Chapter 118
Kuang Ming came over mainly to talk to Xu Gui about work.
Of course, this so-called job is actually very simple. It's just a matter of waiting for "fashion" to release the news, and then Xu Gui just needs to move his fingers and forward it. This is something that his agent, or Yuan Lu, who is Xu Gui's assistant, can do for him.
However, after thinking about it, Kuang Ming still made the trip, specifically to remind Xu Gui to forward it. The reason was simple: to make Xu Gui more aware of her status as a "celebrity" and to give her a greater sense of belonging to this identity.
After all, when Xu Gui talks about herself now, everyone says she's a fortune teller, and she's hardly ever mentioned that she's a celebrity.
Kuang Ming: Having a really great artist can put a lot of pressure on the manager.
...
After the two finished discussing work, Xu Gui quickly ate the remaining two dumplings in his bowl and prepared to leave the hotel to go out and film.
Kuang Ming left first. He also needed to arrange for He Yuan to join the film crew. Compared with Xu Gui, who is now very famous, He Yuan is less famous, so she needs Kuang Ming, her agent, to support her.
In addition, as Xu Gui and He Yuan's fame grew, Kuang Ming, as their agent, also received many offers from potential partners. His job as their agent was to choose the most reliable and useful offer from among these offers.
Overall, Kuang Ming is also very busy.
Kuang Ming came and went in a hurry. By the time Xu Gui finished packing and came downstairs, he had already been gone for a while. When Xu Gui came downstairs and saw Fu Xia, she saw Xu Gui standing next to their nanny van with a somewhat subtle and blank expression on her face, as if she was in a daze.
"What's wrong?" Xu Gui asked her casually.
Fu Xia snapped out of her daze, her silent gaze falling on Xu Gui before she uttered a somewhat nonsensical remark: "Is your manager out of his mind?"
Xu Gui: ?
Fu Xia said, "When he passed by me just now, he not only rolled his eyes at me, but also snorted at me... What did I do to offend him?"
Xu Gui: "...I don't think so?"
Fu Xia said, "Right? Although I've met him a few times before, we've never even spoken a word!" So why is this guy giving me the cold shoulder whenever he sees me?
Standing to the side, Yuan Lu listened to Fu Xia's words, but her expression was somewhat subtle: perhaps, it seemed, maybe she knew why Brother Kuang treated Miss Fu this way.
When I called Brother Kuang to report on Teacher Xu's daily schedule, he inquired about Ms. Fu's situation several times. From what he said...
"Brother Kuang, are you worried that Miss Fu is trying to steal him away?" Yuan Lu whispered.
Fu Xia turned her head, looking completely bewildered: "Steal his girlfriend? What do you mean?"
Yuan Lu whispered, "Ms. Fu, haven't you noticed? Many of the things you're doing for Teacher Xu are actually being done by Teacher Xu's agent..."
In other words, what you did was actually the work that Kuang Ming should have done.
Fu Xia: "..."
Her face was blank for several seconds before she finally uttered, "Huh?"
So, Mr. Kuang was afraid that I would take his job? This person clearly exudes an elite aura and seems upright and reliable, so how come his actual personality is so, so... naive?
Fu Xia didn't know whether to be angry or amused.
but……
"So, does this mean I have a real talent for being a manager?" She looked at Xu Gui and the other two with bright eyes, her gaze questioning. "Or, should I give this job a try?"
Xu Gui pondered, "It seems like a good idea."
Fu Xia's eyes lit up again: "You think so too?"
Listening to the two of them discussing how Fu Xia should act as an agent, Yuan Lu thought: ...Brother Kuang, it seems we are really in danger?
*
Xu Gui and her group were going to another city today, which would take more than two hours on the road. Because of this, Xu Gui specially started a live broadcast to inform everyone of the news. After she finished speaking, she prepared to end the broadcast and planned to start the live broadcast again when she arrived at her destination.
However, her fans in the live stream had objections and said:
Time is money, and these are two precious hours! Are you really going to waste them like this?
[Exactly! As a qualified fortune teller, shouldn't you use these precious two hours to do something? For example, randomly select viewers in the live stream to have their fortunes told? If I were chosen, that would be the best!]
【You guys are really good at this, the abacus beads are practically jumping into my face! But you're doing a brilliant job, absolutely brilliant!】
【That's right!! Little Turtle can pick people to tell our fortunes! The netizens' new brains are really clever; how come I didn't think of that?】
Wait a minute, I'll forward this message to the family group chat right away and call on all my relatives and friends to join the "denominator" (a term used to describe people who participate in group activities)!
