An Mingji still didn't know what Gu Jin had done for him.
He sat on the stool inside the small room, observing the arrangement, finally looking at the neatly folded bedding on the bed.
In this clean and spacious room, he was the only one. Even though he was exhausted, he wouldn't lay down, fearing he would dirty the bed.
When Gu Jin pushed open the door, she saw him sitting there stiffly, his eyes darting around the room.
"Why aren't you going to sleep?"
An Mingji stood up, stammering, "...I'm too dirty."
Gu Jin laughed upon hearing this, turned around, and gently closed the door,
She had previously applied a black plaster on An Mingji and naturally saw the wounds on his body and the traces of not having bathed for quite some time.
But she didn't mind these; his wounds couldn't get wet and needed more time to heal.
Gu Jin pulled the light switch in the room, turning off the power, and went to the bed, guided by the moonlight outside.
Since she'd have to get up to turn off the lamp after getting onto the bed, she might as well do it now.
The room immediately fell into darkness, but An Mingji wasn't startled. He just waited by the bed.
Gu Jin walked to the bed, took off her shoes, and got on, saying in the direction of An Mingji, "Come up and sleep."
"Hmm."
In the darkness, An Mingji visibly relaxed, no longer as tense as before.
He removed his shoes very quietly, as if afraid of disturbing someone.
When he climbed onto the bed, Gu Jin had already made the bed.
However, there was only one set of bedding in the room.
In the moonlight, An Mingji sat in the middle of the bed, watching the slender figure before him busy about.
"Alright, come on in."
Hearing the gentle female voice, An Mingji pressed his lips together, hesitated for a moment, then crawled towards the sound.
As An Mingji approached, Gu Jin covered him with the quilt in her hands.
Gu Jin didn't know if it was some aftereffect, but she felt a throbbing pain in the back of her head.
That spot was where in her previous life, she ended it all with a peanut (bullet).
Feeling the child beside her lie down, Gu Jin inhaled the soapy scent of the blanket and soon fell asleep, not disturbed by the additional person.
The breathing beside him became steady, but An Mingji still maintained the position he had when he first got under the covers, gripping the blanket tightly, his posture rigid.
He gauged the even breathing beside him and, once certain Gu Jin was asleep, slowly relaxed, savoring the rare warmth that nearly brought tears to his eyes.
In the dark, his small hands felt the quilt on him, not soft but filled with cotton, his eyes stinging with the urge to cry.
How long had it been since he last covered himself with such a thick, warm blanket, and how long since someone had cared for him like this? He couldn't remember.
But this warmth was different from the pitying and sympathetic charity from other villagers in the past.
An Mingji gripped the quilt tighter, not wanting to think further.
Often, hopes only lead to disappointment.
He closed his eyes, the moonlight falling on his face, as if water was sliding over his cheeks.
...
Gu Jin had a dream.
She dreamed of little An Mingji.
She was like an onlooker, watching the frail child in Qingshan Village endure cold stares, beatings, insults, and curses from adults and children.
She watched how he changed from a child with clear eyes and a pure heart to a little wolf cub in the village.
She saw him being wronged and accused of stealing money from villagers.