Trouble Came Knocking

After lunch, Bai Yao headed back to the sleeping berths early to rest.

Yesterday there had been the enemy spy, and today the Heimlich maneuver. He now knew exactly how much trouble their group could attract.

And Hu Yang, the protagonist, still hadn't made a move. Bai Yao didn't believe his protagonist constitution wouldn't bring him trouble.

So he had better stay by the sleeping berths.

If he couldn't afford to provoke trouble, he could at least hide from it.

Besides, they would arrive in a few hours. They should be allowed to spend the last part of the journey in peace.

Time ticked by, and as they drew closer to their destination, Dongfang Dazhuang began to get excited.

However nice it was outside, a gold nest or a silver nest was no match for one's own doghouse.

After going out for a bit, Dongfang Dazhuang came back and, seeing how relaxed Bai Yao and the others were, said, "You really are calm. I just went out and saw the other educated youths, every one of them on edge."

"What is there to be nervous about? They just haven't accepted that they're being sent to the countryside yet," Bai Yao replied lazily.

If they had accepted it, they would have found ways to learn about where they were being sent and how to live well in the countryside.

He was an example. As soon as it was settled that he was going to the countryside, he had made several backup plans.

If he hadn't met Dongfang Dazhuang, he would have had other ways to make sure he didn't wear himself out.

"Come to think of it, won't it be dark by the time we get off the train? Won't we have to stay at a guesthouse for the night?" Gu Yang asked.

At that, all five of them looked at Dongfang Dazhuang. He was the only local among them, after all.

Dongfang Dazhuang nodded. "Yes, we'll stay one night, then take the bus to the county seat. Once we get there, you'll be assigned to places in the countryside."

Then he remembered a few things and added, "Make sure you go to bed early tonight. There's a bus to the county seat at seven. Also, fill your water bottles before you leave. It'll be afternoon by the time we get back to the village, and there's nowhere to get drinking water on the way."

Those were all lessons the educated youths previously assigned to their village had learned the hard way.

He had only listened to them to pass the time before. He hadn't expected them to come in handy now.

"Okay."

Another hour passed. With a little over half an hour left before they were expected to arrive, Hu Yang stood up. "I'm going to the restroom. Anyone coming?"

"Count me in," Bai Yao said, getting up.

It was pretty common for boys to go to the restroom in groups.

This time, though, he didn't go in with Hu Yang like he had yesterday.

Hu Yang went first, and Bai Yao would go after he came out.

What Bai Yao hadn't expected was for something to happen to Hu Yang in the short time he was in the restroom.

Or rather, trouble came looking for Hu Yang.

Looking at the old woman, young man, and girl in front of him, Bai Yao found their performance truly impressive.

If Bai Yao hadn't known about Hu Yang's situation, he really would have believed the three of them.

"Xiao Shuai, Grandma was wrong. Come home with me. I agree to your marriage with that Xiaohua now," the old woman said, looking every bit the doting grandmother.

Coupled with her naturally kindly appearance, she had practically convinced the crowd three-tenths of the way right from the start.

The young man, meanwhile, scolded Hu Yang with a dark face.

"You've really got some nerve. The family doted on you and never made you work growing up, and gave you all the best food. Even city folk aren't raised as pampered as you. Yet just because the family didn't agree to your marriage, you took the family's money and tried to elope, making Grandma come looking for you at her age and put herself through all this. Hmph! Now your sweetheart saw you had no money and ran off, didn't she? Just wait till we get home and see how I deal with you."

The young man spoke loudly, pinning the labels of thoughtless and unfilial on Hu Yang and cutting the credibility of any rebuttal or explanation Hu Yang might offer in half before he even began.

As for the girl, she was even more ruthless.

"Brother Shuai, I'll marry you. Xiaohua must be blind not to want you. Last time, when you chose between me and Xiaohua, you chose him. Now you have to choose me. My family won't ask for a bride price, and I've got your..."

As she spoke, the girl stroked her belly with a motherly look on her face.

The gesture said nothing, yet it said everything.

