Chapter 107
Xu Gui needed to make money, so Fu Xia naturally wanted to help.
“…I have a friend who’s run into some trouble lately, and it seems like he really needs your help.” A figure suddenly popped into Fu Xia’s mind, and the more she thought about it, the more reliable her idea seemed—why hadn’t she thought of asking Xu Gui for help before?
Filled with inexplicable excitement, Fu Xia asked Yuan Lu to park the car in their garage. After asking Xu Gui if he needed to rest and receiving a negative answer, she immediately and enthusiastically led Xu Gui to her friend's house.
They were friends, but to be more precise, the other person was her childhood sweetheart. They grew up together and had a very close relationship.
"...After high school, she went abroad to study at a university, so she can only come back during winter and summer vacations, or longer holidays."
On the way, Fu Xia told Xu Gui about her friend's family situation.
“She is the only child in her family, and her parents have always doted on her. But when she came back this time, she found that there was a younger sister in the family.” Fu Xia couldn’t help but frown as she said this.
younger sister?
Xu Gui raised an eyebrow and casually asked, "Is she her father's or her mother's illegitimate daughter from an affair?"
“Neither,” Fu Xia said, both amused and exasperated. “Her parents have a very good relationship, and they’re not young anymore, so it’s unlikely they’ll have another sister for her.”
Xu Gui was even more puzzled: "Then who is this younger sister?"
Fu Xia sighed, "She's the goddaughter her parents were planning to adopt!"
"A goddaughter you're planning to adopt? So that means she hasn't been adopted yet?" Xu Gui looked at Fu Xia questioningly.
Fu Xia explained, "Her parents really enjoy doing charity work. Years ago, they were keen to sponsor children from impoverished families. After my friend went abroad, perhaps because she was alone, she enjoyed doing it even more..."
In the past, my friend's parents only provided financial assistance to express their love through money. But this time, they brought a girl back with them. When my friend returned from abroad, they even told him that they wanted to adopt the girl as their goddaughter.
"It is said that the girl's background is very pitiful. Her father died early, and her mother died in a car accident a few years ago. Only she and her grandmother are left in the family. Other relatives do not care about her... When my friend's parents saw her, they felt that she was particularly pitiful and took good care of her. Later, they even took the girl home with them!"
My friend only found out about this after returning to China. What upset her the most was that she often talked to her parents while abroad, but they never mentioned it to her. If she hadn't come back for vacation this time, her parents might have already secretly adopted the girl and made her their goddaughter.
By then, she would have gained a younger sister.
“My friend is a little upset about this. She doesn’t want a god-sister, nor does she want her parents to adopt a goddaughter! But her parents seem determined this time and insist on taking that girl as their goddaughter!”
The family of three argued about this several times. Fu Xia's friend was very disappointed in her parents, and her parents seemed to be very disappointed in Fu Xia's friend as well—they felt that Fu Xia, as their daughter, was not considerate at all and did not think about them as parents.
So during this period, the family of three was in complete chaos, arguing every time the matter was brought up, and the atmosphere at home was extremely unpleasant.
Fu Xia's friend is now at a loss. She even wonders if she was really wrong, if she, as a daughter, was really not considerate enough. But is it selfish of her, as a daughter, not wanting her parents to have a new child?
When she talked to Fu Xia about this last time, she sounded very upset, but Fu Xia sensed that her attitude on the matter had softened considerably.
“…I had no choice.” The other person said this with a helpless and bitter expression on their face. “My parents insisted on recognizing that girl as their goddaughter. They said that I had eaten too much foreign food and had become cold-blooded, unable to tolerate a kind and considerate child.”
"Tell me, they've already said that, how can I stop them? If I keep trying to stop them, I'm afraid that in their eyes I'll become that unfilial daughter who doesn't know how to be considerate of her parents."
"..."
