101: Chapter 101 Fortune Telling and Inquiry

"Haaah."

Chen Moxuan jolted awake as if from a dream, his heart pounding wildly.

"Where is this?"

He muttered to himself, scanning his surroundings.

It appeared to be an office, though it was empty now, with only the computer screen in front of him flickering in the darkness.

It was displaying the proposal he had been rewriting all night.

"I remember now... I was working overtime."

Long-buried memories slowly surfaced, and Chen Moxuan realized with a start.

His supervisor had a last-minute proposal that needed to be finalized before Monday, so he had been asked to come to the office to work overtime.

Because he had submitted multiple versions that were consistently rejected, he had been rewriting it from Saturday morning until Sunday dawn.

While waiting for his leader's reply, he stumbled upon a novel and took the opportunity to read it.

Perhaps he was too exhausted; he didn't know when he had fallen into a deep sleep, and in his dream, he had actually lived through the story using that novel as the material.

"This dream was way too long and real."

Chen Moxuan couldn't help but sigh. He took out his phone and saw that it was already nine o'clock on Sunday morning.

He had sent the latest version of the proposal to his leader at one in the morning, but the message box remained silent until now.

In all likelihood, the other person had long since fallen asleep and hadn't woken up yet.

"Grumble—"

Right on cue, a growl from his stomach voiced its protest.

Chen Moxuan suddenly remembered that he hadn't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon.

"I should go downstairs to buy something to eat first."

He muttered to himself, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his mouth,

"Otherwise, I might really end up like the protagonist in the novel, dying from overwork and then experiencing Transmigration to another world."

Chen Moxuan went to the nearest convenience store downstairs, bought a grilled sausage, a few steamed buns, and a bottle of milk.

Even though he was extremely hungry, he didn't like to eat while walking.

He found a public bench, placed a tissue on it, and sat down.

While eating, he picked up his phone to browse the novel.

The story's ending was roughly akin to a deus ex machina.

After a long battle, the protagonist, who had become invincible, was suddenly confronted by an enemy from the heavens.

Perhaps the author didn't want to write anymore, or perhaps the author couldn't figure out how the protagonist could reasonably defeat the creator of the world's rules.

Many plot holes were left unfilled, and a conclusion was hastily slapped on.

In short, it was a rushed ending.

Chen Moxuan checked the comments section, and sure enough, a significant number of people were complaining.

He also felt the ending was terrible and deeply agreed with the comments criticizing it.

Until he saw one particular comment.

"A trashy book. The protagonist is just a brute. If you ask me, he should have chosen to surrender, bided his time while pretending to cooperate, and secretly gathered strength to wait for an opportunity."

For some reason, the moment he saw this comment, Chen Moxuan, who rarely expressed opinions online, was suddenly overcome by a strong urge.

It was as if the person was criticizing not the novel's character, but him.

Almost subconsciously, he immediately retorted under the comment:

"If the protagonist chose to surrender at the end, it would be a total negation of everything he went through; that would be the truly terrible ending."

Unexpectedly, the commenter seemed to be right there in front of their phone, replying to his comment in seconds:

"What's so hard about enduring? If you don't have the strength, you should keep your tail tucked. As someone experiencing Transmigration, you don't even have that much Heart-Nature?"

Just as Chen Moxuan was about to strike back, a message suddenly popped up on his phone screen.

It was his leader.

"Xiao Chen, I've received your latest proposal; it's written well."

"But there are still some minor flaws that need to be modified."

Chen Moxuan suppressed the irritation in his heart and replied:

"Brother Li, may I ask where the modifications are needed?"

The other end of the phone was silent for a long, long time before a new message popped up:

"I think you need to adjust the content structure, and then optimize the creative presentation."

"Revise it one last time; the higher-ups attach great importance to this proposal."

Looking at this vague reply, Chen Moxuan realized instantly that his leader hadn't even seriously looked at his proposal.

He took a deep breath and typed into the chat box:

"I don't want to do this anymore."

But his thumb hovered over the send button for a long time, unable to press it.

Just then, a call came in.

Chen Moxuan looked down, and the caller ID made his heart tremble. He answered the phone.

"Hello, Mom, what's wrong?"

"Moxuan, have you seen the psychologist I recommended to you earlier?"

Chen Moxuan was stunned, then remembered.

Not long ago, he had posted on his social media, basically recording the achievement of having suffered from insomnia for a month.

But who knew he had slipped up that day and set it to public instead of private.

His mother called to ask what was going on, and Chen Moxuan explained that it might be due to too much stress recently.

So, his mother later asked around among relatives and recommended a psychologist to him.

He later looked up that psychologist; the fee was 1000 per hour.

"I've been busy lately and haven't had time to see them yet," Chen Moxuan replied.

"Isn't it Sunday today? Is your company not on holiday?"

"There are some urgent matters that require overtime, but I will find time to go later."

"Alright, you are out there on your own; you must take good care of yourself."

The topic suddenly shifted, and Chen Moxuan's mother began the mandatory topic of every phone call.

"You've bought a house now, so it's about time you found someone to get married and have children with."

"Mom, I still owe more than ten years of mortgage payments. How is raising a child that easy? With the current economic environment..."

"Why can't you raise one? Back in the day, Mom struggled on her own and still managed to raise you, didn't I? Your conditions now are much better than mine were back then."

"Mom is getting old, and I just hope to hold a chubby grandson soon..."

Chen Moxuan knew his mother's stubbornness well; if he continued to argue, it would only fall into an endless cycle.

He listened quietly to the nagging on the other end of the phone, and when his mother paused, he interrupted:

"Mom, I still have some things to do at the company, I'm hanging up now."

After hanging up, Chen Moxuan sat stunned, staring blankly for a long while.

He then picked up his phone, deleted the five characters in the chat box with his leader, and replied with one sentence.

"Okay."

With multiple constraints upon him, patience had worn down his temper, becoming a habit etched into his bones.

To him, resistance when the consequences were known required more courage than endurance.

Chen Moxuan stood up, gathered his trash, threw it into the nearest bin, and prepared to return to the company.

Suddenly, a person dressed like a Jianghu charlatan, wearing a pair of round sunglasses, caught his attention.

He didn't know when that person had set up a small stall there and erected a sign.

The sign read: Fortune telling and solving puzzles, divination and asking the heart, 50 yuan per person.

"In this day and age, you can actually still see this kind of profession?"

Chen Moxuan felt it was quite rare and approached:

"Great Master, what does 50 yuan per person mean?"

The Jianghu charlatan half-removed his sunglasses to glance at Chen Moxuan, then put them back on:

"As long as you have something you want to ask, I can answer, answering until you are satisfied. 50 yuan per person, no time limit."

Upon hearing this, Chen Moxuan became interested and scanned the QR code on the stall to pay fifty yuan.

Psychological counseling costs 1000 yuan per hour, while fortune telling is 50 yuan with no time limit.

There was no need to say which was more cost-effective.

But just after the payment was completed, before Chen Moxuan could ask, the Jianghu charlatan spoke first:

"Has the young friend recently experienced a great dream?"