Wandering Gods of Day and Night-Chapter 53 - 50 Face Reading
53: Chapter 50 Face Reading
53 -50 Face Reading
After bathing, Zhou Xuan returned to his room to put away the basin and found the room had been tidied up like new, even the window panes gleamed.
“Little Fuzi sure works efficiently.”
Zhou Xuan placed the basin down and headed to the dining hall.
The opera troupe’s dining hall was quite primitive, with a green-tiled roof and two red brick chimneys.
Inside, there were more than ten square tables, and the chairs were long benches.
At the place where food was served, there lined up a row of wooden basins filled with dishes.
Yuan Buyu looked sullen, ladling out a scoop of shredded pancake for each person that came by, like a machine.
Zhou Xuan took a meal basin from the cabinet and walked toward Yuan Buyu.
Not two steps ahead, Yu Zhengyuan happened to enter the dining hall.
“Xuanzi, you look quite healthy.” Yu Zhengyuan’s remark wasn’t just courteous; he truly thought Zhou Xuan looked well.
His face was ruddy, his eyes bright and spirited, and he even seemed to stand a bit straighter.
“Big brother, you also look good, but has your back been troubling you lately?
Why do I always see you hunched over?”
“Hunched?
Am I?” Yu Zhengyuan couldn’t help but glance towards the bowl cabinet.
The doors of the bowl cabinet consisted of two glass panes, one in the front and one in the back, both slotted into corresponding wooden grooves.
To take a bowl, you would just slide the glass aside.
The interior of the cabinet was painted black; against this backdrop, the glass served as a rather unclear mirror.
Yu Zhengyuan checked out his posture in the glass reflection.
His back wasn’t hunched; it was quite straight.
However, as Zhou Xuan mentioned, Yu Zhengyuan had indeed been having back trouble recently.
A couple of days ago, he strained it during exercise and twisted a bone; he was still wearing a medicinal plaster for it.
Although his back had been strained, as the manager of the opera troupe, Yu Zhengyuan had to go out every day to negotiate business.
A bent back would negatively impact his image, so even with the pain, he constantly reminded himself to keep his back straight.
“Could it be that I subconsciously hunched my back while greeting Xuanzi just now?”
Yu Zhengyuan pondered this as he walked, unconsciously quickening his pace.
Even though he came in after Zhou Xuan, he ended up in front of him by the time they got to serving food.
“Master Yuan, why the long face?” asked Yu Zhengyuan, extending his meal basin toward Yuan Buyu.
Yuan Buyu replied with displeasure, “My apprentice took a leave, so besides cooking, I have to serve the dishes too.
How could I be in a good mood?”
Slap!
A large clump of shredded pancake was tossed into Yu Zhengyuan’s bowl.
“Don’t you remember?
I don’t like shredded pancakes.
Give me something else.”
“Then have some steamed buns,” Yuan Buyu stuffed two buns into his bowl.
“Isn’t there any meat?” Yu Zhengyuan peeked into the basins curiously.
Impatiently, Yuan Buyu waved him away, “You’re lucky to even get white buns.
Many people can’t even get a taste of cornbread…
Here’s a dish of pickles for you.
Off you go and eat.”
Yu Zhengyuan sighed, holding his cornbread and pickles, waiting for Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan also extended his basin, “Lao Yuan, two buns, please.”
“You don’t deserve buns.”
Zhou Xuan was stunned.
I’m the Young Master, and I don’t deserve buns?
“You only deserve this…”
Yuan Buyu bowed his head, reached under the table, and pulled out a small basket.
It contained a large, fragrant meat pie, four pork buns, a bowl of sizzling beef soup, and a bowl of soy milk.
“Start with these; the hot beef noodles will be ready in a bit!” Yuan Buyu pushed the basket toward Zhou Xuan.
Yu Zhengyuan looked down at his own bowl of buns and then up at Zhou Xuan’s basket full of delicacies, his gaze filled with confusion.
“Why does Xuanzi have so much good food while I’m stuck with buns?”
“Can you compare to Xuanzi?
He needs to eat more.”
“Why’s that?”
“He’s growing his body!”
Yu Zhengyuan, Zhou Xuan: “…”
Yu Zhengyuan and Zhou Xuan sat side by side.
Zhou Xuan couldn’t help but feel sorry for his senior brother as he watched him swallow, so he tore off half of his meat pie and handed it to him.
“Senior brother, you should eat more too.
You’re running errands outside; you need to keep up with your nutrition.”
