Chapter 53 On the Road
Clang—Clang—
The sound of wheels rolling over the rails was clear and rhythmic, and as darkness fell, the carriages became lively.
It was lunchtime, and many people headed towards the food cart. Compared to dry flatbread, the hot food in the food cart was much more popular.
"Let's go get the food." Gao Ming took out four aluminum lunchboxes from his bag and asked Chen Yun to watch the children.
Hu Siyuan and his wife had no lunchboxes, so they had to eat in the dining car. Ruanqiu, who was tired from the journey, fell into a deep sleep, while Li Shuaishuai and Nian'an played on the lower bunk opposite them.
Seeing that the bed was too narrow, Chen Yun sat on a chair diagonally opposite in the aisle to read, where she could see what the child was doing and also keep an eye on the luggage bag next to her.
Chen Shu and Xu Cuihua fell asleep as soon as they got on the bus, snoring non-stop the whole way.
"The little girl is playing with her brothers!"
Suddenly, a hoarse female voice rang out. It was an elderly woman with a slight hunchback who was smiling and talking to Gao Nian'an.
"Hello, Grandma." Gao Nian'an greeted her very politely, and also made her two younger brothers greet her.
The old lady chuckled and patted Gao Nian'an's braid.
"What's the little girl's name?"
As he spoke, he took out a handkerchief from his pocket and unfolded it, revealing several rather precious-looking candies.
Chen Yun's brow twitched, and she put down the book and went over.
Don't be fooled by the fact that this old lady looks like a simple, honest elderly person just because of her clothes and appearance. In the past, those human traffickers in legal education programs looked just like this, all to gain the trust of children and adults.
Gao Nian'an had heard Chen Yun say since she was a child that she was not allowed to tell strangers her name. Her big, clear eyes looked at Chen Yun as if pleading for help.
Only Li Shuaishuai's eyes lit up as soon as he saw the candy, and he hurriedly raised his little hand to tell the old lady his name.
Fortunately, Chen Yun reacted quickly and covered Li Shuaishuai's mouth.
"Auntie, please don't waste such good candy. None of my children like candy."
Chen Yun pulled the child behind her and sat down opposite the old lady, seemingly smiling at her, but actually giving off a distant and unapproachable look.
The old woman stood up with an embarrassed smile: "I just thought the child was cute." As she spoke, she slowly wrapped the candy back into her handkerchief.
"Which sleeper berth is the lady in? I'll take you there."
"Need not!"
The old woman had a pair of slanted, triangular eyes, and her face was covered in a layer of dust, as if she had rolled in the dirt. Half of her face was hidden in an indigo headscarf.
Without needing to say "no," he changed his previous slow and hesitant manner and answered quite fluently.
Chen Yun's heart skipped a beat, and she was about to help the person up.
Not only did he answer with two words fluently, but his voice also indicated that he was at most forty years old, without the slightest sign of old age.
"No need, no need. I'm in the hard seat carriage. I'm just wandering around." As she spoke, she turned around, her eyes constantly scanning Chen Yun's expression. She patted her clothes and slowly walked towards the carriage connection.
Chen Yun watched coldly.
She didn't expose the old woman's lie because the door between the sleeper and hard-seat carriages was locked and wouldn't open unless the train stopped.
Chen Yun kept watching the direction in which the old woman slowly walked away, and took a moment to shake Ruanqiu awake.
When I looked back towards the carriage, she was nowhere to be seen. Given how fast she walked, it was impossible for her to have moved so quickly.
When Gao Ming returned, Chen Yun told them what had just happened.
“They’re human traffickers.” Gao Ming’s expression was serious, but he didn’t say it in front of the children.
"Come and eat, everyone."
Only after the children had finished eating did they pull Chen Yun aside.
“We’ll go find the train conductor later. Describe what that person looks like again. I suspect there’s more than one human trafficker on the train.”
With the rapid development of big cities, many security problems have emerged in society. It is not uncommon for transport company vehicles to encounter highway robbers. In contrast, life in the factory is as safe as another world.
Last month, Gao Ming and Li Huguo heard on their way home that a child had been kidnapped, but the kidnapping was prevented thanks to the help of other passengers.
There are always more good people than bad people in this world...
