"...The child died not long after birth,"
Mr. Li said.
If he could, he would have preferred to keep this a secret forever, but now it seemed there was no other way.
He looked at his wife, and in her stunned gaze, he said, "You had a difficult childbirth, and the baby's delivery was very difficult. After he was born, he only let out a weak cry before he stopped breathing..."
"The midwife said the baby had been suffocating in the mother's womb for too long, and it had suffocated."
Mr. Li couldn't help but shed tears as he spoke of this. He wiped them away and continued, "You were in very poor health at the time, suffering from postpartum hemorrhage. You were in a daze all day. I didn't dare tell you, afraid you couldn't bear it."
"Later, Sun Lan'er from next door came back from the city, carrying a child..."
Sun Lan'er was their neighbor. She was an extremely beautiful girl in her youth. She went out to work early, but when she returned, she had a child who was clearly only a few days old.
At that time, Sun Lan'er was not married, meaning she was pregnant out of wedlock.
Pregnancy before marriage—even now, such a thing would be met with gossip and ridicule, let alone thirty-two years ago.
Mr. Li said, "Sun Lan'er didn't want to keep the child with her at the time. She was young and didn't want this child to hold her back and ruin her life."
It's just such a coincidence that their child died at birth, and then Sun Lan'er returned with a child.
"Back then, whenever you woke up, you kept thinking about the child. I couldn't help it; I was afraid you wouldn't be able to cope if you knew the child was dead. So, after discussing it with Sun Lan'er, I brought the child back..."
He looked at Li An and sighed, "That child was you, Li An."
Mr. Li was somewhat confused; he hadn't expected that at the age of thirty-two, he would discover he had such a complicated past.
"…Husband." He Yun, who had just comforted Li's mother, came over and hugged her husband, saying, "It's okay, husband, I don't mind that you're not Mom and Dad's child."
Mr. Li's face showed a smile that was more like a grimace, and he said, "Then thank you."
He Yun: "You're welcome!"
The person filming this conversation couldn't help but glance at them: …Isn't there something wrong with your conversation?
"Where did you bury that child?" Li's mother suddenly asked.
Li's father was silent for a moment, then said, "Under the osmanthus tree in our old family home's yard…He was young, and I was afraid that if I buried him too far away, he would be scared by himself."
Hearing this, Li's mother suddenly recalled something, and she murmured, "So, every time we went back to our hometown for the New Year, you made me water and fertilize that osmanthus tree myself, right?"
Li's father nodded: "Yes."
Li's mother's expression was somewhat dazed. She remembered the countless times she had stood under the osmanthus tree. She hadn't realized that she had been so close to her child, but she had never known it.
Suddenly, Li's mother broke down in tears, sobbing uncontrollably. She could only squat on the ground, large tears streaming down her face, falling onto the smooth, clean floor like shattered hearts of mothers.
But quickly, Mr. Li and his family realized something was wrong. They saw Li's mother's body suddenly go limp and collapse to the ground. Panic ensued; everyone rushed to her side.
"...Mom, what's wrong? Don't scare me!" Mr. Li shouted.
"Aijuan? Wake up!" came Mr. Li's father's voice, breaking down in tears.
"Ah!! Husband, what's wrong? Husband! Wake up! Don't die!" This was the voice of Mr. Li's wife, He Yun, shouting. But as she shouted, she suddenly pressed her forehead, saying, "Why is my vision blurry, sometimes black and sometimes white?"
The cameraman, standing in the corner with his equipment, thought: ? ? ? ? ? ? What happened? Why are they all collapsing? Where are Xu Gui and Teacher Xu?
Teacher Xu!!! Help!
At this moment, the word "collapse" was tangible on the cameraman's face.
Meanwhile, Xu Gui, who had run to the living room to make a phone call a few minutes earlier, was speaking to the emergency medical services operator on the other end of the line.
Operator: "...You mean, four people are about to faint? But they haven't fainted yet?"
Xu Gui nodded seriously: "That's right!"
"Uh," the operator hesitated, "I want to ask, how did you know they were going to faint?" Surely you can't be a prophet?
The next second, the operator heard the person on the other end say matter-of-factly, "Of course I calculated it! After all, I'm a fortune teller, there's nothing in this world I don't know!" The last sentence sounded quite proud.
Operator: ...So, you're getting proud of yourself, huh?
"Ma'am, I need to remind you," the operator began, "If you maliciously dial the emergency number, it's not only a waste of public resources, but it also constitutes the crime of disturbing public order, which could..."
Before she could finish speaking, she heard panicked shouts like "Wake up!" coming from the other end of the line.
