A jinx, me? But I bring good fortune to my whole family!

The atmosphere in the courtyard was tense.

Grandma Lin's face twitched, and she almost choked. She pointed at Nuannuan, her fingers trembling violently.

"You...you little rascal, what nonsense are you spouting!"

Compensation? A big house? Those all belong to her family. What's in her pocket, you expect her to give back? Dream on!

Nuannuan hid behind Su Xiulan, peeked out her little head, looked at Grandma Lin with her big eyes, and seriously counted on her fingers.

"Your parents only have one daughter, Nuannuan. All their things belong to Nuannuan. If Grandma wants Nuannuan to go back with you, she has to return the things to Nuannuan. Also, the silver bracelet that Mom left for Nuannuan was taken by your aunt!"

After these words were spoken, the courtyard became unusually quiet. Even the head of Niulan Village couldn't keep his composure and his face turned very ugly.

What's going on here? They came to settle a dispute, and a five-year-old child exposed the entire history of their village. They took the orphan girl's compensation, seized her house, stole her belongings, and then abandoned the child. Now they're causing trouble and demanding to take the child back? They're shameless.

The villagers from the surrounding Hongxing Brigade looked at Old Lady Lin with disdain.

"My God, that old woman is absolutely despicable!"

"I see now. This 'picking up granddaughter' thing is just a ploy to extort money from people who think life is better now!"

"Extorting money? I think they just want to take advantage of this girl's looks and sell her for cash!"

These comments made Old Mrs. Lin's face turn bright red, and she was so angry that she jumped up and down.

"I didn't! What do you mean it's hers! That house has always belonged to my family! The compensation is for my son's retirement and funeral arrangements! What would a little girl like her need so much money for? She's a money-loser!"

"That's enough!"

The village head of Niulan Village roared, feeling that this old woman had completely disgraced him.

Gu Jianguo leaned against the wall, watching the farce unfold. His voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the courtyard heard him clearly.

"The Lin family, Nuannuan is right, that compensation and the house were left to her by her parents. It's illegal for you to take them!"

Ye Qing, who was leaning against the door, spoke.

"According to national law, when parents pass away, their children are the first in line to inherit. Her parents only have her as their daughter, so all of her inheritance should belong to her. Not only did you not give her a single penny, but you also abandoned her in the mountains, which is called abandonment. Seizing her property is called embezzlement. You are guilty of multiple crimes and could be imprisoned for several years."

Ye Qing's words startled Old Lady Lin and the head of Niulan Village.

They had never heard of terms like "law" and "heirs," but they understood the phrase "sentenced to prison for several years."

Old Mrs. Lin's legs suddenly went weak. She had never thought about these things before. In her mind, since her son was dead, his things naturally belonged to his mother. It was only right and proper!

The village head of Niulan Village broke out in a cold sweat. If this matter were to escalate to the commune level, he would be implicated as well.

Ye Qing glanced at Old Lady Lin's panicked face, then looked at the group of people from Niulan Village. A man was peeking in; Ye Qing recognized him as the one who had spoken to Old Lady Gu at the village entrance a few days ago.

How did he end up associating with the people from Niulan Village? It seems he's connected to all of these things.

"You...you guys, don't scare me!"

Old Mrs. Lin was still stubborn, but her voice was already weak, "I don't care about laws or regulations, those are my son's things!"

"Alright, stop embarrassing me!"

The head of Niulan Village grabbed Lin's arm and dragged her out of the yard, forcing an awkward smile at the village secretary of Hongxing Brigade and Gu Jianguo.

"It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding! This old woman is getting on in years and her mind is muddled! We'll go back right now, we'll go back right now!"

Old Mrs. Lin was pulled until she stumbled. She turned around, glaring venomously at Nuannuan, and screamed, "Fine! Fine! You ungrateful wretch! You've grown wings and climbed up the social ladder, haven't you! You can die right here! I'll pretend I never had a granddaughter like you! I don't care whether you live or die anymore!"

After saying that, she spat angrily on the ground.

Nuannuan wasn't sad at all when she saw her angry face. Instead, she made a face at her and then jumped into Su Xiulan's arms, hugging her legs tightly.

"Nuan Nuan doesn't want to be a bad grandma, Nuan Nuan likes her new mom!"

