In the depths of winter, as the New Year approached, Pingyao County bustled with activity. Nan Street was crowded with people coming and going.
Jing Wu, a girl of fourteen or fifteen dressed in worn cotton clothes, sat at her fortune-telling stall, her eyes scanning every passerby. Beside her sat a burly man selling sweet potatoes.
Originally the eldest twin daughter of the wealthy Jing family, she had been sent to Shuangcheng Temple at birth due to her unusual fate. It was only recently that a letter arrived, summoning her back to the Jing family.
But just one day after her return, the entire Jing family had to relocate to avoid trouble after offending a princess traveling incognito. When Jing Wu woke up, she found the mansion empty and deserted, with not a single valuable item left for her.
It was her uncle, Shao Che, who came to check on the situation and took pity on her. Fearing she might be implicated by the princess’s wrath if left alone in the mansion, he brought her back to his home in Green Bamboo Village. After a heated argument with his wife, he managed to secure her stay.
After settling in, Jing Wu discovered that the Shao family had three sons and relied on farming for their livelihood. With a poor harvest that year, the family was struggling to make ends meet.
As Shao Che planned to sell the family’s sweet potatoes in town to earn some money for the New Year, Jing Wu decided to accompany him.
Spotting an empty space nearby, she set up her fortune-telling stall. Though young, her predictions were remarkably accurate, allowing her to earn a bit of silver to celebrate the New Year.
“A Wu, are you hungry? Have some dried sweet potatoes to tide you over?” Shao Che had initially opposed her coming along, worried the bitter cold might make her ill. But seeing her determination to set up her stall, he relented, treating it as a child’s pastime. He made sure his wife dressed her warmly in old cotton clothes before bringing her out.
“I’m not hungry.” Jing Wu glanced at the time and said confidently, “Uncle, my first customer will arrive soon.”
Shao Che paused slightly. Though he didn’t believe in such things, he indulged her with a gentle smile. “Alright, Uncle will wait for A Wu to earn us some money for steamed buns.”
No sooner had he spoken than Auntie Chen, who was selling pickled vegetables nearby, chimed in with a playful grin. “Little A Wu, how much do you charge for a fortune-telling?”
Jing Wu turned to look at her face and realized this was her first customer of the day. With a smile, she replied, “Ten coppers per reading. If it’s inaccurate, you don’t pay.”
“Is that so?” Auntie Chen lowered her head in thought before agreeing. She had just earned ten coppers that day and decided to give it a try. “Alright, help me with a reading. My daughter-in-law is due to give birth in a month. Tell me, will she have a boy or a girl?”
A man passing by overheard and chuckled. “A child is either a boy or a girl. She could just guess randomly and still have a fifty-fifty chance of being right. Aren’t you just giving her ten coppers for nothing?”
Jing Wu turned to the man, frowning slightly, but before she could speak, Auntie Chen interjected.
“If she guesses right, that’s her skill, and I’ll accept it.” Auntie Chen leaned toward the girl and said, “A Wu, help me with the reading.”
“I’ll need your birth details.”
Auntie Chen paused for a moment before understanding. She leaned closer to the girl’s ear and whispered her birth details.
Jingwu carefully studied her facial features, then combined them with her birth characters to calculate on his fingers. With a smile, he said, “Your children’s palace is full, indicating you are destined to have two sons and two daughters. Your philtrum is broad and deep, signifying prosperous descendants. Based on your birth characters, your first grandchild will be a boy—your daughter-in-law is carrying a son.”
Upon hearing this, Aunt Chen immediately jumped up, clapping her thighs in delight and drawing the attention of many passersby. “Heavens, this is wonderful! My daughter-in-law has been married for three years without conceiving. The neighbors have been saying she can’t bear children and that her small hips mean she won’t have a son. Now, this will surely shut those gossips up!”
“Hey, do you really believe this young girl? What if it’s all fake?” A man standing in front of the stall sized up Jingwu skeptically. “Someone as young as her can’t possibly have any real skill—she’s probably just here to swindle people.”
Jingwu narrowed her eyes, glanced at his face, and sneered. “Your name is Zhen Yun. You live behind the pig farm on North Street. Your parents had only you, and they have both passed away, leaving you alone. Before your father died, he left you five taels of silver to marry a wife and rent farmland. But you were lazy and gluttonous, ignoring your father’s advice. Within a year, you spent all the money and have been living by pawning off household items. You’re idle and love stirring up trouble, making all your neighbors despise you. That’s why, even at over forty, no one has arranged a marriage for you, and you remain alone.”
“You… where did you hear that?” The man paled, knowing everything she said was true. But with so many people around, he couldn’t admit it for the sake of his pride. “You’re talking nonsense—you’re nothing but a fraud!”
As he spoke, he moved to overturn her stall but was blocked by Shao Che.
Zhen Yun took a step back at the sight of the tall, imposing man. Though still resentful, he dared not act further and could only mutter under his breath.
“If you still don’t believe me, wait here for two hours, and you’ll see whether my reading for Aunt Chen is true or false.” Jingwu sat steadily on her stool, her expression as calm as ever, completely unaffected by his outburst.
Aunt Chen, catching on, asked, “What do you mean?”
“Your daughter-in-law will trip over a stool at home soon and go into early labor. I advise you to hurry back.” Seeing the hesitation on the older woman’s face, Jingwu added, “She’s alone at home, isn’t she?”
Realizing Jingwu was right—her husband and son were out working, leaving only her daughter-in-law at home—Aunt Chen stood up abruptly. If the prediction was false, it wouldn’t matter, but if it were true, her daughter-in-law falling with no one around could lead to disaster.
With that thought, she abandoned her stall and hurried home.
Jingwu watched her retreating figure before turning her gaze to the crowd that had gathered unnoticed. A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes, but she said nothing.
Only then did she remember she hadn’t collected Aunt Chen’s payment. Annoyed, she slapped her thigh and glanced at Zhen Yun, who was still gossiping with others nearby. Pursing her lips, she quietly made a hand gesture, giving him a small lesson.
Zhen Yun was vividly describing how Jingwu was pretending to be mystical when, the next moment, he lost his voice, only able to emit “ah-ah” sounds.
He frantically tugged at the sleeves of the people nearby, gesturing for them to take him to a medical clinic. But after stammering “ah-ba” for a long while, no one understood him, leaving him stuck in place, helpless and anxious.
Suddenly, his eyes met Jing Wu’s amused gaze, and in that instant, he understood everything. Panicking, he let out a loud cry and immediately ran off.
Jing Wu paid no further attention. After all, the silencing curse would lift by tomorrow—it was just a small lesson for him.
Seeing that the time was about right, she stood up and began packing up her small stall.
The onlookers gathered around, thinking they wouldn’t get to see the outcome today, started to disperse.
In the next moment, Aunt Chen came rushing over, beaming with joy.