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

The Gu family's old house.

A strong smell of Chinese medicine mixed with the smoke from burning paper money made it hard to breathe.

Gu Jian'an lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), his body burning hot, his face flushed red, and he kept muttering incoherently.

"A ghost! There's a ghost!"

"Don't bite me! Pig... such a big pig! And hedgehogs... so many hedgehogs..."

He kicked his leg hard, his hands flailing wildly in the air, kicking the tattered blanket covering him to the ground.

"What a disaster! This must be some kind of evil spirit!"

Grandma Gu lay on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), wiping away imaginary tears with a handkerchief while slapping her thigh and wailing.

Her eldest son, Gu Jianping, who works in a coal mine, had just returned home yesterday to visit his family and was completely bewildered by the scene.

"Mom, our second brother is burning up like this. Let's take him to the clinic. We don't want him to get brain damage." Gu Jianping was also worried when he saw his younger brother's condition.

"Why go to the clinic!" Old Mrs. Gu's crying stopped abruptly, her eyes widening. "Does going to the hospital cost nothing? Registration costs nothing? Medicine costs nothing? Do you think money grows on trees?! Your brother is bewitched by some dirty thing from the mountains!"

She lowered her voice and said mysteriously, "I've already asked someone to invite Granny Wang from the east end of the village to perform a shamanistic ritual for the second son, to exorcise the evil spirits. I guarantee it will cure him completely!"

Gu Jianping opened his mouth, but didn't dare to say anything more.

Soon, the gaunt old woman known as Granny Wang was invited over.

She was dressed in patched black clothes, with two exaggerated red cheeks painted on her face. As soon as she entered the room, she started dancing around Gu Jian'an's kang (a heated brick bed).

She muttered incantations to herself, shaking a bell strung with copper coins, which jingled incessantly.

"Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, Lao Tzu, please show your power!"

"Mountain spirits and wild monsters, shun yourselves! Don't bother people here!"

She grabbed a handful of soot from the bottom of the pot, mixed it with the ash from burning talisman paper, and stuffed it into Gu Jian'an's mouth.

This commotion quickly attracted a lot of villagers who came to watch the excitement, and the courtyard of the Gu family's old house was completely surrounded.

"Oh dear, what's going on now?"

"I heard it was the second son's family who went to steal something, but they were terrified by a wild boar demon from the mountain and have gone mad!"

"Serves him right! Who told him to be so dishonest!"

Hearing the gossip outside, Old Lady Gu's face turned a deep shade of liver, but she dared not chase the people away and could only watch helplessly as her family became the laughingstock of the whole village.

……

Unlike the smoky atmosphere of the old house, the cave in Beishan was bustling with activity.

Gu Da'an was squatting in front of a pile of scrap metal.

He salvaged these items from the village's scrap yard: rusty bicycle chains, tin buckets with holes, and several electrical wires that he didn't know where they were taken from.

He didn't say a word, holding a hammer and pliers, clanging and banging away.

Su Xiulan and Gu Jianguo couldn't understand what he was doing, but they didn't disturb him.

Nuannuan, with her short legs, ran back and forth.

"Brother, do you want this?" She held up a bent wire.

Gu Da'an shook his head.

"And this one?" She picked up another broken gear.

Gu Da'an nodded and took it.

The brother and sister worked together seamlessly, one doing the work and the other handing over the tools.

Gu Xiaoan squatted down beside him, watching curiously. He noticed that his brother seemed to be using the drop in the water level of the hot spring pool to make something that could rotate.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

Gu Da'an ignored him and focused on fiddling with the parts in his hands.

He fixed a crude impeller hammered from sheet metal onto a wooden shaft, made a transmission device using a bicycle chain and gears, and finally connected it to a generator salvaged from an old flashlight.

The entire setup was so rudimentary it was almost laughable.

He placed the impeller in the area where the water flow was the strongest.

