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

Gu Jian'an, do you still have time to steal children right now?

His head was buzzing, and he had only one thought in his mind—the third brother had woken up!

If the third brother wakes up, what will happen to his job?

After the third son fell into a coma, the old lady shamelessly found him a temporary job at the forest farm, which was also a physically demanding job.

Her mother later went to make a scene, wanting him to replace the third brother as director, but the forest farm said that he needed the person's consent, or that he was already dead.

I finally heard the doctor say I was going to die, that I had made it through the ordeal, so why did I suddenly wake up?

"Run...run fast!"

He grabbed the terrified Zhang Aidi and scrambled towards the courtyard wall.

They were so careful when they came in, but now they're running out as if they wish they had two more legs.

Zhang Aidi's legs were already weak, and when she ran to the base of the wall, she stepped on a rotten radish that someone had thrown there.

"Ouch!"

Although the sound was lowered, it was still exceptionally clear in the quiet night.

The talking inside the room stopped abruptly.

"Who is it?" Su Xiulan's wary voice rang out.

Gu Jian'an was terrified. Ignoring his wife's pain, he grabbed her bottom and shoved her towards the wall, yelling, "Get up! You fat pig!"

Zhang Aidi used both hands and feet, her fingernails digging into the cracks in the soil, and tumbled and rolled off the wall. Gu Jian'an followed closely behind, his crotch scraping as he sat on the wall with a ripping sound. He didn't care about the damage to his pants, jumped down, grabbed his wife, and ran.

The two of them ran home like stray dogs, their lungs practically bursting.

Gu Jian'an locked the door, then leaned against it, completely exhausted. His face was as white as a sheet, and he was panting heavily, almost unable to breathe.

"D-Dad, is that really the third son?" Zhang Aidi was still in shock, her hair a mess.

"Nonsense! Who else could it be but him!" Gu Jian'an kicked the door in a fit of rage. "How come this third son is so tough? The doctor told us to prepare for the worst, how could he still wake up?"

"Then...we won't steal the child?"

"Steal my ass! If we get caught, Lao San will report us to the commune, and we'll both be in jail!" Gu Jian'an became more and more furious. The cooked duck had flown away, which was worse than being killed.

At that moment, the lights in the room came on.

Hearing the commotion, Old Mrs. Gu, wearing a bright red floral cotton-padded jacket and leaning on her cane, came out unsteadily, her face full of impatience: "What are you two doing outside wailing in the middle of the night? Did you succeed?"

The old lady is still waiting to count the money tomorrow.

Upon seeing his mother, Gu Jian'an almost burst into tears: "Mom! Something terrible has happened!"

Grandma Gu's eyelids twitched: "What? That girl was carried off by a wolf?"

"It's not the girl! It's the third brother! The third brother has come back to life! No, the third brother has woken up!"

Grandma Gu's cane fell to the ground with a clatter, her triangular eyes widening in surprise: "What did you say? Third brother is awake?"

"It's absolutely true! Aidi and I heard it clearly from under the window! He's even coming over to settle accounts with you!" Zhang Aidi chimed in, spittle flying everywhere.

With a clatter, Grandma Gu's cane fell to the ground, creating a large snowdrift.

She swayed, her withered fingers gripping the doorframe tightly. Her wrinkled, blood-stained face contorted in pain. "What did you say? That short-lived wretch actually woke up?"

"How is this possible?"

Are you sure you're awake?

The old lady still couldn't believe it. How could someone who had been in a coma for more than half a year, and whom the doctors had said many times that it was impossible for him to wake up, suddenly become conscious?

Could it be that little brat caused all this trouble again?

"Mom, what do we do now! What if the third son finds out I went to steal children..."

Gu Jianguo was in a state of utter confusion, and his legs were trembling uncontrollably.

The old woman's triangular eyes darted around quickly, but she soon calmed down. "What's the panic? I don't believe someone who's been in a coma for half a year can cause any trouble!"

"He's just woken up. I reckon it won't be a matter of just a few days for him to fully recover. I'll go find him now, get him to sign the papers, and hand over the job to you."

Old Mrs. Gu smiled sinisterly. Didn't the forestry station leaders say that work could only be done if the person themselves gave in? Perfect timing, isn't it?

……

Hearing the commotion, Su Xiulan put on her clothes and came out with an oil lamp.

The wind outside was strong, like knives, scraping my face painfully.

The oil lamp went out as soon as it came out, and Su Xiulan went back into the house and found the flashlight that she had been reluctant to use.

"Mom, I'll go out with you!"

