☆ 12. A Greeting

【Why would the host ask that?】

For the past few days, Sansan had been mostly in an invisible sleep mode to conserve energy. However, today, as Ji Meng and Qiuqiu were catching a train, the train had too many unpredictable factors. In addition, Qiuqiu’s darkening value had been inexplicably unstable, so to prevent any accidents, Sansan had stayed online and, hearing Ji Meng’s words, it curiously asked.

“I’m just asking casually. Isn’t it true that the body hasn’t been found? So is it possible that he was rescued by someone, or that he was involved in some secret mission and just happened to go into hiding?”

“Hmm… that could be the case, just like me—reborn?”

“Isn’t that how it’s often written in novels?”

Ji Meng said casually, her gaze still fixed on the man at the window, indeed a sudden and bold hypothesis.

But the man in front of her did give her a strange feeling. Throughout her life, her instincts had rarely been wrong, and she just wanted to get to the bottom of it.

【Sansan thinks it’s unlikely. If he were still alive, why wouldn’t he come home to pick up Qiuqiu? In the last life, Qiuqiu suffered so much.】

【As for what the host mentioned, a situation like yours is even less likely. The main system sent Sansan to complete the task, so it wouldn’t send another system—what a waste! Also, having two high-tech systems coexist would affect the magnetic field of this world.】

“Oh, that makes sense.”

In the book, Qiuqiu had a deep memory of her father, often thinking of him during countless times of frustration.

In just a few brief descriptions, it’s clear that Su Cheng is the one who cares most about Qiuqiu, apart from her grandmother.

He is a soldier with a strong sense of responsibility, and if he were still alive, he wouldn’t neglect his daughter.

Even if he had his reasons for not being able to take care of her personally, he would arrange for someone to check on her or even provide support in secret.

In the book, after Su Cheng’s death, the distance between the army and the village, along with various practical issues, limited the care his comrades could provide for Qiuqiu. Most of them could only send small amounts of money and goods to the village.

As for Qiuqiu’s situation in the village, the specifics of her life were particularly concealed because the village captain, Su Youqing, had been “instructed” by Su Dazhi and the original body to help hide the truth. They received only various “good” false messages about Qiuqiu, and they didn’t even know that she had been forced to escape the village to survive.

It wasn’t until Qiuqiu grew up and managed to find her father’s old comrades who had sent her money that they realized how much suffering the child they had worried about had endured and that she had never spent a single cent of the money they had sent over the years.

If Su Cheng were alive, this situation would never have occurred.

“I was overthinking it.”

Ji Meng lowered her head and took a bite of the potato pancake, replying.

【It’s just that the host is overthinking it.】

Sansan was happy to receive Ji Meng’s agreement on its first opinion, and its electronic voice sounded much more cheerful. After a moment, Sansan’s signals flickered for two seconds, and it said to Ji Meng with some seriousness,

【By the way, host, Sansan has just made a significant discovery while observing the surroundings!】

“What significant discovery?” Ji Meng asked casually, chewing on the potato pancake in her mouth.

【It’s the baby that the woman in the middle bunk across from you is holding. That little chubby boy was making such a racket earlier, yet the baby didn’t wake up at all.】

Ji Meng paused in her movement to take another bite of the pancake, her gaze following Sansan’s direction. The middle-aged woman had already put the baby down and was now eating beef jerky while talking to the man in the upper bunk.

She was speaking in a local dialect.

There are many dialect versions in this province, with almost every county or even town having its own version.

Coincidentally, Ji Meng recognized the words the middle-aged woman was saying, it was the dialect from Yong County in Wencheng.

In her previous life, one of her roommates was from Yong County, and they had a good relationship. Ji Meng was quite interested in regional dialects from all over, even learning some from her roommate, and they occasionally spoke in dialect when they were together.

The woman was complaining that the beef jerky was too dry and was telling the man to go buy some food later, suggesting he get more meat and, ideally, buy some tea eggs and rice cakes when the train stops at the platform.

Her voice was loud, showing no concern that the child on the bed would be disturbed by the noise.

