With dreams of her future life filling her head, Shen Jiaojiao soon fell asleep.
As the sky outside gradually darkened, Shen Qingqing opened her eyes when she heard Shen Jiaojiao’s steady breathing beside her.
She reached out and, in one swift motion, collected all the luggage on the floor into her dimensional space.
It all happened in an instant, almost without making a sound.
Shen Jiaojiao was sleeping soundly and had no idea that the dowry she had gone to such lengths to obtain had already disappeared without a trace.
Having accomplished her goal, Shen Qingqing closed her eyes again.
This time, she was the one secretly laughing to herself.
She was genuinely looking forward to seeing Shen Jiaojiao’s reaction when she woke up the next morning and discovered that all her luggage had vanished!
The next morning, the sky was just beginning to brighten.
Shen Qingqing was sleeping soundly when a sharp scream suddenly rang beside her.
“Ah! My dowry!”
Shen Qingqing abruptly opened her eyes.
Shen Jiaojiao was crouching barefoot on the floor, her face filled with disbelief.
“Where are my things? Where’s my luggage?”
She was sweating profusely from anxiety.
She dropped to the floor and desperately looked underneath the bed.
“Where did all the things I brought go?”
A flash of triumphant amusement quickly passed through Shen Qingqing’s eyes.
She immediately crouched down as well, doing her best to make her voice sound natural.
“What happened, Jiaojiao? What’s going on?”
Hearing this, Shen Jiaojiao suddenly raised her head, tears streaming down her face.
“All my luggage is gone! How is that possible?
“It was all there last night before we went to sleep. You saw it too, right? It was all sitting on the floor perfectly fine. How could everything disappear the moment I opened my eyes this morning?”
She cried out anxiously,
“What are you standing there for? Hurry up and get down here and help me look!”
But the sleeper compartment was only so large, and no one had come in here.
Could the luggage have somehow grown wings and flown away on its own?
Shen Jiaojiao became even more frantic.
Those were all valuable things!
Her mother had spent a great deal of money preparing that dowry for her.
It contained everything she needed for daily life, as well as several of the most fashionable clothes currently available at the supply and marketing cooperative.
She hadn’t even worn them once!
How could they have disappeared while she was sleeping?
“Waaaaah…”
Shen Jiaojiao cried even harder.
Tears and snot streamed down her face as she became completely frantic.
Shen Qingqing, however, remained calm.
After pretending to search around for a while, she innocently spread her hands.
“It’s really gone?”
“It really is! Waaaah…”
Shen Jiaojiao was crying so hard she could barely breathe.
“Wait! What about the conductors? Let’s ask them. Maybe there’s still a chance!”
With that, Shen Jiaojiao ran out, shouting for someone.
Shen Qingqing rubbed the sleep from her eyes before leisurely following her out.
She was also curious to see what Shen Jiaojiao planned to do next.
Soon, two female train attendants were dragged to their sleeper compartment by Shen Jiaojiao.
Shen Jiaojiao quickly repeated what had happened, then grabbed one of the attendants’ hands tightly.
“My luggage was lost on your train! You have to take responsibility!
“Find it for me!
“If you can’t find my luggage today, I’m not getting off this train!”
Train attendants in this era certainly didn’t have the same service attitude as those in later generations.
Anyone who could work aboard a train generally had an education and connections.
They were government employees, after all.
How could they possibly allow Shen Jiaojiao to bully them?
The female attendant slapped Shen Jiaojiao’s hand away with an arrogant expression and said disdainfully,
“Lady! There are plenty of thieves and pickpockets on trains. If you’ve lost something, look for it yourself.
“We’re very busy. We don’t have time to fool around with you.
“Who told you not to keep an eye on your own luggage?”
“Besides, so many people lose things on trains. If every single person came to us and demanded that we take responsibility, would we still be able to do our jobs?”
After saying this, the attendant rolled her eyes and turned to leave.
But Shen Jiaojiao quickly rushed to the doorway and blocked their path.
“I don’t care!
“All that luggage of mine disappeared into thin air on your train. You have to take responsibility!
“Let me tell you, my husband is a deputy battalion commander in the military.”
As she spoke, she pulled Shen Qingqing over.
“See? This is my biological sister. Her husband is a deputy regiment commander.
“If you refuse to help us…”
“We’ll make sure to find your superiors and report this properly once we get off the train!”
The expressions of the two attendants darkened.
But if what these women were saying was true, they really couldn’t simply ignore the matter.
After all, military personnel held a highly respected position in this era.
And their husbands held fairly high ranks.
If they refused to do anything and the matter was reported to their superiors, they could even lose their jobs.
So their attitudes softened somewhat.
The fact that the two women could afford sleeper berths also suggested that, even if their claims weren’t completely true, their backgrounds probably weren’t ordinary.
“All right. But let me make this clear first. We can help you look for your things, but whether we can find them is not our responsibility.”
Shen Jiaojiao raised her eyebrows and was about to say something more.
But Shen Qingqing was faster.
She stepped forward excitedly and took the attendant’s hand.
“Thank you so much, comrades!
“My sister’s luggage contains all of her dowry. Please help her look for it. These things are genuinely very important to her!
“If you two comrades can help my sister find everything, she will definitely thank you properly.”
The attendants’ expressions improved considerably.
Their tone also became much less harsh.
However, their good attitude was directed entirely toward Shen Qingqing.
When they glanced at Shen Jiaojiao’s disdainful expression, their dislike for her grew even stronger, and their tone toward her remained somewhat unfriendly.
“What are you still standing around for? Come with us and look.
“The train hasn’t stopped at any stations since last night. If someone really stole your things, they probably haven’t had a chance to move them yet.
“Don’t waste time. The other members of our train crew have their own duties to attend to. We can’t spare that many people to help you.”
Shen Jiaojiao snorted coldly but wisely didn’t say anything more.
After all, she still needed their help.
Perhaps the female attendant simply didn’t want to deal with Shen Jiaojiao herself, so she went out and brought two male railway police officers over.
“Here. If you need anything, talk to these two comrades. They’ll help you search for your things.”
Although Shen Qingqing didn’t want to go with them, she still needed to put on an act.
She anxiously grabbed Shen Jiaojiao and pulled her outside.
“Jiaojiao, you’ve lost so many things. Let’s hurry and look.
“If the train stops at a station later, it’ll be even harder to find everything.”
Shen Jiaojiao rolled her eyes.
“As if you need to tell me that.”
With that, she turned around and proudly led the railway police officers toward the first carriage to begin searching.
Her mother had spent so much money preparing those things for her.
They were all valuable items.
And quite a few of them had even come from Shen Qingqing.
Those were things that money couldn’t necessarily buy!
The more Shen Jiaojiao thought about it, the angrier and more aggrieved she became.
She simply turned all that grievance into fury.
If she caught the thief who had stolen her belongings, she would make sure to skin them alive!
How dare anyone steal Shen Jiaojiao’s things!