After the three of them landed that combination of punches, few people would believe Hu Yang even if he explained himself now. After all, people were in the habit of sympathizing with the weak.

Some might think this sort of situation was nothing much, but in that era, slap the labels of unfilial, lazy, thief, and hooligan on someone, and that person was ruined.

Just like now, quite a few people were looking at Hu Yang with disdain, and some were even shouting that they would call the police if he refused. The old woman, young man, and girl, meanwhile, played pitiful, coaxed him, and pleaded with him.

With so many voices piling on, one accusation after another, Hu Yang's attempts to explain were drowned out.

As for simply leaving?

The young man had been holding on to him since earlier. How could he possibly get away?

As the scene grew increasingly chaotic, Bai Yao noticed that a railway police officer had also been drawn over and was hurrying this way.

Seeing that, Bai Yao squeezed in and delivered a kick straight to the young man's groin.

That one kick drew a howl of pain that instantly drowned out everyone else.

Taking advantage of the momentary quiet, Bai Yao turned and lashed out with both hands at the old woman and the girl.

Not hit women?

Could these three human traffickers even be considered human?

Bai Yao's brutal actions startled everyone, and once they recovered, they tried to stop him.

They didn't need to. Bai Yao noticed them and stopped on his own. Then, before they could speak, he seized the initiative.

"A bunch of idiots. Every one of you calls yourselves educated youths, yet you can't see through such a simple scam. I really don't know what you learned in school."

"Every one of you lets your eyes lead your brains around. You see a pretty girl and turn into lapdogs. You won't be decent human beings; you just have to be dogs."

"Brains are a good thing. When you see something like this, don't you know to think it through? He's an educated youth being sent to the countryside. Who would dare lie about being an educated youth these days?

"Those three say he's from a village and you believe them? Someone like him—is he someone an ordinary village family could afford to raise? One piece of clothing on him could cover a village family's expenses for a month. Are you stupid?"

"You believe whatever anyone tells you. Then I say the three of them are enemy spies, and all of you who spoke up for them are accomplices. Go on, believe that too."

Hearing the words "enemy spies," the young man howling on the floor hurriedly cut in, his voice strained with pain. "We're not enemy spies."

The label of enemy spy was too heavy. Even criminals didn't want it pinned on them.

The other onlookers also hastened to say they weren't, trying to shake off that huge label. Even being an accomplice was more than they could bear.

Seeing this, Bai Yao sneered and gave the young man on the floor another kick. Ignoring his howl, he said to the people around him, "He isn't an enemy spy, but he is a human trafficker. None of you who spoke up to help them should think you can get away."

As he spoke, Bai Yao swept his gaze around the crowd, his eyes cold.

By then, no one was speaking up for the three on the floor. After all, the accusations of being enemy spies and human traffickers had both been made. Whichever it was, anyone who spoke up for them would certainly be dragged into it.

For a moment, the scene fell silent.

The next second, however, Bai Yao's Mental Power detected something unusual. The three human traffickers were going to make a desperate last stand.

What no one would have imagined was that it was the girl who made a move.

The moment she acted, her malicious gaze and indifferent expression made it clear that there was more to the girl than met the eye.

But if there was more to him, was Bai Yao so simple?

At such close range, the knife in the girl's hand could hurt someone quickly, but no matter how fast she was, she wasn't faster than Bai Yao scattering quicklime.

As for accidentally hurting someone else?

He was scattering it on the floor. Who could it hurt besides the traffickers lying there?

Amid the screams, the railway police officer arrived at the scene.

"Make way, all of you. Stop crowding together. What happened here?"

At the officer's words, the people blocking the way moved aside, and he saw what was happening.

Just as Bai Yao was about to speak, he heard Hu Yang suddenly shout beside him:

"Brother, how did you become a railway police officer?"

"Little Fox, what are you doing here?" the railway police officer asked, looking surprised.

Bai Yao: ...

All right, he really was the protagonist. No wonder Bai Yao had just been wondering who would get Hu Yang out of this if he hadn't been there.

Now, though...

Bai Yao: Time to watch the show.