【Host, don’t you find it strange? That child isn’t a doll, how could they not wake up?】

In her mind, Sansan continued to ask, while Ji Meng held the pancake tightly in her hand, her heart racing.

There were children in the orphanage who had been abducted but later rescued along the way, yet due to the long passage of time and lack of communication, they couldn’t find their parents for the moment.

One of Ji Meng’s good friends was in this situation, she didn’t find her family until she was in her teens.

Because of her friend, Ji Meng had seen many news articles about human trafficking and would instinctively click on similar novels when she came across them.

Some human traffickers prefer to target newborns, and to make it easier for themselves, they fear that the child will cry and attract attention. They would give the baby drugs to keep them quiet and drowsy until they reach their destination.

Infants are easy to lose track of, they are so young that even if there are problems with the drugs, it would be discovered later. The merciless traffickers only care about getting money at the moment, without any regard for the children.

Had they encountered traffickers!?

This thought flashed through Ji Meng’s mind, and at this moment, Sansan summarized:

【Sansan looked up a lot of information when Sansan saw the trafficking subplot earlier. The situation with the baby seems very much like they’ve been drugged. Host, there are traffickers on the train, we need to be careful…】

Be careful? How?

The likelihood of a group of human traffickers working together is higher. On one train, there could be several people involved, and they might have drugs, making it hard to guard against them.

It’s truly a case of fearing what you don’t want to happen.

What should they do now? Call the police?

There are police officers on the train, but she has no evidence. Would calling the police be useful?

Earlier, when Sister Qiaoyun accompanied her, the middle-aged woman was already probing.

If she called the police, the other party would probably suspect her right away. How would she deal with that?

But if she ignores this matter, this group of ruthless people doesn’t know how many women and children they will harm in the end.

Moreover, they are in the same carriage, which could very well make them the human traffickers’ primary target.

Ji Meng chewed on her food, feeling overwhelmed.

With so much on her mind, she was eating absentmindedly, the food tasted like chewing wax. She didn’t know how much time had passed when the voice of the train attendant announcing meal distribution filled the carriage.

This carriage is a sleeper, and in this era, those who can afford to buy sleeper tickets generally have a decent economic situation. Therefore, there are more people buying meals here compared to the hard seat section.

The old woman in the lower bunk opposite, the man sitting by the window, and the “man” of the middle-aged woman in the upper bunk all went to buy food.

As the economy gradually opened up, there were now mobile vendors selling food at the train station, which has improved the food offerings on the train.

The vegetarian meal boxes, priced at 50 cents each, smelled delicious, and the meat dish at one yuan and fifty cents was even more aromatic.

Ji Meng originally didn’t plan to buy a meal. Her mind was filled with thoughts about the human traffickers, and she really had no appetite. But thinking of Qiuqiu, who was still so young, she realized that just eating dry rations wouldn’t be enough. So, she mustered up her energy, stood up, and grabbed a meal box, preparing to buy a portion.

The attendant serving meals was a tall woman in her thirties. When it came time to pay, the woman waved her hand and efficiently handed Ji Meng a box of food with meat from the food cart.

“The meal money has already been taken care of by Sister Qiaoyun, so you don’t need to pay me. It’s crowded in the aisle, and Sister Qiaoyun can’t come over. If you need anything, you can tell me. I’ll pass by this side from time to time. My name is Wu Fang, just call me Sister Wu.”

Ji Meng was taken aback for a moment, she didn’t expect Xu Qiaoyun to take care of this. She felt a bit embarrassed and thought she was being a bother to others.

“Sister Wu, I don’t have any issues here. Please help me tell Sister Qiaoyun not to worry about us. She’s pregnant, so she should pay attention to her rest.”

Wu Fang had a good relationship with Xu Qiaoyun and noticed Ji Meng’s good attitude, filled with concern for Xu Qiaoyun. A smile broke through her usually serious expression.

“Okay, I’ll tell her. After you finish eating, you don’t need to wash the meal box. I’ll come by later to help you take it to wash.”

“No need to trouble yourself, Sister Wu. I’ll wash the meal box while taking Qiuqiu to the restroom later.”

Even if she didn’t have to pay for the meal, asking someone to help wash dishes was too much. Ji Meng really couldn’t bring herself to be that forward, so she quickly replied.