Fu Xia still remembers the disappointment and sadness on her friend's face when she said those words. It was clear that what her parents said to her had dealt her a significant blow.
After listening, Xu Gui had a general understanding of Fu Xia's friend's situation, except for one thing...
“You’re telling me this?” Xu Gui asked, puzzled. “But I probably can’t help with this, can I?” She was just a fortune teller who could only predict people’s past, future, and present, but she couldn’t control people’s thoughts.
Therefore, if Fu Xia's friend's parents really decide to take that girl as their goddaughter, Xu Gui feels that there's nothing he can do about it.
"Do you want me to lie to your friend's parents?" Xu Gui suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
"No!" Fu Xia shook her head, directly rejecting Xu Gui's idea. She looked at Xu Gui and said, "I just want you to help me calculate whether that girl is really just an ordinary girl who lost both her parents."
Xu Gui looked at her with a puzzled expression.
Fu Xia said with a subtle expression, "Just consider it as me overthinking it, but I still feel that something is not quite right."
As the two were talking, they arrived at the door of Fu Xia's friend's house. Fu Xia's friend's surname was Qiao, and her name was Qiao Xinyue. The Qiao family was a wealthy family who could live in Peony Garden, and they lived in a large detached villa.
When Fu Xia came over, she had already told Qiao Xinyue, so they knocked on the door, and someone came out to open it after a short while.
"Fu Xia!"
"Xinyue!"
Two good friends stood at the door, holding hands, both with smiles on their faces.
The other person had an oval face and a strikingly beautiful appearance. However, the first thing Xu Gui noticed when he saw her was her lips. She had full, plump lips, but it didn't look strange. Instead, it gave off a harmonious and alluring feeling.
If we had to describe Qiao Xinyue's appearance in words, it would be "charming." She is both delicate and alluring, with a subtle yet captivating charm in her face, but her eyes are clear, bright, and pure.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Fu Xia introduced the two friends to each other.
“This is Xu Gui, also my good friend! I’ve mentioned him to you before…” Fu Xia said to Qiao Xinyue first.
Fu Xia had indeed mentioned Xu Gui to Qiao Xinyue. Moreover, Qiao Xinyue had watched Xu Gui's live stream before. Therefore, when she heard Fu Xia's words, Qiao Xinyue did not show any unfamiliarity on her face, but greeted Xu Gui in a familiar tone.
"Hello, Miss Xu, I'm Qiao Xinyue!"
"Hello!"
Fu Xia then introduced Yuan Lu, Xu Gui's assistant, and Yang Haolin, who was filming. After the introductions, Qiao Xinyue happily led them into the house, saying as they walked, "My parents are both home today, but it's okay. You are my guests, so you don't need to worry about them."
“We can go upstairs to play later, watch a movie, or play games. Or we can go to the back garden to admire the flowers…” she said with a smile, her voice full of enthusiasm. “I just asked the housekeeper to make some snacks. The peonies in the yard are in bloom, so we can enjoy the flowers while we eat snacks.”
Her tone suggested that everything had been planned out in advance, indicating that she had already arranged how to entertain Xu Gui and the others at home after Fu Xia told her that she was bringing friends over.
Fu Xia walked beside her, her eyes flashing as she thought of what she wanted to do. She said, "But before that, let's go say hello to Uncle and Auntie first. They're elders, after all. If I'm coming to visit, I should at least greet them..."
She laughed and said, "Even if my parents knew about this, they would scold me."
Upon hearing this, Qiao Xinyue said dejectedly, "Your parents won't scold you anymore, they love you so much..."
However, even so, Qiao Xinyue still took Xu Gui and the others to meet her parents first—just like Fu Xia said, since they were already at someone else's house, it would be really impolite not to greet the host.
Xu Gui and the others naturally had no objections to this matter, except for one thing.
"Is this alright?" Xu Gui pointed to the machine in Yang Haolin's hand.
