Chapter 24
When Wu Tingting discovered that Wu Xueya had gone to Li Ru's side, the string of reason in her mind snapped instantly.
"Calm down..." Wu Hao advised her.
But at this moment, Wu Tingting was no longer listening to any advice, especially when she saw Wu Xueya hiding behind Li Ru. This scene deeply stung her eyes, and she was immediately filled with the anger of being betrayed.
"...Lin Bowen, you come here right now!" She cursed as she rolled up her sleeves and walked towards Xu Gui and the others, yelling, "Have you forgotten who fed you, clothed you, and fed you all these years? If I had known you were an ungrateful wretch, I should have strangled you the moment I brought you back!"
Wu Xueya was already afraid of her, and seeing her expression made him even more flustered, his face turning pale.
But just then, a voice suddenly shouted.
"...Help! Child traffickers have kidnapped a child!" A clear, melodious female voice, like the tinkling of a spring, was of little interest to Wu Tingting. Her eyes, bulging with anger, stared at the young woman behind Li Ru as she shouted to the surrounding crowd.
"Big brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, come quick! This child trafficker is trying to snatch a child!"
Xu Gui looked around at everyone with bright eyes and said sincerely, "It wasn't enough that she secretly abducted someone else's child thirteen years ago, now she's trying to snatch another child. Uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters, can you bear to watch this mother and child, who have finally been reunited, be separated by human traffickers again?"
Everyone was stunned for a few seconds by her shout, but when it comes to enthusiasm, the flower growers are the most enthusiastic. Upon hearing Xu Gui's words, a kind-hearted older brother immediately stepped forward.
While showing off his impressively strong muscles, the older brother glared fiercely at Wu Tingting and her brother, saying, "Don't worry, little sister, if this human trafficker dares to come over, my big arms and legs aren't just for show!"
His strong and tall physique made his words quite convincing.
Most flower growers have another major characteristic: if no one takes the lead, their courage is only as small as a grain of rice. But if someone takes the lead, everyone's courage will instantly increase several times over.
Sure enough, as soon as the muscular man stepped forward, the other onlookers began to chime in with their own voices of agreement.
"That's right, little sister, don't worry. With us here, this human trafficker won't be able to touch you! If she dares to come any closer, we can each punch her to death."
"Pah! If this human trafficker dares to come any closer, my fists aren't to be trifled with!"
"Girl, take the child and come to the back first. Don't let the traffickers get close. These traffickers are very cunning. Who knows if they will snatch the child and run away!"
...
Looking at the crowd that had surrounded the three of them, Aunt Tuanzi was deeply moved and could only repeatedly say, "Thank you, thank you everyone!"
Xu Gui had already pulled Wu Xueya to hide behind the crowd—it's hilarious! They finally managed to snatch the child away, and if Wu Tingting took it back, how embarrassing would that be?
Watching Wu Tingting stand there in a helpless rage, screaming hysterically, she couldn't help but look at Wu Xueya beside her, hesitating to speak, and asked him, "This person... your adoptive mother, has she always been like this?"
She originally wanted to say "human trafficker," but considering that Wu Xueya had called her "Mom" for so many years, she chose to call her "adoptive mother" instead.
Wu Xueya nodded slightly, "Her emotions have always been somewhat unstable..."
Xu Gui felt that he was being too euphemistic. This wasn't just unstable; it was clearly a bomb that could explode at any moment.
Xu Gui hesitated for a moment, then couldn't help but reach out and pat Wu Xueya's head.
Looking into her eyes, Wu Xueya felt that although she hadn't said anything, it was as if she had said everything—her whole body seemed to say, "You're so pitiful."
Wu Xueya opened his mouth, as if he wanted to explain something, but he didn't seem to know how to explain it, so in the end he chose to remain silent.
But after a while, he suddenly asked Xu Gui, "...Why do you call her Aunt Tuanzi?"
Xu Gui snapped out of her daze and asked him, "Are you curious?"
Wu Xueya pursed his lips and stubbornly said, "I'm not that curious."
Xu Gui laughed and said, "Well, that's a long story..."
Before Wu Xueya's face could fall, she changed the subject, saying, "So, to make a long story short, this matter actually involves you."
Wu Xueya was bewildered: "...What does this have to do with me?"
Xu Gui looked at him gently and said, "You don't know, do you? I grew up in an orphanage. After you got lost, Aunt Tuanzi probably thought that you might end up in an orphanage one day, so one day, she came to our orphanage."
She whispered to Wu Xueya about Aunt Tuanzi's volunteer work at the orphanage. Wu Xueya listened carefully, squatting on the ground with his knees drawn up to his chest. He was touched by what Xu Gui was saying, but at the same time, he felt very lost.
