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

"Why……"

Su Xiulan felt a sharp pain in her heart, her nose stung, and her eyes welled up with tears. She quickly hugged the small figure in her arms, her voice hoarse, "Yes, I'm your mother. I'll always be with you. As long as I have food to eat, you won't go hungry, and I'll never abandon you!"

After coaxing him for a while, the little guy finally let go. Su Xiulan quickly took out the cotton-padded jacket and trousers that she had altered overnight and put them on the little guy. They fit him perfectly.

"Warm and sweet, stay home with your brother and wait. Mommy will go out to dig for wild vegetables. We'll have a delicious wild vegetable soup for lunch, okay?"

My family is too poor. Last night, we scraped off the layer of powder that was plastering the rice container and made a paste from it.

She'll go out and dig up some wild vegetables later, and see if she can borrow some more grain.

Once the children's father receives his subsidy, we can buy more food and let the children have an extra bowl of thin porridge.

Wild vegetable porridge...

Hearing this, Nuannuan's little tummy rumbled in protest, as the thin porridge from last night, which was almost entirely devoid of grain, was hardly filling at all.

She had been hungry for over a day, and her tummy was already flat.

Su Xiulan felt even more heartbroken, turned around, picked up the basket from the corner of the wall, and was about to go out.

"Digging for wild vegetables? The snow's already half a foot deep, you think you can crawl into a snow hole to dig?"

The curtain to the west room was suddenly flung open, and Old Mrs. Gu, leaning on her cane, spoke in a harsh voice.

She squinted, her wrinkled face drawn long. "For that little jinx, are you really going to ruin the whole family?"

Su Xiulan gripped the hoe tightly in her hand, her face cold as she remained silent.

Seeing that she remained silent, Old Mrs. Gu became even angrier. "You're such a stubborn mule! I've told you so many times, the third son won't wake up, don't waste money on him, but you're just too obstinate to listen."

Now the money's gone, the person's still not awake, the family's dirt poor, and you've brought this bastard back as a burden!

"I can't live like this anymore, from now on I'm going to live with my second brother's family!"

After saying that, she spat at Su Xiulan, turned around and walked out of the courtyard without looking back.

Watching her retreating figure, Su Xiulan felt like her back teeth were about to be ground to dust.

The old lady had four sons; the eldest was a coal miner, and the whole family lived in the mining area.

The second son works at the forest farm, but he's lazy and has a cushy job that his husband arranged for him by spending money and pulling strings.

The fourth brother is also twenty years old. He doesn't have a formal job. He dropped out of school before finishing junior high. Just then, the coal mine was looking for temporary workers, so he went with them.

Gu Jianguo was in an accident and fell into a coma, so the old lady wanted the fourth son to take his place.

Su Xiuyun was unhappy, saying that her husband was only unconscious, not dead. If she gave up her work, what would happen to her whole family when he woke up? Would they starve?

The old lady secretly went to the forest farm leaders, who said that since the person was still alive, they couldn't take her place.

Unless Gu Jianguo comes to talk to him in person! But Gu Jianguo is unconscious, how can he speak?

The old lady didn't want to treat her third son anymore; she wanted him to die and be reincarnated sooner.

Su Xiuyun was unwilling, but she gritted her teeth and persevered, spending all her savings and even borrowing fifty yuan in debt.

The family used to be well-off, and the old lady always lived with them.

Now the family is so poor they can't even afford to eat, and the old lady not only doesn't help, she also stays at home beating and scolding her.

Now it's even better; he can just go live with his second son and enjoy the good life there.

She had always known that the old lady was biased, but this action still chilled her to the bone.

If it weren't for the man and the child, she would have stopped serving him long ago.

"Wow~ Wow~"

Outside the paper window, a gray old crow, which had appeared out of nowhere, suddenly started cawing loudly and urgently.

Nuannuan was still sad about leaving herself behind, but she didn't expect her new mother to be in such a dilemma. Could she really be a jinx?

Hearing the birds chirping, Nuannuan pricked up her little ears, and her pretty eyebrows furrowed like a caterpillar.

[Baby, the tree... bumped into...my little one!]

It sounds like someone is talking!

No, it's not a person, it's a bird.

She understood!

She felt like she'd heard that voice before.

When she was unconscious in the snow pit, it was this voice that said she wanted to save the baby!

At the time, I thought she was dead, and that her mother had come to pick her up.

Nuannuan excitedly slid off the kang (a heated brick bed), ran to Su Xiulan's side with her short legs, hugged her thigh tightly, pointed out the window, and shouted in her childish voice, "Mommy! Meatballs! The little birds said there are meatballs!"

Old Mrs. Gu, who had just reached the courtyard gate, paused, turned around, and scoffed, "Listen to this! So it's a little madwoman! 'The little bird says there's meat,' she says. This kind of trash should be sent to Hongshan!"

Hongshan is a mental hospital; no one who goes there ever comes back unharmed.

"Mother! Please watch your words!" Su Xiulan couldn't help but say to the old lady.

"What kind of manners are you? Am I wrong? This guy's a little lunatic, a psychopath!"

Grandma Gu left, grumbling and cursing. Su Xiulan looked down at the little one holding her, her feelings complicated.

It's probably delirious from the fever; how could a bird possibly talk?

"Nuan Nuan, you and your dad and brother wait at home. Mommy will go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables, okay?"

"No!"

Nuannuan stubbornly refused to let go, clinging even tighter to her arms, and pleadingly repeated with her little face upturned, "Mommy, take me! Nuannuan wants to find Rou Rou! Really!"

Looking at her child's anxious yet earnest face, Su Xiulan couldn't bring herself to refuse.

She couldn't persuade him otherwise, so she could only sigh and squat down.

"Okay, Mom will take you with her."

Su Xiulan found a tattered cotton-padded jacket, wrapped it around Nuannuan's small body, put her in the basket, and didn't forget to wrap a headscarf around her head.

The child's hair is all matted; I'll boil some water and give her a good wash when I get back.

This is uncomfortable, and it would be even more troublesome if you got lice.

She straightened up, put the basket on her back, and lifted it up with both hands while holding the bottom.

This child... is too light.

With the thick cotton-padded coat on, it was almost weightless, light and airy, practically empty.

Su Xiulan felt even more heartbroken; the child was too thin, and she would definitely need to make sure he was well-nourished in the future.

Su Xiulan gritted her teeth, carried Nuannuan outside, and felt the cold wind blowing in her face. It was so cold!

When we reached the foot of the mountain at the village entrance, we saw that bald old crow again.

It saw them, let out a "whoosh," flapped its wings and flew low forward. After flying a distance, it stopped on a bare branch in the snow, tilted its head to look at them, and only continued flying forward after confirming that they had caught up.

Are they leading the way again?

Su Xiulan was even more surprised and found it unbelievable.

She suddenly remembered what Nuan Nuan had just said: "Bird said there is meat." Could the bird Nuan Nuan was referring to be a crow?

It's normal that Nuannuan is too young to distinguish between different kinds of animals.

But how does Nuannuan know what the crow means? Could it be...?

Su Xiulan shook her head. Absolutely not.

The crows called again, urging her on. She tightened her straps, quickened her pace, and followed the crows through the snow, until they were deep in the forest.

The crow finally landed on a thick old elm tree that required two people to hug, and cawed loudly at the ground below.

Su Xiulan walked over, panting heavily, and went around the tree trunk. The next second, she froze.

Two plump, gray-furred wild rabbits were lying on the snow beneath the old elm tree!