Calming her restless emotions, Gu Jin gently asked, "Little An, are you hungry?"
The sky outside the car window had already darkened, and it had been several hours since the child had his lunch.
An Mingji shook his head at the sound, pursed his lips, and said, "Sister Jin, I’m not hungry. You didn’t have lunch, are you hungry?"
Indeed, she received a call from Shenzhen at noon, and Gu Jin hastily packed up and left. Her emotions have been tense until now.
With her mind and body relaxing now, she felt hungry.
Since An Mingji was with her, she had packed plenty of food in the suitcase.
After careful consideration, she decided to bring An Mingji with her to Shenzhen; leaving him alone in Qingshan Village had made her uneasy.
Now, hearing the child’s thoughtful question, Gu Jin felt a warmth in her heart.
In the four-person sleeper compartment, it was very quiet with just the two of them.
Gu Jin took out the suitcase from under the bed, extracting some malted milk, a cup, as well as biscuits and White Rabbit milk candy.
While taking things out of the suitcase, she also discreetly retrieved two large red apples and placed everything on the table before putting the suitcase back.
Gu Jin poured the malted milk into the cup and, holding the two apples, said to An Mingji who was sitting on the bed, "The boxed meals on the train aren’t very tasty. You have some biscuits first to fill your stomach. I’ll make you some malted milk and then we’ll wash the apples to eat together."
An Mingji nodded and obediently watched her leave.
When Gu Jin returned with the hot water-made malted milk and the two cleaned apples, she found a young man and woman bullying her child in the sleeper compartment.
Gu Jin had bought the lower bunks; she was too lazy to climb to the upper bunks, and An Mingji was too young – she feared he might fall while climbing up and down.
Previously, Gu Jin and An Mingji were sitting on one bed, which had things she took out from the suitcase, like clean sheets and tins of biscuits.
The bed opposite them also belonged to them but was piled with stuff that wasn’t theirs.
At this time, the young man and woman stood in front of An Mingji. The young woman pointed at that bed, speaking arrogantly, "Kid, I want this bed. When your adult comes back, let them talk to me about the money, it’s not an issue."
"No way!"
An Mingji’s tone was very firm, and his tone was cold.
The woman’s voice turned a bit sharp, "How can you be so unreasonable, I’ve already said money isn’t an issue..."
Hearing the woman scold her child for being unreasonable, the expression on Gu Jin’s face turned colder. She walked into the small compartment, her voice calm as she said, "Money indeed isn’t an issue, but we’re not interested."
The woman turned around and saw Gu Jin wearing what looked plain, but actually very old-fashioned, clothes. It was clear she was from the countryside.
Noticing her clothing, the woman’s face was filled with arrogance and disdain, but seeing Gu Jin’s appearance, a strong jealousy flashed across her face, especially at her flawless skin, which was truly enviable.
This girl, dressed so plainly, was really beautiful, her skin so smooth that even as a woman herself, she wanted to touch it; it looked even smoother than an egg.
The woman glanced at the man beside her and noticed him staring at Gu Jin, his eyes filled with amazement and distraction.
At this, the woman’s face twisted with jealousy, and pointing at the other lower bunk, she said with malicious arrogance, "I want this bunk, name your price."
"No, we bought our tickets first."