Several people stood at Xu Gui's stall, roughly seven or eight in total.
Upon closer inspection, they were all dressed like fishermen, each wearing a fishing hat and a light-colored work vest, carrying various fishing gear. They looked very professional and sophisticated.
Someone noticed Xu Gui's arrival, and with a shout of "Master is here!", the group rushed towards her.
Xu Gui: ?
Seeing the group rushing towards her, she quickly reached out to stop them: "Stop!"
The group stopped in front of her, looking at her with extremely eager eyes. Xu Gui, feeling their gaze, slowly developed a few questions—so, what were these people doing?
Just then, someone Xu Gui recognized emerged from the crowd, calling out, "Master, it's me!"
Xu Gui looked closely and recognized the person: "Grandpa, it's you…and what are you all doing here?" She pointed to the others; these people were dressed the same as the grandpa, clearly they had all come together.
Upon hearing Xu Gui's question, the old man's expression darkened, a mixture of anger and embarrassment. Before he could speak, someone beside him crowded around Xu Gui, pushing Old Wu to the back, and enthusiastically introduced himself.
"Master, hello! We're all friends of Old Wu!" the man said, shaking hands with Xu Gui. "My name is Wang Defa. Old Wu and I have known each other for many years."
Hearing this, Old Wu couldn't help but roll his eyes and scoff, "Who's your friend?" Although they had indeed known each other for many years, they had never gotten along.
"We're also friends of Old Wu! My name is He Deneng!"
"My name is Qi Baozhu!"
Others also crowded around to greet Xu Gui, pushing Old Wu to the back, making him inwardly curse them as "beasts."
Meanwhile, Xu Gui's live stream room had already become bustling with activity the moment the group of fishermen rushed in, because...
[Hiss, I think I see our retired Professor XX from our department in this group?!]
[I think I saw him too, He Deneng! He's a big shot in our field, the kind of person whose research makes our textbooks change overnight! I actually saw him in Xu Gui's live stream?!] [
I was thinking before, that old fisherman looks a lot like one of our professors. He was the one who researched something.]
[That one, that one seems to be a professor in our department too. I heard he has a nickname, "Deadly Yama," because he's extremely strict and can fail you without warning. But he's really amazing; several of his former students are now big shots in our field.]
[The "Deadly Yama" you're talking about, isn't that the old man smiling so broadly at Xu Gui right now?] [
I've already tagged my friend to see this. Professor X is his most respected teacher. He dreamed of studying under Professor X for graduate school, but unfortunately, Professor X retired just as he entered university. He was devastated.]
[Tagged my friend to see this +1. I'm really looking forward to seeing his expression when he sees this, hahaha.]
[Wow, are there so many top university students in this live stream? I'm trembling with fear at my own university...]
[I told you this live stream is amazing, right? This is truly amazing, there's something new every day!]
...
However, at this moment, the "professor" and "expert" mentioned by netizens were all smiles in front of Xu Gui, showing no trace of his usual ruthless demeanor.
Xu Gui first set up the stall, and Wang Defa and the others came to help. Only after Xu Gui sat down did he have time to ask them their purpose.
"We've all come to have our fortunes told, Master!" Wang Defa said very enthusiastically.
"Looking for my fortune telling?" Xu Gui glanced at Old Wu, who was squeezed at the back with a somewhat aggrieved expression, and asked in a subtle tone, "You don't actually want me to tell you which fishing spot you're going to catch fish at, do you?"
Wang Defa clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Master, you truly are a master! Your predictions are always accurate."
Xu Gui thought expressionlessly: No, I'm simply "judging people by Old Wu's standards." You and Old Wu are friends, so in some ways, you should be the same.
And as it turned out, she was absolutely right. These people really did have the same intentions as Old Wu, which made Xu Gui both amused and exasperated—she hadn't expected that her first group of loyal fans would be a bunch of anglers.
Wang Defa said, "If we had known there was such a person as you, Master, we would have come to you long ago... It's just hateful that some people, knowing how powerful you are, are selfish and keep it to themselves, secretly coming to you for fortune telling behind our backs."
Wang Defa got angry just thinking about this. He had actually believed that Wu Yongfa had caught the fish with real skill. If it weren't for what happened yesterday, forcing him to tell the police the truth, they would all still be kept in the dark.
