Chapter 20
Xu Gui's eyes darted around, and suddenly an idea came to him.
She wiped the stains off her body with a wet wipe, and after cleaning herself up, she went back to the old man's stall and squatted down next to it.
She clasped her hands on the edge of the table, her bright, lively eyes peeking out from under the table, looking at the old man with an innocent yet expectant expression.
"Gurgle." A sound came from her mouth.
The old man's lips twitched slightly as he looked at her, somewhat speechless, and asked, "What kind of sound is that?"
Xu Gui said, "Gurgle, that's the sound of bad water bubbling up... Doesn't everyone say that 'gurgling up' means bad water is bubbling up?"
The old man chuckled at her words and asked, "So, what kind of wicked thoughts are brewing in your mind right now?"
Xu Gui's eyes darted around. She had beautiful eyes that sparkled with a lively light when they moved. She looked at the old man expectantly and asked, "Is your grandson busy right now? I'd like to ask him for a favor."
The old man was taken aback: "Bai Yi?"
Xu Gui nodded and earnestly explained the reason: "Because of some things, I've been having some bad luck lately. Mr. Lu was very kind, so I wanted to borrow some of his good luck."
The old man hesitated for a few seconds, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, but instead asked, "Will borrowing his luck have any effect on him?"
"No way." Xu Gui shook her head firmly, gesturing with her hand: "Mr. Lu's luck is as vast as an ocean; I only need a handful of it!"
She clasped her hands together in a cupping motion, indicating, "Just this much!"
The old man confirmed: "Really?"
Xu Gui nodded like a chick pecking at rice: "Really!"
The old man's gaze swept over her face for a moment before he said, "Alright, I'll call him over... Tsk, look at the way you fell, you almost got disfigured, didn't you?"
He was referring to the injury near Xu Gui's eye. When he fell, he was scratched by a branch. At the time, it didn't seem like a big deal, just a minor cut. But now, a little blood has seeped out, making it quite noticeable.
Upon hearing his words, Xu Gui subconsciously touched the scratched area, then sniffed and comforted him, "It doesn't hurt." It was unclear whether she was comforting someone else or herself.
The old man took out his phone to call his eldest grandson. While he was on the phone, Xu Gui squatted to the side, watching him with pleading eyes. His expression was incredibly pitiful.
The call connected, and the old man said, "Hello, grandson, it's me, your grandpa!"
Lu Baiyi on the other end of the phone: "...I know it's you." It's just that every time the old man speaks like this, he gets a subtle feeling, as if he's been scolded.
Lu Boyi gestured for his secretary to put the documents down and asked, "Grandpa, is there something you need?"
The old man said casually, "I need your help with something here, come over here... Oh, and if you have any leftover snacks, bring them over too, someone here really likes them!"
The old man spoke very quickly, each word bursting out like exploding beans. Before Lu Boyi could reply, the old man had already made his decision, saying, "Alright, that's it for this matter. Hurry up and come over. I'm hanging up now!"
beep!
The call has already ended.
Lu Boyi glanced at his phone, which had already been disconnected, and looked up to ask his secretary about his schedule for the day. After confirming that there was nothing important, he stood up and said, "I have to go out for a bit now. If there's anything I need to handle, please call me again."
Throughout the entire process since I answered the phone, he has remained very calm.
The secretary replied, "Okay."
On the other side.
Xu Gui returned to her stall, full of confidence and enthusiasm, and ten minutes after she sat down, her first customer of the day arrived.
He was an old man, who looked like a retired man. The reason I said he was retired was because he was wearing a fisherman's hat and carrying fishing gear. He was dressed exactly like a fisherman, looking exactly like a retired person who had found new employment (fishing).
The old man also had a rather sly look about him. After sitting down, he looked around as if to make sure no one was watching him. As for the camera on the table next to Xu Gui, the old man only glanced at it and didn't think much of it.
Viewers in the live stream: [Hey, you didn't expect this, did you? There are hundreds of thousands of people watching you!] Sure enough, the saying that there are cameras everywhere in life is absolutely true.
