Chapter 14: Manman’s Extraordinary Investigative Skills

“Hahaha, this comrade is really funny, singing like that!”

Laughter echoed around them.

Guan Wenxue, who was standing by the train door, froze for a moment. Realizing she had been right next to it, she felt like a chicken caught by the neck, her face turning bright red.

Meanwhile, Manman innocently sighed, “Mom, so piano is this easy?”

“Yes, us country bumpkins can do it too.” A fellow passenger in the same cabin chimed in, singing, “Son, come learn from your dad, a hound dog, sitting at the big door.”

“A hound dog…”

Instantly, the whole compartment erupted in the loud, joyful sound of a children’s rhyme.

Guan Wenxue couldn’t hold it in any longer. Covering her face, she ran away in embarrassment.

She had always been beautiful, doted on by everyone since childhood, and had quickly caught the attention of others.

It had thoroughly disrupted the operation of the mission team.

“This comrade, did you encounter some kind of difficulty?”

Guan Wenxue looked up with tears in her eyes.

Before her stood a dashing, handsome man in a Zhongshan suit, holding a book in his left hand, and gently pulling out a handkerchief.

At that moment, the train happened to pass through a tunnel, and the roaring sound drowned out all other noise.

The little commotion didn’t affect the good mood of Jiang Ningning and her two children.

When the light inside the cabin brightened again, Jiang Ningning began teaching the two little ones how to write, starting with the basics of Pinyin.

She first used a pen on a blank page, writing down the 26 letters of the alphabet. After learning the initials and finals, the formal teaching of Pinyin began.

With the current letter in hand, she marked out the Pinyin next to each word and started reading them one by one.

The two little “glutinous rice balls” had exceptional learning ability and soon grasped the concepts, quickly being able to apply them to other words.

They continued learning the character “軍” (army)…

“Mom…”

Manman hesitated, his little hands nervously picking at a piece of paper.

Since he started learning to read, Jiang Ningning had noticed that Manman seemed a bit distracted.

Finally, as he moved to speak, she took the opportunity to encourage him: “Do you have something to say to Mommy?”

With warm eyes filled with understanding, Jiang Ningning looked at him, and Manman’s defenses completely collapsed. He whispered in her ear, “Mom, I think that strange auntie must have come from the army, and that strong uncle who carried the luggage outside earlier… they’re all soldiers.”

“How did you figure that out, my baby?”

Hearing “baby” from her lips, Manman felt his heart melt.

His entire little body, from his ears to his cheeks, turned bright red, as though he had been pulled out of a wine barrel.

“She stands straight, pulls in her stomach, and keeps her chest out. Her legs are spread at about sixty degrees. When she walks, she habitually steps with her left foot first, her steps are rhythmic. The old man guarding the junkyard is a retired soldier, and he says that’s called ‘standing at military attention!’”

“The army has strict discipline, and these people aren’t wearing uniforms but disguised as workers, so they must be on some secret mission.”

Jiang Ningning was truly astonished. The little glutinous rice ball was incredibly observant and had the makings of a brilliant investigator.

Unfortunately, she only knew the beginning of the story and didn’t know the rest of the plot. If Manman really became a police officer when he grew up, criminals would have nowhere to hide.

Thinking about potentially raising a great people’s policeman in the future, Jiang Ningning felt an overwhelming sense of excitement.

Unable to resist, she kissed his little head and generously praised him, “Baby, you’re amazing.”

Manman’s ears turned red, and he was slowly getting used to his mother’s affection.

“That strange auntie ran away. Will it affect catching bad people? Mom, should we tell the other military uncles?” His face wrinkled in concern, his small face full of worry.

Manman was a pure-hearted child with great foresight, and Jiang Ningning felt both proud and pleased.

Taking advantage of the situation, she used it as a chance to educate the two little ones: “When the train conductor comes, we’ll report this matter truthfully and do our civic duty.”

“You’re still too small and too weak right now. Next time, when you encounter something like this, always remember: before you have the absolute ability to confront bad people, don’t try to fight them head-on. Leave it to the professional uncles and aunties to handle, okay?”

The two little ones nodded with fear in their hearts.

Just the thought of never seeing their mother again filled them with deep anxiety.

“By the way, Mama, the uncle next to the grandpa across from us must also be a soldier,” Manman said, noticing the uncle’s unfriendly attitude towards his mother. With a strong sense of justice, he clenched his little fist. “He’s just like that strange aunt—both are bad guys.”

The bad guy, who had extraordinary hearing, was left speechless: “…”

He had only shot Jiang Ningning a glance, and suddenly he was labeled a bad guy?

He was about to say something when the little dumpling spoke, and the words were quietly reported to Xue Lao.

The situation was serious, and after a brief moment of thought, Xue Lao made a swift decision. “Let’s go, we need to find the train conductor.”

A pocket watch fell from his pocket and rolled all the way to Summer’s feet.

Summer bent down to pick it up, her little ears twitching. She thought she had misheard, so she shook her ears and listened again.

Now she could hear it clearly: there seemed to be a part of the watch that had come loose.

Just as Summer was about to tell her mother about her discovery, she turned around and found a delicious egg being offered to her mouth.

She pursed her lips, smiling sweetly and adorably.

Jiang Ningning peeled the egg while speaking to her son: “Manman, wake Uncle Zhang Guang up and ask him to take you to the bathroom. You’re a man now, so I can’t accompany you. Do you understand?”

Manman, basking in the praise of being a man, puffed out his little chest and hurriedly ran over to the opposite bunk to wake Zhang Guang. “Uncle Zhang Guang, can you take me to the bathroom?”

“Okay.” Zhang Guang, still half-asleep, groggily stood up and slapped his face to wake himself up.

Manman obediently placed his little hand in Zhang Guang’s palm.

By coincidence, the bathroom in this car was occupied. After waiting for a while with no sign of the occupant coming out, the uncle and nephew had no choice but to walk hand in hand to the next carriage.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the train…

The hard-seat carriage was crowded with people from all walks of life, some even bringing poultry on board, making the air a strange and unpleasant mix of smells.

Huo Donglin was in a state of great distress.

He had clearly instructed that no one should act alone, and even going to the bathroom required a buddy system.

Yet, Guan Zixue was throwing a tantrum like a spoiled young lady, insisting on going to the hard sleeper by herself.

It had been over two hours since they set off, and it was clear the situation was becoming harder to conceal. The people from the team rushed over in a panic to report.

“I searched the carriages, but Zixue isn’t in there. I checked the bathrooms one by one, and it’s like… she’s disappeared into thin air.”

As the air pressure in the carriage dropped, the voices of the team members became almost inaudible.

At this point, it was too late to regret having let Guan Zixue participate in the mission just to spare her father’s face. Huo Donglin glanced at his watch.

“We have ten minutes left. The train will arrive at the next station soon. The kidnappers have a 90% chance of taking Guan Zixue off the train at the nearest station.”

“Captain, the next stop is Zixing City, and there will be many people getting off the train.”

Huo Donglin raised his brows sharply and decisively stated, “Once the kidnappers get off the train, it’ll be difficult to locate Guan Zixue in the sea of people.”

Those from the team who were more timid had already started to sob.