Xu Gui left the Mao family.
The paparazzi followed behind her, the number "2.5 billion" still swirling in his mind.
"2.5 billion!" he exclaimed to Xu Gui, his voice filled with astonishment. "That's 2.5 billion!"
He had never seen so much money in his life. No wonder the Mao family members all looked like they had lost their father—no, even if their own father had died, their expressions wouldn't be this distressed.
The paparazzi couldn't help but sigh, "This old man is too generous."
For the Mao family, the old man's "generosity" was something they deeply resented and hated, but to outsiders like the paparazzi, it deserved genuine praise.
His magnanimity and vision were unmatched by most.
Of course, some expressed doubt. After all, don't forget, Mao Taiping started as a bandit. How could a bandit have a first-class merit medal? And how could he possibly have such awareness?
[Maybe he forged the donation certificate? He's dead, who knows if it's true or false?]
[Putting everything else aside, just the fact that he was a bandit is despicable. I don't believe a bandit could have such a conscience.]
[But if it's true, it means there are many things about Mao Taiping we don't know. That First-Class Merit Medal isn't something just anyone can get, right?]
[Whether it's true or not is actually very simple. The donation certificate says "National Museum," right? Just ask the museum staff.]
These netizens are a bunch of idle, incredibly proactive people. After the debate failed, several actually went to the National Museum's official Weibo account to inquire about the truth of the matter.
Their thinking was simple: if it's true, Mao Taiping is a hero; if it's false, he's still that despised bandit.
"...If he's a hero, then we shouldn't let him be wronged and constantly insulted; but if this is false, it should be clarified as soon as possible, lest a petty thief steals the title of hero!"
Xu Gui didn't know if any staff at the National Museum had seen the comments, but she was currently unaware of these matters.
After leaving the Mao family, she returned to her stall and continued her work—after running the stall for so long, she often forgot she was filming a TV show, genuinely feeling like a fortune teller under a bridge.
"Actually, I think it's pretty good if I don't become a celebrity and just run a fortune teller's stall," she said earnestly to the cameraman.
The cameraman: "..." He simply couldn't bear to look at Xu Gui's comments in her live stream.
You've switched careers to run a fortune teller's stall, which is certainly a happy thing, but the production team might not be so happy. After all, a perfectly good celebrity comes to their show, and after filming, they quit being a celebrity and go to run a fortune teller's stall under a bridge.
That image is truly unimaginable.
The two returned to the overpass, which had become increasingly lively lately. Before, it was just Xu Gui and the old man, the fortune tellers, along with a few fruit and toy vendors. Now, perhaps due to the increasing foot traffic, more and more vendors were appearing.
Xu Gui stood outside for a while, then turned to the cameraman and asked, "If the city management officers find us, do you think they'll kick us out?"
She knew this because of a scene from her physical memory: "Xu Gui" was selling grilled cold noodles on the roadside, and while she was buying some, the vendor rode off on his bike.
At the time, "Xu Gui" was a little dazed; even after he left, she waited there for a long time until a classmate came and took her home.
Therefore, in "Xu Gui's" thin and dull memory, this memory was extremely vivid; it would involuntarily surface whenever she thought about it.
Hearing her question, the cameraman thought: "...Teacher Xu, please don't jinx it, okay?"
When Xu Gui and her group returned, the people gathered around her stall hadn't left. They were all chatting, some even buying bags of sunflower seeds, grabbing a trash can, and eating and chatting at the same time. Xu Gui,
witnessing this,
was bewildered. Had she wandered onto the wrong overpass?
One of the people engrossed in their conversation spotted Xu Gui and immediately shouted, "Master is back!"
At this, everyone's eyes turned to Xu Gui, their gazes filled with eager anticipation. Before Xu Gui could react, they rushed over, pushing and pulling her to her seat.
"Master, you're back! How's the Mao family's situation? Did you help them find Mao Taiping's inheritance?"
"Master, did Mao Taiping really leave behind a hundred-odd kilograms of gold as an inheritance? The Mao family must be rich!"
"...Master!"
"Master..."
Xu Gui had barely sat down when a cacophony of voices filled her ears. People around her vied for questions, the sound like hundreds of ducks quacking in her ear, making her head buzz.
Xu Gui's lips twitched slightly, and she had to shout, "Stop!"
