A Valiant Life

“Master, you’re so god-like,” a convinced old man said.

“As long as you maintain your usual attitude and outlook on things, the difficult things will not be too difficult. Calm your son down and there will be a positive change in the near future,” Lin Fan smiled and said.

“I understand now. Thank you, Master.” The old man placed a few hundred dollar bills and left the shop, full of satisfaction. When he went out of the shop, he gave a thumbs up to the people outside, “Master Lin is indeed a master. He knew what I was going to say even before I asked anything.”

“You’re in luck,” the crowd said enviously as they were queuing up to enter the shop. They became even more confident in Master Lin’s standards. Everyone had said that Master Lin was really accurate and nobody said he was a fraud.

Lin Fan sipped on his tea with a carefree look on his face. “Next, number 33.” With a limited number of customers daily, it allowed Lin Fan to have more time for himself and he was less tired. He even felt that he could continue with this job for the rest of his life.

But this thinking only lasted for a while.

“Number 33, that’s me. I’ve been chosen!” one of the youngsters in the queue exclaimed.

This youngster had tried to interview for many companies but failed all of them and he had lost all his confidence. After hearing how good Master Lin was, he went to queue for a place for three consecutive days. “Youngster, sell me your place, I will give you $1000 for it,” said a rich but rude man.

“I’m not selling,” the youngster said as he held onto the number tag tightly. It concerned his future. He’d be dreaming if he were to sell it for just $1000. This time, he wanted to find out about his career. When Lin Fan was about to start speaking, suddenly, it became very noisy outside his shop.

There were sounds of drums and shouting. “What happened?” Lin Fan was a little curious. “Fraud, what’s the situation outside? Did a new shop just open?”

“No, it seems like they’re coming for us,” Fraud Tian took several glances and said in shock.

Charging towards us? Lin Fan thought about it for a while and didn’t think of anything major that had happened recently. He hadn’t offended anyone as either. Why was it so noisy?

At that moment, a voice shocked Lin Fan. “Little Boss is here…”

Each time he heard ‘Little Boss’, he knew what was happening.

“Master, can you still read my fortune for me?” the youngster asked nervously.

“Hold on, there might be something that’s about to happen,” Lin Fan said as he turned and stood at the entrance. When he saw the group of people that was charging towards him, he was stunned.

The owners of the surrounding shops all gathered at their entrances. “What’s happening? Why is it that Cloud Street has been so lively recently?” the owner of the shoe shop asked.

“Looks like they’re charging towards Master Lin,” said the boss of the milk tea shop.

“Where did this Master Lin come from? How did he create such a stir?”

The crowd was confused. They had already given in to Master Lin completely. It hadn’t even been half a month since the shop had opened, yet, he could create such a ruckus. How awesome was Master Lin exactly?

Fraud Tian was shocked by the situation and asked, “Kid, what did you do this time?”

“What could I have done?” Lin Fan asked.

“Then…” Fraud Tian said as he pointed to the incoming crowd and he couldn’t even finish his sentence.

“Little Boss, you’ve been so hard to find,” a middle-aged man said.

“Little Boss, did you know we’ve been living such painful lives ever since you left? The other scallion pancake vendor is sh*t compared to you.”

“My husband kept nagging about Little Boss’s scallion pancakes.”

The crowd kept talking among themselves.

Meanwhile, Lin Fan was really taken aback. How could such a thing happen in this world?

It was just scallion pancakes, did they have to mobilize so many people to corner him?

Look!

There’s even a cart for scallion pancakes. Where did they even get it from?

What Lin Fan didn’t know was that there were some loyal scallion pancake customers that had pooled some money to buy the cart from the other vendor just so that they could eat scallion pancakes on that day. If he had known, he would have vomited blood. It was just scallion pancakes after all.

But if there was someone to blame, it would have to be Lin Fan, who didn’t bother much about the power of these scallion pancakes. The knowledge in the encyclopedia wasn’t such a simple thing.

These scallion pancakes could be said to be the most delicious food on earth. One bite and you’d remember it for life. Huo Han was standing amongst the crowd and that was all she could’ve done.

She hoped to use everyone’s determination to move Little Boss and make him return to selling pancakes.

“Everyone, please settle down,” Lin Fan said helplessly.

Those that were waiting for Master Lin for fortune-telling were all shocked. Isn’t Master Lin a fortune-teller? Since when did he become a scallion pancake seller?

Also, did these people run to the wrong place? It’s just scallion pancakes. Is there a need for this?

“I have already changed my career. I no longer sell scallion pancakes anymore. Please understand that,” Lin Fan explained.

When those that were waiting for the scallion pancakes heard what he said, they obviously couldn’t agree.

“Little Boss, the scallion pancakes were so good. Even if you increase the price to a hundred dollars each, we would still buy them.”

“Yeah, what future would you have from fortune-telling? Selling scallion pancakes would be a more stable job.”

“Little Boss, don’t ruin your own future. The scallion pancake business is your main profession. How could you just quit like that?”

The scallion pancake crowd tried their best to convince Lin Fan. But as for those waiting for him to read their fortunes, they were all furious.

“What are you doing? Master Lin is a legitimate master. If you want to have scallion pancakes, can’t you buy them from somewhere else?”

“Yeah, what future can you have from selling scallion pancakes. Master Lin is now a great fortune-teller. Please leave, we want to have our fortunes read.”

“Master Lin’s already said that he’s not going to make any pancakes. Why are you still making things difficult for him?”

“These new year goodies can be eaten all year round. I’ve never seen people like you before.”

Those that wanted to have their fortunes read were all unhappy. What future could one have by selling pancakes? Looking at Master Lin now, he had become a household name. There were so many people that were trying to have him read their fortunes for them.

Some young and fashionable teenagers were shopping along Cloud Street and when they saw what was happening, they became curious and took out their phones to record it.

“These weird happenings are not uncommon. But what are the chances of a fortune-teller being linked to a scallion pancake vendor?” said a youngster that didn’t believe in fortune-telling.

“Hey, look, the actors today are so creative.”

“Let’s record this and upload it to the Internet.”

Lin Fan felt helpless.

“Kid, I think we gotta think of something quickly. Something’s about to go down,” Fraud Tian whispered to Lin Fan.

“I can already see it coming,” Lin Fan replied.

If he didn’t settle this properly, it was likely that the two sides would clash.