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

Nuannuan, wearing a floral cotton-padded jacket, strolled around the yard when no one was paying attention.

Her little hands were tucked into her sleeves, and her little brain was working very fast.

【Little Greenie, is that shovel a good thing?】 Nuan Nuan stared at the shovel in the corner.

Little Green shook its leaves in the space: [Collect! Absolutely collect! This shovel head is made of good steel; if we leave it to these bastards, who knows how they'll bully you later!]

Nuannuan blinked, and when no one was looking, she pretended to fall, her little hand grabbing the handle of the shovel for support.

The shovel disappeared.

Nuannuan got up as if nothing had happened, patted the snow off her bottom, and wandered over to the woodpile.

There was a wood-chopping knife stuck there.

【Receive!】A thought warmed my heart.

The wood-chopping knife is also gone.

Nuannuan gets more and more excited as she collects things; it's even more fun than playing house.

She crammed everything usable into her space, from the pickaxe in the yard to the half-bundle of dry hemp stalks at the base of the wall for starting a fire.

Finally, she slipped down to the kitchen window.

On the windowsill sat a chipped ceramic jar, half-filled with coarse salt.

[Hmph, that mean grandma wants to eat pickled vegetables? Dream on!]

Nuannuan stood on tiptoe, but couldn't reach it. She looked around, moved a stone to stand on, and waved her little hand.

Not a single grain of salt was left for Old Lady Gu, not even the jar.

"Huh? Where's the stuff?"

Old Gu came out of the house, wanting to find a shovel to clear the snow and clear the road so the family could leave quickly. He circled the corner twice, scratching his head in confusion, "I just saw the shovel standing here!"

He reached for the wood-chopping knife again, but it was gone too.

"What the hell?" Old Gu, in the dead of winter, broke out in a cold sweat. "This iron thing can grow legs and run away by itself?"

Nuannuan then hopped over, tilted her little face up, and pointed in the direction of the outhouse.

"Second Uncle, I just saw Big Brother carrying those iron things over there," Nuannuan said. "Did he fall into the cesspool?"

Old Gu's face turned green. He'd fallen into a cesspool? That was a cesspool several meters deep; there was no way to pull him out!

"That idiot!" Old Gu stomped his foot angrily, glaring at Da'an who was carrying his luggage, but he couldn't actually go and fish him out of the latrine.

The belongings were mostly packed up; apart from bedding and a few tattered clothes, there was nothing else worth taking from this house.

"Let's go." Gu Jianguo took one last look at the courtyard where he had lived for more than 20 years, still feeling a little reluctant to leave.

The battalion commander was a kind-hearted man. He squatted down and said, "Jianguo, get on! I'll carry you!"

Gu Jianguo didn't stand on ceremony and climbed onto the brigade leader's back.

Su Xiulan carried a large basket on her back, containing some food and miscellaneous items, and was also holding Nuannuan in front of her.

Hongxia took Nuannuan from Su Xiulan's arms, saying, "I'll hold the baby! You just take care of yourself!"

Xiao An carried his own bedding, while Da An carried a large bundle on his back containing his precious spare parts, which he wouldn't let anyone touch.

The group braved the wind and snow, walking out with uneven steps.

Grandma Gu stood at the door, watching the family's departing figures, and suddenly felt a sense of emptiness in her heart.

But that feeling quickly faded. She spat on the ground and yelled, "Get out! I hope you all freeze or starve to death outside! So you won't have to come back and take a share of my coffin money!"

Zhang Aidi chimed in from behind, "That's right! If you're so capable, don't ever come back begging us for anything! Without the Gu family, let's see how many days you can survive!"

The wind and snow were so strong that the curses were blown out of control and could only be heard intermittently.

Gu Jianguo lay on the captain's back, listening to the curses behind him, and sneered.

Please? Maybe in your next life.