The water flow impacted the impeller, causing it to slowly rotate. The chain rattled along with it, eventually driving the small generator.

Gu Da'an picked up the other ends of the two wires and carefully connected them to a small light bulb.

Everyone held their breath.

The tungsten filament of the light bulb glowed faintly with a red light.

Then, it got brighter and brighter.

Finally, with a snap, the entire cave was illuminated by this faint yet resolute light.

"It's lit up!" Gu Xiaoan was the first to jump up, her voice filled with shock. "Oh my god! It really lit up! Bro! You're amazing!"

Su Xiulan covered her mouth in excitement, tears welling up in her eyes.

Gu Jianguo took a deep drag on his pipe. Amidst the swirling smoke, he looked at his son, who was illuminated by the lamplight, standing ramrod straight.

His son is a true genius!

Nuannuan clapped her hands happily: "Brother is so great! There's a little sun in the cave now!"

Gu Da'an looked at the lit light bulb, then at his sister's bright smiling face. On that usually expressionless face, a faint smile slowly appeared.

a few days later.

Inside the cave, the small patch of land beside the hot spring has changed its appearance.

Rows of vibrant green bok choy grew lush and plump, their leaves glistening with a healthy green. Next to them, the chives had grown to about half a foot tall, each stalk upright and juicy, bursting with moisture at the slightest touch.

That freshness and vitality is so much better than the wilted vegetables sold in the supply and marketing cooperative.

"My goodness, these vegetables are growing so well!" Su Xiulan squatted by the ground, touching the plump leaves of the bok choy, her face full of disbelief.

This isn't growing vegetables, it's growing treasures!

"Mom, if we sell this, we'll definitely get a good price!" Gu Xiaoan's eyes were already gleaming.

Su Xiulan was tempted.

She cut a large bunch of the freshest chives, tied them with straw rope, and put them in the vegetable basket.

"Jianguo, ride your bike to town and take it to the kitchen of the state-run restaurant to ask if they'll accept it."

"Great!" Gu Jianguo was full of energy.

He tied the vegetable basket to the back of his newly bought bicycle and pushed it out into the yard.

Just as I reached the village entrance, a figure darted out from the side, spread his arms, and blocked the road.

"Gu Jianguo! You stop right there!"

The person who came was his elder brother, Gu Jianping.

Gu Jianping looked haggard, his eyes were bloodshot, and several idle men from the village followed behind him.

Gu Jianguo frowned and gripped the brakes: "Big brother? What are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" Gu Jianping, with a reckless attitude, lay down on the ground and grabbed the front wheel of the bicycle. "Third brother, you can't leave! Your brother is being tortured to death by ghosts, and you, as his younger brother, still have the mind to go out and have fun?"

"If you don't give me money to treat my second brother's illness, I'll die under your car today! Let the whole village see how you drove your own brother to his death!"

This shameless act made Gu Jianguo's face turn ashen with anger.

The surrounding villagers also gathered around, pointing and whispering about them.

Just when Gu Jianguo was in a dilemma, unable to advance or retreat.

The roar of a car engine grew louder as it approached.

A black Volga sedan slowly pulled up to the side of the road. This car was even more impressive than the Jeep that Captain Gao Yuan had driven last time.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the suddenly appearing car.

The rear window of the car was slowly rolled down.

He revealed the face of an elderly man who exuded authority despite his lack of anger. His hair was gray, but he was in good spirits and dressed in a neat Zhongshan suit.

The old man's gaze swept over Gu Jianping, who was throwing a tantrum on the ground, and finally landed on the vegetable basket on the back of Gu Jianguo's bicycle.

In that basket, a vibrant, lush green color stood out.

A hint of surprise flashed across the old man's face, and he gave the driver instructions in a deep voice.

"parking!"

He pushed open the car door, walked straight to Gu Jianguo, pointed at the basket of chives, and stared blankly.

"Where did this vegetable come from?"