At 9:15 AM, the high-speed train entered the station, and many young men and women, appearing to be students, boarded with their luggage.
Yao An had originally intended to buy a special class seat, as Suzhou is over 90 kilometers from Shanghai, and a special class seat would only be around 60 yuan.
However, because this train was not the originating station and she bought the ticket relatively late, she couldn't get special class or first class seats, so she could only choose the economical second class.
She didn't know what was going on today; usually, it should be the other way around.
"Did you cry just now?"
"No."
"You did cry, I saw it! You cold little Fox spirit actually sheds tears."
"I didn't!"
After placing their suitcases at the rear of the carriage, the two women chatted and laughed as they searched for their seats.
"11F, 11E."
Jiang Jingya mumbled the seat numbers and quickly arrived at row 11.
Their seats were a pair, but the window seat was already occupied.
It was a pregnant woman.
"Excuse me, I think you might be in the wrong seat. These are our seats."
Jiang Jingya politely engaged with her, but received no response.
The other party was leaning back in the chair, feigning sleep. Yao An had just seen her close her eyes when they approached.
"Hello~"
Jiang Jingya called out again, still without a response.
She shrugged helplessly, indicating she had no solution.
If it were an ordinary person, she wouldn't mind waking them up, but it was a pregnant woman, who, by convention, enjoys many privileges.
Yao An looked around; all the seats were taken, and the train would depart soon.
The other party likely bought a standing ticket.
"You sit here. I can stand."
Jiang Jingya shook her head.
"You sit. My neck has been hurting recently. The doctor said it's from sitting too long and advised me to stand more, which is good for my health."
"Stop lying! You kept saying you were tired when you were carrying the suitcase and wanted to get a good sleep on the train."
"I didn't say that; you misheard."
"Anyway, it's only half an hour. I'll just play on my phone, and it'll be over. You sit."
"Hmm, you're right, so you sit."
As Jiang Jingya and Yao An offered each other the seat, the pregnant woman feigning sleep curled her lips in disdain.
"A broken seat, passing it back and forth. If you like standing so much, why don't you both stand?"
She spoke very softly, but the two women still heard her.
Jiang Jingya was stunned, then shot her an angry glare.
"How can you be like this? You clearly took our seats."
Her voice was quite loud, and many people in the carriage heard her.
Occupying seats is disliked, but people are indifferent. No one wants to get involved in such messy affairs, especially since the person occupying the seat was a pregnant woman. A single complaint of a stomach ache would be enough to cause a huge headache, making it extremely troublesome.
The pregnant woman refused to communicate, turning her face away as if asleep.
Jiang Jingya felt like she was punching cotton; she couldn't exert any force and felt uncomfortably stifled.
"I'll call the flight attendant."
Before she could even pull out her phone, Yao An, beside her, had already taken off her shoulder bag and unceremoniously placed it on the pregnant woman's lap.
"Hey?! What are you doing?!"
The pregnant woman immediately woke up, glaring at the Fox spirit in front of her, ready to pick up the shoulder bag and toss it aside.
"My laptop in the bag isn't very sturdy. It contains data models from a financial company, worth seventy thousand yuan. Be careful not to damage it."
Jiang Jingya looked at her best friend, utterly bewildered.
Yao An's laptop had no data models; it was probably full of various ancient costume fantasy dramas.
She knew, but others didn't. The pregnant woman, hearing "seventy thousand yuan," immediately released her grip on the strap and loudly said:
"What does the price of your laptop have to do with me? Why are you putting it on my lap? Quickly take your bag..."
Before she could finish, Yao An, expressionless, made a shushing gesture.
"This is a public place. Please lower your voice and show some manners. I've heard that a mother's lack of manners can affect the fetus, though I'm not sure if it's true."
The pregnant woman indeed fell silent.
"Furthermore, I need to correct you on one point: I did not place the bag on your lap. I placed it on my seat. It's just that you were blocking my bag, which is why it didn't land on the seat."
"Pfft." The surrounding people couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Jiang Jingya was among those who laughed.
This pretty girl's thinking is so clear; her rebuttal is well-reasoned and justified.
"I'm pregnant!"
The woman was very proud, as if she had been granted a death-exempting golden token.
Yao An looked puzzled.
"So what? What does that have to do with me? Do you want the whole world to know?"
She actually wanted to ask, "Is the child mine?" but considering her current gender wouldn't achieve the desired offensive power, she expressed it in a relatively subtle way.
"You're also a woman. Have you ever thought about how desperate you'd be if no one gave up their seat for you when you're pregnant in the future?"
Yao An tilted her head, looking at her in confusion.
"But I like women, so I won't get pregnant in the future. And even if I did, I wouldn't buy a standing ticket."
The pregnant woman immediately flushed, her mouth opening and closing for a long time, unable to find a retort.
Perhaps feeling too awkward, she said fiercely:
"Take the bag away!"
"If you're going to leave, please place it on the seat next to you."
The pregnant woman glared at Yao An for more than ten seconds, then carefully and gently picked up the backpack and placed it next to her.
Then she stood up, holding her big belly.
"Get out of my way!"
Yao An and Jiang Jingya moved aside. The pregnant woman panted for two seconds, then left unwillingly.
As she left, she cursed, "Looking like a Fox spirit, you're clearly no good."
"I hope your lack of manners isn't hereditary to your child."
Yao An seemed to be talking to herself, but the pregnant woman clearly heard it, as her footsteps noticeably paused.
Then she angrily left the carriage.
"Well done, Miss!"
Someone, an enthusiastic male college student, shouted, and scattered applause immediately erupted in the carriage.
This carriage was mostly young people; no one with an overflowing "saintly" heart accused Yao An of being cold-blooded.
It's true that pregnant women have privileges, but the other party's abuse of this privilege made many people feel shameless.
Compared to the woman's exasperation, Yao An spoke softly and clearly throughout, and her actions undoubtedly brought relief to many people, garnering a wave of goodwill.
"An'an, I really need to get to know you again."
After sitting back in her seat, Jiang Jingya looked at her best friend with a gaze full of "strangeness."
Yao An pretended to clear her throat and raised her hand.
"Hello, Little Cake, I am the little Fox spirit."
Yao An's personality was typically fierce outside the home; at home, she was soft and seemed like anyone could bully her, but outside, she was always intrinsically very strong.
And her many clever ideas could also support this assertiveness.
Otherwise, she wouldn't deserve the title of "strategist."
Jiang Jingya beamed and shook her hand firmly.
"My concubine performed very well, a reward!"
After saying "reward," she opened her mouth as if to bite Yao An's earlobe.
Yao An reacted in time, quickly covering her ear to avoid it.
Jiang Jingya put her hands on her hips and hummed twice.
"Hmm, confirmed. You're still the An'an I know."
"By the way, was what you just said true?"
"Hmm? Which part?"
"The part about liking girls."
"It's true."
"Ah? Is that why you don't have a boyfriend?"
"Then what's your reason for not having a boyfriend?"
"Actually, like you, I also like girls. We two could get married right here."
"One of us is lying."
"It's also possible that both of us are telling the truth."
...The high-speed train started moving. Yao An leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes. Jiang Jingya put an earbud into the little Fox spirit's ear.
The song playing in the earbud was Jay Chou's "Dandelion's Promise."