Chapter 4: Chapter 4 Everywhere Are Silly Little Fat Sheep

Translator: 549690339

"Is… is that for me?"

Passing by, the girl glanced at Nanahara Takeshi, then at the beautiful JK Kiyomi Liuli, and again at the stall's "signboard." She was a bit baffled by the situation, showing a confused expression on her face.

In Japan, spirit communication and fortune-telling are legal. Japan does not crack down on feudal superstitions, and related shops are common on streets and at temple fairs, enjoying popularity. She had no problem with such street stalls, but Nanahara Takeshi looked too young and his clothing didn't seem to belong to someone in that profession.

Nanahara Takeshi ignored the confusion on her face, smiling as he continued to beckon, "Yes, you! You're troubled, aren't you? Since we've met, it must be fate. Please, take a seat. It won't take much of your time, and if you're not satisfied, you don't have to pay even one yen."

The passerby girl hesitated a bit, then slowly approached, asking somewhat embarrassedly, "How do you know I'm troubled? Is it that obvious?"

"Please take a seat first." Nanahara Takeshi gestured towards the seat in front of the stall and waited for the girl to settle in before explaining with a smile, "I am a spiritual medium, it's your aura that told me."

"My aura?"

Nanahara Takeshi said earnestly, "Yes, the aura emanating from you is like a clear spring flowing over rocks, creating a lovely melody. It's just that the tune seems a bit sad and sorrowful."

He spoke with conviction, his gaze sincere, which made the girl somewhat skeptical yet intrigued, "Then can you sense what I'm troubled about?"

Nanahara Takeshi gently closed his eyes, and after a moment, opened them with a smile, "I hear the sound of a violin, and sense your apprehension. You're worried about the upcoming national high school symphony competition this spring, aren't you?"

The passerby girl covered her mouth in surprise, nodding repeatedly, "Yes, that's exactly what's bothering me."

She had been wanting to talk to someone about it, and seeing that Nanahara Takeshi really had some skills, she immediately said, "The senior who was originally the first violin in the club was suddenly arranged by her family to study abroad and can't take part in the competition. Mr. Kimura has asked me to take over as the concertmaster and also to handle the solo part. I... I'm not sure if I can do well, nor whether I can achieve good results in the competition. If I were to..."

As she spoke, she began to worry again, hesitating, "Maybe I should ask Mr. Kimura to choose someone else as concertmaster. Previously, the position was always taken by seniors in their third year; I'm just in the second year—it doesn't seem right to break with tradition..."

"Are you planning to refuse?" Nanahara Takeshi pondered for a moment then asked with a smile, "It's okay to refuse, but you've been practicing so hard. Won't you feel unsatisfied? You must have thought about taking the lead as the concertmaster and playing the solo in an official competition, right?"

The passerby girl paused, then said bashfully, "Hard work... I wouldn't really call it that..."

"You've been practicing diligently throughout the spring break. That's already quite an effort."

The passerby girl was astonished, covering her mouth, "How do you know I've been practicing during the holidays?"

"It's just a perception." Nanahara Takeshi tapped his forehead with his index finger, smiling, "When you completely immerse yourself in the music, your aura naturally gets affected, and that's something you can't hide."

"Really?" The passerby girl looked at Nanahara Takeshi with a touch of admiration, amazed to have encountered such a professional spiritual medium simply by walking down the street—he seemed more impressive than those in official shops.

Nanahara Takeshi nodded firmly, "That's right. So I believe since you've already put in the effort, why give up the chance to prove yourself? Why not give it a try?"

The passerby girl struggled with her emotions for a moment, then said dejectedly, "Even though I've tried my best, I'm still not confident. If I mess up and people complain about me, nobody will recognize me as the concertmaster ever again. Things could get even worse—it might be better not to force it from the start…"

Nanahara Takeshi shook his head and said earnestly, "Even if you mess it up, it's not as if nobody will recognize your effort. At the very least, there will always be one person who will cheer for you, applaud you, and acknowledge your performance, no matter what."

"Who?"

"Your guardian spirit."

"Guardian spirit?" The passerby girl couldn't help but look back, seeing nothing, of course, then turned back around with a mixture of amazement and doubt, "I have a guardian spirit? Can you see it?"

"Of course, everyone has a guardian spirit, and being a professional spiritual medium, I can certainly sense it," Nanahara Takeshi said seriously and solemnly.

"What does my guardian spirit... look like?" asked the passerby girl, a bit convinced and curious yet slightly frightened.

"Please give me your hand." Nanahara Takeshi stretched out his hand, palm up, signaling her to place her hand on his. After the passerby girl did so, he closed his eyes for a moment to sense silently, then spoke softly, "She's older, with wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, emanating a warm and kind energy field. It must come from your grandmother... no, it is from your maternal grandmother."

The passerby girl couldn't resist looking back once again, fear fading from her expression but then she spoke uncertainly, "My grandmother... has she been protecting me all along? Hasn't she gone to heaven?"

"She has gone to heaven, but what remains is her care and love for you. These sentiments have become your guardian spirit—she loved listening to you play the violin and enjoyed seeing your effort."

The passerby girl stood there stunned, murmuring, "So that's how it is. Yes, she was especially fond of me, loved to hear me practice, often sitting on the veranda for an entire afternoon listening..."

Nanahara Takeshi nodded, "Therefore, there's no need to worry about failure. Play for her! As long as you give it your all and perform with your full heart, even if you fail, she will still be smiling and clapping for you—she believes in you, looks forward to your performance. Why won't you believe in yourself?"

Having said this, he smiled towards the space behind the passerby girl.

