What is meant by a thunderclap from a clear sky?
Xu Gui's words, upon reaching everyone's ears, were like a thunderclap suddenly exploding, leaving their minds blank and unable to react for a long time.
The viewers in Xu Gui's live stream were also in an uproar.
[What does Xu Gui mean by that?]
[Wow, this is a family drama, suddenly turned into a midnight suspense thriller? Xu Gui's words are packed with information; the hairs on my arms are standing on end.]
[If what Xu Gui said is true, and this woman isn't Qiao Xinyue's mother, then who is she? And another question: living under the same roof for so long, Qiao Xinyue couldn't possibly not recognize her own mother, right?]
[So, this is really strange. Did Xu Gui really not miscalculate?] Netizens
were buzzing with discussion, the barrage of comments alone creating a noisy atmosphere. However, inside the Qiao family's music room, it was eerily quiet, so quiet you could hear a pin drop . That quiet was abruptly broken when Qiao's father frowned and said,
"Absurd!" He looked displeased at the dazed Qiao Xinyue and repeated, "I thought at your age you knew which friends to make and which not to… but I never expected you to bring such shady people home!" "Uh…" Fu Xia raised her hand slightly, quietly interrupting Qiao's father, saying, "Uncle, I'm sorry, Miss Xu is my friend, I invited her. She and Xinyue don't know each other before." "…" Ah, this… In an instant, the words of reprimand that Mr. Qiao hadn't finished saying caught in his throat. He could neither swallow nor spit them out, and could only forcefully hold them back. Finally, he said, "So, she's your friend, Xiaoxia..." Fu Xia nodded and added, "Besides, Xu Gui isn't some shady character. She's my good friend!" Mr. Qiao: "...Ah, is that so?" Netizens: We almost succumbed to our embarrassment again! Mr. Qiao composed himself, glanced at Xu Gui, and said to Fu Xia with a serious expression, "Xiaoxia, although I shouldn't be saying this, as your elder, I still have to remind you a few things." He glanced disdainfully at Xu Gui standing there and said in a low voice, "Although this young lady is your friend, isn't she being a bit too impolite? Visiting someone's home and insulting the hostess is not something a cultured person would do." Hearing this, Fu Xia laughed and said, "Uncle, since you know you shouldn't be saying this, then don't say it. You know I don't like hearing this kind of talk." — Her tone was extremely nonchalant. Mr. Qiao was momentarily speechless. Just then, Xu Gui chuckled lightly and said, "If simply stating a fact can be considered an insult, then I must be insulting people every single day!" Under Mr. Qiao's gloomy and displeased gaze, Xu Gui gently raised her proud head and introduced herself, "I forgot to introduce myself before. My surname is Xu, and my name is Xu Gui, the Xu of 'Yanwu Xu' and the Gui of 'Gui'!" "I specialize in fortune telling, a master fortune teller!" she said proudly and confidently.
"In this world, as long as you pay the price enough, there's nothing I can't predict… including those secrets you all secretly yearn to hide." Her words were pointed and profound.
"A fortune teller who specializes in telling fortunes, or a divine fortune teller?" Mr. Qiao scoffed.
"You make a very unique way of describing swindling and cheating..." Mrs. Qiao came to her senses. She blinked, a hint of panic flashing in her eyes.
However, everyone's attention was on Mr. Qiao, and no one noticed her momentary lapse in composure, except for Zhou Qingping beside her... Feeling the pain in her wrist, Zhou Qingping cautiously looked at Mrs. Qiao beside her, her expression shrinking. Mrs. Qiao quickly regained her composure. She turned to Qiao Xinyue, frowning, and said, "Xinyue, I know you're unhappy that your father and I wanted to take Qingping as our goddaughter, but you shouldn't be so self-degrading, associating with such shady friends."
"Besides," she continued,
"the reason your father and I wanted to take Qingping as our goddaughter was because of her pitiful background. She's an orphan, and has never enjoyed any happiness since birth. But what about you? You've been pampered since childhood, never experiencing hardship. Can't you be a little more magnanimous?" When she spoke of Zhou Qingping's suffering, Mrs. Qiao lowered her head and tenderly touched Zhou Qingping's face.
When she looked up again, she stared at Qiao Xinyue with disappointment, asking, "When did you become so narrow-minded? I'm so disappointed in you." Qiao Xinyue's expression turned cold.
The viewers in the live stream were also somewhat bewildered by Mrs. Qiao's words.
[Wait, did I hear that right? Is she criticizing her own daughter for an unrelated outsider?]