“This aluminum box can’t be washed clean without hot water, and this carriage is far from the washing area. You’d have to go through two or three hard seat carriages to get there. It’s a hassle.”

“I happen to be serving meals in these carriages, and I’ll also be in the washing area for a while later. It’s on the way.”

Wu Fang had a straightforward personality. She had a good impression of Ji Meng, and since Xu Qiaoyun had mentioned Ji Meng’s situation, she felt a sense of sympathy. With the mindset of helping where she could, after serving one passenger, she turned to Ji Meng and said directly,

“Since it’s crowded in the hard seat carriage, I’ll help you carry the meal box over.”

Once Wu Fang said this, Ji Meng found it hard to refuse again. The hard seat carriage was indeed cramped, and bringing Qiuqiu along made it inconvenient. Considering there were also two human traffickers across from her, she ultimately thanked Wu Fang and agreed.

“Alright, then I’ll trouble you, Sister Wu.”

“What’s trouble? It’s just a small matter.”

Wu Fang waved her hand, scooping food with a large spoon, and after serving the last meal in this carriage, she pushed the food cart away.

Wu Fang took special care with the meal, which included braised pork, shredded potatoes, and spicy pickled cabbage. There was plenty of meat and vegetables, so Ji Meng and Qiuqiu shared the meal and ended up feeling quite full.

After eating, Ji Meng tidied up the small table, took out a notebook from her bag, and began teaching Qiuqiu pinyin.

With nothing else to do on the train and without electronic entertainment like phones or gaming consoles, teaching the child was the only way to pass the time.

Qiuqiu was four and a half years old. In the past, the original body had been unwilling to take care of her, so Su Cheng had sent her to a nursery class for a year, where she had learned some simple arithmetic and characters, but hadn’t really learned pinyin yet.

Ji Meng had never taught children before but remembered starting her own learning with pinyin, so she tried to teach Qiuqiu.

Qiuqiu was very smart and quick to respond when learning, almost after teaching her a pronunciation twice, she could remember it and pronounce it accurately.

When it came to tones, after learning one pinyin, she quickly grasped the rules of rising and falling tones for the others.

This kind of teaching brought a great sense of accomplishment.

In the past, when there was nothing to do at home, Ji Meng enjoyed teaching Qiuqiu.

Now, Qiuqiu had already mastered the pronunciation of 24 vowels and 21 initials. The remaining task was to recognize the overall reading syllables, followed by reinforcing her memory of spelling.

Qiuqiu was very serious, whenever Ji Meng drew a picture for her, she would write out the pinyin, and when she encountered characters she could write, she would write them down too.

After Qiuqiu finished writing on the page Ji Meng had drawn, Wu Fang entered the carriage to collect the meal boxes. She was pushing a garbage cart, intending to collect trash from each carriage.

Ji Meng stood up to hand her the meal box. After hesitating for a while, she ultimately slipped the note she had quietly written while drawing for Qiuqiu into the meal box.

She had noticed earlier that the middle-aged woman had stared at Qiuqiu several times, and the man in the upper bunk had glanced at them a couple of times, his eyes sizing them up like merchandise.

Every time Ji Meng noticed this, her heart would constrict with anxiety, and she felt a rush of fear.

She could no longer ignore this situation.

Who knows when they would target Qiuqiu?

Wu Fang was called by Xu Qiaoyun and was trustworthy. If she saw the note, regardless of whether she believed her words, she would definitely consult Xu Qiaoyun about it.

Xu Qiaoyun had been on the train for many years and always knew how to handle things safely and properly.

Wu Fang left with the meal box and returned after about an hour.

The previously empty garbage was now completely full.

Her expression remained as serious as usual, upon seeing Ji Meng, her face softened slightly. She took the cleaned meal box from a bag hanging by the garbage cart and handed it to Ji Meng.

Ji Meng couldn’t read her thoughts.

She didn’t believe her, and they hadn’t consulted Xu Qiaoyun. What were they planning to do about this situation?

Would they take action?

