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

The night was dark when two figures quietly slipped into the courtyard of the Gu family's third house. They crouched low and tiptoed, approaching the window from which the light shone.

The man with the fierce face from earlier in the day was walking in front. He gave a hand signal to his accomplice, and the two of them went their separate ways to the door.

The man licked his lips, rubbed his hands together, and reached out to push the wooden door.

Just as his hand was about to touch the door, he tripped over something and cried out, staggering forward.

A wooden barrel overturned overhead with a crash, and a stench exploded in the night.

The thin, yellowish liquid mixed with solids was poured over the two of them, and the smell was so strong it made their heads ache and they could vomit up their dinner from the night before.

"Ah! What is that?!"

"Damn! It stinks! It's shit!"

Two screams pierced the night sky and carried far, and the lights in the room suddenly came on.

The door creaked open, and Gu Jianguo stood in the doorway, leaning on his cane, with Su Xiulan and their two sons behind him.

"Who's howling like a ghost in my yard in the middle of the night?"

Gu Jianguo's voice was devoid of emotion. The two human traffickers were covered in filth, with liquid dripping down their hair.

A patch of something was stuck to their cotton-padded coats, and they shivered in the cold wind.

"Damn it! You're all asking for it!"

Enraged, the burly man pulled out a knife and charged at Gu Jianguo. Su Xiulan screamed in fright and pulled Nuannuan behind her.

"Dad! Watch out!"

Xiao An shouted and rushed out, kicking the human trafficker's wrist as he held the knife.

A sharp cracking sound rang out, followed by a man's cry of pain, "Ah! My hand!"

The knife flew out and landed in the snow. The trafficker clutched his wrist and rolled on the ground, curling up into a ball.

Another accomplice was so frightened by the scene that his legs went weak.

He thought to himself that this family was terrifying; the boy looked thin, but he was so strong.

The commotion in the courtyard was so loud that it alerted the villagers. A kerosene lamp lit up in a nearby house.

When Old Mrs. Gu saw that her plan had been exposed, she turned around and tried to slip away. She had only brought people here to give directions.

If we just get rid of that girl, her fifty-dollar debt will be cleared, and she'll even get some benefits. Who knew this family would be so wicked?

"Bad grandma wants to run away!"

A warm, sweet little voice rang out in the yard. She waved her little hand and shouted towards the mouse hole.

"Mice, bite her! Bite that bad grandma's big butt!"

The next second, several rats darted out from the corner of the wall and headed straight for Grandma Gu.

"Ah! What is that?!"

Grandma Gu felt a sharp pain in her buttocks. She screamed and reached out to slap it, only to touch something furry.

Looking down, she saw several rats gnawing at her cotton pants, baring their teeth menacingly.

"Get out of here! Get out of here!"

She was terrified and ran and jumped, trying to shake off the rat. With a ripping sound, her cotton pants were torn open with a large hole.

The red underwear inside was very conspicuous in the torchlight.

"Oh my, isn't that Grandma Gu?"

"What was she doing running into someone's yard in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? And she got soaked..."

"Smell this, tsk tsk, is this from cleaning a latrine?"

"Look! Her pants are ripped, and her red underwear is showing!"

The villagers rushed over with torches and witnessed the scene. Their pointing and whispering made Old Lady Gu wish she could die on the spot; she had lost all face.

Seeing that she couldn't escape it any longer, Old Mrs. Gu sat down on the ground and started throwing a tantrum, crying and wailing.

"Oh my god, this is outrageous! I just wanted to see my grandson and the kids, and not only would they not let me in, they even threw manure at me!"

She pointed at Gu Jianguo and spouted nonsense, "How could I have given birth to such an unfilial son! May I be struck by lightning!"

Several villagers who were unaware of the truth began pointing and gossiping about Gu Jianguo.

"Jianguo, she's still your mother..."

"Exactly, how could they treat an elderly person like that?"

Su Xiulan was so angry that she was trembling all over. Just as she was about to step forward to argue, Gu Jianguo stopped her.

Gu Jianguo walked up to Old Lady Gu with his cane, took out a piece of paper from his pocket, and unfolded it in front of everyone.

"Everyone, look carefully!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it drowned out all other sounds.

"This is a letter of severance of ties! I, Gu Jianguo, have long ago severed all mother-son relations with her!"

"Why do you think I treated her like that?"

Gu Jianguo pointed to the wailing human trafficker on the ground, "Go ask her who these two people are? What do they want from my house in the middle of the night!"

His eyes were red, and his voice trembled, "She's going to sell my daughter to human traffickers to pay off a fifty-dollar debt!"

"A person like that doesn't deserve to be a mother or a grandmother!"

These words shocked everyone present, and the entire room fell into a deathly silence. Selling one's own granddaughter—this is simply not something a human being would do.

Everyone looked at Old Lady Gu with disdain and anger.

Grandma Gu felt uneasy under everyone's gaze, but she still stubbornly insisted, "You're lying! I didn't! This is slander!"

At this moment, the village party secretary, his face dark, pushed through the crowd and walked in.

"What's all the noise about! Why aren't you sleeping in the middle of the night?!"

He glanced at the mess in the yard, then at the kidnapper who was tied up, and finally at Old Lady Gu.

"Tie those two human traffickers up tightly and take them to the police station at daybreak!"

The village secretary gave the order, then pointed at Old Lady Gu, "And you! Old Lady Gu! Our Hongxing Brigade will not tolerate a vicious person like you! You are not allowed to step into Gu Jianguo's yard again! If you dare to cause trouble again, get out of the village!"

Grandma Gu was paralyzed, her face was pale, and she felt that her life was over.

The farce ended, the villagers dispersed, and the courtyard returned to calm, leaving only the stench.

Su Xiulan hugged Nuannuan, her body going limp with fear.

"It's alright, Mom, the bad guys have all been chased away."

Nuannuan patted her mother's back to comfort her, and the family returned to the house in silence.

Ye Qing leaned against the wall, watching all of this, his green eyes filled with complex emotions.

He swayed and fell towards Nuannuan.

"Hey bro!"

Nuannuan instinctively reached out her little hand to support him.

But Ye Qing was too heavy, and the little girl was pulled backward by him, falling to the ground with a thud. Ye Qing fell into her arms and lost consciousness.

"Quick! Help him onto the kang (heated brick bed)!"

Su Xiulan exclaimed in surprise and rushed forward with Gu Jianguo to help.

Just then, Nuannuan's little hand touched something warm and wet. She looked down and saw that her little hand was covered in red.

Ye Qing leaned against her back, his clothes stained red with blood from the seepage; the cut he had sustained from the sharp weapon had reopened.