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

Nuannuan is incredibly well-behaved.

Even Grandma Lin was surprised by how well she behaved.

After Gu Jianguo and the others left, the torches in the courtyard went out, and the people of Niulan Village dispersed. Old Lady Lin closed the courtyard gate and bolted it. She turned her head and saw Nuannuan sitting on a small stool by the stove, swinging her short legs and muttering to herself.

"Grandma is thirsty!"

The little girl's sweet, childlike voice startled Old Lady Lin.

"Nuan Nuan wants to drink that brown sugar water!" Nuan Nuan raised her little face, her eyes and nose red, looking so aggrieved that it was heartbreaking. She sniffed and said in a pitiful voice, "Nuan Nuan didn't drink the bowl from before!"

Grandma Lin stared blankly. What was wrong with this little girl? Didn't she refuse to drink anything during the day? Was she hungry?

Seeing the little girl sitting obediently on the stool, her hands on her knees and her toes swinging back and forth, Grandma Lin felt a little relieved.

"Okay! Grandma will heat it up for you right away!"

Grandma Lin turned around, scooped water to start a fire, her movements swift and efficient. In between her tasks, she didn't forget to glance at Nuannuan out of the corner of her eye to see if she was truly behaving herself.

The brown sugar water was heated up quickly, and the little girl held the bowl with her two little hands and gulped down more than half of it.

After finishing it, she stuck out her little tongue and licked the sugar stains from the corner of her mouth, her eyes crinkling into crescents. "It's sweet!"

Hearing this, Grandma Lin finally felt at ease.

That's more like it; he's just a kid. Looks like he's come to terms with reality.

Wang Guixiang peeked out from the corner, very cautiously.

"Mother, has she stopped making a fuss?"

"Shut up." Old Mrs. Lin glared at her and lowered her voice, "Don't stand here in the way, go and close the door to the inner room."

Wang Guixiang shrank back.

Grandma Lin looked at Nuan Nuan again, the wrinkles on her face smoothing out. She reached out and touched Nuan Nuan's head, and this time Nuan Nuan didn't dodge.

"My dear grandson, you'll sleep with Grandma tonight."

Nuannuan nodded.

"Um."

In short, it's soft and gentle, and sounds soothing.

Grandma Lin was delighted. She put her arm around Nuannuan and went into the side room. The side room was a little better than the main room. At least it had a complete window. There was a thin quilt on the bed. Although it was old, it was clean.

Nuannuan was tucked into the quilt, while Grandma Lin lay on the outside, one arm tightly draped over Nuannuan, as if afraid she would run away.

The lights went out.

The room was pitch black.

Nuannuan closed her eyes, remained motionless, and breathed evenly.

Grandma Lin listened intently for a long time, and the little girl's breathing became more and more steady. Her little body was nestled in the quilt, and she didn't make a sound.

fell asleep.

Grandma Lin was relieved. She slowly moved her arm away, turned over, and soon started snoring too.

The snoring was so loud and deep that it shook the house.

Nuannuan opened her eyes.

In the darkness, his eyes darted around.

"Little Green," she called in her heart, her voice audible only to herself.

"Hmm?" Little Green's ginseng whiskers twitched; it had been pretending to be asleep.

"Can you find that envelope?"

"You think I'm here to search?" Little Green's ginseng whiskers trembled. "I'm a thousand-year-old ginseng, not a dog with a nose."

Nuannuan muttered to herself, "Little Green is the best, a hundred times better than a dog's nose."

"snort."

Despite her disdainful expression, Little Green's ginseng tendrils had already quietly spread from Nuannuan's consciousness, probing along the soil and the base of the wall.

Nuannuan held her breath and waited.

Grandma Lin's snoring grew louder and louder.

"Found it."

Little Green's voice suddenly rang out.

"Where?"

"There was a hidden compartment under the old woman's pillow, with a wooden board stuffed inside. The envelope was sandwiched between the board and the pillow stuffing."

Nuannuan's heart skipped a beat. Under the pillow?

That old woman even sleeps on top of it.

She can't move.

Nuannuan rolled over to face the wall, her mind racing. She knew she couldn't just grab it by force; the way Grandma Lin slept, even a slight touch would wake her up.

Unless, of course, she jumps up herself.

Nuannuan's lips curled up slightly.

She searched around the space and found the small black snake.

The little black snake was sleeping coiled up in the corner of the space when Nuan Nuan poked it. It hissed and flicked its tongue, clearly unhappy.

"Brother Xiao Hei, please help me," Nuan Nuan softly called out in her heart.

"After you go outside, you'll shrink to a tiny size. Just crawl around on that old lady; she won't bite."

The little black snake tilted its head.

Nuannuan opened the passageway from the space, at the foot of the bed, against the wall.

A dark shadow slipped out.

The little black snake shrank very thin and slithered along the bed board toward Old Lady Lin.

Nuan Nuan closed her eyes again, pretending to be completely oblivious.

The snake's body is cool.

Grandma Lin was the first to feel a chill on her neck. She groggily reached out to scratch it, and her fingers touched something slippery, cold, and moving.

Her hand stopped.

The thing slid down her neck, past her collarbone, and down to her chest.

hiss--

A tiny snake-like sound came from right next to her ear.

Grandma Lin's pupils contracted sharply.

"ah--!!!"

A scream rang out throughout the side room.

Grandma Lin jumped out of bed with astonishing speed. She kicked the blanket, but it got tangled around her legs, and she tumbled off the bed, hitting the back of her head on the floor with a thud.

"Snake! Snake! There's a snake!!!"

