"...You say such sentimental and hypocritical things without even blushing?"
"A loving couple who have shared a bed for over ten years?" Shi Yujia's tone was sarcastic and disdainful. "If you were truly as affectionate towards my sister as you claim, how could you not recognize me as her?"
She looked at Qiao's father, somewhat puzzled, and said, "Actually, I've always been curious, did you recognize me as not Shi Yuling, or did you not recognize me..."
Qiao's father shouted, "Of course I didn't recognize you!"
He took a deep breath and nodded, "Yes! I was puzzled, but I'm not a god. How could I have imagined that my wife would be someone else? If it were you, would you have thought about it?"
Shi Yujia curled her lip and said, "I'm not you, how would I know what you're thinking? Maybe you already guessed that I wasn't Shi Yuling, but because you felt it didn't matter that you had a different wife, you pretended not to know?"
"Yueyue, my good niece..." She smiled at Qiao Xinyue, a meaningful smile on her face, and said, "Don't blame your aunt for not warning you, men are all the same, even if that man is your own father... So, you really need to be careful. Your father is a wolf in sheep's clothing, you can't tell if he's a jackal or a tiger. Be careful, don't let him sell you out and still be counting the money for him."
"Who knows? He has seventy or eighty illegitimate children outside?"
Qiao's father was so angry that his face turned red. He pointed at Shi Yuling, stammering "you, you, you" for a long time, and finally managed to say, "Don't try to sow discord here. Yueyue is my own daughter, would I sell her?"
He turned to Qiao Xinyue and hurriedly explained, "Yueyue, don't listen to this woman's nonsense. Believe your father, your father really doesn't have any illegitimate children outside. You are my only child!"
Qiao Xinyue's expression was somewhat dazed. For the first time, she realized very clearly that the woman in front of her was really not her mother, Shi Yuling.
In her memory, her mother was gentle and kind. Even when she laughed, she exuded elegance and composure, as if she were laughing with a ruler in mind—a typical lady of a prominent family. In Qiao Xinyue's memory, she had never seen her mother laugh or be angry.
But the woman before her was different. All her emotions were sharp and clear, like a raging fire that seemed capable of burning everything around her.
She really wasn't her mother. Her mother... her mother was really dead?
At that moment, Qiao Xinyue suddenly felt incredibly sad, because she suddenly realized: she would be a motherless child from now on.
*
Xu Gui hadn't lied about calling the police; they arrived shortly after.
They were taking Shi Yujia back to the police station to conduct a thorough investigation of the case.
"Mom, Mom..." Zhou Qingping frantically grabbed her mother's hand, "Where are you taking my mother?"
Compared to her anxiety and fear, Shi Yujia seemed remarkably calm. Looking at Zhou Qingping's reaction, her expression even held a hint of disappointment.
"You really are nothing like me, from beginning to end." Shi Yujia shook her head, disappointed. "Sure enough, despicable genes are like a bone-deep infection; even if I wanted to erase them, I couldn't completely eliminate them."
Hearing this, tears streamed down Zhou Qingping's face. She stood there, pale and looking pitiful.
"Wait!" Qiao Xinyue suddenly remembered something. She rushed to Shi Yujia, looking at her intently, and asked, "You still haven't told me where you buried my mother!"
Shi Yujia looked at her, then suddenly reached out and touched her face, saying with some nostalgia, "Actually, you and your mother look a lot alike. When your mother was little, she was just as lively as you…"
Qiao Xinyue: ?
Just as Qiao Xinyue was feeling somewhat lost, Shi Yujia suddenly withdrew her hand, her expression turning cold again. She told Qiao Xinyue a place name, saying, "There are mountains and rivers there; your mother will definitely like it."
Shi Yujia was taken away by the police, and shortly after the police left, Qiao Xinyue's maternal grandparents, having probably heard the news, rushed over.
"That unfilial daughter! I knew she wasn't a good person! I just didn't expect her to do something so heinous!" Shi's father roared angrily as soon as he entered, "Lingling was her own sister; how could she do such a thing?"
The old man was furious: "I think she might have killed Lingling!"
Qiao Xinyue sat there, and for some reason, suddenly said, "She said it was just an accident..."
Hearing this, Shi's father turned around and sneered, "She says it was an accident, so it's an accident?"
Qiao Xinyue didn't speak, just watched Shi's father pacing angrily back and forth in the living room. On the other side, Shi's mother, Qiao Xinyue's maternal grandmother, sat there, tears streaming down her face.
"Crying, you still know how to cry? This is all thanks to your good daughter!" Mr. Shi scolded
, pointing at Mrs. Shi. Mrs. Shi didn't argue, only silently shedding tears.
