Unusual trip to the suburbs augurs well_美文_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Unusual trip to the suburbs augurs well

He then conducted what seemed to be a conversation, a give-and-take with an ethereal accomplice, whispering and pondering and sometimes counting on his fingers.

With a rising pitch, Liu then issued a lengthy pronouncement, punctuated by ironic grins, before it was my turn to sit before the seer.

I learned that my prospects would be better if I stayed longer in China rather than returning to the United States, and that I had been born at a time of day that attracted bad luck.

What struck me, though, was Liu's reference to two serious accidents in my past and a third that loomed this year, unless I followed his prescription - the nature of which indicated he was aware of the sort of accidents I'd had.

My prescription, admittedly involving a heavy dose of superstition, called for a special formula painted on red paper and placed in an envelope, which I was then to toss into a busy intersection at 6 pm.

My two accidents were terrible crashes that should have taken my life. One involved an airborne car rolling several times down an embankment, which flattened the car like a pancake. The other was a high-speed, head-on collision on a California freeway.

Happenstance? Perhaps. But I found Pinggu's fresh air and the ancient art of fortune-telling to be a spell-binding and exhilarating potion.

The fish was likewise out of this world.

Broadcaster

James Healy is from the United States and has been a copy editor at China Daily since 2017. He is an advanced student of Chen style tai chi and enjoys Chinese culture, food and carvings.