Jiang Tang was in luck—there were only two tickets left for her destination.
“Comrade, I’ll take both tickets.”
The ticket clerk looked at Jiang Tang’s deliberately darkened face, then glanced at the two “pitiful” children clinging tightly to Jiang Tang’s clothes. She frowned with sympathy.
She reminded her, “A train ticket costs over twenty yuan. Your two kids are still young—they don’t need tickets. One ticket is enough.”
The clerk meant well, thinking that Jiang Tang and her three children looked like they could barely afford a meal, so why waste money on an extra ticket?
But Jiang Tang wasn’t short on cash at all. If there had been sleeper tickets available, she would have definitely bought those—after all, this was a two-day, one-night train ride, and she wanted to be comfortable, and more importantly, she wanted the children to be comfortable too.
“Comrade, thank you for the reminder, but I’ll take both seated tickets. Here’s the money.”
Jiang Tang took out the cash and handed it to the clerk.
The clerk shook her head helplessly, said nothing more, and quickly handed the tickets to Jiang Tang.
The train was just as crowded as Jiang Tang had imagined—people coming and going everywhere, luggage piled high on the racks, and the carriage filled with a complex, unpleasant odor.
Their seats happened to be by the window. Jiang Tang had Chaochao and Yueyue sit on the inside while she sat on the outside.
The space was a bit cramped, but compared to the passengers standing in the aisle without seats, they were much better off.
This was Chaochao and Yueyue’s first time going out. From the moment they boarded the train, they were startled by the bustling crowd. Chaochao’s eyes widened as he looked around, while Yueyue, scared, gripped Jiang Tang’s clothes tightly with her little hands, terrified of being separated from them.
Once they settled into their seats in the carriage, Chaochao let out a long, barely noticeable breath. Seeing such a huge crowd all at once—he was actually scared too.
Yueyue sat between her brother and Jiang Tang, the little girl well protected, gradually regaining her energy.
She pulled Chaochao to lean against the train window, their two little heads side by side, curiously peering outside.
Yueyue said excitedly, “Brother, so this is what a train looks like! We’re riding a train~”
Chaochao didn’t say anything, but his eyes were sparkling—clearly, he was very happy.
As the two little ones kept looking around, a buzzing sound came from the front of the train—wooo—
Jiang Tang reached out and pulled the two little ones who were pressed against the window back. “Chaochao, Yueyue, be careful—the train is about to leave.”
Chaochao and Yueyue both looked up, bewildered, staring at Jiang Tang, not knowing what was about to happen.
When the train started moving, it first gave a clanking jolt, making everyone in their seats sway slightly. Then came the rumbling sound as the wheels turned, and the train slowly moved forward.
Once the initial jolt had passed, Jiang Tang let go and let Chaochao and Yueyue continue playing.
The two little ones had dazed expressions, as if they hadn’t recovered from the initial shock of the movement. But as they looked out the train window again…
Flying! It’s flying!
So fast, so fast!
The scenery outside the window kept whizzing by, receding with the window. They gradually left the city behind and saw vast stretches of rice paddies and trees—sights Chaochao and Yueyue had never seen before.
Yueyue poked her finger at the glass window and said, “Brother, look… such a big tree—Brother, look, it’s a big river—”
Jiang Tang took out some small biscuits and White Rabbit creamy candies from the bag she carried. Not daring to make a show of it, she secretly popped them into the children’s mouths.
Chaochao and Yueyue quickly tasted sweetness on their tongues—not just sweetness, but a rich, fragrant milky flavor.
Children instinctively remembered the taste of milk from their infant days, so they especially loved the flavor of White Rabbit candies. Their little tongues licked at them bit by bit, unwilling to take too big a bite.
Speaking of these White Rabbit candies, there was a funny story behind them.
The candies were found in the original owner’s room, stored in a tin box—a really big box.
It seemed the original owner had been sneaking them for herself, unwilling to share them with the children.
Jiang Tang reached out and gently lifted Chaochao and Yueyue’s mouths, which had fallen open in shock, closing them, then lowered her head and made a shushing gesture.
“Shh—let’s eat quietly and not tell anyone.”
Jiang Tang also popped a White Rabbit candy into her own mouth, so her voice carried a milky scent.
Hearing Jiang Tang’s words, Yueyue covered her mouth with her little hand, her eyes curving into crescent-moon smiles.
Chaochao, on the other hand, glanced at Jiang Tang a few more times, because… he really liked the mother she was now.
The train rumbled on for four or five hours. When most passengers in the carriage had eaten lunch and were sprawled about, drowsy and dozing off, what was bound to happen happened.
A somewhat stout woman, looking to be around forty or fifty years old, plopped herself down in the seat across from Jiang Tang.
This person’s attire and appearance were almost identical to the trafficker Jiang Tang had encountered yesterday. Especially the way her eyes roved over Jiang Tang and the two little ones—the shrewd calculation lurking in them practically screamed “trafficker” right on her face.
Jiang Tang silently complained to herself: two days in a row running into traffickers—what kind of unlucky constitution was this? If this plot were written into a novel, people would definitely criticize it as a boring, overused trope.
Just as she was thinking this, the plump woman spoke up with a beaming smile.
“Dearie, you’re all alone with two kids—must be tough out on the road, isn’t it? If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask your auntie here. You look pretty young—got married this early? What a blessing, a son and a daughter! Heading out to find your husband, are you?”
Jiang Tang listened to this whole spiel and couldn’t be bothered to respond. Even one more word would be a waste of breath.
But the plump woman’s eyes stayed fixed on Jiang Tang and the two children, her heart practically drooling.
A woman like Jiang Tang—clearly a rural girl leaving home for the first time, all dirty and wearing old clothes, looking barely past twenty—was the easiest age to fool.
Her original target had been just Jiang Tang, but the two kids beside her were too eye-catching—twins, a boy and a girl, no less. Sell the woman, then sell the kids—she’d definitely fetch a good price for all of them.
The plump woman thought gleefully, pulling two pieces of candy from her pocket and holding them out to Chaochao and Yueyue.
“What adorable children! Auntie’s treating you to some candy.”
Watching this, Jiang Tang sneered inwardly. Her little ones ate the finest White Rabbit milk candy—there was no way they’d be tempted by the cheap stuff in this woman’s hand.
She was about to refuse when she heard Chaochao speak up, his voice clear and firm.
“Auntie, first you try to get friendly with us, now you’re giving us candy—are you next going to offer my mom a job?”
The plump woman’s heart jolted, because that was indeed her next move—she was going to mention she had a job, a government position, the kind that came with city rations…
Chaochao sat up straight, counting on his fingers. “One, two, three… Auntie, my mom said anyone who fits points one, two, and three is either a trafficker or a bad person. So are you a bad person? Or a trafficker?”
The plump woman never expected her tried-and-true “street routine” to be seen through by a five-year-old. Her face cycled through shades of pale and red. She snatched back her two pitiful candies, stuffed them into her pocket, and shot Jiang Tang and her children a vicious glare.
“Hmph! You don’t know a good person when you see one! What trafficker, what nonsense—who’d be a trafficker in broad daylight?! You and your brats can just suffer then!” The plump woman grumbled and cursed, then turned on her heel and walked off, apparently off to find her next target.
After she left, Jiang Tang reached out and ruffled Chaochao’s little head, her smile brimming with approval.
That’s her boy! So impressive!
Yueyue found it amusing and copied Jiang Tang’s gesture, reaching out to pat her brother’s head too.
As the three of them shared this warm moment, a low chuckle suddenly drifted over from the next seat.