Chapter Eight: Tongzi felt that her uncle’s mind was drifting dangerously close to that of the Zombie King.

“Money!”

Looking up at Wang Lianjun, Jiang Xiaxia’s face lit up with delight. She had seen this big bundle of cash before in the little cub’s memories.

But she didn’t immediately reach out for it. Instead, she glanced back at Jiang Hua first.

Jiang Hua gently patted her little head, casting a puzzled look toward his son beside him.

Jiang Jing naturally had no idea either. He raised an eyebrow at Wang Lianjun, silently asking for an explanation.

“That guy we caught earlier was a human trafficker! We’ve already interrogated him!” Wang Lianjun’s face was full of anger as he recounted the incident. “He specifically came to the hospital to steal children from wealthy families to take them to the mountains, claiming it would bring good fortune or something! The team is still interrogating him to see if we can find clues about the kids he’s stolen before.”

Recalling the man’s confession, Wang Lianjun sighed deeply. “Who knows how many families this man has torn apart!”

Seeing the somber mood among the family before him, he suddenly remembered the little girl was involved too and quickly changed the subject. “This is a reward from the organization.”

He said as he nudged the big bundle of cash toward the little girl’s hand. “A reward for catching the bad guy. Little one, keep this money safe! Once we’re on the train, there are lots of thieves; if this gets stolen, it’ll be gone for good.”

Jiang Xiaxia still didn’t take it. She looked up at Jiang Hua, and only after he nodded did she accept the bundle.

Her small hands carefully counted each bill, and though it was only three notes, she managed to count them with the gravitas of thousands of yuan.

After finishing, she handed the three notes back into Jiang Hua’s hand and said in a soft childish voice, “For nurse!”

Wang Lianjun chuckled, “Such a little age and already knows to provide for the family! That’s impressive!”

Jiang Jing watched the little girl hand the money over, casting a proud glance at himself as if to say he was useless, which almost made him laugh.

After all, he had more cash in his own bag than that!

Oh well, could he really quibble over such a small thing with his lifesaver?

Picking up the little girl again, Jiang Jing looked at Wang Lianjun and said, “Old Wang, the regiment commander said everything’s arranged on the military side, so I won’t bother the brothers.”

Wang Lianjun nodded and handed him the train ticket. “Be careful on the road!”

Jiang Jing patted his shoulder and turned to leave with his people.

When the group left the hospital, dawn was just breaking. Jiang Hua and Jiang Xiaxia, exhausted from staying up all night, were struggling to stay awake, but Jiang Jing was full of energy.

Finally squeezing onto the train, Jiang Hua’s eyelids fluttered uncontrollably.

Ever since she learned her youngest son was about to be discharged, she hadn’t slept well. When she later heard he might not wake up, she was even more terrified.

Now that everything was settled, she could finally relax.

Seeing her little son still alert, Jiang Hua weakly said, “I’ll sleep for a bit, you watch Xiaxia.”

She tucked her son’s precious bundle under herself and sat squashed, falling asleep right there.

Jiang Xiaxia was a bit sleepy too, but seeing her grandmother asleep, she felt responsible for watching over her nurse. So she kept her eyes wide open, alertly scanning around.

She knew the nurse had the big bundle of cash. If it got stolen, the nurse would be upset, so she had to keep a close watch!

Jiang Jing chuckled at the little one’s seriousness and pinched her nose softly. “Your third uncle took your medicine; now he’s tough enough to take on ten men. If you’re tired, you can sleep for a while.”

Jiang Xiaxia gave him a skeptical look. Besides saving people, she didn’t know any other effects of the zombie king’s potion.

She only knew that the nurse looked down on her third uncle as useless, so she couldn’t trust him.

Her eyes flickered across the small train compartment, pausing briefly on a chubby boy playing near the door. A flicker of suspicion crossed her gaze but she didn’t dwell on it, quickly pulling her gaze away.

“Protect!” Jiang Xiaxia pointed to herself, then to Jiang Jing. “Sleep!”

Her eyes brightened. She realized she could now say two words clearly, and adding a third wasn’t much of a challenge.

Jiang Jing smiled warmly at the little girl’s happy expression.

But he couldn’t shake the feeling that since he entered the compartment, someone had been watching them.

Casually glancing around, he saw only the chubby boy playing by the door and the elderly woman opposite him who was watching the boy. Everyone else was drowsy and no one else was staring at them.

Was his mind playing tricks on him?

Jiang Xiaxia didn’t know his thoughts. Had she known, she’d surely tell him this was the zombie king’s danger alert.

Though she had no such alert, when she glanced at the chubby boy, she felt something strange about him—the scent was odd.

She twitched her nose, feeling like she had smelled the same scent back at the hospital.

Just then, Jiang Jing noticed her action and asked softly, “Are you hungry?”

He reached into his bundle and pulled out a half-cold steamed bun. “When the conductor comes, I’ll ask for some hot water to warm it up for you.”

Jiang Xiaxia touched her still plump tummy and shook her head, indicating she wasn’t hungry.

As Jiang Jing was about to put the bun away, the chubby boy at the door suddenly started fussing.

“A girl like her has no right to eat white flour buns! Give it to me, I want it!”

The boy tried to rush forward.

The elderly woman opposite immediately grabbed him, apologizing profusely to Jiang Jing and Jiang Xiaxia.

From her pocket, she pulled out a hard, blackened piece of food that even gave off a faint smell.

“There’s food here, don’t make trouble!” The old lady wiped away tears, saddened. “If your father were still alive, he’d bring you good things. But he left early. I may not have much, but I can at least feed you. You mustn’t be bad and take other people’s food, or it’ll tarnish your father’s name!”

The initially sleepy passengers in the compartment suddenly perked up.

A bespectacled man, seeing the scene, casually asked, “What happened to his father?”

“The boy’s father was a warehouse keeper. When the warehouse caught fire, he stayed behind to save the factory’s goods and couldn’t get out.”

Hearing this, everyone looked at the plump little boy with new understanding.

These days, factory workers usually had some means at home, which is why the boy was well-fed.

But since the father had passed, life wouldn’t be the same. That’s why the boy tried to snatch others’ cold buns.

In an instant, the actions of this grandfather and grandson made sense.

A middle-aged woman sitting nearby immediately reached out her hand to Jiang Jing. “You’re a big man, so straight-laced—how can you have no sympathy? Those two are so sad; why don’t you give your bun to the child?”

Jiang Xiaxia looked at the hand held out before her, tilting her head as she eyed the woman wearing a bright red jacket and a green scarf around her neck, blinking in puzzlement.

Growing impatient, the woman’s eyes narrowed, but Jiang Xiaxia slowly pointed a finger and said, “You have!”

Pausing, she added, “Warm!”

Under the woman’s wide-eyed stare, she asked in a soft voice, “Why?”

Then she pointed toward the struggling chubby boy still trying to pounce toward her.