Chapter 131
[The Search for Xu Gui Plan...]
Quite suddenly, the search for Xu Gui began in earnest online, and by the time the production team found out, the topic had already climbed to the top of the trending searches.
Director: What the heck?
After the staff carefully explained what had happened, the director's lips twitched involuntarily, and he couldn't help but think to himself: As expected of Xu Gui, he always manages to bring a little "surprise" to himself and the netizens.
However, this is also a good thing for the production team, as it can bring them a lot of popularity.
I wonder where this person is hiding, setting up a fortune-telling stall?
Meanwhile, in Xu Gui's numerous fan groups, countless netizens were also discussing this matter, and everyone was very curious about where Xu Gui was hiding.
[I bet it must be a shady place, maybe a shopping mall. Little Turtle is afraid of the cold, and with the sun so bright outside, she definitely wouldn't set up a stall outdoors!]
【Then I bet it must be a place with lots of delicious food. Little Turtle has a sweet tooth and loves to eat, so he must like places with plenty of delicious food.】
Based on your guess, the only place the little turtle would appear is the "food court"?
No, Little Turtle likes quiet. The food court is too noisy; she definitely won't go!
Ugh, City A is so big, I really can't imagine where she'd go!
...
Where is Xu Gui at this very moment?
The answer is in a remote and quiet old neighborhood in City A. The advantage of this old neighborhood is that it is cool. The landscaping is well done, with trees everywhere. And now, Xu Gui has set up his stall under the shade of a tree with a huge canopy in the neighborhood.
In front of her was a familiar table (it had been with her ever since she started fortune-telling), on which sat cups of iced milk tea, their sides glistening with condensation.
Xu Gui bit the straw and took a big sip, sucking the soft and chewy taro balls into her mouth. She swallowed the iced milk tea and chewed the taro balls, her whole being exuding a sense of "comfort".
As for Yuan Lu and Yang Haolin, they sat next to Xu Gui, each holding a cup of milk tea and gulping it down. Yang Haolin had hidden his camera in the bushes behind Xu Gui, with the camera lens pointed at the light spots on the ground.
The viewers in the live stream looked at the spots of light projected onto the ground: "...So, we came here to see how beautiful these spots of light are?"
Why hasn't anyone found Xu Gui yet?
"Huh, you guys are... fortune telling?"
Just then, a surprised exclamation rang out. An elderly woman, with her hands behind her back and carrying a supermarket bag, strolled over, craning her neck to look at the banner next to Xu Gui and the others. Then, looking at Xu Gui and the others, she asked:
"You can tell fortunes? How much does it cost per reading?"
Xu Gui took a big gulp of milk tea, and after swallowing it, he said slowly, "It's free."
The words "no money required" seemed to trigger some key phrase instantly. Xu Gui and the others only felt a gust of wind pass by, and then the old lady sat down in front of them.
"It's free, then please help me calculate it," the old lady said.
Xu Gui: "...What do you want to calculate?" She put down the milk tea in her hand.
The old lady's eyes darted around, and she leaned closer to Xu Gui, whispering, "Then please help me calculate my marriage prospects!"
"..."
In the silence, Yang Haolin looked at the old lady in surprise and said, "Grandma, you're so old, do you still care about marriage?"
Upon hearing this, the old lady glanced at Yang Haolin with displeasure and said, "So what if I'm old? Does being old mean I don't have the right to pursue happiness? My husband has been dead for twenty or thirty years, can't I find someone else?"
Yang Haolin chuckled dryly: "That's not what I meant..."
"Hmph!" The old lady snorted and said arrogantly, "Also, why call me Grandma? Call me Auntie... I'm only sixty-eight years old this year. According to the average lifespan of ninety, I can live for at least another twenty years!"
The old lady, speaking with an air of youthful innocence, said, "In that case, I should definitely find a partner while I'm still young, so I won't be left without anyone to dance with when I go to the square."
Xu Gui nodded in agreement: "What you said makes sense."
Hearing Xu Gui's words, the old lady looked at Xu Gui with a hint of satisfaction and said, "You're such a good talker, unlike some people who are so young but have such rigid thinking, even more old-fashioned than us old folks."
Rigid thinking - Yang Haolin: "...You actually know what rigid thinking means."
The old lady glanced at him sideways and said, "Of course! Don't let my appearance fool you, I go online every day and I'm very fashionable!"
Everyone: We can tell, you really are fashionable! You even know the word "fashion".
...
There was a reason why the old lady wanted to have her marriage fortune told.
According to the old lady, she had a bad life. She lost her husband in middle age and raised three children on her own, supporting their education, marriage, and childbirth. She worked hard all her life. Now she lives with her eldest son and helps him take care of his grandchildren.
Her partner... that's what the old lady called him, was someone she met while square dancing. He was a retired teacher whose wife had died some years ago. They chatted for a while and found they got along very well, so they decided to live together.
The old lady sighed and said, "I thought that if the two of us lived together, we could help each other out if anything happened, and we could have each other's company wherever we went. We wouldn't need to take care of the children. But my son and his family just don't agree to this."
