About an hour later, the Zhou family arrived at the hospital.
Xu Gui, after receiving a call from the hospital director, went downstairs to meet them. When Lin Xiaoyun saw her, her expression was somewhat uneasy, perhaps remembering their previous rude attitude towards Xu Gui.
However, when she arrived at the ward and saw the child on the bed, all her thoughts vanished; her heart and eyes were filled only with the child.
"…Xiao Bao." Lin Xiaoyun hurried to the bedside, and upon seeing the child, her eyes instantly reddened.
Xu Gui slightly raised her chin and asked, "Isn't this your little baby?"
"Yes!" Lin Xiaoyun nodded vigorously, her eyes unwilling to leave the child for even a moment. "This is my little baby, my child... You, Miss Xu, where did you find her? How is she now? What did the doctor say?" Xu Gui, wanting
to keep her in suspense, answered directly, "As I said before, she was thrown into the water. I found her in the artificial lake in the park. When I pulled her out, she was soaking wet."
Although it was summer and the weather was hot, the water was still a bit cold for a three-month-old baby; it would be strange if she didn't have a fever.
"The doctor said the child is too young to take medication; he can only temporarily lower her temperature with physical methods. If that doesn't work, he'll consider medication." Xu Gui recounted the doctor's words, "Moreover, the child has to stay in the hospital for observation tonight. They said the water in the artificial lake is very dirty, and they're worried about her getting an infection..."
Lin Xiaoyun nodded repeatedly.
"Oh, right." Xu Gui remembered something and took out a payment slip from her pocket, handing it over: "This is the hospital payment slip, for the child's examination fees and medical expenses. Here, take a look, it's a total of 1,800 yuan."
Zhou Tai took the payment slip, not looking at it closely, and only thanked her, saying, "Ms. Xu, thank you so much for my daughter's situation!"
Xu Gui looked at him, but said, "You do need to thank me, but more than gratitude, I think your family should apologize to me first, say sorry!"
Zhou Tai: "Huh?"
He looked at Xu Gui somewhat blankly, obviously unaware of the feud between his mother and Xu Gui.
Of course, there was a reason for this. Zhou Tai had been at the company until his wife called him, and he rushed back, only then learning about his daughter's disappearance. As for what happened before that, he knew nothing.
Xu Gui looked at him and said bluntly, "I told your husband and your mother before that your son secretly took your daughter away, and that he even secretly threw his sister into the water. But your mother didn't believe me and called me a liar."
"She didn't believe me, fine, but she even hit me!" Xu Gui felt wronged just thinking about it. She pointed to the scabbed scratch on her left cheek, "Look! This scratch on my face was from your mother. She almost disfigured me. So tell me, shouldn't your family apologize to me?" "
Exactly!"
Yuan Lu nodded in
unison. Hearing this, Lu Baiyi's gaze fell on Xu Gui's face. He had been wondering why Xu Gui had a scratch on her cheek; now he realized it was because she did a good deed but was mistaken for a liar and scratched his face.
Lu Baiyi thought: No wonder she looked so wronged and angry.
After hearing Xu Gui's words, Zhou Tai looked at his wife questioningly. Lin Xiaoyun nodded slightly, her expression somewhat embarrassed.
Zhou Tai's expression became awkward. He said, "I didn't know about this, Miss Xu. I'm so sorry, I apologize on behalf of my mother!"
Xu Gui snorted lightly, glancing sideways at Lin Xiaoyun, and said, "You used to call me a fraud, saying I was superstitious… Look, I helped you find your child, do you still think I'm a fraud now?"
Lin Xiaoyun was embarrassed and ashamed. She said, "Miss Xu, I'm sorry, I misunderstood you as a fraud… But now I know, Miss Xu, you're not a fraud, you're a true fortune teller. I'm so grateful to you for saving my little one."
"Thank you for not holding a grudge and still being willing to save my child…"
Lin Xiaoyun truly hadn't expected that after what had happened, Xu Gui would still be willing to help them find their child.