Qiao Xinyue glanced at it and said, "It's okay. I watched your live stream before. Anyway, they blur out the faces of unrelated people, right?"
Xu Gui nodded affirmatively: "Of course."
In her live stream, apart from Xu Gui herself, everyone else who appears on camera is automatically blurred out with a mosaic, so viewers can only hear their voices but cannot see their faces.
Qiao Xinyue had watched Xu Gui's live stream, so she knew this and naturally didn't mind.
As for whether her parents mind... Ha, what does that have to do with her? Qiao Xinyue thought resentfully.
...
At this time, Qiao's parents were in the music room on the first floor. According to Qiao Xinyue's soft voice, her "adopted sister" wanted to learn the piano, so her parents were taking her to the music room for lessons.
After recounting this incident, Qiao Xinyue's tone became somewhat melancholy.
"...Miss Qiao, are you sure that your god-sister isn't your biological sister?" Xu Gui couldn't help but ask, his tone somewhat subtle.
The main reason is that Qiao Xinyue's parents treated this girl so affectionately, as if she were their own daughter. Of course, treating her like their own daughter is not a big deal; it even shows that Qiao's parents are kind-hearted and good people.
However, it's abnormal to treat one's goddaughter too well, even to the point that one's own daughter has to give way.
So, is she really not her biological daughter?
Xu Gui pondered this, a slight stirring in his heart.
Although she couldn't get Qiao Xinyue's permission, she still did a fortune telling for her to see if Qiao Xinyue would have a younger sister in her life, since she herself was also very curious.
...Huh?
Xu Gui suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
Upon hearing Xu Gui's words, Qiao Xinyue's initial firm denial began to waver. She hesitated and said, "This... shouldn't be true, right?"
“If my parents had given birth to a younger sister, they definitely wouldn’t have kept it from me,” she said, sorting out her thoughts. “Besides, that girl isn’t young either, only two or three years younger than me. She couldn’t possibly be the younger sister my parents gave birth to!”
To reiterate, if she were truly his sister, his parents would have no reason to hide it from him.
"What about the illegitimate daughter?" Fu Xia interjected.
Qiao Xinyue chuckled and said, "Then that's even more impossible. If she really is an illegitimate daughter, is she my father's or my mother's? And if Zhou Qingping is the illegitimate daughter of one of them, how could the other one treat her so without any distance between them?"
Zhou Qingping is the name of Qiao Xinyue's "adopted sister". She is nineteen years old this year, only three years younger than Qiao Xinyue.
In short, no matter how you look at it, Zhou Qingping has absolutely no connection with their family; otherwise, it would be impossible to explain her parents' attitude towards her.
After hearing her words, Fu Xia frowned and said, "That's strange. Since Zhou Qingping has no relation to your family, your aunt and uncle should be more inclined to side with you than with Zhou Qingping."
Is it really possible that there are people in this world who prefer outsiders to their own daughters?
Fu Xia expressed her incomprehension.
After thinking for a moment, she looked at Xu Gui questioningly, wanting to ask if she had figured anything out, but saw that Xu Gui had a thoughtful look on her face.
"So, what did you figure out?" she asked Xu Gui quietly as they walked side by side.
Xu Gui began, "Well..."
However, just as Xu Gui spoke, they had already arrived at the Qiao family's music room.
"We're here!" Qiao Xinyue said, pushing open the door to the music room. The music room was well soundproofed; you couldn't hear anything from the doorway until she pushed it open. Only then did the intermittent piano music slowly drift out from inside.
Qiao Xinyue stood at the door of the music room, looking at the scene inside, and for a moment she felt a little dazed.
"...Yes, press here. Don't press so hard, press lightly."
"Great! Hahaha, our Qingping is really talented."
The scene in the music room, the happy voice of Qiao's mother, seemed to overlap with the scene in Qiao Xinyue's memory. At this moment, Qiao Xinyue felt an extremely absurd feeling. The thought that she had just denied resurfaced again.
