Right on target—“Father is alive, mother passed away first” and “Father is alive, mother first... passed away”—the five characters are punctuated differently, and if the reader’s tone and emphasis change, they’re two completely different interpretations. Those three fat guys were totally fooled.

Hahaha... Old Sullivan didn’t mind at all, tilting his head back and laughing heartily a few times, his voice cheerful. He smiled, looked with great interest at the Little Shawn beside him, whose handsome appearance was nothing to boast about, and then asked, “So I guessed right that he has siblings—four in total, three boys and one girl, isn’t that correct?”

“Come on, it’s just the same old trick. You’re talking about ‘the three sworn brothers of the Peach Garden, and a single plum blossom branch,’ right?”

When Shawn Lawrence heard this, he was even more dismissive. These few lines of commentary had puzzled him for quite a while before he figured them out. Now, speaking animatedly, he pointed out:

“Let me interpret this fortune... As you put it, if he’s an only child—hey, I can spin it this way: you’re destined to have three siblings, but because your fate is so unique or whatever, only you remain, which fits the ‘single plum blossom branch’—so that’s correct. If he says he has two brothers, I can spin it like this: you were meant to have three brothers, but for some reason, one was lost, so two remain. The three sworn brothers of the Peach Garden, minus the plum blossom branch, three minus one, that’s two, right? Still correct. If there are three brothers, it’s just the three sworn brothers—can’t go wrong. If there are four, well, three sworn brothers plus the plum blossom branch, three plus one, that’s four, so you’re right again... The ‘three boys and one girl’ was something that old guy blurted out himself—you didn’t actually predict it. I bet even if there were two more brothers, you could still spin it to fit, right?” Shawn Lawrence kept talking, counting on his fingers as he went through the logic. With this approach, the fortune could never be wrong.

After finishing, he looked at Old Sullivan, who was now a bit surprised and bewildered. Shawn Lawrence grinned, leaned in with a mischievous air, imitating the old man’s cryptic style, and said seriously, “Old man, do you really want me to expose everything? This is just an old trick to fool the common folk. You saw those three fat guys had money and were easy to dupe... Not only did I figure out your lines, I also heard them say you gave some district chief a fortune and said, ‘No broad road ahead, no turning back behind’—is that right?”

“That’s right, it was a long time ago. I think it turned out to be accurate, too.” Ethan Sullivan blinked mysteriously, smiling.

“Of course it was ‘accurate.’ What you meant was there’s no way out, right? If the district chief has bad luck, people will say, ‘Oh, he’s at a dead end,’ and you were right... But if the district chief gets promoted, you can say it means he doesn’t need to walk anymore, he’s soaring to great heights, right? Still right... For example, I can do fortunes too. If I want to predict whether you’ll have a companion in old age, I’ll just say, ‘Widowed, cannot have a companion.’ Tell me, isn’t that right?”

Shawn Lawrence grinned slyly. This line, copied exactly, made the old man’s eyes widen in surprise. This is the true essence of a street performer’s trick: though it’s six characters, it can be split as “Widowed, cannot have a companion” and “Widowed cannot, have a companion”—completely different meanings. No matter what the seeker’s situation is, it all boils down to having or not having a companion—so you can’t be wrong.

Actually, this is basic street performer’s skill. With a few lines, the outer shell of Owen Sullivan was gradually peeled away. But at this moment, Old Sullivan’s look of surprise turned into hearty laughter. Having his secret exposed didn’t embarrass him at all; instead, he clapped a few times, as if encouraging a younger generation. This openness made Shawn Lawrence like him a bit, but he still made sure to clarify, “The money’s mine, right?”

“Of course it’s yours.” Old Sullivan smiled and casually asked, “One more thing—I did point out that he came for financial luck. That was deduced, you know.”

“Did you even need to deduce that? Just look at him—does he care about anything besides money? Besides, if he was really lucky, would he come to the park to find a fortune-teller? Nine times out of ten, he lost money and had nowhere else to turn, so he came to try his luck with superstition.” Shawn Lawrence cut in.

“And I even predicted he lost money in the stock market,” the old man argued.

“You didn’t predict anything. You just hinted at some stock index going up and down, and Fatty Xu reacted instinctively—his mouth trembled, his hands shook, his eyes went green. Anyone who’s stuck in the market acts like that. You didn’t even have to say it—he gave himself away.” Shawn Lawrence retorted again.

“So according to you, I was right about everything?” The old man glanced over, amused.

“Well... you were right that they’d definitely pay you. That’s why you pretended not to want the money—the less you wanted it, the more they believed you were genuine, and they’d feel embarrassed not to pay. That’s reading people and playing the odds.” Shawn Lawrence exposed the trick, but this level of reading people and responding accordingly was truly impressive.

Back and forth, the truth was laid bare—it was all worthless in the end. Shawn Lawrence looked at the old man again, and not only did he not look embarrassed at being exposed, he actually seemed quite pleased and proud, smiling as he went through his usual motions, watching Shawn Lawrence with great interest. It made Shawn Lawrence a bit uncomfortable. He chuckled awkwardly, then, startled by his phone ringing, pressed the button and said solemnly, “Master, until next time. It’s almost eight—I’ve got something to do, so I’ll be off.”

As he spoke, he got up to leave, as if worried the money in his pocket might not be safe. This time, the old man didn’t try to stop him, just called out, “Little Shawn, where do you work? If you have time, let’s get together for tea. My treat—how about it?”