The Shikongren Method: Cases, Volume Seven

Translator's note. The best case record in the volume: seven readings at one lunch table in Fufeng in July 2024, each triggered by an ordinary gesture — a chopstick dropped, a pancake bitten instead of the dish, a ladle stirred and only a little taken, a bowl of rice abandoned mid-mouthful, a trouser leg tugged, a phone scrolled. Each is dated by a stem-branch year, and each is confirmed by the person it was said to.

In July 2024 Lü Wen-yi took a group of colleagues on a field visit to Fufeng. At lunch on the 12th, a chopstick suddenly fell from Teacher Xu Hongtao's hand to the floor. Teacher Lü said with a smile: “You will shortly receive a message from a certain man.” Xu had barely picked up the chopstick and sat down when his phone rang. It was indeed a man — a business partner — calling about settling accounts on a project. Everyone marvelled at the Shikongren theory, and their interest rose sharply; they began watching one another for the information each was betraying.

Then Teacher Bai put some of the dish in front of her onto her own plate and did not eat it, but casually picked up a small pancake and bit into it. Teacher Lü said: “In the years X and X you took in a large sum, and then invested most of it in things that stand for the seal — a house, a car, a business. Only a small part was saved.” Bai was astonished at the accuracy. The fact: in 2021 she had indeed bought three flats and had also saved money, but most of the money had gone on the flats.

Next Lü saw Teacher Zhang's wife dip some of the dish from the plate in front of her into sauce and put it on her own plate to enjoy. Teacher Lü said: “In 2018 you took in a large sum and, along with it, a small sum too — but it had to do with the seal: a house, a car.” Zhang's wife said: “Yes — the house was sold to my own mother, and my mother gave me a little extra.” Everyone's jaw dropped, and the pace of eating slowed without anyone noticing.

At that point a waiter brought a bowl of soup. Teacher Guo Duowu stirred it a few times with the ladle but filled only a small bowl, tasted a little and set it down. Teacher Lü said: “In a ren year you had a sum of money coming. You picked and chose, and in the end you gave up the big money and got only a little.” Guo agreed: that year he had two projects, gave the large one to someone else, and chose to do a small one.

Lü then saw Teacher Li Qiang eating a pancake. Because someone was speaking, his eating hesitated several times before he went on. Lü analysed: “In a chou year you could have taken in a sum, but because petty people obstructed you, you did not get all of it — or you lost part of it.” Li thought and said: “Exactly. In 2021 I made money on a project, but I sent a large gift to a man in the middle of it, and then he died suddenly, and the money could not be recovered.”

Then Lü saw Teacher Li Chao pick up a bowl full of rice and begin eating quickly — but the moment someone spoke he put his chopsticks down. Teacher Lü said: “In a gui year you had some quick money, and because of petty people you did not earn all of it; you got only a part of the profit.” Li Chao answered: “Last year, the guimao year, a hundred-thousand-yuan job suddenly came. I finished it, but the client would not pay. In the end I got only thirty thousand, and it was settled only this year.”

Shortly after, Lü saw Li Chao tug at the trouser leg over his thigh. Lü said: “In a chou or yin year you did a piece of tidying-up and planning connected with the seal — a change of house, car, company or the like.” Li Chao, astonished, answered: “In 2022 I tidied up the shop, moved the company, and changed the address.”

Turning his head, Lü saw Teacher Zhang's wife with her head down, scrolling and scrolling at her phone screen. Lü said: “In a xu or hai year you did a very tedious piece of work.” Zhang's wife replied: “From 2018 to 2019 I was up on the mountain cooking for the students, and I did it for nearly two years.”

Any change of expression in anyone, any change in gesture or movement, any change of state in the environment around them — you need only watch from a distance for a few moments, acquaintance or stranger, and all of that person's fate information is yours to state flatly, accurately beyond error. That is the truth, the precision and the marvel of the Shikongren method.