[Little master, what are you looking at?]
Baba saw his little master stop in front of a seat, wide-eyed like a curious baby, staring at a little girl by the window. The girl had a scarf wrapped around her head, her complexion didn’t look good, and she appeared sickly and weak.
“Looking at sister crying.”
Baba scanned the little girl—she wasn’t crying at all.
[Little master, she’s not crying. She’s just sick and uncomfortable.]
“Where did this little brat come from? Get lost, get lost!” The man sitting next to the little girl glared at Pang Fu with disgust and roughly shoved her, causing her to stumble.
The crowd was dense, and Pang Fu bumped into someone’s leg but didn’t fall.
She raised her chubby little paw and slapped the man: “Bad.” Her voice was fierce yet childish, and her chubby cheeks puffed up.
Her paw was tiny, but the sound was surprisingly loud. Everyone around heard it and turned to look.
The man touched his reddened cheek, which even stung a little, and his expression instantly twisted.
“You little brat, you’re asking for trouble!” He raised his hand, ready to slap Pang Fu.
[Little master, run!]
Pang Fu tilted her chubby head, momentarily confused.
But the auntie beside her reacted quickly, yanking Pang Fu away and glaring at the man. “Hey, you! How can you be so petty, picking on a child?”
The man glared back fiercely. “Old hag, mind your own business!”
Most country folk who come to the city are timid and avoid trouble, but not this auntie. She was full of confidence.
“You worthless scoundrel! How dare you curse me? Eldest, second, third—teach this piece of trash a lesson!”
Three burly, broad-shouldered men stepped forward from the side, glaring fiercely at the man.
The man’s menacing aura instantly deflated, and he forced a smile. “Brothers, it’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! I’m just worried about my daughter’s illness and got a bit impatient. I didn’t mean it, sorry, sorry!”
The three men paused, looking at the auntie. The auntie wasn’t heartless either—if others were soft, she’d be soft; if others were tough, she’d be fierce.
Glancing at the little girl who looked like she might not last much longer, her anger softened considerably. “Is your daughter okay?”
The man’s eyes reddened. Without saying a word, his expression alone could conjure countless tragic stories in people’s minds.
The auntie didn’t press further. “Alright, alright. But no matter how worried you are, you can’t hit a child.
If she’s your child, don’t worry too much. She’ll definitely get better.”
The man sniffled and nodded repeatedly.
Just as the conflict seemed resolved, Pang Fu rushed over and slapped the man again.
Slap…
The crisp little sound made the scene awkwardly silent.
“Bad.” Pang Fu didn’t care, growling fiercely at the man before scampering behind the auntie.
Baba… He almost wanted to cover his face.
Little master, we can’t act like a dog relying on its master’s power like this.
The auntie… This child isn’t mine, right? You believe me, don’t you?
The man’s face darkened, looking as if it could drip water. The little brat’s slap wasn’t physically damaging, but it was deeply insulting. The anger he had just suppressed surged back up.
“Auntie, even if your sons are tall and strong, you can’t bully people like this, can you?”
The auntie felt a rare pang of guilt. “Well, you know, kids are always mischievous. I’ll talk to her, talk to her.”
She tried to pull the chubby baby aside to scold her, but Pang Fu scrambled up the auntie’s body with all four limbs.
The auntie couldn’t resist such a soft, cuddly little baby. Just moments ago, she thought the child deserved a spanking, but now, with the little one clinging to her, her heart melted.
“Oh dear, little darling, whose family are you from? You can’t just run around, there are bad people.”
Pang Fu didn’t hear what the auntie was saying. Taking advantage of her height, she slapped the man’s head again. This slap made a dull thud, like hitting an unripe watermelon: “Bad man.”
After hitting and scolding him, she urgently urged the auntie: “Hurry, hurry, let’s go.”
Baba…
The auntie was dumbfounded and instinctively picked up Chubby Baby to run away.
The man couldn’t take it anymore. He slapped the seat and stood up: “You little brat, you’ve gone too far.”
He lifted his foot and chased after them.
The auntie’s three sons looked left and right, unsure whether to chase after and help.
Ma Sanguan glanced at the sickly-looking girl and said, “Big brother, you stay here and keep an eye on this girl. We’ll go check it out.”
Ma Yiguan nodded foolishly.
Pang Fu was carried by the auntie, and the crowd automatically made way for them, making their escape exceptionally smooth.
