The expressions on the faces of the three Mao families, placed side by side, were like a vivid yet utterly comical masterpiece.
On one side were Mao Dayong and his son, their faces beaming with delight; on the other side were the other two families, their faces ashen and their expressions displeased—two stark contrasts indeed.
"No way!" Uncle Mao was the first to object. His face darkened. "This is my father's inheritance. Everyone in our family has the right to know where it's hidden. How can we only tell my eldest brother and the others?"
Mao Dayong retorted, "The master isn't a lawyer or a policeman. Who she tells the information to, does she need to ask us?"
Uncle Mao was furious. "You!"
Aunt Mao, however, was quick-witted. Remembering Xu Gui's mention of "adding money," she smiled and said, "It's our fault. The master has worked so hard, and we haven't even offered her a cup of tea… How about this, I'll give the master five thousand yuan. It's not much, just for tea."
Uncle Mao wasn't truly stupid. Hearing this, he immediately understood and hurriedly said, "Right, if Mao Tai'an gives money, then we'll give money too!"
He looked intently at Xu Gui and said generously, "Master, how much do you want?"
Xu Gui didn't speak, but silently showed her payment QR code. The Mao family members, seeing her skillfully pull out the QR code, wondered what they were thinking. However, the expressions on their faces were rather complicated.
—Wasn't this "master" who carried a QR code for receiving payments a bit too down-to-earth?
But no matter how down-to-earth this master was, their last hope of finding the inheritance depended on him, so although the Mao family had their doubts, they still scanned Xu Gui's QR code.
Xu Gui had the payment notification sound on; the phone would automatically announce the amount received, so after Aunt Mao transferred the money, she could clearly hear the announcement, "You have received 10,000 yuan."
Aunt Mao: "..." The peaceful smile she had maintained since arriving at Mao Dayong's house finally cracked at this moment.
Uncle Mao looked at his younger sister and said sarcastically, "Little sister, didn't you say you'd give the master five thousand for tea? Why did you give him ten thousand?"
Aunt Mao had calmed down and smiled, "I just thought the master must have worked so hard. She helped us divine where Dad's inheritance was; it must have taken a toll on her energy. So, I thought I'd give her a little more."
Xu Gui: "...Ahem, yes, it really is exhausting!" She said very seriously.
But...
[Hesitant to speak, then hesitant again, Xu Gui, isn't your acting a little too fake? Everyone can tell you're acting!]
[Oh no, I'm already worried about how my daughter will act in the future. With this kind of acting, won't she get criticized?]
[Who said my daughter's acting is bad? What do you know? This clearly means my daughter's acting has a lot of room for improvement. Every time she acts, it's an improvement, isn't that great?] [
I naively thought you were really speaking up for her, but you never intended to let her go.]
[But even a wife with terrible acting skills is cute!!]
[...So, after watching teenage girls call Xu Gui their daughter, now I have to watch them call him their wife? This world is truly insane!]
[Crazy brother, you're still here? I thought you left a long time ago, that's right! I'm now a fan of Xu Gui's wife!]
[...]
The
noise in the comments didn't affect reality.
After Aunt Mao, Uncle Mao transferred 20,000 yuan directly to Xu Gui. When the announcement of receiving 20,000 yuan came on, Aunt Mao's smile faded, while Uncle Mao looked smug.
As for Father Mao... Father Mao secretly asked his son,
"Dayong, how much money did you give the master?"
Mao Dayong: "...Five hundred."
Father Mao: "How much?!" He thought he might have misheard, thinking he heard 50,000 as 500.
Mao Dayong looked guilty, glancing left and right, and repeated softly, "Five hundred."
When he saw his father's expression of disbelief, he panicked and whispered, "The master himself said it, five hundred per session, that's the market price! Second Uncle and Aunt are the ones disrupting the market!"
He said this, but his heart was pounding, and his voice grew softer and softer until he finally asked, "Dad, what do we do now?"
