“Fine, we’ll move him!” The mother went to pick up the child, but the old woman’s eyes darted back and forth between Jiang Yan and Zheng Bin. A smirk tugged at her lips.
“Oh? So you two are dating, huh?”
Jiang Yan ignored her. Zheng Bin blurted out immediately, “No we’re not!”
“So what if you’re not?” The old woman cackled. “Shouting won’t make her look at you. She’s got high standards, you know. You might as well save your breath.”
“Save what breath?! I told you, we have absolutely nothing to do with each other!” Zheng Bin fumed.
He was a straightforward guy; fighting and killing were easy, but arguing with a shrewish old woman? Impossible.
Jiang Yan wanted to laugh but also felt annoyed. She wanted to tell Zheng Bin just to ignore her, don’t engage.
But if she spoke to him, it would only give him an excuse to stick around. That would ruin his future. Compared to what he deserved later, this little humiliation was nothing. She had to stay silent.
The old woman laughed even harder. “She says my grandson stole her seat. All the men in this car said nothing, but you jump up ready to fight my son. And you say there’s nothing between you?”
Over there, the mother reached out symbolically, but the boy just stood on the seat with his shoes on, jumping up and down. “I won’t! I won’t move!” completely ignoring the disgusted looks from everyone else.
“Look at my son!” The mother beamed. “Already such a man at this age! He takes what he wants! Not like some men,” she glanced at Zheng Bin, emphasizing her words, “grown-up already, pfft too cowardly to even admit he likes a girl!”
“I… I…” Zheng Bin stuttered in rage.
The old woman leaned closer to him. “Let me teach you something. Men fear idleness, women fear persistence. No matter how high her standards are, just stick to her like glue!”
Suddenly remembering something, Zheng Bin blushed.
The old woman noticed instantly. She shoved him hard with both hands. “She doesn’t have a seat, right? Go stand right next to her! Everyone will think you’re a couple! Sooner or later she’ll have to accept it!”
“Get away!”
How could an old woman move faster than a specially trained soldier? Zheng Bin pushed back effortlessly. If the aisle hadn’t been so crowded, she would have fallen backwards and cracked her skull.
“How dare you hit an old person?!” The son rushed to support his mother, shouting at Zheng Bin, but not daring to be as aggressive as he was with Jiang Yan.
“Is that how you treat your elders? Don’t you have parents?” Other passengers, unaware of the truth, started to criticize.
Zheng Bin was so angry he wanted to leave. He took one step, then stopped. He squatted down right there, crossing his arms, looking wronged and pitiful like a caged leopard.
He couldn’t solve the seat problem. And even if Jiang Yan had to stand, she wasn’t in danger. But he had promised the Captain he could not leave her side.
To save Zheng Bin from further embarrassment, Jiang Yan said nothing more and simply stood there.
From across the way, Shi Hongmei watched with a triumphant smirk, muttering loudly, “Hmph. Thought she was so tough. Ended up standing just like me.”
The family was even more pleased. “Sweethearts! These seats are all yours now! Sit tight!”
With adults backing them up, the boys got wilder. They stood on the seats, shouting and jumping in victory.
“It’s already so stuffy in here!” someone complained. “And the train is so noisy! Can’t you keep your kids quiet? Do something about them!”
“Stuffy? The windows are open!” The old woman shouted back. “You’re just jealous we have twin grandsons! Look at you probably only have useless daughters at home!”
She was completely unreasonable.
The boys grew bolder. Not satisfied with just their own seats, they climbed over the backrests into the next row. One boy stepped right on a man’s head to climb down.
People told them to stop, but the old woman pointed fingers and yelled, “He didn’t even say anything! Who are you to meddle?”
Jiang Yan had a clear view. The man who got stepped on had a straw hat covering his face, wearing rough country clothes. He was about the same build as Zheng Bin.
He must have just gotten on. He didn’t say a word, just shifted slightly and pulled his hat down to continue sleeping.
What a soft-hearted, honest man.
But his silence only encouraged the boys. The kid reached out to yank the hat. “What’s under there? Let me wear it!”
The man held onto the hat. The boy tugged harder and called out, “Brother! Come help me!”
“Coming!”
The two boys pulled on the hat from both sides. If they couldn’t get it off, they started hitting the man’s face.
Everyone was furious. Some told the parents to stop them, but the family pretended not to hear. Others told the man to just smack the brats, but he only pushed them away gently.
But as soon as his hand touched them, the boys exchanged looks, immediately plopped down on the floor, and started wailing, kicking their legs. “Grandma! He hit me! He hit us!”
That was it! The whole family swarmed over. “How dare you hit little kids?! Are you even human?!”
Just then, two conductors walked into the carriage. The old woman waved frantically. “Officers! Help! This monster is trying to kill people!” She exaggerated everything so she could smear him later.
“Who is causing trouble here?!” The officers marched over.
The man stood up whoosh and slammed his hat onto the ground. Jiang Yan gasped at the sight of his face.
He was brutish-looking, with a massive scar running from his left eye, across the bridge of his nose, to his right jaw. He looked like a genuine killer.
Everyone froze. Even the two boys stopped crying, too terrified to make a sound.
“Baby! Come to Grandma!” the old woman shrieked.
But it was too late. The man grabbed both boys by their ankles, lifted them up like little chicks, and swish threw them straight out the window!
The train was already picking up speed. Even an adult wouldn’t survive that fall, let alone children.
“MY GRANDSONS!” The old woman let out a scream like a stuck pig, rolled her eyes, and fainted. No one even tried to catch her. She was so hated, everyone just let her fall.
Her son and daughter-in-law were beside themselves with rage. The father pulled out a fruit knife and lunged. “I’ll kill you!”
The mother, hair flying, screamed, “I’ll bite you to death!”
The scarred man didn’t even flinch. He threw a single punch straight into the man’s face. Blood exploded everywhere his nose was broken, teeth flew out, and he collapsed with eyes wide open.
The man snatched the knife and slashed it across the woman’s face.
Her agonized scream echoed through the entire train.
One conductor tripped and fell. The other managed to get close, holding up an electric baton but the culprit had already discarded the knife and pulled out a gun. He aimed the black muzzle straight at the conductor.