It was Yu Jingting’s turn to draw the lot.
He didn’t rush it. Under everyone’s watchful gaze, he strode over to Suizi.
Suizi’s sight darkened as his towering figure filled her vision.
Yu Jingting leaned over, took Suizi’s hand in his, and rubbed it back and forth.
Heat crept up Suizi’s face, her heart was thumping wildly.
What on earth was he planning to do in public?!
As clever as Suizi was, she couldn’t figure out what was going on in Yu Jingting’s mind.
"I need my Lucky Star wife to bring me good luck."
He dropped this line that made everyone burst into laughter, after quite a bit of rubbing.
Laughter rang out around them, and Suizi’s palm felt an uncommon texture. She blinked in surprise.
Was that—a slip of paper?!
He gave Suizi a meaningful glance, and Suizi straightened up.
So, she really was their "Lucky Star".
What a cunning trickster Yu Jingting was!
He had secretly taken a paper slip when he replaced the ones attached to the draw box!
And had kept it hidden in his hand.
He had specifically gone to Suizi to ask for a "blessing" before drawing the lot.
All this drama because Auntie and Second Auntie kept saying that Suizi was unlucky, he wanted to prove them wrong!
Second uncle and his family had left, but Second Uncle’s eldest son, Yu Tiefu, had stayed to wait for the results.
Watching this whole scene, Yu Tiefu couldn’t help feeling jealous:
"You can’t change your fate! You are destined for the barren land, no matter how long he strokes your hand!"
He added louder:
"Some people cheat others out of their money by pretending to have a special power. They glorify a jinx as a Lucky Star. Let’s see who will go to your family for divination when they draw the worst lot!"
This was more than just an attack on Suizi.
He was challenging the accuracy of Wang Cuihua’s divination.
Yu Tiefu was desperate.
Filled with envy of others’ good luck after his own family’s misfortunes, he was willing to hurt others, gaining nothing himself, just so he could vent.
Suizi had a feeling that given a hand grenade, Yu Tiefu just might wipe out everyone at the scene.
Completely deranged.
Unfortunately for him, he was up against Yu Jingting.
Suizi squeezed her mother-in-law’s hand, signaling her not to get angry. She then faced Yu Tiefu and said:
"Yu Tiefu, if you keep going like this, I’ll have to take you up on a bet. If our family draws a good lot, you’ll have to explain your slander against my mother-in-law and me."
Standing up to Yu Tiefu in front of everyone took guts, but since Yu Jingting had already brought up the challenge, she couldn’t back down.
"Sis-in-law is right!"
Yu Jingting’s younger brothers joined in the uproar.
They were a loyal bunch; upon hearing their sister-in-law speak up, they all chimed in.
"Bet! Bet! Bet!"
Once someone started, the villagers joined in the chorus.
Yu Tiefu’s face turned red. He had merely wanted to vent his frustration, not to take a serious bet.
With everyone cheering, he couldn’t back down. He racked his brain trying to figure out how to weasel out.
"Forget it, they are all cowards in their family. They dare to provoke but are afraid to take responsibility. I’m used to it; cowards can leave." Yu Jingting added fuel to the fire and gave Yu Tiefu a "you can’t do it" look.
"Second uncle’s entire family is helpless. Ah, you can’t, I can’t, drawing a barren land truly can’t~" Jiaojiao clapped her hands and started singing her own tongue twister.
Men hate to hear others say they can’t.
Yu Tiefu blurted out in a rough voice:
"I’ll bet with you! If you draw a second-tier land or a barren land, what will you give me?"
Boos sounded from below. Everyone could tell he was up to no good.
Drawing a second-tier land still meant good luck, Yu Tiefu was just setting a higher bar because he couldn’t afford to lose.
"You should kneel—" Yu Jingting wanted to say, you should kneel down and kiss Uncle’s shoes once.
"If our family draws a second-tier or barren land, we’ll give you our tractor coupon. If we draw a first-tier land, you’ll give us your tractor coupon."
Suizi spoke up.
Yu Jingting seemed a bit disappointed, thinking that the kissing shoes punishment would have been more fun.
Wang Cuihua wanted to speak, but Suizi squeezed her hand again, and she had to swallow her words.
So many lots had been drawn already, with only three pieces for first-tier land left.
The rest were for second-tier and barren land. What if Tiegen lost?
Suizi gave her mother-in-law a reassuring look, signaling her to calm down, so Wang Cuihua steeled herself.
Now she could only trust Suizi. Her daughter-in-law, a bringer of wealth and luck to her husband and in-laws, had never disappointed her.
Upon hearing about the tractor coupon, Yu Tiefu instantly agreed.
In his eyes, it was a white elephant.
Nobody could afford such an expensive item. Having it in hand was like keeping a piece of waste paper.
A tractor, unused for a long time, would just rust and deteriorate.
Seeing him agree, Yu Jingting didn’t hurry to draw. Instead, he grabbed Suizi’s hand again and rubbed it.
It looked like he was catching some good fortune, but in truth he was just taking advantage.
Only after her hand was almost chaffed red did he let go.
With a determined gait, Yu Jingting marched up to the draw box and proclaimed in a grandiose tone:
"My wife brings me such wealth!"
He reached inside, then drew his hand out.
First-tier land, it had come!
The Team Captain announced:
"Yu Jingting, first-tier land!"
Yu Tiefu backed away, his face shrouded in pale.
The villagers murmured in amazement.
Suizi really was a woman of fortune and a lucky charm for her husband. Could it really be?
A clever-minded villager already stepped forward to book an appointment for a future fortune-telling session with the laughing Wang Cuihua.
The issue of the fire incident had long spread Suizi’s reputation as a "fortune-bringing wife".
Now with this "manifestation" at the land-lucky draw, all the villagers were convinced that Suizi had luck.
Through Wang Cuihua’s mysterious divination and the spread of villagers’ word of mouth, Suizi’s reputation as a bringer of good fortune was reinforced. Soon, she would be heralded as a Lucky Star.
In her past life, the thing Suizi cared most about was the "disaster-carrying" character of her fate. Yet now, through the efforts of the mother-daughter duo, she had become a celebrated "Lucky Star" in the village.
Suizi’s feelings at this moment were complicated.
She saw the villagers’ envious expressions blur and only the joyous expressions of the Yu family clear in front of her.
All the things that she used to care about didn’t really matter.
What really mattered was the three people in front of her.
They had drawn a first-tier land and won a draught ox.
Wang Cuihua went home, washed her hands and burned some incense. She made her prayers in front of Yu Shuisheng’s portrait, sharing the good news with him.
Suizi sat by the heated brick bed with an abacus, calculating carefully while occasionally manipulating the beads.
A soft sensation grazed her waist.
Yu Jingting brought a pillow and placed it behind her.
Leaning against the pillow instead of the wall instantly increased her comfort.
"What are you calculating?" Yu Jingting asked.
"I remember, you know how to drive a tractor?"
Before marriage, she had seen him driving the Production Team’s tractor ostentatiously in the field.
"Doesn’t everyone know how to operate that?"
"Back then, there were a few girls watching you, hehe."
The last two ’hehe’ made Yu Jingting shudder with goosebumps.