So, Zhou Qingping really isn't her parents' illegitimate daughter?
Qiao Xinyue was even thinking: Surely I can't be the illegitimate daughter, and Zhou Qingping is the biological daughter of my parents?
While Qiao Xinyue was still in a daze, the people in the music room had already noticed the commotion at the door. The three people in the room turned around at the same time. Zhou Qingping, who was sitting on a stool with a bright smile, saw Qiao Xinyue and quickly stood up, her expression awkward.
In contrast, Qiao Xinyue's expression was blank and not particularly attractive.
"Yueyue, what brings you here?" Qiao's mother got up and walked towards Qiao Xinyue.
She had a lingering smile on her face, but it seemed a little colder than before. When she walked over and saw Xu Gui and his group, Qiao's mother looked surprised and said, "Xiaoxia is here."
—She was referring to Fu Xia.
"Yes, Auntie!" Fu Xia smiled and said, "I came to play with Yueyue."
Qiao's mother smiled and glanced at Qiao Xinyue, then looked at Fu Xia and said softly, "That's good. Yueyue hasn't been in a good mood lately. With you here to keep her company, she'll be happier."
Qiao Xinyue looked at her mother expressionlessly, her face somber.
Zhou Qingping walked over and snuggled close to Qiao's mother. Qiao's mother looked down at her, patted her head, and continued to say to Fu Xia, "If you need anything later, just tell the housekeeper, or you can call me."
Zhou Qingping leaned affectionately against Qiao's mother, looking at Qiao Xinyue with a proud yet defiant expression, as if to say: So what if she's your mother? Right now, the person she likes the most is me.
Seeing this, Qiao Xinyue's expression fell even more, and she was extremely indignant.
Seeing this, Fu Xia glanced at Qiao Xinyue with some concern, and replied to Qiao's mother, "I know, Auntie, I won't be polite."
"...You are Qiao Xinyue's mother?"
Just then, a strange voice suddenly came from the side. Qiao's mother looked in the direction of the voice and met a pair of eyes that were scrutinizing her. That look... Qiao's mother didn't know how to describe it, but she just felt very uncomfortable looking at her.
Thinking this to herself, Mrs. Qiao brushed a stray hair behind her ear and said with a smile, "Yes, I am Yueyue's mother... You are also Yueyue's friend, right? I don't think I've seen you before?"
Just as Fu Xia was about to introduce herself, Xu Gui nodded and said, "Yes, I am Yueyue's friend and also her elementary school classmate."
She looked at Qiao's mother with a strange expression and said, "Do you remember when I was little, I came to your house for Yueyue's birthday? I accidentally spilled a bowl of soup that you gave me, and it burned your hand and gave you a big blister!"
Mrs. Qiao: "...Oh, is that so?"
"Yes!" Xu Gui nodded firmly, which made Qiao Xinyue look at her with a strange expression.
Xu Guiyang laughed and said seriously, "Have you forgotten? I was so scared by the injury on your hand that I cried my eyes out, and you still comforted me despite the pain. I feel embarrassed when I think about it now."
"What, have you forgotten about this?"
She looked at Qiao's mother in surprise.
Seeing this, Qiao's mother subconsciously said, "How could that be? Of course I..."
"Is that so? I don't remember it." Suddenly, a voice interrupted Xu Gui and Qiao's mother's conversation. Xu Gui looked up and saw Qiao's father walking over from behind and standing behind Qiao's mother, looking at Xu Gui with sharp eyes and a hint of inquiry.
Mr. Qiao said, "I've met almost all the classmates that Yueyue invited to my home. I don't remember you at all. And I don't remember what you just said either."
Upon hearing this, Xu Gui nodded and said, "Of course you don't remember, because there was no such thing. I was just making it up!"
"..."
Xu Gui's tone and expression were so matter-of-fact that Qiao's father was momentarily speechless.
