"Child!" Chu Xin quickly grabbed Xia, who was about to leave, and said with a face full of bitterness, "You have suffered so much all these years!"

"Child, do you wish for my death?" Chu Xin was heartbroken, nearly collapsing onto the ground.

Xia shook his head: "No need. I am living very well. Don't trouble yourselves over me."

"That's right. That person is truly something else, abandoning Xia back then and showing up now?" Mo Yao chimed in, "Tell them to go look for their child where they abandoned Xia!"

The Director smiled and shook his head, saying, "I watched the two of you grow up. How could I not know your temperaments? Xia has always been this way; I don't think he can change."

Xia turned back to the Director to complain, "Director, that crazy girl has been pestering me since childhood. Thinking of all those tragedies, I should thank the heavens that I've survived this long. If our genders were reversed, I could sue her for sexual harassment!"

"Little Sir, could you tell my fortune, please?" the woman asked with a smile.

Xia's expression was helpless: "Director, why are you worrying about this every day?"

Xia's parents rushed over as soon as they received the call.

The fortune-teller shouldered his banner, donned a pair of small, old-fashioned, round dark sunglasses, nodded at Mo Yao, and then pushed the door open, leaving.

"Alas—this is fate," the Director sighed, turning back to his work.

Xia gently shook off his mother's tugging hand and said with a smile, "I've been doing quite well these years. If I talk about suffering, doesn't that imply the conditions here at the orphanage were poor?"

Mo Yao looked clearly unhappy: "Hearing you say that really breaks my heart."

Mo Yao, at this moment, put everything else aside and affectionately bumped her cheek against each of the little d***'s faces, appearing very warm.

Xia's spot for setting up his stall was rather unusual; it wasn't where fortune-tellers usually gathered. Instead, he wandered around like a guerrilla fighter carrying his long banner. Since his banner read 'Fifty Yuan per Reading,' and given that the fortune-teller was so young, coupled with the fact that this practice wasn't very fashionable these days, Xia wandered for a long time but only managed two customers. Those two readings, half-true and half-false, sold, but the remaining truly accurate reading remained unsold for ages.

"Xia, you've returned just in time. We have news of your parents," the Director suddenly said in the reception room.

"Obligation to others? I am not a mortal; I am an immortal," Xia stated flatly. "I don't keep such things in mind. Let them go to hell for all I care."

"Don't you know how many people envy you, kid?" the Director said with an unusually suggestive smile. "A girl as beautiful as Mo Yao—if she hadn't insisted she was sticking to you for life, the line of suitors would stretch from the east end of the city to the west!"

The Director's eyes widened: "How did you..."

The girl's expression shifted. She pulled out her wallet, counted the money, and then looked at Xia with shining eyes: "Little Sir, can you make it a bit cheaper?"

Mo Yao quickly smiled, "We are all fine. Xia is hard to talk to, please excuse him."

Xia's mocking smile grew more pronounced: "Of course, I know all that. I also know they carried me for a full year, and that I was born with hair. Furthermore, because the sky was clouded with fiery formations the moment I was born, they viewed me as an ill omen and discarded me. Am I correct?"

"Exactly, exactly. They gave up their parental rights themselves; there’s nothing that can be done about that," Mo Yao added. "But you are really casting aside this favor, then?"

"Child, I've finally found you!" As the two entered the reception room, they rushed toward Xia, truly enacting a melodramatic scene straight out of a television show.

"Hey, explain yourself clearly!" the girl quickly chased after him to ask, but Xia flashed a step and vanished into the crowd, never to be seen again.

Mo Yao quickly stood up, standing at attention like a primary school student facing the head teacher, and then said with a nervous laugh, "Director, are you feeling well?"

"Little Sir, why is your fortune-telling so expensive?" a faint female voice reached Xia's ears. Xia looked up and saw a very ordinary-looking girl gazing curiously at his long cloth banner.

"Sister Mo Yao, Brother Xia!" The sky was just beginning to lighten. The children were playing inside the courtyard. Seeing Xia and Mo Yao, they all rushed towards them.

"Let us fulfill our parental duties and come home with us," Chu Xin cried loudly, embracing Xia, but Xia remained unmoved.

"Fine, Little Sir, tell me. I'll buy thirty-seven yuan worth of fortune-telling!" the girl said happily.

"Without them, I would still exist, just not in this body," the true immortal who had crossed life and death stated.

Xia expressionlessly dodged their embrace and slowly recited the data he had calculated about the two of them: "Shang Su, forty-one years old, high school education, employed in the Customer Service Department of the Yincheng Cigarette Factory; Chu Xin, forty years old, high school education, employed in the Fourth Workshop of the Yincheng Cigarette Factory. You two gave birth to me twenty years ago, then abandoned me because the elders in your family deemed me inauspicious. Am I right?"

Later, the family chattered on for a while, but Xia refused to yield an inch, showing no intention of acknowledging them. Seeing that the day yielded no results, Xia's parents finally left.

The Director sighed, "Xia, don't speak of them like that. They did give birth to you, after all. Without them, there would be no you."

The Director sighed, "Child, do you hate them?"

The Director nodded with satisfaction: "Good child. When are you and Mo Yao planning to get married?"

A small child suddenly popped up near Xia's feet and said in a milky voice, "Brother Xia, you'll marry Sister Mo Yao sooner or later; everyone says so."

The girl clapped her hands and laughed, "Hee hee... Little Sir is indeed amazing. Then please tell me!"

"Hoo~ Since you know, I have nothing more to say. I'll call them over now, and you can talk among yourselves." The Director picked up the phone, dialed a number, briefly explained the situation, and told them to come over before discussing further.