[ I'm starting to doubt what Xiao Gui just said. This woman might not really be Qiao Xinyue's biological mother. What kind of mother treats her own daughter like that? She's disappointed, but Qiao Xinyue hasn't even expressed disappointment in her as her mother yet.] [Although Qiao's mother doesn't seem to like Qiao Xinyue very much, that alone isn't enough to prove she's not Qiao Xinyue's biological mother. Because in this world, there really are people who don't love their own daughters! Didn't we have news reports of mothers accidentally beating their daughters to death before?]
[Anyway, I feel like Qiao's mother's attitude is off. I'll just call it my intuition—my intuition is usually very accurate.]
Meanwhile, at the door of the music room, Qiao's mother was still talking. "While you were abroad, it was all thanks to Qingping who stayed with me and your father. If it weren't for her taking care of us back home, do you think you could have been so carefree abroad?" She said, her voice trembling, seemingly out of anger, her face a mixture of pain and rage.
She continued, "I know you're unhappy with me, but I never expected you to have your friend insult me like this, even saying I'm not your biological mother..." At this point, she seemed truly heartbroken, tears welling in her eyes.
She seemed to feel ashamed of her appearance and turned her head away towards her husband.
Qiao Xinyue, who had just been angry at her words, couldn't help but feel saddened seeing her crying and said, "I didn't mean that..." Xu Gui felt she needed to clarify.
"Ahem!"
She coughed lightly and said,
"Although I already said that, I seem to need to explain again... I didn't mean to insult anyone; everything I said was the truth!" She then looked at Qiao Xinyue and said,
"Just now, I did a divination for you, Miss Qiao, and the result was quite unexpected... Miss Qiao, would you like to know what the result of this divination is?" Qiao Xinyue was taken aback.
Xu Gui continued, "And what price can you afford for this result, Miss Qiao?" Qiao's father frowned, disgusted, and said, "What result? I think you're a fraud... I can tell you directly, our family doesn't welcome fraudsters!" Xu Gui ignored Qiao's father; she just stared intently at Qiao Xinyue.
Qiao Xinyue's mind was a jumbled mess. She thought of Xu Gui's reputation as a fortune teller, and the flawless divination she'd seen in the live streams she'd watched…
Finally, she remembered Xu Gui's words.
"We don't welcome you in our home. Please leave now…"
"Five million!"
Before Qiao's father could finish his sentence, Qiao Xinyue suddenly interrupted. He was startled, looking at her with shock and anger: "Qiao Xinyue, you…"
"Five million!" Qiao Xinyue's urgent voice rang out again, directly cutting off her father's words. She stared intently at Xu Gui, her eyes suddenly reddening for some reason.
She said, "I'll give you five million! Tell me, what's the result you calculated?"
Qiao's father raised his voice: "Qiao Xinyue!"
Unfortunately, apart from Qiao's mother and Zhou Qingping, no one present paid him any attention.
Xu Gui's eyes lit up upon hearing Qiao Xinyue's words, and she immediately replied, "Okay!" Her tone was cheerful, filled only with a thirst for money, nothing more.
"Then I'll tell you the result I calculated... I calculated," Xu Gui's tone slowly turned cold as she looked at Qiao Xinyue and said, "I calculated that your mother has been dead for a long time."
"..."
Qiao Xinyue staggered. Fu Xia, who had been watching her closely, quickly reached out to support her, anxiously asking, "Yueyue, are you alright?" Qiao
Xinyue grabbed Fu Xia's arm tightly, not looking at Fu Xia, but at Xu Gui. She asked, "When... when did she die?"
Xu Gui: "June, five years ago."
Qiao Xinyue: Five years ago, June... five years ago.
Five years ago, she was seventeen, a high school sophomore. Because she had planned to study abroad from the beginning, she was preparing for her departure... She remembered that at that time, her mother was in a car accident and recuperated in the hospital for more than half a year.
Once Qiao's mother had fully recovered and finished her recuperation, Qiao Xinyue had also packed her bags and was almost ready to leave the country.
"Could it be that car accident?" Qiao Xinyue murmured—if anything had happened to her mother five years ago, it could only be that accident.
Hearing her voice, Qiao's father angrily said, "Qiao Xinyue, wake up! You didn't actually believe this liar, did you? If this isn't your mother, how could she look exactly like her?"
Qiao Xinyue snapped out of her daze and subconsciously looked at her mother. Her mother was frowning, and her face did indeed resemble the mother Qiao Xinyue remembered.
Qiao Xinyue was somewhat confused and subconsciously looked at Xu Gui.
Xu Gui, seeing the angry Qiao's father, asked, "Uncle, as Auntie's husband, didn't your wife tell you that she has a twin sister?"
Qiao's father was stunned, and Qiao Xinyue was also taken aback.
"A twin sister?" Qiao Xinyue suddenly realized, her gaze falling directly on "Qiao's mother." "Yes, my mother has a twin sister. I've heard her mention it before..." "
Yueyue, your aunt actually has a twin sister?" Fu Xia exclaimed in surprise.
