With the clothes still in his hands, An Mingji looked back at Gu Jin. When he saw the enamel basin that she was carrying in her hands, the penny dropped. He realized that she did not despise him.
Gu Jin walked up to An Mingji and held him with one hand while she carried the enamel basin back to the basin stand.
"Clean yourself up, then put on the clean clothes."
"Okay." An Mingji looked down, breathing a sigh of relief.
He felt his heart pounding.
Gu Jin helped him wash his hands and cleaned the bloodstains on his body. Only then did she let him put on the clean clothes.
Her old clothes from two or three years ago fit An Mingji nicely.
She looked at him, and under his swollen face was a good-looking boy. He would surely grow up to be a handsome man someday.
"How old are you, An?"
"Thirteen."
An Mingji nipped the corner of the clothes, sounding uneasy.
Gu Jin was wide-eyed.
She could not believe that this boy was only three years her junior because he was so skinny. He looked like a seven- or eight-year-old.
If she remembered correctly, the eldest boy, who had bullied and threatened An Mingji at the village entrance and had later run away, was of the same age as An Mingji.
That boy's name was Liu Dapeng, and he was the son of Liu Laoer of Blackmount Village.
She knew that because she had a deep impression of the boy.
Liu Dapeng might have been her junior, but he was a bully, always mingling with a group of kids and playing truant in the village.
That boy had bullied her many times.
Liu Dapeng and An Mingji were of the same age, yet they looked five or six years apart in appearance.
Gu Jin felt sorry for An Mingji when she saw how skinny he was; he was obviously malnourished.
Right then, a series of growling noises rose.
Gu Jin gave An Mingji's protesting belly a once-over.
He looked down and blushed.
Seeing this, Gu Jin patted him on the head. "Hang in here, I'll get you something to eat."
Then off she went after saying so.
Chen Hong was sitting on a stool and building a fire in a stove while complaining to her younger daughter who had come in to help. "The harvest was poor last year, and we can only reap the crops three months from now. Yet, she has brought a sponge back. Doesn't she know that we don't have enough food for ourselves?"
Gu Jin heard her aunt grumbling when she entered the kitchen.
She went into the kitchen without hesitation.
Noticing Gu Jin's arrival, Chen Hong stopped her grumbling and pouted.
"Is there anything to eat here in the kitchen, Auntie? An is just a kid. I only found out that he hasn't been eating for several days when he almost passed out," Gu Jin said with a smile.
Anger rose within her aunt when Gu Jin spoke. Yet, when Chen Hong heard that the boy had almost passed out, her expression changed.
"Hold on!" Cheng Hong did not sound too happy, and her mouth twitched.
Despite that, she went to the cupboard and drew open the curtain. She took out a bun and handed it to Gu Jin reluctantly. "Here you go!"
"Thanks, Auntie!"
She took the bun from her aunt with a smile.
Chen Hong had mixed feelings when she saw the smile on her so-called niece's beautiful face.