"...You yourself haven't given birth to a son in your entire life, so why force your daughter-in-law to have one?"
Xu Gui's words were truly astonishing, containing a wealth of information. Everyone was completely bewildered. Looking at the old woman, she was utterly dumbfounded, her expression no less confused than the others.
Once everyone came to their senses, they forgot they didn't know the people around them and began whispering amongst themselves.
"What does the master mean by that?"
"I don't quite understand either... This old woman is calculating the gender of her daughter-in-law's unborn child, so she must have a son. Why is the master saying she hasn't given birth to a son in her entire life?" "
Isn't the master's meaning simple? It means the old woman's son isn't her biological child!"
"Wow!"
Everyone's gaze towards the old woman changed.
Xu Gui continued, "You also gave birth to five daughters and not a single son, and were disliked your whole life. Why do you want your daughter-in-law to suffer the same pain you endured?"
As a tortoise, Xu Gui couldn't understand the old woman's thinking.
Logically, having suffered the same pain, the old woman should know best what it felt like to not have a son and be disliked. Yet, she insisted on inflicting that same suffering on her daughter-in-law.
Xu Gui: A tortoise doesn't understand, and a tortoise doesn't respect.
"...I don't understand what you're saying." The old woman's expression was somewhat flustered, but she stubbornly insisted, "If I didn't give birth to a son, how did my son come to be?"
Xu Gui glanced at her and asked, "Wasn't he adopted from someone else's family? When you gave birth to your sixth child and found out it was a daughter, you first lied to your husband and his family, saying the child was a son. Then, during your postpartum confinement, you had your sister find a boy to replace the daughter."
The old woman's expression changed, and she shouted, "I don't understand what you're saying, girl! Don't I know whether my son is my son or not? He's the one I carried for ten months and gave birth to; he's my own flesh and blood!"
"Oh?" Xu Gui said casually, "In that case, have your son and your husband do a paternity test. Once the report comes out, it'll be clear."
"Why should I do a paternity test because of what you say?" the old lady said anxiously, hands on her hips. "I know my own son better than anyone else!"
Xu Gui said indifferently, "If you want to deceive yourself like this, then deceive yourself. Anyway, you should know better than anyone else whether your son is your biological son or not."
The old lady's eyes widened, feeling a tightness in her chest, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"Just tell me, is my daughter-in-law's baby a boy or not?" the old woman said bluntly. "You're so good at fortune telling, then tell my daughter-in-law's fortune! If you can't, you're a fraud, a charlatan!"
Xu Gui looked at her suspiciously, "Whether I'm a charlatan or not has nothing to do with you."
Meanwhile, the other onlookers were also discussing among themselves:
"It seems the master was right. This old woman's son really isn't her biological son..."
"? How so?"
"Think about it, if the master was lying, why would this old woman still let him tell her daughter-in-law's fortune? She would probably have already thrown a tantrum at him. So, the old woman's son's matter must have been predicted by the master!"
"Wow, you say so? It really is true! It seems this master really does have some skills."
The old lady never expected that her nonsensical words would not only fail to make everyone doubt Xu Gui, but would actually confirm that what Xu Gui said was true. This made her face turn green, and her expression became extremely ugly.
"You think I'll just tell your fortune because you want me to?" Xu Gui said arrogantly. "Don't you know that I charge for fortune telling? For ordinary matters, it's a thousand yuan per time. As for fortune telling about life..."
She glanced at the old lady and said, "Life is priceless, so my price for that is very high."
She spread her five fingers and made a five-finger gesture.
"Fifty?" the old lady blurted out.
Xu Gui: "..."
She withdrew her hand impatiently and said, "Five million!"
"Five million?" the old lady shrieked, "Are you robbing me?"
Xu Gui proudly stated, "In our line of work, this is the market price! But it's fate that we met, old lady. If you really want a calculation, I'll give you a 9.9% discount."
The old lady stomped her feet angrily, "9.9%? Is there any difference between this discount and no discount?"
"Yes." Xu Gui's words were infuriating, "9.9%, it sounds very different..."
The old lady was furious and launched into a tirade against Xu Gui, cursing her as she ran away, yelling that Xu Gui was a swindler and cursing her to die a horrible death.
Xu Gui: "...So vicious."
However, the old lady's reaction only made everyone more certain that Xu Gui was indeed capable. Her departure was like a drop of water falling into the ocean, not even causing a ripple. The onlookers crowded around Xu Gui, eager for her to give them a calculation.
