Chapter 104 Dazed

Chapter 104: Bewilderment

Old Qin’s palm-leaf fan clattered to the ground from the sudden shout. What was going on?

Yan Zhoubai was also startled, unsure what the middle-aged man was yelling about.

Initially, Yan Zhoubai could tell the man didn’t trust him. He’d even asked if Yan Zhoubai was working part-time to pay for school, his tone suggesting a test, as if he doubted Yan Zhoubai was a genuine fortune-teller.

Yan Zhoubai didn’t argue. He simply offered to read the man’s palm, promising to reveal his biggest recent worry and its solution.

The middle-aged man was reluctant, implying Yan Zhoubai lacked skill and that a reading would be a waste of time. He only agreed when Yan Zhoubai offered a free reading if it proved inaccurate.

Once the man agreed, Yan Zhoubai sighed. Business was indeed tough; even his first client required the lure of a free service.

Reading the man’s fortune was no challenge for Yan Zhoubai; his skills were more than adequate.

He simply detailed how the man’s sister-in-law’s father-in-law had recently fallen gravely ill and needed surgery. The sister-in-law’s family couldn’t afford the medical expenses and had sought a loan from his family. Though his family had the money, they were unwilling to lend it, and this was the source of his recent distress.

After Yan Zhoubai finished speaking, he saw the middle-aged man’s stunned expression.

Most fortune-tellers might deduce that his worries involved money or relatives, but none would be this specific, even indirectly linking the cause to his sister-in-law’s father-in-law’s illness.

Yan Zhoubai assured him he hadn’t cheated. He genuinely possessed this level of skill and hadn’t resorted to using any talismans his master had given him.

Yan Zhoubai blinked his large eyes, looking particularly innocent and devoid of any seasoned charlatan’s air. He calmly stated, “Was I accurate, sir? If so, you’ll need to pay.”

The middle-aged man, still caught up in his excitement, showed no hesitation this time when Yan Zhoubai mentioned payment. He immediately pulled out his phone to pay.

Yan Zhoubai calmly produced the double-sided, black-and-white printed QR code he’d prepared in advance and held it up to the man.

He had secretly printed this QR code using Zhan Jiayu’s office printer.

At the time, he’d silently grumbled about the lack of a color printer in Zhan Jiayu’s office, but then realized he probably wouldn’t need one later anyway. He doubted Zhan Jiayu used the printer much himself.

After all, he was the boss. Bosses only needed to review printed documents and sign them.

The man scanned the code and paid, then immediately asked Yan Zhoubai for more readings.

His earlier shout had quite an effect—several people nearby were drawn over and gathered around Yan Zhoubai’s stall.

Seeing so many people approach at once, Yan Zhoubai felt a little nervous, though the slight upward curve of his lips betrayed his true excitement.

…

That evening, Yan Zhoubai returned home, pulling his small cart and humming a tune as he stepped inside. When he turned on the light, he nearly jumped in fright.

“Why didn’t you turn on the lights? I thought no one was home—you scared me.”

Someone was home. Zhan Jiayu was sitting on the living room couch with a laptop on his knees. The screen’s faint blue light reflected off his glasses, giving him an eerie, almost ghostly aura.

Yes, Zhan Jiayu was wearing glasses. Yan Zhoubai had never seen him wear glasses before.

They were silver-rimmed and should have looked scholarly, but to Yan Zhoubai, peering through those blue-tinted lenses, Zhan Jiayu’s dark pupils gave him the feeling of being watched by a snake in the dark.

The thought sent a shiver down Yan Zhoubai’s spine, and he quickly shook his head to dispel it.

“I just got back. I was dealing with an urgent email and didn’t have time to turn on the lights. I have a small night light on beside me.”

As soon as Zhan Jiayu spoke, that gloomy atmosphere vanished. The silver-rimmed glasses no longer looked so strange on him.

Yan Zhoubai noticed then that there was indeed a small night light beside Zhan Jiayu, but its glow was so dim it was even fainter than the light seeping through the curtains from the building across the street. Yan Zhoubai hadn’t noticed it at all.

“Didn’t you have the day off today? Why are you still dealing with emails at this hour?”

Yan Zhoubai abandoned his cart and hurried over to sit beside Zhan Jiayu.

Zhan Jiayu never deliberately hid his work emails from Yan Zhoubai, but Yan Zhoubai was always polite and never looked too closely.

Truthfully, even if he glanced at them, they were all in foreign languages. With his limited language skills, he couldn’t extract any information from the few words he caught.

Zhan Jiayu casually closed the laptop on his knees, tossed it onto the coffee table, and pulled Yan Zhoubai into his arms.

“I was too bored home alone, so I started on next week’s work early.”

Zhan Jiayu rested his chin on Yan Zhoubai’s fluffy hair, nuzzling it lightly, as if trying to shake off the weariness of work.

“Ah, were you that bored? You even started working early.”

