Grandpa Li walked into the living room, followed by Li Zihao, who had clearly been beaten and was wiping away tears as he walked.
When he reached Xu Gui and the others, he sat down heavily, looking at them somewhat embarrassed, and said, "This matter has truly made Master Xu laugh."
He exhaled, glared at the observant Li Zihao standing to the side, and scolded, "We didn't expect this little brat to be so bold, daring to scare us with something like this! We were really fooled by him!"
After all, Li Zihao's act was too convincing. As elders, seeing him like this, they would only worry if he was sick, and would never suspect that he was faking it.
Grandpa Li gritted his teeth and said hatefully, "I, Li Erniu, have been so clever all my life, and I was actually fooled by you, you little brat!"
The little brat was as quiet as a chicken, not daring to say a word.
"Thanks all, Master Xu," Grandpa Li said gratefully, looking at Xu Gui again. "Otherwise, we don't know how long this little brat would have kept fooling us!"
It was clear the old man was genuinely angry; before, he'd been calling his grandson "my dear grandson," but now he was calling him "little brat."
Thinking back on Xu Gui's earlier words, they realized every sentence was deeply meaningful. No wonder she'd said she'd feel guilty if she took too much money, and that Li Zihao's illness was simple, even a psychological one…
Basically, every word she said was telling them: the child was faking his illness.
Grandpa Li sighed, rubbing his forehead, regretting not thinking things through more. Well, it wasn't that he hadn't thought things through, but he'd been preoccupied with whether Xu Gui was a con artist.
Xu Gui looked at him and tentatively asked, "Even though your grandson is faking his illness, will you still give me the 500,000 you mentioned before?"
Surely she wouldn't refuse to give him the money just because she thought Li Zihao's "illness" was too easy to cure and that her role as "curer" was too relaxed?
Xu Gui muttered to herself.
Fortunately, Xu Gui was clearly judging others by her own petty standards. After hearing her words, Grandpa Li readily agreed, "Master Xu, please rest assured, I, Li Erniu, am an honest man in everything I do. I will not shortchange you a single penny of the 500,000 I promised! Here, I'll transfer it to you now!"
As the saying goes, if you're not eager to ask for money, there's something wrong with your thinking, so Xu Gui eagerly found her payment QR code and handed it over.
When she heard the sound of 500,000 being deposited into her account, Xu Gui felt as if she were listening to celestial music—indeed, the most beautiful sound in the world is the sound of money being deposited; it's just too beautiful.
After resolving Xu Gui's issue with receiving the money, the Li family, with stern faces, began questioning the child. They were genuinely curious about where Li Zihao got the inspiration to pretend to be possessed and deceive people.
He was truly audacious and utterly shameless.
Li Zihao cautiously raised his eyes to look at them, and said somewhat awkwardly in a low voice, "Because as long as I'm possessed and sick, you'll grant me whatever I want."
The Li family: "...That's it?"
Li Zihao nodded slightly.
The Li family couldn't help but take a deep breath, clearly very unsettled.
"How did you even think of faking possession to deceive people?" Grandpa Jiang was genuinely curious about this, after all, why would a child think of faking possession to deceive people for no reason?
Hearing this, Li Zihao said in a somewhat innocent tone, "It's Nan Nan. Nan Nan is sick. We went to see him at the hospital that day, and his parents were so good to him. They bought him whatever he wanted. Nan Nan wanted to eat KFC, so they bought him a huge bucket..."
After saying this, he even showed an envious expression on his face.
Zhou Wenwen's expression changed when she heard his words. Seeing everyone looking at her, she explained softly, "Nan Nan is Xiaohao's classmate. He has a tumor, and it's already in its late stage."
"..." Everyone immediately fell silent.
Zhou Wenwen looked at the children with a stern face and said, "So, that's why you pretended to be sick or possessed to deceive us?"
Li Zihao nodded, then whispered, "Nan Nan's parents used to be very strict with him, but as soon as Nan Nan got sick, they were so nice to him."
The children's thinking was simple. Seeing how doting their friend's parents were on him after he got sick, they only had one thought in their minds: being sick = their parents would give them whatever they wanted.
"Then why didn't you pretend to be sick, but pretended to be possessed? Whose idea was that?"
"...It was Lin Zihan."
Li Zihao betrayed his classmate without hesitation, saying seriously, "Lin Zihan said that if we pretended to be sick, our parents would take us to the hospital for a checkup, and they could tell if we were sick or not. But being possessed is different; the hospital can't detect it."
Zhou Wenwen and the others found it unbelievable: such young children actually knew this?
