Chapter 1:

Ganzhou, also known as Qiancheng, is a prefecture-level city in Jiangxi Province.

Feng shui originated in China, and the cradle of feng shui lies in Ganzhou. Yang Yunsong, a renowned master of feng shui during the Tang Dynasty, personally conducted site selections for the city walls, gates, temples, and government buildings in Ganzhou. His work helped complete the ancient Chinese system of feng shui and gave rise to the Jiangxi School of Form, making him revered as the founding patriarch by Chinese feng shui practitioners around the world.

Three days ago, Lin Qiao arrived in Ganzhou and is now waiting to meet a contemporary feng shui grandmaster rumored to be a descendant of Yang Yunsong.

This meeting had been scheduled three months in advance. She waited for three long months just for the opportunity to meet this so-called “master”—not because he was busy, but because he simply didn’t want to see her.

Lin Qiao is from Beijing and graduated from Peking University. She is a staunch socialist citizen who strongly opposes superstition. The reason she sought out this grandmaster, whose reputation has grown to near-mythical proportions, is because her family business has been deteriorating in recent years. Her father, after witnessing a friend’s miraculous recovery of fortune following the master’s guidance, insisted on seeking help. Lin Qiao strongly opposed the idea, but her father secretly traveled to Jiangxi and ended up in a car accident and was turned away at the door.

To make her father give up, Lin Qiao decided to visit the master herself. Through her best friend Wang Jiaqi’s husband, she obtained the master’s contact information. She pleaded with the master’s assistant for three months before finally securing a meeting.

Speaking of her best friend Wang Jiaqi, it’s impossible not to mention her father, Wang Jin—who is precisely the friend Lin Qiao’s father referred to as having turned his luck around.

Uncle Wang, as he’s known, is an old hand in the business world. Like Lin Qiao’s father, he has struggled financially in recent years, and his family’s situation has become increasingly strained. Lin Qiao and Wang Jiaqi have been close since childhood. She knows that Wang Jiaqi has a boyfriend named Fang Zheng, a wealthy overseas returnee. It was Fang Zheng who arranged for the mysterious feng shui master to help Uncle Wang. After the master’s intervention, the Wang family’s fortunes reversed dramatically, and Wang Jiaqi was finally accepted by her future in-laws and married into a wealthy family.

Lin Qiao always believed that the Wang family’s good fortune came from Fang Zheng’s business acumen, not from the so-called master, who was nothing more than an arrogant charlatan. But her father thought exactly the opposite and refused to listen to her reasoning, which finally forced her to give in.

Just this once, for her stubborn father who won’t give up until he hits a wall, Lin Qiao decided to go along with it.

After waiting in the elegant, tranquil hall of a three-story traditional Chinese villa for about an hour, Lin Qiao could no longer contain her frustration. She quietly climbed to the second floor and found Duxinling, the assistant she had been in contact with, politely asking how much longer she would have to wait. But the response she received left her anything but calm.

“Miss Lin, I was just looking for you. I’m really sorry, but Mr. Shen suddenly has something urgent today and can’t come. Please go back for now. We’ll contact you again when he’s available.”

The young man in a suit, full of apologies, finished speaking and gestured politely for her to leave.

Lin Qiao was stunned. “What did you say?”

“I’m really sorry. It came up suddenly, and no one wanted this to happen,” Du Xinling replied in a very official tone.

Lin Qiao frowned. “It came up suddenly? How can your boss do this? I’ve waited so long already. Do you think it’s easy for me to come all the way here?”

Du Xinling pursed his lips. “I’m sorry, Miss Lin, but I can’t do anything about it. Also, I’m his partner, not his employee.”

Lin Qiao said helplessly, “He postponed our meeting for three months before finally agreeing. I’ve traveled back and forth from Beijing to Jiangxi, waited here for three full days, and have a pile of work waiting for me back at the company. Now you’re telling me he canceled last minute? Do you even think this is reasonable? How hard can it be to just meet someone? I was even here to learn something!”

Du Xinling seemed completely accustomed to such reactions and replied calmly, “We apologize, Miss Lin. This was our mistake. We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“When will the next meeting be?” Lin Qiao asked, her expression darkening.

Du Xinling replied, “Not sure yet. We’ll have to wait for Mr. Shen’s schedule. He said that after today, the next month is an inauspicious time for your meeting.”

This explanation nearly made Lin Qiao lose her composure. She forced herself to stay calm and gritted her teeth, “Fine, I’ll wait.” Then she turned and walked downstairs, grabbed her bag, and left quickly, as if she couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

From the second-floor window, Du Xinling watched her leave and sighed quietly. In truth, it really was an unexpected incident. He had already arranged the meeting when suddenly the son of the other party went missing after skipping school. The teacher called, urging the parent to come find him, so the meeting had to be canceled. Although the boy wasn’t his biological son and he didn’t seem to show much concern for him, deep down, he still cared. It was just Lin Qiao’s bad luck—her whole family seemed to be cursed.

After leaving the premises, Lin Qiao’s frustration only grew worse. She wasn’t the kind of person to be pushy, but the other side had been so tormenting. They had kept her waiting for three months, and just when she finally got a meeting, it was canceled at the last minute. Anyone would be upset.

Angrily shouldering her backpack, she walked out of the remote area and called the taxi she had arranged earlier. Soon enough, the driver arrived, and she got into the car and left.

