Chapter 1The Lucky Teardown

My parents took me to the city to buy a house.

I walked up to a dilapidated, tiny old house and refused to leave.

No matter how much my parents tried to persuade me, I stood my ground.

Helpless, my parents had no choice but to buy it.

Three days later, a "Condemned for Demolition" notice appeared on the wall of our newly purchased house.

My parents were shocked.

* * *

Right after dinner, my cousin and I were running around the yard.

"Chloe, come here and let me wipe your sweat. Look at your little face, it's as dirty as a little kitten," my mom said, smiling as she walked over, hugged me, and wiped my face.

Our neighbor, Mrs. Smith, walked by and smiled. "Chloe is such a lucky charm! It's rare for a little girl to be loved this much."

"But, Sarah," she continued, "a woman still needs a son to secure her future. It would be great if you and Chloe's dad had another baby and gave Chloe a little brother."

Hearing Mrs. Smith's words, my mom looked a bit displeased.

While tickling me with one hand, she replied politely, "We are perfectly happy with just Chloe. You don't need to worry about us."

Seeing me laughing heartily as my mom tickled me, Mrs. Smith shook her head and walked away.

My grandmother came out of the house. "Don't listen to that old busybody. Having Chloe is perfectly fine for our family."

My mom smiled too. "Mom, Chloe's dad and I are planning to go to the city tomorrow to look at houses. We've saved up quite a bit these past two years, and for the sake of Chloe's future education, we want to move to the city as soon as possible."

Grandma smiled warmly and patted my head. "Alright, as long as you find something you like. I've saved up a little bit too; if it's not enough, I can chip in!"

My parents wouldn't actually take my grandmother's money. After all, I still had an uncle, and she needed to be fair to both her sons.

In rural areas, favoring boys over girls wasn't uncommon, and my grandmother originally held those views too.

When I was first born and she heard I was a girl, she showed obvious disappointment on her face.

But from the moment I was born, I loved to smile.

Seeing me swaddled like a little white dumpling, grinning widely at everyone, my parents and grandmother couldn't help but smile too. They held me in their arms, unable to put me down.

Add to that my sweet talk, and with this skill, I gained a lot of love in the family.

But what truly elevated my status was another incident.

When I was a year old, my parents had something to attend to, and my grandmother was watching me at home.

After feeding me lunch, my grandmother was working in the yard while I played on the bed by myself.

Not long after, I suddenly started crying loudly.

My grandmother held me, trying everything to soothe me, but it didn't work. My cries grew louder and louder, my voice becoming increasingly hoarse.

For someone like me, who naturally loved to smile, this was extremely unusual.

My grandmother didn't dare delay and hurriedly carried me to the local clinic.

The doctor at the clinic couldn't find anything wrong with me and just told her to take me home and observe me.

My grandmother carried me home, and on the way, she saw black smoke billowing from the direction of our house.

"Fire... there's a fire..."

When my grandmother finally ran back carrying me, she found that several nearby houses, including ours, were on fire.

The fire was quite large, and the volunteer firefighters were all helping to put it out.

My parents also rushed back, and seeing that my grandmother and I were safe, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It took the whole afternoon to put out the fire; it wasn't extinguished until nightfall.

Later, we heard that people in several of the nearby houses were severely injured, and even after being saved, they were left disabled.

Our family was the only one that didn't suffer much loss, and no one was hurt.

Hearing this news, my parents were silent for a long time.

My grandmother held me tightly, her eyes still showing lingering fear.

"Thanks to Chloe! Our Chloe is a little lucky charm, Grandma's sweetheart."