Even now, thinking back, she still felt lingering fear. She dared not imagine what would have happened to her little one if Xu Gui hadn't found him.
Looking at the child's flushed face, Lin Xiaoyun felt her breath catch in her throat, almost unable to breathe, just thinking about that scene. She was certain she could never accept that reality.
She would definitely break down.
Xu Gui was indeed angry that the Zhou family had called her a liar, but seeing Lin Xiaoyun's sincere apology, she suddenly wasn't so angry anymore. After all, she was a magnanimous turtle.
*
Now that the child's parents had arrived, Xu Gui and her group could finally leave.
However, as they were leaving, they saw Lin Xiaoyun's in-laws, with their eldest grandson Zhou Dabao, approaching. Xu Gui paused, naturally stopping in her tracks.
Lu Baiyi: ?
He turned to look at Xu Gui, only to see her expression was normal, revealing no emotion, though her eyes kept glancing at the Zhou family.
As soon as Lin Xiaoyun's mother-in-law entered the ward, she went straight to the child on the bed, shouting, "Oh my, Grandma's little treasure, I was so worried about you! I'm
so glad you're alright!" Her expression looked genuinely distressed.
Seeing Xiaobao's flushed face, she reached out and touched it, then quickly withdrew her hand, anxiously asking Lin Xiaoyun beside her, "Xiaoyun, why is Xiaobao so feverish?"
Lin Xiaoyun glanced at Zhou Dabao standing at the door, her face somewhat pale, and said, "Xiaobao was thrown into the artificial lake in the park. When Miss Xu rescued her, she was soaking wet. How could she not catch a cold and have a fever when she's so small?"
"The doctor also said that the water in the artificial lake is very dirty. If Xiaobao drank too much water, she could easily develop a lung infection, so she needs to stay in the hospital for observation tonight."
"Xiaobao is only three months old. If Miss Xu hadn't rescued her, she might already
be..." Lin Xiaoyun couldn't continue. She wanted to painfully question her son, asking him, "Dabao, tell me, why did you secretly take your sister out and throw her into the artificial lake? Did you... did you want to kill your sister?"
She spoke the last sentence very softly and with great difficulty—to admit that one of her children wanted to kill the other was like stabbing herself in the heart.
However, she was determined to get to the bottom of this. After all, what if something like this happened again if she didn't figure it out now? Miss Xu had saved Xiaobao, but what about after that?
So, she had to find out what her son was really thinking.
Zhou Dabao, ever since entering the ward, had been standing at the door, refusing to come over. He kept pacing, occasionally glancing up at his parents with pleading eyes. Hearing Lin Xiaoyun question him, his expression became even more pitiful and aggrieved.
Unfortunately, Lin Xiaoyun wasn't fooled by his expression. Seeing that he didn't speak, she immediately stood up and walked towards him, her expression furious. "Tell me, why did you hurt your sister?"
Seeing the situation was getting out of hand, Grandma Zhou quickly stopped her, saying, "Alright, Xiaoyun, don't get agitated! This... this isn't even certain that Da Bao did it..."
"Mom, at a time like this, you're still defending your grandson!" Lin Xiaoyun looked at her mother-in-law in shock and confusion. "He killed someone, and it was his own sister!"
Grandma Zhou looked embarrassed, but said, "Xiao Bao is alright, isn't he?"
Lin Xiaoyun retorted angrily, "What if he was? If it weren't for Miss Xu's kindness, Xiao Bao might already be dead!"
The word "dead" broke Lin Xiaoyun's composure; tears streamed down her face. She looked at Zhou Da Bao with anger and disappointment, asking, "Da Bao, why did you hurt your sister?"
Zhou Da Bao pursed his lips tightly, remaining silent.
Seeing this, Zhou Tai suddenly rushed over and kicked the child in the stomach, sending him flying.
"Ah!"
Grandma Zhou screamed. Grandpa Zhou panicked at the sight and rushed forward to stop his son, shouting, "What are you doing? What are you doing?!"
Zhou Tai gritted his teeth and glared at Zhou Dabao, cursing, "You beast! How could you even harm your own sister?"
