These past few days, Yue Kai had been visiting daily, practically taking over all of Mingxi’s meals.
He truly wasn’t boasting—the man indeed had some culinary skills. Though Mingxi’s family chef back home had been quite talented, Yue Kai’s cooking surpassed even that.
Being indebted for meals made it hard to speak harshly or show a sour face, so their relationship had been relatively smooth lately.
The only issue was this man’s constant preening and flaunting himself before her, exuding an almost seductive charm she couldn’t place. Where could he have learned such behavior?
Men in this era simply didn’t act this way. Perhaps he’d picked it up in the modern world—after all, he was a time traveler. Who knew what he might have learned there?
“The trains are chaotic lately. Women and children easily become targets. If they didn’t just get lost on their own, they might be in real danger,” Yue Kai said dismissively. Though it felt somewhat inappropriate and didn’t suit his current role, he secretly thought it might be better if those two went missing.
From Mingxi’s descriptions, neither of them were good people. Lin Jianguo was no saint either—this whole family was trouble.
And this so-called novel world… he hadn’t even realized he’d transmigrated into a fictional story.
It was Mingxi who’d told him these past couple days. What infuriated him most was discovering he didn’t even have a name in this novel!
How was he inferior to Lin Jianguo? Whether family background, looks, or capability, he could utterly crush him!
Yue Kai’s facial expressions shifted through a spectacular range. Mingxi genuinely wished she had a phone to record his dramatic display.
Though his words expressed concern for others, his current facial expressions clearly didn’t belong to a virtuous character.
Amused, Mingxi remarked, “Mind your expressions. Those two came to cause trouble for me, not you. Why do you look like you want to tear them apart?”
“Your mouth says you care about their safety, but your face screams villain.”
Yue Kai blinked and smiled faintly, “Villain then villain. Whatever alignment you are, I’ll follow you.”
That flirtatious blink made Mingxi’s skin crawl. “Just eat your food and stop flaunting your looks.”
Why did this man have to be so enchantingly pretty? It almost made her jealous.
Yue Kai: “Alright, you eat too. I’ll be discharged in a couple days, then it’s back to regular training. I might not have as much time to visit.”
Of course, he’d still try to deliver meals daily. Training was important, but it shouldn’t interfere with eating and finding a wife.
Mingxi nodded absently, “Understood, your duties come first.”
Once he left here, given his appearance, nobody would believe he was a soldier. The saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” found perfect embodiment in him.
Mingxi grew genuinely curious about how this enchanting man would behave during training.
After a moment’s daze, she snapped back to reality, mentally scolding herself: Curiosity about a man is the beginning of affection—must keep that under control!
“Mother, where is this?” Lin Hongmei asked, clutching her bundle while gazing confusedly at the bustling train station crowds.
Liu Cuihua also wore a panicked expression. “How should I know? Weren’t you the one who said we’d arrived and told me to follow you off the train?”
She couldn’t read, so she had always stuck close to Lin Hongmei. It was Lin Hongmei who had said they should get off.
“I—I heard them say we were arriving at Yangcheng! How did we end up in Liangcheng?”
Lin Hongmei stared at the station sign, her mind in a daze.
The names of these two places were just too similar. The announcement had finished before she could listen carefully—it wasn’t really her fault.
Mother and daughter stared at each other, completely at a loss.
Back in their village, they were domineering—always picking fights with this person or quarreling with that one. But outside, their usual tactics were useless.
People in the village mostly let them get away with it, but strangers had no obligation to indulge them.
Liu Cuihua grew increasingly anxious and soon burst into tears. “What do we do now? We don’t know anyone here, and we’re lost! We haven’t even found your brother, and now we can’t even get back. Can we even return home?”
Lin Hongmei had no answer to that. She was fighting back tears herself.
The two women slumped to the ground, hugging each other and weeping loudly. Passersby gave them strange looks, and some even stopped to see what was happening.
This was an era when kind-hearted people weren’t uncommon. After they had cried for a while, a man approached and asked if they needed any help.
Lin Hongmei wiped her face and eyed the man warily.
When you’re away from home, you can’t trust people too easily—especially as a woman.
The man looked at them with concern, but to Lin Hongmei, he seemed to have ulterior motives.
“Stay away from us. We don’t need your help.”
The man understood their caution as two women traveling alone, so he took two steps back. “I’m not a bad person. I just saw how upset you were and wondered if you needed assistance.”
“If you don’t need help, that’s fine. I’ll leave now.”
Lin Hongmei and Liu Cuihua scrutinized the man from head to toe. He had an ordinary face, average height, and wasn’t even as sturdy as the men in their village.
Their fear and sorrow vanished almost instantly, and their true colors quickly resurfaced.
Liu Cuihua shrilled, “We don’t need your help! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re after—you’ve got your eye on my Hongmei, haven’t you? You’re not good enough for her!”
Lin Hongmei chimed in, “That’s right! You’re not worthy of me. I’d never be interested in someone like you.”
The man was stunned by their words. He had only meant to help, and this was the thanks he got?
Where did these two get their confidence? And this Hongmei—with her rough, sturdy build and dark skin—how could she possibly claim he wasn’t good enough for her?
“You’re insane,” the man spat out, standing up and walking away.
The onlookers were equally taken aback by the mother and daughter’s audacity. If Lin Hongmei had been a beauty, or even just mildly attractive, their words might not have sounded so absurd.
But Lin Hongmei was dark-skinned, stout, and had a face full of meanness. With looks like that, how could she look down on others? Where did they get such confidence?
“Let’s go, let’s go. If we stand here any longer, they’ll probably accuse us of coveting that Hongmei too.”
“I never thought I could encounter such an absurd situation. I need to go back and tell my family about it.”
The onlookers gradually dispersed, leaving only the mother and daughter pair behind. Now, no one came forward to kindly ask if they needed help.
By evening, the mother and daughter still hadn’t left the station.
Eventually, station staff reported them to the public security bureau, and they were taken away.
There was simply no other way – anyone who tried to approach them would be accused of having ill intentions. Who could tolerate such accusations? So they had to be removed by the public security officers.