Staying home alone with the lights off, even wearing glasses—he seemed a bit pitiful.

“Yeah. Usually, I’m just working. After returning to the country, most of my time has been spent dealing with my uncles. Lately, they’ve been quiet, so I don’t have much to do.”

Zhan Jiayu’s voice was low. With his chin on Yan Zhoubai’s head, one arm around Yan Zhoubai’s shoulder and the other resting on his thigh, his index finger tapped lightly as if keeping time to some rhythm.

Yan Zhoubai suddenly sprang up, slipping out of Zhan Jiayu’s embrace.

“I won’t go set up my stall tomorrow. I’ll stay with you.”

He had originally planned to set up his stall every day after finishing his other work, but now it seemed that might not be feasible. After all, he was someone with a partner now.

“Okay.”

Zhan Jiayu leaned down and kissed Yan Zhoubai’s cheek.

“How was business today?”

“Let me tell you, at first, no one came at all. I was just sitting there on my little stool, feeling really awkward. But then this middle-aged guy showed up. He didn’t really trust me at first…”

Yan Zhoubai grew animated as he spoke, his expression lively, eager to share every detail and twist of the day with Zhan Jiayu.

Zhan Jiayu sat quietly, listening. When Yan Zhoubai got too excited, he’d sometimes stammer—a remnant of his old habit resurfacing in his enthusiasm.

Zhan Jiayu would patiently help him sort out the sequence of events and reorganize his thoughts.

As Yan Zhoubai spoke, his gaze settled on Zhan Jiayu’s eyes, focused intently on him.

It felt really good to have someone listen to him so attentively.

What Yan Zhoubai didn’t know was that Zhan Jiayu had already heard most of the story from Old Qin—Old Qin had even sent him a few photos.

The photos were tucked behind his email interface; a simple switch would bring them up.

So of course he also knew that many of the onlookers Yan Zhoubai briefly mentioned weren’t there for fortune-telling or feng shui—they were there for Yan Zhoubai.

Most of them were young men and women.

Those who wanted to scan probably weren’t aiming for Yan Zhoubai’s payment code—they were likely after his friend code.

“Why are you wearing glasses today? You’re not nearsighted, are you?”

Yan Zhoubai finally finished recounting all the delightful events of his first day setting up a stall, talking until his mouth was dry and even pausing midway to grab a can of cola from the fridge.

After finishing, he finally turned his attention to Zhan Jiayu’s glasses.

“Not nearsighted, but staring at a computer screen for long periods strains the eyes. These are for protection—no prescription. You can wear them too.”

As he spoke, Zhan Jiayu took off his glasses and placed them on Yan Zhoubai’s face.

Yan Zhoubai wasn’t nearsighted and had never worn glasses before, so he found it quite novel. As soon as they were on, he quickly pulled out his phone, switched to selfie mode, and eagerly checked out how he looked with them on.

Pretty good-looking, heh heh.

“Xiao Chuaner, did you make any new friends while setting up your stall today?”

Out of the blue, while Yan Zhoubai was still immersed in the novelty of wearing glasses for the first time, Zhan Jiayu offhandedly asked.

“Huh? New friends? No, I was out there running a business. No new friends, but I did have a lot of new customers today.”

Yan Zhoubai, lost in his own happiness, didn’t notice the shift in the mood of the person beside him.

“Didn’t you say many of the people who came to your stall today were students from nearby universities or students on summer vacation? All quite young, right?”

Among the photos Old Qin had sent Zhan Jiayu, one showed several college-aged girls gathered around Yan Zhoubai taking selfies, with Yan Zhoubai even flashing a peace sign at the camera.

At the time, Zhan Jiayu had been on the phone with Jasmine, but when he saw that photo, he hung up immediately.

Did Yan Zhoubai even realize how captivating he looked? Those girls practically had “I like you” written all over their faces. And he had a boyfriend now—didn’t he know he should avoid such situations?

Outwardly, Zhan Jiayu appeared calm and composed, sitting comfortably on the sofa in his gray loungewear, looking every bit the scene of a relaxing weekend. Inwardly, though, he was seething with jealousy.

But he had to hold it in—he couldn’t let himself lose his composure in front of Yan Zhoubai.

“Ah, now that you mention it, a few did ask for my contact info, but I didn’t give it to any of them. I only do in-person business, not online.”

Yan Zhoubai emphasized that he had principles.

It was only then that he noticed Zhan Jiayu seemed upset. Wasn't everything okay a second ago? What was wrong?

“Xiao Chuaner, you need to have an accurate understanding of yourself. You’re very attractive. They weren’t looking for online fortune-telling—they wanted to get to know you.”

“Don’t casually take photos with others. It’ll make me angry.”

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Author’s note: Here you go [melting]

I was supposed to go home tomorrow, but something came up last minute, so I changed to a standing-only ticket [bursting into tears]