Unable to breathe

Chapter 14

Lanzi stopped her, saying, "You go find the train police, I'll go!" She ran over, brandishing her arms and legs, shouting, "Oh no! Someone's being hit! A thug is hitting someone! Help!"

The funny thing is, apart from her shouting, everyone in the entire carriage seemed to hear and see nothing, even though many people were watching with their eyes open and listening with their ears perked up.

"I heard you're quite the hero, you little brat! Today I'll grant your wish and let you be a hero who saves a damsel in distress. I'll make you bleed a little and break a couple of bones for being a hero. Kid! You're so proud of yourself!"

"Yeah! Dude, I'll grant your wish and let you be a hero!"

"If you don't dare kill me today, you're all animals! You're all filthy scoundrels! You're all sons of bitches, worse than pigs and dogs! If you have the guts, hit me! Hit me! Hit me!"

Enraged by him, the group of thugs punched and kicked him, and one of them even took off his belt and whipped him.

Lanzi rushed forward to protect him, but he immediately glared at her and roared:

"You filthy woman! Get out of my way! It's none of your business!"

Lanzi stood there stunned for a moment, then tears streamed down her face. She turned and walked away. After a few steps, she ran back and shouted to the people:

"He's sick. What if you hurt him badly?"

In fact, the cold-faced man had already been knocked to the ground, limp and unable to move, as if he were already dead. The group of thugs immediately understood when Lanzi shouted, and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, Sister Hui ran over, panting, and said:

"The crew room was locked, and I couldn't find the train police officer even after running through several carriages. I was afraid you would worry, so I ran back."

The two men struggled to pull the cold-faced man lying on the ground; he was already unconscious.

Lanzi forcefully pulled up a strong man and said:

"Big brother, please help me! He's already... hey, the bad guys are all gone, everything's alright..."

The man said:

"If you're not afraid, I'll help you."

The man grabbed the cold-faced man's shoulders with both hands, and the two women each took one leg, finally managing to lift him to a seat. He slumped down there. The man who had been sitting next to him had no choice but to stand up, clearly displeased.

About half an hour later, the man who had helped her came over from another carriage and whispered to Lanzi:

"I think you should get off at the next stop. I saw those guys in another carriage; they said they were going to cripple him."

Sister Hui said:

"What should we do? Maybe we should help him off the train and hand him over to the station staff."

Lanzi said:

"How can that be? He got into trouble because of me, I can't just ignore it."

That kind-hearted man came to offer advice again:

"You two are complete strangers, it's best not to meddle in this kind of thing, it's dangerous, this train often has accidents."

Sister Hui said:

"What's it to you? How are you going to interfere? Aren't you going to Nanning?"

Whether I go to Nanning or not is no longer important to me.

"I really have to go. It's such a rare opportunity, and someone's even reimbursing me. I'll definitely go again..."

“I will get off the bus with him myself. Sister Hui will go first. If he is better, I will go to Nanning to find Sister Hui.”

"You make it sound so easy! We came out together, and now you're leaving me all alone. How can you be so shameless? I wouldn't have come out if you hadn't insisted!"

"Hello, Sister Hui! I'll treat you when we get back..."

Before he could finish speaking, he had already entered the station.

At three o'clock in the morning, the man who had helped Lanzi came again to help the man out of the car.

Lanzi carried her travel bag on her left shoulder, her right arm around the man's armpit, her left hand grasping his left hand resting on her shoulder, and her right arm around his right waist. She slowly made her way out of the station, hailed a taxi, and said to the driver:

"Where can I find cheap accommodation that doesn't require identification?"

The shop owner said:

"I can tell at a glance that you two aren't a couple, and your boyfriend isn't sick, he's been beaten up. I don't concern myself with other people's business, I'm just doing this for your safety. Keep the door closed, and I won't open it for anyone who comes to check on you at night. You can do whatever you want without worry, but you'll have to spend a lot of money."

Lanzi was both amused and exasperated, but unable to explain herself—who would believe what she was saying? She could only say:

"Since you know everything, how come you don't know that we don't have much money?"

The proprietress smiled:

"Alright, it's late at night, I'll give you a 30% discount, is that okay?"

Lanzi first filled a thermos with boiling water, then left it uncovered to cool. She found a plastic basin, scalded it with boiling water repeatedly, scrubbed it with soap again and again, and then washed and scalded her own towel several times. Afterward, she poured the cooled boiling water into the basin, soaked her towel, and used it to wipe the blood from his face, arms, and legs. She couldn't help but cry as she wiped, perhaps unaware that she was crying. Once everything was clean, she took off his socks. He struggled fiercely, trying not to move, but Lanzi didn't say anything. She found a chair, placed the basin on it, and held his feet tightly as she washed them.

After washing up, Lanzi looked up and noticed that he was awkwardly burying his face in the blanket. She wondered what was wrong with him and quickly asked:

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

After asking him for a long time, he still wouldn't say anything, and Lanzi became anxious:

"You're really strange! You don't say what you should say, but you say a lot of things you shouldn't. Otherwise, you wouldn't be suffering so much. You don't say a word all day, but you only speak when the thieves come. When they're beating you, you shouldn't say anything, but you insist on provoking them, making them beat you even harder. Now, I'm talking to you about something serious, and you're still not saying anything."

He remained silent.

Lanzi found the shop owner and asked her to buy some medicine for treating sprains and bruises, as well as painkillers.