After a chaotic commotion, everyone in the Zhou family, except for Zhou Laoda's family who had been separated from the main family and lived at the end of the village, was awakened.
The two elders of the Zhou family came out with candles lit, and followed Zhou Lao Er and Zhou Lao Si to the door of Zhou Lao San's room.
"Ouch, Second Brother, Fourth Brother, don't come in yet, wait a moment." Zhang Cui ignored her back injury and forced herself to get up.
She and Zhou Laosan were both naked, so they had to put their clothes on quickly.
"What are you doing in the middle of the night? How did you manage to break the bed?" Old Mrs. Zhou was furious looking at the pile of broken wood on the floor. Making a new bed would cost a lot of money. The young couple were too much of a troublemaker and had no sense of proportion at all.
Zhang Cui is thick-skinned. Since it's late at night and everyone here is family, she doesn't care much. "I always do it this way, and nothing ever happens. Who knows what kind of evil spirit I encountered today?"
At this moment, Zhang Cui, with her sharp eyes, noticed Xingxing following behind her daughter and shouted, "I know what happened! It's this little jinx that's to blame. Nothing ever happened before, but the bed collapsed today after I brought her home. She's just bad luck."
"I'm a lucky star, not a jinx!" Xingxing's little chest heaved with anger. Although she didn't quite understand what a jinx meant, she roughly knew it was an insult.
"You're such a jinx. You caused my parents' bed to collapse. It's all your fault. No wonder your parents abandoned you on the mountain. You must be an unwanted child."
In the darkness, Zhou Laosan's daughter, Zhou Dahua, glared hatefully at Xingxing. She disliked this chubby girl with big, round eyes.
The children in the village were all sallow-faced and thin, but this star was an exception, standing out starily to her.
"It wasn't me, I didn't do anything, you're talking nonsense." Xingxing clenched her little fists, her sweet voice unconsciously rising in pitch.
"You dare talk back? Do you believe I'll slap you?" Zhang Cui, supporting her back, found a bald stool and sat down, her face slightly ferocious. "Third brother, I told you this child is unlucky and prone to causing trouble, but you wouldn't believe me. Now that something's happened, you should believe me, right?"
Zhou Laosan refused to admit that he and his wife had been too dramatic and had caused the bed to collapse, which would be too embarrassing if word got out. Instead, he went along with Zhang Cui's words: "It was my carelessness. This brat really is an ominous sign."
After a few words of discussion, the Zhou family reached a consensus and unanimously decided to drive Xingxing away.
Zhou Laosan asked Zhou Laoer to throw the star out, but Zhou Laoer was an honest man and couldn't bring himself to do it in the middle of the night, so he said, "Why don't we wait until dawn? It's easy for something to happen if we throw the child out now."
"Fourth brother, you go." Zhou Lao Si and Zhou Lao San were twins, and the two brothers got along very well. As soon as Zhou Lao San spoke, Zhou Lao Si came over to grab the person.
They were the ones who wanted to bring her back, and now they're the ones who want to drive her away. It's better for her not to stay in this family.
Xingxing angrily waved away Zhou Laosi's hand, turned around and staggered towards the door, "I don't need you to chase me away, I'll leave on my own."
Reaching the courtyard gate, Xingxing tiptoed and laboriously opened the bolt, then huffed and puffed her way out the door and left without looking back.
I didn't feel anything when I ran out, but as I walked along the path, I realized how dark and scary it was outside. The summer night, usually filled with the chirping of insects and cicadas, was unusually quiet.
Perhaps the porridge was too thin for dinner, or perhaps she was still thinking about the little girl, but Zhao Guihua tossed and turned until midnight without being able to fall asleep, and frequently got up to get up at night.
When she came out of the outhouse, she saw a small figure squatting in the corner of her house. When she got closer, she found that it was Xingxing, who was pouting and holding a few fireflies in her hands.
Oh my god, she was terrified! She thought she'd encountered some kind of evil spirit in the middle of the night.
"Xingxing, why are you here all alone, holding fireflies?" Zhao Guihua asked, squatting down in front of her.
"Nobody wants the stars anymore. The stars have no houses to live in. They can't see the road in the middle of the night, so they can only catch a few fireflies to light the way. Auntie, what are you doing here?"
Zhao Guihua felt a tightness in her chest. Those damned Zhou Laosan and Zhang Cui, they rushed to take the child home during the day, but then heartlessly kicked such a young child out in the middle of the night. They did absolutely nothing right.
“This is the end of the village, and Auntie’s house is right here. Xingxing, Auntie will take you home. You can stay in Auntie’s house.” Zhao Guihua picked up Xingxing and carried her into the courtyard.
Seeing that Zhao Guihua had lit the candle, Xingxing opened her arms and released all the fireflies.
"Honey, wake up." Zhao Guihua woke up Zhou Laoda as soon as she entered the room.
"What are you doing?" Old Zhou turned around sleepily.
“You go and squeeze in with the kids for one night. Xingxing was kicked out by Lao San and Zhang Cui, so I brought her back. She’ll sleep with me tonight,” Zhao Guihua said with a happy expression.
Boss Zhou: "?"
He wiped his face and got up, muttering, "What's wrong with the third brother and his wife? How could they chase the child away in the middle of the night?"
“It’s good enough that your brother didn’t eat the child; kicking him out is a sign that he still has some conscience.” Zhao Guihua had a lot of complaints about Zhou Laosan.
Four years ago, during their escape from famine, they were forced to resort to cannibalism. At that time, Zhou Laosan and Zhou Laosi had their eyes on Zhou Laoda's quintuplets, wanting Zhou Laoda to give up one of his sons to exchange for another child so they could eat him.
Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua refused to give up their child, even at the cost of their lives. Zhou Laosan and Zhou Laosi tried to take the child away, and they almost succeeded.
As if by divine intervention, just as the scene was in complete chaos, it suddenly started to rain. After more than a year of drought, a sudden downpour brought joy to everyone. They excitedly tilted their heads back and drank the water, forgetting all about the cannibalism they had been exchanging children for…
When only Zhao Guihua and Xingxing were left in the room, Xingxing asked with a heavy heart, "Auntie, are you really going to take me in? I stayed at the village chief's house, but the village chief's house is broken. I stayed at Zhou Laosan's house, but Zhou Laosan's bed collapsed. They called me a jinx."
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