An hour passed as Long Chen got ready. He left the room and walked towards Princess Mingyuâs room.
"Iâm ready to go" Long Chen let out as he knocked on the door. Soon, the door was opened by the Princess, who had also changed her dress by now. She was now wearing a beautiful green gown.
"Nice dress... Did you buy it?" Long Chen inquired as he gazed at the dress.
"Yea, I got it just a few days back. Iâm glad you like it" Lu Mingyu replied to him with a bright smile.
"Letâs get going" She left the room as she took the lead. Long Chen followed behind.
"This fair is an old tradition of this city and it is organized every year. Just for this day, shop owners of this city come together as they celebrate. Every shop Sets a booth outside their shop from which you can buy stuff or pay a small amount of money to play interesting games and win stuff from their shops. Every shop tries to come up with fun games to attract customers." Princess Mingyu excitedly explained to Long Chen.
"Oh, You know so much about it... Did you make a new friend or did you do research on it? " Long Chen asked with a chuckle.
"I just heard it from the people when I went shopping for things," Princess Mingyu said to Long Chen.
"Hah, Itâs all good. Now you can be my guide in this strange city " Long Chen said with a smile.
"There are so many people here... " Long Chen let out in amazement as he looked at the crowd in the streets.
"Of course there would be a crowd. Itâs like a yearly festival for this city. Youâll find many people here." Princess Mingyu said as she looked at Long Chen.
" Itâs good that the streets are wide enough so that itâs not crowded even when there are so many people. " Long Chen let out as he looked around.
"Oh look, there is a fortune teller! Letâs go check it out" Princess Mingyu let out excitedly as she saw a stall that had a board hung on it that claimed that the future was predicted there.
"Itâs all fake... theyâre just fooling innocent people" Long Chen let out as he tried to convince Mingyu but she didnât listen and pulled Long Chen by his hand.
There was a man sitting on the stall who looked to be in his late thirties. He was reclining on his chair but soon sat straight up as he saw people coming towards his stall.
"Welcome dear guests! Do you want to know your future? It would only cost you one silver coin" The Man said to Long Chen.
Long Chen looked towards Princess Mingyu and saw the eager look on her face. He decided to go along with the flow as he brought out a silver coin. He tossed the coin towards the man who hurriedly caught it.
"Is sir and madam a family?" The man asked with a smile.
"Nope, weâre just friends" Long Chen replied instantly.
"Oh, " He commented back
"So Which one of you wants to know your future? "He asked as he looked at Long Chen.
"She is interested in knowing hers," Long Chen said to him as he looked towards Mingyu.
"Oh, thatâs good. So miss, I have placed 108 cards in front of you. You can pick any five to know five things about your future" The man with a wide smile as he brought out his cards. He randomly placed them in the table with their face down.
" Okay, this sounds fun " Mingyu replied with an excited look
Princess Mingyu looked at the cards and after looking for a long time, picked five amongst them. The man took those cards from her as he looked at them.
"Hmm... Interesting" He muttered with a thoughtful look on his face.
"What?" She inquired with a curious look
"There is someone who is close to you. He likes you and wants to make you hers. You two will become a Heavenly couple in the near future" The man said with a smile as he gazed at the first card.
â Who could it be? Does he... like me?â Princess Mingyu thought as she glanced at Long Chen who was staring at the man.
"In the coming days, You will find something that you always wanted to have, but couldnât find" The man continued as he gazed at the second card.
Suddenly, his expressions turned serious as he saw the third card.
" The card of loss... You will lose something really close to your heart" The man muttered with a thoughtful look on his face as he looked towards Mingy.
Without waiting, He gazed at the fourth card.
"You will face two choices... Your family or your love... and your decision will decide the fate of an important person" The man let out as he stared at the fourth card.
Mingyu was already stunned as she heard all this while Long Chen looked like he didnât believe this man could actually predict anything.
The man finally looked at the fifth card.
"The card of conflict... There are many conflicts written in your destiny. You will have to fight for the love that you want as many others will desire that love" The man said as he placed the cards back.
"Thank you for some nice entertainment for me. I must say your acting skills are good." Long Chen said as he held the hands of Mingyu who was lost in her thoughts as she tried to understand the meaning of his words.
"As I thought... It was a waste of time. that man was only spouting vague nonsense. Yu! Stop thinking about his words so seriously, no one can see the future! He was just pretending as he said whatever came to his mind. " Long Chen let out as he walked in the streets of the city with Mingyuâs hands in his hands.
"Maybe..." Mingyu muttered in a low voice.
They traveled through the streets for a long time as they played various games and won.
Long Chen was walking back with Mingyu as he saw a restaurant. It was heavily decorated and there was a stall just near its door.
"What games do you have?" Long Chen asked with a smile as he stood in front of that stall.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"We have a game known as food quiz. We have ten medicinal herbs here that we often use in our dishes. Weâll show you the herbs and if you can name any five of them, you can get a fifty percent discount on all the dishes. If you can name seven, you get a seventy percent discount."
" If I can name all the herbs?" Long Chen Chen asked as he smiled.
â Hmmph, who does he think he is? Does he really think that he can name all the herbs? Two of the herbs there are so rare and expensive that we only use them to serve special people. Not many people had seen those herbs, thereâs no chance that he can name all of themâ The man thought but he didnât let his thoughts show on his face.
"Then you and your girlfriend can eat anything you like inside for free," The man said with a confident look on his face.
Mingyuâs face turned slightly red as she heard him call her Long Chenâs girlfriend but didnât feel like she would get anything even if she said anything against the misunderstanding of that man.
"Iâd take you up on that offer" Long Chen said with a smile as he paid the man.
A trey was soon brought in front of Long Chen which held ten medicinal herbs.
"Here are the herbs. Your victory depends on your knowledge. Letâs see how many you can answer" The man said with an amused look on his face.
" Do you want my help? I think I know about seven of them." Princess Mingyu said to Long Chen as she saw the herbs.
" I apologize, miss, but heâs the one facing the challenge. You canât help him. " The man informed Lu Mingyu.
" Itâs fine. I would be alright. I think I know quite a few of them " Long Chen assured her with an amused look on his face.
"The first herb is a ten-year-old seasoning lingzi, then we have a young dang gyu which is only 5 years old. Thereâs huo xiang, zi Jin niu, Beiqi, chashu, gegen, qinghainese, wu ei zi, fangzhi. Thatâs all the herbs I see" Long Chen let out with a smile as he looked at the man in front of him but all he saw was him standing there blankly as he looked at Long Chen with a blank look on his face.
He looked around and noticed that Lu Mingyu was looking at him with a strange expression on her face as well.
"Amazing!!! You must be the apprentice of a great alchemist! So young yet so knowledgeable, Iâm sure you will become a great personality one day!" The man started praising Long Chen.
"Ahem... Can we enter now? "Long Chen asked as he looked at the man.
"Of Course! You can eat anything you desire, and it wonât cost you a single coin"The man said with a smile as he brought Long Chen and Mingyu inside with him.
"Isnât that the same girl that you molested when we had just entered the city?" Princess Mingyu let out as she glanced at Long Chen with an amused look on her face while Long Chen had an annoyed look on his face.