Yu Zhengyuan took the meat pie, feeling somewhat balanced in his mind.
He said to Zhou Xuan, “I’ll have to take you with me from now on.”
“Ah?
Take me with you for what?”
“To work!
The Class Leader said we should get you more involved in the business of our troupe…”
“Isn’t that bad?”
Zhou Xuan just wanted to lie low, not bother about anything, and wait for people to cater to him by providing food and drink.
He wouldn’t even want to chew his food himself if he could hire someone to lift his chin.
Yu Zhengyuan clearly misunderstood, thinking Zhou Xuan felt he wouldn’t be good in business and was getting stage fright.
He immediately reassured with warmth: “Don’t be nervous.
No matter what you do, just stick with your senior brother, and I’ll definitely get you on the right path and make sure the business runs smooth and steady.”
After hearing this, Zhou Xuan was somewhat touched.
His senior brother was really a good guy with a kind heart, though a bit oblivious to people’s true intentions.
“I’ll give it a try for a few days.” Zhou Xuan thought he would participate in the business for a few days and then talk to his sister—considering whether he could just eat, drink, and be merry thereafter.
Yu Zhengyuan patted Zhou Xuan on the shoulder and said, “Do well.
Sometimes even your senior brother envies you.”
“Envy me for what?”
“Envy you for having a strong, considerate, and warm-hearted senior brother!”
“…” Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan felt that his senior brother was really suited for being a manager, capable of praising himself in a roundabout way—an unexpected yet face-saving technique.
“What nonsense are you talking about now.” Yuan Buyu brought over a bowl of beef noodles and advised Yu Zhengyuan, “Lao Yu, you said your back was hurting, yet you insist on sitting upright.
Be careful or you might end up with a chronic injury.”
“I told you your back was bad, and you wouldn’t admit it.” Zhou Xuan also chided Yu Zhengyuan.
Yu Zhengyuan could only laugh awkwardly in response.
“How did you know about Lao Yu’s back?” Yuan Buyu asked Zhou Xuan.
“He’s so stubborn; surely he wouldn’t tell you about a minor illness or injury?”
Zhou Xuan slurped his noodles and said, “I figured it out.
When I saw senior brother, he was hunched over… still hunched over now.”
Yuan Buyu tilted his head and eyed Yu Zhengyuan, who was sitting up straight, not quite understanding what Zhou Xuan meant.
No hunched back, yet you insist one is there.
Are you seeing something different from us?
Suddenly, Yuan Buyu had an epiphany and slapped the table hard: “Right, it’s not the same!”
Startled by the commotion, Zhou Xuan wiped the beef soup off his face with a handkerchief, “Lao Yuan, next time you get excited, please don’t slam the table while someone is eating.
The soup almost splashed into my eyes.”
“Xuanzi, do you realize that your Spiritual Perception has improved again?”
“When did I become spiritual?”
“Now!”
Resting his chin in his hands, Zhou Xuan glanced around the room and said, “I didn’t see any ghostly shadows, so how could I be spiritual?”
“You’re such a melon head; of course, you don’t understand.
‘Seeing impurity’ is one characteristic of being spiritual.
If Spiritual Perception progresses further, you can perform Face Reading.”
“Face Reading?
You mean like reading faces and palms?”
Yuan Buyu shook his head and explained: “Face and palm reading is a different method.
The Face Reading I’m talking about is perceiving one’s inner nature.
Everyone has different aspects.
People born to illustrious families have a noble aspect; big businessmen have a wealthy aspect; those suffering from illnesses have a painful aspect.
Your senior brother has hurt his back, and the pain arises from that injury.
The aspect manifests as a hunched back in pain, and you, my boy, have discerned it.”
Zhou Xuan suddenly understood.
When he went to the bathhouse, he accidentally read the aspect of Lao Ma’s pale face too!
“With this skill, if I became a doctor, wouldn’t I be able to diagnose people easily?”
“Wasting talent!
Squandering your gift!
With such talent, you think about becoming a mere doctor?”
Annoyed, Yuan Buyu collected the bowl and went to busy himself with other matters.
After a good meal, Zhou Xuan and Yu Zhengyuan set off to work.
Watching Zhou Xuan leave from the corner of his eye, Yuan Buyu sighed, “This talent for Face Reading suits a storyteller like us so well.
Could it really be a gift from the heavens?
But wait, why has his Spiritual Perception improved so fast?
From seeing impurity to Face Reading, even a Blood Well Spirit Communicator would suffer a lot to achieve this…”