Old Wu, who was practically being called out by name, was indignant: "...Who's selfish? The master is right here, none of you met him, but I did. That means I'm destined to meet the master, and you're not!"
Wang Defa spat and cursed, "I don't want to hear your nonsense!"
The two were arguing, and Old He plopped down in front of Xu Gui, saying, "Master, ignore those two, just tell my fortune first..."
Hearing this, the two who were still bickering suddenly turned around and glared at Old He. Old He smiled at them and said, "Thank you for your acknowledgment, you two can continue arguing, we have several more people."
The two: "..."
...
Thanks to Old Wu and the other eight fishermen, Xu Gui had already earned four thousand yuan on her first day of business, a great start that made her overjoyed.
"I think my luck is definitely going to be very good today," she confidently told the person following her.
Today, her luck was indeed on her side!
*
Not long after, Xu Gui welcomed her ninth customer of the day.
The man was a chubby fellow, fair-skinned and plump, with small eyes that shrank even more when he smiled. However, his features were striking, so even though he was chubby, he didn't look ugly; instead, he had a blessed and auspicious appearance.
He wore a simple T-shirt and shorts, but around his neck hung a jade Buddha of excellent quality, exuding an aura of wealth and prosperity.
Standing before Xu Gui, he didn't immediately sit down but extended his hand, greeting him warmly, "Master, hello, my name is Zheng Fulai, you can call me Xiao Fu."
His tone was very friendly.
Xu Gui glanced at him curiously and gently shook his hand, "Hello."
Zheng Fulai said happily, "I've been watching your live stream these past two days, Master, you're really amazing, you're practically... you know, you're a master strategist..."
"Infallible Strategist," the cameraman whispered.
Zheng Fulai immediately realized, "Yes, yes, that's infallible strategist, infallible strategist! You're really cultured, you even guessed that."
The cameraman chuckled.
Zheng Fulai said a few words and then explained his purpose to Xu Gui. He said with distress, "...Something has been going wrong in our family lately, so I wanted to ask you, Master, to take a look."
Xu Gui asked, "How exactly has it been going wrong?"
Zheng Fulai said, "At first, all the fish in our pond turned belly up overnight. We took them out and put a group back in, but within two days, they all died too. Then, the trees in our yard, especially our money tree, started losing leaves and withered and died within a few days."
"Oh, right, and my grandfather too. Lately, he keeps saying he hears a woman crying in the middle of the night, so pitifully, and it's making him unable to eat or sleep."
Zheng Fulai clearly had a good relationship with his grandfather. When talking about the earlier incidents, his expression and tone remained unchanged, but when he talked about his grandfather, a look of worry appeared on his face.
He looked at Xu Gui and said sincerely, "So, I'd like to ask Master Xu to come to my house and see what's going on."
Before Xu Gui could speak, he added, "Master Xu, don't worry, I know the rules of the martial arts world. I promise you, if you can resolve my family's matter, I'll give you one million, how about that?"
He said embarrassedly, "I could have given you more, but this is all the pocket money I have."
One million?
Xu Gui's ears perked up instantly, and her eyes lit up.
She had said that her luck had been very good these past two days, and entering the top thirty was definitely a sure thing, but she didn't know where her luck lay. Now it seemed that her luck was here... Her gaze fell on the chubby boy in front of her, and she immediately stood up.
"Okay, let's go now." She felt that even a little hesitation would be disrespectful to one million.
At this moment, Xu Gui couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. After all, it was a million yuan! With a million yuan, she could do so many things. First, Dongzhi could have her surgery immediately. She was still young, and it was known that the younger the patient was for this surgery, the fewer the postoperative complications. So, naturally, the sooner the surgery was done, the better.
Therefore, whether it was because of the elimination system of the show or because of Dongzhi's surgery, Xu Gui felt she had to get that million yuan. Anyone who stood in her way to getting that million yuan was her enemy.
"Shall we go now?" she asked Zheng Fulai eagerly, her eyes blazing with fighting spirit.
Probably not expecting her to be so proactive, Zheng Fulai was momentarily stunned, then quickly stood up and said, "I have a car, it's parked outside, let's take it."
