The moment she finished speaking, Nana’s phone rang.
After seeing the name on the screen, her expression changed drastically. She exchanged a glance with Ava before picking up. “Hello, Blake.”
The crowd let out a silent “whoa” and held their breath.
At that moment, no one caused trouble or stirred things up. It was like watching the most thrilling scene in a movie theater—even the popcorn was forgotten.
[Sweetheart.] The voice on the other end was full of affection. [Come to Ava’s place now, and bring your brother’s truck. I’ve made up my mind—I want to leave with you. The only person I’ve ever loved is you.]
Nana took a deep breath.
This bastard not only wanted to kill her, but he also wanted to trick her brother’s p-i-c-k-u-p t-r-u-c-k!
That truck was bought with a loan her brother had scrimped and saved for years to afford!
Without that truck, her brother would lose his source of income. His wife and kids would suffer, and maybe his whole family would fall apart. And he—he—actually—dared—to want—the truck!
“Okay.” Nana smiled ferociously, her voice grinding through her teeth. “You wait for me. I’ll be right there. Sweet! Heart!”
She hung up in one swift motion and turned to Ava with murderous intent. “Together?”
“What else?!” Ava was equally murderous.
By the time Nana was on the phone with that scumbag, Ava had already been rapidly packing up her stall. Cheating feelings was one thing, but daring to cheat her money too!
The two women now stood united in their fury and stormed off with fierce momentum. Quite a few curious onlookers followed along.
They were curious about the outcome and wanted to see what would happen.
Ava and Nana didn’t mind—they even felt that having so many people follow might be safer. It could also intimidate Blake.
Along the way, both of them were separately calling their friends and family.
“Ava, you forgot your stool!” Zhao Zhenzhen noticed the stool she’d been sitting on was still there.
“Consider it a gift for you!” Ava’s voice came from afar.
Fine, then.
Zhao Zhenzhen hugged her backpack and sat back down on the stool, placing the cardboard sign back down.
The fortune-telling side was hidden, showing only the “Guess Your Age” side.
Ever since she’d done the reading for Ava, people had gradually gathered around her. After the fight with Nana broke out, even more people had surrounded them.
Now, though some had left, quite a few still lingered, staring at Zhao Zhenzhen in amazement.
Some whispered among themselves, saying things like “She’s that amazing fortune-teller.”
Zhao Zhenzhen’s toes couldn’t help but curl again—especially when she noticed that a police car had parked by the roadside at some point.
Two officers leaned against the car, also grinning as they looked in Zhao Zhenzhen’s direction.
…Even in her past life, she’d never been stared at by police officers like this.
Thankfully, the Virtual Lightbulb gave her a heads-up.
Good—two neutral white names.
Zhao Zhenzhen looked around, pointed at the cardboard in front of her, and said, “One dollar to guess your age. If I get it wrong, I pay ten times the amount. Anyone interested? Just one dollar?”
“Are you really that accurate?” someone in the crowd questioned.
“Try it—you’ll know once you try.” Zhao Zhenzhen waved the ten-dollar bill Nana had given her. “At least I do have ten dollars right now to pay you if I’m wrong.”
This bit of humor made quite a few people laugh, and their impression of the young Asian woman shifted somewhat.
“It’s not expensive. I’ll give it a try.” Someone was tempted and pulled out money, walking over.
Once the first person stepped up, a second followed immediately, and before long, a line began to form.
Zhao Zhenzhen was absolutely thrilled. Thanks to her previous experience with Spock, every age she stated was based strictly on what appeared on the other person’s ID.
Her age-guessing speed was lightning fast—almost the moment Zhao Zhenzhen pocketed the money, the age would roll off her tongue.
Then, “Next.”
After she correctly guessed twenty in a row, the crowd’s expressions had shifted from amused curiosity to stunned disbelief, and finally to wide-eyed excitement with mouths hanging open.
It was as if they had witnessed magic firsthand.
Zhao Zhenzhen even overheard someone on the phone, frantically telling their friends and relatives to come over immediately.
“There’s a real psychic here!” the person shouted excitedly into the phone, with absolute conviction. “She’s definitely genuine, because she’s Chinese!”
Ah, well.
The mysterious Eastern nation, right?
Though it was a stereotype, she quite liked it.
Zhao Zhenzhen curved her lips into a smile.
Especially with the US dollars continuously flowing in, her eyes crinkled with delight at the corners.
That was until the two police officers exchanged a few words, hooked their thumbs on their belts, and started walking toward her—making Zhao Zhenzhen panic for a moment.
Seeing this, the tall, lean one flashed her a smile. “Don’t be nervous. We want to give it a go too.”
“Ah? Oh, sure.” Zhao Zhenzhen blinked in surprise.
It was their turn soon enough. After Zhao Zhenzhen quickly stated the first officer’s age, she turned to look at the second man—and her gaze froze on the top of his head.
“What’s wrong?” The portly officer followed Zhao Zhenzhen’s gaze to his own head, reached up to touch it, and asked, “Is there something wrong with me?”
Just moments ago, a countdown had appeared above his head.
Even shorter than Nana’s—only ten minutes.
Zhao Zhenzhen looked back and forth between the two men, and without a second thought, she tapped the Virtual Lightbulb above his head.
The panel expanded, emanating a constant red glow that made even Zhao Zhenzhen tense up.
The onlookers couldn’t see the virtual panel—they only knew she pointed vaguely at the portly officer’s head, then swiped her fingers through the air.
Gasps rippled through the crowd. “There it is, there it is! She made the exact same gesture earlier!”
“I know! She’s casting a spell!” A Hong Kong horror movie enthusiast bobbed his head.
“Shh! Quiet!” What if it disrupted her power?
The crowd fell silent, holding their breath with eyes wide open. Especially since Zhao Zhenzhen’s face was deadly serious, brows furrowed tightly—her tension was contagious.
The portly officer couldn’t help but lick his lips. Trying to lighten the mood, he let out a dry chuckle. “It’s not like you can see something happening to me, right?”
Zhao Zhenzhen did see it. The time was too short for her to finish reading before speaking, so she fast-forwarded the virtual display while rapidly saying, “In five minutes, you’ll receive a backup call to head to Texas Avenue. Someone’s stealing a car there and fleeing.”
“You’ll intercept the vehicle and get out to stop them, but you won’t notice there’s still someone in the back seat.”
Zhao Zhenzhen looked at the portly officer. “That person shoots you. Right here.” She tapped the side of her waist.
Many in the crowd drew sharp breaths.
That was the lung. If hit there, death would come within minutes—almost no chance of survival.
The portly officer froze.
He hadn’t expected to hear that. Staring at the spot Zhao Zhenzhen pointed at… honestly, he was already experiencing phantom pain.
“You would have been fine,” Zhao Zhenzhen said. “But today, because you found the heat unbearable, you took off your bulletproof vest and left it in the patrol car.”
Everyone turned in unison to look at the patrol car parked by the roadside.
“I suggest you put it on now,” Zhao Zhenzhen said. “You have 1 minute and 30 seconds before you’re called for backup… 60 seconds… 40…”
“What are you standing around for?!” the tall officer suddenly snapped, slapping the stout officer on the back and shoving him toward the patrol car. “Go put it on, now!”
The stout officer, forced into a jog, shot back with a hint of defiance, “It can’t be that much of a coincidence, right?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the dispatch crackled through: “A vehicle theft and fleeing on Texas Avenue—three pedestrians struck. All nearby units—”
The stout officer froze.
This time, no prompting from the tall officer was needed. He lunged for the patrol car, scrambling inside and yanking on the bulletproof vest in a hurry.