"I'm begging you, come home with me! The kid's only one year old, how can you be so cruel, just throw the kid and me away and leave…"
The man suddenly knelt on the ground, his pleading posture trying to get Fu Xiaoxiao to get off the train with him.
An older auntie in the crowd saw many people gathering around curiously, and immediately spoke up to help the man stir public opinion.
"Girl, you're the one in the wrong here, aren't you? The kid at home is still little, whatever happened you should let it go for the child's sake. How can you leave the child and just go? Hurry and go back with your man…"
As soon as she spoke, the others watching the drama couldn't hold back, and all started chiming in.
"Girl, this auntie's right. You're married, so you should stay at home and take care of your kid properly. Whatever's going on, sit down and talk it through. The child is innocent."
"Yeah! Hurry up and go home with your man!"
"You really shouldn't be doing this…"
Fu Xiaoxiao glanced at the leading older auntie and those 'enthusiastic people' who didn't know a thing yet still felt the need to lecture her, and rolled her eyes speechlessly.
"You say I'm your wife? You want me to go home with you? What proof do you have?" Fu Xiaoxiao looked at the man still kneeling pitifully in front of her and found it all rather funny.
"You're my wife, I would never mistake you. Wife, I'm begging you, come home with me! The child is still little. I know my mom went a bit too far this time, but she's still my mom! My dad died young, it wasn't easy for her to raise me on her own. After you left, my mom even fell sick. Please, come home with me! My mom's given in now, she'll definitely treat you well from now on." The man still stared at Fu Xiaoxiao with a pleading look, once again stirring others' compassion.
"Oh my, that's really too much! It was just a few harsh words, how can you leave the kid and the sick old woman and go?"
"Exactly, that's really unfilial…"
"If I had a daughter-in-law like this, I'd definitely have to talk to the in-laws…"
"..."
"My husband is a soldier." Fu Xiaoxiao looked at the man, warning him not to court death.
"I…I know you like that soldier at the village entrance, but my whole family's counting on me. I can't go be a soldier!" The man's choking voice even sounded somewhat convincing.
"You do know that wrecking a military marriage can get you shot, right?" Fu Xiaoxiao's words made the man's whole body stiffen. This time, he'd run into a hard wall.
But when he raised his head and saw Fu Xiaoxiao's face, the man suddenly steeled himself, stepped forward, grabbed Fu Xiaoxiao, and tried to drag her out.
"Wife, I know I embarrassed you, I know you've got someone else in your heart. You keep thinking all day about marrying your soldier brother, but he's long gone. You married me, you even had a kid—whether you accept it or not, you have to! Come on, get off the train with me!" The man used all his strength; Fu Xiaoxiao tried to shake him off but found his grip tight on her hand, giving her no chance to break free.
"Tsk tsk tsk, this girl really… She's got another man living in her heart, no wonder she wants to run."
"Really outrageous!"
"Girl, stop making trouble, just get off the train with your man!"
Nobody around stepped in to stop him; instead, they kept urging Fu Xiaoxiao to get off the train with the man.
Fu Xiaoxiao pressed her lips together in a cold smile, her eyes darkening.
Just as she was about to kick the man away, she saw Lu Feng pushing through the crowd toward her, a lunch box in his hand.
Perfect timing—her real husband was back.
Lu Feng came forward with a cold face and lifted the man straight up off the ground. With one hand he handed the lunch box to Fu Xiaoxiao; the man's face flushed red as he kicked frantically, but he couldn't break free from Lu Feng's grip at all.
"Who the hell are you? Meddling in other people's business—let me go! That's my wife!" The man roared, trying to force Lu Feng to put him down.
Hearing him still dare claim Fu Xiaoxiao as his wife, a sharp gleam flashed through Lu Feng's dark eyes. He raised his fist and slammed it into the man's abdomen.
"Right in front of me, you're trying to abduct my wife?"
When Lu Feng came back, he'd seen a crowd gathered around their berth. He saw a man clinging to Fu Xiaoxiao, loudly insisting she was his wife.
Seeing Lu Feng return, Fu Xiaoxiao leaned close and whispered a few words in his ear. Lu Feng's gaze turned icy and sweeping as he unobtrusively scanned the crowd of onlookers.
Lu Feng threw a look at the train police officer who had come along with him. The officer understood, turned sideways, and secretly fixed his attention on the spectators.
Lu Feng's appearance shattered the scene the man had just constructed; the same people who'd been persuading Fu Xiaoxiao to go home with the man were now dumbfounded.
"This here is my legal husband, the one I actually got a marriage certificate with. The man in front of me is a human trafficker trying to abduct women!" Pointing at the dazed man who'd just been punched by Lu Feng, Fu Xiaoxiao raised her voice to the crowd.
"Who are you calling a trafficker? I just mistook her for someone else!" The man struggled, refusing to admit anything, shouting that he was being wronged.
"You're that older auntie's accomplice, aren't you?" Fu Xiaoxiao glanced at the crowd and said firmly.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I just mistook her for my wife. You people need to let me go!" The man froze for a moment, then started struggling again.
"You two roam between trains, targeting women who are traveling alone. Once you spot a target, you pretend to be her husband, first using public pressure and then forcing her to get off the train. I'm not wrong, am I?" Fu Xiaoxiao had previously seen reports about similar human trafficking methods, and the man's actions just now matched one of those patterns.
They pretend to be the victim's family so that before she can react, they've already forced an identity on her. She's left with no way to prove otherwise; even if she struggles and screams for help, the crowd will only see it as a domestic dispute and won't interfere, treating it as entertainment.
By the time someone realizes something's off, the victim has usually already been handed off.
And schemes like this are always carried out by a gang. Seeing that older auntie hiding in the crowd, pretending to be a passerby while taking the lead in condemning her, Fu Xiaoxiao was sure that auntie had to be one of the accomplices.
Fu Xiaoxiao's words stunned the onlookers. They'd thought it was just family drama, and now they realized it was a trafficker trying to abduct a woman?
"Stop talking nonsense." The man ground his teeth and glared at Fu Xiaoxiao, as if trying to etch her into his memory.
Lu Feng's cold eyes narrowed as he stepped forward and landed another punch squarely on the man's face, smashing it to the side. A bloodied tooth flew out.
His wife, and this guy thinks he has the right to covet her?
"Whether it's nonsense or not, we'll know once he's interrogated." Two railway police officers, having received the report, hurried over and moved in to arrest the man, snapping silver bracelets onto his wrists.
The older auntie in the crowd saw the situation turning against her and tried to slip away.
When she turned around, she saw the train police officer who had quietly appeared behind her. He grabbed her on the spot, and she happily received a matching set of silver bracelets.
"We now suspect that you and this man are working together. Please come with us and cooperate with the investigation." The train police officer gave a cold little laugh as he caught the fleeing auntie.
"I'm not, you can't just arrest people randomly—help, somebody help! They're bullying an old woman…" The auntie shuddered with fear and immediately started wailing.
She was trying to use the old trick of crying, making a scene, and threatening to kill herself to get away. Before, whenever she played this card, they always let her go.
Unfortunately, this time she'd picked the wrong people. The moment the silver bracelets closed around her wrists, she knew she was finished.