My Strange Tale Love Strategy Simulator

When the taxi came to a stop at the entrance of the residential area, the sun was high in the sky.

Zhang Ying paid the fare and climbed out from the back seat.

He was about to walk into the gate of the residential area when he suddenly stopped.

A stall has been set up sometime ago next to the roadside trees outside the community gate.

This stall was particularly eye-catching. It was a small space completely covered by a purple hexagonal canopy, with the six canopy cloths hanging down to the ground and the seams tied tightly with ribbons of the same color.

Above the entrance to the hexagonal shed hangs a sign, handwritten in white with purple lettering and decorated with star and moon symbols, that reads "Tarot and Astrology Divination".

How can such a obviously scammed item be displayed at the entrance of a residential area?

When did the property management become so lenient?

Standing outside the hexagonal shed, Zhang Ying reasoned that he should turn directly into the community gate and go upstairs.

But his feet didn't move.

The purple hexagonal canopy stood quietly next to the roadside trees, yet it seemed as if an invisible thread was tied to his ankle, pulling him little by little in that direction.

He couldn't tell if it was because he had encountered too many strange things recently, causing him to lose his instinct to avoid anything abnormal, or simply because his mind was a bit confused by the man in black today and he needed to find something trivial to distract himself.

When he came to his senses, he was already standing in front of the entrance to the hexagonal shed.

Zhang Ying gathered his emotions for a while, and finally sighed.

Forget it.

Let's just see how sophisticated these scams have become.

He reached out and lifted the curtain of the hexagonal canopy, then ducked inside.

The shed was much darker than he had imagined. Most of the sunlight was filtered out by the purple canopy, leaving only the soft white light emanating from the crystal ball in the center of the table, which refracted back and forth in the small space, casting a faint purple halo on the canopy hanging down on all sides.

The surrounding decorations certainly created a sense of mystery.

The air was filled with a smell that was a mixture of cheap incense and old wood.

Supporting the entire hexagonal shed was a mobile stall, the tabletop of which was covered with a dark purple velvet tablecloth with tassels hanging from the edges.

The crystal ball in the center of the table rested steadily on a carved wooden base, and inside the ball, a very faint white mist was slowly rotating.

Zhang Ying's gaze followed the crystal ball upwards, landing on the stall owner's face, and his eye twitched involuntarily.

The stall owner was a man who looked to be in his early thirties.

He had a square face, thick eyebrows, and a few sparse stubbles on his chin. His hair was styled in a Taoist bun, which was crookedly tilted to the left.

He was wearing a yellow Taoist robe, with a peach wood sword slung across his back, and a blue tassel hanging from the hilt that clashed completely with the color of his robe.

This outfit would fit perfectly in a Lam Ching-ying movie, but placed behind a glowing crystal ball, paired with the "Tarot and Horoscope" sign at the entrance, it looks so out of place that it's like serving braised chicken and tiramisu on the same plate.

A Taoist priest from Maoshan used tarot cards for divination.

Zhang Ying lowered the curtain expressionlessly, turned around, and walked out of the hexagonal shed.

He stood beside the roadside trees, took a deep breath of fresh air, and then lifted the curtain again to slip inside. The stall was still the same stall, and the stall owner was still the same Taoist priest with his crooked hair.

Zhang Ying stood in front of the stall, his lips pressed into a thin line, his expression somewhere between "Are you kidding me?" and "Should I call an ambulance?"

The Taoist priest, seeing the guest return, remained calm. He simply removed his hand from the crystal ball, interlaced his fingers on the velvet tablecloth, and spoke with a confident tone: "Young friend, what kind of help do you need? I have tarot card readings and astrological interpretations all here. Ex-partner reconciliation, current relationship, future girlfriend—I can do it all. No charge if it's inaccurate."

Zhang Ying was silent for a moment before asking, "Daoist Master, may I ask you a question first?"

"Feel free to ask."

"Why are you, a Taoist priest, setting up a tarot and astrology stall here?"

When the Taoist priest heard the question, he showed no sign of guilt. Instead, he leaned back in his chair, tucked his hands into the sleeves of his Taoist robe, and displayed a calm demeanor that seemed to say, "You just don't understand."

"There is a sequence to learning, and everyone has their own area of ​​expertise. These days, young people are fond of these things. As a Taoist priest of the new era, it's not a problem for me to keep up with the times and learn some Western divination techniques, is it? Besides, Tarot cards are also made of paper, and Taoist talismans are also made of paper. The principle is the same: communicating with the will of Heaven. It's just a matter of changing the packaging."