Luckily, she had thought ahead and saved the taxi driver’s number—otherwise, with no public transport and no way to hail a cab around here, she would have been stranded.

The hotel where Lin Qiao was staying was in a quiet area with few shops nearby. Feeling upset, she returned to her room, took a shower, and then went out for a walk. She passed through a corridor behind the hotel, turned a few corners, and walked along a row of neatly aligned willow trees. When she reached a school playground, she paused, watching the breeze blow across the grass.

Suddenly, she heard a child crying from a nearby alley. Frowning, she quickly ran over and peeked around the corner. A group of college students was bullying a primary school boy. She felt relieved but also concerned.

Four teenagers, seemingly middle schoolers, surrounded a young boy whose face was bruised and bloodied. Though he had been beaten, the boy remained defiant, hugging his backpack tightly and stubbornly shouting, “I don’t have any money!”

Lin Qiao couldn’t help but sigh. This kid was so stubborn—money could be earned again, but injuries could be serious.

Although she was in a foreign city and wanted to avoid trouble, Lin Qiao finally stepped into the alley. She was tall—170 centimeters—and her serious expression and stern gaze gave her a commanding presence.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her tone flat.

The four youths, still just kids, panicked at the sight of an adult. They exchanged glances and then fled in the opposite direction.

Lin Qiao approached the boy and helped him up. She took out a tissue from her backpack and gently wiped the blood from his face. Her movements were soft, her eyes kind and warm, which helped calm the boy’s nerves. He didn’t cry out once.

Who doesn’t like a well-behaved child? Lin Qiao gently patted the boy’s head and asked softly, “Does it hurt?”

The boy shook his head. “No.”

“Liar,” she sighed. “It’s bleeding—how can it not hurt? Never mind, where do you live? I’ll walk you home.”

Lin Qiao stood up, took the boy’s hand, and prepared to take him home. He was quite short, probably only in first or second grade. His large, tear-filled eyes looked up at her with gratitude and shyness.

“Big sister, just take me back to school. I’ve been gone so long, the teacher must’ve called my dad already. He’ll come pick me up,” the boy said, looking up at her.

Lin Qiao smiled. “Okay, I’ll take you back to school.” She held his hand and walked a few steps forward. Noticing his awkward gait, she realized he might also be injured in the leg. She bent down and picked him up, and together they left the alley.

The boy’s school was the one she had just passed. This was the back entrance. Since all the students were in class, the playground gate was closed, and there was no sign of physical education happening. They would have to go around to the front entrance.

As Lin Qiao turned to leave with the boy in her arms, a black Audi A8 pulled up in front of her.

A man stepped out. He was tall, with a slim waist and broad shoulders, dressed neatly in a black suit and tie. He glanced at her expressionlessly. His face was sharp and angular, his eyes like stars in the night sky, his skin pale like early spring snow, glowing with brilliance.

His gaze lingered on her for only a few seconds before he silently took the boy from her arms. His long, cold fingers brushed against her, sending a shiver through her body.

The boy didn’t protest when handed over. Instead, he looked delighted and, with a hint of wrongedness, said, “Dad.”

Lin Qiao was stunned. She looked at the man, who couldn’t be older than thirty. He wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. Now he was frowning at her, his pale red lips parting slightly to speak in a low, polite, yet utterly emotionless voice: “Hello.”

Lin Qiao quickly regained her composure and awkwardly replied, “Hello.”

The boy wrapped one arm around his father’s neck and pointed at Lin Qiao with the other. “Dad, some people wanted to steal my pocket money and hit me. This big sister saved me.”

Lin Qiao touched her face and smiled gently at the pair. At least she hadn’t been mistaken for a child molester.

The father listened to his son’s story without changing expression. He looked at her, his gaze lingering briefly on her delicate features. Her eyes were charming, like peach blossoms, filled with hesitation and relief. But she had a heart-shaped face.

According to the “Lectures on the Zhouyi,” in the theory of the Five Elements in physiognomy, a heart-shaped face like hers is associated with the metal element. Though considered the most beautiful face shape in modern times, it comes with a price. People with this face type often endure hardships in love, study, and life, making them the most unfortunate among the five types.

His observation was brief. He put the boy down, took out a business card from his inner jacket pocket, and handed it to her indifferently. “Shen Qingzhou. Pleased to meet you.”

Lin Qiao froze on the spot, her lips twitching involuntarily. “It’s you?”

So this was the grandmaster she had gone through so much trouble to meet but had been unable to see. No wonder he canceled the meeting—he had to find his missing son. It was understandable after all.

Shen Qingzhou didn’t seem the least bit curious about how she recognized him. After introducing himself, he said coldly, “Thank you for saving my son. I will properly express my gratitude later. I need to take him to the hospital now. Excuse us.”

His request was perfectly reasonable, so Lin Qiao naturally didn’t object. She politely said goodbye, watching him place the boy in the front passenger seat before walking back to the driver’s side and getting in. His legs, encased in black trousers, were long and straight.

Before closing the door, he nodded at her once more. His narrow, phoenix-like eyes slightly upturned at the corners, carrying a meaning she couldn’t quite grasp.

Under the green willows and gentle breeze, that single glance made Lin Qiao so flustered she could only lower her head—again and again.