He said, "...Actually, I used to hear my mom and the others talk about my aunt. They said she was a fool, that she was willing to give up her whole life for a child she couldn't find."
At that time, he only felt sorry for his aunt and her child, but he never expected that the poor lost child would be himself.
For him, this incident was too shocking and left him completely bewildered. On one side was his birth mother, who had been searching for him for thirteen years, and on the other side was his adoptive mother, who had stolen him but had indeed raised him for thirteen years... Even if the other party was a human trafficker, he had indeed called her "Mom" for more than ten years.
Wu Xueya murmured, "I don't know what to do."
Xu Gui looked at him, gently patted his head, and said, "It's okay, you can do whatever you want. You're a child, and you have the right to be willful. You don't need to listen to anyone who tells you what to do. Just listen to your heart."
She said, "Do whatever you want."
Upon hearing this, Wu Xueya seemed to understand something.
*
With the help of onlookers, Wu Tingting and her brother couldn't get close to Xu Gui and his group at all. Later, Wu Hao tried to leave, but was also stopped by the crowd. The situation remained deadlocked until the police arrived.
When the police arrived, they were startled by the standoff between the two sides, thinking that some violent conflict had occurred. They rushed in, but when they got inside, they found that the conflict was not that intense, since there were only two people on the other side, so it was not a serious conflict.
Upon seeing the arrival of the two police officers, the onlookers began to speak up:
"Officer, it's them! This brother and sister are human traffickers! They secretly abducted someone's child and lied to the child, making the child's biological mother search for them for thirteen years! This behavior is absolutely outrageous!"
"Yes, and these two are especially shameless. Even after being exposed as child traffickers, they still tried to snatch the child back. Officers, please arrest them quickly."
"And I suspect this woman might have mental problems. Officers, please be careful."
...
Everyone was talking at once, their voices overlapping, but the matter remained unclear, leaving the police even more confused.
The police had to speak up to quiet everyone down before asking, "Who called the police?"
At this moment, Xu Gui, who had been standing in the crowd, suddenly raised his hand and said, "I... I'm the one who called the police!"
She led Aunt Tuanzi and Wu Xueya to the police and said, "These two are the parties involved, and also the victims! This Ms. Li's child went missing thirteen years ago, and she has been searching for him for thirteen years..."
Xu Gui explained the whole story to the two policemen clearly and logically, and most importantly, she didn't go on at length.
The two policemen listened and couldn't help but look at her with admiration. They couldn't help but sigh in their hearts: if every person who reports a crime could explain the case as quickly and clearly as this person, much of their work would not be so slow.
After listening to Xu Gui's explanation, the police officers had a general understanding of the case and said, "...You will all come with us to the police station."
Wu Tingting seemed arrogant and irritable before, but she immediately calmed down when the police arrived. Clearly, she didn't actually have a mental problem; she was just playing hard to get.
When the police told them to go to the police station, Wu Tingting's first reaction was reluctance. She subconsciously turned to look at her older brother: "Brother..."
Wu Hao looked helpless. In the end, he was just an ordinary person. The police wanted them to go to the police station to cooperate with the investigation. Could he refuse?
And so, Xu Gui and his group, along with the Wu siblings, were all taken to the police station. The old man was too old, so Xu Gui told him to go home first and ask him to watch over his stall so that it wouldn't be damaged by some fool.
The old man couldn't help but think to himself: ...So I'm just here to watch your stall, huh?
Although he said that, his body language betrayed him; he had already strolled back with his hands behind his back.
The filming did manage to follow him all the way to the police station, but live streaming is not allowed in places like police stations, so he could only carry the camera and sit on a stool next to the police station, with the lens pointed at the police station's entrance.
At this time, the story about Aunt Tuanzi and her son had become a trending topic, and the netizens who came to the scene saw the gate of the police station.
One netizen asked in confusion: "Did the streamer end up in jail?"
Others: ?!
You're really daring to dream big.
*
To be precise, this matter didn't have much to do with Xu Gui, so after the routine questioning, she ended the conversation.
Aunt Tuanzi and Wu Xueya, as the parties involved in the case, spent more time on it.
Aunt Tuanzi told Xu Gui to leave first. Her weathered face now held a resolute expression as she said, "Don't worry, I'm an adult now. I'll handle this myself..."
She added, "Aren't you filming a show right now? You can't waste your time on me, can you? Be careful the production team doesn't complain."
When the production team was mentioned, Xu Gui's gaze shifted for a moment, and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
Her show production is inconsistent, like she's only working on it sporadically...