Just as the couple decided to talk to the train conductor, two figures in blue uniforms carrying small black bags approached from the end of the carriage.
"Everyone, take out your tickets and let's check them."
Gao Ming took out his train ticket from his pocket and handed it to the ticket seller when he walked up to them.
The same train conductor checking tickets at the front of the train was still there, his hat pulled low, his tone as monotone as ever.
Passengers with children, please be careful at night.
When the ticket was returned to Gao Ming after being checked, the train attendant gave him a special reminder.
“Comrade, I have something to report.” Gao Ming had barely begun when Chen Yun immediately followed up: “There seemed to be a human trafficker on the bus. I’m not sure if she really is one. The situation was like this…”
The train conductor finally looked up, revealing a long scar between his eyebrows.
He was a very young gay man, and although the scar was somewhat frightening, it couldn't hide his handsome appearance.
No wonder he kept his hat brim pulled low; he must have been worried about startling the passengers.
After Chen Yun finished speaking, the train attendant nodded emphatically, his eyes revealing a hint of coldness.
“We will definitely take the situation reported by the comrade seriously. I will report the situation to the train conductor immediately and conduct a full inspection of the train.”
The train conductor, perhaps not having encountered a similar emergency before, handed over the ticket checking duties to a colleague after speaking and turned to walk in another direction.
Danger lurked in the shadows, and Chen Yun dared not let her two children sleep alone on the lower bunk.
Gao Mingling and Gao Nianping slept in the lower bunk next to each other, Chen Shu slept in the middle bunk, and Chen Yunling and Gao Nianan slept in the lower bunk.
The adults were on edge, but the children were still happily playing together and refused to go to sleep.
Gao Nian'an brought a color comic book from home, saying it was a gift from Zhang Mazi before he left.
The three of them huddled together, heads close together, reading. Chen Yun and Ruan Qiu sat on the opposite bed, watching intently.
At 10 p.m., the overhead lights in the carriages were turned off on time, leaving only a few dim yellow lights in the aisle.
Gao Nianping, unusually, refused to sleep with Gao Ming, tears welling up in her eyes but refusing to fall, and just pouted pitifully.
"I sleep with my dad."
The elderly father, Gao Ming, was so moved that he almost burst into tears. He wanted to say that his daughter was the best, but then he heard Gao Nian'an sigh in a mature and old-fashioned way: "Although I also want to sleep with my mother, I can't make my father sad."
After Gao Nian'an, who looked reluctant, was carried away by Gao Ming, the cubicle fell silent.
Ruanqiu was even more nervous than Chen Yun, hugging Li Shuaishuai so tightly that he could hardly breathe. He struggled to press himself against the carriage wall before finally falling asleep.
Do you think that person will come tonight?
"I don't know, but it's always good to be careful." Chen Yun gently patted Gao Nianping's back, then looked in the direction where the old woman had disappeared. "If you're still worried, take Shuai Shuai to Li Huguo to take care of."
"I don't trust him at all." Ruanqiu pouted, the snoring coming from above her head a constant reminder that Li Huguo was unreliable.
Chen Yun laughed: "He and Gao Ming have barely slept these past two days, they're exhausted from the journey."
"Otherwise I would have kicked him twice already."
After two days of traveling with the whole family, I was already feeling sleepy, which was hard to control, let alone after lying down.
"If you're sleepy, go to sleep first. I took a nap this afternoon," Chen Yun said.
"If I accidentally fall asleep, remember to keep an eye on Shuai Shuai for me." He yawned after saying that, and then felt a little embarrassed: "I'm too ashamed to talk about Li Huguo."
"Go to sleep if you want, I'll be watching."
Not long after they finished speaking, Chen Yun heard even breathing beside her; the person had fallen asleep.
Nothing happened during the first half of the night.
The train slowly came to a stop. Chen Yun just raised his hand to check his watch; it was 3:15 a.m.
Suddenly, a large number of people surged into the carriage, and the already narrow aisle was instantly filled with all kinds of bags and packages.
Because the hard-seat carriages were simply too crowded to stand in, all the standing tickets for this station were moved to the sleeper carriages, which immediately sparked protests from many passengers who had paid a high price for peace and quiet.
The carriage suddenly became noisy, and a young mother and son were sitting at the foot of Chen Yun's bed at some point.
