Chapter 25: Train Farce

The two of them returned to their carriage chatting and laughing, but the moment they stepped inside, Ye Tao’s face instantly darkened.

Noticing her expression, Huo Tingwu followed her gaze inward—and flames of anger flickered in his eyes.

“Who told you you could sit here?” His voice was cold and sharp, making the chubby boy flinch in fright.

The old lady cracking melon seeds immediately pulled her grandson behind her like a hen shielding her chick. “What are you yelling for? You scared my grandson! Can you afford the consequences if something happens to him?”

Ye Tao stepped in front of Huo Tingwu, glaring at the old woman with fury. “I don’t know whether we can ‘afford it,’ but I do know this—if you don’t get off my berth this instant, I’ll beat him till he’s bawling.”

With his grandmother backing him up, the chubby boy pulled faces from behind her, smug and fearless.

Ye Tao ground her back teeth. Keep grinning. Let’s see if you can still smile when your teeth fall out.

Sure enough, moments later, the boy bit down on his candy with a crack—and one of his baby teeth popped out. He let out a terrified wail.

“Grandma, my tooth fell out!” Tears and snot ran down his face as he sobbed. “I can’t eat drumsticks anymore!”

The old woman blew his nose with her hand—and smeared it directly onto the sheet.

Ye Tao nearly gagged from disgust.

Enough was enough.

She grabbed the boy by the arm and yanked him down from the berth.

The old woman screeched, clawing at Ye Tao’s face, but Huo Tingwu blocked her easily. His pitch-black eyes were so cold that she recoiled instantly, knowing she had met her match.

Plopping to the floor, the old lady shrieked, “Bullying an old woman! There’s no justice left in the world! Come see, everyone! These two comrades are bullying us—the weak, the sick, the elderly! I’m in my seventies, traveling with my grandson. Do you know how hard that is? Look at how they beat my grandson!”

The boy, used to this routine, joined in the wailing chorus. Their cries filled the carriage, attracting curious passengers from nearby cars.

The train attendant and railway police rushed over, already looking troubled by the scene. They helped the old woman up and asked what had happened.

She jabbed a finger at Ye Tao’s nose. “It’s her! She dragged my grandson off the berth and kicked us out of the carriage! Comrade attendant, you must stand up for us!”

The attendant soothed her, promising justice.

Ye Tao and Huo Tingwu, however, stood calm and indifferent, unshaken.

“Comrades, can you tell us your side of the story?” the attendant asked.

Ye Tao didn’t answer—she only gestured for him to look inside the carriage.

Confused, he stepped in, then nearly fainted. “Who did this?!”

The place was a disaster—melon seed shells littered the floor, the table was a mess, the sheets were greasy and smeared with who-knows-what. His head throbbed so badly he almost collapsed, and if not for Huo Tingwu supporting him, he would have.

Ye Tao spoke coolly: “Comrade, these are our tickets. My husband and I both have lower berths. We stepped off briefly at the last stop for some air, and this is what we came back to. Tell me—who wouldn’t be angry?”

The onlookers sucked in a breath when they saw the state of the carriage. Instinctively, they kept three feet away from the old woman, as though afraid of being tainted.

Furious, the old lady rolled up her sleeves as if ready to fight.

The railway police quickly pulled her aside, and—cowardly at heart—she dared not cause further trouble.

“Ma’am, please show me your ticket.”

Grumbling, she fished a crumpled ticket from her pocket. The attendant wrinkled his nose at her stench but unfolded it.

“You have upper berths. Why are you occupying their lower berths? Do you not understand what ticket you bought? And look what you’ve done to this carriage! You’ll have to pay for the damages.”

The old lady exploded again, about to throw herself on the ground and roll around, but the railway police grabbed her before she could.

Ye Tao eyed the pair’s filthy clothes and whispered to the attendant, “Comrade, sleeper tickets aren’t cheap. From the way she’s dressed, I doubt she could afford one. And that boy doesn’t even have a ticket. Doesn’t that strike you as suspicious?”

Indeed, passengers in sleeper cars usually came from better-off families. Even if they weren’t fashionable, they were at least tidy. Unlike this pair, with greasy sleeves and grime that had stained the sheets black. The boy’s nose was streaming, and he wiped it on his sleeve without a second thought.

The attendant thanked her quietly, then told the police to watch them while he reported to the train conductor.

The old lady suddenly felt uneasy as she watched him leave.

Soon, the conductor returned with the attendant and a bespectacled middle-aged man.

“Auntie, why are you here?” the man exclaimed in shock before the conductor could speak.

“Isn’t your grandson sick?”

Ye Tao seized the moment. “Comrade, do you know this old lady?”

The man nodded. “Yes, I met her just before boarding. She asked me for directions, and I even escorted her to the exit gate to find the staff.”

The conductor explained, “This comrade reported that he’d lost his sleeper ticket.”

Everyone’s eyes turned toward the old woman.

She stiffened, feigning indignation. “Why are you all looking at me? My ticket is right here, fair and square. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself!”

The attendant whispered to the conductor, “It is indeed one of our sleeper tickets.”

Ye Tao then turned to the middle-aged man. “Comrade, do you work at a printing factory or a publishing house?”

He blinked. “How do you know?”

She only smiled. “Conductor, check that ticket carefully. See if there’s any ink on it. People who work with ink often stain things unintentionally. This comrade’s hands still have fresh ink powder. If that ticket really was his, it should bear some too.”

The conductor held the ticket to the light—and sure enough, there was ink on the back. Expensive ink, no less, completely at odds with the old lady’s shabby attire.

He fixed her with a sharp glare. “Where is your real ticket?”

Cornered, the old woman collapsed to the ground, stammering, “I… I sold it.”

The truth came out. At the station, she had noticed the well-dressed man holding a sleeper ticket. Pretending to ask for directions, she had stolen his ticket in the crowd, then sold her own hard-seat ticket cheaply to another passenger.

The crowd erupted in condemnation. The old lady shrank in shame, while the boy cowered behind her, finally sensing the hostility.

The conductor ordered the police to take the pair away. He apologized sincerely to the couple and the middle-aged man. “This was our negligence. Please wait a moment—we’ll have this carriage cleaned at once, and we promise it’ll be spotless again.”

After he left, the crowd gradually dispersed.