Early the next morning, Su Yuan obtained money from Xia Hongxia and rushed out of the house to meet his usual group of troublemaking friends.
Xia Hongxia cursed him several times in anger. When she saw that Su Man had not come out for breakfast, she did not think much of it and assumed Su Man was simply sleeping in. She was even pleased that they could save a meal.
By noon, the Su family finally realized that Su Man was missing. At this time, Su Man had already boarded a moving train.
Xia Hongxia was the first to discover her absence. Panicking, she hurried to find Su Ercheng, who was still at work. Tomorrow was supposed to be the day Factory Director Zhang’s family came to propose marriage, and that damned girl had actually caused trouble again!
The Su family searched everywhere for the entire afternoon without success and eventually returned home dejectedly, even too troubled to eat dinner.
The 500 yuan betrothal gift that was about to be received, along with all the future benefits, were now completely gone. Su Ercheng and Xia Hongxia stayed awake the entire night in shock and frustration.
At this moment, they still thought at most they had only lost the marriage arrangement. They did not understand Zhang Tianci’s true character, nor could they foresee what would happen the next day.
Su Lan, however, remained calm. If one looked closely, there was even a hint of excitement in her expression.
As for Su Yuan, he had been drinking heavily while eating with his group of idle friends and fell into a drunken sleep. He had no idea what awaited him the next day.
Su Man had purchased a hard-seat ticket. The journey lasted a full two days and one night. Everyone on the train carried large bundles of luggage. To avoid looking strange, Su Man placed her small bundle in front of her chest.
It was summer, and the weather was hot. The carriage was crowded, and the air was not pleasant. Fortunately, Su Man sat by the aisle and was not too cramped.
A warm, drowsy breeze drifted through the carriage, making people sleepy. Many passengers dozed off. After sitting for a long time, Su Man also felt drowsy and hugged her bundle as she drifted in and out of sleep.
As the train stopped at stations along the way, people got on and off intermittently. The third time Su Man was bumped on the knee by someone passing by, she slowly opened her eyes.
“Ah!”
Su Man suddenly grabbed the hand reaching into her bundle and twisted it forcefully. The man let out a pig-like scream.
The entire carriage was instantly awakened and turned to look.
The man had a sharp face and rat-like features. He glared angrily and accused, “What are you grabbing my hand for, young lady? Aren’t you ashamed?”
He was about to get off at the next stop. Seeing that Su Man looked weak and easy to bully and had no family with her, he had planned to steal something casually. Even if he was discovered, he assumed a young girl would be too timid to cause trouble.
In the 1970s, if it was an ordinary young woman traveling alone and faced with such a situation, even if she suffered no real loss, she might just let it go.
But Su Man was not someone easy to bully.
She scanned the reactions of the surrounding passengers. Most people were merely observing, and some even glanced briefly before going back to sleep.
Seeing that no one intended to intervene, the thief smiled smugly. However, his smile quickly froze.
Su Man curved her lips and shouted, “There’s a thief! Everyone check your belongings!”
When one’s own strength was not enough to solve a problem, one had to expand it—turn it into everyone’s problem, making everyone part of the same interest group.
As soon as she spoke, the entire carriage became lively as people hurriedly checked their belongings.
The middle-aged woman seated next to Su Man was carrying two chickens and two baskets of eggs from her hometown to visit her daughter and son-in-law. Upon hearing Su Man’s words, she immediately began counting her eggs.
The thief had not expected Su Man to act unconventionally. Moreover, her grip was strong, and his wrist could not break free. He became furious and said, “Who stole anything? What did I steal from you? Say it clearly!”
He assumed Su Man would now let go since he had not actually stolen anything.
Su Man replied calmly, “I caught your hand reaching into my bag. If that’s not theft, then what is it—harassment?”
Hearing this, the passengers around them looked at Su Man’s young and beautiful face and immediately felt it was very possible. Especially the older passengers, many of whom had daughters around Su Man’s age. Thinking about what would happen if such a thing occurred to their own families, their eyes turned sharp with anger toward the thief.
The thief broke out in cold sweat, panic rising. In this era, a “hooligan crime” could carry severe punishment—far worse than simple theft.
In panic, he quickly denied, “No, no, it’s not harassment! I just wanted to take something casually, but I didn’t steal anything. Let’s just drop it!”
“My money is gone!”
An elderly man nearby suddenly shouted after searching his body for a long time. He rushed over and grabbed the thief, demanding his money back.
“I didn’t steal your money!” the thief argued.
But the old man did not believe him at all and insisted it was him. A scuffle broke out, and the carriage descended into chaos.
In this case, the thief was actually wrongly accused. He had merely seen someone else steal the old man’s money and successfully get off the train, and he had been inspired to try the same method on Su Man.
Seeing the old man agitated, Su Man feared something might happen and asked the woman next to her to find the train attendant.
The thief panicked. Not only had he failed to steal anything, he had now gotten himself into deep trouble. If the train attendant called the police, he would have a criminal record. He might lose his job and never be able to hold his head up again.
Seeing that the train doors had already been open for a while, he knew he would miss his chance to escape if he didn’t act soon. In desperation, he violently shoved the old man away, but his arm was still held by Su Man.
Thinking that everything was caused by this woman, rage surged in him. He suddenly raised his hand and slapped toward Su Man’s face.
The force of the attack carried wind with it. A young girl nearby gasped and could not bear to look.
But in an instant, the situation reversed.
With a loud bang, the thief’s eyes widened as he lay on the ground, unable to believe what had just happened.
The carriage fell completely silent.
Everyone stared in shock at Su Man. The seemingly weak and gentle girl had actually thrown a grown man to the ground with a single over-the-shoulder throw!
Su Man dusted off her hands and turned around, meeting the admiring gaze of a young girl.
Seeing that the woman next to her was still frozen in shock, Su Man decided to go find the train attendant herself. The thief’s behavior was severe and needed to be reported to the police.
“Watch out!”
A sudden shout rang out, followed by screams.
The thief, still lying on the ground, had not gotten up. His pride had been completely trampled. Everyone’s eyes seemed to mock him, as if saying, “Look, a grown man can’t even beat a weak girl!”
His rationality completely collapsed. He pulled out a fruit knife from his waist and stabbed toward Su Man’s back.
Su Man sensed danger and tried to dodge, but there was no space. The crowd around her had not dispersed, blocking her path.
There was no escape.
She closed her eyes tightly, regretting her carelessness.
At that critical moment, a strong arm suddenly appeared in midair. The man’s wrist holding the knife was firmly seized, and the fruit knife clattered to the ground.
Su Man slowly opened her eyes.
It was him!