Just then, a commotion suddenly erupted from the crowd.
“Is there a doctor? Is there a doctor here?”
A woman’s panicked cry, tinged with sobs, came from deep within the crowd.
Lin Qiao’er peered through the gaps between the people.
A fashionable woman, dressed in a snow-white blouse with permed hair and wearing square-heeled leather shoes, was holding a little boy in her arms.
The child’s face was flushed bright red, his lips were purple, and he wore an expression of agony. His small hands clawed frantically at his neck, and a gurgling sound came from his throat, as if he couldn’t catch his breath.
“My son is choking. Is there a doctor?” The fashionable woman’s tears were already falling, her voice trembling.
The onlookers gathered in greater numbers, but no one dared to step forward.
Someone whispered, “Hurry and call someone from the station clinic!”
“They’ve already been called, but they’re not here yet!”
Lin Qiao’er stood up.
She saw the child’s face turning from red to purple. When Lin Dazhu had choked on food as a child, she had saved him.
But now…
Lin Qiao’er hesitated.
She had finally managed to escape. If she stepped forward to help and was caught by her uncle’s family, wouldn’t everything be over for her?
But this was a living, breathing life.
If something unfortunate happened to the child, how could his mother go on living?
She had experienced the pain of losing a loved one. Could she really stand by and watch someone else go through it again?
Lin Qiao’er gritted her teeth, pushed through the crowd, and squeezed her way in.
“I… I know first aid.” Her voice was soft, but the fashionable woman heard her.
Wen Shuwan looked up, her eyes brimming with tears as she stared at her.
That gaze held the desperate hope of a drowning person clutching at a straw.
The fashionable woman’s companion also approached—a young girl with a ponytail, wearing a red blouse, who looked quite spirited.
She sized up Lin Qiao’er from head to toe, her expression shifting from anticipation to suspicion.
Lin Qiao’er was wearing a dull gray blouse today, its cuffs frayed and worn, with two large patches on the knees. The black cloth shoes on her feet had a hole, revealing one of her toes.
“You?”
The girl frowned deeply, her tone filled with distrust. “This is a matter of life and death. Don’t mess around.”
Lin Qiao’er shrank back under her gaze, lowering her head and not daring to speak.
The fashionable woman glanced at her son’s agonized state. The child’s face had already turned purple, his small hands flailing, and his eyes beginning to roll back.
She gritted her teeth, knowing she had no choice but to try anything. She nodded. “Give it a try.”
“Sister-in-law!” The girl in the red ski jacket grew anxious. “She’s just a country bumpkin. What does she know? If something goes wrong…”
“Huijin.”
Wen Shuwan cut off Zhou Huijin’s words and looked at Lin Qiao’er. “Please, save my son.”
Lin Qiao’er took a deep breath, crouched down, and took the child from the woman’s arms.
The little boy no longer had the strength to struggle, lying limp against her arm.
She wrapped her arms around the child from behind, made a fist with one hand, placed it on the child’s upper abdomen, covered the fist with her other hand, and abruptly tightened it upward and backward.
Once.
No response.
Twice.
Still no response.
Beads of sweat formed on Lin Qiao’er’s forehead, and her hands trembled.
Zhou Huijin stomped her feet anxiously beside them, her voice growing louder. “Can you actually do this or not? Sister-in-law, make her stop. If someone dies, I’ll make sure she goes to jail.”
Lin Qiao’er ignored her, gritted her teeth, and pressed down with force once more.
“Wah—”
A sticky piece of pastry shot out from the little boy’s throat, fell to the ground, and shattered into several pieces.
The little boy gasped sharply for air, then burst into loud wails, throwing himself into Wen Shuwan’s arms and crying so hard he could barely catch his breath.
“It’s alright, it’s alright, Mommy’s here, Mommy’s here,” Wen Shuwan soothed, holding the child as tears streamed down her own face.
