"It's good to be in the capital, it's good to be in the capital. From now on, you'll be like my sister. When we go back, we can still meet." the woman said, smiling happily.
Su Xiaotian smiled with a gentle demeanor, making people feel very comfortable.
Looking at Su Xiaotian like this, the woman couldn't quite believe that Su Xiaotian could handle two human traffickers alone and rescue both children.
She thought that those two human traffickers were probably fooled by Su Xiaotian's appearance, which led to their capture.
"Your name is Su Xiaotian, right? Just as your name suggests, you look so sweet."
"Yes, Big Sister, my name is Su Xiaotian."
At this moment, the woman remembered that she had heard Su Xiaotian's name from the train attendant, but she hadn't introduced herself yet.
"Oh my, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Cui Tonglan. You can call me Sister Tonglan or Sister Lan from now on."
Su Xiaotian smiled and called out, "Sister Tonglan."
Cui Tonglan was overjoyed that Su Xiaotian didn't say anything polite.
She liked people who were straightforward and decisive.
Teacher Xie Nan, standing beside them, watched them chat warmly and didn't interrupt.
She chatted casually with the train attendant beside her.
The train attendant was friendly towards Su Xiaotian, and knowing that the person in front of him was Su Xiaotian's elder, he was naturally very polite.
He answered almost all of Teacher Xie Nan's questions without reservation.
His words were filled with undisguised admiration for Su Xiaotian.
Teacher Xie Nan felt both worried and proud.
Although this child was not her own relative, she was her student, and thus a dear junior.
Cui Tonglan, worried that the child would cry if they woke up and couldn't find her, quickly returned.
In the evening, the parent of the other child also came to express their gratitude to Su Xiaotian.
This was a woman from the countryside, completely different from Cui Tonglan.
If one word could describe the woman in front of her, it would be simple and honest.
"Sister, my name is Tao Yunying, and I'm from Tongcheng. Thank you for helping me rescue my child. If it weren't for you, my child would probably have been taken to who knows where by human traffickers by now!"
Tao Yunying came with her child.
Su Xiaotian looked at the sturdy-looking child with great joy. She took out a tomato from her bag for the child and then took out two candies, also giving them to the child.
"Oh my, Sister, how can you give things to the child?"
Tao Yunying felt very embarrassed that she had nothing to give Su Xiaotian in return.
Now that Su Xiaotian was giving her child something to eat, she felt even more embarrassed.
"It's nothing, the tomatoes were grown at home, they taste good, for the little one."
The little boy, about two years old, looked at the tomato for a while, then took a big bite.
Seeing her child take a bite of the tomato, Tao Yunying didn't say anything more, just smiled awkwardly at Su Xiaotian.
"Sister, are you from the capital? We are from the countryside, please don't dislike us."
The woman felt a little embarrassed seeing her child like this, and spoke with a sense of inferiority.
Su Xiaotian quickly said, "I'm also from the countryside, I'm just studying at university in the capital now."
From ancient times to the present, it seemed that rural people naturally felt inferior when facing city dwellers. Su Xiaotian didn't want to put pressure on Tao Yunying.
"So you're a university student, no wonder you look better than others. Sister, my husband is in the army, and I'm taking the child to the unit to see her father."
Upon hearing this, Su Xiaotian felt a surge of respect.
Soldiers worked hard and took risks to protect the country, and their wives also bore considerable pressure.
Fortunately, she had managed to rescue the child.
Soldiers shed blood and sweat to protect others; how disheartening would it be if their own children were taken away by human traffickers and never found?
"Sister-in-law, as a soldier's wife, you have worked hard," Su Xiaotian said sincerely.
Soldiers, regardless of the era, were always among those who made the most sacrifices.
This could be seen from Su Xiaowu.
Su Xiaowu was a military academy student. Strictly speaking, he was much better off than soldiers in active service, but he often had to go on missions and couldn't come home during family reunions during holidays.
Tao Yunying clearly hadn't expected Su Xiaotian to say such a thing to her.
"Sister, you make me feel so embarrassed!" Tao Yunying said honestly, "I came today to thank you and to ask for your address."
Su Xiaotian initially didn't want to give Tao Yunying her address.
After all, she could guess that Tao Yunying wanted her address not to write letters, but most likely to send gifts.
But she could feel Tao Yunying's inferiority complex.
If she refused to give Tao Yunying her address, Tao Yunying might overthink it.
"Sister-in-law, I'll leave my home address for you, and you can leave your home address for me too. If I ever go to Tongcheng, I can visit you."
Tao Yunying was very happy that Su Xiaotian was not only willing to give her her home address but also proactively asked for her address.
"Okay, I'm not very good at writing. Sister, you say it, and I'll write it down."
Su Xiaotian quickly wrote down both addresses. Tao Yunying carefully placed the slip of paper with Su Xiaotian's address in her pocket.
"We're getting off at the next stop, Sister. Thank you." the woman said sincerely, "You are our family's benefactor."
If Su Xiaotian weren't such a young girl, she would have asked her child to recognize Su Xiaotian as a godmother.
This was something she had planned earlier, but Su Xiaotian was too young.
"Sister, please be careful after you get off the train."
By the time they reached the next stop, it would surely be dark.
It was inconvenient for Tao Yunying, a woman traveling with a child.
"I've sent a telegram to my husband. He's waiting for us at the station."
Tao Yunying's face lit up with joy when she spoke of her husband, indicating that their relationship was very good.
"Sister-in-law, why don't I help you get off the train later?"
Tao Yunying was about to refuse, but Xie Nan said, "If you move all the things over now, you can get off from here later."
"Teacher Xie, you're right. Sister, why don't you let Teacher Xie hold the child, and I'll go with you to move the things?"
Su Xiaotian guessed that Tao Yunying must have brought a lot of things since she was going to see her husband after a long time.
Tao Yunying thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I'm in the hard-seat carriage. I don't know if they'll let me pay for a sleeper ticket when we get to the sleeper carriage."
"We can just explain to the attendant."
Su Xiaotian wasn't worried about this. It was only an hour or two until they got off the train, and the attendant surely wouldn't make a fuss about it.
As expected, after explaining the situation to the attendant, the attendant agreed.
"Alright, comrade, you've had a fright today. We can rest assured knowing you'll be taken care of for the remaining time!"
After saying this to Tao Yunying, the attendant said politely to Su Xiaotian, "Little comrade, thank you!"