Chapter 38...

Chapter Thirty-Eight

In the innocent and simple 1970s, the patriotism of the people was not just empty talk. A soldier was persecuted on their train? This was unacceptable!

At that moment, all the train police officers were on high alert, and all the staff on the train were on high alert.

The train staff weren't blindly believing Jiang Lai's words. They had received orders half an hour earlier that the train would depart ahead of schedule, and they had also seen the outcome. It was true that the soldier was injured and unconscious. One of the train police officers, although not a medical professional, happened to know that the soldier was indeed in a coma due to poisoning. That's why they activated the highest level of alert after hearing Jiang Lai's words.

Although she knew that the person she had just met was a man dressed as a woman, Jiang Lai didn't say much. She couldn't even bring herself to say it outright, because if she did, she would have to explain how she knew, which would be difficult to explain. The original owner of this body had never had any magical experiences that would make others not suspicious.

Of course, it's still necessary to give her some reminders, but we can only say so after she's made up her mind.

"Jin Nian, what were the distinctive features of that person just now? Something that would be easy for someone to spot?" Jiang Lai said this, but she didn't really have any hope. It was the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, and everyone was wrapped up in thick cotton-padded coats, so even if there were any physical features, they wouldn't be visible.

To her utter surprise, Jin Nian gave her a pleasant surprise: "Yes, that person has a black mole on his right wrist, and there are three hairs on it, two thick and one thin."

"Comrade, thank you for the information... We still need to take this soldier to get treatment, so we'll be leaving now," the train police officer said gratefully to Jiang Lai.

"No need to thank us, we just did what we should do." Jiang Lai felt her face burning red from the other party's solemn thanks.

"Yes, yes, you're welcome. My son is also in the army, so I can't stand seeing soldiers being bullied..."

Seeing that You Maidong had started chatting with the other person again, Jiang Lai quickly went over to change the subject, afraid that You Maidong's enthusiasm would delay the other person's business.

"Comrade, I noticed something strange when I got close. That old lady was acting strangely. I smelled a strong odor of smoky perfume on her."

The rest is self-explanatory. It's quite strange for a woman in her fifties to have such a strong smell of cosmetics, especially in 1970. At that time, let alone makeup, people on the street didn't wear any brightly colored clothes.

The fact that someone who harmed a suspected soldier also possessed this trait would definitely attract the attention of the train police officers. Even if they didn't catch the person, Jiang Lai wouldn't be in a hurry. After all, Jin Nian was keeping a close eye on the person, so there was no need to worry about them escaping. If the train police officers couldn't find the person, Jiang Lai could just reveal the fact that the other person had a mole on their hand.

Most importantly, Jiang Lai is not suited to do anything more in this matter. She is a low-key person and does not want to be too high-profile.

"Lai Lai, you're amazing!" You Maidong praised Jiang Lai without stopping: "That drawing just now was like a photograph. I used to see An Guo showing off your drawings, but I didn't know you could draw so fast. You just scribbled on the white paper with your pen and it was done."

"Yes, Lai's move was impressive." Ye Yuanliang, who was usually not very noticeable, also said. Ye Yuanliang was not fond of showing off, and he was often overlooked when he was not talking. But he had actually been there the whole time, busy taking care of that soldier comrade and running around doing everything he could.

"Uncle and Auntie, it's not as exaggerated as you say." Jiang Lai blushed. She was really embarrassed that Ye Yuanliang and You Maidong had praised her so much for her little trick.

"That's an exaggeration. Your painting skills are quite good. You don't even need to go to a photo studio anymore. Your paintings are almost indistinguishable from photographs." You Maidong's eyes lit up as she spoke.

By this time, Jiang Lai and the others had already returned to their carriage. Hearing this, the elderly people in the carriage were no longer sleepy.

"Yes, yes, I think so too. They looked exactly the same to me just now."

"That means we can save a lot of money."

So You Maidong started chatting with the elderly people in the same carriage again, and Jiang Lai quickly took the opportunity to slip back to their seats, afraid that she would be too embarrassed to be praised like that any longer.

"Phew..." Jiang Lai patted her face, feeling a little guilty about being praised.

"That's just how your aunt is, she's very easy to get along with." Seeing Jiang Lai's expression, Ye Yuanliang was afraid that she would have a bad impression of You Maidong, so he quickly explained, but honest people are not good with words and he didn't get to the point at all.

"Uncle, don't worry, I know."

To be honest, Jiang Lai really didn't know how to get along with her future father-in-law. In addition, there were elderly men and women around her who were eyeing her covetously, wanting to "communicate" with her. The thought of being surrounded by the crowd made Jiang Lai shudder. In the end, she took out her paper and pen and decided to draw the mole on the man's hand while she had the chance.

Seeing that Jiang Lai was no longer communicating with Ye Yuanliang, those who had ideas gave up, and Jiang Lai secretly rejoiced at her wise decision.

However, not everyone is so docile. There are also those who believe that it's a fool not to take advantage of a good deal, and they still managed to squeeze through despite Jiang Lai's indifferent attitude.

An elderly woman with a child squeezed through the crowd and pushed the child in front of Ye Yuanliang: "Young lady, I heard that you are also a military family member. I wonder if you could help draw a picture for this child? We left in a hurry and didn't leave any photos with our families. If you can draw one for us, we can send it home to our families back home as a keepsake."

