Xu Gui came out but didn't see Lu Baiyi. She walked around the living room and then found Lu Baiyi's room key and note on the table. The note said he had gone out first.
Xu Gui couldn't help but sigh, "This Mr. Lu is really a good person... Oh, I forgot to ask him about Old Man Lu, but Old Man Lu should be fine."
She had calculated that Old Man Lu, although he had a minor calamity, was not a major one, much less a death sentence; at most, he would just get beaten up.
Xu Gui dried her hair, asked Yuan Lu and the others on her phone where they were, and after getting the address, she went there.
Yuan Lu and the others were in the pediatrics department. She asked and found out that Dr. Yan Wenkai was still examining the child. Xu Gui sat down and waited for a while before the doctor came out. When she looked at the child again, he had been changed into a soft, close-fitting outfit and wrapped in a swaddle.
Yan Wenkai explained the child's condition to them: "...The child will have to stay in the hospital at least until tomorrow."
He reiterated that he was concerned the child might have ingested contaminated water, causing infections in some organs, so observation in the hospital was necessary. Yan Wenkai had already given them hospital admission slips and prescribed medication.
"Are you the child's parents?" he asked Xu Gui and the others.
Xu Gui shook his head: "...No."
The photographer and Yuan Lu also shook their heads: "No."
Yan Wenkai: ?
"Doctor, we rescued this child from the water," Yuan Lu explained. "Her parents are other people."
Yan Wenkai was shocked for a moment, then asked, "Should I call the police for you?"
Yuan Lu looked at Xu Gui, who thought for a moment and said, "No need for now, I'll contact her parents."
Yan Wenkai: "Okay, if you need any help, just let me know..."
Xu Gui nodded.
After they took the child to the ward, Xu Gui called the orphanage director and explained the situation. She then said, "...The child's parents own the small shop across the street from my stall. Could you please go and tell them that I've brought the child to the hospital? If they have time, please come and see them." The director stood up
and quickly replied, "Okay, I'll be right there."
After she hung up, an older woman working at the orphanage asked, "Director, what's wrong?"
The director replied helplessly, "Xiao Gui rescued a child, and he's at the hospital. She asked me to go and tell the parents."
"Xiao Gui rescued another child?" the woman said instinctively. "Didn't she just set up her stall at the entrance?" How come she encountered another child in trouble so quickly?
The director sighed, "That's right. Since she started telling fortunes, she seems to encounter children in trouble very easily... This is accumulating good karma, saving as many children as she can."
"I'm not talking to you anymore, I'm going to find the child's parents."
"Okay..."
Xu Gui's stall was near the back gate of the orphanage, a bit busier than the front. There was only one small entrance. When the director came out, he noticed that the street across the street, despite the sweltering heat, was quite lively, with many people standing there.
As the director approached, he saw two policemen besides the passersby, seemingly taking statements.
Opposite the policemen stood four people, appearing to be a family of four: two elderly people and a young couple, presumably the son and daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law's eyes were red, her husband's arm around her shoulder, her expression somewhat dazed and absent-minded.
The son, on the other hand, had a furrowed brow and a pained expression.
"...Didn't you hear a sound when the child went missing?" the policeman asked.
The elderly woman in the family, Grandma Zhou, wiped away her tears and said, "No, I was downstairs greeting customers, I really didn't hear a sound... When my daughter-in-law came back and went upstairs, she found that my granddaughter was missing."
"Have you searched everywhere in the house?"
"Yes... Besides, my granddaughter is only three months old, she can't even roll over yet. How could she disappear unless someone took her?"
Grandma Zhou looked up and said, "Some people say that animals like monkeys might carry children away. Could my little one have been carried away by some animal? Waaah, my little one, she's so small, it's terrible!"
Grandma Zhou suddenly burst into tears, beating her chest and stamping her feet. Grandpa Zhou quickly hugged her.
Just then, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, "Hey, Da Bao, you're finally back! Where did you go to play? Do you know your sister is lost?"
Hearing this, the woman, whose husband was holding her shoulder and whose expression was blank, suddenly had a slight tremor in her lifeless eyes. Her gaze shifted and fell on the child walking out of the crowd.
The child had dark skin, was wearing short sleeves and shorts, and was covered in sweat, looking like he had just come back from playing somewhere.
The woman suddenly rushed in front of him, squatted down, grabbed his arm, and stared intently at him, asking, "Dabao! Did you take your sister out? Tell Mommy, where did you take her?"
Dabao stared at her with wide eyes, blinked rapidly, and stammered, "No, I didn't take my sister out."
As he said this, the guilty look on his face was obvious to any parent. Seeing this, the mother's heart sank, and she said agitatedly, "Dabao! Your sister is only three months old! She doesn't know anything! What are you angry about? Take it out on Mommy, don't take it out on your sister!"