Watching this scene, Qiao Xinyue felt a pang of disgust for some reason, feeling no emotion at all, until she saw Zhou Qingping sitting in the corner, wishing she could curl up into a ball.
After thinking for a moment, she quietly sat down next to her.
...
On the other side, after Qiao Xinyue's maternal grandparents arrived, Xu Gui and the others had already left the Qiao family home. After all, the atmosphere at the time wasn't suitable for outsiders like them to be present, although Fu Xia was somewhat worried about Qiao Xinyue's current mood.
On the way, Fu Xia suddenly asked, "Do you think Uncle Qiao knows that his wife has changed?"
Xu Gui casually replied, "Who knows?"
Fu Xia glanced at her, thinking: I don't know about the others, but you definitely know.
However, Fu Xia didn't press the matter.
After leaving the Qiao family home, the group didn't go back to Fu Xia's house, but instead casually walked to a small garden in a residential area to sit and rest.
After sitting down, Xu Gui looked around curiously and said to Fu Xia, "You guys have so many little gardens here..." Along the way, they saw so-called "gardens" everywhere.
These small gardens weren't large; they were small pavilions enclosed by flowers and trees, beautifully decorated, giving one the feeling of being surrounded by flowers and trees.
The [Peony Garden] community mainly consisted of detached villas, and there weren't many houses. Instead, there were peony gardens everywhere. Even the roadside greenery was planted with peonies. Because they are all-season peonies, blooming in all four seasons, they saw quite a few blooming flowers along the way.
Looking at it this way, [Peony Garden] really didn't seem like a residential community; it was more like a flower farm.
Looking at the surrounding scenery, the topic in the live stream finally shifted away from the Qiao family—as the camera panned along, everyone had gained a general understanding of the scenery of [Peony Garden].
The landscaping at the Peony Garden is really nice; there's so much greenery and so few houses. The houses, nestled among the red flowers and green trees, all look quite beautiful.
I can't even imagine how happy I would be living here. With my monthly salary of three thousand, will I ever be able to live here in my lifetime?
[No wonder the property prices in [Peony Garden] keep rising every year. The happiness of the rich is so simple! I want to live here, I'll be just as happy!]
[I just saw several peonies, and they're quite expensive!! Are they just planted so casually by the roadside in this community? So extravagant!]
[You think [Peony Treasure Garden] is fake? I heard that every peony in China, whether you can name it or not, is grown in this community. And you haven't even seen the [Peony Garden] in the center of the community yet; that's the real [Peony Garden]. It's said that it not only has that king of peonies, but also countless other precious peony varieties. It's
incredibly beautiful!] [I really want to see it!! Can Xu Gui take us to see it?]
[Yeah!! Isn't Xu Gui in [Peony Garden] right now?] "I've heard people say the peonies in the peony garden are growing beautifully, let us see!"
After being reminded, everyone finally remembered that Xu Gui was currently in the peony garden. Couldn't they ask Xu Gui to take pictures of the scenery? Now, everyone was excited and started showering Xu Gui with gifts, hoping she would show them the peony garden in return.
Ideally, she'd take them to the large peony garden in their neighborhood, the one with the king of peonies. The high
school student didn't say anything, just silently continued to send gifts to Xu Gui. Xu Gui's long-time fans in the live stream, seeing that familiar ID, couldn't help but feel happy: "High school student, you're finally here! We were wondering why we hadn't seen you today!"
The high school student replied: "School's started, I haven't had time to watch the live stream. This is my break time, I'm watching secretly."
After sending this message, she sent Xu Gui several more valuable gifts, and then went offline, clearly confirming her earlier statement that she was watching secretly during her break time.
"Looks like the high school students have already gone to class," everyone said.
The high school students truly love Xu Gui.
...
At the Peony Garden, since they were sitting in the pavilion, Yang Haolin could also sit down and rest, but he pointed the camera at Xu Gui.
At this moment, he also had time to check the messages in Xu Gui's live stream, and then he saw everyone's eager anticipation.
After glancing at it, Yang Haolin looked up and whispered, "Teacher Xu..."
Xu Gui, who was talking quietly with Fu Xia, looked up and looked at him questioningly. Yang Haolin said, "Everyone said they want Teacher Xu to show them what the peony garden in the community looks like..."
He was talking to Xu Gui, but his gaze was fixed on Fu Xia, clearly asking for her opinion.
Xu Gui also looked at Fu Xia.
Fu Xia thought for a moment and said, "It's not impossible, but at this time of year, the peonies in the garden have mostly withered, so even if we go, we won't see much."
Hearing this, everyone simply said: "We're just curious about what the peony garden looks like!" "No flowers are fine too!"
That's what netizens were saying...
"Alright!" Fu Xia stood up. "Then I'll take you to see it."