The father, wiping sweat from his forehead and looking apologetic, said, "I'm so sorry, comrade. We waited at the station for nine hours before we could squeeze onto this train. The mother and daughter just couldn't stand any longer."
Chen Yun looked after the child, who was only four or five years old. Both mother and daughter were so tired that their faces were ashen, so they didn't say anything.
"Thank you, thank you."
They couldn't get on the original train and had to wait on the platform for the next train to Beicheng, from dawn until dusk.
The hard-seat carriages of this train were already full, but we couldn't let people wait for several more hours, so we had to move everyone to the sleeper carriages.
"Put the child in bed to sleep."
It's not easy for anyone when they're away from home. Chen Yun sat up, put on her shoes, and made room at the foot of the bed.
"Thank you, thank you, comrade."
The couple thanked them profusely and quickly put the child down. The woman shook her aching arms and finally let out a long sigh of relief.
The old lady next to her followed suit and put the child on the bed before Ruanqiu could agree.
Ruanqiu was startled awake, but seeing that the old woman had gray hair and was quite old, she didn't say anything, but instead shrank back to make room for her.
The white-haired old woman didn't even say thank you before sitting down with a thud. Chen Yun noticed a black mark that instantly appeared on the blue bed sheet.
"Grandma, I don't want to sleep."
The white-haired old woman put down a child who looked to be about six or seven years old. The child had two missing front teeth and spoke with a lisp.
When she said she didn't want to sleep and no one paid attention, she started writhing and screaming on the bed.
"I want to play, I don't want to sleep... I want to eat eggs, I want to drink soda."
"All you do all day is play!" The old woman said, annoyed, and slapped the boy's bottom a few times, which only made him cry even louder.
The piercing cries drew the attention of almost everyone around.
You've already hit him. If reasoning with him worked, he wouldn't be wailing and screaming without shedding a single tear.
Because he knew this tactic was effective against parents, he became more and more energetic the more he yelled, and even started kicking his legs and waving his arms wildly.
Snap—
He swung his arm hard at Ruanqiu's arm, instantly turning a large red patch.
But the grandmother and grandson acted as if they didn't see it; the little boy continued to cry, and the old lady continued to comfort him.
"Get off my bed," Ruanqiu said irritably, clutching her arm.
The old woman pretended not to hear, as if she were deaf, but the next second she patted the little boy again: "Stop crying, or people will be unhappy!"
"Auntie," Chen Yun gestured with his chin towards the old woman, and only continued after she looked over, "They've already told you to get off, but you're pretending not to hear. Do you want me to call the train conductor to invite you?"
"None of your business." The old woman rolled her eyes and deliberately crossed her legs on the bed: "Mind your own business."
"Have you no shame?!" Ruanqiu shouted, then pushed Li Huguo on the upper bunk: "Li Huguo, someone is trying to steal our beds."
Chen Yun also shouted to the neighbor, "Gao Ming, someone's trying to steal Ruan Qiu's bed!"
"..."
"So young and yet she doesn't know how to respect the elderly and care for the young." The white-haired old woman grumbled discontentedly, but her movements were quite nimble as she picked up the child: "She obviously doesn't have much education."
“You’re educated, but even if you were, your grandson wouldn’t have hit someone. Is your grandmother blind?” Chen Yun replied coldly.
Li Huguo and Gao Ming only peeked out, and the white-haired old woman was so frightened that she cursed and picked up the little boy and put him down.
The little boy stopped howling and suddenly spat at Chen Yun.
"You meddlesome woman, mind your own business!"
Fortunately, the boy was missing a front tooth, so his saliva didn't spray out; instead, it flowed down the gap onto his chin.
The white-haired old lady seemed quite proud, happily wiping her grandson's drool with her sleeve, and boasting to others, "Look how good my grandson is, he even knows how to protect his grandma. My grandson is so filial."
Behind every bratty kid is an even bratty parent... This statement is absolutely true.
Chen Yun glared fiercely at the boy and waved her fist menacingly.
The child was so frightened that he immediately turned around and buried himself in his grandmother's arms; he was just a bully who picked on the weak and feared the strong.
“There are four adults in their family. If it were just the two of you women, you would definitely have been at a disadvantage.”
