Chapter 2

Xu Gui sat on a park bench playing on her phone, which showed the eighty yuan she had just received as her wages for the day, transferred to her by her boss.

She had already worked at the restaurant for two days, and today was her third day. She had earned a total of 320 yuan, but when she opened her payment app and checked her balance, it was exactly "80"—no more, no less.

Xu Gui: "..." So the eighty yuan salary she just received is all her assets?

She went through her memories and realized what had happened.

According to the program's rules, guests can only bring one set of clothes and a mobile phone when filming. As for the funds needed for food, clothing, accommodation, and transportation during the program, the guests have to earn the money themselves.

Xu Gui earns 120 yuan a day, and the accommodation fee alone is 120 yuan. In other words, the wages she earns each day are only enough for her accommodation. If it weren't for the fact that she works at a restaurant and has meals provided, she wouldn't have to spend money on food. She wouldn't even earn enough for her accommodation and food every day.

Today, Xu Gui only received eighty yuan in wages. After careful calculation, she realized that she hadn't even earned enough to cover her accommodation expenses and would have to pay an additional thirty yuan. If she didn't earn any more money, her assets would soon become negative.

Xu Gui, realizing this, was speechless. So she was working at a loss every day?

"Actually, it's not like I can't live under the bridge," Xu Gui muttered. After all, she's a turtle, and it's normal for turtles to make their home under bridges.

Xu Gui sighed, tilted his head back, and "exposed" himself on the bench, letting the sun bask in his warmth—since things had come to this, he might as well soak up some sun first.

After sunbathing for a few minutes, she flipped herself over so that the sun would also shine on her back to prevent uneven tanning.

The paparazzi and over three thousand livestream viewers watched as she flipped over like a pancake on a park bench, leaving everyone speechless.

"Xu Gui," the cameraman had to remind her, "Aren't you going to work to earn money? The money you earned today probably isn't enough for your accommodation, right? If you don't earn enough for accommodation, the production team won't give you special treatment. Do you want to sleep on the streets?"

Feeling drowsy from basking in the sun, Xu Gui opened her eyes. She yawned and said slowly, "You're right, I really do need to make money..."

After saying that, she sighed and exclaimed from the bottom of her heart, "Being a person is such a hassle; you still have to find a place to live."

Unlike turtles, who can live anywhere with water, humans can't sleep on the streets. So how did she become a human? Could it be that the Third Elder's old turtle is behind this?

Xu Gui sat up straight, looked around, distinguished between east, west, south, and north, and decided which way to go.

“Then let’s head south. I’ve done the calculations, and south is my lucky direction!” she said. “Heaven tells me that heading south will allow me to make a lot of money without lifting a finger!”

The viewers in the live stream were somewhat bewildered by her words.

The secrets of heaven?

Do you still want to make a lot of money without working?

[I get it. Xu Gui was foolish before, but now he's gone mad. He's started talking nonsense and dreaming of getting something for nothing. If there were such a good thing as getting something for nothing, why would I still be sitting at my desk working so hard?]

Netizens said they understood and offered no harsh criticism of Xu Gui.

*

Xu Gui said she would go south, and she really did go south. After walking for about ten minutes, she came to a trash can in the park, and then, under the watchful eyes of thousands of people in the live broadcast room, she began to rummage through the trash can.

Her livestream had thousands of viewers: ? ? ? So what you're saying about getting something for nothing is just rummaging through the park's trash cans?

Xu Gui was unaware of everyone's complaints. She searched through the trash can and finally, relying on her intuition, pulled out a tattered black bag.

This bag is really worn out; it looks like it's over ten years old. The leather on the bag is peeling off, with bald patches here and there. It looks pitted and worthless.

But Xu Gui treated the bag like a precious treasure, and sat down on a bench not far from the trash can while holding it.

Then, everyone watched as she closed her eyes and faced the sun in front of the camera, looking like she was starting to sunbathe again. This time, no matter how the cameraman reminded her, she didn't move, keeping her eyes closed as if she had fallen asleep.

The cameraman said: "I can't carry him, I can't carry him at all."

The few remaining viewers in Xu Gui's live stream dwindled even further after her actions. Apart from the two fan groups who persisted and continued to criticize her, the rest had all left.

Then Xu Gui stayed out in the sun until sunset. During this time, several people came and went, including garbage collectors.

What these people had in common was that everyone who came over couldn't help but glance at Xu Gui a few times. After all, they'd seen plenty of people sunbathing in the park, but they'd almost never seen someone sunbathing while someone else was filming them with a camera.

Viewers in the live stream also heard a young man mutter, "What is this? Is this the new generation of abstract artists?"

Viewers in the live stream: ...Why do I suddenly feel so embarrassed?

Now, of the few remaining casual viewers in Xu Gui's live stream, several had left, leaving only a few netizens who refused to believe it and were thinking, "Let's see what other tricks you can pull," and they still stayed in her live stream.

At first, Xu Gui was able to maintain a proper working posture while filming, but gradually, he went from sitting down on the ground to leaving the camera there to film himself, and then lying on the ground with his head tilted to the side, seemingly asleep.