Xu Gui and the photographer followed him to the car he mentioned. When they saw the blue and white car, Xu Gui glanced at it and exclaimed, "Your taxi is quite unique, it looks more expensive than the others."
Other taxis looked shabby and cheap, but this taxi was different. Of course, Xu Gui couldn't quite put her finger on what was different, as she didn't know much about cars; she just felt that the car looked brighter, more shiny, and prettier.
In the sunlight, the car seemed to be shimmering.
Xu Gui, genuinely praising the car, didn't notice the fat man's hesitant expression. He muttered under his breath, "This is a luxury car, a luxury car indeed."
When she saw the driver get out, Xu Gui was even more surprised. She looked at Zheng Fulai in astonishment and said, "Your taxi even has a personal driver?"
She pondered, "Your hobby is quite unique, isn't it?" Is this the lament of the wealthy?
Zheng Fulai: "..."
Meanwhile, the viewers in the live stream were practically dying of laughter at this scene:
[For your information, this is a new car from the well-known luxury car brand FLA. One car costs around eight million...]
[What?! What?! This car looks exactly like a taxi in City A, and you're telling me it's a luxury car? And worth over eight million?!]
[Hilarious! Xu Gui's reaction reminds me of my ex-boyfriend. Every time he saw a luxury car, he'd shout, "That's such-and-such a car! How much is it worth?" But my reaction was, "What? This piece of junk is a luxury car?"]
[People who don't know much about cars really can't tell the difference, and some nouveau riche have very unique tastes. If you weren't particularly knowledgeable about food, you'd think it was just another ordinary car on the street.] ...
Xu
Gui, who didn't know much about cars, and the paparazzi got into the car. They sat in the back seat, and Zheng Fulai sat in the front passenger seat.
"Uncle Zhou, let's go home," Zheng Fulai said to the driver.
Uncle Zhou started the car, and Xu Gui suddenly remembered something and asked, "I forgot to ask, Mr. Zheng, we're filming. You shouldn't mind, right? But everyone on camera except me is blurred out."
—Although Zheng Fulai seemed to know her situation quite well, she still asked.
Sure enough, Zheng Fulai said, "It's okay, I know you're filming a show, Master." So before coming, he had already prepared to be filmed, and...
"It's my first time on a show, and I'm a little excited," he said shyly.
Xu Gui: "...I'm glad you don't mind."
*
The Zheng family's place was quite a distance from where Xu Gui set up her stall. It took them about two hours to reach their destination.
Their destination was a mountain, the road winding its way uphill. The mountain was lush with greenery, dotted with scattered white villas, exuding an air of extravagance.
Xu Gui and the cameraman, like uncultured country bumpkins, peered out the car window, their eyes widening in amazement at the sight of access cards at the foot of the mountain.
Poor Xu Gui, a member of the Xuan Turtle clan, had spent the first twenty-three years of his life in an orphanage and had never witnessed the lives of wealthy humans. However, Xu Gui himself didn't seem to care.
Fortunately, the camera was pointed outwards, so no one saw their morbid expressions. But this meant that it wasn't just the two of them who were amazed; millions of viewers in the live stream also witnessed it.
[Wow, this is the legendary rich area? I finally see what a rich area looks like!!] [
This is the "mountain" in Dongcheng, right? I heard that rich people live there, but the access is very strict. There are security guards at the foot of the mountain, so ordinary people can't get in at all. They can only look from the outside, so basically no one knows what it looks like inside.]
[So, can we see what the rich area looks like now?]
[Wow, that villa is so beautiful!! The little red villa looks so exquisite.]
...
The car drove up the mountain and finally stopped at a Chinese-style courtyard about halfway up the mountain.
Xu Gui and the others got out of the car and were led to the reception room by Zheng Fulai. On the way, Zheng Fulai introduced them to their family's situation, while the cameraman kept lingering on the scenery around the Zheng family's house.
The Zheng family's house is a traditional Chinese courtyard house, but it's not purely Chinese; it also incorporates features of modern architecture. Therefore, it doesn't look old-fashioned, but rather possesses a modern yet classic beauty.
Netizens couldn't help but exclaim: "I knew rich people were happy, but nobody told me they were this happy! They don't even need to travel anymore, because their homes are tourist attractions!"