"Then, I'll head back now?" she asked Aunt Tuanzi.
Aunt Tuanzi nodded: "Okay, go ahead."
Xu Gui, still worried, repeatedly reminded him, "If anything happens, you must contact me, okay?"
Aunt Tuanzi smiled and nodded, "Okay." Her tone was somewhat helpless.
After watching Xu Gui leave, Aunt Tuanzi's eyes gradually hardened, as if she was about to rush to the battlefield—but how could fighting the villains of the Wu family not be a battlefield?
...
Xu Gui was released from the police station.
The person filming was looking at their phone when they suddenly looked up and saw Xu Gui coming out. They quickly picked up their camera and went to greet him.
"Teacher Xu, are you alright?" the cameraman asked. "What did the police say about this?"
Xu Gui glanced at him and said, "I'm fine. The police said that this matter needs further verification. Only if it is confirmed will a formal case be opened for investigation."
The person filming said, "I just watched the live stream. A netizen who lives in the same community as the Wu family said that Ms. Li's former mother-in-law has been notified by phone to come to the police station to cooperate with the investigation."
Xu Gui's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
Yes, there is another person involved in this matter, namely Ms. Wu, the mother of the Wu siblings. She was the one who took the children out to sunbathe, but when they came back, she said the children were lost. She is also one of the culprits in this matter.
Having watched the live stream and learned quite a bit about what was going on, the reporter sighed, "I heard from that netizen that although Ms. Li is divorced from Mr. Wu, she still visits the elderly couple from time to time, bringing them gifts and calling them 'Mom' and 'Dad' repeatedly, acting very affectionately towards them..."
At this point, even the guy filming couldn't help but exclaim, "This family is so heartless!"
Ms. Li even called them Mom and Dad. Seeing how anxiously Ms. Li was searching for her child, didn't they feel any sympathy or guilt at all?
They even made the child call Ms. Li "auntie," aren't they afraid that Ms. Li will discover the truth someday?
Thinking of the suffering Aunt Tuanzi had endured over the years, Xu Gui's face turned cold. She said softly, "They probably think that Aunt Tuanzi will never know about this, so they are fearless..."
After all, no normal person would imagine that their lost child would be taken away by their own grandmother or aunt, and that they would even openly raise the child as their own.
They might even feel a perverse pleasure watching Aunt Tuanzi search for her child.
But thinking about it this way, Xu Gui got even angrier.
*
Meanwhile, Wu Hao and Wu Tingting's mother received a call from the police station in front of countless people in the neighborhood. At the time, she was boasting to everyone about how filial her children were and how good her former daughter-in-law was to her.
"...So, if you want your family to be harmonious, you have to treat your daughter-in-law well." She said with an air of experience, "Look at me, not only is my current daughter-in-law very filial to me, but even my previous daughter-in-law always thinks of me and calls me during holidays."
While saying this, she completely forgot what she had done to her former daughter-in-law, as if she and her former daughter-in-law were really a loving mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, until the police called.
She was elderly and had her phone volume very high. As soon as the police spoke, everyone present heard it and immediately noticed that Wu's mother's expression changed. When Wu's mother heard the police say, "You are suspected of child abduction," her expression almost collapsed.
After all, only she knows what she did.
After hanging up the phone, she tried to remain calm, turned to look at everyone, and said with a forced smile, "Scam call, scam call!"
Her reason did convince many people, since Wu's mother had always maintained a good public image, and no one would believe she was the kind of person who would abduct children.
However, after receiving the call, Wu's mother was clearly distracted. After sitting for a while, she made an excuse and hurried home.
But she didn't know that after she left, a murmur suddenly broke out in the crowd:
"Look at this trending topic! Aren't these Zhou Fang's son and daughter?" — Zhou Fang is indeed Wu's mother's name.
"Wow, am I seeing things? This says Zhou Fang's grandson is actually her eldest grandson who went missing before? In fact, that grandson was never lost; Zhou Fang took him to raise for her daughter, Wu Tingting!"
"...This is truly heartless! Li Ru has been so good to her mother-in-law. She just said that Li Ru calls her during holidays. Doesn't she feel guilty saying such things?"
"That family is so heartless!"
“I told you long ago that this family is no good. If they were really good people, how could they have raised someone like Wu Tingting? And why would they have let Wu Hao and Li Ru divorce just because Li Ru insisted on finding the child? Only you are blind to think that they are a harmonious family.”
...
Unbeknownst to many, the story of the Wu family abducting a child has become a trending topic. The Wu family, as well as Wu Tingting's in-laws and their relatives and friends, and the neighbors, have all seen this trending topic.
