NOVPUBChapter 97: Chapter 97 Bai Mei’s Encounter
Chapter 97 -97 Bai Mei’s Encounter
Hao Fang clutched Bai Jianguo’s arm. “Dad, Meimei couldn’t possibly do something like this.”
Bai Jianguo glanced from the corner of his eye and noticed someone eavesdropping on their conversation.
“Enough, now’s not the time to talk about this. Go call Bai Shan and Bai Zhuang, have them arrange the discharge formalities for mom, and take mom back to the village by car first. We need to rush to the police station.”
Hao Fang, utterly distraught, went to look for her son and soon after, the settled couple followed the police straight to the station-front police station.
There was a train station in their county town. Although it was not large, it was very important to them since it saw a lot of travelers. As a result, the station-front police station was usually bustling with people because petty thieves were quite common in their jurisdiction, making it as noisy as a marketplace.
Bai Jianguo and Hao Fang found Bai Mei behind a small iron fence, locked up with several other women. Her hair was unkempt, her clothes torn, her face swollen from bruises, and she was curled up in a corner, hugging her legs.
Upon seeing Bai Jianguo and Hao Fang, she immediately sprang up like a rabbit to the door, frantically grabbing the iron bars, crying out, “Dad, Mom, please save me, please save me, I can’t stay here any longer. If I stay here any longer, I’ll die.”
The women behind the bars gave Bai Jianguo and Hao Fang a malicious look and snorted coldly from their noses, making Bai Mei shudder in fear.
The police officer opened the door, letting Bai Mei out.
Bai Mei immediately clung to Hao Fang, hiding behind her.
The police officer took the three to the office.
It turned out that after Bai Mei had stormed out of Bai Ju’s house that day, since she needed to take a bus from the town to the county and there were no buses to the county that day, she couldn’t possibly go back after the quarrel with Bai Xiao and Bai Ju. Fortunately, she still had 500 yuan that she had secretly taken from home, and decided to find a hostel to stay in.
But when she pleaded with the middle-aged woman wearing a floral-patterned Dacron blouse at the hostel, the woman refused to let her stay, sternly telling her with a cold face that without a referral letter, she couldn’t think about staying at the hostel.
In 1985, without a referral letter, it was genuinely impossible to stay in a hostel as those were public institutions that strictly adhered to rules; no matter how Bai Mei pleaded, it was hopeless.
The problem was that it was getting dark, and it wasn’t safe for a young lady like Bai Mei to wander outside at night.
Bai Mei was scared, and she thought about running away, but she had never traveled far from home before and was totally unfamiliar with such situations.
So, as the night grew darker, Bai Mei stood in the hostel, not knowing where to go.
Finally, out of options, the staff suggested a last resort for her – to check the train station, where many people catch night trains. There were chairs, and if not too many people, she could even lie down, which would be much better than standing around here.
Bai Mei didn’t want to stand outside the hostel all night, so she promptly made her way to the train station.
Arriving at the station, she indeed found several rows of wooden chairs in the small waiting room, and there were many people of all ages waiting there, which reassured her somewhat.
However, there were no seats available as they were all taken.
Bai Mei didn’t find a spot until the early hours when a group finally boarded their train and vacated some seats. She sat down clutching her bundle.
Feeling the money in her pocket, she could only hold tight to her bundle and lean back in the chair to doze off for a while.
This was Bai Mei’s first time out alone, and she lacked any sense of caution, falling deeper and deeper into sleep until she eventually placed the bundle under her head and lay down on the chair, unaware that the middle of the night was prime time for thieves.
No sooner had she entered than someone had their eyes on her.
When she heard the sound of the girl’s snoring, a woman in her forties looked around for a while and then slowly sat down next to Bai Mei. On the long wooden bench where plenty of people could sit at once, Bai Mei occupied one end, the middle was empty, and on the other end, a burly young man was sleeping. He looked like he was traveling too, hugging a handbag, appearing to be some sort of official.
Looking around and seeing everyone else dozing, with no one paying attention to this corner, the middle-aged woman first pretended to accidentally bump into the young man. Like Bai Mei, he was sleeping soundly, as heavily as a log. The middle-aged woman immediately quietly pulled at the handbag resting under the young man’s head, reaching inside for a while and, incredibly, pulled out a wallet. Very few people carried wallets these days.
The middle-aged woman didn’t even look, she just stuffed it into her pocket, turned around, and sidled up to Bai Mei. She felt around Bai Mei’s bundle, squeezing every corner, feeling that it was unlikely there was money inside. Noticing Bai Mei clasping her trouser pocket with her hand, the woman inwardly rejoiced, seeing that Bai Mei must be inexperienced in travel, clinging so desperately was clear proof that there was money in that pocket.
Gently moving away Bai Mei’s hand covering the pocket, she slowly and leisurely took out all the money from Bai Mei’s pocket, feeling a thick handkerchief wrapped around the bills. The middle-aged woman was almost bursting with joy internally, intending to stuff the handkerchief into her pocket when her hand, too excited, shook and caused the young man’s wallet to fall out.
It made a slapping sound as it hit the ground.
The middle-aged woman, scared, looked up quickly at the young man and saw him stirring and actually getting up. At this moment, it was definitely too late to slip the wallet back into her pocket, and staying put would mean getting caught once the young man noticed his wallet was missing and started making a fuss.
Thinking quickly, she grabbed the wallet and stuffed it under the lowest part of Bai Mei’s bundle, and then started to shout.
“Oh my, where has my money gone? This is the life-saving money from my husband, which thief has stolen the money we needed for the hospital?”
This shout woke everyone up instantly.
Almost reflexively, everyone started checking their own money.
The young man immediately noticed the zipper of his handbag was open and upon checking, his expression changed completely.
“Oh no, my wallet is gone.”
At this, everyone started to panic.
Meanwhile, Bai Mei was still deep asleep.
The middle-aged woman was amused.
How indifferent must that girl be?
The man grew anxious, “Not only does my wallet have money, but it also contains my work ID and a letter of introduction. Without it, I wouldn’t even be able to return home.” He anxiously surveyed his surroundings.
Because of the commotion, the police on patrol from the local station had already heard and rushed over.
Just then, the man caught a glimpse of a black corner sticking out from under Bai Mei’s bundle. With swift hands, he rushed over, lifted up Bai Mei, and pulled his wallet out from under her bundle.
“Look at that, you little thief, stealing my wallet and pretending to sleep here.”
This immediately drew cries of derision from everyone.
Bai Mei, completely unaware of what had transpired, found herself being grabbed and slapped twice.
She was then taken away by the police.
The middle-aged woman had already sneaked away amidst the chaos.
