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

"I think Zhang Aidi is just extremely envious; she's enjoying her chicken at home but can't stand seeing others have even a sip of soup!"

"She's utterly despicable, making a false police report and accusing her own family members—she really has the guts to do that!"

Hearing what Sister Hongxia said, the villagers watching also whispered among themselves.

"This Zhang Aidi is truly despicable, saying that the third brother's family made a fortune by reporting them. Aren't they afraid of choking on their own lies? How much did the third brother's family help them in the past? Not only are they ungrateful, but they've also gone so far as to harm them!"

"If you ask me, Jian Guo is really unlucky to have such a bad second brother and sister-in-law! They report you when they can't get any benefits. Zhang Aidi is always throwing tantrums and acting like a scoundrel; she's got a lot of bad intentions!"

"That's true. We'd better stay away from each other from now on! If even our own brothers can report each other, what chance do we ordinary neighbors have?"

As everyone chattered away, Zhang Aidi felt a buzzing in her ears, her face turning pale and then flushed, and she broke out in a cold sweat despite the cold winter weather.

Captain Liu overheard everyone's discussion and, if he understood anything, shouted, "Disperse! This was a false alarm!"

"Zhang Aidi! You made a false police report. Come with us!"

Zhang Aidi's face turned even paler. She couldn't understand it at all. Yesterday, this family definitely had meat and a pot of food. How could they have become so poor overnight?

As Captain Liu turned to leave, a soft little hand carefully tugged at the hem of his clothes.

"Uncle, don't go!"

Captain Liu turned his head and saw a small face with tears in its eyes.

The little girl looked to be only four or five years old, with big, watery eyes looking at you pitifully, making it hard to refuse her.

"Um... Uncle, Nuannuan's family is very poor, they don't have anything, but Second Aunt's family has lots of good treasures!"

One sentence silenced everyone in the courtyard instantly.

Zhang Aidi screamed like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, "You brat, what nonsense are you spouting?"

Nuannuan tilted her head, stretched out her chubby little hand and waved it, looking completely innocent. "Nuannuan is a good girl, she would never lie!"

"Yesterday, Brother Jinbao took a lot of money, saying it was what Second Aunt earned selling eggs on the black market. He also said you hid the money and food coupons behind that loose brick in the stove hole, saving it for his brother's wedding!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Aidi turned ashen-faced with fright, her legs went weak, and she knelt down with a thud.

"You little beast! I'm going to tear you apart!"

Zhang Aidi rushed over through gritted teeth, wanting to hit Nuannuan.

Captain Liu kicked out, sending Zhang Aidi flying to the side, where she tumbled over.

"Black market trafficking! Hoarding huge sums of money!"

Captain Liu's eyes changed. These days, trading was strictly prohibited. If someone had a few eggs at home and wanted to exchange them for needles, thread, or food, everyone would do it secretly, afraid of getting caught. Let alone reselling them; that completely changed the nature of the business.

"Let's go! Let's investigate!"

At Captain Liu's command, the inspection team members turned and ran angrily, heading straight to the neighboring house not far away.

They came over after receiving a report, only to find they'd just wasted their time. They were just looking for someone to vent their anger on.

"Don't go! I have nothing at home! This is slander! It's just kids talking nonsense!" Zhang Aidi scrambled to her feet, wailing and trying to stop them, but she was no match for the inspection team.

When she finally managed to run into the house, the kang (a heated brick bed) had been overturned.

Captain Liu shone his flashlight into the kang (heated brick bed) and groped around for a while. From behind a loose blue brick, he pulled out a tightly wrapped oil paper package.

"Zhang Aidi! Is this what you call nonsense?"

"This...I don't know..."

Zhang Aidi's lips trembled, and her eyes darted around. They had found this stuff; she knew she was doomed!

The bag was opened layer by layer, and inside were ten ten-yuan bills!