Lin Qiao’er slumped to the floor, her hands still trembling, her back drenched in cold sweat.
Zhou Jinhui stood frozen, mouth agape, unable to utter a single word.
Just then, a doctor in a white coat hurried over, followed by two nurses.
“Make way, make way, I’m a doctor.”
The doctor crouched down, examined the little boy, glanced at the pastry on the floor, and after clarifying the situation, nodded with a tone of relief:
“Thanks to this young lady’s timely use of the Heimlich maneuver to expel the foreign object. If a child chokes on something and isn’t treated promptly, they could suffocate within three to five minutes. Another minute or two later, and the consequences would have been unthinkable.”
Upon hearing this, Wen Shuwan’s face turned pale, and she tightened her grip on the child.
Zhou Huijin was also drenched in a cold sweat—this was the Zhou family’s precious grandson. If anything had happened, their parents would have been devastated.
Wen Shuwan handed the child to Zhou Jinhui to look after, stood up, and walked over to Lin Qiao’er. She took Lin Qiao’er’s hand, her eyes red-rimmed:
“Young lady, thank you. I, Wen Shuwan, will remember your kindness for the rest of my life.”
Lin Qiao’er, her hand held by Wen Shuwan, felt somewhat flustered. A faint blush spread across her cheeks as she lowered her head and said, “N-no need to thank me, it was just a small thing.”
She wasn’t very good at dealing with people, afraid of saying the wrong thing or being looked down upon.
Wen Shuwan kept holding her hand and turned to Zhou Huijin, saying, “Huihui, what you said earlier went too far. Apologize to this young lady.”
Zhou Huijin pursed her lips and remained silent.
This country bumpkin saving someone was just a fluke.
Lin Qiao’er shook her head. “It’s alright.”
Wen Shuwan glanced at her sister-in-law, shook her head, and changed the subject, asking, “Young lady, where are you headed?”
“Shanghai,” Lin Qiao’er answered honestly.
“What a coincidence!” Wen Shuwan’s eyes lit up. “We’re also returning to Shanghai. We can travel together and look out for each other.”
Lin Qiao’er felt a bit embarrassed. “I bought a hard seat ticket.”
She pulled out the crumpled train ticket, which clearly read “Hard Seat.”
Wen Shuwan glanced at it, then turned and waved to a young man in a military coat standing ramrod straight not far away. “Xiao Liu, go buy this young lady a sleeper ticket, one in the same carriage as ours.”
“No need, no need!” Lin Qiao’er quickly waved her hands in refusal.
Wen Shuwan patted her hand, her tone leaving no room for argument. “It’s settled. Consider it a thank-you gift for saving the child. I don’t like owing favors, and if you don’t accept it, I won’t feel right about it. Besides, it’s not safe for a young woman like you to travel alone. The three of us together can watch out for each other. The trains are crowded and chaotic these days, with many traffickers around.”
Wen Shuwan’s words were thoughtful and considerate, warming Lin Qiao’er’s heart. Hearing about the traffickers also made her shudder, so she didn’t refuse again.
She had heard that sleeper tickets were hard to come by and usually required connections to obtain.
These two individuals must be of unusual status.
The announcement reminded passengers that the train to Shanghai was arriving.
Several people were preparing to head into the waiting room.
Lin Qiao’er inadvertently looked up and glanced toward the entrance of the waiting hall.
At that moment, her blood ran half-cold.
At the entrance, her uncle Lin Defei was standing on tiptoe, looking around.
Behind him were Feng Xingmei and her cousin Lin Dazhu.
Feng Xingmei’s face was ashen, and she was muttering curses under her breath, though it was unclear what she was saying.
Lin Dazhu hunched his shoulders, peering around nervously.
Their eyes met—Lin Dazhu’s gaze collided with Lin Qiao’er’s.
Lin Dazhu raised his voice and shouted to Lin Defei and Feng Xingmei, “Dad, Mom, that little bitch is over there!”