The woman sitting on Chen Yun's bed whispered to Chen Yun.
This family, which clearly consisted of four adults and three older children, only bought two tickets. They were caught on the previous train when their tickets were checked, and because they refused to buy additional tickets, they were forced off the train and had to wait to buy tickets before getting back on.
They stubbornly refused to pay for several hours, and then squeezed on again in the chaos when the train arrived at the station.
The boy's family members were scattered throughout the carriage, and it seemed that his daughter-in-law was in the next seat with another grandson.
The white-haired old woman hadn't walked far when, sure enough, she heard the child calling for someone again, followed by a few more unpleasant curses.
Chen Yun selectively ignored it.
I pulled the woven bag out from under the bed and placed it at the foot of the soft boudoir. Even though the bag was dirty, it was still much cleaner than the old lady's pants.
Chen Yun sat back down on the edge of the bed, tucked the blanket around the sleeping child, and then glanced at the sleeping little girl.
It's impossible to easily take your eyes off a child's face once you see them.
The little girl had sparse, yellowish hair tied in two crooked braids. She was already awake, clutching half a hard, dry cornbread in her hand, nibbling on it slowly.
"Why are you eating cornbread in bed?" The little girl's mother thought Chen Yun was annoyed that the cornbread crumbs had fallen on the bed, so she quickly picked up the child and patted the cornbread crumbs off the bed, saying apologetically, "I'm so sorry! The child must be starving."
"It's alright, I have some cooled boiled water here." Chen Yun smiled and pointed to the kettle on the table: "There hasn't been any hot water in the car since last night."
"Then I'll pour some for the child."
Seeing that Chen Yun wasn't upset, the young mother put the child down and directed the child's father to rummage through his bag for an enamel mug to get water.
Chen Yun took the opportunity to glance at the little girl a few more times.
The train ushered in dawn amidst the noise. Chen Yun learned from her conversation with the young mother that the young couple were taking their child to the north of the city to stay with relatives.
Sunlight streamed through the car window onto the bed, and Chen Yun finally saw the little girl's face clearly.
The little girl's complexion looked off, which was even more noticeable in the sunlight.
Her face was somewhat red, but not the flush from running or getting hot; rather, it was an uneven red, with what appeared to be a hint of purple.
The lips and earlobes are the most prominent, as if shrouded in a thin, oxygen-deprived bluish-purple veil.
The little girl's breakfast was another very dry cornbread. She ate very slowly, and with each bite, her small chest rose and fell abnormally, and her nostrils flared slightly.
Chen Yun also noticed something else: the couple didn't seem to be close to the little girl.
The little girl's brows were furrowed, carrying a weariness and forbearance beyond her years. Her mother had only given her a sip of water initially and then ignored her.
"You went to stay with relatives to work, and you even brought a child with you. How come you only brought so few clothes?" Chen Yun casually picked up the luggage bag next to their feet.
That bag could hold at most four or five pieces of clothing. It just doesn't seem right that two adults and one child would bring such a small bag on a long trip.
“Go…to the city to buy it again,” the girl’s mother replied after a pause.
Chen Yun didn't press further, but instead reached out and touched the little girl's forehead: "Eat slowly, don't choke."
As soon as she finished speaking, the little girl started coughing violently, and the bluish-purple color on her lips seemed to become more pronounced. Chen Yun quickly fed the child a few sips of water and gently patted her back.
The little girl calmed down and smiled at Chen Yun: "Thank you, Auntie."
On those slender fingers, the nails protrude outwards, like tiny drumsticks... a typical club-shaped finger.
Chen Yun was almost certain that the little girl had a congenital heart disease.
"I'm a doctor," Chen Yun said, and when the young mother turned to look at her in surprise, she continued, "You could say I'm a part-time pediatrician. Is your child unwell?"
The couple's expressions gradually calmed down from surprise. The man nodded with a wry smile: "The child is being cared for by her grandmother. She has been in poor health since birth. This year, we went back to our hometown to take her to the provincial capital for medical treatment."
"Then... you should also know that the child has a congenital heart condition, right?"
The two remained silent for a while, then nodded.
Without any luggage, and with their sick child traveling a long distance north, the only reason Chen Yun could think of was taking the child to the northern city for medical treatment.