Zhou Wenwen subconsciously asked, "Then how did Lin Zihan come up with this idea?"
Li Zihao said, "He saw it at his maternal grandmother's house. He said that someone in his grandmother's village was possessed by an evil spirit, and the adults said that it couldn't be cured, and the doctors couldn't find anything! The only solution was to find a master to exorcise the evil spirit."
He said quite logically, "So, we can only pretend to be possessed so that we won't be easily exposed!" After all, if you're sick, a check-up at the hospital will confirm it.
Zhou Wenwen: ...You guys are really thoughtful.
Zhou Wenwen had another question. She looked at her son and asked suspiciously, "So, what exactly are you trying to do by pretending to be possessed? I've always believed that we've given you almost everything you want!"
Again, Li Zihao was their only son. They only had one child in the Li family, and they practically gave him everything he asked for. Therefore, Zhou Wenwen really didn't understand why Li Zihao was pretending to be possessed.
Hearing her words, Li Zihao secretly glanced up at her and whispered, "But you won't let me eat KFC."
Zhou Wenwen had considered many reasons why Li Zihao would do this, but she never imagined it would be because of the word "KFC." So, when she heard Li Zihao's reason, her mind went blank.
KFC... because of KFC? This was utterly absurd!
Zhou Wenwen laughed in anger, then suddenly stood up, grabbed the child, and went to a corner out of the camera's view to start beating him.
The viewers in the live stream couldn't see the footage, but they could hear Li Zihao's wailing, a sound so heart-wrenching it would bring tears to anyone's eyes. However, neither Xu Gui and the others in the living room nor the viewers in Xi Gui's live stream felt any pity.
At that moment, everyone had only one thought in their minds: He deserved it!
After beating the child until he was crying and screaming, Zhou Wenwen returned. This time, her expression looked much happier, a sense of satisfaction at finally venting her anger.
Looking at Xu Gui and the others, she smiled calmly and said, "The child was disobedient, making you all laugh!"
But she'd already laughed at them for so long, so nothing else mattered.
"Waaah..."
Li Zihao walked over, his backside burning, tears welling in his eyes. He glanced at his mother and whispered,
"I'm sorry, Mom, I know I was wrong. Please don't be angry."
Zhou Wenwen just sneered.
Grandma Li suddenly said, "Didn't they say that the kids who played with Xiaohao were all possessed? Those families probably don't know the truth yet, right? Also, we need to tell Ajun that we don't need to go to Master Wu anymore, and we don't need to go to the shaman in our hometown!" Hearing this
, Grandpa Li nodded repeatedly, saying, "You're right... I'll contact Ajun, and Wenwen, you contact the parents of Haohao's friends?"
Zhou Wenwen nodded.
The two went to make phone calls; Grandpa Li told his son to come back, while Zhou Wenwen went to contact the parents of the other children who, like Li Zihao, were "possessed."
Watching this scene, viewers in Xu Gui's live stream couldn't help but exclaim:
[These kids are incredibly brave! They really have no inhibitions whatsoever. Aren't they afraid of getting infected by something unclean?]
[You said it yourself, they're just kids. What do kids know? They only know that if they pretend to be possessed, they can eat KFC whenever they want!]
[These kids are infuriating! They're so bold! Other kids just pretend to be sick, but they're pretending to be possessed. Even I, an adult, wouldn't dare do that!]
[They're not only brave, they're really reckless. Have you forgotten? This kid even went to the kitchen in the middle of the night to eat raw meat. Could an average person do that?]
[Not only raw meat, but another kid also said he wanted to eat feces!]
[…This is truly a smelly topic.]
*
The Li family informed the other families that the children were faking it. It seems these kids have experienced today what it means to share both hardship and happiness.
By the time everything was resolved, it was already past 1 PM. Knowing that Xu Gui and her group hadn't had lunch, the Li family hurriedly invited them to eat at their home.
During lunch, despite the netizens' strong opposition, Xu Gui remained ruthless and resolutely shut down the live stream. Even after she ended the stream, many netizens stayed in the chat room, exchanging comments.
Meanwhile, Xu Gui, who had earned over three million that morning, had become number one in the program's rankings.
At this time, the ten guests were mostly taking a break. When they saw Xu Gui, who had seemingly skyrocketed to first place, they were all dumbfounded—the gap between Xu Gui and second place was enormous. Second place had only earned a little over three thousand, while Xu Gui had earned three and a half million.
"...Is this reasonable?"
"How can we compete with her? We're not even on the same level!"