"Dabao!" Grandma Zhou rushed to her grandson, crying, "Grandma's Dabao, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"
After checking on her grandson, she looked up at her son and started yelling, "You're asking for trouble! How can you hit a child like that? The child is so young, can't you talk to him properly?"
Zhou Dabao hid in his grandmother's arms, looking flustered and scared.
Veins throbbed on Zhou Tai's forehead. He pointed at Zhou Dabao and said, "Mom, why are you still defending him now? He's a beast, worse than a pig or a dog! He's so young and already knows how to kill, and he killed his own sister!"
Zhou Tai took a deep breath.
As Zhou Dabao's father, the news that his son had deliberately thrown his three-month-old daughter into the lake, intending to kill her, struck him like a hammer blow. The blow was no less devastating than his wife's.
The more unbelievable it was, the angrier he became, until he saw Zhou Dabao, at which point his anger finally erupted uncontrollably.
"Why did you want to hurt your sister? She's only three months old, what did she do to you?" Zhou Tai was both shocked and disappointed. He looked at Zhou Dabao with grief and asked, "Zhou Dabao, tell me! What are you trying to do?"
Lin Xiaoyun didn't speak, only covering her mouth and weeping.
Grandma Zhou cried, "Dabao is still so young, what does he know? Why are you scolding him like that?"
Zhou Dabao, who had been hiding in Grandma Zhou's arms, initially looked frightened, but upon hearing Zhou Tai's words, a hint of hatred flashed across his face. Suddenly, like a little calf, he burst out of Grandma Zhou's arms.
He glared angrily at Zhou Tai and his wife, shouting, "She's not my sister! I don't want her! Because of her, you all stop liking me! Now you only have eyes for her! You only like her now!"
"I hate her! I'm going to kill her! Once she's dead and gone, you'll treat me like you used to!"
His voice was filled with resentment, anger, and accusation towards his sister. Towards the end, he seemed to feel wronged, and tears streamed down his face.
He reached up and fiercely wiped away his tears, staring wide-eyed at his parents.
Lin Xiaoyun and Zhou Tai were stunned, and Grandma Zhou cried out, "How could we only like your sister and not you anymore?"
Grandma Zhou felt wronged.
Lin Xiaoyun found it absurd and couldn't help but say, "Hasn't Mom always told you that Mom loves you very much?"
Zhou Dabao cried out in grievance, "But you love your sister too!"
Lin Xiaoyun was speechless and said, "But, your sister is also Mom's child..."
Zhou Dabao wiped away his tears and said, "No, she's not Mom's child. Only I am Mom's child! Waaah, I hate her! You used to only like me, but after she came along, you stopped liking me! So, I hate her, and I don't want her to be my sister."
Lin Xiaoyun explained, "Mom likes your sister, but Mom likes you just as much. Your sister and you are both Mom's children."
To her, both children were like the palms and backs of her hands, both flesh of her flesh; she loved and cherished them both.
However, for Zhou Dabao, it wasn't the same. He pursed his lips and looked stubbornly at Lin Xiaoyun.
He only knew that before, his mother, father, and even grandparents only had eyes for him, but now, the one in their hearts had become two.
Seeing his complete lack of remorse, Zhou Tai trembled with rage. He roared, "No matter what, you can't just take your sister out and abandon her! You even threw her into the water… Do you know what you're doing? You're murdering her!"
"I want to kill her! I hate her, I want her dead! If she dies, no one will fight me for Mom and Dad! So, next time, next time I have the chance, I'll still abandon her!"
*Slap!*
Hearing this, Zhou Tai finally lost his temper and slapped him hard across the face, cursing, "You little beast, do you know what you're saying? Xiao Bao is your sister… How could I raise such a despicable child like you?"
He pointed at Zhou Dabao and said, "Let me tell you, you better pray your sister is alright, or I'll break your legs! And if you dare do something like this again, don't call yourself my son. I don't have a son like you!"
Zhou Dabao covered his burning face, glaring at Zhou Tai with red, swollen eyes.