Qiao Xinyue was amused by the expression on her father's face—her father was a very aloof person, and it was rare to see any strong emotions on his face, but now…
“I’ve never seen my dad so speechless after being so choked up.” She smiled and leaned closer to Fu Xia. “You were right before, this Miss Xu is really a remarkable person.”
Fu Xia didn't speak; she just stared intently at Xu Gui. For some reason, at this moment, she felt her heart pounding faster, and goosebumps rose uncontrollably all over her body, as if... something was about to happen.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Qiao Xinyue was a little puzzled and couldn't help but call out, "Xiaoxia?"
Just then, she heard Xu Gui's voice.
"Auntie, what were you trying to say just now? Were you trying to say: Of course you remember this?" Xu Gui's tone was somewhat meaningful. "You actually remember this story that I made up?"
"..."
After Xu Gui finished speaking, for some reason, the scene suddenly fell silent.
Qiao Xinyue subconsciously looked at her mother and saw her panicked expression. For some reason, Qiao Xinyue felt as if she had been hit hard on the head, making her vision go black and leaving her bewildered and unsure of how to react.
Zhou Qingping's expression changed as well. She gripped Qiao's mother's hand tightly, and Qiao's mother grasped her hand in return, seemingly having calmed down.
"I'd like to ask, Miss Xu, what do you mean by that?" Mrs. Qiao frowned, seemingly displeased. "You're Yueyue's friend, so I trusted you completely. But I never expected you to utter such fabricated lies to deceive me!"
She said, embarrassed and annoyed, "Is this how you behave when you visit someone else's home?"
Xu Gui blinked and said, "I'm just curious, Auntie, why would you admit to something that didn't even happen in your memory?"
Mrs. Qiao sighed and said, "Although I don't know what you want to do, I can answer your question. It's because I was in a car accident five years ago... After that accident, my memory became a bit bad, and my memories of the past are somewhat vague."
"You're Yueyue's friend, so I thought what you just said was true... but I never imagined you were lying to me!"
At this point, Qiao's mother seemed quite embarrassed and annoyed.
Mr. Qiao put his arm around her shoulder and patted her comfortingly. Then he looked up at Qiao Xinyue and said, "Qiao Xinyue, I thought you had grown up and become sensible, and knew what kind of friends you should make!"
"But look at the kind of friends you've made these days! This person is morally corrupt, and she just tries to lie to your mother right away! How did you even become friends with her?"
"Make your friend apologize to your mother right now!"
Qiao Xinyue's eyes widened: "I..."
Viewers in Xu Gui's live stream were also somewhat confused:
What is Xu Gui doing? Why is she lying to this aunt?
[I've wanted to say this before: Xu Gui's personality is really problematic. Am I the only one who thinks she's arrogant and conceited? It seems like everyone else is an ant in her eyes. This condescending attitude is simply nauseating.]
[I can answer you: Yes, only you think so! Hater, are you satisfied with this answer? If you are, then get lost. Haters like you are not welcome in our live stream.]
Based on my years of experience watching Xu Gui's live streams, if he says anything strange, it's definitely not without reason. Therefore, I'm more inclined to believe that Qiao Xinyue's mother has a problem!
[Qiao Xinyue's mother has a problem +1. Actually, this is very strange. What kind of mother would side with an outsider over her own daughter? My mother is definitely not like that.]
[Don't speak too definitively. The world is full of wonders, and there really are mothers who don't like their own daughters.]
Let's see how Xu Gui explains herself. She's not the kind of person who likes to make things up; there must be a reason why she said that to Qiao Xinyue's mother!
...
At this moment, under the hostile gazes of Qiao's parents, Xu Gui suddenly laughed.
"Actually, from the first moment I saw you, Auntie, I've always had a question I wanted to ask you..." She looked at Qiao's mother and asked softly, "Answer me."
"Are you really Qiao Xinyue's original mother?"
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