During the Tongzhi years, there was a small stall near the Temple of the City God of Ningbo. The stall was called Shen Renjie, but everyone called him Shen Banxian. Why? Don't look at him and set up such a small stall to calculate some hexagrams, make up a divination, and take a look at the prime minister, but he is a god. It can be said that he is ingenious, and he has never been wrong. No matter how far or near, everyone will come to Shen Banxian if they have any trouble. For more than ten years, Shen Banxian has also saved a considerable family business, married a young and beautiful daughter-in-law, and has a few girls at home. People who don't know the details can't imagine that the owner of this house is actually a fortune teller. However, Shen Banxian was extremely stingy. He had to weigh every penny he spent. He was distressed to death, not to mention using his own money to give to beggars.

One day, someone sweated profusely and rushed to Shen Banxian's stall, sat on the bench, and said breathlessly, "Sir, I am running errands for Xu Millions in the east of the city, you can calculate a hexagram for me!" This Shen Banxian was not simple, especially able to observe words and expressions, and try to figure out the psychology of the people who came. He saw that this person must be in trouble, so he pretended to play with the turtle shell and yarrow, and deliberately said in a difficult way: "Sir, this hexagram is the'sister 'in the'trapped' hexagram in the gossip, and this hexagram is fierce and auspicious. But this matter must go the left way, so that both people and wealth can be obtained." The man was stunned, and immediately realized, the gloom on his face was swept away, and he nodded again and again: "Sir, it's really a half-fairy! My sister has only been married to Xu Million's son in the east of the city for three months, but my sister-in-law is sick. My mother wants my sister to remarry, but she is reluctant to give up her private money. That's a million gold! How can I get it out? My mother and sister are in trouble, so I came to Mr. to calculate a hexagram. After listening to Mr.'s instructions, I understand what to do. Thank you, sir! "The man made a deep bow before leaving in a hurry. Shen Banxian played with the few copper plates that the man threw away, secretly glad that he was right again.

More than two months passed in the blink of an eye. One day, near noon, Shen Banxian was leaning against the small table and was confused when he suddenly heard someone call, "Mr. Shen, I have found you!"

Shen Banxian opened his eyes and saw that the man in front of him was dressed in gorgeous clothes, holding a tall horse, sweating profusely, but he could not hide his face of joy and stared at himself. Shen Banxian thought this person looked familiar, but he could not remember where he had seen it. The man said eagerly, "Sir, don't you remember, I came two months ago, and the thing about Xu Million in the east of the city!"

Shen Banxian came back to his senses: "Oh, I remember!" The man continued, "Sir, you are a living fairy!" Saying that, he took out a gold bar from his arms and handed it to Shen Banxian: "You have helped us a lot, please accept this gold bar!"

Shen Banxian pretended to refuse, but finally accepted it.

The next morning, as soon as Shen Banxian opened the stall, the man came again: "Sir, although I have a small friendship with you, we have known each other well. Now there is something I would like to hear your opinion on. Although my sister has come out of the Xu family and has savings by her side, according to my mother and I, it is better to find a husband for her. I wonder if you are well-informed and would like to be a matchmaker, sir?"

Shen Banxian's heart beats Xiao Jiujiu, the person in front of him is so generous, he will definitely not treat himself badly. Therefore, he nodded again and again, "No problem." The man was overjoyed: "Then tomorrow my sister and I will visit you and Madam Zun, so that you can meet my sister."

The next day, Shen Banxian asked his wife to prepare a sumptuous table of delicious food. After a while, the man and a woman came in a small sedan chair with two maids. Shen Banxian secretly looked at the man's sister. She was wearing a light green farm shirt, a goose-yellow pleated skirt, and her whole body was full of jewels, which made her look beautiful. What was even more rare was that the woman showed a generous family demeanor in her every move. Shen Banxian was dazzled and fascinated, and secretly told his wife to treat her well and not lose her courtesy and make people laugh.

After three rounds of drinking, the man suddenly slapped his forehead: "Look at my memory! I just went to the foreign bank to buy a bottle of lemonade (another name for soda), it was very cold, it was really a good thing to cool off the heat." Saying that, he turned around and asked the sedan chair to take out a light yellow transparent bottle and a few crystal shining tall glasses, and carefully poured out some bubbling liquid. The man handed the glass to Shen Banxian: "Sir, please first, everyone drink together."

Shen Banxian took it with a smile and drank it all in one gulp. Just as he was still savoring the sour and sweet taste of soda, he suddenly felt the world spinning and his eyes were blurry. Seeing his wife collapsed on the ground, he also stumbled and fell to the ground, unconscious.

When Shen Banxian woke up in a daze, he saw that the house was in a mess, and all the valuable things were gone. What surprised Shen Banxian even more was that his wife was gone too! Shen Banxian slapped himself fiercely: "I gave you a lifetime of life, and in the end, the boat capsized in the gutter!"

After beating his chest and feet, he calmed down a little and quickly calculated: "If this matter is spread out, don't smash your own signboard! Now you can only smash your teeth and swallow it in your stomach." So he called a few servants over and told them not to tell this matter. The servants nodded in agreement.

As the saying goes, there are no airtight walls in the world. The story got out anyway, and people talked a lot: "A fortune teller can't even calculate his own life, what a charlatan!"

From then on, Shen Banxian's business plummeted, and he was also trapped for life.