However, Xu Gui's live stream has already blurred out irrelevant people. Any passersby who enter the live stream have their faces completely blurred out, and apart from acquaintances, no one will know who they are.
...
Once he was sure no one was paying attention to him, the old man whispered to Xu Gui, "Master, please tell me quickly, where should I bait my fishing spot today?"
The old man gritted his teeth, full of ambition, and said, "Today I will definitely avenge myself and show them that I'm not just good at the air force!"
But the next second, the old man changed his tone and said, "So, Master, you must find me a spot where I can catch a lot of fish! I made a bet with someone that I could catch five big fish today, and I can't lose." This was a matter of his pride.
Speaking of this old man, his surname is Wu, so we'll just call him Old Wu.
Mr. Wu is indeed a retiree. Since he had nothing to do after retirement, he directly joined the ranks of anglers, and thus got to know countless anglers. However, although Mr. Wu has been an angler for a year and a half, when it comes to his fishing record...
It is known that Mr. Wu's current fishing record is three small fish, and this record can be verified.
For Mr. Wu, going home empty-handed is a daily occurrence. His fish basket is empty 365 days a year. Because of this, he is often ridiculed by his fellow anglers, who call him "the fish dislike". Mr. Wu is very dissatisfied with this title and has always secretly wanted to catch a big fish so that everyone will treat him differently.
As for the outcome... well, that's hard to say.
Yesterday, in a moment of impulsiveness, and witnessed by countless fellow anglers, Mr. Wu made a bet with an angler he had long clashed with, betting on whether he would come back empty-handed today.
If Old Wu wins, the other party will call him "Big Brother," but if the other party wins, he will call the other party "Big Brother."
After his impulsive decision, Mr. Wu regretted it. After all, with his fishing skills and luck that had been consistently poor for 365 days, where did he get the confidence to make this bet with others?
Last night, when Old Wu returned home, he was full of sighs and regrets. When it was time to go to bed, he couldn't sleep at all, tossing and turning all night, and was even scolded by his wife for it.
Because of this incident, Old Wu barely slept all night. When he woke up in the morning, his eyelids were covered with dark circles. After leaving the house today, he dragged his feet and didn't go out until the very last minute.
However, after leaving the house, Mr. Wu did not head straight to the fishing spot that everyone had agreed on, as he usually did. Instead, he lingered on the road, hesitant to move forward.
Just then, Old Wu saw Xu Gui's fortune-telling banner and a thought suddenly struck him.
Old Wu's face was somber: Now, we can only resort to metaphysics!
After hearing the whole story, Xu Gui and the netizens in the live stream commented: "[...So you're so cunning, you had someone calculate the fishing spot for you?] This fishing enthusiast is truly terrifying."
*
"Master, how is it? Can you calculate this?" Old Wu looked at Xu Gui expectantly.
Xu Gui pondered, "This isn't entirely out of the question..."
She pushed the QR code in front of Old Wu and said, "Five hundred for sincerity!" She was someone who was trying hard to earn money now, so her attitude towards receiving money was definitely very positive.
Although Old Wu felt that five hundred was a bit expensive, given his current situation, what other way could he find to help him besides taking a gamble with metaphysics? Unless he could be instantly possessed by a fishing god, but do you think that's possible?
"It really works, don't lie to me, okay?" Old Wu asked repeatedly when paying.
Xu Gui nodded repeatedly, ensuring that he would respond to every question from Old Wu without showing the slightest impatience.
After Mr. Wu paid, Xu Gui looked at his balance, counting the decimal points, and felt quite satisfied.
“…Sir, when you get there, just walk three steps to your left from where you were originally supposed to bait the spot! You can bait the spot and fish there, and I guarantee you'll catch a really big fish!” Xu Gui said.
"Would you like to move three steps to the left of the spot where you were originally going to place the bait?" Old Wu nodded seriously, indicating, "I've got it!"
After saying that, he looked around furtively, and seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he picked up his fishing gear and quickly left. Little did he know that behind him, a dark camera had recorded his every move, including his furtive behavior.
Live stream: [Watching a show.JPG]
...
