Chapter 6

"If you don't know them, why do they have your photo and know your name?"

"What's wrong with this girl? Her father is lying in the hospital, yet all she can think about is herself."

"Raising a daughter like this would be worse than raising a piece of char siu."

"It's all family business. Why call the police? Kids these days..."

"I don't know them!" The girl grew more agitated under the crowd's accusations, until her voice cracked from shouting. All she could do was repeat desperately, "I really don't know them. I'm from the capital. My father is the chairman of Yin Corporation. Please, help me call the police. I'll definitely repay you."

"This child has really gone mad." The rural woman continued wiping her tears with a mournful expression. "I know it. Her parents are useless, and we've let her down..."

Seeing this, the onlookers grew even more disgusted with Yin Qing.

"This child is truly heartless."

"Exactly. Even if her family is poor, she shouldn't despise them this much. Even a dog doesn't disdain a poor home."

The people holding Yin Qing immediately restrained her, preparing to drag her out of the train station by force. The girl struggled even more desperately, but she was no match for several lean, strong adult men. She could only keep begging everyone to call the police.

"Please, I'm begging you—"

"I've already called the police." A voice came from beyond the crowd. Carrying his guitar, Feng Yang squeezed through the people and stepped in front of them.

"Whatever this is, let's wait until the police arrive."

The well-prepared traffickers had never expected Feng Yang to step forward, much less call the police. Their expressions changed at once.

"Kid, don't meddle in other people's business." One of the men threatened him in a low voice. "This is our family matter."

"Our? Shouldn't it be 'we'? And aren't you all from the same village? Why do your accents sound different?" Feng Yang raised an eyebrow, took the photo from the woman claiming to be Yin Qing's mother, and chuckled. "The editing on this photo is pretty good. But I'm curious—if you're really family, why is even your family portrait edited?"

"What do you mean, the photo was edited?"

"They aren't the girl's family?"

The surrounding passengers were instantly stunned.

The traffickers panicked. "Don't listen to his nonsense. She really is my daughter."

"She's the daughter-in-law our family paid three hundred thousand to buy."

"My accent is different because I worked in a big city when I was young," the man questioned by Feng Yang explained.

But they had no way to explain the photo. A passenger skilled with Photoshop asked to examine it and, after taking a close look, found clear signs that it had been edited. Earlier, the photo had been viewed from too far away for anyone to notice, and when the middle-aged woman showed it around, she had deliberately chosen older passengers.

Feng Yang smiled faintly at the girl being held by several men. With one long reach of his arm, he pulled her behind him. "Anyway, I've already called the police. Let's wait for them to get here."

Seeing more and more people beginning to doubt them, the traffickers' faces darkened. Their eyes darted about as they exchanged looks. Taking advantage of the crowd's inattention, they suddenly bolted out of the crowd.

Seeing this, the hesitant passengers finally realized what was happening.

"Those people really were traffickers?"

"They ran because they were guilty!"

"Quick, catch them!"

Several helpful male passengers immediately chased after the fleeing traffickers. Feng Yang did not go after them. Instead, he stayed beside the girl and comforted her gently. "Don't be afraid. The bad guys have run away."

The panic, fear, breakdown, and despair she had endured along the way finally reached their peak at Feng Yang's gentle reassurance. Having narrowly escaped disaster, Yin Qing suddenly threw herself into his arms and burst into tears.

Unaccustomed to touching living people, Feng Yang stiffened. Goosebumps rose all over his body. He looked helplessly at the girl in his arms and felt the front of his shirt becoming soaked with her tears and snot... and probably eyeliner and lipstick too.

Dizzy from crying, Yin Qing failed to notice her savior's stiffness. She clung tightly around Feng Yang's waist, as though she wanted to cry out every bit of grievance and lingering terror inside her. Her sobs were frightened, miserable, and hysterical, wrenching the hearts of everyone who heard them. The surrounding passengers could not help remembering how desperately she had tried to explain herself earlier, only for no one to believe her. They had all been fooled by the traffickers' glib lies.

The sight made the deceived onlookers even angrier.

"Those traffickers are absolutely vile. They actually made up such a convincing story to hurt someone."

"But how did they know the girl's name? And that photo—could this have been planned?"

Remembering that the girl had claimed to be the daughter of Yin Corporation's chairman in the capital, many imaginative onlookers immediately pictured a grand rich-family conspiracy to frame an heir. The online streamers who had first been broadcasting Feng Yang playing guitar, then followed him over and livestreamed a whole episode of Human Traffickers Exposed, crowded around them. Indignantly, they comforted the girl in Feng Yang's arms.

"Don't worry. We already got footage of those traffickers' faces. They definitely won't get away."

"They're horrible. We have to expose them online, so nobody else falls for this kind of trick."

Someone even came over to tease Feng Yang. "Handsome, you were amazing! You really saved a beauty!"

"I never thought I'd meet such a handsome hero in real life."

"How did you figure out those traffickers were suspicious?"

The beautiful streamer who had discussed livestreaming with Feng Yang earlier squeezed out from the crowd and handed a pack of tissues and a small mirror to Yin Qing, whose face was streaked with ruined makeup. "Wipe your face first."

Only then did Yin Qing realize that her makeup had turned her into a complete mess. She instinctively glanced at Feng Yang, feeling both embarrassed and shy. But Feng Yang did not notice. In his previous life, he had seen plenty of ghosts who had died horribly. Compared to them, Yin Qing merely had smudged makeup. She was not scary at all.