As the staff member was still wondering, they heard the woman on the phone say, "...Oh, they've fainted!"
A question mark slowly appeared on the staff member's forehead.
*
Xu Gui peeked from the living room towards the kitchen and saw the cameraman frantically and helplessly trying to get rid of the four people lying on the floor. As for the equipment, it had already been placed on the kitchen counter.
Seeing Xu Gui, the cameraman's face lit up with relief, and he hurriedly called out, "Teacher Xu, come and help! This whole family has fainted for some reason..."
Xu Gui slowly walked in and said, "Don't worry, I've already called an ambulance!"
She walked closer and looked at Mr. Li lying on the cold floor, his eyes half-open and half-closed, seemingly not fully conscious.
Xu Gui squatted down and muttered, "...I told you before, you would need my help. See! I wasn't wrong, was I?"
Her voice slowly reached Mr. Li's ears, and he vaguely remembered what she had said before.
"I just thought you might need my help later..."
Ah! So the master's "help" really meant help! This was actually stating a fact?
This was the only thought in Mr. Li's mind before he fainted.
Mr. Li completely collapsed, a strange smile still lingering on his lips.
Xu Gui glanced at him, then couldn't help but extend two fingers and gently turn his head to the side, quickly withdrawing his hand.
"...You said you already called for an ambulance?" the cameraman spoke up, voicing everyone's question: "When did you make the call?"
Xu Gui: "When you were listening intently to Mr. Li and his family recount their past, tears streaming down your face."
Cameraman: "...I didn't cry, okay?"
Xu Gui looked at him helplessly yet indulgently, saying, "Okay, you didn't cry." As a beautiful and kind turtle, she had the tolerance to forgive human tantrums.
The paparazzi: I don't know why, even though I got what I wanted, I still feel a little heartbroken, what should I do?
The Li family of four all fainted, and the paparazzi didn't dare move them, afraid of causing them harm. Fortunately, the hospital ambulance arrived quickly, but unexpectedly, along with the ambulance came two police officers.
The two police officers looked serious and said, "...You are suspected of poisoning people, please come with us."
The paparazzi: "Huh?"
Xu Gui: ? ?
"...You humans, doing good deeds, actually gets you arrested?" She looked at the paparazzi with aggrieved expression.
The paparazzi: No, we humans aren't like that!!
That night, the news of celebrity Xu × being arrested quickly became a trending topic.
Xu Gui: QAQ.
At this moment, the program director, unaware of what was about to happen, was leisurely drinking milk tea while watching the popularity of their program.
Without a doubt, their show is the hottest variety show right now. The star-studded lineup, whether famous or not, is full of handsome men and beautiful women; their looks alone are enough to attract a huge audience, not to mention the show is also entertaining.
Who doesn't enjoy watching handsome men and beautiful women work themselves to the bone for money? Especially young people today, full of resentment towards their jobs, they love seeing these people exhausted.
It's safe to say that their show was a dark horse even in its planning stages, and its popularity has soared since filming began.
So, as the main person in charge of planning the show, the director was in a fantastic mood. He was already thinking about which European country he would travel to after the show ended, or even a round-the-world trip!
But just then, a staff member rushed in, shouting, "Director, something terrible has happened! Our show's guests have been taken away by the police!"
The director: "..." The sky has fallen.
At that moment, the director felt as if his round-the-world travel plans were flapping their wings and flying away.
*
Xu Gui sat to one side, feeling wronged, while the cameraman gesticulated wildly, explaining the misunderstanding to the police.
Fortunately, their live stream had been running the whole time, with tens of thousands of viewers in the chat witnessing the incident, finally convincing the police it was a misunderstanding.
The cameraman (in a lingering, fearful tone): Who would have thought? I almost got dragged to the police station for questioning!
"...This, we're really sorry," the police officers apologized, also feeling somewhat embarrassed. "When Ms. Xu called for emergency help, what she said was so misleading. She said the patient was about to be poisoned and faint, and even accurately predicted when the person would faint, so the officer who answered the phone thought she had poisoned them."
The officer's thinking was simple: If you didn't poison them, how could you know so clearly when they would faint?
Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a misunderstanding, leaving the police somewhat amused and exasperated.
After listening, the cameraman abruptly turned to look at Xu Gui, his eyes filled with "So, it was you who did this?"
Xu Gui blinked, guiltily averting her gaze: It seems, it really was you who caused the misunderstanding.
"Don't look at the turtle! The turtle doesn't know anything! The turtle is innocent!"
The paparazzi sneered. Xu Gui heard it, and his guilty expression deepened. He looked left and right, avoiding the paparazzi's gaze; his guilt was practically written all over his face.
Wait!