After finishing his calculations, Old Wu picked up his fishing gear and headed to the fishing spot where everyone had agreed to meet that day.
In their fishing group, everyone had sent him a lot of messages urging him on, constantly asking him "Where are you?" and "Are you almost there?" Among them were some people making sarcastic and mocking remarks. One person named "Wang Chengde" was the most active in the group.
Wang Chengde was the fishing buddy he didn't get along with.
[Wu Yongfa, where are you? Why aren't you here yet? Are you scared?]
If you want to just admit defeat, that's fine, but don't forget, you'll have to call me "Big Brother" then.
So, if your skills aren't up to par, don't be stubborn; otherwise, you'll only end up embarrassing yourself!
Wang Chengde's sarcastic remarks in the group chat came one after another, which infuriated Old Wu. He picked up his phone and started typing furiously. A few seconds later, a message appeared in the group chat:
Wu Yongfa: [Wait! Your grandpa's here!]
...
Old Wu arrived at the fishing spot holding his breath, but as he picked up his fishing rod and prepared to bait the area and start fishing, his brain, which had been feverish with anger and frustration, gradually calmed down.
Okay, he's certainly made some tough talk, but the problem now is, how is he going to catch any fish? He knows his own skills perfectly well; he's not exactly a natural catcher. The three fish he caught before were only the size of a finger—pure luck.
Or, we could hire someone to swim down to the bottom and put a fish on our hook?
Old Wu tried to find humor in his own predicament, and ended up laughing at himself.
"...Old Wu." A fishing buddy who was on good terms with Old Wu came over and whispered, "Are you really confident you can catch a fish? Look at how smug Wang Chengde is. If he wins this bet, he'll probably become even more arrogant!"
Old Wu thought to himself: That's right.
I glanced at Wang Chengde and saw that the man was so smug, it made me angry.
But what should we do now?
Just as Old Wu's face scrunched up in a frown, he suddenly remembered what Xu Gui had said.
"...Move the spot where you were originally going to bait the spot three steps to the left." He muttered to himself as he glanced at the location, then decisively picked up his fishing gear and took three steps to the left.
Since it's come to this point anyway, he might as well indulge in superstition this once.
With the thought of trying anything, Old Wu quickly completed all the preparations, then baited the hook, cast the line, and fished—all in one smooth motion.
He was heartbroken and prepared for the worst, but just three minutes after casting his line, he saw the float on the water move.
Old Wu's eyes widened involuntarily: This, this, this taking three steps to the left actually works?
He became even more excited when he picked up the fishing rod and started reeling in the fish.
"...Old Liu, come quick! I've landed a big catch!" He shouted to his friend Old Liu, who was fishing. Upon hearing this, Old Liu immediately put down his fishing rod, grabbed a landing net, and came over.
When the others heard the words "big cargo," they perked up their ears, stopped fishing, and gathered around Old Wu to watch the excitement.
Is it a large shipment?
"It looks like it... Wow, I see the fish's tail! It has a huge tail, this fish must weigh at least thirty pounds, right?"
"What kind of fish is this? Is it a grass carp?"
Everyone was whispering amongst themselves, while Wang Chengde, who had made the bet with Old Wu, was practically bulging his eyes out. At that moment, he had only one thought in his mind: How could this be possible?
*
At this moment, at Xu Gui's stall.
Xu Gui just saw off a fortune teller. She was young and beautiful, and compared to the fortune teller, she looked more like a glamorous celebrity. She didn't seem reliable, and logically, not many people would come to her for fortune telling.
Strangely enough, quite a few people still seek her out for fortune telling, and the high price of 500 yuan doesn't scare them away.
Regarding this question, viewers in the live stream offered their opinions: "If I saw a beautiful young woman setting up a fortune-telling stall on the street, I'd also go up and have my fortune told. I wouldn't even bother with a 50-cent price tag, but if she's asking for 500 yuan, and she's so young and pretty, then I'd have to see what she's got!"
After all, this generation of netizens is characterized by rebellion, just like Mr. Ang Lee before them.
Just then, the old man's grandson arrived.
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