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

She pounded on the door, and after a long while, it finally opened.

But she didn't have enough money to buy medicine, so Su Xiulan knelt down and begged for a long time before they finally gave her two of the cheapest fever reducers.

By the time she rushed home, more than an hour had passed.

There was no sound from inside the old lady's room. She quickly poured some hot water, carefully dissolved the medicine, blew on it to cool it down, and then used a spoon to pry open the child's mouth and pour it in.

I guess the medicine was too bitter, and the child kept his mouth closed and wouldn't swallow it.

Su Xiulan was so anxious she almost cried. "Daughter, swallow it quickly! I don't have any money to buy any more medicine!"

Seemingly hearing her words, the child finally opened his mouth and obediently swallowed.

After administering the medicine, we still need to prepare some food for the child.

Su Xiulan rushed to the kitchen, lifted the lid of the rice container, and found it was already empty.

She picked up the ladle and scraped the bottom of the rice container again and again until she finally scraped out a little bit of yellow powder.

She carefully collected them, just enough to cover the bottom of the bowl.

There wasn't enough cornmeal, so she scooped out a bowl of water and poured it into the pot.

A fire was burning in the stove, and the water in the pot quickly began to boil. The cornmeal swirled in the water, turning into a thin soup so clear that you could see your reflection in it.

"Gurgle~"

In the quiet night, two clear sounds rang out.

Su Xiulan turned around and saw her two sons, eighteen-year-old Da'an and sixteen-year-old Xiao'an, lying on either side of the stove, their eyes fixed on the pot.

Gu Xiaoan's Adam's apple bobbed as she desperately swallowed.

Gu Da'an kept his head down, constantly picking at his fingers, seemingly ashamed of the rumbling in his stomach.

Su Xiulan felt as if her heart had been stabbed with a knife, the pain making it hard for her to breathe.

She walked over, squatted down, and hugged her two thin sons, one in each arm.

"Da'an, Xiao'an, I'm so sorry..." Her voice choked with sobs. "This little bit... I'll use it to save my sister's life first. As soon as it's light tomorrow, I'll go up the mountain. I'll turn the whole mountain upside down to find wild vegetables for you to fill your stomachs!"

Gu Xiaoan sniffed, trying to look away from the pot. "Mom, I'm not hungry."

He spoke in a muffled voice, then turned around, scooped up a ladle of cold water, and gulped it down.

"Give it to your sister. I'll drink some cold water and I won't be hungry anymore."

Su Xiulan could no longer hold back, and tears streamed down her face.

With trembling hands, she ladled out a bowl of clear soup, sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), scooped it up with a spoon, blew on it repeatedly to make sure it wasn't too hot, and then carefully brought it to her warm, dry lips.

The warm liquid flowed into her mouth, and Nuannuan, who was unconscious, seemed to feel the warmth and moved her little hand.

Her tightly closed eyes trembled, and a faint murmur escaped from deep within her throat.

"Mother……"

The child's voice was very soft, almost inaudible.

But like celestial music, it struck Su Xiulan's heart directly.

She felt that the person calling her was her daughter who had died young.

Su Xiulan could no longer hold back her tears, which fell into the bowl.

She bent down, pressed her face against the child's still flushed little face, and assured her, "Sweetie, from now on you're my daughter, my own daughter!"

The two sons blinked and watched, then, imitating their mother, leaned over and touched their little sister's face.

"Mommy, is this my little sister?" Xiao An asked curiously, looking at the tiny baby on the kang (a heated brick bed).

I was just drifting off to sleep when I heard my mother and grandmother's voices.

He was drawn in by the aroma of food, and then he saw that there was a baby in his house.

He also saw the baby's hands; they looked so pitiful.

He and his brother are boys, with thick skin, and they've never had chilblains on their hands since they were little.

"Okay, from now on, Da'an and Xiao'an will take care of our little sister and protect her, okay?"

Da'an glanced at it only once, then took off his shoes and lay down on the kang (heated brick bed).

Xiao An nodded vigorously, "Mom, my sister's hand..."

"Xiao An, go and get our badger oil, let's put it on our little sister."

Su Xiulan didn't sleep all night, constantly wiping the child's body.

She even took the time to find some clothes that her son no longer wore and altered them into a cotton-padded jacket and trousers.

By daybreak, the fever had finally subsided, and the child's breathing had stabilized.

She breathed a long sigh of relief, her heart, which had been hanging in suspense all night, finally settled down.

"Is Xiulan's family home?"

Outside the courtyard, Aunt Zhang, a neighbor, peered over the wall, looking inside cautiously.

"I heard you brought a baby home last night? Oh dear, let me tell you, you can't keep a baby of unknown origin, it's bad luck! Get rid of it as soon as possible, or it'll bring trouble to the whole family!"

Su Xiulan was fetching water in the yard when she heard this. Without saying a word, she scooped up a ladle of cold water and splashed it against the wall.

"Splash!"

Aunt Zhang was splashed right on the spot and jumped away screaming.

"If you're so bored, go ahead and gnaw on a piece of wood to shut yourself up! It's none of your business how my family does things!" Su Xiulan snapped coldly.

Aunt Zhang left, grumbling and cursing.

The door to the west room creaked open, and Old Mrs. Gu walked out from the inner room with a gloomy face.

She stared at Su Xiulan, and after a night, she seemed to have figured it out.

"Yes, you can raise it."

She uttered three words, her voice devoid of any warmth.

"But she won't get any food rations at home. If you want her to live, you'd better save every penny you have!"

"If she starves to death, don't blame me for being heartless, old woman!"

……

Nuannuan felt like she had a very long dream. She dreamed of her mother, who held her in her arms and said that she wouldn't have to go to the river to wash clothes in the dead of winter anymore. Her mother also made her some hot cornmeal porridge and gently coaxed her to drink it.

Su Xiulan brought in boiling water and saw that the little baby on the kang (a heated brick bed) had already opened his eyes.

She hurriedly put down the enamel basin she was holding, ran to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), touched the child's forehead, and said with delight, "Thank God, your fever has finally completely subsided."

Nuannuan looked at the woman in front of her, whose eyes were bloodshot and whose face was haggard. She remembered the warm embrace she had received last night. Was it this woman who had taken care of her all night? And she even said she wanted to be her mother?

She opened her small mouth, but her throat hurt.

Su Xiulan quickly poured some water into the bowl, tested it to make sure it wasn't too hot, and then brought it over, her voice gentle, "Child, your fever has just subsided, drink some water first."

Nuannuan obediently opened her little mouth and drank it down, her big eyes staring unblinkingly at Su Xiulan.

This water tastes so sweet, it tastes just like mom's.

After the water went down her throat, her throat didn't hurt so much anymore. Su Xiulan turned around and put down the bowl when a small hand hooked her sleeve.

She looked down and saw the child looking at her timidly, his eyes watery, like a pitiful, unwanted kitten.

"child……"

She didn't know how to tell the child that last night was clearly abandonment, no, it was murder!

In such cold weather, such a small child was left in the snow; there was no way he could have survived.

Even if they don't freeze to death, they can still be carried off by wolves.

"Mom, you're such a sweet mom..."

Seeing the heartache in the woman's eyes, Nuannuan could no longer hold back and threw herself into the woman's arms, sobbing as she cried out.