Looking at the group, she said, "Can you ask one question at a time? This is so noisy, I feel like my ears are going to explode."
"We're just curious about what's going on with the Mao family," they chuckled, somewhat embarrassed. "People here said you were livestreaming, Master. We wanted to watch your livestream, but we don't know which platform you're on."
In the end, they could only wait patiently.
"So, Master, did you help the Mao family find Mao Taiping's inheritance?" they asked expectantly, looking at Xu Gui.
Xu Gui nodded: "Found it?"
Wow!
The crowd gasped, then asked curiously, "Is his inheritance really just a hundred or so pounds of gold?"
Xu Gui looked at them, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"More than that," she said, a sly glint in her eyes, "it's over eight hundred pounds of gold, plus countless antiques and paintings!"
Everyone: !!
"How much is that worth?" Someone couldn't help but gasp, muttering, "The Mao family is going to be rich!"
How much is eight hundred pounds of gold worth...? Someone started counting on their fingers, trying to calculate the value of eight hundred pounds of gold. Unable to figure it out, they opened their phone calculator, and after getting the result, several more people gasped.
Xu Gui looked at them and smiled, "However, all of these things were donated by Old Master Mao."
Donated, donated?
The group was dumbfounded.
Although they had already been shocked enough today, Xu Gui's words still stunned them once again. After all, they lived in the mundane world, were all ordinary people, and couldn't remain indifferent to gold and silver.
They even started to doubt their own hearing, wondering if they had misheard. That was over 800 pounds of gold! Just like that, they donated it? Could anyone really be so willing to part with it?
"Really donated?" they asked.
Xu Gui nodded: "Yes, really donated."
Everyone was shocked: "..."
But the old man who knew the Mao family suddenly thought of something and muttered, "Then the Mao family must be going crazy!"
The most painful thing in this world is not not having something, but having had it and then losing it.
Everyone knows that the three Mao siblings were filial to Mao Taiping only because Mao Taiping might have a large sum of money, and they all wanted it. After Mao Taiping's death, they almost dug up the house for this money.
But now, someone is saying that Mao Taiping did have an inheritance, and a very large one at that, but he donated it... donated it?
The old man: The Mao family must be going crazy!
It can only be said that the old man really understands the Mao family. He guessed the Mao family's reaction almost perfectly. The Mao family must be going crazy. They are still cursing at their grandfather at home. The
onlookers
, finally learning the details of the Mao family's situation from Xu Gui, had their curiosity satisfied and gradually left, still discussing the matter
amongst themselves as they departed. Clearly, this incident would be a topic of conversation for a long time to come.
With everyone gone, things became much easier for Xu Gui. The staff member assigned by the production team to watch the aquarium hadn't left, saying the director wanted her to stay temporarily as Xu Gui's assistant.
Hearing this, the viewers in the live stream once again gave Xu Gui's company, [Xinghai], a thorough dressing-down.
That morning, Xu Gui didn't have many customers. After all, fortune telling is a niche profession; it's unlikely
to be a constant stream of clients. However, perhaps because Xu Gui had previously done fortune telling for several pets, recently, many pet owners had come to her for their pets' fortunes to be told.
These people included cats, dogs, hamsters, and even snakes, all seeking Xu Gui advice on issues related to their pets.
Today, Xu Gui encountered another girl who came to have her cat's fortune told. Oh, I forgot to mention, her cat has a very popular name.
She said, "...My Baojuan has been so well-behaved lately. Now, no matter how I pet her, she doesn't struggle at all, nor does she scratch me. She even meows at me in a mixed tone. She's changed; she's no longer the Baojuan she used to be."
"Master, do you think my Baojuan is really possessed? Should I get her some talisman water to drink?"
—Humans drink talisman water when possessed, so cats, of course, need talisman water too.
Xu Gui carefully observed the girl's expression, trying to see if she was genuinely thinking this or joking. But no matter how he looked at it, the girl's worry was real, and her tone when talking about giving her kitten talisman water was very serious.
It was clear that the girl genuinely believed her kitten was possessed and needed the master to prepare some talisman water to exorcise the evil spirit.
Xu Gui couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.
To be honest, she'd been telling fortunes at her stall for a while now and had encountered quite a few bizarre things, but this was truly the first time she'd ever heard of someone suggesting giving their cat talismanic water.
Humans, how terrifying!