Su Xiulan felt a pang of tenderness and sadness upon hearing this. She knelt down, hugged her daughter tightly, and her eyes reddened.

This child has suffered so much.

From now on, she will treat her even better.

The farce has come to an end.

The people of Niulan Village slunk away.

On the way, their captain became angrier and angrier, and gave Old Lady Lin a good scolding.

"Look what you've done! You've completely disgraced our village! From today onwards, your family will have fifty work points deducted!"

Fifty work points is no small amount. Nowadays, men can't work, and Old Lady Lin was heartbroken. But she didn't dare to argue with the brigade leader, so she could only suppress her anger.

The group returned to the village committee compound and saw Wang Guixiang still lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), fast asleep.

Old Mrs. Lin's anger flared up instantly.

It's all because of that idiot daughter-in-law! She can't get anything done and has only caused trouble for herself!

She rushed over and slapped Wang Guixiang twice across the face.

Two loud snaps were heard.

Wang Guixiang was jolted awake by the slap, still a little dazed, and covered her face as she stared blankly at her mother-in-law.

"Mom...why did you hit me?"

"Hit you? I'll beat you to death, you jinx!"

Still not satisfied, Old Mrs. Lin pounced on Wang Guixiang and pinched her thigh several times, cursing, "You good-for-nothing! You can't even handle a simple task, and you've ruined your own life! You've ruined all our work points!"

In the courtyard, the villagers of Hongxing Brigade had all dispersed.

Su Xiulan closed the courtyard gate, turned around, and looked at Nuannuan who was still clinging to her leg. She felt both pain and anger.

She picked Nuannuan up in her arms and strode into the kitchen.

"No! I need to calm my little Nuannuan down!"

She slammed the pork she had just bought that morning onto the cutting board and began chopping the meat into minced meat with a clang.

"Mom's making you big meat buns today! Lots and lots of them, all this meat inside! You can eat them whenever you want!"

Gu Jianguo and his two sons smiled helplessly at her posture.

Not long after, Sister Hongxia from the village came in carrying a basket of eggs.

"Xiulan, are you home? I heard there were troublemakers again this morning?"

As soon as she entered the door, she smelled the aroma of meat, and the large pot on the stove was steaming.

"Oh my, this is... a meat bun?"

Sister-in-law Hongxia leaned over to take a look, and her eyes widened in astonishment. "My goodness, so much meat! Your family's life is getting better and better!"

Su Xiulan smiled, pulled Sister Hongxia inside to sit down, and then lowered her voice, speaking mysteriously.

"Sister-in-law, to be honest, my Nuannuan is such a lucky star!"

She whispered about how Da'an could repair radios and even sold them for over two hundred yuan.

Hongxia's sister-in-law was stunned. It took her a while to come to her senses before she slapped her thigh.

"I knew Da'an wasn't stupid! He really is a genius! I thought it was just a coincidence last time, but he fixed it again. Xiulan, you've finally made it through!"

As the two were talking, the first batch of large meat buns was cooked.

Su Xiulan placed the steamed buns on the table and whispered to Sister Hongxia, "Sister-in-law, I have some money now, and I'm thinking of renovating this house after the winter thaws in the spring."

This courtyard is rented, not my own home, so I don't feel at ease living here.

"Why bother fixing anything!" Sister Hongxia mumbled, taking a bite of her steamed bun, her mouth greasy. "Why don't you just go to the brigade and buy this yard? It's a run-down yard that nobody wants, it won't cost much."

"Xiulan, we're best friends, that's why I'm telling you this. Right now, this yard is dilapidated and nobody cares about it. If you fix it up, someone might get envious and want it. Then the price will be much higher, and it'll take you some effort to get it."

These are all true.

After buying it, Su Xiulan and Gu Jianguo exchanged a glance, both of them tempted.

Nuan Nuan, who was eavesdropping behind the door, blinked her big eyes.

Buying a house?

She ran out, hugged Gu Jianguo's leg, and looked up at him, speaking in a childish voice.

"Dad, we're not just buying a house!"

The little girl stretched out her tiny finger and pointed to the hill behind the window.

"Let's buy that mountain too! It's so big, Nuannuan can grow lots and lots of delicious things on it, and she can run and play on it!"