She stared intently at her son, her voice urgent, "Tell Mommy, where did you take her?"
Dabao looked at her fearfully. Just as the mother was about to say something, she was suddenly pushed aside, falling to the ground. When she looked up, she saw her son being held in his grandmother's arms, her grandmother glaring angrily at her.
"Xiaoyun, what's wrong with you?" Grandma Zhou stared intently at Lin Xiaoyun and scolded, "This is your own son! How old is he? He doesn't understand anything. How can you doubt him like this?"
Lin Xiaoyun shook her head and said, "Mom, no, it was Dabao. It was Dabao who took Xiaobao away... I just asked Xiaobao, and he looked guilty. He always has that expression when he does something bad!"
She was the child's mother, and she knew her son very well. She would never be wrong.
Grandma Zhou: "Nonsense! I think you've been fooled by that swindler... Lin Xiaoyun, Lin Xiaoyun, I really didn't expect you to be this kind of person, actually doubting your own son because of a swindler's words! Search your conscience, don't you feel any remorse?"
Lin Xiaoyun's husband, Zhou Tai, squatted down, supporting his wife, and asked with confusion and bewilderment, "Xiaoyun, Mom, what are you talking about? What does Xiaobao's disappearance have to do with Dabao?"
The policeman looked at them and said, "If you have any important information, I hope you can tell us honestly. This could very well help us find the child as soon as possible."
Hearing this, Grandma Zhou's expression changed, and she smiled apologetically, "Hey, officer, you've misunderstood. My daughter-in-law is just too worried about my granddaughter, she's grasping at straws, talking nonsense."
The policeman then asked, "And what about the swindler thing?"
Grandma Zhou hugged her grandson tightly, her expression unchanged. "Oh, there was this con artist who came over saying all sorts of nonsense after seeing our child was missing. She said my little one was taken away by my big one... Ha, that's hilarious! My big one is so well-behaved, how could he do such a thing?"
She looked down at her grandson and asked, "Right, big one?"
"...Mmm," the big one mumbled.
The director, listening in the crowd, felt increasingly uneasy—she had a feeling that the old woman was cursing their little turtle.
"Wait!" the director couldn't help but speak up. Amidst the puzzled looks of the crowd, she coughed lightly and said, "I think I know where your child is."
Lin Xiaoyun, whose expression had been somewhat blank, suddenly raised her head upon hearing this, and before anyone could react, she lunged at the director.
She really lunged; she didn't even stand up, supporting herself on her hands as she lunged forward, almost kneeling before the director.
"Auntie, do you really know where my daughter is?" Lin Xiaoyun choked back tears.
The director, initially angry at their accusations that Xu Gui was a fraud, softened her tone upon seeing Lin Xiaoyun's state. She said, "Probably..."
"What do you mean, 'probably'?" Zhou Tai couldn't help but ask.
The director, already displeased, frowned upon hearing this and said, "One of our children rescued a baby from the artificial lake in the park over there. I wonder if it's your child."
Hearing this, Lin Xiaoyun's eyes lit up.
Just then, Grandma Zhou said, "Ah, aren't you the director of the orphanage across the street? That fraudster was also from your orphanage. You were in cahoots with that fraudster, weren't you?"
Lin Xiaoyun was taken aback, and the others looked at the director curiously.
The director took a breath and said, "That child did say that you treated her like a fraudster before, but I can tell you, our Xiaogui is definitely not a fraudster. If you don't believe me, you can search her name online. Her name is Xu Gui, and she's a very famous fortune teller!"
"Who knows if what you're saying is true or false?" Grandma Zhou persisted.
The director found it somewhat amusing. She said, "Why would I lie to you about something that can be easily found online?"
The orphanage had been there for many years, and many people knew the director. Some even spoke up for her, saying she had no reason to lie.
In the crowd, after hearing the director's words, some people actually took out their phones to check. Someone exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, there really is someone named Xu Gui online, and she's a celebrity?"
"I found her too… They say she's a fortune teller, that her predictions are incredibly accurate!"
"Wow, really? If her predictions are so accurate, then what she said before, was it all true? Was Old Zhou's granddaughter really the one their grandson took away and lost?"
"Didn't you hear the orphanage director say that Xu Gui has rescued Old Zhou's granddaughter and she's in the hospital now?"
Hearing the whispers, Grandma Zhou's expression turned anxious. Holding her grandson, she shouted, "That's not true! Don't listen to her nonsense! They're all liars! My grandson would never do such a thing!"
Lin Xiaoyun, already impatient, grabbed the director's hand and asked, "Where's my daughter? Did you really rescue her mother?"
The director looked at her and said, "I have no reason to lie to you. I came here because my little turtle called me. She told me to tell you..." "Our child has already been taken to the hospital. If you want to check on her condition, you can go to the hospital now."
