Chapter 1199: Call Me Sister Jin

Gu Jin asked softly, "Little An, does it hurt?"

An Mingji was asked this question for the first time.

There were people who sympathized with him before, pitied him, but none of them had ever asked him whether it hurt.

Of course it did, a heart-wrenching pain.

Memories buried deep in his mind surfaced again, and resentment flashed in An Mingji’s eyes.

Clearly, he hadn’t stolen anything, but the villagers didn’t believe him and brutally broke his leg.

If he hadn’t escaped, he might have died in Qingshan Village.

Qingshan Village, nestled by mountains and water, was once his home.

Now, Qingshan Village was the beginning of disaster for him; it was the hell of his lifetime.

Gu Jin received no response from An Mingji, but she was already used to it.

She carefully washed every inch of his body.

The more she washed, the fewer stains remained on An Mingji’s skin. His body, hidden by mud and as thin as a skein of bones, gradually became clear.

Gu Jin raised her hand to wipe her tear-clouded eyes.

Today, she cried more than she had in all her past lives combined.

No one had ever caused Gu Jin to feel such heartache, sorrow, self-blame, and guilt.

Why must her little An suffer so much?

Heaven is so unfair!

Angry from within, Gu Jin inadvertently applied force while washing, causing An Mingji to cry out in pain.

"Hmm!"

She quickly let go, her face panicked, "Little An, are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

An Mingji gently shook his head at her, staring calmly at the water that had changed color.

In truth, this pain was nothing to him.

But Gu Jin was flustered, and after washing him thoroughly, she carried An Mingji out and placed him on the only bed in the bedroom.

While covering him with a quilt, she unintentionally glanced at his legs, completely deformed and beyond recovery, her eyes flashing darkly.

She was determined to heal these legs for little An.

Gu Jin covered him with the quilt and heard noises outside, presumably Qiu Qianghai had invited Master Chen, the appraiser, here.

She squatted at the bedside, looking at An Mingji’s pale and thin little face, and felt pity in her heart.

This little An was clearly malnourished, severely lacking in various microelements.

Gu Jin lowered her voice and spoke to him gently, "If you need anything, you can call me. I’ll be right outside the door. Don’t bear it alone anymore; I’ll be by your side."

Perhaps after numerous attempts, An Mingji slightly let down his guard.

He slowly raised his small face, black and somber eyes fixed on Gu Jin, his voice dry, "W-what’s your name?"

This question seemed to have required him to muster all his courage to ask.

Gu Jin’s eyes brightened slightly; she had just started to stand up but squatted back down.

She leaned on the bedside, reached out to hold An Mingji’s small hand, "I’m Gu Jin. You can call me Sister Jin. We used to live together in Qingshan Village. Do you remember me?"

An Mingji looked at her blankly and shook his head lightly.

In his memory, there wasn’t a woman named Gu Jin.

Gu Jin’s face showed disappointment.

Based on her memory of the age difference between her and little An, she was only about ten years old at this time, with her features not yet fully developed.

But now she was already in her twenties, and An Mingji appeared to be only around ten years old.

The gap between them was more than three generations; the little An here had a vast difference from her previous acquaintance, which is why she didn’t mention Qingshan Village or recognize An Mingji at first.

This place was different from everything Gu Jin knew.