Pick me! Pick me!
...
Seeing the enthusiastic suggestions from the fans in the live stream, Xu Gui thought about it and decided not to turn off the live stream.
"Are you alright?" Fu Xia asked her silently from the side.
Xu Gui said, "It's alright, there's nothing to do on the road anyway, so I might as well chat with everyone..." The journey is boring anyway, maybe telling everyone's fortunes can help pass the time.
Xu Gui asked Yang Haolin to start a lottery. The lottery would last for five minutes, and anyone who wanted to have their fortune told by Xu Gui could participate.
As for the fortune-telling fee... Xu Gui didn't plan to accept it; he considered it a benefit for everyone. Hearing Xu Gui say this, the viewers in the live stream were overjoyed, practically bursting into celebration.
Amidst this joyful atmosphere, five minutes quickly passed, and the first lucky winner of the morning was drawn.
【Little Jasmine】... This is the ID of this netizen. Judging from the voice, she is a very young girl with a soft and bright voice, and a hint of shyness.
"Hello, Teacher Xu!" The other person greeted Xu Gui as soon as they spoke, their voice revealing a hint of nervousness and respect. "I am [Little Jasmine]."
Xu Gui: "Hello."
The two then introduced themselves, and after chatting for a few minutes, Xu Gui sensed that the other person seemed to have relaxed a bit, so he went straight to the point and asked what the other person wanted to know.
[She definitely wants a love divination! Judging from Xiao Moli's voice, she sounds very young. Young girls are most idealistic about love, so she must want a love divination!]
[Haha, it seems the uncles and aunties don't quite understand young people like us these days. We young people don't fantasize about love anymore, we're all thinking about making money. So, Little Jasmine is definitely trying to figure out her career! Trying to figure out when she'll become rich overnight!]
[Perhaps it's about their own and their family's health? After all, love is wonderful, and money is great, but none of these things are as important as health. Without health, no matter how much money or love one has, it's all sadness. So, it really is about health!]
【What you're saying is all wrong. What Little Jasmine wants to know is definitely the mystery of her own origins—an orphan without parents, all alone in a foreign land. Ah! How tragic!】
[…Seriously, is this some kind of novel?]
...
It's clear that netizens are genuinely bored, and they've all started speculating about what [Little Jasmine] is trying to divine. It's also evident that everyone here is incredibly talented and has a very creative mind.
Surprisingly, when Xiao Moli opened her mouth, she didn't talk about career or love...
"...I...I haven't been feeling well lately," Little Jasmine said softly. Her voice was tense, making one involuntarily picture a nervous figure in their mind.
【It's definitely a health issue!】—A cheerful comment from someone guessing that 【Little Jasmine】was looking for a health issue. How can a mental health problem not be a health issue?
But soon, Jasmine continued, "I always feel like there's someone else in my room, not just me! Every day after I fall asleep, he stands by my bed and stares at me..."
"He also liked to walk around in my room after I fell asleep, and I could always hear his footsteps in my dreams."
“I sometimes find that the food I put in the refrigerator is decreasing. What I could eat for a week is often finished in two days... The clothes I put in the closet also disappear occasionally, including my underwear.”
Xiao Moli must be quite introverted and shy. When talking about her underwear, her tone was somewhat embarrassed, but she still managed to finish what she was saying.
Clearly, the problem she was facing was more troubling to her than the shame she felt.
Xiao Moli said in a tired voice, "Because of this, I can't sleep or eat well every day... I told others, but they all said I was overthinking it and was being paranoid."
My friends said: "How come there's a second person in your room? If there really is such a person, how come you've never bumped into them?"
“I never actually saw that person, but,” Jasmine’s voice was a little excited, “I really felt it, there really was a second person in my room! He was watching me the whole time…”
Little Jasmine cried, "I really think I'm going crazy!" Her voice was breaking down.
However, after hearing what Xiao Moli said, everyone had different guesses:
Is Xiao Moli's mental state a bit weak? People with neurasthenia can't sleep well, always feel like someone is around, are paranoid, and their whole mind is tense.
I also feel that she has mental problems; her tone of voice is somewhat off.
[She has mental health issues, but that doesn't mean she'd notice food disappearing or clothes going missing. I'm more inclined to believe someone has a key to her room and is secretly using it to enter and steal things while she's asleep. This has happened before!]
[I actually had a similar experience to Xiao Moli. I was renting a place at the time, and I always felt like someone was standing next to my bed when I went to sleep at night. So I installed a security camera in my bedroom, and I saw that every night after I fell asleep, when I relaxed, they would secretly take the key and open my door.]
