Chapter 44 She Followed My Watch

To avoid further complaints from the woman opposite and the old man, Qian Xiaolan slipped out after breakfast and sat by the aisle, watching the scenery outside the window. At one point, she felt a faint gaze on her. She frowned and swept her gaze around discreetly. There were a few people sitting at the junction of the opposite carriage, munching on dry food. She thought she was mistaken and looked away, but a moment later, she felt it again. This time she looked directly at the source. It was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man. The man didn’t expect her to look back so directly. He was startled, then got up and walked towards her. Now it was Qian Xiaolan’s turn to be stunned.

“Comrade, did you go to the bathroom in the next carriage at four this morning?”

Qian Xiaolan stared at him for a moment and remembered that this man was the one who had stepped on her foot earlier. She nodded.

“Great, it’s really you!” The man was excited. His voice was so loud that it attracted many curious glances.

The man greeted her with a smile. Qian Xiaolan couldn’t frown at him, so she asked politely, “Comrade, is there something wrong?”

“It’s like this. Before you went into the bathroom, I was using it. My watch strap came loose, so I put it on the shelf next to it. But after you used the bathroom, I went back to look for it, and it was gone.”

Qian Xiaolan’s face turned cold, “You mean I took your watch?”

The man waved his hands, “No, no, that’s not what I meant. I just wanted to ask if you had seen it.”

“No.” Qian Xiaolan shook her head without hesitation.

The man was dissatisfied and shouted even louder, “Hey, comrade, think again. I’m sure no one went into that bathroom before you.”

Suddenly, everyone in the carriage looked at Qian Xiaolan differently. Gu Yanqing had been leaning against the door. Seeing someone bullying his wife, he was about to speak, but Qian Xiaolan shook her head slightly. Then, she sneered at the man, “Alright, you just want to extort money, right? As long as you can find evidence to prove that I took your watch, I’ll pay you. If you can’t find any evidence, you’ll apologize to me on the train’s broadcast.”

The man roared incredulously, “Why do I have to find evidence? You said you didn’t take it, so you show me the evidence!”

Qian Xiaolan’s expression was calm, “He who asserts must prove. You said I took your watch, so find evidence. Otherwise, forget it.”

Seeing Qian Xiaolan so calm, the onlookers also felt that it was unlikely she had taken it. They started to persuade the middle-aged man, “This young comrade doesn’t look like someone who would steal. Think carefully. Did you put the watch in your pocket and forget?”

The middle-aged man was agitated, “Impossible. I have a good memory. I remember the watch clearly. It was on the shelf in the bathroom. After I left the bathroom, I didn’t go anywhere. I just stood in the aisle smoking.”

“Ah, yes, there were many men smoking with me at the time. I’ll go find them to testify for me.” The man finished speaking and ran away. Within five minutes, he returned with two men, “These two comrades can testify for me.”

The two men pulled by the middle-aged man quickly nodded, “Yes, yes, we can testify. Comrade Chen stood outside smoking after leaving the bathroom.”

“And, besides this female comrade, no one else went into the bathroom during that time.”

Qian Xiaolan swept her gaze over the two men, still calm and collected, “How do I know if you two are in cahoots with him? There should have been two other people there. Why didn’t you bring them here?”

The three men looked at each other, their faces turning a little ugly. The middle-aged man was almost mad. He didn’t expect to encounter such a tough opponent.

Gu Yanqing chuckled and stood behind Qian Xiaolan, looking at the three men with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “Are you sure my wife stole something? Do you know what the crime is for falsely accusing a military family member?”

When the three men saw Gu Yanqing in his military uniform, they immediately felt uneasy.

The middle-aged man stubbornly said, “We didn’t say it was her who stole it. It’s just strange that my watch disappeared after she went in.”

Qian Xiaolan patted Gu Yanqing’s arm to comfort him, “Don’t be angry. Let them say. If they can find evidence today to prove that I took the watch, I’ll accept the accusation of being a thief and pay double the compensation.”

The three men looked at each other, and one of them gritted his teeth, “I stood there for half an hour, and I really didn’t see anyone else go into the bathroom before you.”

Qian Xiaolan said “Oh” and casually said, “That only proves that only you and I used the bathroom during that time. It doesn’t prove that you lost your watch in there, and it definitely doesn’t prove that I took your watch.”

The middle-aged man pointed at Qian Xiaolan and roared, “You’re playing me!”

The onlookers sneered, “How is that playing you? The young comrade is right. If you say someone stole something, you need to show evidence. If you can’t show any evidence, we think you three are a gang, specifically targeting people on the train.”

This hit the nail on the head of the three men’s intentions. Their faces changed repeatedly. One man said to Qian Xiaolan, “Since you said you didn’t take the watch, let us search your body. If there’s nothing, then it’s over.”

As soon as these words came out, Gu Yanqing’s face turned black. The onlookers also looked at them in disbelief.

Search a woman’s body? Were these people crazy?

Only Qian Xiaolan stood up with a smile, and suddenly slapped the man who had spoken.

“Is this your goal? To publicly harass and insult me?”

“My man, along with countless soldiers, has been risking their lives on the border. How could you protect trash like you?”

“Looking at your cooperation, this isn’t the first time you’ve done this, is it? How many women have you harmed? Trash like you should be sent to reform!”

“Luckily it’s me today. If it were another woman who didn’t know how to fight back, would you have gotten away with it?”

Qian Xiaolan slapped each man once for every insult she hurled, treating them fairly. They wanted to resist, they wanted to dodge, but they couldn’t. Qian Xiaolan had been trained, and Gu Yanqing was silently blocking them, so the three men each received four slaps.

When Qian Xiaolan finished hitting them, the conductor arrived with his staff. Qian Xiaolan explained the situation, emphasizing that she had been shoved and stepped on after coming out of the bathroom.

“Comrade conductor, I suspect they wanted to put something in my pocket, but I was wearing a sweater that had no pockets. If I had been wearing other clothes, I might have fallen for their trick.”

After Gu Yanqing showed his ID, he also said, “I think they are habitual criminals working in a gang. I hope they can be investigated by the police.”

“Catch people and seize evidence. You have no evidence, so why are you arresting us?” The three men shouted loudly. The conductor was a little hesitant.