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

Xiao An hesitated for a moment, glanced at her busy mother, and nodded.

Two small figures, one tall and one short, crouched down and quietly slipped out of the courtyard gate.

The village was quiet; most people had gone to watch the rescue operation on the back mountain.

The brother and sister quickly made their way to the outside of Gu Jian'an's house.

Like their family, the second uncle's courtyard was also dark.

The difference was that the courtyard gate was ajar, creaking and groaning in the cold winter wind, which sounded eerie.

Nuannuan was brave; she took her brother's hand and quietly pushed open the door.

"Second Aunt, Grandma?" Nuannuan called out in her childish voice.

No one answered from inside.

The two walked to the door of the main house and peeked inside through the crack in the door.

The house was empty; the stove was cold, the kang (heated brick bed) was cold, and there wasn't a soul in sight.

"Huh?" Nuannuan tilted her head. "Brother, where are they?"

Zhang Aidi, Grandma Gu, and several children were all nowhere to be found.

The courtyard was quiet, with only the whistling wind, and the broken wooden door was ajar.

"Nobody's here!" Xiao An crouched down and slipped in along the wall, still holding Nuan Nuan's hand.

"They must have gone to find Second Uncle; they're all getting anxious."

It was a bit cold in the main room, and the fire in the stove was almost out.

Xiao An went straight to the kitchen. The lid of the cellar in the far corner seemed to be loose, and the large stone on top had been moved.

Nuannuan ran inside and heard her second brother shout, "Here!"

"Nuan Nuan, all our things are here. You wait upstairs for a bit, and also keep an eye on things for Second Brother. I'll go get our things upstairs."

As Xiao An spoke, he quickly moved the lid aside and crawled inside.

Nuannuan anxiously peered out of the cave entrance. A short while later, Xiao An came up, carrying a large bag of things. He was so angry that he could barely speak.

"Those two beasts! All our stuff is hidden here: malted milk powder, canned goods, and sugar!"

Luckily, I hadn't had a chance to eat it yet, otherwise those beasts would have gotten it for free.

"The meat and flour are here too, Nuannuan, shall we move the things back?"

The meat was hidden behind the pickled vegetable jar and covered with firewood. Luckily, Xiao An lifted it up, otherwise they would have gotten it for free.

These were the life-saving supplies the forest farm had given to Father; the second branch of the family wanted to kill them.

"Second brother, wait a minute."

Seeing that Xiao An was about to leave with his things, and was planning to make several trips, Nuan Nuan reached out her little hand and grabbed the corner of his clothes.

The little girl looked at the drab construction site and her big eyes shone with an amazing light.

"What's wrong?" Xiao An was taken aback. "Little sister, this originally belonged to our family. If we don't take it back, those people will benefit from it."

"Second brother, we definitely have to take the things."

Nuannuan blinked her eyes and placed her little hand on the flour bag on the ground. "But if we take it back like this, when Second Aunt and the others find out that the things are missing, they will definitely come to our house and make a scene. If they find it, they will say that we stole it. What will we do then?"

Xiao An was stunned, muttering, "But this originally belonged to our family."

If I take my own things back home, does that mean I'm stealing?

"What should we do then?" Xiao An was anxious. He had finally found his belongings and didn't want to give up.

"Watch this!" The little girl's eyes shone brightly, and the flour under her hand vanished in a flash.

Xiao An stared wide-eyed in shock. "Sister? Where's the bag?"

"I've already put it away!"

The little girl sounded innocent, and then reached for something else with her little hands.

Seeing the supplies he had just painstakingly moved out being thrown away right before his eyes, Xiao An was dumbfounded.

"Sister? What was that just now?"

"Don't worry, brother. Nuannuan has hidden those things very well. They won't be able to find them."

"Second brother, we're all here, how about we pull off something big?"

Xiao An wanted to nod, but was worried about being discovered.

"I'll send Xiao Hei out to keep an eye out. If there's any movement, he'll let me know."

Nuan Nuan released Xiao Hei, and Xiao Hei affectionately rubbed against Nuan Nuan's face.

Don't worry, baby!

The old crow flew away silently and disappeared without a trace.

Xiao An was so shocked she didn't know what to say. "This crow really listens to you?"

Nuannuan tilted her head, smiling innocently, "Of course, that's Nuannuan's friend."

"He's a good bird!"

As Nuannuan spoke, she turned to look at the kitchen, then suddenly landed on the roof beam.

"Second brother? What's this?"

Xiao Er looked up, his eyes red. Four strips of cured meat and several strings of red peppers hung on the roof beam. These were gifts from his father's coworkers, which the old lady had taken to the second house and made them part of the second family's household.