A mocking smile flickered across Xia's lips: "Oh? They've come looking for the child they abandoned?"

"Xia, why must you do this?" The Director, who had witnessed everything, sighed. "Even though you made money trading stocks, it's still risky investment. You still need them for your livelihood."

"Director, I've withdrawn from the stock market. The interest earned from the money I deposited in the bank is enough for my living expenses," Xia wiggled his finger, then took Mo Yao's hand to revisit the place where they used to live to recall the past hardships.

Xia shook his head, "I barely know them; how can I hate them? But neither do I love them."

Just as Mo Yao was playing and laughing with the children, an extremely kind and affable voice rang out: "You're back?"

Xia took the girl's money and slowly said, "Though the sleep is short, the slumber is long; the surging tide cannot turn back heaven. The lingering love, though forcibly cut, lasts a lifetime; the sweet memories, though elusive, cannot be forgotten for years. Though the phoenix and the dragon may reunite someday, there is no destiny for the broken hairpin to rejoin. It seems everything ultimately turns to illusion; wandering in the human world for sixteen years."

Xia, the true immortal fortune-teller, wasn't doing it for money but merely to pass the time. One out of every three readings was accurate; the other two were merely half-truths to fool those who came seeking guidance.

Xia picked up his long banner, stood up, and said, "The money you gave me only covers this much. My three readings for the day are sold out, so I'm packing up and heading back."

"What you want to consult is about your marriage relations," Xia nodded. "It's not a major matter. A cheaper price is possible, of course, but the quality won't be as good as the fifty-yuan reading. I can only offer a few hints, not a detailed explanation."

The Director said sternly, "Do you know how agonizing it was for your mother to give birth to you? Do you know how much pain she endured while carrying you?"

Xia flicked his cloth banner and said coolly, "You get what you pay for. I calculate the fortune first and then collect the money. If I have the audacity to do that, I naturally possess extraordinary skill. This price is perfectly normal."

This was the second time Xia had seen his parents; the first was right after he was born in this life.

They looked like very common city folk, and their appearance was outwardly friendly and amiable, contrasting sharply with the polite aloofness Xia exhibited. These two were only just in their early forties and still seemed energetic and lively.

Xia allowed Chu Xin to pull him for a moment, finally saying, "What exactly do you want? Just say it!"

Xia and Mo Yao got off the train and arrived at the place where Xia had grown up—the Yincheng Orphanage.

Xia's parents broke out in a cold sweat. Their minds felt like they were spinning. After holding steady for a moment, they managed to speak, "The Director said you saw everything back then, so do you resent us?"

Except for Xia, even the two people selling fruit at the entrance of the university would never have guessed Mo Yao was a demoness, as her image and temperament at this time bore no resemblance to the word 'devil.'

Xia also acted somewhat roguishly, extending his 'salty pig's hand' to wrap around Mo Yao's slender waist, and they continued to wander around the orphanage.

Xia chuckled dryly, "We'll see. Maybe she won't be willing?"

"Then dump her!" the Director commanded with a wave of his hand. "Don't you think about it? When you were little, whatever good food Mo Yao got, didn't she always secretly give you her share? Even if you had your own, she'd split her portion with you again. I refuse to believe you can't see her feelings!"

"Hmm? What does that mean?" The girl felt an inexpressible panic rise in her heart upon hearing Xia's cryptic poem.

"You two are grown now; it's time to worry about this," the Director patted Xia's shoulder. "You two have been close since childhood; you are practically childhood sweethearts. Since I watched both of you grow up, I would be very reassured if you could live together."

Xia nodded but said nothing.

"Little Daoist, you are truly heartless, your composure in severing ties hasn't faded since those days!" Mo Yao said with a smile. "Can you really bear to see your parents in this life suffer so much?"

Xia shook his head again, "You still need to catch the Route 28 bus home later. I might as well knock off another yuan."

Xia scratched his head and said, "Uh... I've already found someone in university."

"Go stay where it's cool!" Xia shouted. The little brat immediately scampered away, but without any sign of fear, because all the children in the courtyard knew Xia had a sharp tongue but a soft heart; he never truly laid a hand on anyone, and instead, he would give the child candy. Thus, none of the children feared Xia's reprimands.

Xia closed his eyes and said, "From the day I was born, my memory has clearly recorded everything I saw and heard, without any omission or forgetfulness."

Xia looked up at the sun hanging high in the sky, thinking that if he still hadn't gotten any business, he might as well pack up.

Xia felt like spitting blood at this moment. He decided to stop dwelling on the topic and quickly changed the subject, talking about elderly health maintenance while leading the Director inside.

Xia offered an apologetic smile and stepped forward to say, "Director, your body is still robust, but your blood circulation is starting to stagnate. You really need more exercise."

Xia pouted, "You only have thirty-seven yuan in your pocket; it's not enough for the fee for this reading."

"Good, good, good, you two are fine too?" This Director was an old man over sixty, but he had excellent spirit.

Xia shrugged his shoulders and said, "I forgot to calculate my fortune before leaving today, and instead ran into the two of you. But I will be more careful in the future, so this will be our last meeting."

"Little Daoist, off to set up your stall again?" Mo Yao pushed the door open and said to a small fortune-teller dressed in a Qingyang silk Tang suit and a pair of old-fashioned pointed-toe cloth shoes, "When you come back, use the extra cash you earn to buy me something nice, just some smoked meat and old wine."

The next day, Xia spent a good while searching through the house he and Mo Yao had bought, finally locating a set of fortune-teller's attire. He prepared to set up a stall on the street again, ready to save people by delivering one accurate reading among three.