She smiled and began, "Grandpa, even if we split the household, we won't split the family. I am still your granddaughter, and in this life, I will only carry the Gu surname. Splitting the household is just to avoid troubling Uncle and Aunt, since it's one more mouth to feed."
The old man squinted his eyes, understanding that leaving a little rascal behind would certainly not please the eldest daughter-in-law.
He took a puff of his pipe, gazing into Gu Jin's eyes, "Let's wait for your uncle to return and discuss it as a family."
"Alright, thank you, Grandpa."
The old man made no mention of the second son, and Gu Jin also understood that there was no need to inform her foster father about this.
She had known since childhood that she wasn't a member of the Gu Family and was not close to her foster parents.
In her previous life, she later realized that even though she was not close to her foster father, he still remembered her as the daughter who called him dad for over ten years.
Unfortunately, in the end, her foster father ended up with nothing, with ruined reputation and everything lost because of her.
Every time she recalled the past life memories, Gu Jin's heart grew heavier with regret.
She got up, nodded to the old man, and left the room.
The sky gradually darkened, and the uncle returned from outside.
The family sat at the small kitchen table, with an addition of the village's infamous little rascal.
An Mingji sat beside Gu Jin, looking very uneasy, though it was hard to tell how much was genuine.
While the family ate, the old man asked his eldest son, Gu Decang, about the crop conditions in the fields.
Listening to her uncle speak cautiously with a few words, Gu Jin abruptly changed the topic.
Her uncle talked about the news from the village, "The supply and marketing cooperatives in the town and county, and even the city stores that sell grain are out of stock. Even meat prices have risen, and the higher-ups can't distribute grains. Many employees have to tighten their belts to get by."
Upon hearing these words, Chen Hong, Gu Jiajie, and Gu Minmin all stopped eating.
The situation was worse than they thought; earlier, the village mentioned that the government might provide subsidies, but now it seemed hopeless.
"Ah! This world..."
The old man sighed, and everyone knew well the upcoming few months would be hard to endure.
Gu Jin did not join in the conversation. She reached out and placed a chopstick of stewed dried vegetables into An Mingji's bowl.
Since getting to the table, the child had been drinking clear broth porridge without touching the dishes on the table.
Chen Hong quickly noticed her actions but would not express dissatisfaction with Gu Jin, instead glaring fiercely at An Mingji.
An Mingji looked up, saw Chen Hong's glaring eyes, and his body shivered uneasily.
Seeing this, Gu Jin leaned in to softly comfort him at his ear, "Eat quickly, once you finish, you head back to the room. I need to discuss something with Grandpa and Uncle."
Hearing this, An Mingji withdrew his gaze, nodded obediently to her, and finished his coarse grain bun as quickly as possible.
When An Mingji placed his bowl and chopsticks back on the table, Gu Jin patted his head, "Go back to the room to rest, there's clean bedding on the bed. If you're tired, you can go to sleep first."
"Okay."
Watching the child's retreating figure fading away, Gu Jin finally redirected her gaze.
The old man saw that everyone had finished eating, lightly coughed, then reached behind to touch his back waist area.
Pulling out the pipe tucked at his waist, refilling it with tobacco, he lit up.
The old man exhaled blue smoke from his mouth, looked at Gu Jin, and spoke to his eldest son.
"Xiao Jin wants to adopt the child with the surname An..."
"What?!"
Before the old man could finish, Chen Hong directly exploded!
"It's already challenging to support this big family, not knowing where the next meal after this one will come from! And now you're adding another mouth to feed!"