The peony garden in the community was located in the middle. It was a huge garden, surrounded by climbing roses.
Most climbing roses only bloom once in spring, so when they arrived, the flower wall outside the garden was mostly lush green leaves, with only a few bright flowers interspersed occasionally.
Netizens were a little disappointed: "If it were spring, I wonder how beautiful this would be!"
Moreover, it was clear that the flowers and plants in the peony garden community were well cared for, and they were growing vigorously. If they were in bloom, they would definitely be beautiful, but unfortunately, they missed it this year.
When they arrived at the peony garden, everyone finally saw its true face.
There were really a lot of peonies planted inside, and they were all growing very well. Even people who didn't know much about peonies could see that they were growing very healthily and the plants were very strong.
In front of each peony plant stood a sign listing its name.
Xu Gui and his group walked in, seeing the famous Yao Huang, Wei Zi, and Qinglong Womochi varieties—all renowned since ancient times. Besides these, there were also modern grafted and cultivated new varieties; the selection was incredibly comprehensive.
Reaching the center of the courtyard, they finally saw the peony garden.
Calling it a peony flower was an understatement; it was more accurately described as a peony tree, extremely tall and large, its roots intertwined, growing in all directions, producing countless branches, eventually forming a large clump.
This single peony tree was practically a small flowerbed.
This peony garden in the residential area was only open to residents; outsiders were not allowed in. Therefore, the garden wasn't fenced off; only surveillance cameras were installed around the perimeter, allowing anyone to easily bend down and touch the peonies below.
Xu Gui bent down and gently touched the peony's thick leaves. She asked Fu Xia, "What's the name of this peony?"
Fu Xia replied, "It's a white peony called Yulouchun... I think it's also called Baixueta. It has a very long blooming period, from March to July. It's a pity, if you had come two months earlier, you could have seen the last blooms."
Xu Gui stood up and said, "I can come again next year!"
Fu Xia nodded, "That's true."
The group strolled around the garden and encountered other people also strolling there, all residents of the community. There were also pavilions in the garden where people could rest when they were tired.
Many of them recognized Fu Xia and greeted her. Some were curious about Xu Gui, and Fu Xia introduced her to them.
"...She's my friend. I brought her to see the peonies in our garden," Fu Xia said.
Hearing her say that, everyone nodded in agreement, proudly stating, "The peonies in our neighborhood are indeed quite famous!"
As they finished strolling through the garden and were about to leave, Fu Xia encountered an acquaintance—an elderly man who seemed to be a close relative. Fu Xia treated him with affection and respect. Xu Gui heard her call him
"Grandpa Jiang..."
Fu Xia exchanged pleasantries with Grandpa Jiang, while Xu Gui pulled Yang Haolin aside, letting him take a picture of a peony nearby. This peony was probably a four-season peony, blooming several times a year; although it was September, it still had several red flowers, looking quite beautiful.
Meanwhile, Fu Xia was talking to Grandpa Jiang, mentioning another elder of hers.
"...Your Grandpa Li's grandson has been possessed by an evil spirit. He's so worried he can't even eat, let alone go for a walk," Grandpa Jiang sighed.
The Grandpa Li he mentioned was his close friend; the two were inseparable. If one was seen, the other was usually there too. But now, only Grandpa Jiang was strolling around the garden.
Fu Xia couldn't help but ask, "Grandpa Li's grandson is possessed? Could he be sick?"
Grandpa Jiang shook his head and said, "It doesn't seem like he's sick. He's been crying and making a fuss, and he was even eating raw meat in the kitchen in the middle of the night..."
"Eating raw meat?"
"That's right... It really scared his parents. Now your Grandpa Li is worried about finding a master to exorcise the evil spirit from the child."
Grandpa Jiang and Grandpa Li were good friends, having been friends for many years. Now, talking about this matter, he couldn't help but worry for his friend, saying, "I heard there's a very capable Master Liaowu in Qingcheng Mountain. I've already asked your uncle to help contact him; hopefully, it will be helpful."
Fu Xia's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this—possession and fortune-telling…wasn't this a perfect match?
Thinking this, she immediately and eagerly said to Grandpa Jiang, "Grandpa Jiang! I have someone here who might be able to help?"
Grandpa Jiang: "Oh?"
...
"You want me to exorcise the evil spirit?"
Xu Gui's tone was surprised, his curious eyes looking at the old man beside Fu Xia. Coincidentally, the old man was also scrutinizing her with a critical and inquisitive gaze, and their eyes met in mid-air.
"Xiaoxia, is this the expert you were talking about?" Grandpa Jiang spoke, his tone odd. He looked at Fu Xia and said somewhat tactfully, "Isn't she a little too young?"
