"Someone's taking pictures! Pervert!"
In the subway, everyone quietly looked at their phones, minding their own business.
A woman's scream shattered the silent peace.
Everyone raised their heads and looked towards the source of the commotion. In a corner of the subway car, a well-dressed young woman was grabbing a disheveled middle-aged man, looking at him with an angry expression.
"Everyone, come and see! There's a pervert! He's using his phone to take pictures of me!" the woman shouted, the man whose collar she was grabbing looking extremely embarrassed.
"I, I didn't. I didn't take any pictures," the middle-aged man stammered, shaking his head rapidly. However, his slovenly appearance didn't leave a good impression.
In an instant, the people in the car sided with the well-dressed woman.
"Ugh! There's actually a pervert!"
"He even dares to take pictures in broad daylight."
"Looking so sleazy, he must be a pro."
"Let's call the police and then take a picture of him and post it online so he'll be socially dead."
Amidst the chatter, the middle-aged man's fate seemed to be decided by the crowd. Listening to everyone's words, a look of shame and indignation appeared on his face.
"I, I didn't take any pictures!"
"Whether he took pictures or not, we'll know once we check his phone," someone immediately retorted as soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking.
Hearing this, everyone agreed and demanded to check the middle-aged man's phone.
To prove his innocence, the middle-aged man hurriedly took out his phone. He clumsily unlocked the screen and was about to hand the phone over for inspection when a hand pressed down on the middle-aged man's phone.
Under everyone's gaze, Jiang Wen, dressed in casual clothes, calmly stood up.
"I don't think it's legal to check someone else's phone without permission," Jiang Wen said, looking at the surrounding passengers. "Only the police have the right to check private property. No one else has the right to demand that someone make their private property public, right?"
"But he took pictures of me!" the woman who was allegedly photographed said in a shrill voice. "Am I not allowed to protect my legitimate rights and interests?"
"That's right, this young girl is so vulnerable. And she was secretly photographed. Doesn't she have any self-respect?"
"This society is really malicious towards women. There are even men protecting illegal acts like taking pictures."
"I bet he's a pervert too."
The surrounding girls whispered, and the woman's expression became even more smug. The support from the crowd gave her confidence, and she looked at Jiang Wen with a menacing aura.
"Get out of the way, I'm going to check his phone today."
"Just because uncle was squatting on the ground means he was taking pictures of you? Why are you so self-righteous?" Jiang Wen retorted without hesitation. "Does that mean everyone squatting on the ground to rest is a suspect for taking pictures of you?"
"That's different, he just looks like a sneaky rat," the woman said stubbornly.
"If we're judging by appearance, then you should look at yourself first," Jiang Wen said calmly.
"You're so sure that uncle was taking pictures of you. What if uncle didn't take any pictures of you? What are you going to do then?"
"What am I going to do?" The woman was amused by Jiang Wen's words. "Even if that's really the case, am I not allowed to protect my legitimate rights and interests?"
"Your rights are rights, but aren't uncle's rights? You say everyone is equal, but why are you so special? You say this uncle took pictures of you, then look at what you're wearing today!" Jiang Wen pointed to the woman's clothes and snorted.
"Wearing long pants and accusing others of taking pictures of you, aren't you being a bit unreasonable?"
After Jiang Wen finished speaking, the surrounding people suddenly felt that it made sense. Although everyone initially judged based on gender, feeling that the young girl was at a disadvantage compared to the middle-aged man.
But after hearing Jiang Wen's words, everyone also felt that this girl was being unreasonable.
"That's right, you're wearing long pants, how can you say someone was taking pictures of you?"
"There's no such thing as randomly looking at someone else's phone. If anyone holding a phone becomes a pervert, then what do we need the police for?"
"It's better to wait for the police to come and see who's lying."
The woman's face turned pale as she listened. She glared at Jiang Wen and said through gritted teeth, "Who knows if you men are protecting each other? You guys do this kind of thing a lot."
"You're already putting labels on people before the truth is determined. It seems that the justice you want is just your own justice," Jiang Wen said, shaking his head indifferently after hearing the woman's words. "I think you're slandering uncle's reputation."
As Jiang Wen spoke, he turned to look at the middle-aged man beside him. He looked honest and seemed to be a migrant worker who had just come down from a construction site.
His whole body was covered in cement, and his hands had all kinds of rough cracks.
And the middle-aged man's phone screen was already cracked, and even the body was worn out. It was obviously an old antique that had been used for many years.
Jiang Wen held the uncle's hand and gave him a comforting smile: "Uncle, I believe you are innocent. If the police come later and prove your innocence, I hope you can sue this girl for defamation."
"This, how can this be? It's fine as long as things are cleared up, cleared up," the middle-aged man smiled honestly, waving his hands quickly as he listened to Jiang Wen's words. He seemed unwilling to pursue the girl's responsibility.
Comparing the attitudes of the two, even more passersby stood on the middle-aged man's side. Everyone felt that this girl was making trouble unreasonably and wanted to frame the uncle.
Seeing this scene, the woman's face was extremely ugly.
The crowd advised her to apologize to the middle-aged man, but she insisted on sitting in her seat and waiting for the police to come.
After the subway arrived at the next station, the police who had rushed to the scene investigated the matter. Checking the uncle's phone, they didn't find any indecent photos.
Under the onlookers of the crowd, the woman bit her lip and apologized to the uncle. She glared at Jiang Wen fiercely and walked away with a clatter of high heels.
The onlookers dispersed, everyone's faces showing satisfaction after watching the drama, and they left the subway station in twos and threes.
As Jiang Wen was about to leave, the uncle gratefully grabbed his hand.
"Thank you so much for what happened just now. I don't know, young man, what's your name?" the uncle said, taking out two hundred yuan bills from his pocket and handing them to Jiang Wen.
Jiang Wen declined with a smile, not accepting the two hundred yuan: "My name is Jiang Wen, uncle. You're welcome, I just can't stand this kind of unfair thing, I just wanted to meddle."
As he spoke, Jiang Wen walked towards the outside of the station.
Leaving the uncle alone watching his departing figure, revealing a grateful expression: "What a good person."
Looking at the scenery in the city, Jiang Wen felt a sense of恍惚. He realized that it had been a long time since he had been to this first-tier city.
