June, in the city district of Jinzhou.
Within an ordinary residential home, at this moment, candlelight flickers, and the scent of incense permeates the air.
Ling Quan sits in front of an old laptop, delicately opening a dark purple brocade pouch in her hands. Inside the pouch is a piece of aged white silk, perhaps due to its age, the writing on the silk has grown somewhat faint.
After looking at the silk under the light for a long while and still unable to make out its content, Ling Quan finally grudgingly fetches a magnifying glass from the drawer.
"June 8th... Ling... Quan, faces a crisis of... peach blossom..."
Holding the magnifying glass and scrutinising the silk for quite a while, Ling Quan finally discerns the writing on the silk.
June 8th? Ling Quan remains confused for a good while before she suddenly comprehends.
"Father, mother, today is indeed June 8th! Why didn't you leave me anything else, but just left this shabby brocade pouch? What's the point? It's already four in the afternoon. I haven't even left the house. How could I be facing a crisis of 'peach blossom'?"
Ling Quan grumbles at the pouch in disbelief.
At the age of twenty-five, Ling Quan, a single lady, inherited the family trade of fortune-telling due to her distaste for the nine-to-five working schedule after graduating from college.
Her grandparents were fortune-tellers. Her parents were fortune-tellers. However, when it came to Ling Quan, the family tradition was lost!
Indeed, it was lost.
Now, Ling Quan, where could she tell fortunes? What she could do was deduce people's life status from various features about them.
Put simply, this can be termed as psychological profiling.
Don't underestimate Ling Quan's expertise in psychology. Ever since she started her practice online, she has gathered quite a sizable fan base.
As for her income, while it’s not substantial, it’s sufficient for her to sustain her lifestyle.
Discarding the silk pouch in her hand, Ling Quan pulls out her cell phone, opens WeChat, and sends a message to her close friend, Ou Chenchen: "Old lady, I'm hungry! My deceased parents have forewarned that my luck with romance is at risk today, and I should refrain from going out. You are responsible for my dinner tonight. You have 20 minutes. Get some takeout and deliver it to my house!"
Having written the message, she hits send!
Looking at Ou Chenchen’s funny profile picture, Ling Quan can't help but burst into laughter.
After graduating from university, Ling Quan and Ou Chenchen became rather close. Ou Chenchen was a loyal friend who’d rush to fulfill any request Ling Quan had.
Today, given her foretold ill fate in love, Ling Quan naturally sought help from Ou Chenchen.
Less than a minute after sending the message, Ou Chenchen replied!
"Received! Would you like pork knuckle or spare ribs?" her message read on the screen.
"Sweet and sour spare ribs."
"Okay."
After getting the reply, Ling Quan chuckles lightly and puts down her phone.
Staring at the antiquated silk pouch in front of her on the computer desk, Ling Quan gives a resigned smile and stashes it back in the drawer!
That silk pouch was prepared by Ling Quan's parents more than ten years ago. Before their passing, they left strict instructions that it should be opened on a specific date when Ling Quan turns 25.
For many years now, Ling Quan had been curious about what was in the silk pouch. It wasn't until she opened it did Ling Quan truly understand what it meant to be caught between laughter and tears.
Written inside was: She will be overwhelmed by romantic encounters. Hah… She was supposedly destined to be romantically besieged since over a decade ago and it's predicted for today. Could they possibly not be so confident?
Moving the mouse, she clicked open the software she used for fortune-telling, and saw five or six orders waiting to be processed. Ling Quan simply ignored them.
In this line of work, making the clients wait a little longer can be beneficial for her own future development.
As she played with the computer, roughly ten minutes passed when Ling Quan suddenly heard a knock on the door.
It was Ou Chenchen! The woman was particularly swift today, appearing before twenty minutes had passed.
"Here she comes! Chenchen, let me tell you, the silk pouch my parents gave me mentioned today I would face… a romantic encounter!"
As she opened the door, Ling Quan suddenly found herself speechless.
Because… standing at her doorstep was….indeed a ‘peach blossom’ personified!
How could it not be a ‘peach blossom’?
Ling Quan swallowed hard as she looked at the man standing at the door.
He was a stunningly beautiful man.
His eyes, slender and exquisite.
His lips, crimson and cool.
His face, angular and detailed, firm and upright.
His aura was vast and profound, like a heavenly deity who had mistakenly landed in the mortal world!
With just one glance, Ling Quan knew the man before her was no simple character.
"Sir, who are you looking for?" Ling Quan asked, regaining her composure after a moment of surprise.
Even though she was single, she knew not every attractive man was safe to provoke.
"Ling Quan." The man was succinct.
Ling Quan: "...?"
"We suspect you are behind the attempted murder of Du Xiaoqing. So, you need to come with us."
The man flashed his credentials at Ling Quan before quickly putting them away.
Z Agency. Bai Mujiu.
What was that?
Despite the man retracting his credentials quickly, Ling Quan was able to glean the important information.
Z Agency? What is that? Daring to impersonate the police?
And, would a policeman handle cases in plain clothes?
A series of questions flashed across Ling Quan’s mind and she ultimately concluded that just like her, this man must be a swindler specialized in fraud and extortion.
"Officer, you've got the wrong person. I don't know any Du Xiaoqing, and I didn't kill anyone."
Ling Quan was stalling, killing time until Chen Chen arrived to help her call the police.
"Got the wrong person?" Bai Mu Nine scoffed coldly, extracting handcuffs from his waist, ready to snap them onto Ling Quan's wrists.
Ling Quan was on high alert, noticed something in Bai Mu Nine's hand, she immediately tried to shut the door without another word, but...
Bai Mu Nine, with his long arms and even longer legs, outstretched his hand and took a long stride forward, prying the door open instantly!
Sensing the situation going awry, Ling Quan started to scream at the top of her lungs, "Help! Robbery... Rape! Ah…”
Her scream did the trick, sure enough. Immediate sounds of footsteps echoing in the corridor could be heard, "thump, thump, thumping", followed by four to five men in police uniforms appearing in Ling Quan's sight...
Upon seeing the police, somehow muster courage from nowhere, she gave a small retreat, then suddenly aimed a kick at Bai Mu Nine's crotch area and dashed in the direction of the police.
"Police officers, you've arrived just in time. There's a man here pretending to be a police officer, alleging that I committed murder!”
In Ling Quan's subconscious, police officers are the embodiment of justice; when in trouble, seeking help from the police is the right thing.
"Boss, are you alright?"
Among the men there, a police officer called Liu Yu showed concern for Bai Mu Nine. Ling Quan was speechless...
"I'm fine, bring her back to the station," responded Bai Mu Nine with a poker face. His handsome, icy face showing no traces of discomfort.
"Hold on..."
Ling Quan, who was stunned for quite a while, finally found her voice again, "Officers, you have caught the wrong person. I don't even have the courage to kill a chicken, how could I possibly kill a human being?"
