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

Gu Jianguo's mind went blank, and he was completely stunned.

The eldest son? Where else could he have gone?

For over a decade, the villagers called him a fool. Only he and Xiulan knew that Da'an wasn't foolish; he just didn't like talking to people. The fact that he could tinker with scrap metal and fix radios was, in Gu Jianguo's eyes, an incredible skill.

A place that can emit light? What kind of place is that?

"Comrade, what do you mean by that?" Gu Jianguo's voice was dry.

The mountain eagle uttered two words: "The army."

Gu Jianguo was startled.

force?

He knew those two words all too well! He had spent the best six years of his youth there. If it weren't for his leg injury, he might still be struggling in the army right now.

In an instant, Gu Jianguo's blood boiled, and he gripped Shan Ying's arm, his hands trembling.

"But...but Da'an is already eighteen, way past the age for enlistment!"

Da'an's situation used to be special; he lived in his own world all day and wouldn't listen to anyone. Gu Jianguo never even dared to think about sending him to join the army.

"Regular enlistment won't work," Mountain Eagle shook his head, then changed the subject, "but we can recruit through special channels."

"Special admission?"

"Yes, he'll be specially recruited. The military needs all sorts of talent. Da'an has a talent for radio. If we send him to the right place, the military will treat him like a treasure and nurture him." Mountain Eagle looked at Gu Jianguo and asked again, "Do you know anything about this?"

Gu Jianguo shook his head with a wry smile. He was just a regular soldier; he didn't know anything about these intricacies.

……

By the time I got home, it was already fully light.

Su Xiulan cooked a pot of fragrant millet porridge and made a few scallion pancakes. Although it was a simple farmhouse meal, after a harrowing night, she felt especially at ease eating it.

Mountain Eagle didn't stand on ceremony. He devoured three large bowls of porridge and four or five flatbreads in a flash, then wiped his mouth and exclaimed sincerely, "Sister-in-law, your cooking is amazing! I've never eaten such delicious food in my life!"

Su Xiulan was a little embarrassed by the praise and just kept urging him to eat more.

Nuannuan sat on her little stool, sipping her porridge slowly, and secretly closed her eyes to ask herself a question.

"Little Greenie, is that uncle a good person? Could he be a villain sent to trick us?"

Inside the space, the ginseng spirit, Little Green, was enthusiastically sucking on a drop of spiritual spring water. Upon hearing the question, it lazily rolled over.

"Don't worry, my darling, I'm a good judge of character! That guy has a righteous aura; he's not a bad person. But it seems like he's hiding something. Don't rush, let's wait and see."

Nuan Nuan was relieved after receiving confirmation.

Halfway through the meal, Mountain Eagle brought up the matter of going to the army again.

Gu Jianguo put down his chopsticks and looked solemnly at his eldest son.

"Da'an, this comrade said he could send you to the army. Are you... willing to go?"

All eyes were on Gu Da'an.

Gu Da'an slowly swallowed the biscuit in his mouth, looked up, his face expressionless, and asked blankly, "Can the army... fix things?"

Mountain Eagle chuckled, patting his chest and guaranteeing, "Sure! Of course you can! If you're capable, you can fix anything—not just radios, but tanks, cannons, airplanes! Plenty!"

Tanks! Cannons! Airplanes!

These words, uttered from the mountain eagle's mouth, caused Gu Da'an's usually somewhat vacant eyes to gleam with an astonishing light for the first time.

He nodded heavily, almost without hesitation.

"I'll go."

"Great!" Mountain Eagle slapped his thigh. "Just hearing that is enough! I'll submit your application as soon as I get back! Just wait for the good news!"

Su Xiulan's tears streamed down her face instantly.

Her son, the son everyone thought was a fool, is now going to join the army! And the army will treat him like a treasure!

This was something she never dared to dream of!

"Waaah... My Da'an... My Da'an has made something of himself..."

Nuannuan excitedly jumped off the stool, clapping her little hands and shouting in her childish voice, "Big brother is the best! Big brother is going to fly a big airplane!"

After finishing breakfast, Mountain Eagle was in a hurry to leave, saying he still had a mission to complete.

The family saw him off at the village entrance. Gu Da'an stood at the door, looking in the direction where the mountain eagle had disappeared, without moving for a long time, with a hint of disappointment on his face.

After returning home, Su Xiulan held Da'an's hand, still feeling lingering fear.

"Da'an, tell Mom, how did you end up with that old hag yesterday? What did she say to you?"

Gu Da'an shook his head blankly.

"I don't know... I just fainted."

The family was talking when they heard a commotion outside the courtyard gate.

The police officers from the local station have arrived and are taking the man in black and Old Lady Gu away.

Upon seeing this scene, Zhang Aidi immediately threw a tantrum, sitting down on the ground and wailing loudly.

"It has nothing to do with me! It was all my mother-in-law's doing! I don't know anything about it! You can't arrest me!"

The captain stood to the side, his head throbbing from her noise.

The Zhang family's relationships in the town are very complicated, so he couldn't go too far.

He sighed and told the police officers to take the person away first.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Aidi got up from the ground.

She brushed the dirt off her bottom, spat in the direction of Gu Jianguo's house, and then went back into the house grumbling.

This matter is not over.

The captain finished dealing with this mess.

He approached Su Xiulan apologetically.

"Xiulan, look at the mess this has made. How about we postpone Xiaoan's job for a couple of days?"

To everyone's surprise, Su Xiulan shook her head, her attitude very stubborn.

"No delay! Captain, let's do it today. We'll feel more at ease if we get the money sooner!"

Seeing her insistence, the captain didn't say anything more.

He immediately went to find someone to hitch up the oxcart.

He deliberately kept quiet to avoid attracting attention.

He quietly left the village with only Su Xiulan and Gu Xiaoan.

Things went surprisingly smoothly; the other party had been waiting impatiently for a long time.

Upon meeting, he immediately stuffed a large sum of money wrapped in newspaper into Su Xiulan's hand.

Eight hundred yuan!

Su Xiulan held the money, her palms sweaty.

She felt like she was dreaming.

Once the formalities are completed, the money and goods are settled.

Su Xiulan still felt uneasy with the money in her pocket, so she grabbed the brigade leader and headed to the commune.

"Captain, since we have some free time today, let's ask about Nuannuan's contracting of the mountain!"

The brigade leader also felt this was a serious matter, so he drove the oxcart to the commune.

Before even entering the commune compound, I could hear people talking inside.

"Have you heard? Apparently, the higher-ups are going to release a new policy, something like... oh right, it's called 'contracting out land to individual households'!"

"What?! Contracting land to individual households? Doesn't that mean the land becomes theirs?"

"That's right! I heard that many places in the south have already started doing it, and it'll probably be here soon too!"

Su Xiulan and the brigade leader listened in stunned silence at the door.

Contracting out to individual households?

Then what's the point of having a production team? What's the point of having a brigade leader?

The two entered the office with a belly full of questions.

The commune director was engrossed in writing something, not even lifting his eyelids.

The captain smiled apologetically and explained his purpose.

He emphasized the matter of that barren mountain, saying that almost nothing grows there and it has always been barren.

The director grew impatient, put down his pen, looked up, pushed up his black-rimmed glasses, sized them up, and then slowly began to speak.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea to contract out that barren mountain behind the mountain."

Su Xiulan was secretly delighted.

But before she could even feel happy, the director slowly added another sentence.

"However... at most ten years."