When the other passengers confirmed that Jiang Yan had indeed only just arrived at the sleeper carriages at this stop, Su Zhenzhen became even more agitated.
“Did you hear that?! I was telling the truth! She stole someone else’s ticket! She’s a thief! She’s a bad element taking revenge on an educated youth who answered the country’s call! Why haven’t you arrested her yet?!”
“Bad elements in the sleeper cars?” A stern voice cut through the noise. A man with a square jaw and uniform pushed through the crowd. “Why haven’t you taken action yet?”
“Chief Conductor!” The officers saluted quickly. “This comrade is just too emotional. She’s accusing the other party without the facts being clear.”
“So you’re the Chief Conductor? Good,” Su Zhenzhen lifted her chin arrogantly. “You must be smarter than your subordinates. If I say she’s a bad element, she is! Arrest her now!”
“There you are!” The Chief Conductor looked past her and spotted Jiang Yan. His face lit up. “Things were so chaotic earlier I didn’t get a good look. I came right over after handling the incident, and I’ve been looking carriage by carriage for you.”
“You’re looking for this thief too?!” Su Zhenzhen was ecstatic. She pointed at the officers. “Hear that?! Even your boss knows she’s a thief! What are you waiting for? Get the handcuffs! Arrest her!”
She turned to the crowd waving her hands. “Did you all hear?! She’s a liar and a thief!”
Her hands froze in mid-air. Her mouth fell open, unable to close. She thought she was hallucinating.
Why was the Chief Conductor shaking hands with that wretched girl?!
He turned back and snapped at her: “Shut your mouth! When did I ever say she was a thief?!”
He released Jiang Yan’s hand and addressed everyone. “I’m sure you are all wondering why the train stopped for so long earlier even though we weren’t at a station?”
“There was a wanted criminal hiding in the hard-seat carriages. He has killed more than a dozen people, was carrying a gun, and went on a rampage even throwing two children out of the window!”
“He pointed his gun at our officers. A brave comrade tried to disarm him but was tripped up by an old woman.”
He pointed firmly at Jiang Yan. “At that critical moment, it was this young lady here who attacked the criminal from behind! If not for her, many more would have died. She gave everyone else a chance to subdue him together.”
“Afterwards, we wanted to send her to the hospital for checks and rest, but she refused. She insisted on going directly to her assignment to support the countryside.”
“That’s why I arranged for a sleeper ticket for her personally, so she could rest properly. I just came to check on her, and yet here someone is calling her a criminal?!”
With every sentence the Chief Conductor spoke, the crowd gasped louder.
“This delicate-looking girl dared to attack an armed man?! I’m a grown man and I would have run away! She’s amazing!”
“If the Chief Conductor says it, it must be true! And she refused special treatment just to go support the countryside? How could such a person be a liar or a thief?!”
“So it’s obvious! Su Zhenzhen is the liar! She spent fifteen yuan just to switch carriages so she could get revenge over a petty argument! She wanted to scald this girl with boiling water, but she ended up hurting herself! Serves her right!”
“Serves her right is being too kind!” someone shouted. “Listen to how she’s threatening the Chief Conductor! ‘Do you know who my grandfather is?! He’s in charge of people like you! One phone call and you’ll lose your job!'”
“Zhenzhen, stop talking!” Yao Qingsong rushed forward despite his pain to stop her, but it was too late.
The crowd was furious. “Chief Conductor! Find out who her grandfather is! We want to know what kind of family raises someone so arrogant! We serve the people! Can her grandfather be above the law?!”
“None of your business!” Su Zhenzhen had never been humiliated like this. She needed to vent her rage. She slapped Yao Qingsong hard across the face. “Get out of my way!”
“AHH! MY FACE!” Yao Qingsong screamed and fell to the floor.
His burns were serious but manageable. The attendants had been cooling them down. As long as the blisters weren’t broken, he could recover with treatment.
But that slap had popped the blisters and torn the skin raw. With the medical standards of this era, the scarring would be permanent.
This was too much! The Chief Conductor pointed at her angrily. “Restrain her! Take her away! Interrogate her properly! I want to find out exactly who her grandfather is!”
Watching Su Zhenzhen being dragged away screaming in handcuffs, Jiang Yan felt a sense of satisfaction.
In her past life, she remembered, they had seen a small mouse while shopping. Su Zhenzhen had jumped a foot in the air, crying and shaking, refusing to take another step.
Fear is a weakness that can be exploited.
Still, Jiang Yan wondered. Based on what she’d seen these past two days, Su Zhenzhen was impulsive, reckless, and stupid. How had she been clever enough back then to deliberately use the story of Jiang Yan’s adoptive parents to hurt her?
Jiang Yan’s journey continued peacefully afterwards. But the same could not be said for a certain residence in the capital.
A roar echoed through the traditional building. “I sent her to Nan Province to get her away from you all! I wanted her to fix her bad temper! And yet you arranged for her to stay right near the provincial capital?! That’s a vacation, not being sent to the countryside!”
In the office, a middle-aged couple stood with their heads bowed low before the imposing old man.
“Father, you know Zhenzhen has been afraid of mice since she was little,” the mother whispered. “The countryside is full of them. She would have been terrified to death.”
“I also know she bullied her classmates so badly at school that she almost drove one to suicide!” Grandpa Su slammed his hand on the table.
“And now I find out that on the train, she tried to scald someone over a trivial argument! And she’s going around telling people I’m her grandfather, implying I can get her away with anything! Get away with my ass! She’s going to drag me down with her!”
The couple looked at each other nervously. The father ventured, “Father, Huo Ying’s father came to talk to you… is it really that serious?”
“That is none of your concern! You are in no position to question me!” Grandpa Su sat back in his chair.
“I have already given my word to Old Huo. Third Son, you report to the Song and Dance Troupe tomorrow. Third Daughter-in-law, you report to the Coal Bureau tomorrow.”
The couple jumped as if whipped. “Father! I’ve been working fine at the Energy Department! What is a grown man like me supposed to do in a Song and Dance Troupe?!”
Grandpa Su snorted. “Logistics support. Didn’t you tell your daughter that no matter where she goes, Father will take care of the logistics? Put that spirit into your work, and you can do great things anywhere!”
The mother pleaded with tears in her eyes. “Father, I’m supposed to lead a performance team to the grassroots the day after tomorrow! What will happen to my work if I leave suddenly? And I don’t know anything about working in a Coal Bureau!”