Reborn in the 1970s — Married a Proud Rough Man

”Are you sure it was him?” one of the men asked the woman.

”I’m sure. He was standing outside the women’s restroom for a long time,” the woman said. Afraid the criminal would retaliate later, she hadn’t even been holding her child; she had handed the kid over to an auntie with a red armband to watch for a bit.

”He doesn’t look the type,” the other man said.

”You can know a person’s face, but not their heart.” The woman was convinced he was the bad guy.

The two men exchanged a look and walked toward Jie Jingchen.

”Comrade, please come with us.” Their tone was still polite. Until they could confirm the man before them was a criminal, they couldn’t just assume he was one.

Jie Jingchen froze for a moment, but he quickly understood what was happening. Pointing at the women’s restroom, he explained, ”My wife and child are in there.”

”He’s lying! There’s no child in there,” the woman said urgently.

The two men glanced at the woman, then back at Jie Jingchen. Who were they supposed to believe?

Jie Jingchen raised a hand and rubbed the bridge of his nose. ”I’m not lying.”

Just then, an older woman walked out, clearly startled by the scene outside the restroom.

”Ma’am, is there a child in there?” the woman asked.

”No.” The older woman shook her head. Then, as if realizing something, her expression changed, and she became filled with righteous indignation. ”What’s going on? Did someone’s child go missing? These damn traffickers are getting more and more rampant! If you catch one, you have to punish them severely.”

”Comrade, come with us.” The tone of the comrade with the red armband had turned cold.

Suddenly, Jie Jingchen found himself in a predicament he couldn’t talk his way out of.

Everyone despised traffickers to the bone. Jie Jingchen was locked in a small, dark room and the police were called. By the time Qin Mei returned leading Jie Duo by the hand, the police had just taken Jie Jingchen away.

Qin Mei led Jie Duo to look for Jie Jingchen, but she was stopped by the auntie with the red armband.

Qin Mei looked to the heavens. ’Have I committed a crime? I’m holding Xiao Duo’s hand, not Jie Jingchen’s. Why is this red-armbanded auntie singling me out?’

”Where’s your man?” the auntie asked Qin Mei right away.

The corner of Qin Mei’s mouth twitched. ’What does she mean?’ ”My husband is inside.”

The auntie said, ”Oh,” and stepped back to let Qin Mei lead the child inside.

Qin Mei was baffled. ’If my husband wasn’t inside, would the auntie not have let me in?’

The auntie thought for a moment, then couldn’t help but say, ”You’re too beautiful, and you’re with your cute daughter. People like you are easy targets for traffickers. You need to stick close to your man, don’t just wander around alone with your daughter.”

Qin Mei had been about to lose her temper, but hearing the auntie’s words, her anger instantly vanished. After all, the woman meant well. ’If she’s a bit long-winded, so be it.’

”Thank you for the warning,” Qin Mei said.

”Sigh!” The auntie sighed and said, ”Dear, don’t think I’m being nosy, but you need to take my words to heart. The police just took a bad guy away.”

”Are you sure he was a trafficker?” Qin Mei’s grip on Jie Duo’s hand tightened, and her eyes grew cold. ’If a trafficker ever dared to snatch Xiao Duo from me, I’d make them regret being born.’

”It’s more than likely,” the auntie said.

”What do you mean ’more than likely’? He’s definitely a trafficker! He was staking out the women’s restroom. How could he not be a trafficker?” someone else said indignantly.

Qin Mei looked at that person, wanting to say that it might not have been a trafficker, but a pervert.

Someone else chimed in, ”Exactly! And he came up with such a thorough excuse, saying his wife and child were in the restroom. Pah! Who would believe a reason like that?”

”The problem is, his wife and child weren’t in the restroom at all!” Everyone chimed in one after another, all condemning the supposed trafficker.

”He looked so handsome and respectable, too. Wasting it on dirty deeds instead of honest work. You really can’t judge a book by its cover!” The tone was a mix of regret and indignation.

’Wife and child in the restroom? Handsome and respectable?’ A bad feeling suddenly welled up inside her. Qin Mei lowered her head to look at Jie Duo.

’The trafficker they’re all so righteously condemning... it couldn’t be Jie Jingchen, could it?’

She had taken Xiao Duo to the restroom and had been gone for too long. Jie Jingchen must have gotten anxious waiting and gone looking for them near the restroom, only to be mistaken for a criminal. ’That seems highly likely.’

Qin Mei first led Jie Duo inside to look for him. The movie hadn’t ended yet, but there was no sign of Jie Jingchen. Then, Qin Mei took Jie Duo to the place where they had parked their bicycle. The bicycle was still there.

Qin Mei was now almost certain: Jie Jingchen had been taken away after being mistaken for a child trafficker.

”Fourth Aunt, where’s Fourth Uncle?” Jie Duo was too young to understand everything the adults were saying, but she knew the word ”trafficker.” Whenever her grandparents took her out, they would always remind her to stay close, not to run off, or a trafficker would snatch her away.

If she was snatched by a trafficker, she would never see her mommy and daddy or her grandma and grandpa again. The trafficker would hit her, and... and...