Such matters couldn’t be asked about, and it couldn’t be revealed that anything was amiss, otherwise, it would become troublesome. So Ji Meng held back her words and pretended not to have passed the note. She thanked her as she took the meal box:

“Thank you, Wu Jie, you really didn’t have to go through so much trouble.”

“No need to be polite, it’s just a small thing. Anyway, I still have to handle the garbage I collected, so I’ll get back to work. If you need anything, you can come to the staff room. Generally, either I or Xu Qiaoyun will be there.”

After saying that, Wu Fang pushed the garbage cart away, handling it very naturally, without any hint of suspicion.

Ji Meng felt even more anxious, she worried that Wu Fang didn’t intend to make a fuss about this matter.

After all, she had gotten off the bus and left, while they were still working on the train. If there were any oversights, the chances of being targeted for revenge might be even greater for them.

This was only natural.

Ji Meng understood this, and although she felt a bit disappointed, it was not something she couldn’t accept.

She took a deep breath, opened the woven bag, and placed the meal box inside. Just then, the meal box suddenly popped open, revealing a train ticket inside.

Ji Meng’s heart skipped a beat.

Sister Wu wouldn’t just put something in the meal box for no reason.

At this moment, Ji Meng was standing with her back turned, she was tall, over 1.68 meters, taller than the middle bunk, blocking the view from behind. She glanced down the aisle, it was still the lunch break, and there weren’t as many people in the aisle as before. Aside from a man who looked like Su Sheng reading a book, everyone else was dozing off. No one was paying attention to her, so she quickly picked up the ticket while closing the meal box and took a look.

It was a discarded train ticket with a line of black writing on the back: “The incident has been reported to the authorities. Don’t worry.”

Ji Meng suddenly felt a wave of relief wash over her, as if the surroundings had brightened significantly.

The matter had been reported to the authorities, and someone would come to handle it.

Ji Meng crumpled the note in her hand and tossed it to the bottom of the woven bag. She sat back down on the edge of the bed and continued teaching Qiuqiu.

Feeling overly relaxed, she didn’t notice that Su Cheng was thoughtfully looking at her while holding a book in his hands.

Ji Meng was no longer as worried as before and had more attention to spare to secretly observe the situation with the middle-aged woman.

What was known so far was that the middle-aged woman was holding a baby and was staying in this train carriage with her “man.” No one else had come to look for them during this time.

The man was dressed in work clothes, resembling a worker from somewhere.

He was of average build and appearance, spoke little, but his eyes were always moving.

He almost always went down to the lower bunk whenever the train stopped.

He would be gone for a while, sometimes returning with something to eat, and other times he’d come back empty-handed.

Seeing the man go down to the lower bunk again, Ji Meng asked Sansan:

“Sansan, can you find a way to see what the man in the upper bunk is going out for?”

With such frequent exits, there had to be something wrong.

【Sansan has no energy left, the monitoring system is down. Don’t worry, since the authorities are aware, they will definitely arrange for someone to keep an eye on it,】 Sansan reassured Ji Meng.

Ji Meng felt a bit disappointed upon hearing this, but without energy, there was nothing to be done.

“Then let’s just wait for the results.”

At this moment, the middle-aged woman was feeding the baby formula again.

It was the milk that the man from the upper bunk had brought back but hadn’t finished feeding.

More than two hours had passed since then, and the milk had already cooled down.

But the middle-aged woman didn’t care at all, she didn’t even get up to heat some water. Instead, she just took the bottle and stuffed it into the baby’s mouth.

Ji Meng felt a tight knot in her stomach, worrying whether the child would have problems from drinking this milk, which had been drugged and was now served cold.

Out of concern, Ji Meng’s gaze lingered on the middle bunk for a bit too long, causing the middle-aged woman to notice and immediately look at Ji Meng.

The middle-aged woman was in the middle bunk, while Ji Meng was below her. The woman was looking at Ji Meng with a sideways glance, her gaze cold and sinister, like a snake ready to strike.

Ji Meng’s heart tightened. She pinched her fingertips, trying hard to maintain her composure, and smiled as she asked, “How old is the baby? He seems very well-behaved, he hasn’t cried at all.”

“He’s a month old. He’s been good since he was born, always like this,”