There were 22 main cards and 56 side cards in one set of Tarot. The pirated version Qianmo bought from the street stand had only 22 main cards, which was, however, not a hinder for her to do any bluffing.She was a psychology disciple who had been interested in Tarot, fiddling with the cards since she was a teenager. But she had not been serious with the card or the fortune-telling back then.
After she went to jail, she received instructions from a grandmaster and made rapid progress in this aspect professionally, thus being better at Tarot. Psychology and fortune-telling were basically connected, and microexpression, which was what Qianmo focused upon, fitted perfectly in the whole puzzle.
Some of her cellmates were also fortune-tellers, sharing the same profession as Mu Feifei and exceeding her in every way.
The prison was a place full of talents, one that contained people from all walks of life. After learning some tricks from her mates, Qianmo eventually became involved with the field of fortune-telling masters (bluffers).
She had merged the Tarot, the microexpression of psychology, as well as what she had picked up from her cellmates in fortune-telling.
With science, metaphysics, oriental fortune-telling, plus western Tarot blended together, Qianmo had barely failed to bluff anyone.
Mu Feifei panicked when she watched her shuffling the cards in a proficient manner.
Why did this girl look so… sinister?
On the opposite side of the café, there was a man in a chef"s uniform walking out of the five-star hotel next door. He looked nervous and kept throwing glances around.
On the side of the street, there was another man with a perfect figure leaning against the tree. Catching sight of him, the chef walked towards him at a brisk speed.
"So you are the "lifetime for Mo" man?" The chef sized him up, wondering what a good-looking guy like him was doing to have given himself such a countryside-style name.
"Lifetime for Mo" was a friend the chef added online. It was the first time for the two to meet each other.
The man stood straight as the chef glanced around nervously and cautiously. "You must never leak the information. If my chief knows about it, I will be doomed."
Without any words, the man scooped out a wad of money from the pocket. The chef"s eyes widened at the sight of it, and he quickly scooped out a sc.r.a.p of paper from his pocket and handed it to the man. One piece of paper for one deck of money.
After the chef left, the man unfolded the paper and frowned at the scribbled lines on it.
What he had asked the chef to do was to give him the recipes of "j.a.panese-style Jelly-Fish". However, this chef was so sincere after taking the money that he added the methods of other branded dishes of the hotel alongside it, offering him extra bonuses.
Bean-seedling with conch slices? She hated it!
Steamed fish with complementary medicine? She seemed to have taken just a mouthful of it.
Egg with braised pork… well…
The man didn"t seem to be certain. He scooped out a note and leafed through the pages where restaurants and t.i.tles of dishes were kept. The number after each of those lines indicated how many times she used chopsticks to pick the dishes.
Oh, she had never ordered the food before, but what if she liked it? Better keep it for now.
He was too busy with work to stay by her side all the time, so he asked his friends to keep an eye out for her and write down whatever she was fond of dining. Later, he would learn to make the dish after he received the information.
This little black note had contained too much happiness and expectations until he learned about her wedding. It was then all the pleasure and hopes were turned into torments. Last night, Yu Changmo buried the note below the big tree in front of his village with a heavy heart.
But when the situation turned around, and the girl didn"t marry that guy, he quickly dug out the note and added something new, expecting that he would have the chance to make her the dish next time.
The point was, however, that he needed to overcome his psychological barrier to get brave enough to meet her.
Yu Changmo put the little black note into his pocket and was about to turn around when something opposite the street caught his eyes.
At this moment, Qianmo was totally focused on shuffling the cards.
Mu Feifei, who had been interrupted by her, showed a fake smile. "I have got nothing that needs fortune-telling."
What Mu Feifei wanted was to make up a story for Qianmo and then urge her to marry Lin Xiang. But Qianmo gave her no opportunity.
"If so, just think about the consequence of leaving your husband and your daughter." Qianmo stared right into Mu Feifei"s eyes.
Mu Feifei still had the smile on her face, but her lips were already tightly closed and eyes full of anger.
There was anger rather than guilt.
Qianmo looked cold. She had just been too naïve in the past.
How could a wicked mother like her regret whatever she had done when she tried to push her husband and daughter to despair?
"Mo, you still don"t want to forgive me? You know I had problems back then. Your father hit me, and I couldn"t stand it anymore. I am sorry, I was wrong. I really want to make it up to you, I really do!"
Mu Feifei sounded pitiful, and she even wiped tears off her eye corner. Despite her grief-stricken appearance, Qianmo noticed that her feet were twitching below the table.
Her feet moving basically meant that Mu Feifei wanted to leave the place right this instant. She hated Qianmo to have her reveal her real face.
Qianmo smiled, spread out the shuffled cards, and asked Mu Feifei to draw one.
"Pick one card."
"If you really want to play the game, I am on board." Mu Feifei smiled sincerely and said in a soft tone. Whatever she was doing right now was precisely how a kind mother would behave.
One could disguise the expression or train the voice. Still, micro-expression was something that happened within a short second, one that could barely be controlled by anyone.
In Qianmo"s eyes, Mu Feifei was a hypocrite in every single way. How she behaved reflected what she was thinking, and none of it could escape her observation.
This fortune-teller was a far cry from the people Qianmo had been dealing with in her previous life.
This woman had done such terrible things that Qianmo didn"t even want to call her mom.
As the girl proficiently switched the cards, the man on the opposite side of the road got deeply attracted.
The simple action of the long fingers swis.h.i.+ng over the surface of the cards was simply a fatal pull in the man"s eyes, drawing his attention on her. He suddenly felt the urge to become one of the cards under her fingers.
Qianmo, who was devoted to bluffing, suddenly felt a creeping sensation over her neck.
"Let me see the first card…"
Then Qianmo"s hands froze.
Confused, Qianmo turned her head but failed to see anything strange through the crystal-clear window and the crowd outside. She turned back her head—what a peculiar day!
Yu Changmo stood up from behind the dustbin, ignoring the sick look from the pa.s.sers-by around him.
He was apt enough to get himself covered, something ordinary people could not do.
Qianmo flipped the card from left to right. She had laid out the simplest pattern with only four cards presented on the table, one representing the past, two representing the present, and the last representing the final answer to the question.
Mu Feifei had no interest in playing with the Tarot. Nonetheless, to gain Qianmo"s trust, she had to sit still and play the game of "fortune-telling" with her. What she had been thinking, however, was how to bluff Qianmo after the game.
For Mu Feifei, Qianmo and Lin Xiang must get married. That was the first step of her conspiracy, and she had to come up with a way to persuade Qianmo…
"This upside-down Fool represents your past when you should have taken the responsibility, but you chose to run away. What made you free was to leave your husband and abandon your daughter."
Mu Feifei had no interest in western fortune-telling, only regarding it as a way for her to talk about the past. She was about to make an explanation when Qianmo revealed the card that represented the present.
"A dislocated Magician… that is funny. Mrs. Mu Feifei, this card is telling me that you approach me for the sake of money, and the reason that instigates you to do this is that…"
Qianmo flipped the third card and showed a playful smile, almost dazzling the man to go blind who was watching her on the sly.
That was just too… too fascinating!
What was he going to do when she was so attractive…