Mao's father: "Don't call me Dad, you're my dad."
Mao Dayong: QAQ, he felt wronged.
Mao's father took a breath, moved closer to Xu Gui, and watched Xu Gui happily put away his phone. He whispered, "My son was ignorant before, should I give you some more money?"
Because he didn't want the other two families to know what stupid thing his son had done, his voice was very low, and he looked like he was stealing. This made the other two families immediately wary.
"Big brother, what were you talking about with the master?" Mao's aunt asked with a smile.
Mr. Mao, his face stern, retorted, "What's it to you?"
Uncle Mao snorted, "It concerns Dad's inheritance! You're Dad's son, and I'm Dad's son too! How can it not concern me? Don't even think about secretly getting the master to tell on you!"
Mr. Mao was furious, but he was too embarrassed to speak out about his son's foolish actions and could only swallow his anger.
Fortunately, at that moment, Xu Gui mercifully said, "Since all three families have given money, I will naturally tell each of you about the old man's inheritance. Now, I'll tell you where the old man's inheritance is."
Hearing this, the three families, who had been glaring at each other, immediately stopped and turned to look at Xu Gui with burning eyes. The viewers in Xu Gui's live stream also stopped commenting. After all, according to the Mao family, this was a hundred-pound gold inheritance—who wouldn't want to see it?
Under everyone's gaze, Xu Gui remained calm and composed. She gently patted the shell of the large tortoise at her feet and smiled, "Then I'll leave it to you."
The old tortoise raised its neck slightly, as if in response. Its heavy body turned towards the pond, and then gently slid into the water, its massive body landing without even making a splash.
This scene made the old tortoise seem incredibly intelligent, and the Mao family members were almost speechless—they had never seen this old tortoise so intelligent before. Before, it was a literal "coward" in front of them, barely acknowledging them.
But now, how come it moved as soon as the master spoke? Could it be that the master could really communicate with tortoises?
"...Wait a minute." Aunt Mao's eyes twitched. She looked at Xu Gui, her face stiff, and asked, "Master, weren't you going to help us find my father's inheritance? What are you doing now?" Why
did you let the tortoise go into the water? It couldn't possibly be that her father's inheritance was in this pond, could it?
But how could that be? It's important to understand that this pond is quite small, barely the size of a palm. There's no way it could hold a hundred kilograms of gold, let alone the fact that his father couldn't have buried the gold here quietly. That's why they didn't consider this pond when they were looking for the inheritance.
But now, the master seemed intent on searching in the pond… Aunt Mao didn't want to think about the reason for this action.
Unfortunately, her unwillingness to think about it was shattered by Xu Gui's direct words.
Xu Gui looked at her and said, "I'm looking for your grandfather's inheritance."
Her bad premonition came true, and Aunt Mao closed her eyes in resignation.
Uncle Mao, somewhat bewildered, subconsciously asked, "Then how do you search in the pond?" After speaking, he seemed to realize something was amiss and suddenly fell silent.
Many people present also understood the meaning behind Xu Gui's words, and the atmosphere suddenly became suffocating and silent.
No one spoke, and no one dared to speak. They had searched for the grandfather's inheritance for so many years, wasting so much effort and sweat; therefore, no one could accept that it would all end in vain.
Perhaps they were wrong… Everyone clung to their last glimmer of hope.
Just then, accompanied by the splashing sound of the pond water, the old turtle that had submerged itself crawled out of the water. Its movements were slow and labored. When it finally emerged, everyone noticed that it was chewing on something.
Xu Gui reached out and removed the object from the turtle's mouth. Naturally, everyone's gaze fell on Xu Gui.
"Here, this is the inheritance you wanted," Xu Gui said.
The Mao family: "..."
At that moment, their hearts sank.
"Don't be fooled!" Uncle Mao suddenly shouted, glaring at Xu Gui with venomous eyes. "I think this person is a complete fraud. I always thought she was untrustworthy. How could someone so young really be a master? Now it seems she really is just here to swindle money."