I wonder how many people know about the evil deeds their family members have committed.
At this moment, Wu's mother was unaware of all this. She took her phone and hurried home. It wasn't until she entered the house that the panic on her face became fully apparent.
"Old Wu, Old Wu!" she shouted as she rushed into the house, "I just received a phone call. They said they came from the XX Police Station and that I'm suspected of child abduction. They want me to go to the police station to cooperate with the investigation!"
She asked anxiously, "You mean... this doesn't mean that Bowen's affair has been discovered?"
Mr. Wu was sitting in the living room when he heard her words and was taken aback. Then he asked, "...You also received this call?"
This question left Wu's mother somewhat bewildered. She instinctively asked in return, "Did you receive it too?"
Mr. Wu nodded and said calmly, "Don't worry, this is definitely a scam call. If you actually do what he says, our pensions will be taken by them!"
Wu's mother sat down, frowning, and said, "But I'm so worried, I have a feeling something's going to happen... Do you think it's possible that Bowen's affair has been discovered?"
Mr. Wu rolled his eyes and said, "This has been going on for thirteen years. If it could have been discovered, it would have been discovered long ago. The child is all grown up now, and everyone thinks he is Tingting's biological son. There won't be any problems with this."
Wu's mother sighed and said, "I just feel that we were too impulsive back then. It would have been fine if Tingting had a child outside. We didn't necessarily have to have Li Ru's child, did we? Li Ru is very filial to us."
Mr. Wu said, "The child we brought back from outside has no blood relation to our family. How can we raise him properly?"
At this point, Mr. Wu snorted and said, "We've discussed it with Li Ru before. It's not like she and Wu Hao can't have children. What's wrong with giving the first child to Tingting? An aunt raising her nephew is such a good thing. The Lin family is so rich, all the Lin family's property will belong to that child in the future. But she just won't agree!"
He said, "If she hadn't done that, why would we have taken the risk and carried the child away behind her back?"
If it weren't for the fact that Wu's father and Wu Tingting are biological father and daughter, their thought processes would be exactly the same. They would both think it was Li Ru's fault, that she was heartless, but they would never mention the evil things their own family had done.
Recalling what happened back then, Wu's mother couldn't help but nod and said, "We didn't give that child up for adoption without any reason. It's just that Tingting can't have children. Wouldn't it be better to adopt our own brother and sister-in-law's child instead of keeping her outside?"
Wu Tingting had an abortion when she was young, and later developed a habitual miscarriage problem. After marrying her current husband, she became pregnant with several children, but she was unable to keep any of them. Out of desperation, she decided to have Tuanzi's child.
Wu's mother concluded, "Li Ru is just too stubborn!"
The elderly couple were discussing this matter when they suddenly heard someone banging loudly on their front door, followed by the voices of their in-laws.
"Oh, it's Tingting's in-laws..." Wu's mother stood up and went to open the door: "Why are they here?"
The moment the door opened, before Wu's mother could even greet them with a smile, she heard the person on the other end shout, "Look what your family has done! Now the whole world knows your daughter has abducted a child!"
After saying that, they bluntly stated, "Divorce! We must get a divorce!"
Wu's mother was stunned by these harsh words and couldn't help but ask, "In-laws, what do you mean by that?"
The two elderly people in the Lin family looked at her and, seeing that her expression didn't seem fake, said, "You haven't seen today's trending topics, have you?"
Lin's mother opened her phone, clicked on the relevant trending topics, and handed it directly to Wu's mother, saying, "Take a look! All the filthy things your family has done have been exposed... Now the whole country knows that your family are human traffickers!"
"Hmph, I can't let my son's reputation be ruined by your daughter. I shouldn't have let my son marry your daughter in the first place... Not only is she bad-tempered, but she's also a barren hen. What's the point of marrying her?"
Lin's mother's words were full of disdain, clearly showing that she harbored deep resentment towards Wu Tingting, and her words were filled with uncontrollable anger and contempt.
When Wu's mother was spoken to, she just stared intently at the news trending on social media.
[…Ms. Li searched for her son for many years, only to find out thirteen years later that her son was being held by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law…]
As Wu's mother watched, only one thought crossed her mind: It's all over, everything is over!
Suddenly, her eyes rolled upwards, and her body fell straight backwards, landing on the ground with a thud.
*
Xu Gui was unaware of the farce involving the Wu family, but she knew that the Wu family was now infamous.
However, although she was thinking about it, just like Aunt Tuanzi said, she was filming a show and couldn't run around, so she could only obediently return to the bridge to set up a stall and earn money.
