Sold into a ghost marriage? Four-year-old and his thuggish father go on a killing spree.

"Dad, the uncle in Mom's letter is too far away from us."

As night deepened, Gu Yanqiu read the letter three times, his brows furrowing into a knot.

The person mentioned in the letter, surnamed Zhou, works at a machinery factory in the provincial capital.

It takes two days to travel from Chengjiawan to the provincial capital by car.

Distant water cannot quench a nearby fire.

Gu Yanqiu folded the letter again, put it back in the earthenware jar, and sighed.

"Yes, it's too far."

Niannian peeked her little head out from behind the stove, her eyes sparkling in the darkness.

"So, we need to find one that's close by first."

"Nearby?"

Gu Yanqiu was taken aback.

"Hmm." Niannian nodded, her voice low, "Someone who can make Uncle lose his voice."

Looking at her daughter, Gu Yanqiu suddenly felt a surge of indescribable emotions.

His daughter, Niannian, is only four and a half years old.

At an age when she should be hiding behind adults begging for candy, she is already planning a way out for her family.

"Who?" Gu Yanqiu's voice was a little hoarse.

Niannian's lips moved, and she uttered three words.

"Grandpa Cheng."

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Niannian carried a small earthenware basin and walked to Cheng Tiezhu's door.

The courtyard gate was ajar.

Cheng Tiezhu's wife, Aunt Liu, was sweeping the yard, supporting her back.

She suffers from chronic rheumatism, and her back and legs ache terribly on rainy days or when it's cool in the morning or evening.

"Grandma Liu."

Niannian's voice was sweet and soft.

When Aunt Liu turned around, she saw a little girl who wasn't even as tall as the stove.

"Niannian? So early, is something wrong?"

"Grandma, let me sweep the floor for you."

As she spoke, Niannian took the broom, which was taller than her, from Aunt Liu's hands.

The broom was made of bamboo, and it was heavy and hard.

Niannian used all her strength to sweep the fallen leaves and dust in the yard, one stroke at a time.

Her movements were slow but meticulous; the floor she swept was spotless, without leaving a single leaf.

As Aunt Liu watched that small figure struggling to sweep the broom in the morning light, her heart ached with a mixture of sadness and tenderness.

"Good boy, put it down quickly, this is not your job."

"Grandma, I'm not tired."

Niannian looked up, her forehead already covered in a fine layer of sweat. "Dad said that Grandpa Cheng is the brigade leader and works the hardest, so we have to help him share the burden."

These words, like a small pebble, gently landed in Aunt Liu's heart.

She walked over and patted Niannian's head.

"You child... really..."

Aunt Liu didn't know what to say, so she took a cornbread out of her pocket and stuffed it into Niannian's hand.

"Here you go, it's fresh out of the pot and still hot."

Niannian didn't answer, but instead looked up at Aunt Liu's eyes with her little face.

"Grandma, does your back still hurt?"

Aunt Liu was taken aback, not expecting a child to ask this.

"It's an old problem; it hurts whenever the weather changes."

After thinking for a moment, Niannian said, "My mother once said that there is a kind of grass on the mountain called 'tendon-stretching grass,' which grows in the cracks of rocks. It's green and looks like a centipede. If you boil water with it and soak your feet in it, your legs won't hurt anymore."

That's a very well-reasoned way of putting it.

Aunt Liu was half-believing and half-doubting.

"Really? What does it look like?"

Niannian squatted down and drew on the ground with her finger.

"Long, segmented, with small, opposite leaves."

She drew very carefully, even drawing the veins of the leaves.

Aunt Liu had indeed seen that look before on the back mountain.

"Okay, Grandma has noted it down. I'll have your Grandpa Cheng go up the mountain later and look for it."

Niannian then took the pancake and said sweetly, "Thank you, Grandma."

She didn't say that she recognized the grass herself, only that "my mother said so."

In this way, it wouldn't seem so shocking for a four-and-a-half-year-old child to know about herbs.

From that day on, Niannian became a frequent visitor to Cheng Tiezhu's home.

She didn't come empty-handed.

Sometimes, she would dig up a small handful of "tendon-stretching grass" from the hillside behind the house, wrap it in an old cloth, and place it on the stone steps in front of the Cheng family's house.