He chuckled, "Do you know who my father is? How could he only leave behind this little bit?"
The others remained silent, staring at Xu Gui with serious expressions.
Xu Gui wasn't angry at being scolded. She simply looked at Mr. Mao and asked, "Mr. Mao, don't you want to see what's inside? This was specially left for you by Grandpa Mao."
Mr. Mao's eyes flickered for a moment, then he silently reached out and took the item from Xu Gui's hand. The eyes of everyone else present couldn't help but fall on his hands.
Mr. Mao took a breath, seemingly mentally prepared, and deftly unpacked the item.
Presumably to prevent water damage, the item was wrapped in a thick layer of oil paper, inside which were several plastic bags. Only after opening each layer did a tin box be revealed at the very back—a tin box for butter cookies. As
the tin box was opened, the contents immediately came into everyone's view.
Mao Dayong leaned closer to look, his expression gradually becoming puzzled: "What are these things?"
There were two things that looked like medals, and a large red envelope, which resembled some kind of certificate. On the cover of the certificate were four large characters: [Donation Certificate].
[Hiss, those two medals look like military medals!! And I'm not mistaken, they're first-class. But, wasn't Old Master Mao a bandit? How did he get these?]
[What are those donated books? I saw the words "National Museum" on them.]
[Brother's curiosity is really piqued! Quick, open it and see what Old Master Mao donated!]
[I have a feeling Old Master Mao is a man of few words.]
...
Old Master Mao examined the contents of the iron box. Besides the two medals and the donation certificate, there was also a letter.
Old Master Mao, his face grim, quickly opened the letter. The first thing he saw was a large line of text: [You three little brats, are you going crazy looking for my inheritance?]
[Although I don't know how long it will take you to find this letter, I can tell you, I didn't leave any inheritance!]
[Hahaha, aren't you going to die of anger?] "
Serves you right! Who told you to be so disrespectful to your father? You never thought you'd be outsmarted by your father in the end, did you? Hahaha!"
Old Master Mao, true to his bandit roots, wrote a letter overflowing with references to his father, radiating smugness and arrogance. One could easily picture him laughing maniacally. Father Mao
's face turned ashen. He gripped the letter so tightly his knuckles turned white, making one worry he might explode in anger at any moment.
Seeing Father Mao's expression, Aunt Mao asked, "What does the letter say?"
Before Father Mao could answer, she snatched the letter and skimmed through it. After she finished, another person's face turned ashen. Suddenly, Aunt Mao remembered something and abruptly looked up at the donation certificate in the tin box.
The next second, she threw the letter aside, picked up the donation certificate, and began to read it. The more she read, the uglier her face became, turning increasingly ashen.
Standing beside her, Uncle Mao picked up the letter Aunt Mao had thrown away and muttered, "What did it say?"
Then, another person with an ashen face joined them. All three siblings had ashen faces, their identical expressions leaving no room for doubt about their blood relation.
At this moment, Aunt Mao's expression after reading the donation certificate was absolutely terrifying, her eyes wide with rage.
"How could Dad do this?" Her hand holding the certificate trembled, clearly indicating her extreme agitation. "How could he donate everything? So much gold and silver, and he donated it all… Did he even think about his children?!"
By the end, Aunt Mao was practically roaring, her face contorted with madness.