Qiao Xinyue said, "Yes, but because she died young, many people don't know... However, I heard my mother say that her sister didn't actually die young. She just eloped with someone when she was young, and my grandfather thought she was shameful, so he kicked her out of the house and severed ties with her!"
"Because of this, my grandfather's relatives kept quiet about it. After I was born, I didn't even know I had such an aunt."
It wasn't until one time when a relative inadvertently mentioned it that her grandfather reacted strongly. Because she found it strange, she went home and asked Qiao's mother, and that's how she learned about it.
Because she had never met this aunt and rarely heard anyone mention her, Qiao Xinyue only suddenly remembered it when Xu Gui brought it up.
"I heard my mom say that she looks almost exactly like my aunt, except that my aunt has a mole inside her right eyebrow…" Her eyes fell on "Qiao's mother's" face, or more accurately, on the other woman's right eyebrow.
She searched carefully, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't find a mole there.
Qiao Xinyue felt a little anxious.
"Qiao's mother," however, seemed to have received some kind of confirmation from her reaction. A strange excitement flashed in her eyes, yet she feigned sadness—making her appearance look oddly distorted.
She said, "Yueyue, just because I want to take Qingping as my goddaughter, you doubt that I'm your biological mother? Isn't this too cruel to me?"
Qiao Xinyue looked helplessly at Xu Gui, but Xu Gui said softly, "A mole can be removed."
Qiao Xinyue nodded, "...Yes, a mole can be removed."
"Enough!" Qiao's father suddenly shouted, pinching his brow as if he had a headache, and said irritably, "Your mother is standing right here, and you're starting to doubt that she's a different person just because of what she said to an outsider? I think you've gone mad!"
Qiao Xinyue said, "Miss Xu is a fortune teller, she can't be wrong!"
She looked at "Qiao's mother" and said, "She's definitely not my mother! My mother loves me the most. She's told me more than once that I'm her most beloved treasure, and she would never ignore me or my feelings because of another girl..."
"Mother Qiao" sobbed, crying, "Yueyue, you're still my precious baby in my heart!"
She took a step forward, wanting to grab Qiao Xinyue's hand, but Qiao Xinyue suddenly stepped back, looking at her fiercely. "Mother Qiao's" expression froze, then she looked at Qiao Xinyue sadly and said,
"If Yueyue really doesn't want to, then I won't take Qingping as my goddaughter, okay?"
"You're making it sound like Miss Qiao is being unreasonable," Xu Gui spoke up again, looking at "Mother Qiao" and asking, "Are you really willing to not take Zhou Qingping as your goddaughter? After all, Zhou Qingping is your own daughter!"
Xu
Gui's words were undoubtedly another bombshell, and everyone looked at "Mother Qiao" and Zhou Qingping beside her in surprise.
Zhou Qingping, under everyone's gaze, involuntarily took a few steps back, hiding behind "Mother Qiao," her dependence on her evident.
"Enough!" "Mother Qiao" glared fiercely at Xu Gui, hissing, "Stop talking nonsense! It's because of your sowing discord and spreading rumors that Yueyue suspects me..."
"What grudge do we have against you that you're causing trouble for us? And what makes you think I'm not Yueyue's biological mother? Is it because you're a liar?"
"Mother Qiao" seemed extremely angry. "If I really had a problem, Yueyue, her father, and my husband would have found out long ago. Would they have waited for you to slander me?"
"I was indeed in a car accident, but I'm perfectly fine. My husband can vouch for that!"
She looked at Father Qiao, her expression dependent: "Husband, you agree, right?"
Father Qiao: "...Yes, my wife. Of course, I can tell whether she's telling the truth or not! You girl, I don't care what you're trying to do, I advise you to give up. Yueyue is easily trusting, but I won't! Don't try to sow discord between us!"
Xu Gui repeated: "Sow discord?"
She chuckled softly, then suddenly said, "I've already called the police."
Hearing this, everyone's expressions changed. Fu Xia and the others were surprised, while Mr. and Mrs. Qiao were incredulous.
"You actually dared to call the police?" Mr. Qiao asked incredulously.
Xu Gui gave him a strange look and said, "Why wouldn't I dare? As a respectful, law-abiding, and morally upright citizen, I think it's a good habit to call the police when encountering strange things."
And she was determined to maintain this habit.
Mr. Qiao: "..."
Mr. Qiao's face flushed with anger.
Xu Gui looked at "Mother Qiao" and asked, "If you really are Qiao Xinyue's biological mother, would you dare to do a paternity test with her? And..."
Her gaze fell on Zhou Qingping behind "Mother Qiao," whose expression was filled with fear, "Would you dare to do a paternity test with Zhou Qingping?"