As more and more people surrounded Xu Gui, someone suddenly shouted, "The police are here!"
Police?
Instantly, the group that had been chattering turned to look and saw a police car parked outside. Four officers were parting the crowd as they walked in.
"How is the woman who was going to jump into the river?" they asked before she even entered.
Hearing this, the woman sitting on the ground immediately raised her hand enthusiastically, almost jumping up, shouting, "It's me! It's me who wanted to jump into the river!"
The four officers: ?
At that moment, everyone present saw the bewilderment on the officers' faces. This was probably the first time in their entire careers that they had come to a suicide scene, and the person who had attempted suicide was not only in good condition but also seemed very positive. For a moment,
the officers almost suspected they had received a false alarm.
At this moment, the woman sitting on the ground stood up and said very eagerly, "Officers, please take me to the hospital..."
She looked around warily, feeling that everyone around her wanted to snatch the lottery ticket from her hand. So, as soon as the police approached, she grabbed the arm of one of the officers who looked particularly strong and reassuring, urging, "Let's go quickly."
The officers: ?? Even more confused.
"Didn't you want to commit suicide?" the officer couldn't help but ask.
"Yes," the woman nodded, then said matter-of-factly, "But I don't want to anymore. I feel like most of my troubles have disappeared!"
She wasn't even gesturing wildly, which was already a sign of her restraint.
The police were somewhat bewildered, but the woman kept urging them on, so they had no choice but to leave with
their entourage. While everyone's attention was focused on the police and the woman, Xu Gui secretly gave Yan Xiaomi a look, then lowered her head and disappeared into the crowd. When everyone turned around, they found that Xu Gui was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, where's the master?"
At this moment, the master everyone was talking about had returned to the park. She was wearing a mask, keeping her head down, and acting very low-key. Yan Xiaomi, standing next to her, kept glancing at her.
Finally, Yan Xiaomi couldn't help but ask softly, "Xu Gui, you really can tell fortunes?"
Xu Gui looked at her and nodded, "Yes, what, do you want your fortune told too? If you want it told, I'll give you a free one!" Her tone was very generous.
Yan Xiaomi's face suddenly flushed red. She said somewhat shyly, "I don't really want to have anything calculated."
Xu Gui raised an eyebrow: "Are you sure?"
"...Then help me calculate, what about my current crush? Do we have a chance?" Yan Xiaomi, who had just said she didn't have anything to calculate, immediately looked at her expectantly.
Xu Gui looked at her with a half-smile. Yan Xiaomi was a little embarrassed, but still blushed and said, "I recently have a boy I really like, but I don't know if he likes me."
Yan Xiaomi was conflicted.
She had liked that boy for quite some time, but she wasn't sure if he felt the same way. Of course, she could sense that he had some feelings for her, but his attitude wasn't very clear, so she wasn't entirely sure.
Yan Xiaomi sighed and said, "I've actually thought about whether I should take the initiative..."
After all, if she didn't take the initiative, she wouldn't be able to be sure if the boy liked her. But her friends advised her not to be too proactive, saying that if a girl is too proactive, she'll lose her value, and the boy might think she's easy to manipulate and won't cherish her as much.
Yan Xiaomi sighed and said, "So now I don't know what to do?"
Xu Gui glanced at her and asked, "What about you? What do you think?"
Yan Xiaomi whispered, "I want to confess directly... I can't help it, this is all I can think about lately, it's so agonizing. I thought about it, and I figured I might as well just confess. Anyway, whether it works out or not is just a matter of a word. The worst that can happen is rejection, and I'll be sad for a while, which is better than me thinking about it every day."
Xu Gui smiled and said, "Then you can just confess. According to my calculations, the probability of him accepting your confession is 100%."
100%?
That means there's no chance of failure? Yan Xiaomi's eyes lit up.
Xu Gui looked at her and said, "You're a very good person, and he's a very good person too. His family is well-off, and everyone in his family has a good personality. If you marry him, you won't suffer."
Yan Xiaomi's face instantly turned red. She cupped her burning face and said, "I... I'm studying. I haven't thought that much about it."
Who fantasizes about marriage before even confessing? And once she and he's together, will she already have names for their children? Yan Xiaomi covered her face, blushing at the thought that had flashed through her mind.
"The friend who advised you not to confess, is she a very good friend?" Xu Gui asked casually.
