Old Zhang's face, which had just cleared up, twisted into a strange expression.
'Should I say I bought it, or that I didn't?'
'A fish drawn on a piece of Yellow Paper... no matter how much they talk about good luck, that can't be a real talisman paper!'
'But if I say I didn't buy one, I still spent a thousand yuan. Wouldn't that be a bald-faced lie to my family?'
"Dad, did something happen?"
After living together for so many years, his family could naturally read his expression.
"Well..."
"Sigh. Grandma Wen passed away, leaving only her granddaughter, who's just in her early twenties..."
"Dad, what's wrong?"
Old Zhang's wife immediately yanked a red string from his collar. "This is the talisman paper? Didn't you say Grandma Wen passed away? Has that young girl really inherited her mantle?"
With the entire family staring at him, Old Zhang had no choice but to recount the whole story in detail.
His wife, son, and daughter-in-law all wore different expressions, but Old Zhang felt they conveyed the same message. 'They think I've been scammed!'
Old Zhang's wife took the talisman paper right off him. Hearing the word "koi," his daughter-in-law immediately leaned in for a closer look.
The family stared at the small, colorful fish on the Yellow Paper.
"That little brat! How dare she try to scam us! Does she not plan on doing business on this street anymore?!"
"Dad, is it really a koi? The girl's drawing skills are pretty good. Why don't you give this koi to me?" the daughter-in-law asked, her eyes fixed on the talisman paper.
The daughter-in-law held out her hand. Her mother-in-law, not refusing, passed it to her and asked with a puzzled look, "Isn't this a scam? Why do you like it so much?"
"Mom! You don't know, but a colleague from my office went viral last month!"
"What does your colleague going viral have to do with this thing?" The rest of the family looked at her, confused.
"She won a prize! She won the 'lifetime of free travel' award from Ali! That's no small sum! Whenever she goes on vacation, Ali pays for everything! Everyone online is so jealous of her, and I am too! When will I ever be that lucky? If I were, I could buy you and Dad all the things you like! So, can I have this koi?"
the daughter-in-law explained.
The family looked at her, unsure if she was just being superstitious or if she had been blinded by jealousy.
"What nonsense," her mother-in-law scolded. "Do you really think a random fish drawing will help you win the lottery? If that worked, the whole world would be out buying talismans! You're a grown woman, stop being so naive!"
The daughter-in-law didn't dare talk back to her mother-in-law, but she refused to let go of the talisman paper.
"Ouch!" Old Zhang cried out, clutching his jaw in pain.
"It's nothing, it's nothing. I just bit my tongue."
When he stood up to get a drink of water, he tripped on a stool and nearly fell.
'If I'd actually fallen, these old bones...'
He had just steadied himself, his hand resting on the dining table, when—CRASH!
He had knocked a dish to the floor, and the plate shattered into a thousand pieces!
That familiar feeling was back!
Bad luck!
It was definitely bad luck!
'If I try to do anything else,' Old Zhang thought, 'something terrible is going to happen!'
'It's not just women who have a sixth sense; men have one too!'
'But... wait. Nothing happened on the way home. I thought the bad luck had disappeared.'
'It was almost as if it started when...'
"Give me that koi talisman paper."
Old Zhang stood rooted to the spot as he spoke, wanting to test a theory.
Although the daughter-in-law loved the koi drawing, she knew what was important in that moment and handed the talisman paper to her father-in-law.
Holding the talisman paper, Old Zhang felt an inexplicable wave of relief wash over him.
He tentatively took a few steps. Nothing happened.
He returned to his seat and finished the untouched dishes. Still, nothing!
Seeing this, the entire family breathed a sigh of relief. Old Zhang's wife thought for a moment before saying, "Old Zhang! It seems like this koi thing really works! Go buy another one for our daughter-in-law. There's really something uncanny about it! Let's just buy it for peace of mind. We can chalk it up to a psychological effect, just like that young girl said!"