"Is fortune telling really that profitable?"
The nine guests couldn't help but be in an uproar, and a sense of powerlessness welled up within them. It was only the first day, and Xu Gui had already earned over three million. How could they compete with her?
The gap is huge; Xu Gui is practically already in first place, right?
The fans of the nine guests are stunned. They were still cheering for their idols, and the competition is practically over. The gap started so incredibly large!
Even if their older brothers and sisters try their best to catch up, can they really close this gap?
[Who exactly is this Xu Gui? Earning 3.5 million in one morning… isn't this cheating? How can this show continue like this?]
[I heard she's a fortune teller. Because it's a monopolistic business, she can set her prices however she wants. This time, she specifically went to the [Peony Garden] community to make money off the rich! It's practically cheating!]
[This is so unfair! Isn't this scripted? I think the show doesn't even need to be filmed anymore; just give first place to this Xu Gui!]
[Wait, does she pay taxes for earning so much?]
[Are you some kind of genius?] ...
Xu
Gui's achievement of 3.5 million was truly eye-catching, leaving the other guests far behind with an overwhelming advantage. This caused the fans of the other nine guests to become somewhat disoriented. How
could they not be? The show had only just begun, and Xu Gui had already earned so much money. This figure was simply beyond the reach of the other guests, practically unattainable. Although the show's filming lasted for half a month, with fourteen days of competition remaining, if
the first day was like this, what could possibly change in the next fourteen days? Unless, of course, Xu Gui suddenly lost his fortune-telling abilities in the remaining fourteen days, but was that even possible?
Regardless of the attitudes of the nine guests, their fans couldn't accept it—were their idols participating in this show merely for participation? Were they there to highlight Xu Gui's prowess?
Therefore, the fans of the nine guests started to protest, venting their dissatisfaction online. Soon, the topic "Does Xu Gui really have no powerful backing?" quickly became a trending topic.
Under this trending topic, fans of the nine guests presented a series of evidence claiming that Xu Gui had powerful connections.
In their description, Xu Gui was portrayed as a "royal family member," with the other guests merely invited by the production team to support her. They spoke with such conviction and detail that even the director believed them.
The director remarked, "If I weren't involved, I would have believed your nonsense."
The fans of the nine guests commented:
"[I've always suspected something fishy about Xu Gui. How did she, a newcomer, land such a big role in '360 Trades'? Doesn't that mean she has powerful connections?]"—They selectively ignored the fact that the production team invited not only celebrities but also many ordinary people. "
[Ha, this person definitely has a sugar daddy, maybe some pot-bellied middle-aged man. It's amazing Xu Gui could be so shameless.]"
"[Don't you think she became famous too quickly?]" It's like there's a mastermind behind it all. I strongly suspect it's all scripted, and her so-called "divine calculations" are all part of the show's script.
[So, Hunan TV invited so many guests just to make this Xu Gui famous. That's quite a big spender. It seems Xu Gui's backer is really powerful.]
[Haha, look at the mess this has made! If Hunan TV had said earlier that this show was specifically for Xu Gui, our idol wouldn't have been this clown.]
[Xu Gui's fans are crazy. It's already abnormal for someone with no work to be so popular, and they still say there's nothing fishy about it.]
[Attention! Everyone, don't argue with those "divine calculations," focus on Xu Gui's taxes! Xu Gui charges three million for one calculation! This is illegal business operation; she hasn't paid taxes. Everyone can report her to the tax bureau for tax evasion! Report Xu Gui for illegal profits.]
[That's right, everyone go report her! Don't argue with the "divine calculations"!] [Losing her prestige]
...
Xu Gui was suddenly bombarded with criticism, especially in the afternoon after she earned another 900,000 yuan. The online criticism intensified, and the topic of her "tax evasion" surged to the top, immediately trending on social media with a "hot" tag.
Her fans, the "Divine Turtle," were stunned and somewhat panicked.
[Are these people crazy? Is it Xiao Gui's fault that she makes so much money? They're clearly just envious and jealous.]
[But they're now reporting Xiao Gui for tax evasion. I wonder if Xiao Gui has paid taxes on the money she earns from fortune telling.]
[Mainly, what profession is fortune telling? Does it require taxation?]
[Regardless of the profession, as long as you earn a certain amount of money, you should pay taxes, right? The question now is, has Xiao Gui paid taxes...?]
[She probably has? I remember Xiao Gui talking about this during a live stream before, she definitely paid!]
[Now that there's so much noise outside, what if they really report Xiao Gui?]