At that moment, he felt utterly hopeless.
"I knew it! You only like my sister, not me... Fine, since you don't like me, then I won't like you either! I don't want you anymore!"
He
cried and shouted, wiping away his tears with hatred after shouting the last sentence. Suddenly, he rushed towards the wide-open window of the ward.
Reaching the window, he jumped over it without hesitation and leaped down.
Seeing this, Lin Xiaoyun screamed, "Ah!"
Everyone else in the ward paled. Grandma Zhou called out, "Da Bao!" After a short shout, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
Grandpa Zhou caught his wife and anxiously looked at his grandson, doing the work of ten people.
No one expected Zhou Da Bao to suddenly jump out of the window. Just as his body was about to fall, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist.
"Ah!!"
Lin Xiaoyun covered her mouth, her face pale as she stared at the scene. Several seconds later, she suddenly came to her senses and realized what had happened.
"Dabao! Dabao..." she rushed to the window.
Zhou Tai had rushed over the instant Zhou Dabao jumped. Although he didn't manage to grab Zhou Dabao's hand, he could still help Xu Gui pull the child back in through the window.
By this time, a crowd had gathered outside their ward, standing at the door, their eyes wide with astonishment and their voices trembling with discussion.
From the moment Zhou Dabao jumped out of the window to the moment Xu Gui reached out and grabbed him, everything happened in the blink of an eye. Lu Baiyi only saw a blur before Xu Gui was already at the window, reaching out and grabbing him.
When Lu Baiyi came to his senses, he quickly helped pull the child up. As for Yuan Lu and the others, they also rushed over to help.
With their help, Zhou Dabao was finally pulled up and sat down heavily on the ground. At this moment, Xu Gui finally let go.
"Ouch," she shook her aching hand, looking at Zhou Dabao, who was actually quite heavy, and said with disdain, "Why is this kid so heavy?"
When she grabbed him, she thought she had grabbed a heavy weight, and he pulled her down, almost dragging her out of the window.
Lin Xiaoyun rushed over, her face ashen. She first grabbed the child's arm and carefully checked his body. After confirming that he was alright, she breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help crying.
"You brat, what are you doing? What are you doing?!" she cried, no longer caring about being angry, and reached out to hug the child tightly.
Zhou Dabao had done something foolish on impulse, and after dangling by the window, he was filled with fear after being rescued. After all, this was the thirteenth floor.
Now, being held in his mother's arms, he looked panicked and trembling, as if he hadn't come to his senses yet. But when he came to his senses, he couldn't help but burst into tears.
"Mom, Mom..." he cried, calling for his mother.
Zhou Tai, who had been both anxious and angry, saw this scene and all his anger vanished. He couldn't help but hug his wife and child tightly, overcome with fear.
When the family came to their senses, they realized that Xu Gui and the others had already left.
...
Xu Gui and the others left while the Zhou family of three was crying their eyes out. After all, seeing their condition, they had no intention of talking to them.
Besides, what happened next was a family matter for the Zhou family, and it had nothing to do with them anymore, so there was no need for them to stay.
Lu Baiyi saw Xu Gui rubbing her right arm and went over to ask her, "Is your hand uncomfortable?"
Xu Gui shook her hand and said with disdain, "That Zhou Dabao, he doesn't look fat, but I didn't expect him to be so heavy..." Her arm was now aching from overuse.
Lu Baiyi looked at her and asked, "You knew that child was going to jump off the building?"
Xu Gui nodded, "I just had a premonition... Don't you think I should have stopped him from the beginning?"
Lu Baiyi shook his head and said, "I think what you did was right. That child wanted to commit suicide. Even if you had stopped him then, he hadn't experienced the fear of suicide, and he would have tried again later."
However, he was lucky this time because Xu Gui saved him. Next time, he might not be so lucky.
So, it was better to let him "succeed in his suicide attempt" this time, let him experience the shock of suicide, so that he wouldn't try to do it again.
