Old Madam Su went off to cook, and the rest of the family returned to their rooms.
Seeing that it was getting late and her brothers were still out playing, Su Muyao decided to go find them—it would soon be time to eat.
She had barely stepped out of the Su family’s gate when she saw a group of villagers gathered together chatting.
The first to spot her was Granny Zhao. “Oh my, little Fu Bao, you’re out! You’re getting prettier by the day. Come, let Granny Zhao hold you—let me share in your good fortune!”
“Me too, me too!”
“Fu Bao, Auntie has candy at home. Want to come play?”
“Our Zhaodi loves playing with little girls like you—come to our house!”
…
In no time, the chatting villagers all surrounded Su Muyao, blocking her path.
Everyone wanted to hold her, hoping to “rub off” some of her luck.
Inside the house, Old Man Su heard the commotion outside. Since his granddaughter had just gone out, he quickly came to see what was happening.
What he saw made his brows knit together—his little granddaughter was trapped in the middle of the crowd, her small face scrunched up like she might start crying any second.
Without hesitation, he rushed forward.
“What are you all doing? You’re scaring my granddaughter!”
“And you—your hands are covered in mud! Don’t smear it on her pretty dress!”
Seeing Old Man Su come out, the crowd quickly stepped back.
One of the older women, the one who had been scolded, pouted. “So the lucky child can only stay in your house? We can’t even hold her? How stingy.”
Hearing someone criticize her grandfather, Su Muyao immediately spoke up, “Grandma, I’m my grandpa’s granddaughter. Of course I stay with him! I can’t just go live at your house, can I?
And if all of you keep trying to hold me, how am I supposed to go do anything else?”
Someone nearby chimed in, “Wherever you want to go, people would welcome you. If you’re unhappy at your grandpa’s place, come stay at Uncle’s house!”
The moment Old Man Su heard that, his temper flared. Someone dared to covet his granddaughter—right in front of him, no less. Shameless!
He grabbed his pipe and was about to strike the man who spoke.
The man saw the situation turn bad and immediately ran off, shouting as he fled, “That old man sure is fierce!”
Su Muyao burst into laughter at the scene. Not far away, her brothers were already on their way back.
Old Man Su scooped up his precious granddaughter and carried her back inside.
Lunch that day was quite a feast—stir-fried wild boar meat and egg drop soup. Su Muyao even had her own portion of steamed egg.
After eating her fill, she was carried out again by her grandfather.
Meanwhile, in the Liu family, two villages away, chaos had broken out.
The reason was simple: Liu Wentao and Caifeng were arguing over a divorce.
A month ago, Caifeng had given birth prematurely to twin girls.
After giving birth to a daughter the year before, she became pregnant again soon after.
Everyone had said her belly looked different this time—surely it must be a boy.
Even she herself felt it was different. This time, she craved sour foods.
Her mother-in-law became convinced that she was carrying a grandson.
But a month ago, she accidentally fell and went into premature labor.
The son they had all been hoping for… turned out to be two daughters instead.
“You useless woman!” Liu Wentao raged. “Your womb is worthless!
One daughter after another—and now this time, you’ve given me two more useless girls!
Do you want me to die early? You’ve completely humiliated me!”
At that moment, Liu Wentao looked as if he wanted nothing more than to strangle the wife he had lived with for years.
“Husband, next time—next time I’ll definitely give you a son. Please don’t drive me away, I’m begging you…”
“Another child? Haven’t you embarrassed me enough already?” Liu Wentao roared. “People are laughing at me! Twin daughters, huh? I’ll smash them to death!”
As he spoke, he grabbed the two infants and violently threw them to the ground.
The babies didn’t even have time to cry—they lost their breath instantly.
Everything was witnessed by two little girls outside the window. The older sister, Dayi, clamped her hand tightly over her younger sister Erya’s mouth, afraid that even the slightest sound would get them strangled by their father too.
At that moment, Old Madam Liu rushed into the room. Distracted by her thoughts, she didn’t notice the two girls crouching by the window.
“Son, son, I have something to tell you.”
But as soon as she entered, she saw the lifeless babies on the floor and her daughter-in-law sobbing on the bed.
She didn’t intend to deal with the tragic scene—what she had to say was more important.
“Do you remember where you threw the fourth child?”
Liu Wentao frowned, confused. “What fourth child?”
Old Madam Liu slapped her thigh anxiously. “The fourth baby Caifeng gave birth to!”
“Oh, that useless girl?” he said casually. “I threw her at the far mass grave.”
“Oh heavens! What if that ‘lucky child’ the Su family picked up is actually our fourth one?”
This only confused him further.
“You don’t know, do you?” she continued urgently. “That child is said to be a bringer of fortune—she can even command wolves!”
He scoffed. “It’s only been a year. What could a one-year-old possibly do? ‘Lucky child’ is just something people say to sound nice.”
Old Madam Liu grew more agitated. “You have no idea! That girl looks like a little fairy—fair and delicate, nothing like the village children.
They say she started talking before she was even a year old, and now she can run and jump!
But that’s not even the most important part—the important thing is, she can control wolves!
Those wolves have brought the Su family plenty of prey—huge wild boars, rabbits, chickens.
You didn’t see it, but those wild boars weighed four or five hundred jin each. I heard there were three of them!”
At the mention of wild boars, Liu Wentao’s interest was instantly piqued.
A single wild boar could fetch a high price in the county. Even experienced hunters rarely managed to kill a full-grown one, so wild game often sold for more than domestic pork.
But then he hesitated.
Plenty of people abandoned baby girls—how could they be sure the one the Su family picked up was his?
“Mother, don’t overthink it. There are lots of abandoned children. It might not be the one I threw away.”
“Oh, why are you so careless about this?” she snapped. “The day you threw that child away was the exact same day the Su family found theirs—and they brought her home that very night!
Isn’t that too much of a coincidence? You throw her away, and they pick her up right after!”
Outside the door, Dayi’s eyes lit up. Her fourth sister hadn’t died—what a relief.
Being taken in by another family was a kind of blessing… at least better than the life she and Erya were living.
Meanwhile, Liu Wentao began to consider the possibility.
If that fourth child really was a “lucky star” who could bring wealth to the family, then raising her might even improve his standing.
But since nothing was certain yet, he couldn’t just barge over and demand the child back.
At that moment, the woman on the bed suddenly remembered something.
“Yes! I remember—the fourth child had a birthmark on her wrist.”
Old Madam Liu immediately asked, “What kind of birthmark?”
“It looked like a lotus… yes, I remember now—it was a lotus mark, and it was golden.”
The moment she heard that, Old Madam Liu stepped forward and slapped Caifeng hard across the face.
“You useless woman! Why didn’t you say this earlier? A lotus—do you know what that symbolizes? And it was golden? That’s an auspicious sign!
She was a lucky star, and you—you fool—just handed her over to someone else!”
Not once did Old Madam Liu mention that it was her own son who had thrown the child away. Instead, she placed all the blame squarely on her daughter-in-law.