An Mingji knew Gu Minmin; he occasionally saw her being bullied in the village.
However, she had a very famous brother, so those people only teased her occasionally and didn’t dare to really bully her too harshly.
Sometimes, he was very envious of Gu Minmin, such a timid and shy person with a brother who protected and cared for her.
But now, An Mingji wasn’t envious of her anymore because he also had someone to protect him.
Ever since Sister Jin stood up for him, there was someone looking out for him as well.
Afraid that Gu Minmin outside the door would make noise and wake up Sister Jin, An Mingji got up and went to the door.
The door was opened from the inside, giving Gu Minmin a start.
She looked at An Mingji, who stood inside and whom villagers called "the wolf cub," and said softly, "My mom asked me to call you for breakfast."
"Mm."
An Mingji responded, glanced back at the person on the bed inside the room, and then walked out and closed the door, following Gu Minmin to the kitchen.
"The bicycle in the yard belongs to the village chief’s family, right? I remember the village chief’s bicycle has a wooden board on the back seat."
Uncle Gu’s voice sounded from the kitchen.
Chen Hong was serving rice in front of the stove, "Who knows, it’s probably that kid Jiajie who borrowed it. I’ve called him several times today and he still won’t get up. Just let him sleep his life away!"
At this moment, Gu Minmin led An Mingji into the kitchen.
Old Man Gu and Uncle Gu were both seated at the table, with Chen Hong standing by the stove serving porridge.
Seeing Gu Minmin come in, Chen Hong called out, "Come here and carry the porridge!"
Gu Minmin didn’t respond, but her feet moved toward the stove, where she carried the bowls of porridge one by one to the table.
Seeing this, An Mingji also went over to help.
Chen Hong noticed and looked displeased, "You go sit down, we don’t need your help here."
She had already received over a hundred bucks from Jin girl, so how could she let this little cub do any work? If Jin girl found out and took the money back, it would be a loss.
Holding the bowl in his hands, An Mingji stood there at a loss after hearing Chen Hong’s shout.
Chen Hong glared at him from the stove, and An Mingji met her gaze, not fearful but confused.
He hadn’t been around people for several years and didn’t know what to do at that moment.
Witnessing this scene, Old Man Gu came to the rescue, "Little An, come and sit."
An Mingji moved, walking over with the bowl of porridge to sit next to Old Man Gu.
This morning’s breakfast was short of two people, Gu Jin and Gu Jiajie.
Both slept until noon, eventually waking up to the loud talking in the courtyard.
Gu Jiajie, with his messy hair like a bird’s nest, walked out of the house and saw people in the yard buying meat, with others gathering around to chat.
Feeling annoyed, he ran his hand through his hair, planning to go back and sleep some more.
"Jiezi! Jiezi..."
A familiar voice came from behind him.
The voice was loud enough to cause a pause in the courtyard conversations.
Gu Jiajie turned around to see his good brother Zhiren running towards him.
His friend was wearing pants mended with several patches, a frayed undershirt with rolled edges, and a big work jacket on top.
Seeing his buddy from the neighboring village, Gu Jiajie lost the desire to go back to sleep and asked Wu Zhiren as he approached, "What brings you here?"
"I heard your family was slaughtering a pig, so I came to have a look!"
Gu Jiajie raised an eyebrow, "Word even got to your village?"
"Oh yes, I’ve heard plenty of jealous remarks—it’s quite enviable," Wu Zhiren said with a broad smile.