Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A chain of train compartments wriggled past tall mountains like a soaring dragon or a slithering snake. 

It was a train that departed from the depths of the massive mountains toward Coast City. 

In one of the passenger cars. 

Roughly a dozen passengers were scattered around the seats in the passenger car. 

Among them, a young man in his early twenties was chatting away to an ultimate beauty of a young lady sitting across him. 

His attire was unbelievably plain—one glance was all it took to tell anyone looking that he was a village kid. There were several patched-up holes in his navy blue shirt while the lower part of his body wore black straight-cut pants that nobody could pinpoint from which period it came from. The soles on his military green rubber boots were fully covered in yellowish mud that reminded people of the color of poop. 

However, it was not all hopeless for the youth since he was rather good-looking, especially his exceptionally pure eyes. They looked like clear skies after the rain, free from the impurities in the world.

His name was Huang Xiaolong. It was true that he was a hillbilly from the mountains, and he was ready to make a living in Coast City in all of its flickering glory—a city located at the shoreline. 

Across Huang Xiaolong, a lady at the peak of her youth sat and showed the epitome of vibrant youth. She was dressed in a plain floral print dress and her black hair cascaded down her elegant shoulders like a waterfall. Even without putting on any lip gloss, her cherry lips glowed in a natural bright red. Two big, watery eyes were engraved into her oval face, framed by her long lashes that fluttered from time to time. Below her eyes, her refined nose hung elegantly above her supple, cherry lips that often curved upward into a beautiful smile. Everyone would be deeply intoxicated just by looking at her.

Her skin was as fair as lanolin jade. A pair of fullness on her chest stretched her long dress to its maximum tightness. Everyone could not help but worry for her, afraid that they would leap out of their fragile containment. 

“Are you heading to the Coast City to work or to study?” asked the young lady in a rather interested tone as she looked at Huang Xiaolong across her. 

This time, the young lady went to the mountains with a group of university friends during the summer holidays, yearning for an adventure of “surviving the wilds”. However, she was bored after a few days and decided to buy a ticket for an early train to return to Coast City. 

It was painstakingly boring on the train. Therefore, she did not mind chitchatting with Huang Xiaolong across her to pass the time. 

“Me?” Huang Xiaolong’s face turned somber as he straightened up. He said, “This time, I bring my entire village’s hopes and dreams along with me to Coast City …” 

“Huh? The entire village’s hopes?” reiterated the young lady in confusion. 

“That’s right! The people in the village gave me three missions.” Huang Xiaolong’s expression grew stony and more severe. “Number one, I must earn money! I want to earn a lot of money so that I can build houses, schools, and old folks’ homes in the village… I want to let all the kids in the village study like the kids in the city can, learning about culture and knowledge…” 

Hearing his words, the young lady was in awe and she looked at Huang Xiaolong with a newfound trace of admiration. 

“Number two, I’m gonna get myself a wife! The village head said that the ladies in the city are the epitome of all things wonderful and they’re all very pretty. The ladies in the village can never compare to them! The village head told me I must marry a lady in the city!” Huang Xiaolong continued with a stern face. 

“Pffft—” The young lady could not hold in her laughter. 

“Number three, I wanna attend university. This is because there isn’t anyone from our village who has gone to university until today—” Huang Xiaolong spilled out all three of his life missions with a single breath. 

The young lady was a kind soul. She said in encouragement, “I trust that you can do it! Uh-huh, all the best!” 

“Of course I’ll succeed. There isn’t anything simpler than these three things to me…” continued Huang Xiaolong as-a-matter-of-factly, “When it comes to earning money, I’ll simply make a few hundred or a few thousand billion; as for getting married, it should be enough for me to marry a dozen or so; as for studying, I’ll get that thing called a doctorate or a master’s degree, then, I’ll get a double degree or whatever you call it. That should be enough to satisfy the people in the village…” 

“Uh…” The young lady was utterly baffled. Any shred of admiration she had for Huang Xiaolong had disintegrated in an instant. She thought, ‘This man is either joking or he’s nuts.’ 

“Are you doubting me?” Huang Xiaolong glared at the young lady. “I’m not joking! If you must know, I’m the pride of the whole village!” 

“Ahem, ahem! I’m not questioning you… Hmm, let’s change the topic, shall we? Is this the first time you left home? Do you know anything about the outside world?” She aptly changed the topic. 

“I used to study in a primary school in Coast City but I stopped going after my third year… Also, don’t misunderstand that I’ve been out of touch with the outside world. I head to the province’s cybercafe every week to surf the internet. That ‘666’ that you city dwellers say and what, ‘pakpakpak’1? I know what all of them mean,” said Huang Xiaolong. 

