The student named Dong Lan who recently started to see weird things, mostly predictions, was the same guy who had been sent by her adoptive mother, the fortune-teller, to travel from world to world.It was unknown whether his appearance at Jiang Li"s current mission world was a coincidence.
However, before Jiang Li took over as Zheng Xiang, he was already in that world, born to a normal middle-cla.s.s family who managed to send him to good schools from kindergarten to college. The young man led a normal life, albeit his personality was a bit different from before, being geeky and serious, instead of goofy and sarcastic in words.
In the original plot, he was merely mentioned as somebody who liked Xia Ling, the campus beauty of Liu De"s harem. He was studying at the same university as her, albeit they were from two different departments. The difference in their courses, of course, did not impede him from courting her.
Unfortunately, his crush never liked him back because he was quite cowardly, stoic... and boring. His faults were further highlighted when Liu De appeared. Or more like, he became the object of comparison so that the male lead would appear much better.
Dong Lan was not that wealthy... He was not able to gift her precious bags and pieces of jewelry or bring her to famous concertos and elite gatherings. He was not as cheerful and humorous... or as attractive... At least, not personality-wise.
But Liu De was different. He was the opposite. The man was even a popular star, something she could brag to everyone she knows. And so the girl naturally fell for him and rejected her dull schoolmate.
In this lifetime though, Dong Lan"s path started to stray away from the original when a man who introduced himself as Jiang Li more than half a year ago barged into his life, giving him all sorts of counseling and advice.
Months ago, he could not be called a campus male G.o.d since his hairstyle and getup were always bland or weird. People only remembered him for having a serious face all day long and high grades. However, ever since Jiang Li sent someone to him, a middle-aged guy who never introduced himself to him, he transformed into who he was today. The personality did not change that much, but his appearance did. Perhaps, it was a natural result that he became more confident and more used to being the center of a group and of attention.
Dong Lan became someone that could pique the interest of girls. Inherently, he did not change and was still as solemn as before. But hey, serious guys had an edge too! Coupled with a handsome face, whatever they said could easily sound sincere and moving.
Seeing that his crush was gradually warming up to him, Dong Lan felt thankful towards Jiang Li and since the man did not mention why he was helping him, he just silently vowed to return the favor once he formally entered society.
As for the other weird changes in him...
"Why am I seeing things like this?" The young man felt puzzled as he studied the letterings floating in front of him. Since he was silent and lost in his thoughts, the members of his thesis group took that chance to watch some funny videos on the laptops.
"The first time I experienced this is when I approached Xia Ling in the cafeteria and one of her female cla.s.smates is trying out palm reading on her. While it helped me gain some favorable impression which I felt grateful for, it"s still quite scary to suddenly experience words or knowledge appearing in my field of vision or mind..."
Dong Lan couldn"t a.s.sociate his experiences to his profession from the previous life since he couldn"t even recall it. Perhaps, his memories would take a while to come back to him, just like how he was only recovering his ability to divine.
For now, since he was not sure, he didn"t delve much into it, only pondering about the recent revelations he got.
"It says not to rush... But I"m not really rus.h.i.+ng anything... Perhaps, my weird ability is a bit faulty?" He frowned, considering another angle, "Maybe I touched something dirty recently so I"m being haunted... Should I get someone to help me? But when I went to a temple, I ended up learning that the abbot there didn"t know how to exorcise spirits and barely knew how to interpret kau chim sticks."
Dong Lan almost sighed, relieved that the texts hovering before him finally vanished. He felt like a normal person again. Except, he hadn"t forgotten what he saw.
It seemed that deep down, the young man still had retained a bit of his tendency to be prudent about things so he messaged Jiang Li and consulted him. Of course, he did not mention his gained abilities lest the other mistook him for an escapee of a mental hospital.
"I just called Mr. Jiang yesterday. I hope he doesn"t become annoyed that I"m bothering him again." The text was sent, mostly asking again for advice when one felt that he was being impatient.
...
The reborn student"s message was naturally delivered to the intended receiver. Unfortunately, Jiang Li was dealing with his own matter so he had no chance to check his phone.
Since the girl had an idea about his intentions for her, Jiang Li did not bother concealing it. He acted as if he had just not been accused of something ridiculous and drove her towards a clubhouse he owned.
Along the way, he made sure to lighten the mood by playing songs and trying to speak with her. Yet she also made sure to shower him with sharp words that did not include profanities or vulgar words. Her statements were simply as deadly and sharp as ever. The anger on her face was also genuine, with even a hint of killing intent.
"You"re so fierce…" he lightly said, which seemed to have angered her more.
"You think a b.a.s.t.a.r.d like you deserves a good treatment?! No! Gos.h.!.+ You are a kidnapper! A scourge of society who should at least be subjected to a Russian Sleep Experiment!"
Jiang Li twisted his body a bit to the side, nearly plastering himself on the car window to his left. The girl"s fist just nearly grazed his shoulder. There was a follow-up attack targeting his side again so he slightly bent his upper body down, inwardly complaining to himself about the treatment he was getting.
She said he was kidnapping her, but she also did the same to her earlier. Fine, he was a bit guilty, since he accused her of bringing him somewhere without asking for permission, yet he was now doing the same.
But she mentioned the Russian Sleep Experiment. Does she want him to evolve into something evil due to a lack of sleep?
"I can be evil, just not through the way you wanted." He replied.
"Scourge! Are you that threatened because I discovered your bad intentions!?"
He laughed after seeing her look around in a frantic manner.
After shaking his head. He told her, "Don"t panic. I mean no harm. I simply want to clarify some things with you and I need a few witnesses. You leave me helpless since you don"t listen to reason. Actually, if you want, you can just have your bodyguards and people follow us. They should be at least capable of tracking this car and our destination."
The woman quieted down, seemingly thinking about what he said.
A moment later, because she kept her silence longer than normal, he realized that something was wrong.
"Shoot." The sceneries beyond the car window kept changing. Within the black-grey car speeding along the wide road under the bright streetlights and traffic lights, a man smiling wryly scolded himself for subconsciously using hypnosis on his beloved pa.s.senger.
...
Not long after, the two arrived in the clubhouse. Emerging from the various vehicles were a group of men and women who seemed to be her guards. He nodded at them. He saw the girl visibly relaxed due to their arrival.
Afterward, she resumed her barrage of words for him and her glares.
Towards the artistic insults coming from her mouth, he only smiled and greeted the people inside. He then sought out Wen Hui. The man agreed to a private and serious talk with Selena Tang after giving Jiang Li a suspicious glance.tools in a fortune-telling technique commonly practiced in a Taoist or Buddhist temple. The flat sticks have poetic verses that a priest would help interpret on behalf of the querent (the one asking questions).