37: Chapter 37 Your first half of life was smooth, but your second half was full of hardships.

"Your name is Qingyan, meaning clear as an inkstone, a balance of motion and stillness. 'Qing' has water, 'Yan' has earth; water and earth nourish each other, smooth sailing..."

Shen Weiyue's eyes were slightly closed, his left hand kneading Zhao Qingyan's right hand under the desk, from the palm to the fingers, and then from the fingers to the wrist, appearing very professional.

At least in the art of playing the charlatan, he was momentarily quite impressive.

"What a good name! Whoever named you must have had it calculated. Let me take a look at your fortune."

Shen Weiyue opened his eyes, staring at Zhao Qingyan with a solemn expression, but before he could look for long, he heard Teacher Liang calling out:

"Shen Weiyue, what are you doing?"

"Oh, Teacher Liang, I'm asking a question."

Shen Weiyue hurriedly pulled his hand back. Once his name was called, everyone looked over. If they discovered he was holding the hand of the aloof School Beauty, he wouldn't be able to clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

"Hmm, it's good for classmates to help each other, but don't use it as an excuse for petty tricks. There are forty-nine days left on the countdown, do you understand?"

"Yes, Teacher Liang, I understand."

Shen Weiyue broke out in a cold sweat. Did this young lady Liang Muzi actually discover it?

He picked up his pen and began to study seriously, not daring to act mysterious anymore.

But Zhao Qingyan wouldn't have it; the conversation had only reached the halfway point, and he hadn't given a further explanation of her fortune yet.

After waiting for two seconds, she poked Shen Weiyue's thigh with her pen and whispered: "Continue, you haven't finished calculating yet."

"Calculate what, damn it? Teacher Liang has already caught us; it seems like she's targeting me..."

"I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of? Hurry up."

Zhao the Fox poked him again, which felt itchy and a bit painful.

Shen Weiyue wanted to rub his thigh with his hand, but as soon as his hand was under the desk, Zhao the Fox thought he wanted to read her palm again and actually offered her right hand.

So this time, their fingers interlocked, holding each other perfectly.

"What the..." Shen Weiyue was stunned and hurriedly broke free. "Fox! I'm not that kind of person, don't you dare try to take advantage of me!"

Zhao Qingyan was so angry her face turned black; she couldn't maintain her aloof composure at all. She pinched his ribs and said viciously: "You stinky pig, Stinky Donkey, who wants to take advantage of you? Didn't you say you wanted to read my palm?"

"I'm not reading it anymore; I already read it just now."

Seeing that this little lady was about to explode, Shen Weiyue hurriedly handed over his draft notebook: "This time I'll calculate your fortune using the Plum Blossom Yi Numerology."

"What for?"

"Don't think; whatever numbers pop into your head, just write them down. Write two."

"89, 69."

Zhao Qingyan wrote down two numbers without a second thought.

Shen Weiyue took the notebook back and started fiddling with his pen on it. Zhao Qingyan clearly saw him doing division.

"89 ÷ 8 = 11, remainder 1. The upper trigram is Qian."

"69 ÷ 8 = 8, remainder 4. The lower trigram is Zhen."

"The original hexagram is the Heaven-Thunder Wuwang hexagram..."

(89 + 69) ÷ 6 = 26, remainder 2. The second line changes, so the resulting hexagram is the Fire-Thunder Shi He hexagram...

"The nuclear hexagram's upper trigram is Gen, and the lower trigram is Xun, Mountain-Wind Gu."

"So the original hexagram is Wuwang, the resulting hexagram is Shi He, and the nuclear hexagram is Gu..."

Shen Weiyue wrote down a bunch of things, then suddenly asked without looking up: "What did you want to calculate again? Are you like Ning Xi, wanting to calculate your marriage?"

"No." Zhao Qingyan tossed her head. "I want to calculate my life."

"??? That's way too broad. Be more specific; pick one like career, marriage, love, or money."

"Then calculate whether I will be happy in the future."

Zhao Qingyan refused to choose from the categories he mentioned, instead asking something Shen Weiyue knew without even needing to calculate.

Will she be happy in the future? Of course not. Dammit, she's already depressed; how can she be happy?

Shen Weiyue sighed in his heart and decided to take the opportunity to give her some advice. He pretended to close his eyes, pinched his fingertips, and muttered something under his breath.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance in them, and began to interpret the hexagram:

"The original hexagram is Wuwang, which is very auspicious. It implies that the beginning will be smooth and you will be able to realize your ideals..."

"The nuclear hexagram is Shi He, representing that there will be setbacks in the process; it won't always go smoothly..."

"The resulting hexagram is Gu, indicating that the outcome is not very good. It suggests that you need to make adjustments in time, don't be stubborn and get stuck in a rut, and should appropriately listen to the opinions of those around you, changing some bad habits or choices..."

Shen Weiyue looked at Zhao Qingyan very seriously and advised: "Fox, your hexagram shows that heaven gave you a perfect starting point and talent, but it also buried certain hidden dangers in your life. In this life, your first half will be very smooth, but the second half will be full of misfortune."

"What hidden dangers?" Zhao Qingyan said coldly.

"How would I know? Perhaps it's your personality; for example, don't be so aloof, don't be unforgiving when you have the upper hand, and when it's time to date, you should date, and try to accept someone..."

"Pah, you just want to trick me into dating you, right?"

"???" Shen Weiyue was shocked and hurriedly explained: "That's not it at all, I'm just interpreting the hexagram..."

"Stop trying to fool me. I only let you calculate it because I wanted to see what kind of things you'd say. Not to mention whether you can actually calculate, even if you could, I don't believe in fate. My fate is in my own hands, not heaven's."

Zhao Qingyan declared with incomparable dominance. Shen Weiyue wanted to say something but stopped himself, then sighed and said: "Fine, as long as you're happy."

After saying that, he ended the topic and returned to his English review.

Zhao Qingyan didn't speak again either; it looked as if nothing had happened.

Near the end of the evening self-study session, she suddenly took Shen Weiyue's draft notebook, ripped off the page with the hexagram, and stuffed it into her backpack without a word.

"What are you doing?"

"Your calculation method is kind of fun, like an interesting mathematical technique. I'll go back and study it."

"Oh, it was all a joke; don't take it seriously."

Shen Weiyue didn't say much more and started packing his bag. Ning Xi stopped him and whispered: "Master Shen, about that... I'll start bringing you milk tomorrow. Which kind do you want, Mengniu or Yili?"

"Jule."

"Oh... oh? Okay."

The little girl ran away happily. Ye Lingtao had already gone to grab a spot to buy grilled sausages, leaving only Shen Weiyue and Zhao Qingyan in the classroom.

He packed his bag and was also preparing to leave when a voice sounded from behind: "Stinky Donkey, can you actually tell fortunes or not?"

"Nonsense. I don't have sunglasses, I'm not blind or lame, I don't have a stall under the overpass, and I'm only eighteen. What do you think?"

"Oh, that's true. I knew you were just fooling me."

Zhao Qingyan's brows smoothed out as she smiled proudly, then she walked outside, her high ponytail swaying, looking graceful and upright.

"Wait!" Looking at her like this, Shen Weiyue couldn't help but call out after all.

"Hmm?" Zhao Qingyan stopped and didn't turn back.

"If, I mean if, if one day in the future you feel that living is boring and meaningless, why not change your environment and go out to see more of the world. As long as you don't mind, I will always be that deskmate you can talk to."

"Oh."

"Did you remember that?"

"Okay."

The little fox's lips curled up.