Speaking of which, the man looked at them with utter disdain and said, "Have you heard the saying, 'A horse won't get fat without night fodder, and a man won't get rich without illicit gains'?"
Upon hearing this, others nearby were eager to place their bets.
"I'm a poor man, I don't have much money, so I'll just put two yuan on this bet!" said a man in a cotton-padded jacket, looking very honest and simple.
Su Xiaotian just found the scene before her very strange.
After all, the way these people were dressed didn't make them look like they could afford a sleeper carriage.
She wondered how many of these people were in cahoots with the scammers.
"Then I'll bet all ten yuan I have."
The man, who had been hesitant, seemed encouraged. Despite his hesitation, he took out all the money he had.
Could this man be the target customer they were after?
Su Xiaotian thought, but then felt it didn't quite fit.
At this moment, several men gathered around seemed to spot Su Xiaotian and called out with a smile, "Little girl, want to play a round? It's a lot of fun!"
When Su Xiaotian heard this, she understood. It turned out she was also a target customer.
Indeed, before these scammers plan to cheat people, they don't have fixed targets; anyone willing to fall into their trap is fair game.
Su Xiaotian didn't want to draw too much attention at this moment, so she immediately turned to leave.
"Little girl, don't go, it's a lot of fun!" someone in the group continued to call out.
Although the little girl was young, she looked like she had money. If they could play a few rounds, they could increase their income, couldn't they?
But Su Xiaotian turned and left immediately, without so much as an extra word.
She didn't even react to the scammers' teasing, as if she were afraid of them.
"Oh dear, a little girl running into a crowd of smelly men to play cards, how is that possible?"
"It's not impossible for her to come over and play a couple of rounds. Who says little girls can't play cards?"
"Come on, let's continue playing our own game. It's just a little girl!"
As Su Xiaotian walked away, she could still hear their conversation.
It wasn't until she walked out of carriage number nine that Su Xiaotian felt a bit more at ease.
Although exposing these people was important, it was better to keep a low profile when traveling.
Even if she had to cause trouble, it should be when things got out of control. As for the current problems, they were actually easy to solve.
Since they were on a train, it would be better to let the railway police handle these matters.
Su Xiaotian decided to find a railway police officer and explain the situation clearly.
However, Su Xiaotian was not one to act without preparation. Since she had decided to hand the matter over to the railway police, she naturally had to be prepared and provide necessary guesses and clues.
Su Xiaotian quickly calculated in her mind what the scammers' subsequent actions would be.
She figured that after getting the money, the scammers would definitely get off at the nearest station.
After all, once they successfully disembarked, even if the victims realized something was wrong, it would be impossible to find these people no matter how vast the world was.
Moreover, with the train starting, it wouldn't stop without reason.
The longer the delay, the safer these people would be.
Su Xiaotian thought about when these people were most likely to get off.
She subconsciously recalled the train schedule.
If the train was not delayed, the next station would be in a little over two hours.
It would be around nine o'clock.
If these people could achieve their goal within these two hours, they would most likely get off when the train stopped around nine o'clock.
If they missed the next station, it would be difficult to succeed. Su Dan Novel Network
After ten o'clock on the train, the lights would be turned off, making it difficult to commit crimes.
If they couldn't make money, their objective wouldn't be achieved.
And it was unlikely that the scammers would travel for more than ten hours to an unfamiliar city.
With these thoughts clear in her mind, Su Xiaotian quickened her pace.
As she walked, she didn't find Fan Shufang and Yang Liming. She guessed they had gone in the wrong direction.
But it didn't matter; as long as she could find a railway police officer in this direction.
The carriage they were in was in the middle to rear of the train. To continue forward, she had to pass several more carriages, including hard sleeper carriages, dining car carriages, and some hard seat carriages.
There weren't many people in the hard sleeper carriages and the dining car carriage, but when she reached the hard seat carriages, Su Xiaotian finally felt the crowdedness of a train.
The hard seat carriages were packed with people.
Compared to the sleeper carriages, the people here wore more rustic and old-fashioned clothes, some with patches all over them.
These people also carried more luggage, but most of it was in the form of snakeskin bags and sacks.
Some people had seats and sat comfortably, chatting and laughing with each other.
But there were also some people without seats, squatting or leaning against the carriage walls, their expressions looking more desolate, even as if they didn't want to say a word.
Fortunately, no one was trying to scam these people.
A few dozen yuan was all these people had in their possession.
If someone were to truly scam them, it would likely lead to a death.
At this time, although there were scammers, it wasn't like a few years later when there were organized scamming groups everywhere.
Thank goodness!
The railway police officer found it hard to believe after hearing Su Xiaotian's account.
The reasons for disbelief were, firstly, that they thought no one would be so bold as to openly scam people on a train. Secondly, they thought that Su Xiaotian, being a young girl, might not be telling the truth.
Perhaps the young girl was mistaken due to her age?
Playing cards on a train was common, so how could they accuse someone of being a scammer without any evidence?
They had suspected it before, but many times it turned out to be people they knew playing cards together, and when they intervened, they were just meddling.
After all, playing cards was a matter of mutual consent.
As railway police officers, they couldn't just accuse someone of having problems without reason.
"Little girl, if no one reports it, we can't handle it," the young railway police officer said with a frown.
Su Xiaotian didn't expect the railway police officer to say that, and for a moment, she didn't know how to respond.
"Officer, how about this, you go to carriage number nine half an hour before the train stops at the next station. If no one reports anything there, then forget it."
This was the only solution Su Xiaotian could think of.
Going there in advance would create convenient conditions for the victims and save them time. If they were indeed scammers, they could be dealt with promptly.
Although the railway police officer thought what the little girl said was a bit far-fetched, going to check in advance didn't seem impossible.
After all, they patrolled all the carriages many times a day, so it would be convenient to schedule a visit to carriage number nine.
At this point, the railway police officer also thought that carriage number nine was a sleeper carriage.
Even though it was a hard sleeper, many of the people on it were wealthy.
Perhaps, it was indeed possible that someone was being scammed and suffered losses.
"Alright, little girl, we'll send two people to take a look then."
The railway police officers had heard that some people did get scammed on trains.
If they went to take a look and could catch a few scammers, it would be a merit.