The landlord has multiple personalities and wants everyone to pay him.

Twin peach blossoms? Though connected by the same branch, each blossom distinct?

The old man's words, though seemingly mystical, were indeed spot on, accurately describing An Suxue's situation.

Ye Shu's expression turned serious, and his eyes became wary as he looked at the old man.

However, An Suxue in Ye Shu's arms was clearly resistant to being spoken to by a stranger, especially since it seemed that she knew her secret, and she began to tremble slightly in Ye Shu's arms.

Ye Shu pondered for a moment, then turned and waved to Tang Xiaotao beside him, before discussing with An Suxue in his arms:

"You stay with Xiaotao for now, I'll go see what's going on, okay?"

Although Tang Xiaotao was also quite curious about this eccentric old man, seeing An Suxue's frightened expression, she still came over and hugged An Suxue tightly.

"Sister Xiaonuan, come here, let me hug you, don't be afraid."

An Suxue reluctantly released her grip on Ye Shu, but fear made her desperately need another person to lean on. She turned around instantly, buried her face in Tang Xiaotao's arms, and pressed her face against her shoulder.

Although An Suxue had some lingering trauma from Tang Xiaotao, she was, after all, Ye Shu's sister, and after spending the morning with her, she had become more familiar with Tang Xiaotao.

Tang Xiaotao quickly hugged her, like she was comforting a child:

"It's alright, it's alright, let's not look at that old man."

Ye Shu squatted down in front of the fortune-telling stall, staring at the old man's small sunglasses on the bridge of his nose, but couldn't see through him.

"Sir, what else did you notice?"

The old man smiled slightly, but instead of answering directly, he slowly extended one hand, palm up:

"While the secrets of heaven may be revealed, a reward is still necessary. Sincerely, fifty."

"..."

The sense of mystery and curiosity that had just arisen in Ye Shu's heart was instantly dispelled by the down-to-earth "fifty," and the old man's unfathomable aura disappeared as well.

He didn't bother with any more words, stood up, and started walking back.

"Never mind then, you can keep this secret to yourself and figure it out."

"Hey! Young friend, wait a moment! Wait a moment!"

Seeing that he was really going to leave, the old man's dignified and otherworldly demeanor began to crumble.

"Very well, very well. I see you're truly a kind friend today, so I'll do you a favor and give you a discount of twenty-five! How about it?"

Ye Shu didn't even turn his head, he just waved his hand, meaning "no talk."

The old man seemed genuinely anxious, no longer caring about his composure, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Ten yuan! Ten yuan should be enough, right?! Young friend, it's fate that we met, you have to let this old man earn a little, have a bowl of vegetarian noodles, okay?"

Upon hearing "ten yuan," Ye Shu stopped in his tracks. This price was quite within his acceptable range; ten yuan was a price that was subtly positioned in the range of "not heartbroken if lost, but perhaps enough to make a sound."

He was mainly unsettled by the "twin peach blossoms," and ten yuan seemed like a good deal to buy peace of mind.

Ye Shu walked back to the fortune-telling stall, squatted down, and looked at the old man:

"Okay, then go ahead and tell me, be realistic."

When the old man saw him return, he straightened up, resuming his air of superiority, but the hand he was asking for money was still outstretched, his fingers rubbing together.

"Small business, no credit, ten dollars."

Ye Shu rummaged through his pockets, then curled his lip:

"Oh dear, what a pity, sir. I really don't have any cash in my pocket. It seems that God really doesn't want me to have my fortune told today. We'll meet again someday."

Just as Ye Shu was about to get up, the old man, unhurried and with a "I knew it" smile on his face, slowly reached into his black cloth jacket, rummaged through it, and then pulled out a small, plastic-sealed tag.

The sign has two QR codes printed on it: one for WeChat and one for Alipay.

Above it is a line of artistic lettering: "Sincerity moves mountains, technology reaches the heavens."

"No problem, no problem. I'm keeping up with the times, young friend. Please scan the code to support Alipay."

Ye Shu looked at the QR code, then at the old man's traditional attire of sunglasses and a cloth jacket, and for a moment, she didn't know where to begin criticizing him.

With a beep, the notification sound of a ten-yuan transfer rang out.

The old man nodded in satisfaction, put away the small sign, and resumed his enigmatic demeanor.

"Young friend, now we can talk about your 'peach blossom luck'."

He tilted his head slightly, as if sensing the secrets of heaven:

"What I just said, 'twin blossoms in a cluster, branches intertwined,' is not a figment of my imagination. This young lady has a unique destiny, and her spirit and appearance... are extraordinary. She seems to be one person, but in reality... um?"