"Sorry, I can't." Jiang Lai didn't tolerate these people who liked to take advantage of others. They said they left in a hurry and didn't take any photos, so they asked Jiang Lai to draw a picture for them and send it home. They could take photos anytime. They just wanted to take advantage of others, so why did they have to make it sound so high-sounding? Jiang Lai had never liked people who liked to take advantage of others, so she spoke very coldly.

Jiang Lai originally thought that if the other party spoke again, she would definitely retort without hesitation. However, she forgot that she was not alone now. She had You Maidong, who was eloquent, and Ye Yuanliang, a grown man, by her side.

What Jiang Lai didn't expect was that before the old woman could even properly demonstrate her strength, as soon as Jiang Lai finished speaking, Ye Yuanliang, the honest man who was not good with words according to You Maidong, retorted to the old woman with his words, and his reasoning was so sound that the old woman couldn't find any words to refute him.

"Of course not. If you want to take this home as a keepsake, why not take a picture? That's the only way to preserve it for a long time. My daughter-in-law's drawing is just a pencil drawing, and it will fade easily. It won't last long at home, so why waste paper? As a military family member, you must not talk about such extravagance and waste. We can't let those bad things outside affect military families, do you think?"

Jiang Lai was dumbfounded; it was the first time she had ever heard Ye Yuanliang speak such a long passage.

Ye Yuanliang's words completely hit the other party's weak spot. Although the other party liked to take advantage of small things, she was not stupid. On the contrary, she was very smart and understood the threat in Ye Yuanliang's words. If she really asked Jiang Lai to paint, it would definitely spread that she was extravagant and wasteful, which would affect her son's future.

Jiang Lai understood once the other woman shut up. Although this old lady liked to take advantage of others, she still had some brains and was at least not the kind of person who would ruin her son's future.

I understand, this is someone with a weakness.

Regardless of whether he had any weaknesses or not, he wasn't interested in talking to such a person anyway, so he lowered his head and continued drawing.

Of course, at that moment, none of them knew that the people they met on the road would later become neighbors, but their encounter on the train destined them to never become companions.

Half an hour later, train police officer Liao Minxue secretly checked all the carriages but couldn't find the old woman in Jiang Lai's drawing. He was frowning when he noticed a male passenger in front of him looking somewhat uneasy. Although he didn't show it obviously and appeared quite calm, Liao Minxue noticed that the man's fingers were clenched together. Liao Minxue's intuition told him that something was wrong with this man. As he approached, the man's body stiffened even more, and Liao Minxue became even more vigilant.

Because Jiang Lai's painting depicted an elderly woman, the train police officers' attention was mostly focused on women. If Liao Minxue hadn't happened to notice the woman's nervousness, they wouldn't have suspected anything was wrong.

Liao Minxue suddenly remembered that there was a novel he had read that described a woman dressed as a man. Liao Minxue had a flash of inspiration and thought, maybe there is a man dressed as a woman?

As a retired military police officer, Liao Minxue was determined to never let any bad guy get away with it. He paid even more attention to the other person. Before he even got close, he could smell a faint scent of rouge, which made him even more vigilant.

As Liao Minxue passed by the man in his thirties, he turned his gaze to the portrait and asked directly, "Comrade, have you seen the old lady in the painting?"

The other person took the portrait from Liao Minxue's hand, examined it carefully for a while, and said, "I haven't seen it before."

"Okay, thank you!" Liao Minxue put away the portrait and then asked the other passengers in the front seat.

After exiting the carriage, Liao Minxue quickly found the train police chief and explained that he had just seen a male passenger who smelled of perfume and had the same black mark drawn by Jiang Lai on his hand, as well as the little things the passenger did when he saw him.

The train police chief was a very decisive person. Half an hour later, without causing any disturbance, Jiang Lai was notified that the matter had been resolved and the so-called old lady had been arrested. This startled Jiang Lai, and she gave the train police officers a big thumbs up.

On the other side.

Ye Anguo had no idea what was happening on the train. He was currently in his dormitory in the military region, having a headache. The leaders had agreed to let the military families come to visit because they wanted to use this so-called family visit to catch the rats hiding in the army.

These days, there are spies from many countries. These past few years have been relatively good. In the first few years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, planes from the island dared to fly around here recklessly.

Now that all the soldiers in the military region have entered the secret space, this matter can't be kept secret at all. But that doesn't stop the leaders from taking the opportunity to catch those rats hiding in the gutter.

This family visit was orchestrated by those with ulterior motives. They didn't show themselves, but stirred up trouble behind the scenes. Because those close to Ye Anguo knew that his fiancée wasn't in good health, some of Ye Anguo's men fell for it, urging him to bring Jiang Lai over to recuperate. Of course, Ye Anguo wasn't the only target. These soldiers, apart from orphans, almost all had elderly people or children at home. It could be said that most of them were being watched, with those having sick family members being the primary targets.

Ye Anguo and his group realized what was going on and decided to play along, which led to this family visit.

During this family visit, the families of those on the suspicion list will be under close scrutiny. However, Ye Anguo is also worried that Jiang Lai and the others might be taken advantage of by malicious individuals, since Jiang Lai is too innocent and kind in Ye Anguo's mind.

Little did Ye Anguo know that Jiang Lai had already accomplished something while they were still on the way.