Chapter 172: Bringing Humiliation Upon Oneself
Chapter 172: Chapter 172: Bringing Humiliation Upon Oneself
Fu Xiaoxiao laughed as she ruffled Lu Chen’s hair. Lu Lin sat calmly beside Fu Xiaoxiao, pulling out a comic book from his bag. Ever since he learned to read, Lu Lin had been obsessed with books; anything with words, he wanted to read.
Seeing Lu Lin not coaxing him, Lu Chen pouted and sulked with his little arms crossed for a long time.
Eventually, he was drawn to the comic book in Lu Lin’s hand, slowly sidling up to Lu Lin’s side, letting out a prideful little snort.
He hadn’t really forgiven him yet.
Lu Lin glanced at him from the corner of his eye, and calmly began reading aloud from the comic book.
Lu Chen couldn’t read, but listened intently to Lu Lin’s voice, soon forgetting his earlier ’grudge’, becoming a little chatterbox next to his brother once again.
Fu Xiaoxiao watched the two brothers quarreling and reconciling and turned to look out of the window with a smile.
The return train ride was so smooth that Fu Xiaoxiao barely noticed they had reached their destination. He Jie’s mother came in person to help them off the train, leading them through a special passageway to avoid the crowds.
"Thank you, Grandma, goodbye Grandma." Lu Chen, acting as the spokesperson, waved happily at Mrs. He.
Mrs. He waved back with a smile before returning to the train.
Fu Xiaoxiao stood at the doorway, waiting for Wang Lu to come pick them up.
"It’s you? You just can’t escape running into annoying people no matter where you go." Jiang Lan squeezed off the train carrying a bunch of things. After finally getting out of the crowd, she spotted Fu Xiaoxiao. Seeing how pristine Xiaoxiao looked without a hint of chaos, definitely unlike someone who had just pushed through a throng of people, she was instantly annoyed.
Fu Xiaoxiao merely glanced at Jiang Lan with a slight smirk. "Indeed."
Feeling snubbed by Fu Xiaoxiao, Jiang Lan glared at her, recalling her own frustrations, compounded by the ruckus in the train car. The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt.
"Why do you get to easily get a sleeper ticket, and have someone clear the way for you? It’s unfair! You’re just bullying people."
Watching Jiang Lan suddenly burst into tears, Fu Xiaoxiao felt lines of frustration appear in her mind.
Is there something seriously wrong with this person?
How could this be her fault?
"If you’re sick, go to the hospital. Paranoia is a real illness, you need treatment, truly." Fu Xiaoxiao sincerely suggested to Jiang Lan.
Hoping she would get her head checked.
"Then why do you get to take the shortcut? You said you have nothing to do with them, but if that’s true, why is everyone fawning over you?" Jiang Lan felt it was extremely unfair. They both took the train, but she didn’t have to cram with the crowd or deal with a crowded car; she was so carefree.
And yet here she was! She had to fight through the crowd to get on the train, search all over the car for her seat, only to find it occupied. She was forced to exchange seats and ended up sitting next to the bathroom, enduring the stench all the way. Finally arriving, she was almost squeezed until her clothes ripped, even losing a shoe.
"Maybe it’s just good luck," Fu Xiaoxiao smiled lightly at Jiang Lan’s venomous glare that looked like she wanted to eat her.
This carefree attitude made Jiang Lan even more resentful.
"Ma’am, didn’t you know this would happen when you decided to take the train? Why blame my mom?" Lu Chen held Fu Xiaoxiao’s hand, looking cluelessly at Jiang Lan.
"Ma’am? Who are you calling ma’am? I’m only twenty-two!" Jiang Lan shrieked when she heard Lu Chen call her ma’am, her sudden outcry startling nearby passersby.
"But I’m only five years old. You’re older than me..." Lu Chen blinked innocently at Jiang Lan, making her grit her teeth.
"Seventeen years older than you." Lu Lin chimed in from the side, "Indeed."
"Oh." Lu Chen glanced at Jiang Lan and nonchalantly turned away. "She looks older than Aunt Xiu! I thought she was a ma’am!"
"You two bratty kids, what nonsense are you talking about? I’m not even married yet!" Jiang Lan wished she could strangle them, clenching her teeth as she reached out to pinch Lu Chen’s face.
"Sorry! I have a cleanliness obsession, so can you not touch the kid’s face with such dirty hands?" Fu Xiaoxiao brushed aside Jiang Lan’s hand.
Jiang Lan looked at her own hand. "Ah! How did my hand get so dirty? What did you do to me..."
"...My mom just brushed them away!" Lu Lin looked at Jiang Lan speechlessly. Why did she have to blame everything on his mom?
"Let’s keep our distance from her; she’s not well." Fu Xiaoxiao took a step back with Lu Lin and Lu Chen, this person’s paranoia was quite severe.
"This damned place, damned you all, you all deserve to die." Jiang Lan broke down, pointing at Fu Xiaoxiao and cursing. Instead of staying comfortably in Beicheng, she’d come here to be humiliated and felt wronged by the unfair treatment she received.
"Slap." Fu Xiaoxiao stepped in front of Lu Chen as Jiang Lan tried to reach for him, landing a hard slap across Jiang Lan’s face.
The sharp sound of the slap immediately drew the attention of the onlookers, who quickly gathered around.
"You dare hit me! I’ll fight you!" Jiang Lan, slapped, grew even more furious, wanting nothing more than to fight back and teach Fu Xiaoxiao a lesson.
"Miss, be careful!" The crowd, seeing Fu Xiaoxiao standing with two kids behind her, called out reminders.
Fu Xiaoxiao sidestepped, stopping Jiang Lan’s hand mid-swing with a block and delivering a sharp counter-slap.
"Haven’t you taken a train before? You’re throwing a fit over this little thing. I told you, if you’re not right in the head, go see a doctor. Why are you taking it out on me?" Fu Xiaoxiao’s eyes flashed coldly.
"If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have..." Jiang Lan pointed at Fu Xiaoxiao angrily.
If it weren’t for the comparison with Fu Xiaoxiao, maybe she wouldn’t have felt so terrible, but Xiaoxiao had gotten the sleeper tickets she couldn’t, and while she struggled through the train, Xiaoxiao was ushered through easily.
She suffered humiliation in the train car, yet Fu Xiaoxiao luxuriated in comfort. By the time they got off, she was pale and bedraggled while Xiaoxiao was still pristinely composed.
This chasm was something Jiang Lan couldn’t accept. Why did she have such a hard time on the train while Xiaoxiao didn’t?
"It’s probably because you’re too envious!" Fu Xiaoxiao said lightly. "All your complaints have nothing to do with me; you’re just dissatisfied seeing someone else not crammed like you, seeing someone else get off without a trace of disarray. You just can’t handle that gap."
Being called out so thoroughly by Fu Xiaoxiao, Jiang Lan froze.
The nearby onlookers understood the situation.
"Oh wow, that’s just jealousy."
"Tsk tsk tsk, already so big yet such a small mind."
"Can’t stand to see others better off, whining over something so trivial, clearly it’s a problem."
The crowd watching the spectacle understood it was just Jiang Lan’s envy at Fu Xiaoxiao’s good treatment, wanting what she didn’t get to enjoy herself.
Everyone taking the train knows you have to hurry for the best spot, and being late might mean losing your seat to someone else. What’s there to complain about? Everyone faces that, she just took the train once and blamed everything on that.