Hearing this, Fu Xia enthusiastically replied, "Grandpa Jiang, don't underestimate Xu Gui just because she's young. She's incredibly skilled. Didn't you say that talent is more important than effort in many things? Xu Gui's talent in exorcism is absolutely top-notch!"
Xu Gui glanced at her, realizing he hadn't known he was good at exorcism.
"You don't know, Xu Gui is incredibly good at fortune telling. If you search for fortune telling online, her name is everywhere. She's the most popular fortune teller online right now!" To make her words more convincing, Fu Xia even searched on her phone and showed the search results to the old man.
"See, I wasn't wrong, was I?" she said proudly.
Grandpa Jiang tilted his head back a little, moving further away from Fu Xia's phone screen, before squinting at it and saying, "It seems...it really is like that."
Fu Xia pulled Xu Gui to stand in front of him, her eyes shining, and said, "If you don't believe me, you can ask Xu Gui. Xu Gui knows everything, you know?"
Then, she whispered to Xu Gui, "Grandpa Jiang and Grandpa Li's families are very wealthy. Grandpa Li only has one grandson. If you can successfully cure his grandson's strange illness, Grandpa Li will definitely give you a lot of money."
A lot of money?
A lot of money = one step closer to earning a hundred million... This equation quickly formed in Xu Gui's mind, and immediately her gaze towards Grandpa Jiang changed, filled with eagerness (entirely driven by a desire for money).
"Hello Grandpa Li, I'm Xu Gui, a fortune teller!" she proactively introduced herself to the old man.
Hearing this, Grandpa Jiang looked her up and down and asked, "A fortune teller? Can you predict everything?"
Xu Gui nodded confidently.
Grandpa Jiang nodded slightly, seemingly indicating that he understood, and then said, "Since you say so, then help me calculate some interesting things that have happened to me recently..."
Xu Gui: "Interesting things?"
Grandpa Jiang nodded: "You're a fortune teller, you should be able to calculate that, right?"
Xu Gui glanced at the old man, hesitated, and asked, "Any interesting things will do?"
Grandpa Jiang nodded.
Xu Gui indicated that she understood, and immediately said, "Well, the day before yesterday, your maid crawled into your bed..."
Before she could finish speaking, a hand suddenly and quickly covered her mouth again. Xu Gui blinked innocently, looking at Grandpa Jiang's face, which turned red and then pale.
Xu Gui: Hmm, isn't the maid crawling into my bed interesting enough?
Grandpa Jiang swallowed, released his hand from Xu Gui's mouth, and said in a dry voice, "This, this doesn't count, tell me something else."
Xu Gui: "Okay."
The viewers in the live stream went crazy:
[What, what, what crawling into the bed? I didn't hear that clearly, Xu Gui, say it again!]
[Is there anything that my noble VIP membership can't hear?] Xu Gui, I suggest you say it again (I'm not really that curious).
[Damn it, this old man is so old, yet his hands are so fast! I almost heard the maid crawling into bed!]
Everyone was truly disappointed.
As for Xu Gui, she didn't know what Grandpa Jiang was talking about as an interesting story, so she could only choose some things that she found interesting.
After calculating, she finally chose yet another interesting story.
"Ah, last time at your daughter's house, you wanted to try the cat poop coffee she said was delicious, but you didn't expect that what was on the counter was actually a real cat..."
This time, Xu Gui's words were cut off again by Grandpa Jiang, who was covered in sweat. Xu Gui looked at him innocently again: So, wasn't this incident interesting enough?
Fu Xia leaned over and whispered, "You didn't expect that it was real cat poop?"
Grandpa Jiang: "..."
He released his hand from Xu Gui's mouth and laughed, "How could that be? I'm this old, do you think I can't tell the difference between real and fake cat poop? You child, you're just talking nonsense."
He stared at Xu Gui and said, "Is that right, Miss Xu?"
Xu Gui: Although she didn't understand what he meant, she could tell that Grandpa Jiang didn't seem to want her to tell the story.
Thinking this, Xu Gui said, "...Ah, is that so?"
Hearing her answer, Grandpa Jiang's tense body relaxed silently. Only then did he realize that he had been covered in a layer of cold sweat.
"—That's a real cold sweat! He almost ruined his reputation!
If everyone knew he'd eaten real cat poop…" Grandpa Jiang glanced at the camera behind Xu Gui and felt another cold sweat about to break out.
Luckily, he stopped Xu Gui in time.
Grandpa Jiang, filled with relief, didn't see the comments in Xu Gui's livestream chat. If he had, he probably wouldn't have thought his reputation hadn't been ruined.
In Xu Gui's livestream chat:
[This old man definitely ate real cat poop, right?]
[Eaten real cat poop +1]
[This is really interesting!]