The old lady became somewhat sad as she spoke.
“They say I’m this old and still doing these things, aren’t I ashamed?” The old woman sniffed and said, “Why should I be ashamed? I’m not stealing or robbing, I’m just dating someone, and it’s all aboveboard. What’s there to be ashamed of?”
“I’ve worked hard for them for most of my life. After their father died, I was afraid that if I looked for another man, he would treat them badly. So no matter how hard life was, I gritted my teeth and persevered. I never thought about living with anyone.”
"But now, with three children, those who were supposed to get married have already gotten married, and those who were supposed to have children have already had children. I've been faithful for so many years, and now I just want to remarry. Have I broken some kind of law? Why is everyone against it? They even say that I'm not proper and that it's shameful to talk about it."
"I'm just looking for a partner, how is that improper or shameful? Does it mean that it's improper for me to look for a partner when I'm old? There's no such thing as a free lunch."
As the old lady spoke, she became increasingly angry, anxious, sad, and bitter, and tears began to stream down her face, which made people feel somewhat heartbroken.
Seeing this, Yuan Lu quickly handed her a tissue and said softly, "Please wipe your tears. Perhaps your children are worried that you've met the wrong person..."
Upon hearing this, the old lady retorted, "They're not afraid I'll marry the wrong person! They're clearly afraid that once I'm married, there will be no one to take care of their children! Ha, tell me, before they got married, I had to raise them, support their education, help them build their own lives, and watch them get married and have children..."
"Finally, they've all gotten married and had children, and my troubles are finally over. But after they have their kids, I'll still have to take care of their grandchildren!"
The old lady looked somewhat bewildered: "It seems like my whole life has revolved around them. After going around them, I'm now going around their children... If I have any objections, they have a lot of things to say to me, like how other grandmothers are like this or that, saying that they are my grandchildren too, how can I just ignore them?"
"But, but..."
The old lady felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. After all, her old friends all lived the same way: thinking about their children when they were young, and about their grandchildren when they were old, and their lives passed by peacefully and ordinarily.
"I just don't want this, I want a different life," the old woman said. "I just want to live a life that belongs to me, that's all I ask, why won't they agree? I didn't interfere much when they got married, so why do they have so many objections now that I want to get married!"
The old lady's words were actually somewhat incoherent and rambling; she probably didn't even realize how confused her expression and tone were.
It was as if even she herself didn't know what she wanted; she just instinctively wanted to escape her current life.
Xu Gui realized that the old lady didn't really want him to tell her fortune; she just had no one to confide in and wanted someone to talk to.
Viewers in the live stream couldn't see the old woman's face, but they could hear her voice. After hearing her words, everyone couldn't help but feel moved:
The old lady's words reminded me of my mother, who has spent her whole life working around the stove. Now that she's older, she's starting to focus on her grandchildren, cooking for the family and taking them to and from school. It seems like she's never had a life of her own.
[Grandma's words are so pitiful. She's spent her whole life thinking about her children, and now that she's old and wants to live a life of her own, her children won't even allow it. So, what's the point of having children?]
However, if I were the old lady's child, I wouldn't agree to meet someone from square dancing either. You don't know, the relationships between the old men and women who do square dancing are very complicated. They play around more than you can imagine. My neighbor's grandma was caught by her husband having an affair with other old men.
[Actually, I could tell that more than the insistence on marriage, the old lady was heartbroken by her children's lack of understanding, saddened that everything she did was rejected, and upset by her son's comment about her being "shameful." If I were in her shoes, I probably would have broken down too.]
I agree with the old lady. So what if she's old? No matter what age, everyone has the right to pursue happiness. The old lady is an independent person with a sound personality, so no one, not even her children, has the right to stop her from doing what she wants.
That's true, but the old lady is so old, and she needs to consider her future care. If she gets married like this, it means her children will have multiple stepfathers when they're all grown up. Nobody wants that.
This is actually a very complex issue. Different perspectives lead to different opinions, and it seems that both the old lady and her children have their own reasons.
Therefore, I have always disliked these kinds of trivial family matters. They are the most difficult to handle; if you're not careful, you'll end up in a mess and pleasing neither side.
...
Once the old lady had calmed down a bit, Xu Guicai spoke.
“So, if you want to have your marriage predicted with this old gentleman,” she looked at the old woman, “you need to predict whether this marriage will be good or bad. For example, whether you will be able to get married smoothly, or whether you will be able to live happily after marriage.”
"Calculating marriage compatibility" is a very broad term, encompassing many different aspects. It depends on what the old lady specifically wants to know.
Upon hearing this, the old lady asked, "Can't we count them all?"
Xu Gui: "...That's acceptable."
Upon hearing this, the old lady laughed and waved her hand, saying, "Then let's count them all!"
She muttered, "My children always say that if I remarry, life will definitely be difficult. So, can you calculate for me what will happen if I insist on marrying my current partner against my children's wishes?"
Xu Gui looked at her and spoke.
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