Before Mao's father and second uncle could even see what was written on the certificate, their hearts skipped a beat upon hearing what Mao's aunt said. They quickly snatched the certificate away, and their expressions darkened even further after reading its contents. "
How could Dad do this?" Uncle Mao angrily slammed everything he was holding onto the ground. The contents, though wrapped in oil paper, were still damp, and a rusty biscuit box crashed to the ground, its contents flying everywhere. Two first-class merit medals were scattered haphazardly, along with the certificate. Xu Gui walked over, picked up the certificate, and opened it. It read: "...Comrade Mao Taiping donated 800 jin of gold, a number of antiques and paintings...worth approximately 2.5 billion..." The camera focused on the "2.5 billion" part, and even the cameraman gasped, finally understanding why the three Mao siblings had reacted so strongly after seeing the donation certificate. Two and a half billion! That's not twenty-five yuan, or two thousand five or twenty-five thousand; it's wealth measured in hundreds of millions! And this enormous sum was donated directly by the old man of the family, and to the very nation. What's worse, not only did he donate it, he even left behind a certificate as his "last will and testament." This is utterly cruel, especially to his own child. Anyone who sees this would surely say: the old man's methods are truly ruthless!
"Twenty-five billion?! Twenty-five billion!! He donated it all, leaving us nothing!" Uncle Mao was practically going crazy. "Why? Why did he do this?"
Aunt Mao gritted her teeth: "Dad, you're so ruthless, you're really ruthless!"
Father Mao's eyes were bloodshot: "Ha, the inheritance left by Mao Taiping is this kind of thing? He did it on purpose, deliberately left this stuff for us to see, he just wanted us to regret it!!"
Regret what? Regret that the three siblings didn't support him, that they abandoned him in the dilapidated temple, leaving him to fend for himself. This was exactly what he wanted to see.
"That old bastard, after abandoning him in the dilapidated temple, we should have let him fend for himself, let him die there!" Uncle Mao, already short-tempered, was now even more enraged, finally spewing out insults. The vulgar language was unbelievable; it was hard to believe he was cursing his own father.
The comments section finally realized what had happened:
[So, the old patriarch of the Mao family was really rich back then?] But he donated all the money to the country? Not a single penny left to his descendants?
[To correct you, he wasn't just rich, he was incredibly, incredibly rich! The donation certificate listed over 800 kilograms of gold and countless antiques and paintings. The value is practically immeasurable, far exceeding 2.5 billion!]
[2.5 billion… No wonder the Mao family went crazy. They almost had that huge sum, but now they have nothing. It's worse than death for them!]
[So, this old man is truly ruthless. No wonder he was a bandit; he's completely different from those old people who talk about being ruthless but can't actually be ruthless towards their children.]
He didn't say he was ruthless, but his actions were ruthless in every way.
2.5 billion in assets—just a little of it would be enough for the Mao family to live comfortably. But he donated it all. How much must he hate his three children?
The younger generation of the Mao family was still somewhat bewildered.
"What does this mean?" Mao Dayong asked, bewildered. "Grandpa's inheritance... gone?"
Kong Huimin's face wasn't much better than her mother's. Hearing Mao Dayong's words, she said angrily, "Didn't you hear? Your grandfather and my maternal grandfather donated the entire inheritance! How could he be so cruel? So much money, and he really didn't leave us a single bit?"
Twenty-five billion! Even if he only left them one hundred million, each of the three families would still receive tens of millions. But now, it's gone, everything is gone!
"That old bastard!" Uncle Mao was still cursing, veins bulging on his neck, looking like
he was having a manic episode. The others, while not as exaggerated as him, clearly harbored resentment towards Old Master Mao, and were furious at his actions.
As for the two military medals they had thrown on the ground, no one cared until a hand reached out and picked them up.
As a non-human Xuan Turtle, Xu Gui didn't really understand what this small medal represented, but she vaguely sensed its special weight.
Holding it in her hand, through the two medals, she seemed to see Old Master Mao's glorious years, those times of gunfire and bloodshed.
Listening to the Mao family's insults, she spoke calmly: "Wasn't it you who went too far first?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but it seemed to have a penetrating power, clearly penetrating everyone's ears. Her clear voice was enough to calm anyone's feverish mind.
Uncle Mao glared at Xu Gui with hatred, "What did you say?"
Xu Gui stood up. She wasn't as tall as Uncle Mao, who was about 1.8 meters tall, while she was only 1.72 meters, half a head shorter than him. However, Xu Gui's aura was in no way weak, and even seemed to overwhelm Uncle Mao.
