"After three days and two nights, I’ll definitely be marinated and soaked."
Seeing his little wife’s pitiful look with slightly red eyes, Sheng Zexi felt extremely sorry for her.
He stroked her hair and said gently, "Alright, the first thing I’ll do when we get back is prepare a hot bath for you so you can wash up thoroughly."
"Hmm." Receiving Sheng Zexi’s reassurance made Gu Jia Ning feel a bit better.
Then Sheng Zexi took out a sheet, spread it on the upper bunk, helped Gu Jia Ning to lie down, and carefully covered her with a blanket.
"Sleep. I’ll be right here watching over you, I won’t leave."
"Okay."
Gu Jia Ning was indeed sleepy. She had woken up quite early today, and the swaying of the train made it easy to get drowsy.
With her eyelids drooping, Gu Jia Ning soon fell asleep.
Gu Jia Ning slept for quite a long time.
When she opened her eyes again, it was already dark outside the train, and the lighting inside was dim.
"Awake?" Sheng Zexi had been paying close attention to her and noticed as she moved.
"Hmm." Gu Jia Ning got up and climbed down.
In the dim light, Gu Jia Ning managed to glance at her watch and realized it was already past seven in the evening.
The train wasn’t as noisy as it had been during the day, but it was still louder than usual.
"Are you hungry? I just bought some buns. Have some."
"Okay."
After eating one bun, Gu Jia Ning couldn’t eat any more.
In the various mixed odors of the train, Gu Jia Ning could hardly taste anything, feeling languid and listless.
As a few more hours passed, the compartment grew even dimmer.
The daytime hustle and bustle were gone, but...
Gu Jia Ning listened to the snores rising and falling, feeling dispirited; it was too noisy.
Gu Jia Ning’s eyes held a trace of resentment.
Sheng Zexi inexplicably understood her meaning.
He thought, luckily I don’t snore, or I’d be kicked out of bed even if I made it to one.
...
And so their journey on the train carried on for two days and a night.
By this time, Gu Jia Ning was like a dried, shriveled radish, utterly devoid of energy.
But fortunately, she wasn’t train sick.
"I want to go to the restroom," Gu Jia Ning said.
After fermenting for a day or two, the restroom was even smellier, but there was no choice. Gu Jia Ning had held on as long as she could, but she couldn’t anymore.
"Alright."
Using the restroom on a train was like navigating through an army of a thousand for Gu Jia Ning.
After a long while, finally emerging from the restroom, Gu Jia Ning only felt like she’d lost half her life.
As they continued back, with Sheng Zexi protecting her, Gu Jia Ning, still a bit listless, was bumped into by an elderly couple carrying a child.
"Sorry, young lady, sorry," the old lady apologized, but as she saw Gu Jia Ning’s face, there was a gleam in her eye.
Same with the old man beside her.
That kind of look made Gu Jia Ning uncomfortably feel like a commodity, ready to be evaluated and priced.
At this moment, Sheng Zexi stood over, inspecting her to ensure she was unharmed.
"I’m fine," Gu Jia Ning said.
The two old people, upon seeing Sheng Zexi in military uniform, suddenly dulled their expressions, hurriedly lowering their heads, even somewhat avoiding Sheng Zexi.
Though ordinary people naturally harbor some fear of military personnel,
with Gu Jia Ning’s past life experiences, she still found their subtle changes in mannerism odd.
Their avoidance seemed like they were afraid of Sheng Zexi.
They didn’t know Sheng Zexi, and had no grievances with him, so why fear him?
Gu Jia Ning’s gaze landed on her husband’s olive-green uniform. Then a Flash of Inspiration, yes, they might not be afraid of Sheng Zexi himself, but his military identity.
What kind of people fear the military?
Of course, criminals.
So what crime could they have committed?
Almost in an instant, Gu Jia Ning’s eyes landed on the three- or four-year-old sleeping girl in the old lady’s arms.
Could they be human traffickers?
The little girl’s attire and the darker skin tone exposed to the outside didn’t seem out of place with the old couple.
Let’s give it a try.
And so, just as they were about to pass by, Gu Jia Ning’s gaze fixated on the little girl.
In her beautiful apricot eyes, the light of a super scanner flashed past, quickly scanning the little girl.
[Ding, scan complete!]
[Gender: Female, Age: 3 years 4 months, Physical Condition: Slight malnutrition, Drugged for over 20 minutes...]
There was much more in the diagnosis, but Gu Jia Ning’s heart was already focused.
Only locking onto the words "drugged," she immediately understood.
This old couple must be traffickers. What kind of grandparents would drug their granddaughter?
"Brother Xi, those two are traffickers. I sensed it. The child the old lady is holding is drugged; she must have been abducted." After walking a bit further, Gu Jia Ning whispered to Sheng Zexi.
Sheng Zexi’s expression instantly grew serious and he said, "Actually, I thought there was something off about them too."
Although the old couple seemed normal in behavior, Sheng Zexi’s instincts as a soldier still signaled something was wrong.
He’d planned to find a chance to check them out later, but didn’t expect Ningning to suspect them as traffickers so quickly.
"Brother Xi, what should we do? We need to catch the traffickers and save the child." Perhaps because she wanted children all her past life but never had them, Gu Jia Ning was obsessed with children and despised traffickers.
She couldn’t imagine if she had a child and they were abducted by traffickers, how devastating it would be.
She’d surely fall apart.
"Ningning, I’ll first take you back. I’ll handle this; trust me, I’ll capture them."
Seeing the certainty in Sheng Zexi’s eyes, Gu Jia Ning nodded.
Sheng Zexi escorted Gu Jia Ning back to her seat, asking Shen Huaiyuan and Bai Juan to keep an eye on her, and urged her not to leave the seat no matter what happened, then departed.
After Sheng Zexi left, Gu Jia Ning grew restless, worried about the situation.
But she knew the only thing she could do was follow his words, stay put, and not cause trouble.
She didn’t know how much time passed when suddenly there seemed to be a disturbance in the carriage behind, then the entire train became more lively.
Soon, she heard people talking about traffickers.
Gu Jia Ning’s heart skipped a beat, is it captured?
Soon, she saw the commotion in her car escalate.
Two train staff were holding that old couple, another cradled the child.
Sheng Zexi had also returned.
As Sheng Zexi sat, those people went further away, Gu Jia Ning’s eyes shone bright as she looked at him, "Caught them!"