The story takes place during the Song Dynasty. There was a small stall for fortune-telling at the south gate of Bianliang City. The owner of the stall was Song Laosan. In the early years, he was an ordinary melon farmer.

Song Laosan set up a stall at the South Gate every morning, ten copper coins per hexagram, only three hexagrams a day, and if he had enough three hexagrams, he would close the stall and leave. If he didn't have enough three hexagrams, Song Laosan would wait until dark before closing the stall and going home. On weekdays, whoever loses something counts as a fortune, Song Laosan said nothing bad, so people called Song Laosan Song Half-Immortal.

Part of the hexagram gold Song Laosan gets every day subsidizes his family, and part of it is used to buy congee rice to help the poor nearby. In Song Laosan's words, he is just the messenger of God and has to take the right path. One day, Song Laosan usually set up a stall at the South Gate, and a scholar came to his hexagram stall. When Song Laosan hears someone coming over, he asks, "Is it a fortune or a marriage life?"

The scholar said with a complacent look, "Then you can calculate your fortune for me." Song Laosan asked the scholar to extend his hand, and Song Laosan touched it for a while, and said with a look of horror, "Not good, big fierce! Big fierce!" Shu Sheng pulled back his hand and said, "I see that you are pitiful, old blind man. Come and take care of your business, but I didn't expect you to speak evil words. How could I not know your routine, first say that there are disasters and difficulties, and then let people spend money to solve it."

Third Song pointed at his blind eyes and said, "Little brother, since I lost my sight, everyone's life has been like a picture in front of me. If you believe me, be diligent and diligent, and don't be greedy for wealth and cheap, you can protect yourself, otherwise disaster will come." Hearing this, the scholar was even more excited and said, "You keep saying that I am in trouble, if nothing happens, I will smash your hexagram stall!" After saying that, the scholar threw down ten pennies and left angrily.

Third Song shook his head and said, "The number of days!"

Zhou Qian was a poor scholar in the suburbs of the city. He tried repeatedly to get drunk in the city, and finally went to the gambling house to win a few taels of silver, and he was in a happy mood. He wanted to calculate a hexagram for good luck, but he didn't expect Song Laosan to say those unlucky words. Zhou Qian's parents died early, leaving him only one ancestral house and a piece of woodland in front of the ancestral house. Because Zhou Qian didn't have any other business, he had to sell trees for silver taels to subsidize his family.

Zhou Qian took the iron pickaxe and was about to see a tree. Zhou Qian went down with the iron pickaxe, only to feel that it hit a hard object. He dug up with a shovel and found it was a wooden box.

Zhou Qian observed for a few days and saw that there was no other movement, so he took the gold ingot to the bank to exchange for change, bought luxury cars and horses, and indulged in fireworks willow alley. Zhou Qian's friends saw Zhou Qian make a fortune, and they all surrounded him. After a drunken time, Zhou Qian told him about his unexpected fortune. Zhou Qian's friends, as well as relatives who had never been in contact with him before, all came to him to borrow money. Zhou Qian felt proud that he had never been before, and he refused to come.

Zhou Qian sat in a luxurious carriage and came to the South Gate, walked to Song Laosan's hexagram stall, overturned Song Laosan's hexagram stall, and said fiercely, "You stinky fortune teller, didn't you say that your grandfather and I are in trouble? Now I eat spicy food and drink spicy food, and I am noble in front of people. Don't let me see you again in the future, or I will beat you once and again." Zhou Qian's friends saw that Zhou Qian had a grudge with the old Taoist and pretended to beat Song Laosan, but Song Laosan was not angry, just shook his head and packed up his things and left.

When Zhou Qian didn't have much money left in the cash box, Zhou Qian only refused to say that his money was gone, but how could those friends who didn't borrow money give up, saying Zhou Qian had no conscience, and some people even poured dung in front of Zhou Qian's door? Just when Zhou Qian was overwhelmed by these people, a group of officers and soldiers surrounded Zhou Qian's yard, and finally the officials found the remaining silver under Zhou Qian's bed, and finally tied Zhou Qian's rope and pressed it into the prison.

It turned out that a few days ago, the warehouse of Kaifeng Mansion was stolen, and several boxes of gold ingots were lost. Finally, the government made an unannounced investigation and found that someone was using official silver, and finally found Zhou Qian. Zhou Qian naturally did not admit that he had stolen the official silver, but there was no way for him to deny the stolen money, and Zhou Qian was finally sent to death row. Finally, the government asked him to recruit accomplices and explain where the remaining official silver went. Zhou Qian wrote down the names of all the friends and relatives who came to him to borrow money, saying they were accomplices. Finally, the government arrested dozens of people and each received a sentence.

In the end, when Zhou Qian was executed, he was filled with emotion. If he had listened to Song Laosan's loyal persuasion at that time, he would probably not be today. And those who cheated Zhou Qian of silver might not have thought that they cheated silver, as well as chains and shackles. Only Song Laosan stood in the crowd and lamented: "A sudden fortune is a sudden disaster.