“The doctor at the provincial hospital said it can be treated, but it will cost a lot of money… We…” The man said, glancing carefully at his wife’s expression, and finally finished speaking with stammering, “So we want to take the child to the north of the city to see a doctor.”
Chen Yun found the fleeting look of guilt on the man's face somewhat incongruous.
But later, the girl's mother told many details about how they took the child to the hospital for treatment, which gradually made Chen Yun ignore the strange feeling.
Moreover, the way the little girl called for her mother during that time looked very natural, and she didn't seem like a human trafficker.
Since the child was unwell, everyone took special care of the little girl. When Ren Qin found out, she even gave the young mother fifty yuan.
They chatted casually like that, and soon it was lunchtime.
As usual, the men were responsible for getting food from the dining car, but it became difficult because the sleeper cars were so crowded that there was no room to move.
No sooner had Gao Ming and Li Huguo left than the little girl's father suggested going to the dining car for a meal.
"We left in a hurry and didn't bring lunchboxes. Could you please watch the child for us for a while?" The young mother stood up calmly, gently told her daughter to be good, and then followed her husband into the crowd.
Chen Yun was a little puzzled: "They didn't bring lunchboxes, how are they going to bring food back to the children later?"
The little girl seemed unaffected by her parents' departure, and at some point, she pulled out a cornbread from her pocket and began to slowly nibble on it.
"Your parents are going to get food, don't eat the pancakes." Chen Yun wiped the little girl's mouth with a handkerchief: "If you're hungry, eat some oranges first."
The little girl finally smiled, carefully took the orange, peeled it, and her eyes narrowed into slits with joy.
"Eat slowly, there's more."
Chen Yun pondered what subsidies were available for the treatment of congenital heart disease in children in Beicheng. The only sources she could find out were newspapers, and she would have to ask Ren Qin for details after she returned from dinner.
She remembered that Director Zhao of the Workers' Hospital was an expert in heart problems, and he personally performed Mr. Li's heart bypass surgery.
Perhaps we could talk to the girl's parents when we get off the train and help them contact Dean Zhao once they've settled in.
They had thought of everything, but when Gao Ming came back with his meal and finished eating, he learned about the specific policies from Ren Qin. The child's parents... still hadn't returned.
Hu Siyuan was even a little surprised: "We didn't see the child's parents in the dining car!"
Chen Yun: "..."
“They’ve already left,” the little girl said abruptly, then pointed to the duffel bag in front of her: “I overheard them discussing where they were going to abandon me the night before last.”
"..."
Gao Ming quickly opened his luggage bag and found a piece of paper with many words written on it.
The couple said they were too poor to afford their daughter's medical treatment, so they pleaded with kind-hearted people to adopt her and help her get treatment.
If you really don't want to adopt, then please send the child to the Beicheng Welfare Home.
"My parents want to have a younger brother, but my grandma says it's better for me to be taken in by a kind person than to die of illness at home." The little girl once again surprised everyone with her words.
This was an abandonment that even the child clearly understood. No wonder the young couple didn't reveal their names and didn't seem close to the little girl.
After the one-child policy became a national policy, many families who favored sons abandoned or killed their newborn daughters.
Perhaps the couple still had some conscience, because it wasn't until their child was diagnosed with congenital heart disease that they considered abandoning the child as doing what was best for the child and to alleviate their psychological burden.
Several adults sighed along with them.
"what to do?"
The next problem was that if the little girl was handed over to the train conductor, it would mean that the child would definitely be sent directly to an orphanage.
This situation is so common that it happens many times every month, and Chen Yun believes that the train station probably wouldn't even look for the child's parents.
"..."
Ren Qin snatched the letter from Gao Ming's hand and crumpled it into a ball, her face full of determination: "She'll be my daughter from now on!" After saying that, she tried to soften her expression and asked the little girl, "Would you like to be Auntie's daughter?"
The little girl nodded emphatically without any hesitation.
After discussing it, the group decided to wait a little longer and sent some of the men to search in each carriage.
What if they eventually have a change of heart and don't intend to abandon the child?
From day to night... it was finally confirmed that the two people had gotten off the bus.
Ren Qin hugged the little girl's frail body tightly, tears streaming down her face silently.
The child I just lost has returned to me in another way.
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