Chà Chà Novel

Putting her communicator back into her bag, Wen Qin nodded in understanding. “I see”

Then she suddenly asked, “Do you find being friends with my son tiring?”

Qin Si paused, not expecting that question.

The night breeze drifted gently past, the streetlights shining brightly on either side of the road.

Wen Qin raised a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. She wore obsidian studs identical to Ji Shileng’s.

“Judging by your social feed, Xiaoshi’s interests are very different from yours”, she said with a hint of helplessness in her eyes. “He loves things like racing cars and skydiving. When he was little, he even told me he wanted to learn skiing…”

Qin Si followed her gaze. Ahead of them, Ji Shileng stood with his head lowered, holding his palm out to Guo Weishui.

He looked so well behaved, yet behind the scenes he was wild.

“I don’t find it tiring. He’s very special”, Qin Si said slowly. “Besides, having different interests lets us learn about things we’re unfamiliar with. That’s rather interesting, isn’t it?”

When Wen Qin didn’t immediately speak, he smiled. “My own hobbies are all too dull. I’m very happy to be friends with Xiaoshi”

“Dull or not, what matters is that you’re happy”, Wen Qin said, her voice softer than the night breeze. “I’m glad Xiaoshi is making more friends. Ever since he came home, I’ve worried about how he’s doing”

Some things she couldn’t bring herself to tell her family. With an “outsider”, Wen Qin found she could say a little more.

“Sometimes I think perhaps he didn’t love Shang Jianli quite that much. But in those years, all of us were too stubborn, too unwilling to bend”

Things had turned ugly back then, neither side willing to yield.

When the Ji family failed to persuade him to return, they tried to force him. Hadn’t that only made Ji Shileng more determined to resist?

“He had no one to rely on, and Shang Jianli happened to be there all along”, Wen Qin said, catching a tear on her index finger and rubbing it away in the breeze. “Perhaps he grew used to Shang Jianli and mistook that for love”

Then she added quietly, “I don’t advocate or support teaching children through suffering. Xiaoshi endured far too much hardship that served no purpose”

“That’s why I always feel I owe him so much. Unfortunately, time can’t be turned back”

If she could do it over, she would never allow Xiaoshi to go to the Empire.

Qin Si listened quietly. Taking a handkerchief from his suit pocket, he offered it to Wen Qin. “Mrs. Ji, sometimes there’s no need to remain trapped in the past. You have to trust him. He’s gradually finding his way out of it now”

Wen Qin accepted it. Beneath the light, she noticed a subtle embroidered pattern of LILALI glass dolls.

As the light caught it, the pattern shimmered.

“Of course I trust him. He’s my pride”, Wen Qin said. As though sensing something, she offered an explanation on Ji Shileng’s behalf. “Bringing him out tonight wasn’t primarily about matchmaking. The main purpose was for him to make a friend and have his fortune read”

She knew everyone in their circles was asking after Xiaoshi, openly or discreetly.

But to put it bluntly, did every nobody think they could throw themselves at her son?

“Xiaoshi explained”, Qin Si replied. “Things really haven’t been going smoothly for him lately. A reading might offer some reassurance”

Across from them, Guo Weishui tossed the copper coins, little glints of light flashing as they turned.

“That’s what I thought too”, Wen Qin said, leaving it at that. “Xiaoshi doesn’t have the best temper. If you upset him, just be gentle and coax him a little. He gets over it quickly”

Qin Si was somewhat surprised. He had thought Wen Qin intended to “settle accounts”, not tell him these things.

“All right”, he replied, then spoke up for Ji Shileng. “But in my opinion, his temper really isn’t that bad”

Wen Qin folded the handkerchief, surprise briefly crossing her eyes.

Didn’t she know her own son?

After some thought, she decided Qin Si probably accommodated Ji Shileng, and said nothing further.

Apparently, besides Su Ke, Qin Si also had a good enough temperament to put up with her son’s difficult ways.

“All right”, she said, changing the subject as the reading finished ahead of them. “I’ve kept you here talking for so long. Have I been troubling you? I’m sorry”

Qin Si walked forward with her. “Not at all. It’s no trouble”

He wished she would tell him even more.

Up ahead, Guo Weishui looked unwell after finishing the reading.

He examined Ji Shileng’s palm again, his brows tightly drawn and his pale lips pressed together.

Watching beside him, Mrs. Guo had never seen such an expression on his face.

She couldn’t help worrying. “Weishui, was the result bad?”

“Perhaps my skills aren’t good enough”, Guo Weishui said, instinctively finding an excuse. His voice had grown inexplicably hoarse. Forcing a smile, he added, “Why don’t we arrange another time so I can do a more thorough reading?”

Anyone else, seeing his grim expression, would have been too frightened to hear the answer and eager for him to try again later.

But the person facing him was Ji Shileng.

With one hand in his pocket and his communicator in the other, Ji Shileng said calmly, “Isn’t fate something that exists if you believe in it and doesn’t if you don’t?”

“If it’s a bad fate, why not simply refuse to believe it?”

Guo Weishui didn’t quite agree. “Let’s arrange another time”

Ji Shileng declined, saying sincerely, “I believe my fate is mine to decide, not heaven’s”

Wen Qin, having heard their exchange, thought, “…”

Qin Si’s lips curved faintly. That was entirely in keeping with Ji Shileng’s usual style.

“Weishui, was the reading unfavorable?” Wen Qin asked as well.

“Yes…”

The two mothers exchanged a look. Wen Qin hesitated.

Fortune-telling was meant to provide foreknowledge and guard against possible future disasters. But if the result was bad, was there any point in worrying needlessly?

After several days without cigarettes, Ji Shileng felt the craving return. Tilting his head, he asked, “What if the result in a couple of days is much the same as today’s?”

Guo Weishui paused. The overall course indeed wouldn’t change; only the details of the process would become clearer.

Noticing his hesitation, Wen Qin understood the answer.

If another reading would produce much the same result, there was no need to spend two more days in suspense.

“Weishui, just tell us”, Wen Qin said, patting his shoulder reassuringly. “Our actions still matter. Don’t worry too much”

Qin Si stood beside them, his taut expression betraying his anxiety.

“Today, I read the overall course of his life”, Guo Weishui said, catching his breath before continuing slowly. “It’s very strange. Your lifeline has broken once”

Everyone stiffened. The atmosphere rapidly froze.

Early autumn had only just begun, and the last of summer had yet to fade. Yet Guo Weishui’s words plunged them straight into an ice cellar.

An ordinary person’s lifeline continued unbroken to the end.

A difficult event might cause one section to grow faint, but it would never break completely the way Ji Shileng’s had.

At those words, Wen Qin’s heart leaped into her throat. Even her breathing grew faint, and for a moment she felt dazed.

She had wondered—she had wondered how her son could fall from several thousand meters up and emerge completely unharmed.

The hatred for Shang Jianli in Wen Qin’s heart deepened further.