Xiao An got up, and Da An got dressed. Although they didn't say anything, their meaning was clear.

Su Xiulan looked at her two sons with satisfaction. What sensible children they were.

"Xiulan, be careful."

Gu Jianguo gave him a worried instruction, explaining that this was originally his responsibility, but he couldn't move and his hands and feet wouldn't obey him.

He was anxious, but there was nothing he could do.

The three people returned quickly. "There were two sets of footprints in the yard, one big and one small, probably belonging to a man and a woman. They climbed over the yard wall."

Su Xiulan analyzed, "We haven't offended anyone usually, could it be my second brother's family?"

"No, that's impossible!"

Gu Jianguo lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), and his brows furrowed as he heard his wife's words.

"Xiulan, could there be a mistake?"

"Although my second brother likes to take advantage of small things, he's always been a coward. He wouldn't dare to climb over the wall in the middle of the night, even if he had two lives."

After all, they were siblings from the same mother, and subconsciously he didn't want to think of his own brother in such a negative light.

[Fool! Idiot! It's that bastard of your second brother!]

They've come to steal the baby!

[He'd been holding in a fart!]

The ginseng wrapped in the tattered sack was on the verge of collapse. Why would you hide such a magnificent ginseng?

Nuannuan was half asleep; the little girl is a heavy sleeper and didn't hear any of the noise outside.

Xiao Lü's voice was too loud, like she had a megaphone, which annoyed the little girl.

She waved her hand and mumbled, "Little Green, don't make a fuss, Nuannuan wants to sleep!"

[You silly goose, you were almost robbed, and you were still sleeping! You dim-witted human brat!]

"Nuan Nuan isn't stupid!"

"Why are you stealing Warm Warm...?"

The little girl's eyes were still closed, and her little mouth was pouting, as if she was still arguing with someone in her dream.

The people in the room were taken aback. Su Xiulan made a shushing gesture and stared nervously at Nuannuan.

[Warmth is valuable! If sold to human traffickers, it'd be worth 500 yuan!]

"You still want to sell me? Five hundred dollars!! Am I that worth that much?"

"They're bad guys... let Little Black bite them to death!"

The little girl looked aggrieved, smacked her lips, turned over, and fell asleep again.

But... the people inside the room all clenched their fists.

Although the little girl spoke incoherently, the matchmaker had just come to the door during the day, and someone had come to climb over the wall at night; it was obvious who the thief was.

At this moment, Gu Jianguo felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water, his whole body chilled to the bone.

How much fright must a child have suffered to dream of being sold?

"Damn it! I'm going to kill them!"

"Xiulan..." Gu Jianguo's lips trembled.

Su Xiulan could no longer hold back; the grievances she had suppressed for more than half a year finally erupted. She tore open her sleeve, revealing the purplish-blue pinch marks and the unhealed frostbite on her wrist:

"Gu Jianguo, look! Open your eyes and see! This is all the work of your mother!"

Su Xiulan cried with red eyes, "After you fell into a coma, your mother took all the compensation money to fill the bottomless pit of the second son's family. The money for your medicine was all saved up from my own meager savings."

"That's fine, I'm the wife, I should put up with it."

"But what about the children?"

Su Xiulan pointed to the nearly empty bag of cornmeal, "Your mother lives in our house, eats our food, and beats and scolds the child at the slightest provocation. Today, she even brought a matchmaker to our door, wanting to sell Nuannuan, who's not even five years old, as a child bride! Only two hundred yuan!"

"Two hundred yuan, Gu Jianguo! In your mother's eyes, our daughter isn't even worth as much as a pig!"

"Who else could those two people be but your good second brother tonight? Now your child bride has become a kidnapper, and two hundred has become five hundred! Gu Jianguo, they're sucking your blood and eating your daughter's flesh!"

Su Xiulan cried so hard that her whole body trembled and tears streamed down her face.

Gu Jianguo looked at his wife's frostbite, his two sons' tightly pursed lips, and his daughter's restless face, even in her dreams.

In that instant, brotherhood, maternal love, and filial piety were all shattered into pieces.

An unprecedented surge of anger welled up within him, causing his eyes to become bloodshot.

"Gu, Jian, An..."

He forced out those three words through gritted teeth, veins bulging on his neck, as he strained with all his might to prop himself up.

Just then, a loud knocking sound came from outside the courtyard gate, accompanied by Old Mrs. Gu's sharp and piercing voice:

"Third brother! Now that you're awake, stop pretending to be dead! Hurry up and get the job transfer agreement signed by second brother!"

"Otherwise, nobody's going to sleep tonight!"