Yan Xiaomi snapped out of her reverie, still covering her face with her hands, and nodded, "I guess so. We've been friends since high school, and then we got into the same university. What a coincidence!"
Their relationship in high school wasn't particularly close, but the probability of classmates from the same high school getting into the same university was extremely low; calling it fate wouldn't be an exaggeration. Compared to classmates who were all strangers, it was natural to feel closer to someone you already knew.
So, after entering university, they naturally became close and good friends. Yan Xiaomi considered their relationship to be quite good.
Xu Gui glanced at her and said, "Maybe you should be careful about your friend."
Yan Xiaomi: "Hmm?"
Xu Gui said lazily, "Your friend isn't trying to be helpful. Haven't you noticed? She actually dislikes you."
Yan Xiaomi's blank expression deepened. She said, "Huh? No, that can't be right. Why would she dislike me?"
"Hmm, you've hit the nail on the head." Xu Gui looked interested. "Haven't you considered the possibility that she might also like that boy?"
Yan Xiaomi was shocked: "Really? She's never told me!"
After liking that boy, she couldn't wait to tell her friend, but her friend also liked that boy? Yan Xiaomi thought about it and couldn't believe it.
Xu Gui said, "You two met that boy at the same time, right?"
Yan Xiaomi came to her senses and nodded: "Yes..."
After they became close in college, they did many activities together. She met this boy at a gathering of classmates from the same department. They met him at the same time.
Xu Gui said, "It's a coincidence that you like that boy, and your friend also likes that boy... That's where the conflict comes from."
Hearing this, Yan Xiaomi felt a bit conflicted and said, "Why didn't she tell me? If she had told me, I wouldn't have mentioned my relationship with Dai Xu to her."
Dai Xu was the name of the boy she liked.
Seeing her considerate expression, Xu Gui couldn't help but chuckle and said, "You treat her as a friend, but she sees you as a rival. Didn't you say you sensed that the boy clearly liked you too, but he hasn't made any moves?"
That's why she's been so conflicted.
"Have you ever considered that it's not that the boy hasn't made any moves, but that his moves have been kept secret by your friend?"
"...Really?"
Xu Gui said, "Why not?"
During his time telling fortunes for humans, Xu Gui had come to realize that humans are truly complex creatures. Some are open and honest with their friends, while others are scheming and resentful towards their friends. Yan Xiaomi was clearly unlucky, encountering the latter.
Xu Gui said calmly, "That boy likes you and wants to pursue you, so he consulted your friend. But your friend told him that you don't have any feelings for him, so he naturally stopped and didn't dare to do anything..."
Yan Xiaomi didn't want to assume malicious intent about her friend, and she didn't want to believe that the other person would do such a thing, but Xu Gui...
Yan Xiaomi pursed her lips.
"You can arrange to meet the person you like and have an open and honest talk with him." Xu Gui glanced at her, "Then, the truth will be clear."
Yan Xiaomi's eyes flickered, and she nodded, "I understand."
She had been in high spirits just now, but at this moment, because of Xu Gui's words, her mood had uncontrollably plummeted. She couldn't help but wonder: Is that really the case? Is it possible that Xu Gui made a mistake? But... Xu Gui is a fortune teller.
After parting ways with Xu Gui, Yan Xiaomi searched for information about her online. The more she learned about Xu Gui, the more depressed she became.
She held her phone, her fingers rubbing together for a moment. After hesitating for a while, she finally opened the chat interface, found a line, clicked on it, and typed: "Dai Xu, do you have time tomorrow? I'd like to talk to you..."
After sending the message, she exhaled and held the phone to her forehead.
Sigh...
*
After Xu Gui and Yan Xiaomi parted ways, she returned to the company dormitory.
Unfortunately, when she came back, she saw many people going in and out of the dormitory. Judging from the things they were carrying, these people seemed to be moving. Xu Gui stood at the door for two seconds, tilted her head and looked inside, and saw that both of her roommates were home.
He Yuan, whom she had seen yesterday, was standing in the living room, and next to her was someone Xu Gui recognized, her other roommate, Su Ya.
As Xu Gui looked around, He Yuan, who was facing the door, saw her and called out, "Xu Gui, you're back!"
Su Ya, who had been standing with her arms crossed, turned around. Seeing Xu Gui standing in the doorway, her expression turned disdainful and critical. After Xu Gui entered, she said, "You're still living in the dorm?"
