I lowered my head helplessly before exiting her bedroom with the book in my hands.
She followed behind and locked the room.
I walked toward the courtyard and turned to Granny’s side of the house.
I tried pushing the door open but it was locked.
I went over to the windows but they were also tightly shut.
Just as I was feeling lost and vexed, Wu Su pointed at her door, saying,
Whenever she forgot her keys, she would flip the carpet over.
I turned toward her.
Thanks…
She replied coldly,
It might not be there anymore.
I bent down and lifted the carpet.
There was a single yellow key.
I picked it up happily and unlocked the door.
The house was extremely messy. It wasn’t messy in the sense that it hadn’t been tidied in a long time, but rather in a very cluttered way.
I felt a sudden urge to get movers to clear this place.
The place contained everything from ancient wooden pieces of furniture to modern bean bag sofa.
On the European-styled table was a purple sand tea set.
I knew that these weren’t bought by granny.
She was a hoarder, collecting everything she could find.
She only brought things home but never the other way round.
I shifted the bean bag sofa and plopped down on it.
I opened the book once more, going through the first and second page.
There were three words on the second page –
Sincerity begets actualization.
The further I get with it, the more pictures appeared instead of words.
Completely baffled, I tried piecing Granny and Wu Su’s words together.
I started questioning the book.
I had initially thought of learning from it to be able read my own fortune just for fun, but it seemed that it was going to take a few years.
I flipped through the pages, discovering that the content just becomes increasingly more difficult. The final few pages, however, were simple.
There were big blueprints identifying the scope of value for both sides of the four copper coins.
Only a tortoiseshell that was separated from the tortoise for more than a year could be used. The four coins had to be from a certain manufacturing year.
I closed the book and left the house to scour a flea market about three kilometers away.
I found the shell, its appearance startlingly older than it was. It was definitely more than a year old and it was commendable that the owner had actually dared to take it out to sell it.
Finding the coins, however, was extremely difficult.
Brand new coins were cheap but I didn’t dare to purchase those.
The damaged and old ones were exorbitantly priced at 500 a coin. Four coins were going to cost me 2,000.
Frustrated, I went home to think of other solutions.
When I arrived at the door, I realized that I only had the key to my house and not the main gate.
After a few knocks on the door, Wu Su came out.
She took one look at the things in my hand and rolled her eyes. She said disdainfully,
You’re really going into that stuff?
Granny’s orders. I can’t be unfilial, can I?
Wu Su forced a smile.
Hey, can I ask you something?
What?
Do you still have your dad’s fortune telling coins? I can’t find them anywhere.
Yup.
Can you lend them to me?
I can, but you’ll have to return the coins and the book to me once you’re done with them.
Why? I thought you don’t want them?
You’re still young and I don’t wish for you to follow in my dad’s footsteps. Keeping those things away from you is all I can do.
I nodded.
Alright. I’m just satisfying my curiosity anyway.
Wu Su returned to her room and came out with the coins.
Do these really work?
I asked, eyeing the coins.
That’s what your grandmother believes.
I nodded and brought them back into my house.
Wu Su followed and stopped by my door.
Do you want to come in?
I offered.
Nah, too stuffy,
she declined.
I plopped back down onto the bean bag sofa and started reading the book.
The instructions on the first page stated that knowing a person’s name was enough to read his or her fortune. I thought that that was too sloppy, but I still gave it a try.
I repeated my name in my head, shaking the tortoiseshell with the coins in them.
The coins fell out and I read them according to the chart.
What is it?
Wu Su asked.
It says that I can earn millions.
Lol.
Let me try it again and I’ll see if it’s accurate,
I said before putting the coins back into the shell.
The outcome seemed different but reading the chart gave me the same end result.
I tried yet again and received the same reading.
Three times. That’s incredible,
I mumbled.
Forget it,
Wu Su snorted.
How about I read it for you once?
I suggested.
Wu Su reached her hand out.
Give them back to me, I’ll keep them. You need to stop this nonsense before it ruins your future.
Fine. I don’t believe in it anyway,
I said before gathering the items.
I moved forward a few steps and was tripped by a water bucket.
The coins came falling out and a yellow piece of paper, seemingly the last page, slipped out from the book.
Are you alright?
Wu Su exclaimed.
I saw the coins rolling under the table. I muttered,
Sorry, sorry.
It’s fine, don’t apologize,
Wu Su said, bending down to pick up the piece of paper.
The next thing I knew, she was covering her mouth and crying.
Why are you crying?
She handed the piece of paper to me.
The words on the paper were as illegible as Granny’s.
I read it aloud with much effort,
Su Su, I don’t know when you’ll be able to read this letter. You hate me so passionately, so I guess never? The items in the house are real. I’ve never lied to anyone. Your grandfather read my fortune the moment I was born. I have what they call a 5-yuan life, which is why he made sure I live off them forever. I will die if I earn more than five yuan. I’m writing this as you’re going off to university. Your mom’s in an accident and theoretically speaking, inheritance isn’t considered a profit but she actually had an insurance payout of about 250,000.
You needed the money for school, however, and I had to be the one signing the paper. Our family’s fallen into a difficult situation ever since your grandfather’s death. I had no choice but to sign the paper with my 5-yuan life on the line. I got this house with the money and left it for you. I don’t see this as a wasteful death, but I just hope that you won’t see me as a liar your whole life. I’ve calculated your fortune and I am not worried since you’ll lead a millionaire life. Love, Dad.
Wu Su was bawling her eyes out and I didn’t know what to do.
Three years later, we got married.
Millionaire life? Both of us? It must be our destiny.
I took care of her in every way possible, and our married life was great.
We had a boy, but because Wu Su burned the book, I wasn’t able to read his fortune.
My job paid 4,000 a month and so did Wu Su’s.
No matter how I looked at it, it seemed unlikely that we were meant to be rich.
After some thought, I concluded that we were at least going to live long and gain some easy money along the way.
Things weren’t that simple, evidently.
Inflation rose ridiculously, and a bowl of plain noodles no longer cost 10 yuan but 100, and then 1,000.
Similarly, in 30 years’ time, my pay rose from 3,000 to 300,000 a month.
It was only a matter of time before we started earning millions and millions.
