Free Web NovelChapter 477: Chapter 477: The Child Traveling with Piglets
The discussions about Ding Xingye and Shu Yujie’s wedding proceeded smoothly. Considering their friends of the same age were already married and even had children, getting married right after college seemed perfectly fine. Thus, they set the wedding date for May 1st.
After Ding Xingye and Shu Yujie’s wedding date was set, Yi Roujing also faced her final exams. As the top student, her excellence was unquestionable; she finished the semester as class first once again and welcomed the winter break.
This year, after some discussion, Yi Roujing’s family unanimously decided to return to Huaixi County for the New Year. Xu Ancheng had been in Jiang Province these days, making it closer for him to go to Huaixi County. Ding Anguo’s wife’s family and Ding Anmin’s in-laws were also in Huaixi County, and Mrs. Huang wanted to go back there for the New Year too. Yi Roujing’s maternal family was also there, so what reason was there not to go?
Ding Weihe and Li Hongying had no particular concerns; their children were their only worries. Wherever the kids went, they would follow.
This year, all universities in Jing City had a rare synchronized holiday period, starting from December 18th to January 16th. After the holidays began, everyone eagerly packed their luggage, making reservations to take the train to Jiang Province on December 20th and January 18th.
The one causing the most concern was Xu Zongyin, who, due to his job, couldn’t leave Jing City, nor could Jing City do without him. So, during this period, Yi Roujing stayed with Baozi at Baiqian Village.
On January 17th, Yi Roujing received a call from Mu Guihong, talking about the end-of-year dividends. The cooperation with Chen Pengyuan had gone very smoothly. The Hong Kong business was already on track, with the prominent Chen Family in Hong Kong routinely ordering An Gong Niu Huang Pills in batches of two hundred. Just yesterday, they received the last remittance slip before year-end. Knowing about Yi Roujing’s plan to return to Huaixi County, Mu Guihong settled all the accounts before her departure from Jing.
"I’ll give you the remittance slips for you and your brothers today, wishing you a Happy New Year in advance."
Yi Roujing replied joyfully with a smile and hung up the phone.
She suddenly felt like a little rich lady, having received the remittance slips from the Mu Family, a whole twenty thousand. The An Gong Niu Huang Pill business was indeed doing well.
That day, Yi Roujing deposited the money into her savings account, keeping the three remaining remittance slips for her three brothers on her during the train journey.
Baozi, Mantou, Dumplings, and Tangyuan were all in the same compartment this time, filled with family members. They playfully chatted, looked at picture books, read stories, and slept when tired, making the trip especially easy except for visits to the restroom. With so many kids, each needed a companion; otherwise, you couldn’t feel at ease.
"Mom, little sister." On the way to the restroom, Baozi suddenly stopped, pointing toward a distant compartment and looked up at Yi Roujing, saying, "The little sister is in the bag with the little piggies."
Yi Roujing widened her eyes. She immediately picked up her son, nodded to Huang Xiaobao, and headed the way Baozi pointed, passing through three compartments until Baozi pointed to a spot at the back of one compartment, "Under that seat."
Yi Roujing walked over and looked at the people sitting by the seat—a family with a couple and two sons, feeding their child eggs.
"Excuse me, I dropped something." As she got closer, Yi Roujing crouched to look for something, carefully observing the burlap sack under the seat that would occasionally wriggle, emitting little pig squeals.
However, it wasn’t unusual for people to bring live chickens and ducks onto trains. Seeing her search, they weren’t particularly surprised, but the couple became nervous when she reached the last row, hurriedly looking down, "There’s nothing here; might’ve dropped it elsewhere."
With a Swiss knife in hand, concealed by her sleeve, Yi Roujing discreetly made a cut. The little piglet inside was quite forceful and burst out of the bag.
"Oh dear, grab the piglet; it’s ours!" the woman exclaimed.
People were genuinely helpful, trying to catch the piglet. Meanwhile, Yi Roujing took the opportunity to pull a small child out of the sack.
"Whose child is this, sneaking onto the train hiding with piglets to evade the fare?" Yi Roujing, holding the child by their grimy collar and reeking of odor, spoke with feigned disgust, "I found it at the compartment junction."
"Whose child is this, and why do they smell so bad?"
The little child awoke amidst the commotion, rubbing their eyes. Caught by surprise, Yi Roujing brought them closer. Despite the grime, the child’s bright, pure eyes showed no fear, gazing at her innocently.
"Whose child is this?"
"Hey, you reek of pig; isn’t it yours? Putting a child like a piglet in a sack to evade the fare?"
"It’s not ours; do they look like us?" Holding her head high, the piglet-catching woman exclaimed loudly. Yi Roujing could tell she was uneasy.
"You..." The man tugged at the woman’s sleeve, swallowing his words under her stern gaze, then, frustrated, scratched his head.
"So, none of you? Then I’ll find the conductor." Yi Roujing walked away with the child, who was looking down at Baozi walking behind Yi Roujing. Baozi smiled supportively, and the child’s eyes lit up, returning a smile.
"Where did the child come from?" Li Hongying and a few others were surprised to see Yi Roujing return with a blackened little girl.
"Baozi spotted them, stuffed in with the piglets. I thought she might have been trafficked, but it doesn’t really seem like it." Yi Roujing wasn’t sure if she had done something wrong.
"She looks about the same age as Tangyuan, one or two years old. We don’t know if she can speak." Li Hongying said gently, "Sweetie, what’s your name, where are your parents?"
The child, seeing Li Hongying’s kind demeanor, smiled back but didn’t make a sound.
"Better find the conductor."
The conductor soon arrived and, after asking around, found no one to claim the child.
Yi Roujing took Baozi back to the restroom, noticing that the two sons of the couple she encountered earlier were there too.
"Brother, aren’t we going to keep our little cousin?"
"Better if someone wants her; her parents are gone. If our family raised her, it’d mean less food for us."
"So, little cousin has nowhere to go."
"Don’t worry, if no one wants her, the police will step in and send her to an orphanage. I heard it’s better there than with us. Mom doesn’t like her anyway."
"Yeah, that’s true. But Dad seemed a bit sad."
"Just for a moment; if he really cared, he would’ve spoken up."
Yi Roujing glanced at the older brother, noticing him stealing glances at her, evidently speaking within her hearing on purpose, signaling some protection for the kid.
