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

"My mom found me, and I'm only 28 days old today, less than a month old."

"For the past twenty-eight days, I've eaten the food my parents saved up and drunk the water my mother boiled. I haven't eaten a single grain of rice from my grandmother's house."

"I've never even tasted a single bite of food from my second aunt's family."

The little girl tilted her head, her eyes so clear they seemed to reflect a person's image: "Since I haven't eaten a single grain of rice from you, nor spent a single penny of your money, why are you selling me? Is it just because you're shameless?"

These words, with their crystal-clear logic, were like slaps to the faces of Grandma Gu and Zhang Aidi, stripping away their very essence.

The surrounding villagers immediately started talking about it.

"That's right, this child has only been here for less than a month, and they've already separated from the family. How can Old Mrs. Gu have the nerve to say she's 'eating the family's food'?"

"How shameless! Using someone's newly adopted child to fill their own financial hole!"

Old Mrs. Gu blushed deeply, and in a fit of rage, she raised her cane to strike: "You've gone too far! You sharp-tongued little beast, I'll beat you to death!"

"Let's see who dares to make a move!"

Su Xiulan roared, her eyes bloodshot. She turned around and picked up the dirty water that she had just used to wash the child's face, which was still floating on the surface of the water with a thin layer of ice.

"Whoosh!"

Without the slightest hesitation, she poured the water all over Old Lady Gu and Zhang Aidi!

"ah!!"

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were soaked to the bone. A cold wind blew, and they shivered from the cold. Water droplets and ice crystals clung to their hair, and they looked extremely disheveled.

Su Xiulan slammed the basin to the ground with a loud crash, making everyone's heart skip a beat.

"You old hag! Zhang Aidi! I've put up with you for far too long!"

Like a fierce mother tigress protecting her cubs, Su Xiulan stood in front of Nuannuan, pointing her finger at them and yelling:

"My Nuannuan hasn't eaten a single grain of rice from you! On the contrary, you're always scheming against my child! Second Brother breaking his leg is retribution! Pearl being kidnapped is your own doing! It has nothing to do with my Nuannuan!"

"Want to sell Nikki? Dream on! Unless you step over my dead body!"

"Get out! All of you get out! If you don't leave, I'll grab a kitchen knife and start hacking people to pieces!"

Da'an and Xiao'an also picked up brooms and shovels, staring intently at the two bad women, as if to say, "If you dare to touch my sister, I'll fight you to the death!"

Grandma Gu was so cold her teeth were chattering. Seeing how this family was going all out, she was genuinely a little scared.

The weak fear the strong, and the strong fear the reckless. This third brother's family is just that—reckless!

"You...you just wait! I'm going to find the brigade leader! I'm going to the commune to report you for refusing to help someone in distress!"

Zhang Aidi cried so hard she was almost breathless. She knew this person definitely wasn't leaving today, and what about her pearls...?

"Enough! Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?!"

Outside the crowd, the captain, his face dark, squeezed in. He had been listening outside for a long time, but he couldn't take it anymore.

"Aunt Gu, Zhang Aidi, human trafficking is illegal! You took money from the matchmaker to sell children, and that deserves to be arrested and imprisoned! And now you dare to cause trouble?"

The brigade leader's voice was stern: "Pearl was arrested because you haven't paid back your money. Go and get your 100 yuan deposit back right now, and then go and beg for leniency. Don't cause trouble for Lao San's family here! If you keep making trouble, I'll have the militia arrest you all and take you to the commune for public criticism!"

Upon hearing the words "criticism" and "imprisonment," Old Mrs. Gu's legs went weak, and she dared not mention asking for her husband back.

"No...no more fuss...we're leaving now..."

The two supported each other and slunk away amidst a chorus of curses.

After driving away the villains, the courtyard was finally quiet.

As Gu Jianguo watched the two men flee in a disheveled state, and then looked back at his wife protecting the child, his last shred of hope vanished.

From now on, Gu Jianguo will only have a wife and children, not that bloodthirsty mother!

Looking at the chaotic state of Gu Jianguo's family, the brigade leader sighed, "Jianguo, it must be tough for you to have such a family."

He paused, as if remembering something: "Oh, right, I noticed your family is having a tough time. There's a batch of timber that needs to be transported down from the mountain from the forest farm, but the snow is too heavy for trucks to make it up; they have to carry it by hand."

The captain glanced at Da'an and Xiao'an, who were thin but already quite tall, and then at Su Xiulan.

"That job is tiring, but it pays in cash, settled daily. The forestry farm manager mentioned to me that they need three temporary workers. If you're willing, why don't you have your wife take the two kids and give it a try? Even just helping out in the kitchen would be fine."

Upon hearing this, Gu Jianguo immediately felt hopeful.

Cash! Daily settlement!

Is there really such a good thing? For the Gu family, it's like a pie falling from the sky.

When Nuannuan heard the words "forest farm," her little ears perked up instantly.

[Little Green, in that forest farm, are there lots and lots of big trees?]

In my mind, Little Green's voice suddenly became excited:

[Nonsense! That's the entrance to a deep, untouched forest! It's a treasure trove yet to be discovered!]

[Baby! Go! You absolutely have to go! There must be amazing stuff inside!]

Some of these are worth ten thousand times more than ginseng skin!

Nuannuan's big, warm eyes crinkled with joy, and her mouth stretched almost to her ears.

Hehe, a forest farm?

No, that's a warm and cozy wholesale market!

The north wind was howling fiercely outside, making the paper windows rattle incessantly, and the lights inside had long been out.

Gu Jianguo and Su Xiulan were wide awake, not sleepy at all, while Da'an and Xiao'an slept on the other side, snoring one after another.

Su Xiulan felt very upset when she talked about the fat woman from today.

Nuannuan nestled between the two of them, a tiny bundle, and Gu Jianguo kept staring at his daughter in the dim light coming through the window.

The child is cheerful during the day, but now that he's asleep, his brows are furrowed and his little mouth is pursed.

I just heard what sounded like crying; I guess they were frightened today.

Suddenly, Nuannuan trembled, her hands flailing wildly in the air, crying out.

"No...don't hit Nuannuan..."

Her voice was soft and tearful, making people's hearts pound. Su Xiulan quickly reached out and patted her daughter's back, gently comforting her.

"Don't be afraid, Nuannuan, Mommy's here. Are you dreaming?"

Nuannuan couldn't wake up at all. She was covered in sweat, and her hands were gripping the corner of the blanket tightly, her knuckles turning white.

"I can do laundry, I can wash a whole basin of clothes, please don't hit me..."

"Auntie... I'm not hungry. I don't need to eat. I'll just drink the dishwater. It's sweet."

"Grandma, don't pinch me, it hurts! Nuannuan isn't a jinx, waaaah..."

Listening to these words uttered in their sleep, the couple felt as if their hearts had been struck by a hammer.

Drinking dishwater?

A five-year-old child is expected to wash a whole basin of clothes?

This is not something a human being would do.

Su Xiulan burst into tears, hugged her daughter tightly, and pressed her face against the child's sweat-covered face.

"My son, how could you suffer so much?" Su Xiulan cried in a low voice, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Gu Jianguo's calloused hands clenched into fists in the shadows, veins bulging, his nails digging into his flesh without him even noticing.

He thought the child had just been abandoned and would have a hard life, but he never imagined that the child would suffer like this.

That's the water used to wash dishes for feeding pigs.

"Xiulan," Gu Jianguo's voice was very hoarse, "tomorrow, try to find out who Nuannuan is and where she came from."