In short, the entire Zheng family perfectly exemplifies what it means to be "overwhelmed by wealth."
Zheng Fulai led Xu Gui and the others to the reception room, but before they even entered, they heard sounds coming from inside. Zheng Fulai was a little surprised—were there guests at home?
When he pushed the door open, he found that there were not just one guests, but many. The reception room wasn't exactly packed, but you could see several people in the room.
Zheng Fulai's cousin, standing at the head of the table, was speaking. He said, "...As long as you can solve the strange things happening to our family, money is no problem. There will be a generous reward!"
"Mr. Zheng, please rest assured, whether it's a vengeful ghost or a villain causing trouble, I will definitely be able to solve it."
"We are the same. Mr. Zheng, you can just leave this matter to us. As for the others, Mr. Zheng, you don't really need to hire so many people. My master and I are enough." "
I should be the one saying that. I heard that Master Lin once exorcised a child, but it led to the child hanging himself. Master Lin's abilities are questionable."
"What did you say?"
After a few words, the tension in the reception room had already spread.
Zheng Fulai's cousin, Zheng Feiran, said calmly, "I don't care who among you can solve this, but whoever handles it well gets the reward! It all depends on your individual abilities."
The group glared at each other, then with a cold snort, they left the reception room to investigate.
Zheng Fulai, seeing the group dressed as Taoist priests, monks, and even ghost hunters, understood what was going on and was somewhat dumbfounded.
As they passed Xu Gui and his group, the departing people couldn't help but glance at them, their gazes especially falling on the camera in the cameraman's hand—the cameraman always felt a burning sensation on his exposed skin, as if he were being stared at.
After these people left, Zheng Feiran saw Zheng Fulai standing at the door of the reception room. He frowned immediately and asked, "Fulai, what are you doing here?"
Zheng Fulai snapped out of his daze, quickly walked over, and asked with a glimmer of hope, "Brother, what were those people doing?"
Zheng Feiran said, "Of course, they were specially invited. They're masters who can exorcise evil spirits and catch ghosts. You know, things haven't been peaceful at home lately, and Grandpa's mental state isn't quite right either, so naturally we have to find a way to resolve this."
His suspicions confirmed, Zheng Fulai's face showed a smile more like a grimace. He stammered, "But, but I also found a master..."
Hearing his words, Zheng Feiran subconsciously glanced behind him and was met with a dark camera.
"What's this?" Zheng Feiran asked, pointing at the camera.
Zheng Fulai turned his head and glanced at it, then honestly replied, "It's a live-streaming camera. Master Xu is participating in a reality show, so they're broadcasting live."
Zheng Feiran: "...Who is Master Xu?"
"It's me." Xu Gui poked her head out from the side, revealing a bright and beautiful face. She said, "Master is me."
Zheng Feiran looked at Zheng Fulai calmly and said, "Fulai, we're not joking with you here... Since these two are your friends, you should treat them well, lest others say our family isn't hospitable."
Zheng Fulai became a little anxious and said, "Brother! Master Xu really is a master. I specially invited her to help. She's really amazing! You have to believe me."
Zheng Feiran sighed and said, "Fulai, even if you're being reckless, you have to have limits. This isn't the time for jokes!"
Zheng Fulai retorted angrily, "I'm not joking, I'm serious. I spent a million to invite Master Xu to help!"
A million?
Zheng Feiran glared sharply at Xu Gui, his voice cold as he said, "Zheng Fulai, I think you're really spoiled, so spoiled that you've lost even basic judgment... Even if the family has money, it's not for you to squander like this."
Xu Gui: "You think I'm a fraud?"
Zheng Feiran retorted, "Otherwise what?"
He looked Xu Gui up and down, saying, "I don't know how you managed to fool my Fulai, but if you think I'm as easy to fool as him, then you've miscalculated!"
Zheng Fulai quickly stepped in front of Xu Gui, glaring angrily at Zheng Feiran, saying, "Brother, how can you let so many masters speak for you? I already told you, Master Xu is truly a master, maybe even more reliable than those people you've found!"
Zheng Feiran was amused by this, nodding a few times, saying, "Fine, since you say so, then I'll see what kind of skills this Master Xu you've invited really have!"