Pang Fu leaned on the auntie’s shoulder and made faces at the man behind them.
The man’s face turned green with anger: “You little bastard, just you wait.”
“Fufu?” Old Second Fu, who had come looking for her, saw Pang Fu being carried by a strange auntie and felt both puzzled and worried.
Pang Fu turned her head and wailed as she tattled: “Second Uncle, bad man, hit Baby.”
Her chubby finger pointed, and Old Second Fu saw the man’s fierce, menacing face. Instantly, his aura turned cold. He stepped past the auntie, lifted his leg, and kicked the man flying. The man crashed heavily in front of the Ma Jia brothers who had just caught up, unable to get up for a long time. The crowd gasped in fright.
“Hey, wait—” The auntie didn’t even have time to finish her attempt to intervene.
Old Second Fu snorted coldly and took back the child: “Are you hurt?”
Pang Fu spread open her short, chubby little paw: “Hand hurts, blow on it.”
The onlookers who had seen the whole thing twitched their lips. Of course it hurts! The sound of her slapping the man was crisp and clear.
Old Second Fu didn’t know that. He held Pang Fu’s dirty little paw, his heart aching so much his eyes turned red. He blew on it twice, then glared even more fiercely at the man.
The auntie really couldn’t stand it anymore: “Well, you see, it was this child who hit the man.”
Old Second Fu frowned: “Nonsense. My child is very well-behaved; she couldn’t possibly hit anyone. Besides, she’s so small, who could she even hit?”
Baba… If you put it that way, it wasn’t wrong. Its little master was very well-behaved; she didn’t hit people. It’s just that sometimes she couldn’t control her little paws.
The auntie gave Old Second Fu a look that was hard to describe: “If you don’t believe me, you can ask everyone.”
Old Second Fu looked around, and everyone in the entire train car nodded in unison.
Old Second Fu…
“Then it must be his fault. Otherwise, the child wouldn’t have done it.”
Everyone… Hmph.
Pang Fu pointed at the man being helped up by the Ma Jia brothers and shouted angrily, puffing out her cheeks: “Bad! Sister cry cry, bad man.”
Old Second Fu didn’t understand: “What sister?”
Pang Fu tilted her head to look at him? It was just a sister. She skipped over this question directly and shouted again in a fierce, babyish voice: “Bad.”
Old Second Fu looked at the others, but no one understood.
The auntie said: “Is it this comrade’s daughter? It’s a little girl, and she’s sick. When you’re sick and uncomfortable, of course you cry. Little darling, did you think this uncle was bullying the sister? Oh dear, no, that’s the uncle’s daughter. How could he bully her?”
The auntie felt she had uncovered the truth. It was just a misunderstanding.
Pang Fu, whether she understood or not, still pointed at the man and called him bad.
The man being supported by the Ma Jia brothers clutched his stomach, hung his head, his eyes filled with malice.
Although Old Second Fu hadn’t spent much time with his little niece, he knew she wouldn’t speak ill of others without reason, especially after the incident with the stinky steamed bun.
Raising his sword-like eyebrows slightly, he said, “Is that so? Let me go take a look at that girl. If it really was just a child’s misunderstanding, I’ll apologize and make amends.”
The auntie was very enthusiastic: “Go ahead, take a look. It really was a misunderstanding. Come, come, come.”
The man’s eyes flickered, but he didn’t refuse or try to stop them, playing the part of the weak and helpless at the moment.
Old Second Fu carried Pang Fu back to the man’s seat and looked at the little girl wrapped in a scarf.
She was only about fifteen or sixteen, her face pale and covered in cold sweat. Her body seemed unable to move, slumped in the seat. The only part she could move was her eyes, and even that seemed difficult, as she slowly turned her gaze toward Old Second Fu.
Her eyes were dull, almost vacant.
The auntie said, “See? This child is seriously ill.”
Old Second Fu checked the girl’s carotid pulse—the rapid beating was nearly twice the normal rate.
Upon closer inspection, even the pupils in her vacant eyes were trembling violently.
“She’s not sick. She’s been drugged.”
“What?”
The crowd was shocked, and so was the man. In a panic, he tried to break free from the Ma Jia brothers and run.
Old Second Fu said sternly, “Grab him. He might be a human trafficker.”
The Ma Jia brothers froze for a moment before reacting, then pinned the fleeing man to the ground. Even after restraining him, they were still in a daze.
The crowd exchanged glances. Could he really be a human trafficker?