeng sighed repeatedly. "This issue has really ruined my life. I used to have two female classmates to hang out with, but once the odor started, not only did I lose all the guys, even my male friends distanced themselves from me."

A neighbor asked, "They have surgeries for body odor these days, why don't you consider it?"

Mai Yufeng replied, "I didn't have the means when I was younger. Now, with my parents growing old and often falling ill, the money I earn needs to support the family and pay for their medical bills. Even with the government's social security benefits, it's still not enough."

The neighbors nodded in agreement.

Indeed.

Hong Kong had high living costs, which meant supporting the elderly was even more expensive. Relying on government subsidies and Mai Yufeng's income from selling fish was insufficient for daily expenses.

Seeing the gloomy mood, Mai Yufeng tried to lighten the atmosphere. "Don't worry, once I make some money, the first thing I'll do is get the surgery. I won't stink forever."

His self-deprecating joke lifted the spirits once again.

Meanwhile, Chu Yuening continued her divination. "In the ten years since your puberty, your financial prospects have been average, and your romantic life has been virtually non-existent. However... are you currently in a relationship?"