Sometimes, she would pick out the biggest candy from her share and give it to Hu Zi, Cheng Tiezhu's five-year-old grandson.

Tiger wet the bed but didn't dare tell the adults, so he secretly hid his wet pants behind the woodpile.

Niannian discovered it, but instead of making a fuss, she found an excuse to lure Hu Zi away, and then quietly helped him take his pants to the river to wash them clean and hang them to dry on a hidden tree branch.

From then on, Hu Zi regarded Niannian as his best friend, and he would always think of sharing half of any delicious food with her.

Over time, everyone in Cheng Tiezhu's family, from sixty-year-old Aunt Liu to five-year-old Hu Zi, grew to love this sensible and endearing little girl.

That day, Wang, the commune's cadre, came down to inspect the spring plowing situation.

Cheng Tiezhu walked with him along the ridge of the field.

Wang, the clerk, pointed to Gu Yanqiu, who was repairing a water pump in the distance, and casually asked a question.

"Is that the technician on your team? I heard he's quite capable."

Cheng Tiezhu's face immediately lit up with a smug look, as if he were praising his own son.

"Capable? Officer Wang, let me tell you, Yanqiu is a talent you won't find another like him in Qinghe County!"

His loud voice echoed across the fields.

"He can fix the machines that the commune can't repair in two hours! He's honest, hardworking, and charges the lowest labor fees of anyone else. What's most remarkable is that he can also teach children."

"Oh?" Officer Wang became interested.

"His daughter, Niannian, is only four and a half years old."

When Cheng Tiezhu talked about Niannian, the wrinkles on his face all broke into a smile.

"That child is half a year younger than my Tiger, but he's as sensible as a little adult. Knowing that my back and legs aren't good, he goes to the mountains every day to find herbs for me. The other day, he even covered for my Tiger... Tell me, how can such a young child be so kind-hearted?"

Cheng Tiezhu slapped his thigh and gave his concluding remarks.

"What do you call this? This is called a good family tradition! Isn't this the kind of model family we're promoting right now—one that's self-reliant and helps each other? I plan to give this father and daughter a good commendation at the next brigade members' meeting!"

As Officer Wang listened, he nodded repeatedly.

A personal praise from a brigade secretary carries more weight than anything else.

These words spread like wildfire throughout Chengjiawan in no time.

When the news reached the Gu family compound, Sun Xiufen was scolding the chickens in the yard.

"Eat, eat, eat! All you ever do is eat! You eggless thing, I'll stew you sooner or later!"

She overheard her neighbors talking outside the wall, saying that Cheng Tiezhu was going to praise Gu Yanqiu and his daughter at the meeting.

The chicken feed bowl in Sun Xiufen's hand fell to the ground with a "clatter".

praise?

Why should someone who has broken up with his family be praised?

Her eyes were filled with venom.

Meanwhile, inside the dilapidated house.

Niannian was lying on the small table, using a pencil stub to write down her accounts on scrap paper.

Under the "Expenses for Social Relationships" section, she wrote a line in crooked handwriting:

"One piece of candy for Tiger."

"Three bundles of the herb 'Stretching Muscles' for Grandma Liu."

These things are worthless.

But in Niannian's heart, this was the most important investment.

She knew that her uncle's "hat" was still hanging over her head and could be put on her head at any time.

Cheng Tiezhu's "praise" was the first "protective umbrella" she found for her father.

Although it's not sturdy enough, at least it can block a gust of wind.

She had just finished writing when she heard the postman's voice coming from outside the courtyard gate.

"Gu Yanqiu! There's a letter for you!"

letter?

My father has no relatives outside the area.

The students in the training course all lived in the commune, so they didn't need to write letters.

Who is it?

Niannian's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition surged up.

She ran to the door and saw the postman hand a letter to Cheng Tiezhu, who had come running after hearing the commotion.

Cheng Tiezhu took the letter and glanced at the sender's address and name.

His expression changed instantly.

He looked up at Niannian standing at the door, his expression complex.

"Niannian, have your father... come back."

Cheng Tiezhu's voice was more solemn than ever before.

"Your father needs to read this letter himself. After he reads it, he needs to be prepared."