When there were no customers, she would talk to everyone in the live stream about Aunt Tuanzi—the more pitiful Aunt Tuanzi was, the worse the Wu family's reputation would become. She didn't mind adding fuel to the fire for the Wu family's reputation.
The show's director watched her chat with everyone in the live stream, his lips twitching slightly. He asked the assistant director beside him, "Is she switching careers to become an online influencer and make money?"
Assistant Director: Don't ask me, I don't know.
They didn't expect such an oddball to appear among so many guests. The other guests came from all walks of life, each with their own unique style. Some were involved in the stock market, some were doing construction work to attract attention, and some were running a stall... Anyway, no matter who they were, everyone was working hard to win first place on the show.
However, among all of them, only Xu Gui seemed to have the word "give up" written all over her body, starting from some unknown day. She did her live streams every day like clocking in for work, and she would leave early from time to time.
The director stroked his chin thoughtfully, "I paid her 500,000 yuan for the appearance, and she's so unmotivated (this leisurely and carefree attitude won't do! I need to think of something!)"
The director's eyes gleamed, and the assistant director, watching from the side, knew that the director was about to torment the guests again. Realizing this, the assistant director felt a sense of relief.
Sigh, the director hasn't caused any trouble in so long, he's not used to it anymore.
...
However, the director really misunderstood Xu Gui. Xu Gui admitted that she was indeed suspected of slacking off before, but since realizing her predicament, she has made up her mind to work hard to earn money.
She had already calculated that she could earn 500 yuan per fortune telling. If she told fortunes for ten people a day, she could earn 5,000 yuan, which would amount to 150,000 yuan a month. In that case, she could save enough money for Dongzhi's surgery in just six months.
That's right, things always take unexpected turns. First, the boss's wife treated everyone, and then there was Aunt Tuanzi's matter. She can't just ignore Aunt Tuanzi's matter, can she?
However, she's back now, and she'll work hard.
As Xu Gui thought this, she tried to keep her eyes open and watch the customers coming and going. However, she was right before that their line of work did depend on fate, especially since many people don't believe in this now, so the number of customers who come to have their fortunes told is really limited.
Xu Gui only served five customers that day, until she closed up shop in the afternoon, but she didn't mind.
Before packing up, she took out her earnings notebook and wrote down her income for the day. Halfway through writing, she suddenly remembered something, looked up and asked the cameraman next to her, "Ma'am, do I need to pay taxes on the money I earn from fortune telling?"
The guy filming him: !
"That's a good question!" the cameraman said. Just when Xu Gui thought he could answer his question, he changed the subject and said, "I'll ask the director later."
Xu Gui nodded obediently: "Okay."
She continued keeping the accounts.
The person filming her curiously watched her movements and asked, "Ms. Xu, do you mind if I film you?"
Xu Gui nodded and generously showed the notebook.
She currently has over 700,000 viewers in her live stream, with a peak of nearly 1.5 million. However, most of these viewers came because of Aunt Tuanzi and her friends' situation. Once they realized there wasn't much excitement left, many left, but a considerable number stayed, and the final number of viewers remained around 700,000.
Curious, everyone looked over and saw that she had written down her income and expenses for the day in detail. The most eye-catching item was: "The landlady treated us to lunch, so it didn't cost any money. The food at the landlady's house was so delicious! (Expenses: 0)".
Her accounts were also written very clearly and were easy to understand.
Xu Gui had never kept track of her expenses before, but the photographer, recalling her earlier words, couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Xu, are you short of money?"
Xu Gui nodded: "We're really short of them, so I need to work hard to earn money."
"...If you can win first place on our show, you'll definitely be rich," the cameraman casually remarked. "The winner of our show not only gets a million-dollar prize, but also endorsements from all sorts of big brands."
These endorsements will come with endorsement fees, which will bring in a large sum of money.
The photographer estimated: "...The winner will at least earn one or two million, right? Not to mention the series of benefits that will follow, they will definitely earn more than they have now."
Xu Gui had already taken a breath and uttered an ignorant voice: "One or two million?"
She calculated what she could do if she had one or two million... There were so many things she could do. Not only could she get Dongzhi surgery, but she could also renovate the orphanage, as many of the facilities there were outdated and should have been replaced long ago.
Xu Gui, Xu Gui has started dreaming.
"...How can I get first place?" she asked the photographer humbly.
The cameraman pointed at himself and asked, "You're asking me?" The guest was asking the cameraman a question—this was practically turning the world upside down!
Xu Gui nodded seriously and said, "I want to get first place!"
The haters in the live stream, after listening to her words, finally couldn't help but sneer.
—That's right, besides having a lot of fans, Xu Gui has also gained quite a few haters.
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