The passerby girl couldn't help but look back once more. When she turned around again, her expression changed as if she had made up her mind.

She nodded vigorously, her voice almost too loud, as if she wanted her guardian spirit to hear, "I will work even harder, I... I will definitely strive for a perfect performance!"

Nanahara Takeshi responded with a smile, "I believe you will."

The passerby girl's cheeks flushed, and she became embarrassed, rising to bow, "Thank you for your words, and for dispelling my worries." Then she took out her wallet, looking somewhat embarrassed, "How much should I pay? Sorry, I didn't bring much pocket money with me today..."

Nanahara Takeshi quickly glanced at her wallet and seeing there weren't many notes, immediately shook his head with a smile, "It's the grand opening of my new store, and you're my first customer, so it's free. And..." He said as he opened a paper box and handed her a wooden carving, "this is a luck charm. I've infused it with spiritual energy. Wear it, and no matter what difficulties you face, just keep your courage, confront the challenges, and believe in yourself, and it will bring you good luck."

The passerby girl didn't expect Nanahara Takeshi not only to decline payment but also to give a small gift. She felt even more embarrassed and tried to refuse, "No, no, thank you, I can't accept it, and I should pay."

"Really, it's not necessary," Nanahara Takeshi insisted as he pushed the luck charm into her hands with a smile, "If you feel bad about it, then do me a favor by introducing me to your friends."

If he didn't charge her, what would remind the young woman to advertise for him?

Seeing his sincere and resolute attitude, the passerby girl finally accepted the charm rather bashfully, tying it seriously onto her backpack. She asked a few more questions about the guardian spirit before reluctantly saying goodbye. She walked away much lighter on her feet, and even after walking a fair distance, she turned back to bow again.

Nanahara Takeshi waved with a smile, and once the customer had left, he relaxed his posture and turned to Kiyomi Liuli, who had been observing from the side for quite some time, curiously asking, "Why haven't you gone home yet?"

Kiyomi Liuli was in a daze. She had wanted to expose Nanahara Takeshi's trickery with her brilliant deductions, but after watching from start to finish, she didn't find an opportunity to interrupt, and even at the end, she found herself confused—this was too unscientific, there certainly weren't ghosts in this world, and guardian spirits were even more nonsensical. But how on earth did he manage to spin circles around that ignorant senior?

She couldn't help but ask, "How did you do it?"

"As I've told you before, I'm a professional spiritual medium."

"I don't believe it!"

Nanahara Takeshi snorted with a smile, "Whether you believe it or not has nothing to do with me. I'm not a scammer. But could you please leave and not interfere with my work?"

Kiyomi Liuli narrowed her eyes slightly, irritated, and wanted to say something but couldn't think of what to say. However, walking away without resolution was also extremely unsatisfying. If she didn't figure out the trick behind this, she felt she wouldn't be able to sleep well for the entire month, her mind endlessly wrestling with it, potentially even beginning to doubt her worldview.

Honestly, her worldview was already a bit shaky, as if the world had suddenly become a bit more fantastical.

She hesitated there for a moment, then with a nimble twirl, sat down opposite Nanahara Takeshi, opened her backpack, and pulled out a cartoon pig-shaped wallet, slapping it heavily on the table, her gaze sharp and her aura churning aggressively, while large letters seemed to form behind her back: I must figure this out, no one stop me!

Nanahara Takeshi's eyes lit up when he saw the "little fatty pig," straightened his back immediately, and asked with enthusiasm, "Kiyomi, how may I help you?"

Kiyomi Liuli pointed at the words "For inquiries and solutions" on his sign and said, "You offer a problem-solving service, so I'll pay! I'm now your customer, and you must give me an answer that satisfies me. No more nonsense!"

Nanahara Takeshi was taken aback for a moment, then laughed sheepishly, "Is your curiosity really that strong?"

Kiyomi Liuli asserted earnestly, "Curiosity is the driving force of human progress. There's nothing wrong with being curious. It's good to have a strong sense of curiosity!"

"All right then!" Nanahara Takeshi gauged the plumpness of the pig wallet and smiled nonchalantly, "A thousand yen per question, half off for the grand opening, answers guaranteed to satisfy!"

Five hundred yen, huh?

That's not a small amount for a high school student, enough to buy two bowls of ramen, but uncovering the truth is more important!

Kiyomi Liuli didn't even try to haggle. She slapped a 500-yen coin onto the table and asked directly, "How did you do it just now?"

Nanahara Takeshi, still abiding by professional ethics, swept the coin off the table, and it vanished as he honestly said, "I used cold reading."

Kiyomi Liuli exclaimed in frustration, "I've paid you, so stop talking nonsense!"

"It's not nonsense." Nanahara Takeshi explained patiently, "It's not the mind-reading technique you're thinking of. It's cold reading, a psychological technique."

"Cold reading... what does that mean?"

"It means, without any prior preparation, you observe, suggest, and guide to understand and accurately guess another person's thoughts during a first meeting, thus improving communication. It's often used in psychotherapy."

After explaining, Nanahara Takeshi looked at Kiyomi Liuli as if she were a naive and clueless little lamb, his eyes full of amusement.

In this world, where the civilian internet was just starting, and information wasn't yet exploding, the concept of cold reading wasn't common knowledge. Otherwise, just a little reminder would probably make the "lamb" sitting in front of him, no, Kiyomi, realize what was going on without him having to elaborate.

Compared to the 21st century, the 1990s might really be considered a paradise for spiritual mediums—full of gullible little lambs everywhere.

comment 1 comment

Vote

SEND GIFT

Load failed, please RETRY