"Heh," she scoffed, dramatically tossing her hair, "I thought you'd already moved out. Looks like your new manager doesn't really care about you, letting you continue living in this doghouse."
She looked around with disgust.
Xu Gui glanced at He Yuan and noticed that He Yuan's expression was somewhat uneasy upon hearing Su Ya's words. Looking closely, she could see a hint of bitterness beneath the unease.
"I love the dorm." Xu Gui quickly averted his gaze and said, "The dorm is so lively! When I want to have a late-night snack, someone's there to keep me company. Living alone, I feel lonely."
Su Ya scoffed, disdainfully saying, "You're just being stubborn. If someone really arranged for you to live elsewhere, I don't believe you'd still find the dorm lively… Sigh, I'm different."
Su Ya's tone became smug.
"My manager is different from yours. He values me a lot. As soon as I finished the show, he arranged for me to live elsewhere, renting me an apartment in Huida Community… You know Huida Community, right? Zhao Yang, the movie star, and the president of Hongda Group, they all live there!"
"People who can live here are all incredibly wealthy and powerful; ordinary celebrities can't afford to live there."
Her meaning was clear: she was that "extraordinary celebrity."
Su Ya sighed again, feigning seriousness, "Well, we're roommates, after all. Now I have to abandon you and move to Huida Community by myself. It's a little embarrassing, but there's nothing I can do. You're just nobody, not famous at all. Even if I wanted you to stay there, the property management wouldn't allow it."
"That's true..." Xu Gui looked at her strangely, pointing out a fact, "But have you forgotten that we both participated in a program? You were tenth in the program, and I was eighth, two places higher than you... And your Weibo followers, you only have two million, and I heard that more than a million of them were bought, but I have more than ten million followers, and they're mostly active fans!"
Compared to his initial unfamiliarity with these technical terms, Xu Gui was now very familiar with them, speaking with great expertise.
He Yuan's mood had been somewhat downcast because of Su Ya's words. After all, she was so much older than Su Ya and Xu Gui, yet the two of them had already made a name for themselves and gained some fame, while she was still just an extra, an
unknown nobody. This situation, even just thinking about it for a moment, was enough to make anyone feel depressed.
However, Xu Gui's two sentences made her chuckle involuntarily. But with Su Ya in front of her, she couldn't say anything, so she could only purse her lips and turn her head away to avoid Su Ya seeing her laughing and thinking she was making fun of her.
However, Su Ya clearly didn't notice her expression at all, because all her attention was drawn to Xu Gui. She glared at Xu Gui, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly, before finally saying after several seconds:
"Ha, you've only made a little bit of a splash on the show, what's so great about that? There are still seven people ahead of you, if you're so capable, then take first place!"
Xu Gui retorted: "There are still nine people ahead of you, your chances of taking first place are much higher than mine."
Su Ya pointed at her: "You, you, you, you..."
Xu Gui lifted her eyelids to look at her, thoughtfully saying: "Besides, were you able to move out really because you became famous? No, the cause and effect are reversed. To be precise, I should ask you: Did you really squeeze into the top ten based on your own abilities?"
Hearing this, Su Ya's pupils shrank, her eyes almost bulging out.
Her expression was somewhat panicked, but she said, "...What do you mean? Are you saying I cheated? Are you overestimating me, or looking down on the staff of Hunan TV? Humph, you're so despicable! Let me tell you, I made it into the top ten entirely through my own hard work!"
Xu Gui looked at her and said, "Since you say I'm despicable, then what are you feeling guilty about?"
"I'm guilty?" Su Ya raised her voice, as if the louder the voice, the more confident she felt, and shouted, "I'm not guilty at all!"
Just then, the workers who were helping her move came over and said, "Miss Su, everything's moved. Would you like to leave now?"
Hearing this, Su Ya felt like she'd been granted a pardon and said without hesitation, "Yes, I'll leave now!"
She then looked at Xu Gui and the others, and said arrogantly, "Hmph, anyway, I've moved out. You guys can just live your lives in this little dorm room!"
After saying that, she quickly glanced at Xu Gui, probably afraid that Xu Gui would say something "shocking," and without waiting for Xu Gui and the others to speak, she turned around and left, leaving cleanly and decisively without a trace of regret.
Xu Gui watched her back and thought, "She's obviously guilty."
Hearing this, Su Ya stumbled and almost fell. After she straightened up, she didn't turn around and just left.
Xu Gui looked at the dorm room and found it much emptier