A Fortune-Teller Finds Work Again in the 1960S

In the courtyard of a military district in the 1960s, Guan Shi, the youngest daughter of an old official’s family, seemed to everyone like a model college student. In secret, she was a fraud who sold coffins, told fortunes, summoned spirits, and read faces. During the Spring Festival of 1965, a teacher at her college who had returned from overseas was about to get married. Guan Shi thought his face looked unlucky, so after casting a divination, she grabbed him and said earnestly, “How about we put off the wedding and get through this calamity first?” In the summer of 1966, the teachers at the school had either left or scattered. The coffin shop Guan Shi had inherited from her master shut down for good, so she headed to western Yunnan. With nothing to do after arriving there, Guan Shi spent her days eating, playing, and enjoying herself. Her good times didn’t last long. A group of carpenters showed up, calling her their consultant every other breath and begging her to come take a look at the trouble they’d run into while clearing a mountain. After all, she had inherited the teachings of Lu Zu and was a master of the sect. Since these craftsmen respected her, she couldn’t just ignore them. Consultant it was, then. The fraudster had successfully found a new line of work! Please add my next book, A Young Chinese Medicine Doctor Comes to Chinatown (1980s), to your reading list. Blurb: Summer, 1986. Chinatown, London. A family of three stood outside a Chinese restaurant. The two adults were dressed smartly, but looked anxious. Their daughter, around fifteen or sixteen, seemed quite calm. “Sweetie, stay with your aunt and make yourself at home. Eat well and study hard. Once we’ve sorted things out back home, your dad and I will come get you.” Song Hemian, who looked young but was steady at heart, nodded obediently. “Be careful on your way back.” “Wait for me, sweetheart.” When their car arrived, Song Hemian watched her parents drive away. In her previous life, Song Hemian had been a physician in the Imperial Medical Bureau. She had been reborn into this world and was already sixteen. She’d grown up in the countryside and never imagined her parents would one day send her thousands of miles away to London’s Chinatown. Though she didn’t know anyone or anything here, Song Hemian wasn’t afraid. Her bedroom was on the second floor, facing the street. She had barely opened her English textbook when the street below came alive. The Chinese who had crossed oceans to make a living here came from all over the country, each with a different accent. The elderly Chinese medicine doctor at Tai An Tang across the street was from Guangzhou. Though advanced in years, he had a strong voice and stood at the door, calling out to passersby to buy his herbal tea for one pound a bowl. Her aunt bought a bowl and brought it up to Song Hemian, who couldn’t swallow even a mouthful. “Auntie, he skimped on the ingredients. It’s not worth a pound.” “That old quack Song can’t treat patients without getting cursed at, and now he can’t even brew a decent pot of herbal tea. He dares try to cheat me? I’ll give him a piece of my mind!” Her aunt grabbed the herbal tea and thundered downstairs, stormed into the clinic across the street, and argued with Old Man Song until she got her money back. Onlookers discussed how the Chinese medicine clinic was going to go under. Song Hemian raised an eyebrow. Good. Let it go under. Better yet, she hoped they’d hand it over to her. Theme: Life is worth living.