"Aaaaaah!"

Xiao An shouted angrily, "This originally belonged to our family!"

Nuannuan pointed with her little hand, "Then take it too!"

Xiao An's eyes darted around and landed on the long bamboo pole in the corner of the wall.

He ran over, picked up a long bamboo pole, and tried to reach it, but he was still a little short.

Xiao An handed the bamboo pole to his younger sister and hugged her.

Nuannuan held up the bamboo pole and silently said "receive" as she delivered the cured meat.

The brother and sister worked together perfectly, and the pieces of cured meat disappeared instantly.

The two smiled smugly, having become addicted to collecting them.

"The lard jar is full!" Xiao An lifted a black porcelain jar next to the stove, revealing a jar of white lard that had already solidified into a block, emitting a fragrant aroma.

"You accepted them too?"

"That's all! We're all out of food, we're all so thin, and our meals lack oil and moisture."

Nuannuan withdrew her little hand and looked at the half-bag of red beans.

"I'll take them too, and use them to make porridge for Dad."

"There's still half a jar of salt left."

Nuannuan exclaimed in surprise, and Xiao An immediately stuffed the salt coupons into Nuannuan's arms, "Salt coupons are hard to come by, why can't we leave some for him!"

The brother and sister searched together, leaving no stone unturned, their main goal being to leave no trace.

They didn't even spare the iron pot on the stove, let alone anything edible.

These days, an iron pot is a big purchase; it costs twenty or thirty yuan, and you need coupons for it.

They didn't even spare the rough porcelain plates and bowls, enamel basins, and enamel jars in the cupboard, or even the large pile of firewood in the corner.

Seeing the empty house that even mice would shake their heads at, the brother and sister smiled with satisfaction.

Xiao An pulled Nuan Nuan's hand and led her into the main room. The room was simply furnished with a kang (a heated brick bed), a table, and two cabinets.

Nuannuan's eyes darted around. "Second brother, do you know where they hid their money?"

The items I just received are all small things, but Nuannuan likes money more.

"Yes, I know!"

Xiao An actually knew; when he was a child, he was playing and hid under the window, and overheard it by accident.

He deftly took off his shoes, climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), lifted the mat, took out a small knife from his pocket, and began to pry open a brick.

After a few tries, the brick loosened. Xiao An pulled the brick out, reached in, and pulled out a hard lump wrapped in a blue cloth handkerchief.

Nuannuan curiously leaned closer and saw that inside was a crumpled bundle of ten-yuan notes, mostly 10-yuan notes, with a few 5-yuan notes, 2-yuan notes, and 1-yuan notes, as well as some small bills.

Xiao An counted them and found there were actually 200 yuan.

This is a huge sum of money. Dad's current subsidy is only 15 yuan a month, less than 200 yuan a year.

Nuannuan put it away without any hesitation. Xiao An rummaged around inside for a while and pulled out another bag.

It was a bit heavy, but Xiao An couldn't wait to open it, and to her surprise, it contained a gold bracelet.

It's golden and looks valuable.

Xiao An's eyes reddened even more. "Grandma's heart was practically in her throat." Xiao An clenched her fists angrily. "Grandma threw a tantrum and insisted that Dad buy this bracelet for her. At that time, Dad felt that Grandma had worked hard all her life, so he..."

If Dad knew that the bracelet ended up in Uncle's hands, I don't know how heartbroken he would be.

My father's filial piety has really gone to waste.

Besides the bracelet, there were also earrings, which Grandma asked Dad for. Later, she said she lost them and wanted Dad to buy her another pair, but unfortunately, Dad had an accident later.

Nuannuan patted her second brother's shoulder, "Since it belongs to Dad, then let's accept it."

Xiao An nodded vigorously and immediately felt better.

"And the clothes in the closet!" Xiao An jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and opened the closet door.

"This one, this one, and this one all belong to Mom. Grandma snatched them away and gave them to Second Aunt."

"These items belonged to my older brother and me, and they were also stolen."

Xiao An's story was heartbreaking. Because her father was in a coma, no one stood up for them, so her grandmother and second aunt took advantage of them, a widow and her orphan.

Nuannuan took everything away, not even leaving behind the newer bedding.

Nuannuan took away all the enamel mugs and thermos flasks, good or bad, as long as they were usable.

Nuannuan even disdainfully put away the chipped water bowl on the table.

This thing is too dirty, let's just use it as a potty for Little Green!

Little Green, who was sleeping in the space, sneezed and muttered a complaint.

"Are you nagging me again? I don't need this piece of junk!"

[Baby, someone's here.]