“This… This… Talking to you is draining…” The young lady ran out of motivation to continue the conversation. Internally, she thought, ‘What a weirdo. He spurts bullshit with a straight face. Can he truly be cuckoo?’ 

“Then, what’s your favorite pastime in the mountains?” the lady asked again. 

“I have many hobbies. My favorite is to research fuzhuan1 and incantations. Sometimes, I go around catching spirits. Of course, I occasionally dabble in palmistry, Fengshui, or something of that line…” Huang Xiaolong answered honestly. 

“My goodness! There is no way we can continue the conversation now! You’re a total— What research fuzhuan or catching spirits…” The young lady decided to stop wasting her breath talking to Huang Xiaolong. 

There was absolutely no way for them to keep talking! 

“You don’t believe me?” On the contrary, Huang Xiaolong started to perk up. “What do you think of me conducting palmistry for you for free…?” 

“Boring.” The young lady twisted her face away. 

“Your Twelve Palaces1 look good. Why don’t you tell me your name and the eight characters of your birth2 and I’ll read your fate for you,” continued Huang Xiaolong relentlessly. 

Eventually, the lady gave in to his insistence. Since Huang Xiaolong did not seem like he meant ill, she gave Huang Xiaolong her name and her birth date in the lunar calendar. 

The lady’s name was very elegant—Song Yuru. 

Huang Xiaolong started pinching his fingers steadily as though making some calculations. After a few seconds, he suddenly exclaimed, “This is great!” 

“God save me. What could it possibly be that made you jump?” Song Yuru flinched at his sudden exclamation. 

“I calculated everything just now and it seems like the eight characters of our birth dates are very compatible! Listen! Our five elements of yin yang are matching. Our birth year, month, and date are all matching in every layer. That means we have what people call a Mandarin-Ducks-and-Butterflies fate—a match made in heaven!” 

Excitement seeped out from Huang Xiaolong’s eyes. “Are you familiar with the concept of a Mandarin-Ducks-and-Butterflies fate? In astrology, two people who have the Mandarin-Ducks-and-Butterflies fate have birth years, months, and dates that correspond to each other. My Heavenly Stems match your Heavenly Stems. Your Earthly Branches match my Earthly Branches. This is also known as Harmony in Heaven and Earth. Couples that have this combination as their eight characters of birth dates will have an enduring love for each other. Once they find each other, they will be thick as thieves. However, this is something that only occurs once in a century. 

“Did I use words that are too difficult to understand? Then, let me simplify it. Nothing is more compatible than the eight characters of our birth dates; nobody will have more passion for each other than us; after marriage, nobody’s happiness will be greater than ours. The man is one who will bring good luck to his wife while the woman will bring good luck to her husband. Anyway, it means getting married is like a fountain of happiness that shoots out the same happiness you feel when your company becomes listed…” 

Song Yuru was at the edge of collapsing! 

Did she get that right? 

Feelings? Marriage? 

They were already talking about marriage? 

This big baby barely knew her! 

“This is perfect! I didn’t expect to find my First Wife in this lifetime on the train! This is God’s blessings to me! Fate, this is fate!” Huang Xiaolong put his hands together like he was praying. 

At this moment, a cold harrumph came from the seat along the walkway. “Quack! Little fella, it’s about time that you stop tricking young girls like this. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” 

“Uh—” Huang Xiaolong turned to the direction at which the voice originated from and saw two middle-aged men sitting across the walkway. They were very well-dressed. It took merely one glance to recognize that they were well off. 

It was a bald man around the age of forty who told Huang Xiaolong off. He looked sickly with the sheen of greyness that plagued his face but his eyes were as sharp as an eagle’s. He exuded a sense of superiority that belonged to someone of high social standing. 

Next to the bald man was another man who looked just as old. He, too, exuded an extraordinary aura for a middle-aged man. With a waxen face, he hastily said in a low voice, “Let it be, Old Hong. We should mind our own business. We will never understand how youngsters communicate with each other nowadays.” 

“I won’t tolerate useless brats who pretend to be psychic and try to trick naive young girls!” The bald man’s face burned red with anger. He said to Song Yuru, “Young miss, don’t listen to him.” 

Huang Xiaolong briefly glanced at the two middle-aged men, shook his head, and said, “You’re calling me a quack? Hehe, that’s nothing but slander… Normally, my temper dictates that I should teach you two a lesson, but… Forget it, I think you’re quite pitiful. Both of you are deathly sick and about to die. What’s the point of quarreling with you?” 

Hearing his words, the two middle-aged men froze as they exchanged glances with each other. They could see the shock and disbelief in each other’s eyes!

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