He paused suddenly, tilted his head as if listening to something, then let out a soft "Eh," raising his eyebrows.

"Interesting... This is a secret of heaven, and the deeper aspects are not easy to fathom, nor should they be discussed further. I will only give you sixteen words; you can ponder them for yourself."

"Which sixteen characters?"

Although Ye Shu kept reminding himself that this was just the rhetoric of a con artist, the old man's pause and "Eh?" still bothered him.

The old man spoke slowly, enunciating each word clearly:

"A mirage, a dream, both real and illusory. Cherish what's before you, and don't dwell on the reasons."

"That's it? Ten dollars for just a few words?"

Ye Shu watched as the old man in front of him shut his mouth, lowered his head slightly, and adopted an attitude of "the secret has been revealed, this is the end".

Isn't this a scam?

But the old man just smiled mysteriously:

"The beginning and end of a relationship are as precious as a single word. Young friend, today's divination is complete. Please return. To insist on more would likely be detrimental to both you and her."

Ye Shu twitched the corner of her mouth, looking at the old man in front of her and feeling that the "beep" sound of the ten yuan transfer just now was particularly jarring.

"No, sir, so all I got for ten bucks was a 'cherish the person in front of you' quote? What's the difference between that and telling people to 'think positively' in a park? It's like you didn't say anything at all. Give me my money back, or I'm really going to call the police and accuse you of feudal superstition fraud."

As he spoke, he actually took out his phone.

"Hey, hey, hey! Young friend, wait a minute!"

The old man, who had been acting like a wise old man just moments before, panicked the moment he heard about calling the police and getting a refund. He seemed to have forgotten that he was blind and grabbed Ye Shu's phone.

"Young friend, don't be hasty. Everything can be discussed. Look, the divination has been performed, the message has been delivered, and the process is complete. How about this, I'll give you another free divination... uh, as a bonus! I'll predict something else, guaranteed to be reliable! What do you say?"

Seeing that he was willing to stop pretending to be blind for ten yuan, Ye Shu wasn't so angry anymore. She decided to treat it as ten yuan to listen to a crosstalk performance.

"Okay, then tell me why the store I work at always gets so many customers when I start work. Is it because I look like a lucky cat, or something?"

Upon hearing this, the old man breathed a sigh of relief, but then hesitated for a moment.

He was so focused on charming the ladies that he didn't even ask for their birth dates and times. Now he realizes he's gone off-track and is trying to fix it:

"Well... well, we need to consider your birth date and time to make a clear diagnosis."

Ye Shu wasn't surprised and casually mentioned her birthday.

The old man started fidgeting with his fingers, muttering something under his breath; his acting was much more serious than before. About half a minute later, he suddenly slapped his thigh, as if he'd discovered some earth-shattering secret:

"Oh dear! This is incredible! Young friend, in your past life you were a tassel on the jade ruyi in the hand of the God of Wealth. Because the servant boy slipped and dropped you into the mortal world..."

"Alright, alright, sir, stop."

Ye Shu stood up and patted his trouser leg:

"I don't want this ten yuan, I'm leaving."

This time, he really wasn't going to listen to the old man's boasting anymore; he'd even brought up the God of Wealth. Back beside An Suxue, she immediately snuggled back into his arms.

Forget about twin peach blossoms, the one beside me is the real one.

"It's alright. He's... a rather interesting old man. It's a shame he's not doing stand-up comedy."

Ye Shu explained to Tang Xiaotao and An Suxue:

"Let's go check out the convenience store up ahead and buy something."

After the three walked away, under the old locust tree, the old man with the air of a hermit peeked out and, after confirming that Ye Shu and the others had really gone far away and had no intention of turning back, immediately began to pack up his stall.

He rolled up the red paper with "One Divination" written on it and stuffed it into the bag next to him. Then he took off his sunglasses and blinked his somewhat cloudy but shrewd eyes.

He picked up his white cane and walked quickly in the opposite direction from Ye Shu and the others.

A black sedan was parked at the street corner. The window rolled down, revealing An Jianxing's somewhat incredulous face.

The old man strode to the car, a fawning smile spreading across his face.

"Boss, did you see it? I said it as you instructed."

An Jianxing composed himself and took out a thin envelope from his pocket, handing it over.

The old man took it, pinched its thickness with his fingers, and his smile widened even more:

"Oh, thank you, Boss An. Well... if there's nothing else, I'll be going now?"

An Jianxing nodded without speaking. But after the old man had carried his belongings away, An Jianxing took out his phone, dialed a number, and his voice trembled, sounding as if he was about to cry:

"Honey... I think I saw Xiaoxue go out..."