【!! Are you alright, sister?】
[I'm fine. It's just that one night when I was relaxing, I stabbed him a few times with a knife... Oh, I forgot, I do have mental problems, so I'm fine even if I kill someone. Don't follow my example.]
【……warrior】
...
Amidst a barrage of comments praising her as a warrior, Xiao Moli finally told Xu Gui what she wanted to calculate.
“Master Xu, I want to ask you to tell me whether this is a problem with my mental state or if there really is someone in my room…” Xiao Moli’s voice was somewhat pained. “When I tell everyone, they all look at me like I’m mentally ill.”
She sniffed and whispered, "I know. They all say behind my back that I have mental problems, that I'm crazy, that I'm not clear-headed, that's why I keep saying there's someone in the house. Because of this, my factory fired me, saying they don't dare to hire me again."
It's no wonder that Xiao Moli sounded so tired and broken. Because of this incident, people around her thought she was crazy, her friends distanced themselves from her, and even the factory where she worked fired her.
Now, she only wants to know one answer.
Xu Gui asked her softly, "Have you called the police?"
Xiao Moli said, "Yes, the police came to see me, but they couldn't figure out what was wrong. People in our factory even told the police that I had a mental problem, so I didn't want to bother the police anymore."
She was afraid that even the police would look at her strangely.
"Where's the surveillance footage?"
"I've installed it before, but it keeps stopping and doesn't capture anything..."
Xu Gui nodded slightly, indicating that she understood. She said, "I can tell you directly what you want to know: there is indeed a second being in your room, and he lives in your room..."
After speaking, Xu Gui fell silent, as did Xiao Moli on the other end of the line, and Xu Gui's live stream suddenly went quiet.
After a long while, soft sobbing sounds came from the other side, starting as occasional sobs that couldn't be contained, and eventually turning into wailing and howling.
“I told you, I didn’t lie, everything I said is true,” Little Jasmine said between sobs. “I’m not crazy, and I’m not mentally unstable. I really didn’t feel wrong. There is a second person living in my room!”
It was supposed to be a terrifying thing, but when she heard the news, her first reaction wasn't fear, but rather a feeling of grievance and joy.
Hearing her cries, everyone felt a pang of sadness. The live stream became quiet for a moment, unlike the usual dense barrage of comments. It was as if everyone was silently comforting Xiao Moli.
Xu Gui didn't say anything. She just waited quietly for Xiao Moli to cry. Once she had cried enough and gradually calmed down, she said, "Your first choice now is to call the police!"
"The second person in your room lives in the vent above your bedroom. He is very small, so no one can find him when he hides inside."
“He only comes out to move around when you leave for work or when you fall asleep… The ventilation vent is a blind spot for surveillance cameras, and since he has been living there, he has seen your installation of surveillance cameras, so naturally he won’t let the cameras capture him.”
Xu Gui spoke in a calm voice, uttering words that sent chills down everyone's spines.
Viewers in the live stream were trembling with fear.
On the contrary, Xiao Moli herself, perhaps because she had already made up her mind that there was a second person in her house, was very calm when she heard Xu Gui's words.
She told Xu Gui that after hearing so many people say she was crazy or mentally ill, she sometimes couldn't help but start to doubt herself.
Could it be that she was just imagining things, that she was being paranoid, and that she had a mental problem? Especially after she went to the hospital for a checkup and learned that she had neurasthenia and even mild depression, her doubts about herself deepened.
"Thank you, Master Xu, for giving me a different answer..." Little Jasmine said, "It lets me know that there's nothing wrong with my mind!"
Xu Gui said in a relaxed tone, "Of course there's nothing wrong with your mental state. But after this matter is resolved, if you have time, you can go to the hospital and ask the doctor to prescribe some calming medication so you can get a good night's sleep for a few days... I guess you haven't had a full night's sleep in the past six months, have you?"
She said softly, "So, you always feel very tired, right?"
Little Jasmine said shyly, "...I can't sleep well when I feel like there's someone in the room."
Although she had slept for a night, she often felt more tired than after a day's work. After this continued for six months, she felt mentally exhausted and physically uncomfortable as a result.
Xu Gui said, "From now on, you'll be able to get a good night's sleep."
She would no longer be suspicious or doubt herself, nor would she doubt whether she really had a mental problem, which would eventually lead to her mental breakdown one day... Xu Gui didn't say these things; she just chatted with Xiao Moli in a relaxed tone.