"Mother Qiao" broke out in a sweat, it was hard to tell if it was cold sweat or something else. She stammered, "I, I..."
Xu Gui said, "Whether what I said is true or not, once the police arrive and do a test, everything will be clear! But, Ms. Shi Yujia, would you dare to do it?"
"Mother Qiao," or rather, her sister Shi Yujia, had a blank expression on her face.
"Could it be that you really aren't Yuling?" Father Qiao suddenly took several steps back, looking at Shi Yujia with suspicion.
Shi Yujia stood there, her hands clenched tightly at her sides. Zhou Qingping, hiding behind her, couldn't help but look up at her, because Zhou Qingping felt her body trembling.
"So, you really aren't my mother..." Qiao Xinyue stared at Shi Yujia, her eyes red with shock and anger, and asked, "Then where is my mother? Where did my mother go? Did you...did you kill her?"
Her voice was very soft, almost inaudible, as if raising it even slightly would startle something.
"I didn't!" Shi Yujia suddenly looked up and loudly denied it.
But her words, unspoken, were enough to say the whole story.
Mr. Qiao staggered, muttering, "You really aren't Yuling..."
He was dazed for a few seconds, then suddenly strode forward, grabbed Shi Yujia's arm, and shouted, "Where's Yuling? Where did Yuling go? Where did you take my wife?"
Shi Yujia struggled, shoved him away, and shouted, "Shi Yuling is dead!"
Seeing Mr. Qiao's shocked and angry expression, a gleeful smile appeared on her face. Shi Yujia sneered, "Who are you trying to fool with this act? People who don't know better would think you're so devoted to my sister. But if you were truly devoted to my sister, how come you didn't recognize me as her all these years?" Hearing this
, Mr. Qiao seemed to have suffered a major blow, his body swaying as if he would collapse to the ground at any moment.
"Dad!" Qiao Xinyue rushed over and helped him up, asking, "Are you alright?"
Qiao's father closed his eyes, two lines of tears streaming down his cheeks. He said, "Yueyue, I'm so sorry for your mother! I was blind and ignorant, I didn't even recognize that this vicious woman wasn't your mother!"
As he spoke, he seemed unable to express himself any further and choked up, bursting into tears.
"Dad, this isn't your fault!" Qiao Xinyue glared at Shi Yujia, saying, "If there's any fault, it's this woman's! She impersonated my mother, deceiving you and me!"
She demanded, "You vicious woman, tell me, what did you do to my mother?"
At this point, Shi Yujia calmed down. She smoothed her stray hairs and said, "Xinyue, you should call me Auntie. After all, I'm your mother's older sister."
Qiao Xinyue retorted, "You were kicked out of the house by Grandpa a long time ago, and we've severed all ties. You're not my aunt anymore!"
Hearing this, a twisted hatred appeared on Shi Yujia's face. She said, "Your grandfather..." "That old bastard! Just because I fell in love with a man, he wants to sever ties with me! I'm his own daughter! How could he treat me like this? He just cuts ties like that, he won't even see me when I come to his door!"
Qiao Xinyue: "...What does this have to do with my mother? I'm asking you, where did you take my mother? Did you kill her?"
Hearing this, Shi Yujia's expression turned strange. She sighed and said, "Your mother is indeed dead, but I didn't kill her. She died in a car accident, she died instantly..."
Saying this, she suddenly laughed, but tears kept streaming down her face as she laughed.
"She deserved it. Who told her to try to save me when she was in the car accident? If she didn't die, who would? Oh, no!" Shi Yujia shook her head and denied it again, "It wasn't her fault. If anyone is at fault, it's your grandfather. Blame him for kicking me out of the house!"
"It's his fault! Why did he ignore me when I went to beg him?"
Speaking of Qiao Xinyue's maternal grandfather, Shi Yujia's own father, Shi Yujia's face revealed a deep-seated hatred. She said bitterly, "If he hadn't been so indifferent, I wouldn't have gone to your mother, and she wouldn't have had this accident! So, if anyone's to blame, it's your grandfather!"
She shouted, "It's his fault! He's heartless and ruthless! He's a cold-blooded monster!"
Qiao Xinyue's mind was in turmoil. She couldn't help but ask, "What exactly happened? You said my mother died in a car accident. What exactly happened? And how did you become my mother?"
Shi Yujia sighed and said, "To tell this story, we have to go back five years."
Five years ago, Shi Yujia had just returned to City A from Province Y. Because she had eloped with her husband, severing ties with her parents and relatives and claiming she would never return, she returned in disgrace after her husband's early death and the unbearable hardship of life.
Upon returning, her first thought was to go find her parents.
"But can you believe it? Back then, I couldn't even get through the gate of Shijia Residential Area..."