The family had nowhere to go, and there were no vacant houses in the village. The brigade leader said that they could make do with the hunters' houses in the North Mountain for now, and when the weather got better, he would allocate some land for them to build two rooms to live in.

The roads to Beishan are all difficult to traverse, and the snow is so thick that you can sink up to your ankles when you step on it.

When they arrived at their destination, the family realized that the hunting lodge was even more dilapidated than they had imagined.

There were only three thatched houses in the mountain valley. Much of the thatch on the roofs had been blown away by the wind, revealing the black beams. Several large cracks had appeared in the mud walls, and cold wind kept pouring in.

The room was spotless. The kang (heated brick bed) was still there, as well as a table with a missing leg, but there wasn't even a stool.

The walls had been uninhabited for a long time, so a thick layer of dust had accumulated on them, and cobwebs hung all over the corners.

Seeing this place that was almost uninhabitable, Xiao An's eyes reddened. "Dad, Mom, how are we supposed to live here?"

"This is so dilapidated, it's even worse than our pigsty! In this cold weather, won't they freeze to death at night?"

The wind seeped in through the cracks in the wall, and the temperature was not much different from that outside.

Su Xiulan felt a chill in her heart, but as a mother, she couldn't back down.

"Yes! Why can't we stay here!" Su Xiulan put down her basket, rolled up her sleeves, and started packing. "As long as our family is united, anywhere is home! Even living in a cave is better than living in that wolf's den!"

"Da'an, Xiao'an, don't just stand there! Go find some dry grass to seal up the cracks in the wall!" Su Xiulan directed. "Sister-in-law Hongxia, could you please help start a fire to warm up the house?"

Upon hearing this, everyone sprang into action.

The brigade leader put Gu Jianguo down, then helped him lay out the bedding on the kang (a heated brick bed) and helped him up.

Nuannuan was also pacing around the room, her little brows almost furrowed like a caterpillar.

"Little Greenie, this house is so shabby!" Nuannuan wrinkled her little nose. "But it's okay, there's no bad grandma here, and no bad auntie either. I like it here!"

Little Green: [That's right, being free is great. But it's so cold, Warmheart, you need to find a way to get some firewood, otherwise we'll freeze tonight.]

Nuannuan nodded, and while everyone was busy, she quietly took out the dried hemp stalks she had previously stored away from her space, pretending that she had found them in a corner.

Soon, a fire was lit in the middle of the room. The firelight did not dissipate the chill in the room, and it felt much warmer.

The brigade leader and Sister-in-law Hongxia helped tidy up before going home. Before leaving, Sister-in-law Hongxia insisted on giving Su Xiulan a few hard-boiled eggs.

After seeing the guests off, the family of five sat around the stove.

The wind was still blowing outside. Although the house was simple, everyone huddled together, which made them feel more at ease.

"Are we really going to live here from now on?" Xiao An asked nervously, warming herself by the fire and looking at the flames.

Gu Jianguo reached out and patted his youngest son's head. "It's only temporary. Once the snow melts in the spring, Dad will apply for a plot of land for a new house, and we'll build a grand new brick house! It'll be even more impressive than the Gu family's old courtyard!"

"Really?" Xiao An asked.

"When has Dad ever lied to you?" Gu Jianguo looked at his three children. "As long as we're willing to work hard, we'll always have a better life."

At this moment, Da'an, who had been silent all along, moved.

He took the bundle off his back, placed it next to the fire, and then untied the layers of rags, revealing what was inside.

Several people watched with curiosity.

"Big brother, what's this?" Nuannuan blinked her eyes, extremely curious!

Da'an didn't say anything, but carefully tore the tattered newspaper apart, and everyone saw that it was actually a big thing.

It was bigger than a radio, with two large speakers and a row of rusty buttons in the middle.

This is……

"recorder?"

Gu Jianguo was so shocked that he covered his mouth. He had seen it in the forestry factory director's office; it was incredibly expensive and almost impossible to buy. Even with a ticket, you couldn't get one.