However, what surprised him was that, after hearing Xu Gui and the others talk about it, he thought that Zhou Dabao would be a child who seemed a bit abnormal, perhaps fierce and gloomy. But after seeing him just now, he realized that this child looked like an ordinary child.
Such an ordinary child, yet he did something that no one else could have imagined—trying to kill his sister.
Indeed, it's better to have only one child.
Lu Baiyi, thinking to himself, noticed Xu Gui still rubbing his hand and couldn't help but say, "Why don't you go to the orthopedics department? You might have dislocated your hand." Since they were at the hospital, it would be convenient for them to get it checked.
"No need," Xu Gui shook his head. "I don't think there's anything seriously wrong... Oh, and I haven't thanked you yet. Thanks to you for your help today, and also for preparing my clothes and letting me take a shower."
Lu Baiyi smiled and said, "You're welcome. Since you're my grandfather's friend, you're my friend too."
The group walked to the hospital entrance. Lu Baiyi had originally intended to offer to drive Xu Gui and the others home, but after looking at the number of them, he realized his car couldn't fit them all, and regretfully abandoned the idea.
"I'll be going now," he said, parting ways with Xu Gui and the others at the hospital entrance.
As for Xu Gui and the others, those without a car naturally had to take a taxi home. However, at this moment, the cameraman suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "Teacher Xu, the final elimination results for the show are out!"
Xu Gui was taken aback.
*
Today is the last day of the elimination rounds. At 4:30 PM, the data on the show's rankings was updated, and all guests outside the top ten were eliminated, leaving only the top ten to compete for the final number one spot.
Xu Gui, thanks to the three million yuan spent by Tang Baozhu, successfully advanced and ranked quite well, at eighth place.
The competition among the guests ranked after her was extremely fierce, especially the three guests close to tenth place, each employing every possible means.
In the final moments, Su Ya secured tenth place with a difference of five thousand yuan, narrowly making it into the top ten.
The list of the top ten guests was finally revealed.
The show was already very popular, and the release of the top ten list sparked a new wave of heated discussions among netizens, quickly trending on several online searches.
Under the show's official Weibo account, countless netizens were discussing and debating enthusiastically.
[As expected, the Best Actor truly held the number one spot from beginning to end!] "His stock trading skills are amazing! He's practically a stock market god! If I had his abilities, I could dominate the stock market and wouldn't be a celebrity."
"Lin Yuxia also passed the elimination round! She's truly incredible. After all this time, so many people still love her. Fans offered tens of thousands for a single song; she couldn't have passed without advancing.
" "Tang Yusong is also good..."
"Actually, the most surprising person on this show is this Xu Gui. I think no one would disagree that she's the biggest dark horse of this show?"
"Absolutely no one can disagree. Who remembers when she first joined the show? She was a relatively unknown newcomer!"
"Unknown? You're overestimating her. Back then, everyone hated her!" The CP fans of the Tang and Qiu families are so fierce! When the show first started filming, I accidentally entered her live stream, and it was full of people cursing her. Luckily, the guests can't see the comments, otherwise I suspect she'd get depressed from seeing
them. [Hilarious! The Tang and Qiu families were so flamboyant back then, but now they've all disappeared. Xu Gui, on the other hand, has really become famous. In just over half a month, her Weibo followers have already exceeded ten million. She's probably the first celebrity to gain followers so quickly! Shouldn't other companies learn from her?]
[I think other companies probably can't learn or replicate her method of becoming famous, unless there's another person in the world as good at fortune telling as her.]
[When I first heard she could tell fortunes, I thought it was just a publicity stunt, but after watching a few of her live streams, I realized she really does have some talent.]
[...So, the biggest winner of this show is Xu Gui. Even if she doesn't win first place, her current fame makes her the biggest winner.]
*
While the show was generating buzz online, Xu Gui and the other guests had already returned to their hotel.
At 7:30 PM, the show's live stream officially started. All the other guests' live streams were closed, leaving only the show's official live stream. Compared to the last live stream, this time the official stream attracted even more viewers.
The guests and netizens once again saw the director's cunning face.