Chapter 242: Fury to the Limit
"Hey big sister, where did you board the train?" Yi Roujing asked the woman, looking concerned.
"Haha, boarded the train at the same station as us, we got on at Luoxia County," the first woman said with a smile, "It’s in the southern part of Jiang Province."
Yi Roujing took another glance at the child sleeping in the woman’s arms and thought about the issues surrounding child traffickers.
Previously, she thought the child was a baby girl, not only because she looked cute but also because daughters tend to resemble their fathers, and this woman seemed ordinary, so the child must resemble her father.
But upon hearing the woman say it was a boy, she didn’t think much of it. It’s possible the child would grow into their looks; but now hearing another woman say the child slept through the whole journey...
If it were a baby, sleeping through the journey was understandable. But this child was one or two years old, and it had been nearly a whole day since the train started its journey.
"That’s quite a long time, and the child didn’t even cry out from hunger," Yi Roujing said with a smile.
"In our home, we only eat two meals a day. I fed the child before we got on the train, and I’ll feed him again when he wakes up. If not, then when we get off the train his dad will come to pick us up," the woman replied softly.
"What an obedient child," the first woman praised enthusiastically, and she hurried into the restroom as soon as the door opened.
Suspicion flashed in Yi Roujing’s eyes. If there was an issue, there was no evidence; if there wasn’t an issue, she felt uneasy. She wasn’t sure if she was overthinking it.
"What are your names?" the woman holding the child asked Yi Roujing and Xia Xingchen, "Oh right, I’m Cai Xiaofen. You can call me Fen."
"I’m Xia Xingchen, and this is Yi Roujing," Xia Xingchen replied with a smile, seeing that Yi Roujing didn’t answer.
"Oh, such beautiful names, you look like educated girls."
Once the restroom door opened, Cai Xiaofen looked at the two and said with a smile, "Could you help hold the child? I need to use the toilet."
"Sure," Xia Xingchen nodded and reached out her hand.
"Oh, such a kind-hearted girl. Sister, I can hold the child for you. We’re sitting together anyway; I’ll just bring him over to you."
"Thank you," Cai Xiaofen handed over the child, and Yi Roujing sensed a hint of displeasure from her.
While Cai Xiaofen was in the restroom and before the other woman took the child, Yi Roujing went up and adjusted the cloth wrapping the child, saying with a smile, "So cute, I’ve just gotten pregnant, and I can’t help but love children."
"Pregnant? This must be your first child, right?" The broad-faced woman seemed to know everything, "I was the same when I was pregnant with my eldest son. I couldn’t get enough of other people’s children, but once I had my own, there’s no comparison. My child is the best."
Xia Xingchen laughed, "Sis, will you be like this too in the future?"
"Don’t worry, everyone goes through a phase like that," Yi Roujing teased.
Yi Roujing pretended to be curious, but she was actually checking the child. As she adjusted the cloth wrapping and revealed the child’s left hand, her eyes darkened. The palm had several wounds, evidently from being scraped on stones, with dirt lodged in the cracks.
"Oh dear, did this happen from a fall?" the broad-faced woman cried out in surprise, "Fen, looking so refined and yet so careless; the kid’s hand is injured but you didn’t notice. It seems rather swollen, it might even fester in a few days."
"Creak—" The restroom door opened; Cai Xiaofen wiped her hands on her clothes as she walked out, and seeing the three and the loosened cloth, she quickly took the child from the broad-faced woman.
"Fen, the child’s hand is injured. It’s a small matter, but this has obviously been neglected for a while. Without treatment, the child might get a fever, so pay more attention," the broad-faced woman advised.
"I intended to have the child’s dad take him to the hospital when we get off the train. I don’t have much money," Cai Xiaofen lamented.
"You should have cleaned it up sooner. This kind of wound doesn’t require a hospital visit," the broad-faced woman said outright.
Cai Xiaofen choked on her words but then said, "I just didn’t notice."
Cai Xiaofen strode away after her words, the broad-faced woman still trailing behind, lecturing her.
Yi Roujing watched Cai Xiaofen’s back, feeling that her suspicion was partially confirmed. The commotion on the train wasn’t quiet, yet the child seemed completely unaffected, which wasn’t normal; the child must have been drugged.
"Sis, go in," Xia Xingchen tugged on Yi Roujing’s clothes seeing she didn’t react.
Yi Roujing snapped back to reality and entered, but when she emerged, Xia Xingchen was nowhere to be seen. Yi Roujing felt odd and asked a woman sitting closest to the restroom.
"Big sister, did you notice the young lady at the doorway earlier?" Yi Roujing asked, handing over a candy from her pocket with a smile.
The woman took the candy with a smile and immediately replied, "An older sister you know called the young lady over to help move something; the station is near."
Yi Roujing immediately headed in the direction Cai Xiaofen had gone, glancing side to side, and noticed the crowd moving outside to the left.
Seeing Xia Xingchen being carried forward by a man and woman, holding the child not far away, Yi Roujing immediately rushed toward the train door. But with people constantly boarding, she stepped back inside.
"Excuse me, please let me through," Yi Roujing urged, standing up people from their seats and springing out through the window.
The train car fell silent for a moment before bursting into astonishment; it was the first time they’d seen someone climb out a window.
"Sister-in-law, don’t be stubborn, go back home with your brother-in-law, you’ve had a child together, right?"
"Fen, what nonsense are you talking about, isn’t this your child? And I don’t know this man at all..."
"Slap—"
Xia Xingchen felt dizzy, tasted blood, and staggered with the child, only for her scalp to ache as she was pulled back, "You wild woman, after one trip to the city, you forgot your place. You’re the wife I bought with a hundred pounds of rice and fifty bucks dowry."
"You don’t work and dress up fancifully; have you found a lover in the city? I’m telling you, no way. Come home with me, your mother-in-law is angry and bedridden."
Yi Roujing felt her rage boiling over, "Everyone, move."
The sharp shout caused those around to instinctively step aside, and Yi Roujing surged ahead, delivering a kick to the man, knocking him back several steps.
Xia Xingchen’s hair loosened, and she immediately ran carrying the child to Yi Roujing’s side, "Sis."