Ethan Bennett straightened up and let out two deep breaths. He saw that the brother without glasses was sitting cross-legged on the bed. At least he had some self-awareness, knowing to cover his feet with the quilt. But Ethan Bennett felt heartbroken—after all, that was his own quilt. With all that tossing around, wouldn’t he be left with a quilt that would “smell and cover” him in the middle of the night!

The girl across from him was quite kind. Noticing that Ethan Bennett had nowhere to put his suitcase, she kindly invited Ethan Bennett to put it under her bed.

Only then did the two chubby crosstalk guys notice another living person had arrived. One called him “buddy,” the other “brother,” but their questions were surprisingly consistent: “Where are you from? Where are you headed?”

Ethan Bennett answered truthfully.

The chubby guy with glasses adjusted his glasses and said seriously, “Good, college students should really work on their independent living skills. Kids in China these days…”

Ethan Bennett saw that he was talking to the girl, not to him, and since he’d worked up a sweat moving his suitcase and the train hadn’t left yet, he slipped downstairs for some fresh air. When he came back a moment later, the bespectacled guy was still not done with his lecture on Chinese education, now launching into a discussion comparing China and the West, trying to find a path to national strength.

Seeing Ethan Bennett return, the bespectacled guy finally paused his speech, eagerly climbed up to his upper bunk, and brought down a bag of tangerines to share with everyone. The stinky-feet chubby guy, probably thirsty from talking so much, didn’t hesitate—he peeled one and started munching away. The girl and Ethan Bennett hesitated, but seeing such enthusiasm, they accepted as well. After handing out the tangerines, the bespectacled guy didn’t give up, staring at the two and urging, “Go on, try it, see if it’s sweet.”

Ethan Bennett and the girl each ate a segment. Though it was terribly sour, they both grinned and said it was sweet.

But at that moment, Ethan Bennett grew suspicious. Ever since he started practicing the “Star Killing Technique,” all five senses had become sharper, including taste. As soon as the tangerine touched his tongue, he sensed something was off. His first thought was that the tangerine had gone bad, and he was about to say something when he caught a glimpse of the chubby guy’s sly smile hiding behind his glasses. Ethan Bennett shivered inside, feeling sure this guy was up to something.

So Ethan Bennett calmly popped another segment into his mouth and pretended to walk aside. Once out of sight, he immediately spat the two segments into his hand. Looking around, he spotted a bag of tangerines on the bed ahead and felt a surge of joy. As he passed by, he leaned over, swiped his hand, and stealthily took one.

He quickly stuffed the original tangerine back into the bag, peeled the new one, and wolfed down half of it in a few bites as he walked back.

Returning to his own bunk, he smiled at the two chubby guys and said, “There really aren’t many people in this sleeper car—everyone’s squeezed into the hard seats. These two bunks are still empty!”

The bespectacled chubby guy nodded in agreement. “Yeah! I wanted to buy a hard seat but couldn’t get one, seriously.” As he spoke, Ethan Bennett, under his eager gaze, finished eating a tangerine perfectly.

He then asked the stinky-feet chubby guy and the girl where they were headed. Hearing that their destinations were even farther than his own city A, he was completely at ease.

Finally, the train began to move slowly. Ethan Bennett saw the girl was already yawning repeatedly, so he muttered, “So sleepy, so sleepy.”

The two chubby guys immediately got up and said politely, “Go ahead and sleep.”

Ethan Bennett said, “I have to get off early tomorrow morning. I’m really afraid I’ll oversleep.”

The bespectacled chubby guy grinned honestly and said, “First time on a sleeper, brother? Don’t worry, didn’t they just take your ticket? When it’s time for you to get off, the conductor will come wake you and return your ticket.”

Ethan Bennett pretended to have a sudden realization and started making his bed. But as soon as he lifted a corner of the quilt, Ethan Bennett nearly fainted. After the chubby guy had covered his feet for so long, the stench inside had reached its peak. Ethan Bennett almost suspected the guy had set a poison gas trap for him.

People in the nearby bunks all pinched their noses, and a boisterous man in the next bunk shouted, “What’s that smell! What’s that smell?” Maybe he was sensitive to gas leaks, because he even poked his head out of his covers to look around, and immediately spotted Ethan Bennett holding up the corner of the quilt. The look of disdain in his eyes made Ethan Bennett want to die—he almost wanted to go over and break the chubby guy’s feet.

Ethan Bennett swore he’d never use that quilt again, so he tossed it into the corner of the bed and slept in his clothes. He’d planned to just pretend to sleep, but the stench lingered so long that he couldn’t sleep even if he wanted to.

After the train had been running for a while, the lights in the sleeper car went out. At first, there were still occasional coughs and whispers, but gradually only the rumble of the train remained.

At this point, the bespectacled chubby guy on the top bunk started to stir. He quietly climbed down from his bunk, looked around, and immediately got busy.

He rummaged through the girl’s clothes and the bag by her pillow, then moved over to Ethan Bennett’s side. Ethan Bennett didn’t move, letting him search him thoroughly. Then he went to the middle bunk and searched the other chubby guy, pinching his nose and shaking his head as he did so. Ethan Bennett secretly found it hilarious.

After he was done, he tossed the stolen items into a paper bag, stuffed it onto the luggage rack, and climbed back into bed. Ethan Bennett understood that he would definitely get off at the next stop and was ready for it.

Sure enough, as the train was about to arrive at the station, the chubby guy climbed down again, carrying only the bag of stolen goods and nothing else. He glanced at the three sleeping people, chuckled softly, and hurried off.