"No, no, no, my friend didn't say anything..."
Yan Xiaomi nervously moved closer to Xu Gui, tugged at her sleeve, and whispered quickly, "Xu Gui, what are you saying? What if something really happens to this person later?"
Public opinion can be deceiving. If this woman who attempted suicide ends up alright, then everyone will be happy. But if something happens to her... If Xu Gui stands up and says something like this now, she might be gossiped about and cyberbullied later.
Yan Xiaomi was very anxious thinking about this, and kept glancing at Xu Gui with disappointed eyes.
Xu Gui smiled and whispered to her, "Don't worry."
Then she looked up at the young woman sitting on the bridge. The woman's face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were swollen. She looked at Xu Gui, confused and surprised, and asked, "You...you said I won the lottery?"
Xu Gui nodded, "Yes, I did."
The woman looked at Xu Gui suspiciously and asked, "How did you know I won the lottery? Do you know me?"
Xu Gui glanced at the time on her phone and casually said, "Of course I calculated it...Think it over carefully. The river is swift now; if you jump in, you'll definitely die. But if you don't jump, your lottery ticket will win immediately."
"Thirty million..."
Xu Gui uttered the number, "With that money, you'll immediately see your boyfriend, who treated you like dirt yesterday, turn around and hug your legs, wailing and regretting it."
"Your parents, who thought you were a burden, will immediately say you're their most beloved and closest child; even your younger brother will have to step aside."
"Oh, right." Xu Gui remembered something else. She looked at the woman and said, "And the company that fired you. If you won the lottery, would you care about the meager earnings you made at the company? You could just walk straight to your boss's office and tell him: you fired him!"
The woman's thoughts drifted along with Xu Gui's words, as if she could really see that scene.
She wiped away her tears and choked out, "If only that were true."
Some people say that for most ordinary people in this world, ninety percent of their troubles stem from not having money. If she could really win thirty million, then ninety percent of her troubles would be solved.
"I know you're lying to me." She looked at Xu Gui, exposing her lie: "The lottery draw is at around 9 PM, how could you know I won beforehand? Besides, I don't even have the habit of buying lottery tickets."
The woman curled her lips and said, "But thank you for comforting me with those words."
Xu Gui replied, "I'm not talking about this lottery draw, I'm talking about the last one. You might have forgotten, but you bought a lottery ticket last time. It's in your right pocket right now. Just reach into your pocket and you'll find it."
The woman was stunned, and subconsciously reached into her right pocket. After rummaging around for a couple of times, she froze, her face blank and stiff. Her right hand slowly pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket.
"Wow!"
The crowd gasped at this scene. Everyone's surprised eyes fell on Xu Gui. Even Yan Xiaomi, who had been worried that Xu Gui might be cyberbullied for saying the wrong thing, couldn't help but look at Xu Gui in astonishment.
Xu Gui smiled, his clear gaze fixed on the woman on the bridge. He said, "See? I wasn't wrong. I told you, I'm a fortune teller, my predictions are very accurate."
The woman looked at the lottery ticket in her hand and finally remembered when she had bought it.
She didn't have a habit of buying lottery tickets, but her boyfriend loved it. Although he always lost, he never missed a draw. The ticket in her hand was one she had casually bought last month when she accompanied him.
He had bought two tickets, and she hadn't planned to buy any herself, as she wasn't interested in such things. From childhood to adulthood, her luck had never been good. Even during her school years, she had never won a scratch-off lottery ticket. Over time, she had become wary of any activity that relied on luck.
But that day, after her boyfriend bought two tickets, the lottery shop owner casually suggested she buy two as well.
"...I never buy these things."
"Hey, that's precisely why you should buy one! Ever heard of the 'newbie buff'? People like you who've never bought a lottery ticket are the most likely to win. Last time, a young girl here bought her first lottery ticket and won five thousand... Maybe your luck will be just as good?"
A lottery ticket wasn't expensive, and with her boyfriend's encouragement, she bought one. She didn't look at it closely afterward, just casually put it in her pocket, and then forgot about it.
The woman glanced at her pants; these were the pants she wore when she bought the lottery ticket. She only wore them for one day, then casually tossed them into the laundry basket by her bedside and hadn't worn them since until today.
The woman sobered up completely.
Xu Gui smiled and looked at her, saying, "Since I could tell you had a lottery ticket in your pocket, you should believe me, right?"
"You'd better hold on tight," she pointed to the lottery ticket in the woman's hand, "This ticket is for the first prize. If you lose it, you'll lose thirty million!"
Hearing this, the woman's hand trembled, her grip on the ticket tightening as if afraid the wind would carry it away.
Xu Gui walked over, held out her hand, and said, "Give me your hand, I'll help you down..."
The woman looked at her, her hand trembling as she reached out. Xu Gui grabbed her hand and helped her down from the bridge. Immediately, the onlookers swarmed over, asking,
"Are you alright?"
"Girl, are you hurt anywhere?"
"Oh, thank goodness! They're all fine..."
Several men surrounded Xu Gui and the others, blocking their way to the bridge.