She told Xiao Moli that once this matter was resolved, Xiao Moli could cancel her room reservation and go to Y Province for a trip.
“I heard that it’s spring-like there all year round, and you can see flowers all year round. There are also many guesthouses and inns, and plenty of job opportunities. You should be able to find a suitable job there,” Xu Gui said with a smile. “I think you’ll definitely like it there.”
Little Jasmine: "...Me, can I? But, but I don't have much money."
Xu Gui said, "Your current savings are enough for you to go to Y Province. Once you get there, you can find a new job to support yourself, and the salary might even be higher than it is now."
Little Jasmine was still not very confident: "I can't do anything, and I'm gloomy. If I go to find a job, will they hire me?"
“Yes…” Xu Gui said confidently, “They will really like you.”
Xu Gui was too amazing. In Xiao Moli's mind, what Xu Gui said must be true, so when she said that she could find a suitable job in Y Province and that many people would like her... Xiao Moli immediately believed her.
Suddenly, Jasmine felt courageous.
"Then, I'll call the police and resolve this matter here, and then I'll go to Y Province!" she said happily.
Xu Gui: "Mm."
...
Xiao Moli's live stream connection ended.
Xu Gui saw some people in the comments asking why Xiao Moli didn't terminate the lease as soon as she sensed something was wrong. But in this world, not everyone has a way out.
No one knew that Xiao Moli had run away from home. She only had 500 yuan in her pocket. After going to the factory with her fellow villagers, she found a single room that cost 150 yuan a month. She only had 350 yuan left in her pocket.
She needs to use this 350 yuan for two months because the factory holds back one month's wages, and she will have to wait two months to receive her paycheck.
Xu Gui thought for a moment, then calmly lowered his head and took a sip of water.
*
The incident with Xiao Moli made the atmosphere in Xu Gui's live stream somewhat quiet. Fortunately, the silence didn't last long, because the second lucky winner had already been drawn.
Perhaps because Jasmine's matter was too heavy, the second lucky person's divination was very light; the other person's divination concerned their own cat.
"My cat purrs like a machine whenever I pet it. Is it sick?" As a single woman, this netizen cares a lot about her cat, who has always been by her side, so she sounded very worried. If she didn't care about her cat, she wouldn't have used such a precious naming quota on her own cat.
She didn't expect that as soon as she said those words, the entire live stream chat would be filled with a joyful atmosphere, sweeping away the terrifying silence that Xiao Moli had brought earlier.
This netizen: ? What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the question I asked?
Xu Gui was somewhat helpless. As an aquatic creature, although she didn't know much about cats, after her brief interactions with them, she knew that a cat's purring meant it was comfortable. So, this netizen's question...
“Have you ever thought that your cat just loves you too much?” she said. “Because it loves you so much, it gets happy when you pet it and makes a comfortable meow.”
One netizen's voice trailed off: "So, my cat isn't acting like this because it's sick, but because it loves me too much?"
Xu Gui nodded firmly: "That's right!"
"...Is that so?" The netizen was flattered and then said happily, "Waaaaah, I knew my Tangyuan liked me the most! We're in love for each other!"
Hearing her words, other netizens commented: "We're not jealous at all! We don't feel jealous at all!!"
So what if your cat likes you? Our cat likes us too!! We're not envious or jealous at all!
Despite the envy and jealousy, everyone was still very happy for this couple's mutual journey. How to put it? It just felt warm and comforting, making people feel that the world is truly wonderful.
This incident completely dispelled the gloom that had been cast over Xiao Moli's situation in the live stream.
Everyone thought to themselves: Yes, although there are many filthy and unpleasant things in this world, there are also things that make people feel good. Things in this world are not simply black and white.
*
Next, Xu Gui asked a few more netizens to tell their fortunes, which caused time to fly by. When they arrived at their destination, everyone was still a little reluctant to leave.
"[We're here already? Didn't they say it would take two hours?]" netizens commented, then checked the time and found it was already 9:30.
Netizens: Wow, it's really been more than two hours!
Xu Gui had been talking the whole way and was getting thirsty. He took several gulps of water from his cup before getting off the bus.
Today they are going to the home of Fu Xia's father's friend, surnamed Wei. It is said that he had previously cooperated with Fu's family's company, which is why he knows Fu Xia's father.
Because Fu Xia kept muttering about Xu Gui's fortune-telling at home, Fu's father thought of his friend and introduced Xu Gui to her.
"Something has happened to the Wei family recently, and they probably need Master Xu's help..."
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