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

Mountain Eagle found it extremely funny, and he raised an eyebrow and snorted through his nose.

"You? You can fix this?"

His bronze face and sharp eyes swept over Gu Da'an from head to toe, finally settling on his blank expression.

"Kid, stop messing around. This thing is very valuable; it could be ruined if you drop it."

Gu Da'an tilted his head, looking completely innocent.

"Is it that difficult?"

This rhetorical question stumped the mountain eagle.

is it hard?

This is the latest model from the military factory; there are only a handful of people in the team who know how to handle it.

Not to mention repairs, if there's a problem, it has to be sent back to the factory for inspection by a specialist.

This kid actually asked him if it was difficult?

The mountain eagle was so angry it laughed.

"Did you go to university? What did you study?"

Gu Da'an shook his head honestly.

He looked at the iron box that the mountain eagle was holding tightly in its arms, and added another sentence.

"Isn't this something anyone can do with their hands?"

"..."

Mountain Eagle was completely speechless.

He had lived for almost thirty years, and this was the first time someone had said something so hurtful with such an innocent expression.

He instinctively hid the radio behind his back, afraid that the kid would break it.

Gu Da'an didn't urge him, but just watched quietly.

After a while, he closed his eyes and made up his mind.

"Anyway... it's already broken. You... really don't want to try?"

This statement struck a nerve with the mountain eagle.

Yeah, it's already broken anyway, and we can't contact the outside world. He and this silly boy are going to be trapped in the mountains and die.

We might as well try anything, even if it seems hopeless.

Although the possibility of this happening is very low.

After struggling for a long time, the mountain eagle finally gritted its teeth and shoved the radio into Gu Da'an's hand, its tone filled with a sense of resignation.

"Fine! You do it! If you can make it work, I'll call you 'brother' from now on!"

Gu Da'an took the metal lump, his face calm.

He carried the radio to the fire and carefully observed it by the firelight.

At first, Shan Ying was quite nervous, watching closely as if afraid he would break the parts, but as he watched, he realized something was wrong.

This kid didn't use any tools at all; he just tapped the casing with his fingers and put his ear to it to listen for any sounds.

Then he picked up a twig from the ground, poked it into a small hole, and fiddled with it a few times, completely focused throughout the process.

As the mountain eagle watched, his eyelids started to droop, so he decided to let it be.

He fell asleep leaning against the stone wall.

He didn't know how much time had passed when a rustling sound entered his ears.

The mountain eagle sprang up from the ground with a start, its hand instinctively reaching for its waist.

"who!"

But he froze the next second.

The voice wasn't from the enemy; it was coming from a broken radio!

Although there was some static mixed in, it was definitely the sound of a signal being connected!

Mountain Eagle rushed over in disbelief and snatched the radio, his hands trembling as he turned the tuning knob.

"...Shh...Received, please return...Shh...This is Falcon...Over..."

The intermittent sound came through the radio waves—it connected! It really connected!

Mountain Eagle was so excited he almost threw the radio away. He turned sharply to stare at Gu Da'an.

"You...where did you go to university?!"

Gu Da'an was startled by him, shrank back, and answered honestly.

"I...I never went to school. I didn't even finish elementary school."

Mountain Eagle felt his worldview had been turned upside down.

A rural boy who didn't even finish elementary school managed to fix the equipment in the military factory in no time.

Who would believe that? He must be dreaming!

The sky was already beginning to lighten.

Gu Da'an was also exhausted and fell asleep leaning against the stone wall.

Suddenly, a series of cawing crows rang out at the cave entrance.

Gu Da'an suddenly opened his eyes, scrambled to his feet, and headed toward the cave entrance.

"Where are you going! It's dangerous outside!"

The mountain eagle grabbed him.

Gu Da'an turned around, his face beaming with joy.

"My sister's... friend has come to see me."

"We can go down the mountain now."

A friend? Or a crow?

Mountain Eagle thought this kid might really be a little off his mind.

He followed them to the cave entrance and, sure enough, saw a crow standing on a rock, tilting its head to look at them.

Gu Da'an made two crows at the crow.

"quack!"

The crow understood, and excitedly flapped its wings and flew in, landing steadily on Gu Da'an's shoulder, even nuzzling his cheek with its head.

Mountain Eagle: "..."

This was the first time in his life he had ever seen such a human-like crow.

What's wrong with this world?

After packing their things, the two of them and the bird set off on their way down the mountain.

The mountain eagle was initially skeptical that a bird could lead the way, but after walking for a short while, he was completely convinced.

This crow is practically a living map; it knows exactly where the road is easy to travel and where there are dangers, and it cackles ahead, leading the way.

After walking for more than an hour, the sky brightened and the fog in the mountains dissipated considerably.

Just then, they saw a flickering fire in the valley in the distance.

It's a search and rescue team!

……

The village committee compound was already packed with people before dawn.

Old Mrs. Gu and the man in black were tied up by several strong laborers and thrown in the middle of the yard.

The two hid in the mountains all night and almost froze to death. Now they were shivering and their faces were blue.

When the captain led his men and brought Gu Da'an and the mysterious man into the courtyard, the crowd erupted in an uproar.

"He's back! Da'an's back!"

Thank God! I'm so glad everyone's alright!

Su Xiulan and Gu Jianguo hugged Da'an like madmen, crying uncontrollably.

Nuannuan also ran over with her short legs, hugged the older brother's leg, looked up at him with her little face full of tears.

"Big brother, you're back! Nuannuan missed you so much!"

Looking at his family surrounding him, Gu Da'an's usually expressionless face slowly, very slowly, revealed a very faint smile.

He carefully took out the half-eaten cookie wrapped in paper from his pocket and held it to Nuannuan's lips.

"Give it to...my little sister."

This farce has finally come to an end.

The captain looked at the bound old lady Gu and was so angry that his face turned green. He pointed his pipe at her nose and cursed.

"Old Mrs. Gu! You've gone mad! You dare to harm even your own grandson! Our Gu Family Village will not tolerate a heartless, rotten thing like you!"

"Our village is too small to keep a great man like you."

He turned to all the villagers, his voice loud and clear.

"I hereby declare! From this day forward, the Gu family is to be removed from the genealogy of our Gu family village! They are to be driven out of the village! Never to return!"

This decision received everyone's support.

When Old Lady Gu heard that she was going to be driven out of the village, she immediately started throwing a tantrum, crying and cursing, saying that she had been deceived by the man in black.

But no one believed her anymore.

Amid the noisy crowd, only the mountain eagle remained silent.

He looked at Gu Da'an, who was surrounded by his family and awkwardly comforting his sister. The face paint on his face could not hide his complex emotions.

He walked over to Gu Jianguo and lowered his voice.

"Brother, may I speak to you in private?"

Gu Jianguo paused for a moment, then followed him to the corner.

Mountain Eagle looked at him and asked, word by word, with utmost seriousness.

"Your son... cannot be buried in obscurity in the village."

"Have you ever thought about sending him to a place where he can shine?"