The woman had been on the bridge for a while, exposed to the wind for who knows how long; her legs were already weak. As soon as she stepped down, she slumped to the ground. But she couldn't care less about that now; she just gripped Xu Gui's hand tightly, her eyes burning as she looked at her.
"Are you telling the truth? You're not lying to me, are you?" she pressed, her voice urgent. "You didn't tell me about winning the lottery just to get me down from the bridge, did you?"
Xu Gui smiled and said, "Don't worry, I wouldn't say something like that to fool you. You can check the last lottery numbers on your phone right now if you don't believe me."
She'd have to be crazy to say something like that to deceive someone. If she were lying, it would be like poisoning the woman's thirst
—Xu Gui couldn't watch the woman forever. Even if she managed to get her down temporarily, who could guarantee that she wouldn't try to commit suicide again once she found out?
Xu Gui wouldn't do that, so what she said was true.
"Ah, you're Xu Gui?" Suddenly, someone in the crowd pointed at Xu Gui and shouted, their eyes shining. "You're the fortune teller Xu Gui?"
Xu Gui looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young girl in the crowd pointing at her and shouting excitedly, "Xu Gui, I'm your fan!"
The girl stomped her feet excitedly.
"What kind of fortune teller?" someone asked curiously.
The girl said, "She's a fortune teller! Have you guys seen the '360 Trades' program on Hunan TV? She's a guest on the show, a celebrity!"
"So you're saying she's a fortune teller?"
"Yes, fortune telling is her main job, being a celebrity is her side job... You don't know, Xu Gui's fortune telling is incredibly accurate. She has over ten million followers on Weibo, many of whom became fans because of her fortune telling... She even predicted that Mr. Mao donated over 100 million yuan to the country!"
"Mao Taiping, right? I know that. I heard that a master predicted it, and that master is this young lady?"
"Yes, it's our Xu Gui! She not only predicted Mr. Mao Taiping's affairs, but she also predicted many other things..."
The girl started chatting excitedly with the people around her, revealing all of Xu Gui's secrets in just a few words. Everyone who listened had to say that Xu Gui was "awesome" and "amazing," as if they were listening to a story.
However, they had indeed seen many of the things the girl mentioned online, especially the story of Mao Taiping, which had been trending online for several days.
So, could she really be a fortune teller?
Just then, someone in the crowd suddenly said, "...Then, is it true that this young lady won the lottery?"
All eyes instantly fell on the woman sitting on the ground, their gazes almost burning with desire.
The woman, listening intently to the discussion, was speechless.
She gripped her lottery ticket tightly, nervously looking around at the people around her, and said, "This is mine!" So don't look at her like that, she'll think you're all coveting her lottery ticket.
Seeing this, the crowd couldn't help but feel awkward.
"I've just never seen a winning lottery ticket before, I'm a little curious," someone said.
The woman pursed her lips, still cautiously holding her lottery ticket. Now, she didn't want to commit suicide anymore; all she saw was wariness of those around her. Now, she really saw everyone around her as a bad person.
There were also people in the crowd curious about Xu Gui, and many people crowded around her, wanting her to tell their fortunes.
A thin but strong old woman pushed everyone else aside and went straight to Xu Gui, pleading earnestly, "...Master, look at me, look at me! Can you tell me if my daughter-in-law's baby is a boy or a girl?!"
The old woman's words were startling, and she uttered a sentence that made everyone around her turn their heads.
Xu Gui glanced at the other woman casually and asked, "What if your daughter-in-law is pregnant with a girl?"
The old woman's eyebrows furrowed, and she said matter-of-factly, "Then of course we'll abort the child! We can't afford to raise a daughter!"
Hearing this, many people around couldn't help but frown. An elderly woman of similar age advised, "Sister, you can't think like that. What era are we living in? We don't have that kind of preference for sons over daughters anymore."
"As the saying goes, it's the same whether you have a son or a daughter. If the child is not filial, even if you have ten sons, it's useless! Besides, girls are so much better. Most girls are more obedient and considerate than boys from a young age, and they care about their mothers... In my family, we don't have any sons, but I have three daughters, and they are all filial to me. Each of them gives me three thousand yuan a month. Isn't that better than having a son?"
The aunt spoke from the bottom of her heart, but the old woman was not moved at all.
"Hmph, is my family the same as yours? My family has only had one son for three generations. If my son doesn't have a son, our family line will end!" The old lady said righteously. "Besides, my daughter-in-law has already given birth to two daughters. If she has another daughter, does she want to make three golden flowers in my family?"
The old lady said with dissatisfaction, "Anyway, if she has another daughter this time, I will make my son divorce her. I don't think she looks like she's meant to have a son. Small breasts and small buttocks. In our time, no family would even look at a woman like her."
Her tone made it seem as if her daughter-in-law had gotten a great deal by marrying her son, which made people feel a little disgusted.
"So, Master, please help me calculate, if my daughter-in-law's baby is really a girl..." The old lady frowned, pursed her lips, and said, "Then I'll have to tell her to get an abortion!"
Xu Gui noticed someone in the crowd secretly taking pictures with their phone. She glanced at the mean-looking old lady and said lightly, "You yourself never had a son in your life, so why do you demand that your daughter-in-law have a son?"