Return of the Antagonistic Lady Boss

"This fortune-teller is a scammer. His readings are all wrong and he’s taken a lot of money off people. Someone caught on and came over to settle the score." Qian saw this auntie looked like a gossip, so she embellished the story about the fortune-teller having problems. Aunties like this spread news like crazy—one to ten, ten to a hundred—and it saves this guy from continuing to fleece people in this area.

The auntie was shocked. "No way, Wang’s readings are actually quite accurate. Our neighbor’s daughter?in?law was married for years without having kids. She came to him, and not long after that she got pregnant."

Qian found it funny in her heart. That’s just a blind cat running into a dead mouse—a fluke. Then once people start spreading it, the believers pile up.

"Anyway, his reading for the woman upstairs was wrong. Otherwise would she really bring people over to his door? Smashing his stuff isn’t even that much."

The auntie heard this and felt it made a lot of sense, muttering, "Then his Xian’er has retreated. The spirit on him is gone. Tsk tsk, his Xian’er left and he still dares come out to work? That’s just hustling for money!"

All these folk?beliefs have endless sayings. With just a bit of steering from Qian, the auntie felt it was totally reasonable. In no time, news that Wang’s Xian’er had retreated spread everywhere. No one went to him anymore, and all those who once thought he was accurate now felt he wasn’t.

Right then, a banging noise came from upstairs, along with the sound of shattering glass. Looked like Ba’er and her people had charged in.

Not even a minute later, they heard a shout from upstairs.

"Boss! That guy ran!"

Ba’er and her crew rushed into the room, planning to confront the old man face?to?face, but who knew the old man sensed trouble and jumped out the window to run. With no one to grab, Ba’er could only have her men smash all the old man’s windows, then stormed downstairs in a fury.

Just as they reached the bottom, they saw Dalong dragging someone over—it was the scammer who’d jumped out the window!

"You old bastard, weren’t you saying some spirit Xian’er had possessed you? If you’re that powerful, how come your Xian’er didn’t protect you? Why aren’t you running on rooftops like in the movies? You still had to jump out a window! Kneel!" Dalong yanked the old man over and kicked the back of his knees, forcing the old man to kneel in front of Qian.

Qian didn’t even look at the guy. Instead she fixed her gaze on Ba’er and gave a slight smile.

"Sorry, this time I can’t let you take the hit for me."

Ba’er smiled as well and made a "be my guest" gesture to Qian. "This time you go first."

The two of them were quite courteous to each other.

Qian walked up to the old man. He tried to stand up, but Dalong kicked him right back down.

More and more people gathered round to watch, and soon the crowd was packed tight, not a drop of water could get through.

"Sis, this guy’s a total coward. The moment he saw people coming to his door, he went out the window. The height is so low and he still didn’t dare jump straight down, tried to step onto the security bars on the floor below. Then his foot slipped and he took a face?plant. Hey, old man, don’t you have Xian’er? How come your Xian’er didn’t help you act cool and fly?"

Dalong’s description made the onlookers burst into laughter. The old man had lost all his usual "immortal aura" by now and kept begging for mercy.

"Let me go, show some mercy when you can..."

"Old man, let me ask you—weren’t you the one who said the baby in my belly is born to bring disaster on its parents, and insisted my mom had to give you money before it could be ’resolved’?"

"Well..." The old man thought to himself how many people he’d duped with that line. He had no idea who Qian even was.

"Talk! My sister’s asking you!" Dalong kicked him, and the old man hurried to answer.

"Yes, I did say that. But all of that can be dissolved. What you’re doing now is wrong. For the child’s sake you must do more good deeds, or you’ll suffer retribution—ah!"

He would’ve been better off not saying that. The moment he mentioned "retribution," Qian’s anger flared. She stepped forward and slapped him in the face with her bag. "Say that again—who’s going to suffer retribution?"

"Me! I’ll suffer retribution! Everything that’s happening today is my retribution. Spare my life!"

The old man didn’t dare say another word. The lines he used to fool middle?aged and elderly folks had no effect on Qian at all, so he could only grovel and beg.

"People like you will say anything just to scam money. You’re rotten to the core! Old man, let me ask you, weren’t you the one who said our boss is a ’ninth?life jinx’?"

The female secretary rushed over and pointed at the old man, cursing him angrily. The old man kept begging, "None of what I said is true. I was wrong. I apologize to you all!"

As he spoke he kept kowtowing. Watching this pathetic display, Qian felt it was disgusting even to hit him—like beating up a pile of shit; you’d worry about getting the stench on yourself. But Ba’er’s people weren’t about to let him off.

"You stinking old man, just to scam money you pull this kind of crap. Did a dog eat your conscience? Do you realize our boss’s marriage almost got ruined because of you? Move it! You’re coming with us to face our boss’s future mother?in?law. You’re going to make it crystal clear who’s supposed to be the jinx!" The secretary yanked at the old fraud, trying to drag him off. Wang, terrified that if he went he’d get beaten to death, clawed and kicked in resistance and suddenly pulled a sharp dagger from inside his jacket!

"Don’t come any closer! Whoever comes near, I’ll kill them!"

Cornered like a mad dog, Wang saw that these people wouldn’t let up and whipped out the little knife he carried for self?defense, waving it around in the air. The secretary was so scared she backed off several steps.

Dalong’s side were all trained fighters. The moment he saw the old man dare pull a knife, Dalong rushed in without hesitation and kicked the old man’s wrist. He moved fast, way too fast for the old man to handle. The knife clattered to the ground, and the old man yelped. Dalong stepped on his hand, making Wang howl in pain.

"You dare pull a knife in front of me? Got some balls on you, huh?"

Seeing her brother’s practiced moves taking care of the old man, Qian finally relaxed. Ba’er’s secretary came up again and gave the old man a kick. "You stinking old bastard, still trying to act tough!"

The situation was once again under Qian and the others’ control. It was clear Wang was finished, when suddenly a voice came from outside the crowd.

"What’s going on here?"

A middle?aged woman dressed like a rich lady pushed through the crowd. Qian took one look and didn’t recognize her. The woman stepped into the circle, saw the "divine stick" on the ground beaten to a pulp, and cried out.

"Are you alright?"

"Oh my god, they’ve beaten me to death, I can’t get up..." Wang couldn’t be bothered pretending to be a mystic now. He lay on the ground clutching his belly, refusing to get up—he was afraid that if he stood, they’d hit him again. Squinting through narrow eyes, he felt the rich lady squatting in front of him looked familiar.

Oh, right, he remembered—wasn’t this the fat sheep who came last time for a consultation?

She was lavish with her money, giving whatever he asked. "Divine sticks" love running into that kind of mark: scare them a bit, and they fork over cash like crazy.

The rich lady helped Wang up, then stood and swept her gaze around the circle, finally fixing it on Ba’er.

"How many times have I told you, I will never let you set foot in our home. What is it you, this uneducated woman, think you’re doing? Bringing a bunch of people here—what are you trying to pull? Do you still respect the law at all?"

Standing to the side, Qian understood at once. This woman had to be Ba’er’s future mother?in?law. The older woman clearly looked like the unreasonable type, a fierce expression on her face: spring breeze toward the scammer, storm clouds and daggers toward Ba’er.

"He’s a fraud. Nothing he says is true." Ba’er pressed her lips together and stood ramrod straight.