Lin Xiaoyun stood up and said, "I'll go, I'll go right now!"
Zhou Tai grabbed her hand and said, "I'll go with you."
Grandma Zhou was still shouting, "None of you are allowed to go! They're all liars! You can't believe in fortune telling!"
Unfortunately, Lin Xiaoyun didn't want to hear her say that anymore. She understood her mother-in-law's thoughts. If it was really proven that Xiaobao was thrown by Dabao, Dabao's reputation would be ruined. But at this moment, Xiaobao's condition was still unclear, and she really couldn't care less about that.
Lin Xiaoyun and her husband Zhou Tai rushed to the hospital. Grandma Zhou, holding her grandson, insisted on explaining to everyone that it definitely wasn't her Dabao who did it. Although everyone agreed verbally, the looks they gave the grandmother and grandson were somewhat subtle.
— Many of them had already searched for Xu Gui online. After searching, they discovered that he was very famous online; a simple search would yield news articles.
This person really does seem to be a fortune teller. If the other party is a fortune teller, then the Zhou family's situation...
"I told you before that Zhou's Da Bao was a bad apple, but you didn't believe me!"
"That kid's eyes are obviously upside down. It's not surprising that he would do something like this. We won't let our child play with him anymore. What if this person gets angry and tries to kill our child?"
"This child might have antisocial personality disorder."
The group that didn't believe Xu Gui before are now offering hindsight advice.
Zhou Da Bao was being held by his grandmother. At this moment, he noticed that everyone's attitude towards him had become somewhat subtle, and his expression showed some fear. However, at this moment, no one paid attention to his emotions.
On the other side.
Xu Gui received a call from the hospital director, informing her that the Zhou family was on their way to the hospital. She glanced at the child on the hospital bed. Before, the child only had a slight fever, but now it seemed like the fever had completely broken out, and his face was flushed red.
Because she was too young, the hospital dared not use medication and could only temporarily use physical methods to lower the fever.
According to Yan Wenkai, if the child only had a fever, it wouldn't be too bad, but the real concern was infection. For such a young child, infection would be extremely dangerous.
Xu Gui calculated for a moment, then her brows furrowed.
Just then, Lu Baiyi entered. Xu Gui's eyes lit up when she saw him; her brows relaxed, her expression brightened, and she quickly walked over to him.
"Mr. Lu!" she called out, "I need your help with something, is that alright?"
Lu Baiyi hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
A minute later
, sitting by the bedside, holding the child's small hand, Lu Baiyi looked at Xu Gui and asked uncertainly, "Is this okay?"
Xu Gui nodded, saying, "Mr. Lu, you're a very lucky person. Holding her hand will bring her good fortune."
Lu Baiyi: ?
He felt this talk of luck was a bit far-fetched, but at this point, the doctors were doing their job, and those of them who couldn't help seemed to have no other option but to rely on some vague notion of luck.
"Okay." Lu Boyi nodded.
Xu Gui praised him, "Mr. Lu, you are such a good person." Afraid
that Lu Boyi would be bored, she even dragged a stool over and sat down next to him to talk to him—that's right, she wanted to try her best to get Lu Boyi to stay here a little longer, because the longer he sat there, the deeper the influence on the child would be.
Of course, not everyone with good luck has this effect, but Lu Baiyi's luck is just too good, even better than Xu Gui's luck as a Xuan Turtle. Therefore, Xu Gui has always suspected that he might be like her, a creature with extremely strong innate fortune in his past life.
Xu Gui muttered to herself, her body unconsciously leaning closer to Lu Baiyi as she sat on the stool—no Xuan Turtle could resist getting close to a giant "Turtle Mint."
Xu Gui didn't realize her instinctive action. She tried to start a conversation with Lu Baiyi, asking, "I haven't seen your grandfather at his stall lately."
"...My grandfather," Lu Baiyi's expression was somewhat subtle as he said, "He's been busy with some things lately, so he hasn't had time to come out and set up his stall."
Xu Gui casually said, "Didn't he get beaten up?" She shouldn't have miscalculated.
Lu Baiyi: "..."
After a few seconds of silence, he couldn't help but laugh and nodded, "That's right, he was indeed beaten up... I almost forgot, Miss Xu, you're a fortune teller, you should have known about these things long ago."
Xu Gui sighed, "I had predicted for him before, telling him not to flirt with pretty old ladies during this time, but obviously, he didn't listen to me."
Lu Baiyi said with a subtle expression, "It was only after he was beaten up that our family found out he was still out there, um, having relationships with other old ladies..."
Or more accurately, he was flirting with other old ladies, and his grandfather was quite "fashionable," flirting with more than one lady. According to his grandfather, he just enjoyed the ambiguity.
"Scumbag," Xu Gui commented.
