I couldn't take it anymore; when I went home for Chinese New Year, the family genealogy book ha

Before the owner could respond, the half-closed mahogany door was pushed open with a creak.

A woman wearing a bulky floral cotton-padded jacket and with permed hair peeked in.

Behind her was a little boy who looked about six or seven years old.

The child's little eyes darted around, scanning the dishes on the table, before finally settling on the huge, still-uncleaned red king crab shell in the center of the table. His throat bobbed uncontrollably.

They didn't even greet me as uncle or aunt when they came in.

"My cousin Guilan is here."

Jiang Chen remained seated, offering only a perfunctory greeting.

As soon as Li Guilan entered the room, her eyes scanned the entire magnificent hall like radar.

When she saw the 98-inch TV, the gleaming floor tiles, and the mountain of Moutai and Zhonghua cigarettes in the corner, her eyes were filled with barely suppressed jealousy and greed.

She carried a box of discounted milk with slightly faded packaging and placed it heavily on the table.

"Wow, Xiuying, your family's life is really different now! This house is decorated like a palace!"

Li Guilan plopped down, her eyes still fixed on the king crab shell.

"What's this? Is this what you're having for dinner?"

Although Wang Xiuying didn't like her, it was New Year's Eve after all, and she was an elder, so she could only force a smile and stand up.

"Yes, the child bought some seafood. Aunt Guilan, have you eaten? Why don't you sit down and have some more?"

"I've already eaten, I've already eaten."

As Li Guilan spoke, her eyes never left the dining table, and she even swallowed.

"We just brought our little one to wish you a Happy New Year in advance."

Out of politeness, Wang Xiuying turned around and took a plate full of imported candies from the coffee table.

"Come on, Xiao Bao, have some candy."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the boy named Xiaobao pounced on him like a hungry wolf.

He stretched out his two dirty little hands and swept all the candies on the plate into his pockets, leaving not a single one.

Zhou Suqin and Jiang Xiaobei were both stunned.

Has this child never eaten candy before?

What's even worse is that Xiao Bao couldn't wait to tear open the wrapper of a candy, stuff it into his mouth, and then casually threw the colorful candy wrapper onto the clean floor tiles.

Not satisfied with that, he stretched out his little feet, clad in new shoes, and stomped hard twice on the candy wrapper, leaving a dark footprint on the shiny tile.

Wang Xiuying's cheek twitched; she felt extremely distressed.

She knelt on the floor this morning and wiped it several times with a rag!

Looking at her grandson's "masterpiece," Li Guilan showed no sign of blame. Instead, she smiled and proudly showed it off.

"Oh my, look at our little one, so lively! Not shy at all!"

"Everyone says this kid is destined for great things!"

Jiang Chen sat beside him, watching the scene quietly without saying a word.

He simply glanced out of the corner of his eye at the glass display case in the corner of the living room, which was specifically used to house his collection.

I confirmed that the small lock on the cabinet door was locked.

Inside, there's a LEGO Millennium Falcon that he spent a lot of money to acquire, as well as several limited-edition figurines.

Those were his precious children.

After finishing the candy, Xiao Bao chewed it with a loud crunching sound. As if encouraged, he began to run around the brand-new house like a headless fly.

He would touch the screen of the 98-inch TV every now and then, leaving a trail of dirty handprints.

A moment later, he tried to climb onto the brand-new leather sofa again, but Zhou Suqin quickly pulled him down.

The entire main room was thrown into chaos by his arrival.

Li Guilan sat there, cracking sunflower seeds, her face full of a smug expression that said, "My grandson is so energetic."

Sudden.

Xiao Bao stopped walking.

His gaze was drawn to a carefully arranged decorative item next to the TV cabinet.

It was a 1:6 scale, die-cast Iron Man figure.

The model is the MK85 battle-damaged version, and the workmanship is exquisite. Every scratch on every piece of armor and every detail of the paint job perfectly reproduces the look from the movie.

This is one of Jiang Chen's favorite collections, and it took him a lot of effort to acquire it.

In Xiao Bao's eyes, this thing was much more attractive than those candies.

That shimmering metallic texture and that cool design were, to him, the most perfect toy in the world!

"Grandma! I want this!!"

Xiao Bao stretched out his sticky hand, which had just grabbed some candy, pointed at the Iron Man figurine, and let out a scream that pierced the roof.

"I want that Iron Man!!"

As he spoke, he stood on tiptoe and reached out to grab it.

"Don't move!"

Jiang Chen stood up from his chair almost instantly, took a step forward, and pressed down on the base of the figurine before Xiao Bao's dirty fingers could touch it.

"Little friend, you can't touch this."

Jiang Chen looked down at the brat, the smile on his face gone.

"This is my brother's collectible, not a toy, it's very expensive."

Xiao Bao couldn't understand any of this.

All he knew was that the thing he wanted had been blocked from him!

This was something that had never happened before in his life!

After a brief moment of surprise.

"Wow--!!!!"

A wail, more piercing than a pig being slaughtered, suddenly burst from his mouth.

When Xiao Bao couldn't get the figurine, he lay down on the spot, kicking his legs wildly, and started throwing a tantrum on the clean, bright floor tiles.

"I don't care! I want it! I want that Iron Man!"

"Grandma! He's bullying me! He won't give it to me! Waaah—!!"

The crying was so sharp it sounded like fingernails scraping glass, making one's eardrums ache.

What was supposed to be a warm and cozy New Year's Eve was completely turned into chaos by the crying of this unruly child.