In addition, there was a stack of grain coupons and meat coupons. Most importantly, there were two "black market transaction slips" that are now the most taboo.

"hiss--"

The villagers who were watching were dumbfounded. This must be worth hundreds of yuan, right?

"Wow, Zhang Aidi always complained about being poor, turns out she's actually rich!"

"Didn't her house just get robbed? This money came too fast..."

"With so many votes, the method must be illegitimate; this is definitely speculation and profiteering!"

As soon as the oilcloth bag was exposed to light, Zhang Aidi's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground, her teeth chattering.

"This...this is what I've saved up, what I've saved up my whole life..."

"Saved? You saved up all the national grain coupons too?" Captain Liu roared. "Take them all away! Detain them too, put them in the commune's solitary confinement cell. You like to report people, don't you? Go in and explain yourself clearly!"

Just as Gu's second son and two brothers, Da Yong and Xiao Yong, were about to act aggressively, they were immediately restrained by the three team members: "Obstructing official business, arrest them all!"

Grandma Gu came out shakily, leaning on her cane. When she saw the money on the kang (a heated brick bed), her face turned pale and then red, changing color several times.

"You bastard Zhang Aidi! Hiding so much money behind my back! You heartless, ungrateful wretch!"

The old woman didn't care whether her daughter-in-law lived or died; she lunged forward to grab the money, but Captain Liu ruthlessly pushed her away.

"Confiscate everything!"

When Zhang Aidi was taken away, her cries were more pitiful than those of a pig being slaughtered, but unfortunately, no one in the village sympathized with her; they all spat at her.

What's this called? This is what they call "harming others will ultimately harm oneself," and "retribution is inevitable!"

The courtyard is finally quiet.

Su Xiulan felt a surge of satisfaction watching Zhang Aidi being dragged away, but when she turned to look at her own daughter, she felt something was amiss.

"Nuan Nuan, how did you know the money was in the stove hole?" Su Xiulan asked in a low voice.

Nuannuan blinked her big eyes and pointed her little finger at the dark shadow under the eaves.

"It was Xiao Hei who said that!"

The little girl said in a childish voice, her face full of innocence, "Last night, when Second Aunt was counting money, Little Black saw it all through the crack in the window. It said that while Second Aunt was counting the money, she was also cursing Daddy as a poor devil."

"quack--"

The jet-black crow stood atop the pile of firewood, puffed out its chest, and cawed twice: "You're welcome, I'm a Good Samaritan bird."

"This bird... is it really sentient?" Xiao An's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Although Gu Jianguo found it amazing, he was mostly filled with lingering fear. He held his wife's hand and advised, "Xiulan, don't flaunt your wealth. If it weren't for Nuannuan's quick thinking, we would have been in trouble today."

Nuannuan snuggled into Gu Jianguo's arms, rubbing her little face against his, her voice soft and sweet.

"Daddy, don't be afraid. Nuannuan is the family's lucky charm. If anyone bullies us, Nuannuan will bite them!"

The little girl even ground her teeth as she spoke.

Su Xiulan's eyes welled up with tears, and she hugged the child tightly.

Luckily we found this little girl, otherwise how could our family's life have gotten better and better?

Thinking back to the time when her husband lay in bed, his life hanging in the balance, Su Xiulan felt a deep pain in her heart.

Today, they are so grateful to their daughter again. From now on, the whole family will treat her even better.

Just as the family breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to cook something, the brigade leader rushed in.

The team leader has been extremely busy these past two days.

Old Gu's family has several problems every day, and he has a headache every day.

It was one thing for them to make a fuss in the village before, but today they went too far and actually took it all the way to the commune. Now, their village is going to be famous throughout the entire commune.

However, this matter is really not the fault of the third son of the Gu family; it's all because the second son's family is clueless.

"Jianguo, news just came from the commune that there's been a change in the recruitment situation at the forest farm!"

The captain looked serious, and the whole family's hearts jumped into their throats when they heard this.