She spoke, her chin slightly raised, "Back then, wasn't it you who disregarded blood ties, father-son and father-daughter relationships, and abandoned the seriously ill old man in the dilapidated temple, leaving him to fend for himself?"
"If your old man hadn't later produced gold, showing you the benefits, would you have brought him back to properly care for him?"
Xu Gui chuckled, "The answer is: no. Your filial piety, your status as dutiful sons and grandsons, is predicated on the fact that your old man is profitable, isn't it?"
Uncle Mao roared, "What does our family's business have to do with you, an outsider? Who do you think you are, daring to speak out of turn! If you dare say another word, I'll beat you to death!"
He raised his fist, the threat obvious, his burly frame looking quite ferocious.
"I'm just stating a fact!" Xu Gui said calmly, her gaze towards Uncle Mao equally calm.
She merely sized him up in response to Uncle Mao's threat, then said, "Besides, I don't think you can hurt me."
Uncle Mao, already furious, was further enraged by her words. He immediately rolled up his sleeves and strode towards Xu Gui
, shouting, "Then let's see if I can hurt you!" Mao Dayong snapped out of his daze and instinctively tried to stop him, "Hey, Uncle..."
But before he could move, he saw the menacing Uncle Mao suddenly stumble and fall forward. However, out of self-preservation instinct, he swayed, trying to regain his balance, and staggered forward.
*Splash!*
With a huge splash, Uncle Mao landed headfirst in the corner of the pond.
The splashed water drenched the old turtle beside him. It shook its head, then retracted it into its shell, choosing to ignore it.
Xu Gui chuckled lightly and said, "See? I told you, I didn't think you could hurt me..."
Her words, when heard by the others, carried a chilling, unsettling quality, as if she had foreseen Uncle Mao's fate.
The Mao family members dared not look directly at Xu Gui, their gazes furtively shifting, almost stealing. Now, even if they harbored any doubts, they dared not show them like Uncle Mao. Aunt Mao, looking at her disheveled Uncle Mao, curled her lip in disapproval. "
Fool! "
she thought to herself, judging her second brother.
Knowing full well that this "master" possessed some supernatural abilities, he had been blinded by greed, wanting to attack him without considering his own limitations. So, this outcome was entirely his own fault.
Xu Gui put the merit points back into the crushed cookie box, along with the damp letter, and finally handed the cookie box to Mao Dayong.
Mao Dayong was somewhat flattered. Xu Gui said, "These are your grandfather's belongings. Take good care of them... Although you don't have the gold inheritance you want, the value of these things he left behind shouldn't be less than the gold you desire."
Mao Dayong looked at her blankly, clearly not appreciating the "weight" of these things, but his fingers unconsciously tightened their grip on the cookie box.
"Master, please wait!" Mao Xiaogu suddenly spoke, stopping Xu Gui. She said, "I want to ask, is this the only thing my father left behind? What about the others? Did he really leave nothing else?"
Mao Xiaogu still seemed unwilling to give up. She gritted her teeth and said, "I don't think my father would be so heartless to us."
Xu Gui looked at her and said, "Of course he wasn't that heartless towards you..."
Seeing the sudden look of surprise on Mao Xiaogu's face, Xu Gui pointed out, "Otherwise, how could Mr. Mao work at the tobacco bureau? And how could you, Ms. Mao, work in the government office?"
"As for the one who fell into the pond, he certainly wouldn't have his current job."
Xu Gui smiled knowingly, "You don't actually think you got your jobs through your own abilities, do you?"
The Mao family was surprised, especially the three siblings. Clearly, they had previously believed their jobs were earned through their own abilities, which Xu Gui found somewhat amusing.
She asked, "Don't you all know your own limitations?"
The Mao family: "..."
Xu Gui concluded, "Obviously, what your grandfather left you is already quite a lot..."
at least more than Mao Dayong and the others had imagined.