Chapter 19 – Danger on the Train

Zhao Yu hurried back to the dormitory and couldn’t wait to open the packages.

Aside from one filled with clothes, the other two were stuffed with candies, biscuits, canned dried fruits, and the like. From the very bottom of one package, Zhao Yu even pulled out a large jar of honey and an envelope packed with money and ration tickets.

“Yuyu! Turns out you’re way richer than me!” Ning Songyun pretended to be shocked, raising her voice in mock drama. “Yuyu, keep me fed!”

“Alright.” Zhao Yu unwrapped a fruit candy and stuffed it into Ning Songyun’s mouth.

Ning Songyun sucked on the candy while helping Zhao Yu pack their luggage.

The tickets for the trip to Heilongjiang had been purchased in bulk by the arts troupe. But girls like Zhao Yu and Ning Songyun, who didn’t lack money, usually bought upgrades on the train with their military ID, exchanging for a sleeper ticket.

This time was no different. Ning Songyun stayed behind to watch over their luggage, while Zhao Yu went to find the train attendant to change tickets.

But strangely, Zhao Yu searched through two carriages in a row and couldn’t find the attendant in charge of ticket exchanges.

“Little girl, what are you looking for?”

A woman who looked to be in her forties, holding a baby in her arms, suddenly spoke to Zhao Yu.

“Ah? I’m looking for the attendant,” Zhao Yu answered casually.

“Then… could you help me watch the baby for a moment?” The woman’s face twisted in a look of pain.

Zhao Yu glanced around the carriage but still saw no trace of an attendant. Seeing that the woman really looked like she was in distress, she reached out to take the child.

“Thank you!” The woman hurried off in the direction of the restroom.

Bored, Zhao Yu lowered her head and played with the baby in her arms.

“Sleeping so soundly.” She gently caressed the child’s soft cheek.

She figured it was just a bathroom break—it should only take a few minutes.

But she waited nearly half an hour. The train even stopped at a station, and the woman never came back for the baby.

“Could she really be abandoning it?”

Zhao Yu grew anxious. Hugging the baby, she squeezed into the flow of passengers heading off the train toward the restroom.

But she had barely taken two steps when a toothless old woman suddenly grabbed her.

“Don’t go!” The old woman kept tugging and trying to sit down on the floor, clinging tightly to Zhao Yu’s legs. She wailed loudly, “Help! My grandson’s wife is trying to run away with our child!”

“Who are you calling your grandson’s wife! Let go!”

The old woman looked so frail, as if she might not survive another day. Zhao Yu didn’t dare struggle too violently.

“This is my grandson’s wife and my great-grandson! I sewed the baby’s clothes myself—the navy-blue sweater and the brown cotton pants!”

Some curious passengers poked their heads to look. Sure enough, the baby wrapped in the quilt was dressed exactly as the old lady described.

People started to believe her, and some even helped block Zhao Yu.

Seeing this, the old woman stopped making a scene. She wiped her tears and snot with her hands, stood up, and tried to drag Zhao Yu off the train.

“Come home with me. I beg you—my grandson just died, you can’t abandon us now.”

Zhao Yu struggled hard, but suddenly a few burly men appeared from the crowd.

Pretending to be helpful onlookers, they grabbed Zhao Yu too, urging her with fake concern.

By now, Zhao Yu knew without a doubt—she had run into human traffickers.

If this were her younger, inexperienced self before her rebirth, she might have panicked and lost her wits entirely.

But the Zhao Yu of today had seen countless internet stories and safety warnings. She knew very well how to protect herself against traffickers.

She broke free for a moment, and before they could grab her again, she deliberately knocked over a man’s lunchbox and then smashed a woman’s glass cup with a backhand swing.

“What are you doing! That was brand new!”

The two people, furious over their ruined things, grabbed Zhao Yu tightly. “You’re not leaving until you pay for this!”

Thanks to their interference, Zhao Yu slipped out of the traffickers’ immediate control.

She quickly sat on the ground, hugging the baby, and began to sob loudly.

“I won’t go back! I’m a clean, innocent girl—I refuse to be forced into doing those filthy things again!”

The onlookers froze. Hearing her cry and seeing her tears fall like raindrops, they began to imagine the worst. Many turned suspicious looks toward the traffickers, and some even stepped in front of Zhao Yu to shield her.

The old woman exchanged a subtle look with the burly men, then slapped her thighs and wailed again.

“Heaven has no justice! My grandson’s wife is running away, and now all these bad people are helping her! You’re going to starve an old woman like me to death!”

“I am not! I just want to live a clean life! You’re the ones trying to ruin me!”

Zhao Yu and the old woman each insisted on their own version of events. The crowd looked at one another, confused, not knowing who to believe.

At that moment, a tall man slipped quietly out of another carriage and made a hand signal toward the old woman’s group.

They immediately understood. The old woman pointed at Zhao Yu and shouted, “Fine! Run if you want! But you must give me back my grandson!”

Zhao Yu tightened her hold on the bundle in her arms. “Impossible!”

The train car was filled with noise, yet the baby slept without stirring—obviously drugged. It was very likely a kidnapped child.

There was no way Zhao Yu would hand the baby back to them.

The man at the other end of the car gestured urgently again. Not far away, Zhao Yu already spotted the approaching train police.

With no choice, the traffickers carried the old woman and rushed off the train amid the crowd’s murmurs of “Eh? Why are they leaving?”

Zhao Yu stood up and shouted to the police, “Hurry! Chase them! They’re human traffickers!”

The two train policemen exchanged a look—one dashed off in pursuit while the other came to Zhao Yu.

“Comrade, please tell us everything you know.”

Before Zhao Yu could answer, the surrounding passengers—realizing they had almost been tricked into aiding traffickers—hurried to speak up, each recounting what they saw.

Zhao Yu checked the baby’s breathing and, reassured that it was stable, explained the entire situation to the officer in great detail.

At the end, she also presented her military ID. “I’m with the Sichuan Province Arts Troupe. We’re traveling to Heilongjiang for a performance.”

The moment the officer saw the military ID, he believed her completely.

The crowd was also shocked to learn Zhao Yu was a soldier. And now, seeing how bravely she protected the child against traffickers, their admiration grew.

Even the two people whose belongings she had broken refused her offer of compensation.

“We’ll do our best to find the child’s parents, but…” The officer looked troubled after recording everyone’s statements.

“We aren’t able to care for the baby right now. Could you watch the child for the time being? We’ll notify the police at the next station to take over.”

“Of course.” Zhao Yu nodded.

“Alright, let’s go. I’ll take you to find the attendant so you can upgrade your ticket.”