Her voice was hoarse, she got up and fell again, fell and got up again, tumbling and crawling towards the door.

Wang Guixiang, who lived in the main house next door, was woken up by the noise. She pushed open the door and saw Old Lady Lin rushing out with disheveled hair, almost knocking her over.

"Mom! What's wrong!"

"Snake! There's a snake in the bed!"

Wang Guixiang's face turned pale, and she screamed as she backed away.

"Huh? A snake?"

The two women squeezed into the courtyard, neither daring to go in.

It was pitch black inside; you couldn't see anything.

Old Mrs. Lin was trembling uncontrollably, her legs were too weak to stand, and she sat down hard on the muddy ground in the yard. She bumped her head and got a big bump, and she was in pain. But compared to the snake, what was a bump?

Her biggest fear in this life is snakes.

"Gui Xiang, go and take a look..."

"I'm not going!" Wang Guixiang retreated faster than anyone else. "What if it's a poisonous snake?"

She had already hidden in the corner of the courtyard wall, crouching down with her head in her hands.

The second son's wife went back to her parents' home, and the two sons were so frightened that they crawled on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Just when everyone was in a state of chaos, Nuannuan inside the house moved.

She sat up in bed and touched Grandma Lin's pillow with her little hand. The pillow had been flipped over when Grandma Lin rolled off, revealing a thin wooden board underneath, with a kraft paper envelope tucked under the board.

Nuannuan pulled it out and stuffed it into her arms.

Then she got out of bed and walked around the room barefoot.

The little green ginseng tendrils spread underground, exploring every corner of the outbuilding.

"There's an iron box in the second drawer of the cabinet with three silver dollars inside. There are five mao (0.5 yuan) and a few copper coins in the jar in the corner. There's also half a bag of cornmeal under the bed."

Without saying a word, Nuannuan accepted them all.

As soon as the space opened, the iron box, copper coins, and cornmeal all disappeared.

She ran to the main room and searched it. The main room was even poorer. There was only a chipped iron kettle on the table and half a jar of pickled vegetables on the stove.

They accepted it too.

Nuannuan walked to the door and peeked into the yard.

The two women were still huddled in the corner, pushing each other and refusing to go inside.

Nuannuan pulled her head back and walked into the inner room.

Inside the room, the two uncles who were paralyzed were still on the bed. The eldest uncle had been woken up by the noise and was struggling to look out, while the second uncle remained motionless.

Nuannuan stood at the door of the inner room for two seconds, but did not go in.

She turned around and climbed out through the half-open window at the back of the main house. The window wasn't high, so she used her hands and feet to climb out, stepping on the pile of firewood next to the stove.

"Little Green, there's one more thing."

Nuannuan squatted outside the courtyard wall, her little hands pressed on the ground.

"Would it be alright if nothing grew in this yard from now on?"

Little Green Ginseng Roots stirred in the soil.

"No problem."

The ginseng roots underground released a scent, and the leaves of several wilted cabbages in the yard began to turn yellow and wither.

Nuannuan stood up and patted the dirt off her hands.

"Brother Xiao Hei, you're back."

The little black snake in the side room hissed twice and silently slid out along the wall. Nuannuan opened the space, and the little black snake slipped inside.

After packing everything up, Nuannuan took off running with her short legs.

Nuannuan ran out of the fence and onto the side path outside. The moonlight shone on the muddy road, and the little girl stumbled as she ran.

From the courtyard behind them, they could still hear Old Lady Lin's cursing.

"Where's that damned snake? Is it gone? Go check!"

"you go!"

Several women pushed and shoved each other, but in the end, it was Old Lady Lin who gritted her teeth, picked up the broom in the yard, and walked shakily into the side room.

After sweeping the room a few times with a broom and confirming that there was nothing there, I lifted the blanket and shook it.

When the snake disappeared, Old Mrs. Lin almost collapsed, sitting down heavily on the bed and reaching under her pillow.

Suddenly, she stood up again, only to feel a darkness before her eyes. The pillow felt soft, but the contents inside were gone.

Grandma Lin couldn't believe it. She grabbed the pillow and started tearing at it.

But nothing was there. Not only were the things in the pillow gone, but an iron box in the room was also missing.

There was also a jar in the corner, and half a bag of cornmeal, oil, and salt in the outer room.

The entire house was almost completely emptied.

Looking at the empty house, Old Mrs. Lin felt a chill run through her body and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Mom, where's Nuannuan?"

Wang Guixiang's eyes turned red as she looked at the house, which was so bad that even mice would cry when they came!

"Did she do it?"

Grandma Lin's face was contorted, her mouth was wide open, and she was gasping for breath.

That girl ran away, the things are gone, and the snake must have been brought by her.

She was tricked by a five-year-old girl.

Grandma Lin rolled her eyes, leaned back, and slammed the back of her head heavily against the bed.

……

Nuannuan ran along the path, panting heavily.

Her short legs couldn't run fast, and the road was full of gravel that hurt the soles of her feet, but she dared not stop.

The moon was obscured by clouds, and the road suddenly became dark.

She ran across a cornfield, the corn stalks rustling in the wind, and she felt a little scared.

"Little Green, how much further?"

"Once you get over that hill, you'll reach the main road. Human brat, hurry up and run!"

Before Xiao Lü could finish speaking, Nuan Nuan slipped and fell forward.

Before she could fall, a pair of hands reached out from the darkness and caught her around the waist.

Nuan Nuan was carried on someone's back.

She was so frightened that she tried to scream, but a large hand covered her mouth.

"Don't shout."

A deep voice came from above.