Just then, as the sun was about to set, voices suddenly came from the other side.

"...Think carefully, did you really throw your bag in this trash can over here?" Accompanied by the woman's anxious and angry voice, two figures, one tall and one short, appeared in front of Xu Gui and the others.

It appeared to be a mother and son; the mother's face was gloomy and anxious, while the son had a mournful expression and tears welled up in his eyes.

When they came over, the son pointed to the trash can that Xu Gui had rummaged through earlier and said, "I threw it here..."

The woman strode to the trash can and said, "We've already searched several trash cans. If we still can't find that bag this time, see if your dad will beat you to death when we get home!"

Xu Gui's live stream had been quiet for too long; many viewers had even forgotten they were still watching. Hearing the sound, they all exclaimed, "What happened? Let me see! Let me see!"

Xu Gui, who had been sunbathing, finally "woke up".

She groggily opened her eyes, and under the precise lens of the camera, it appeared there was still a bit of sleep in the corner of her eye. Netizens who saw this were furious. One commented: "[This person was definitely asleep just now, meaning she actually slept here all day? Is that even possible?]"

Xu Gui yawned. She watched as the woman rolled up her sleeves, preparing to rummage through the trash can. She picked up her bag, which she had placed aside, and called out somewhat sleepily, "Sister, is this the bag you're looking for?"

The woman, who had already reached the trash can, turned around instinctively when she heard the shout. When she saw the bag in Xu Gui's hand, her eyes widened in surprise.

The next second, the woman took two steps in three strides and rushed to Xu Gui's side, her eyes fixed on the bag in Xu Gui's hand, her breathing slightly rapid.

"Where did you find this?" the woman asked Xu Gui.

Xu Guiyi pointed to the trash can not far away and said, "It's over there in the trash can. This bag is yours, sister, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this, the woman first took a breath, and then exhaled a long breath.

She squatted down in front of Xu Gui, as if her legs were weak. She remained squatting on the ground for several seconds before raising her head to look at Xu Gui, her face full of gratitude.

“Thank you, this bag is indeed mine!” she said.

Xu Gui handed her the bag: "Here, take this."

Just as the woman was about to take the bag, a hand suddenly reached out from the side and grabbed it. Xu Gui looked up in confusion and saw that it was his own cameraman.

"Teacher Xu, how can you be sure what this lady is saying is true or false?" the cameraman asked seriously. "What if she's lying to you?"

Xu Gui: "...Uh, I think, besides its owner, no one would want such a tattered bag, right?"

The photographer subconsciously glanced down at the bag he was holding, and gave a dry laugh: It seems, perhaps, maybe, probably, that's really the case... But!

"Just to be on the safe side, why don't you ask her what's in that bag?" the paparazzi suggested.

Xu Gui looked at the woman, who nodded hurriedly and said, "That's right, but this bag really is mine. There are ten pounds of gold in it, including gold bars, jewelry, and various gold products!"

He was able to maintain his composure at first, but when he heard the number the woman spoke, his expression gradually became unsteady.

"Ten...ten jin?" The cameraman stammered, swallowing hard, and asked incredulously, "And it's gold?"

The woman nodded shyly and said, "This is all what my husband and I have saved up over the years. We don't have any other hobbies, we just like buying yellow bags. We've been saving for over ten years and this is all we have... If you don't believe me, you can open it and see, this really is my bag!"

The photographer was flattered: "May I...can I open it and take a look?"

Meanwhile, in Xu Gui's live stream: 【!!! Ten pounds of gold? Let me see it, let me see it! I want to see it too!】

The woman nodded and said, "You'll see when you open it. This bag really is mine. I'm not lying."

"I'm live-streaming here," Xu Gui suddenly spoke up, pointing to the still-running machine and asking the woman, "Isn't it okay? If someone sees that you have so much gold in your house, won't your house get burgled?"

The woman paused for a moment, glanced at the camera, and thought for a second before saying, "It's alright, anyway, we're going to sell this gold soon... My elderly relative is in poor health, and this gold is for paying for their surgery."

"Besides," the woman chuckled, "doing this will also bring you some traffic, right?"

It was obvious that the woman wanted to take this opportunity to thank Xu Gui, but Xu Gui's expression didn't change. Instead, he said, "You don't need to thank me like that. I didn't help you for nothing. If you want your bag back, you should pay me some reward, right?"

The woman's expression turned somewhat strained, but she still managed to say, "What you say makes sense. So, how many do you want?"

Xu Gui held out his palm. "This amount!"

The woman looked at her hesitantly and said, "This is... what does 500,000 mean?"

The woman thought to herself: If it's 500,000, it's not unacceptable.

Then she heard Xu Gui say in a clear and distinct voice, "Five hundred yuan!"

The woman, who was prepared for a massive hemorrhage: "..."

The paparazzi and viewers in the live stream, who also thought Xu Gui would make exorbitant demands, were speechless.

At this moment, looking at Xu Gui, everyone had only one thought in their minds: It's only five hundred yuan... You should have said so earlier! Judging from your attitude, I thought you wanted five million!