Although Lu Baiyi didn't want to admit it, he had to admit that his grandfather was quite a scumbag. He sighed, "This time he just flirted with an old lady who was dancing in the square..."
According to his grandfather, the situation was like this.
At that time, he was dancing in the square with an elegant and graceful old lady, but halfway through the dance, another old man suddenly rushed out and punched him in the face, stunning the old man on the spot.
Xu Gui had only anticipated that the old man would be beaten up, but he didn't know the details. Hearing Lu Baiyi say this, he couldn't help but ask, "And then?"
"And then..." Lu Baiyi sighed, "My old man can't stand being wronged, so he started fighting with that old gentleman. Everyone in the square was watching them, while the old lady was trying to persuade them to stop."
"We only found out about this when the police notified us to go to the police station to pick them up."
When they received the call, the Lu family could hardly believe what they had heard.
—So, their old man and another old gentleman got into a fight over a lady while dancing in the square? And now all three of them were taken to the police station?
Lu Baiyi facepalmed, not wanting to recall the scene of going to the police station.
When he arrived at the police station, he learned the details. It turned out the old man was the woman's "boyfriend," so when he saw his father dancing with her, he couldn't help but rush out and beat him up.
"My father never expected that the old lady already had a 'boyfriend'..."
If Lu Baiyi were to describe his father's ordeal, it would be like this: He had been hunting geese all day, but in the end, the goose pecked his eye.
His father had maintained ambiguous relationships with several other old ladies, but one day he himself became a fish in another old lady's pond, and was even beaten up, his face swollen.
That's why he hadn't been out setting up his stall for a while, staying home to recover.
"So you warned him before?" Lu Baiyi said again, glancing at Xu Gui, "No wonder he didn't say a word when I mentioned you to him before."
Lu Baiyi had mentioned Xu Gui because he thought his father and Xu Gui were close; his father often mentioned Xu Gui after returning home from setting up his stall—Lu Baiyi's entire understanding of Xu Gui came from his father.
So, after the old man stopped going to his stall to recover from his injuries, Lu Baiyi asked him if he wanted to contact Miss Xu.
However, the old man refused.
"No need!" The old man's tone was a little stiff when he refused, and his expression was somewhat stifled. At the time, Lu Baiyi didn't understand, but now he understood why the old man felt stifled.
Or rather, it wasn't stifled, but rather that the old man felt ashamed.
Xu Gui had already reminded him before, but he still got beaten up, and he was probably too embarrassed to contact Xu Gui for a while.
Thinking of this, Lu Baiyi couldn't help but smile.
"After this incident, I think my grandfather should be quiet for a while," he said.
Xu Gui nodded gently.
Because of the old man, the two of them chatted for a while and became more familiar with each other. When they started talking again, their tone became more casual. When Xu Gui picked up her phone to watch a video, Lu Baiyi saw it by chance and couldn't help but chat with her again.
Xu Gui was watching a food editing video, a video of a food blogger cooking.
The reason Lu Baiyi started talking to her again was because the blogger's cooking methods had some problems: "...The way he does it, the food only looks good, but it doesn't taste good."
As a CEO who actually loves cooking, Lu Baiyi immediately saw the problem with this food blogger. He was certain that the food the blogger made would definitely not taste good.
"This dish should be made like this..." He explained the recipe to Xu Gui, incorporating some of his experience.
Xu Gui, who knew absolutely nothing about cooking, was impressed but confused. Her gaze towards Lu Baiyi changed, and upon closer inspection, she saw a hint of admiration in her eyes.
At this moment, Xu Gui's impression of Lu Baiyi had changed from someone who was lucky enough to make delicious mung bean cakes to someone who was not only lucky but also a great cook.
"...I don't really like this blogger, it's just that the dish he made looks delicious," Xu Gui honestly said. "I've never eaten this before."
Because she hadn't tried it, she couldn't resist taking a look after seeing it online. In short: she was craving it. Upon hearing this,
Lu Baiyi glanced at the video and said, "This dish shouldn't be too difficult to make. I'll try it later. If I can make it, I'll have my grandfather bring some for you to try."
Hearing this, Xu Gui's gaze changed again, and her impression of him shifted once more. From a lucky person with excellent cooking skills, she became a lucky person with excellent cooking skills and a kind heart.
"Mr. Lu, you're such a good person," she exclaimed sincerely, looking at Lu Baiyi with a longing that wasn't driven by emotion, but solely by a desire for delicious food.
However, her gaze seemed somewhat different to those around her.
"...What exactly is the relationship between Teacher Xu and this Mr. Lu?" Yuan Lu muttered to herself. She had never seen Xu Gui look at any member of the opposite sex with that kind of gaze before.
"Celebrities dating is a big taboo!" She wondered if Brother Kuang would be angry if he found out.
Sigh!
Yuan Lu felt a deep, unspoken sorrow welling up inside her.