Unravel the mystery
The old charlatan shook his head and spoke confidently, full of style, thinking that anyone who came should come to his stall. Look at that young boy, he doesn't look like someone who knows how to calculate.
The man is a middle-aged man with a strong outline, about forty years old, wearing a coarse linen shirt, and his identity cannot be seen, but his eyes are sharp and firm. His square appearance shows that he is a stubborn person. His old face is black and has a stubble. He looks a little vicissitudes, probably with some stories.
The man ignored the old charlatan and walked straight to Xia Shang.
The old charlatan was so surprised that he pulled off a strand of his beard with his fingertips. He was in so much pain that tears almost came out, but he didn't forget to come over and ask: "Sir, I am willing to tell you a fortune for free."
The middle-aged man didn't move at all, and said in a low voice: "I want to ask this young gentleman to tell me a fortune."
Xia Shangfang was thinking, and when he came back to his senses, he looked up and glanced at the middle-aged man. He saw him looking at him with a condescending look, and then saw a sandalwood leaf falling down, brushing the middle-aged man's face and falling sideways.
The leaf was floating in the air, and it should have landed leisurely, but it was split into two halves by the middle-aged man's finger and fell to the ground.
Only one finger split the leaf in two!
This skill scared the old charlatan nearby and shrank back. Knowing that this was a martial artist, he didn't dare to provoke him. He honestly returned to his seat and didn't say anything.
The middle-aged man asked Xia Shang: "Can you measure it?"
"Yes!"
"Is it accurate?"
"Accurate!"
"So what if it's not accurate?"
"Listen to me first before asking." Xia Shang said, slowly stood up, not looking at the man, but looking at the fallen sandalwood leaf.
"You have internal injuries, but you pretend to be calm. If you continue, you will be like this leaf, strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and will break in the middle with the slightest external force."
As soon as the voice fell, the middle-aged man's eyes were stern, and the momentum emanating from his body instantly became a little colder, and he just stared at Xia Shang straightly.
Xia Shang seemed to be unaware, and sat down again with his eyelids slightly squinted. He flicked the leaves on the table and said, "You know better than me whether it is true or not."
"How do you judge?"
Xia Shang said to a leaf on the table, "Just look at the sandalwood leaf. 'Ye' can be translated into 'ye' in a book, and 'tanye' can be disassembled and reassembled into 'wood trembling'. You have no expression on your face and look like a wooden stake. The wood in 'wood trembling' refers to you, and trembling represents instability, which means that you are pretending to be calm, but you actually have a hidden disease."
"How to interpret it?"
"There is no good prescription. Go to the pharmacy for advice."
At this point, the middle-aged man said no more, took a silver ingot and hurried away.
The old charlatan and Xia Shang were both enlightened!
Ten taels!
He was really generous!
Xia Shang happily accepted the silver, and the old charlatan was so envious that his beard was crooked.
"Why are you so proud? You are lucky to have a blind cat meet a dead mouse."
At this moment, three scholars dressed as scholars came to the old charlatan's stall, which attracted the old charlatan's attention.
"Old sir, is the divination accurate?"
"I have been practicing for a hundred years, how can it be inaccurate? I can judge the Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, and look at the sun and the moon in my palm; I can measure Feng Shui and the six directions, and hold the universe in my sleeves. It is said that if you know the past five hundred years, you will know the future five hundred years. That's what I am talking about."
One of them was surprised and said, "Old sir, is it really as magical as you say?"
"You will know if you try it."
"Then sir, please help my three friends to predict. How many of us can pass the autumn examination this year?"
"Wait for me to calculate!"
After that, the old charlatan pretended to set up the six-line hexagram plate, tossed coins, and spoke with great confidence. His expression was extremely serious, which made the three scholars sweat profusely.
After a lot of trouble, the old charlatan finally stopped, and the three people asked repeatedly: "Old sir, how is it?"
The old charlatan smiled and said: "Three of you, I already know all the causes and consequences of this autumn examination, but..."
He stretched out his hand.
The three people understood, and one of them took out some silver.
"Old sir, tell me! Who of us three can pass?"
The old charlatan did not speak, and after putting the money in his pocket, he raised a finger.
The three people were confused: "Sir, what does this mean?"
"You can figure it out on your own! The secrets of heaven cannot be revealed."
"Old sir, we have given you money, why do you still say that the secrets of heaven cannot be revealed?"
"What I gave you before was the starting fee."
"Old sir, you are cheating me!"
"My son, don't talk nonsense! I dare to swear to heaven that this hexagram is absolutely true. If you find that what I predicted is not accurate in the future, I will return your money a hundred times. No one can talk nonsense about the secrets of heaven. Wait for you in the autumn exam. Come back to me later to see if I can solve it correctly."
"Sir, you said so! If I can't solve it correctly in the future, we will come to you!"
The old charlatan nodded repeatedly: "Go ahead! I have been setting up a stall here for many years and I never cheat anyone."
The three scholars turned away, not believing it, and kept muttering: "What does one finger mean? Is there only one person among us? Who is it?"
The old charlatan looked satisfied and shook his money bag at Xia Shang, showing off.
Although Xia Shang seemed to be friendly to everyone on the surface, he was actually a petty person. Xia Shang had no good feelings for this old charlatan who was disrespectful to the elderly. When he saw the three scholars passing by him, he said: "Three, how about letting me solve the secrets of the old gentleman?"
The three scholars stopped when they heard the voice and noticed that there was a measurement stall under the tree. All I saw was a sign that said "Free Calculation" and a young, weak scholar.
"What were you talking about just now?"
"Yes?"
"Did you set up this stall?"
"Yes."
"Do you know the art of calculation?"
"I know a thing or two."
"Can you understand the secrets of the old gentleman?"
"Yes."
The three scholars looked at each other and shook their heads: "Forget it, you don't look like someone who has the ability. Let's find someone else."
"I don't charge money. You three can listen first. Whether you believe it or not, just laugh it off."
Hearing this, I thought it was right.
"Then tell me what the old gentleman meant by holding up a finger."
"The reason is very simple. If one of the three of you passes the exam, it means one person will pass; if two of you pass the exam, it means one person will not pass; if three of you pass the exam, it means all of you will pass; if all three of you fail, it means none of you will pass. In short, whether the three of you pass the exam or not in the future, this finger of his can explain it. So he dared to say that if he made a mistake, he would pay back a hundredfold."
The three scholars came together Qi was stunned: "So this is what the so-called secret is!"
This time the three scholars were not calm, and they felt like they were being fooled. They returned to the old charlatan's stall and asked him sternly:
"Is what he said true?"
The old charlatan tried to be calm: "Don't believe the nonsense of that yellow-mouthed boy! I know astronomy and geography, and I know everything. How can my calculations be wrong!"
"Why bother? Report to the government and see if this guy can predict whether he will be beaten by the prefect today?"