"Sister Jin, I’m done washing." The little kid came over, raising his hands for her to see.
"Good boy." The two headed towards the kitchen together.
Just as they were about to step into the kitchen, an anxious voice came from outside.
"Jin girl! There’s a phone call for you at my place, hurry and answer it!"
Old Mr. Gu, Gu Decang, Chen Hong, and Gu Minmin were all ready to head to the kitchen for a meal, and upon hearing the familiar voice, they all froze.
Everyone’s gaze fell on the man who had just run into the Gu Family’s yard.
The visitor was He Wenqing, the son of the village chief, and also the captain of the Qingshan Village production team.
Gu Jin looked puzzled and asked, "Uncle He, do you know who’s calling?"
He Wenqing thought for a moment and said, "It’s someone from the south, said they are in Shenzhen, sounded pretty urgent."
Hearing it was Shenzhen, Gu Jin thought of her cousin who went south.
She released the little kid’s hand, "Little An, you go eat first, I’ll be back soon."
The child obediently responded, and Gu Jin patted his head, then turned and greeted the Gu Family before leaving with He Wenqing.
The Gu Family couldn’t understand why someone from Shenzhen would call Gu Jin, so they went into the kitchen, eating and discussing as they went.
Only An Mingji, quietly eating, thought of Gu Jiajie who went south.
More than half a month ago, when Gu Jiajie and two others left, Sister Jin took him along to see them off, so he knew it all clearly.
Gu Jin followed He Wenqing to his house and answered the phone, only then did she learn that something happened to Gu Jiajie and the others!
She returned home, everyone had finished eating, but they had saved food for her.
Her aunt was in the kitchen washing dishes, inviting her to eat.
Old Mr. Gu was smoking a dry pipe in the deck chair in the yard.
Her uncle was chopping wood in the yard, and her cousin was playing cat’s cradle with the little kid.
Thinking about the man on the phone saying Gu Jiajie and the others were in life-threatening danger, Gu Jin felt anxious inside, but she appeared calm as she walked over to Old Mr. Gu.
Old Mr. Gu exhaled a puff of irritating smoke, "What’s the matter?"
Gu Jin reached up to adjust her hair, her voice steady: "Nothing much, just a classmate whose family is in the south. But her parents work here, and she wants to go to school in Wanhai City. She’s hoping I’ll accompany her to check out the school, so I’m planning to take the bus to Wanhai City this afternoon."
The old man said nothing, lifting the pipe for another puff.
After a while, he said, "You know what’s been going around the village lately, it’s always dangerous for a girl to go out alone."
Gu Jin knew the old man was displeased; the village gossip had been excessive lately.
She smiled and said, "Ever since I’ve wanted to study in Wanhai City, I haven’t planned to stay at home forever. How long can their gossip last? I’m leaving in two months anyway."
The old man looked up and took a deep look at Gu Jin.
Though his eyes seemed cloudy, they sparkled with a lifetime of shrewdness, and he suddenly changed the subject, "Your dad sent a letter from the army a while back, didn’t bring you anything this time, but he’s always asking in the letter how you’re doing. In a couple of days, we’ll reply to him, and we don’t plan to keep your going to Wanhai City a secret."
Upon hearing the word "dad," Gu Jin’s heart twisted with pain.
In her previous life, after being taken by the Zhen Family in Beijing, she always called Gu Dehao her adoptive father.
Now she has decided to be a Gu Family member for life, whether biological or adoptive, in this life she acknowledges only one father.
And that is Gu Dehao, the man who raised her for sixteen years.