Zhang Ying looked at his serious face, remained silent for a while, and then nodded.

Whether the Taoist priest was truly skilled or simply spouting nonsense, he simply didn't have the extra energy to investigate further today.

He nodded: "I see. Taoist priest, I wish you a prosperous business. Goodbye."

She turned around to lift the curtain.

"Young friend, wait a moment!" The Taoist priest sprang up from his chair, his movements so fast that the hem of his Taoist robe almost caught on the table leg.

He pointed one hand over the crystal ball at Zhang Ying, while his other hand drew an indistinct hand seal in the air. "Your expression is grave, and there's a hint of menace between your brows. You must have run into quite a bit of trouble lately. Well then, since we're destined to meet today, I'll give you a free divination. Consider it a way to boost the popularity of my little shop. How about it?"

Zhang Ying turned around.

Free fortune telling?

He wasn't short of money, but he was genuinely curious whether the Taoist priest had any real skills despite his lively talk.

He lowered the curtain that was half-open, walked back to the front of the stall, sat on the folding chair in front of the stall, and crossed his arms.

"Okay. But I have a condition: if you can tell me my zodiac sign, I'll stay and patronize your business this time."

The Taoist priest's eyes lit up; this request was clearly exactly what he wanted.

"Astrology? Simple! Young friend, please sit down and let me use my internal energy to calculate!" He sat cross-legged back in his chair, his hands hovering above the crystal ball, his fingers spread, and began to move back and forth on the surface of the crystal ball.

His fingertips moved fast and slow, and he muttered incantations, the indistinct syllables rolling out from deep in his throat, a mixture of some indescribable intermediate spell between "heavenly spirits, earthly spirits" and "Amen".

The white mist inside the crystal ball spun faster under his finger's manipulation, and at first glance, it really did look like the real thing.

Zhang Ying leaned back in his chair, initially with a "let's watch the show" attitude.

Although the Taoist priest's gestures were flashy, the rhythm was quite steady, and the changes in the light and mist of the crystal ball were indeed synchronized with the movement of his fingers, at least visually.

As he was mentally scoring the performance, he suddenly caught a strange detail out of the corner of his eye.

A barely perceptible ray of light shone up from under the table, landing directly on the Taoist priest's face, which was engrossed in "calculating with his internal energy."

The light from the crystal ball scatters in all directions, so it's impossible for it to shine on his chin and cheekbones from such a tricky angle.

The light looked more like it was coming from under the table.

Zhang Ying remained silent.

Without making a sound, he leaned forward, then with lightning speed, he thrust his head forward, his gaze passing over the edge of the table and piercing straight into the dark corner between the Taoist priest's knees, barely concealed by the hem of his robe.

The Taoist priest had a phone resting between his knees. The screen displayed an AI dialogue interface, and there were still unsent drafts in the input boxes.

The Taoist priest's left hand was placed on his knee in an extremely discreet manner, his thumb rapidly typing the last few words in the input method area below the screen.

As Zhang Ying read those words aloud, his lips twitched: "What's the zodiac sign of a child born on January 31, 2008?"

The Taoist priest's hand, which was hovering above the crystal ball, froze in mid-air.

Zhang Ying slowly straightened up and looked at the Taoist priest in front of him. He didn't know where to begin his吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or critical comments).

Tarot readers even need to check zodiac dates on the spot using AI. Has the entry barrier for this industry become so low?

Before he could even finish the thought, he suddenly felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his back.

wrong.

2008 1 Month 31 Day.

From the moment he entered until now, this Taoist priest has neither given his birth date, nor provided his ID card, nor revealed his age in any conversation.

How did the Taoist priest know his birth date?

Zhang Ying reached out and, with lightning speed and precision, snatched the phone from the Taoist priest's knee.

The Taoist priest hadn't recovered from the embarrassment of his crystal ball being punctured when he saw his phone being snatched. He instinctively exclaimed "Eh!" and reached out to grab it, only to find it empty.

Zhang Ying had already scrolled the phone screen to the background multitasking interface.

In the photo album hanging in the back, there was a large headshot of him with black and white text.

Name, gender, ethnicity, date of birth, ID number, registered address, issuing authority, and validity period are all written in it.

Zhang Ying's eyes widened as he exclaimed, "Holy crap... you opened my account?!"