[Ha, acting like everyone can report others, we'll report them too! Hmph, we're all in this industry, I don't believe their older brothers and sisters can be clean. If we're going to fall, then we'll all die together.]
[I've already left a message under [Xinghai]'s official Weibo account, hoping they see this soon!] Xu
Gui's fans were also panicked. As fans, they naturally wanted the best for Xu Gui, but they genuinely didn't know whether Xu Gui had paid taxes on the money he earned from fortune telling.
The "Divine Turtles" fans also went all out: You reported our little turtle, then we'll report your brothers and sisters too! Nobody will get away with this!
Xu Gui's fans went berserk, and the fans of the other nine guests went berserk as well. Later, the number of people they reported was no longer limited to the ten guests, but directly spread the "war" to the entire entertainment industry.
You, a celebrity? Okay, report you!
Huh, this is also a celebrity? Don't let him go either, report him too!
In short, almost every celebrity with a name was reported in these few days. The celebrities who were originally just watching the show were dumbfounded: Wait, are all the fans of the ten families sick? Why are you dragging us innocent bystanders into your fight?
In short, because of the indiscriminate attacks by the fans of the ten families, it wasn't just Hunan TV that was in chaos, but the entire entertainment industry was in chaos.
Because today is September 13th, this day was later dubbed the "September 13th Entertainment Incident" by netizens in the entertainment industry, involving countless celebrities.
However, although many celebrities have been reported, Xu Gui is the one being criticized the most, as her name is trending on social media, making her a target.
Xu Gui herself only learned she was trending again when she returned to her hotel, but this time, it was for criticism.
Xu Gui: "..."
As soon as she returned, Kuang Ming called her over.
Kuang Ming had already seen the trending topic on Weibo, so he arrived at the hotel early and arranged a room for Xu Gui—she had earned so much money today, she could easily afford a single room.
So now, the two sat in this luxurious single room talking,
with Yuan Lu sitting beside them as her assistant. Kuang Ming asked Xu Gui about the tax issue—when they re-signed the contract, Xu Gui's fortune-telling money wasn't part of the company's revenue sharing, so this portion of the money was handled by Xu Gui herself.
"Tell me honestly, have you paid taxes on this money?" he asked Xu Gui with a serious expression.
Xu Gui nodded, "Yes."
Kuang Ming asked, "Are you sure?"
After asking, he took a breath and carefully explained the seriousness of the matter to Xu Gui, concluding, "It's okay if you haven't paid taxes. Just tell me honestly now, and we can still pay them off."
After all, Xu Gui earned this money through fortune telling, and there are currently no clear boundaries for the fortune telling profession. However, the amount Xu Gui earned through fortune telling is enormous, and she is now considered a public figure, attracting so much attention. Therefore, whether she has paid taxes is very important.
In this situation, if Xu Gui pays the taxes in time, it might still be possible to salvage the situation.
Hearing this, Xu Gui pouted unhappily and said, "I really paid it. Look, if you don't believe me, you can check my tax records. I've paid taxes on every single penny I earned from fortune telling!"
Kuang Ming looked at her suspiciously, and Xu Gui actually pulled up his tax records. He looked at them, and after reading them, he looked at Xu Gui with some surprise and said, "You actually... you really paid it?"
Xu Gui looked at him strangely and said, "Isn't this your human rule? Of course I have to follow the rules."
The turtle, who had only recently become human, had no idea that tax evasion existed. So, after remembering that she had to pay taxes on her earnings, she seriously went to the tax bureau to inquire about this issue and then paid all her taxes.
After that, she paid taxes on every single penny she earned. As for the money she earned as a celebrity, it was all after-tax, so Xu Gui's accounts were clean and impeccable.
After confirming that Xu Gui's taxes were indeed clean, Kuang Ming breathed a sigh of relief and felt at ease. He couldn't help but feel a little sentimental: Xu Gui was truly new to the industry, not yet tainted by its corrupting influence.
He acted with impeccable integrity and cleanliness. Having been in the industry for so many years, he knew exactly what it was like—a huge, unforgiving environment where no one could leave unscathed.
Therefore, watching the online drama, he felt a surge of schadenfreude.
He was now certain that Xu Gui's taxes were absolutely fine; he could confidently say that his Xu Gui could withstand any investigation. But what about everyone else in the industry?
Ha! These fans reporting and reporting—what if they end up discovering it's their own idol who's been exposed?
Kuang Ming imagined that scene and couldn't help but laugh: "Hmm, that would be hilarious!
I wonder how many people are already sweating buckets right now?"