He looked at Xu Gui with icy eyes, as if he were looking at a damn fraudster who had corrupted his good child.
"Alright, Master Xu, since my brother speaks so highly of you, I'll make a bet with you!" he said. "Let's bet on who solves my family's problem first, you or the master I've invited… How about it?"
Zheng Fulai was anxious: "No way, brother, you're clearly targeting Master Xu! You have so many people, but Master Xu is only one person, that's not fair!"
Zheng Feiran raised an eyebrow and said: "Didn't you say that Master Xu is more capable than all the masters I've invited… Or is it that Master Xu herself lacks confidence?"
He looked at Xu Gui with a provocative gaze.
Xu Gui's eyes were clear, but she said: "Since it's a bet, there should be a reward, right?"
Zheng Feiran gave her a deep look and said: "Of course, I just don't know what Master Xu wants to bet on?"
Xu Gui's first reaction: "…Money?"
She was so short of money right now that she dreamed about money every night. Alas, this was probably what humans meant by being covered in the stench of money.
She had now become a turtle covered in the stench of money.
Zheng Feiran laughed when he heard her words, a smile full of disdain and contempt.
"Alright!" he readily agreed, saying, "If Master Xu wins, I'll give you another million on top of the one million Fu Lai promised!"
"But what if you lose, Master Xu?"
Xu Gui was shocked by the "one million" he mentioned. Upon hearing this, her expression immediately became wary.
"I don't have any money!" she quickly said, then added, "...And I won't lose."
She was a fortune teller; how could a fortune teller lose?
"Since Master Xu doesn't have any money," Zheng Feiran pondered, "then how about this: if you lose, Master Xu, you shout three times in front of the crowd, 'I'm a fraud, I shouldn't have lied...' How about that? That shouldn't be too difficult, right?"
He smiled gently and spoke very politely, but occasionally, a hint of disdainful malice would flash in his eyes when he looked at Xu Gui, revealing his truest thoughts.
Xu Gui felt that this bet was more acceptable than the one million, so he nodded directly: "Okay."
Zheng Feiran smiled and said, "Then, I look forward to your good news, Master Xu. I hope I can cash in my one million."
After saying that, he turned and left, his demeanor as elegant and composed as ever.
His attitude towards Xu Gui was actually impeccable from beginning to end; he spoke to Xu Gui with reason and politeness. However, the subtle disdain and sarcasm he held for the man before him was enough to break the spirit of any person with a strong sense of self-respect.
Xu Gui seemed lost in thought.
"Master, I'm sorry." Zheng Fulai looked at her with teary eyes and said, "I didn't know my brother had consulted so many people, and I never expected him to be so rude to you... I'm sorry."
Xu Gui suddenly exclaimed, "Your brother is really a good person!"
The tearful Zheng Fulai: Huh??
Xu Gui looked at him with bright eyes and said, "He gave me a million, and with the million you gave me, I can earn two million today!"
"I had a feeling before that my luck might be very good recently. I thought it was due to you, but now it seems it's also due to your brother!"
—Although she couldn't predict her own future, she had a vague feeling about her luck.
Ever since she absorbed some of Mr. Lu's luck that day, she felt that her luck would be very good these days, and now it seems that it was indeed so.
She couldn't help but sigh to Zheng Fulai again, "You're a good person, and your brother is a good person too!"
Zheng Fulai asked blankly, "My brother treats you like this, aren't you angry?"
Xu Gui countered, "If someone speaks rudely but then tries to give you money, would you be angry with that person?"
Zheng Fulai thought for a moment and said uncertainly, "...Probably not, right? He's offering me money."
"Exactly!" Xu Gui thought so too. She said, "Your brother is offering me money right now, how could I be angry with him?"
—As a fortune teller, Zheng Feiran made this bet with her? Wasn't this just forcing money into her hand?
However, she was very curious about what Zheng Feiran's expression would be like when he realized he had lost... It should be quite a sight, right?
A mischievous glint flashed in Xu Gui's eyes. She rubbed her hands together, already feeling a little impatient.
"Come on, let's go check out the problem area in your house first!"
Although she already had a pretty good idea of the cause of the Zheng family's problems, she felt she needed to make her guests feel that the two million yuan was well spent, so she needed to "make a good impression" next.