“You’re the one with a contagious disease! Your whole family has it! She’s a fool—how can you believe anything she says? Honestly, I think you’re the one with a problem!”
Wang Haiyan was already furious and snapped back without even turning around.
Chang Rufan was not one to take any abuse. She was sweet to Zhang Jingshan because she liked him, but anyone else? She couldn’t stand even a hint of disrespect. She shot back immediately:
“You say she’s a fool, so she is? She says you have a contagious disease, you say you don’t? Who do you think you are—everything you say goes? You sure have a lot of nerve!
This is the special train for educated youth, and you’re already causing trouble the moment you board. If you ask me, you’re a reactionary element—a bad apple sent by the enemy to sabotage our unity!”
That hefty accusation nearly crushed Wang Haiyan. She couldn’t hold back and swung Miao Qing like a sack toward Chang Rufan.
“Open your dog eyes and take a good look—see if she’s stupid or not! She can’t even talk! If she’s not a fool, then you must be one!”
Chang Rufan wanted nothing to do with the irritating Miao Qing, but Zhang Jingshan was a different story. When he saw Miao Qing being shoved around like a ragdoll, he couldn’t care less about anything else. He shook Chang Rufan off and rushed over to catch her.
But little did he know—this was exactly what Miao Qing had been waiting for.
In the instant she was pushed, Miao Qing grabbed Wang Haiyan’s collar and held on tight. The combined force of gravity and momentum was too much for the fragile neckline—pop, pop!—the buttons flew off!
With Wang Haiyan’s startled cry, her whole neck was exposed. As Miao Qing fell backward, the collar stretched wider, revealing even more skin.
Furious and embarrassed, Wang Haiyan scrambled to pry Miao Qing’s hands off, shouting,
“You idiot, let go! Let go!”
But sharp-eyed Chang Rufan gasped and covered her mouth.
“Look—all of you, look at her neck! What is that?!”
It wasn’t just Chang Rufan who saw it—everyone near Wang Haiyan noticed, including the conductor and the railway police.
The crowd’s faces changed instantly. Liu Gang and Li Qiang scrambled to get as far away from Wang Haiyan as possible.
Finally seizing his chance to play the hero, Zhang Jingshan helped Miao Qing steady herself and pointed at Wang Haiyan, addressing the crew.
“It looks like Miao Qing’s report is true. For everyone’s safety, shouldn’t we take her away and isolate her?”
Wang Haiyan clutched her collar, completely at a loss.
What was wrong with her neck?
It was only a little prickly and itchy, and she couldn’t help wanting to scratch it.
But to everyone around her, she looked pretty alarming.
Her neck was covered in red dots, and it looked like there were even more on her chest. It definitely didn’t look normal. Could she really have a contagious disease?
Chang Rufan couldn’t pull Zhang Jingshan back, so she shouted at the crew in frustration,
“What are you all standing around for?! Look at her—she’s definitely got something! Hurry up and take her away!”
“Yeah, yeah! Comrade police officer, take her away!”
“Get her off! Take her away!”
“Move! Let me through! I don’t want to be anywhere near a contagious disease!”
…
The carriage erupted into chaos as everyone scrambled backward. In an instant, no one was standing near Wang Haiyan except the crew members.
Woo—
The train whistle blew, accompanied by the rhythmic clatter of wheels. The station sign outside began to slowly slide backward…
“The train’s moving! What do we do now?”
“What about these two?”
“Can we switch carriages? I don’t want to share a carriage with them—it’s too scary!”
“Me neither… waaaah…”
…
The crowd buzzed with noise and commotion. Wang Haiyan, frantic and furious, screamed at the top of her lungs,
“I don’t have a contagious disease! I don’t! She’s a fool—don’t believe a word she says—”
“I—am—not—a—fool.”
Miao Qing pulled out her documents and handed them to the conductor nearest her.
The conductor noticed that although she moved slowly, her eyes were clear and bright, and her tone and demeanor were perfectly normal. She took the papers and examined them carefully.
Wang Haiyan began to panic. Her own documents were just a few sheets of paper—how did this fool have so many?
On that note, Miao Qing had to thank her utterly heartless but cleverly scheming siblings. They had been so afraid of getting caught and implicated that they’d prepared every piece of paperwork thoroughly.
Not only had they gotten Miao Qing a certificate of medical leave from school, but they’d also obtained a certificate of recovery. They’d even asked their aunt—who was a vice principal at an elementary school—to help forge a primary school diploma for her.
After Wang Haiyan targeted her, Miao Qing had already been mentally calculating how to use the cards in her hand. She didn’t just want to shut Wang Haiyan down—she wanted to completely eliminate any future suspicion that she might be a fool.
Sure enough, after the conductor and railway police carefully examined her documents, the looks they gave Wang Haiyan were pure anger.
The older conductor handed the documents back to Miao Qing and said gently,
“We’ve checked everything—you’re fine. You can sit down.”
The younger police officer grabbed Wang Haiyan by the arm, twisted it behind her back, and pinned her down, barking sternly,
“Daring to cause trouble on a special train—who gave you the nerve? Come with us. You’re going to explain yourself regarding that contagious disease!”
Wang Haiyan felt like her arm was about to be twisted off. Bent over and unable to lift her head or straighten her back, she was miserable. Flustered and furious, she struggled and yelled,
“I don’t have a contagious disease! I wasn’t causing trouble! She really is a fool—she really is—”
But no one believed her. Everyone shrank back, desperate to avoid contact.
The police officer had a clear path as he marched Wang Haiyan away quickly.
The conductor ordered everyone back to their seats, restored order, and left as well.
The crowd immediately began chattering among themselves. Liu Gang and Li Qiang, feeling the others’ wariness toward them too, offered to toss Wang Haiyan’s belongings out to prove their stance—and won instant approval.
So while Wang Haiyan was busy dealing with interrogation, her carefully packed luggage was thrown off the train as contaminated goods.
As for Miao Qing—the other subject of gossip—she sat as calm as an outsider.
After returning to her seat, she leaned her head against the carriage wall, closed her eyes, and stayed perfectly still, as if she’d fallen asleep.
Zhang Jingshan couldn’t help but grow even more curious about her. He’d never met a girl like this—after such a big incident, she acted as if nothing had happened.
He’d thought she was just extremely quiet and introverted, but her counterattack earlier had been crisp and decisive—she didn’t seem timid at all.
He even suspected that the moment Wang Haiyan had made her move, Miao Qing had already figured out how to deal with her.
But when the conductor had been checking her documents earlier, he’d stolen a few glances.
A girl with only a primary school education, frail and sickly, and only recently recovered—could she really be this clever and courageous?
Chang Rufan saw Zhang Jingshan staring at that annoying girl again and pouted in displeasure.
They were childhood sweethearts—a perfect match.
If it weren’t for her mother telling her to seize the opportunity and lock things down with Jingshan before his father got into the provincial party committee, she wouldn’t have bothered following him to the countryside in the first place.
That irritating girl—who may or may not actually be a fool but was definitely rude—what was so special about her? She was as skinny as a bean sprout, and all she had going for her was pale skin.