With the railway police accompanying her, Shen Jiaojiao’s courage grew. She began checking from the very first seat, her face gloomy and her manner arrogant. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought she was some wealthy young lady!
There were a lot of people on the train. The carriage was stuffy and smelly, with all kinds of odors mixed together, while the constant chatter and noise made Shen Jiaojiao’s head ache.
She angrily kicked someone’s luggage lying on the floor and shouted loudly, “Can everyone shut up already?!”
The commotion was so loud that the entire carriage instantly fell silent. Everyone turned to stare at her.
Shen Jiaojiao was actually rather pleased with herself. Her suspicious gaze swept over everyone one by one.
Then she cleared her throat. “There’s a thief on this train. Someone stole my luggage. If any of you know anything, you’d better tell me right now. If I catch the thief later, I’ll send them straight to the police!”
After waiting for quite a while and seeing that nobody said anything, she became furious.
“Fine, fine! Nobody’s talking, right? Then I’ll search for it myself. If I find it on any of you, you’d better believe I’ll make you regret it!”
With that, she shoved the two railway police officers forward and bossily ordered them, “Hurry up and help me look! Don’t just stand there like idiots!”
The two officers glared at Shen Jiaojiao unhappily, but ultimately said nothing because of her claimed connections. They silently began checking the passengers’ seats and the luggage racks.
On the way over, they had already asked Shen Jiaojiao what her missing luggage looked like, so they began searching accordingly.
But Shen Jiaojiao was still dissatisfied.
“What’s the point of just looking at the outside? What if they changed the bags my things were in? How are you supposed to find them like this?! Is this how you do your job?”
The two railway police officers were also getting angry. They stopped what they were doing and asked through gritted teeth, “Then what exactly do you want us to do? We can’t possibly open every passenger’s luggage and let you inspect it!”
“Of course you can!” Shen Jiaojiao said shamelessly. “My things are all valuable. You have to find them for me! If you don’t open these people’s luggage, how can you prove they didn’t steal my things?”
Her voice wasn’t quiet, and everyone nearby heard what she said.
Naturally, they weren’t happy about it.
An older woman immediately spoke up. “Hey, young lady, you can’t just make accusations like that! We’re all honest, law-abiding common people. How can you just open your mouth and accuse us of stealing your things?”
“Exactly, exactly…”
Shen Jiaojiao was already blinded by anger. She didn’t care who she was talking to and immediately lashed out.
“Whether you stole them or not, just open your bags and let me look! You say you didn’t steal anything, but how do I know that’s true? If you ask me, I even suspect that you were the one who stole them!”
“Hey, what’s wrong with you? Is there any law left? Just because you want to search us, we’re supposed to let you? There are so many of us. Are you planning to search every single person?”
Shen Jiaojiao couldn’t be bothered arguing with her.
Seeing that the railway police weren’t doing anything, she simply stepped forward, yanked a bag down from the luggage rack, and started rummaging through it herself.
Shen Qingqing also pretended to be anxious and hurried to the other side to help search for the missing things.
Unlike Shen Jiaojiao, however, she wasn’t stupid enough to actually rummage through other people’s bags. Instead, she kept apologizing to everyone and asking them to forgive her.
Seeing her attitude, the passengers couldn’t bring themselves to complain too much. Some even cooperated by standing up so she could check beneath their seats.
Although Shen Qingqing looked anxious on the outside, she knew perfectly well where the things were, so she was merely putting on an act.
Shen Jiaojiao, however, was completely different.
As she searched her way through the carriage, she tossed the passengers’ luggage around until everything was a complete mess. Her expression was dark and her movements rough. Everywhere she went looked as though it had been hit by a tornado, making everyone around her increasingly annoyed.
But she ignored them completely.
Right now, all she cared about was finding her dowry. She had no time to worry about anyone else’s feelings.
Several young men, unable to stand watching her casually rummage through other people’s luggage as though she had every right to do so, became furious and immediately moved forward to confront her.
Had the railway police not stopped them, Shen Qingqing could have witnessed Shen Jiaojiao being pinned to the floor and given a beating.
What a shame she missed it.
After a chaotic search, Shen Jiaojiao had practically searched the entire train.
Yet she couldn’t find even a trace of her dowry.
She was completely dumbfounded.
“How is this possible? There were so many things! How could they just disappear into thin air?”
This time, she was genuinely frightened, and tears began streaming down her face uncontrollably.
Shen Qingqing secretly smiled beside her.
Who told them to scheme against her dowry?
By now, the sun was already high in the sky, and it was time for lunch.
After spending the entire morning running around with Shen Jiaojiao, the two railway police officers were also sweating profusely. After searching the entire train without finding anything, they couldn’t be bothered humoring her any longer.
“Comrade, we’ve already searched the entire train. You’ve seen it yourself. Your missing belongings simply aren’t here. The other passengers aren’t obligated to tolerate your suspicions. Please stop making a scene.”
Shen Jiaojiao immediately became furious.
“What do you mean? You’re refusing to deal with this?”
The railway police didn’t bother arguing with her. They simply turned around and left.
They had already fulfilled their duty. Even if she reported them after getting off the train, they had nothing to fear.
This stupid woman had already angered everyone on the train. If they continued indulging her nonsense, that would be the real mistake.
Shen Jiaojiao watched helplessly as the railway police left. There was nothing she could do except angrily stomp her foot.
The sun hung high overhead, its scorching rays baking the train. The heat seeped through the metal walls and into the carriage.
The train was stifling and unbearably hot. Shen Jiaojiao was both anxious and furious, and if Shen Qingqing hadn’t supported her, she probably would have fainted on the spot.
It was already noon, and all of Shen Jiaojiao’s belongings were gone. Shen Qingqing hadn’t prepared any food either, so she had no choice but to spend money at the dining car and buy two meals.
Shen Qingqing felt a pang of heartache.
Food on the train was expensive. A box containing rice topped with one serving of shredded potatoes and one serving of vegetables cost a whopping eight-tenths of a yuan.
That was enough to buy a whole jin of pork outside!
Shen Qingqing clicked her tongue in pain.
But when she thought about all the good things she’d taken from Shen Jiaojiao, she suddenly felt that the expense wasn’t quite so difficult to accept.
She carried the meals back to their sleeping compartment and handed one to Shen Jiaojiao.
“Jiaojiao, eat something first.”
Shen Jiaojiao was lying on the bunk in a foul mood. Her eyes were swollen like walnuts from crying.
When she heard that Shen Qingqing still had the appetite to eat, she angrily sat upright and glared at her, shrieking, “You still have the nerve to eat?! All my luggage is gone! It was all the dowry Mom prepared for me! How am I supposed to get married now? And what will the Lu family think of me when I marry into their family?!”
The more she spoke, the angrier she became.
She grabbed the box of rice beside her and was about to throw it at Shen Qingqing.
Shen Qingqing merely glanced at her calmly.
“If you throw away the food, you won’t have anything to eat.”
Shen Jiaojiao froze.
She was furious and frustrated, but unfortunately, her stomach chose that exact moment to betray her with a loud growl.
She could only unwillingly put the meal back down.
Compared to that, what she hated even more was the fact that only her luggage had disappeared.
She and Shen Qingqing had been together the entire time, yet Shen Qingqing’s luggage was completely untouched.
If Shen Qingqing hadn’t only had that one tiny, pathetic bundle with her, Shen Jiaojiao would have suspected that Shen Qingqing had secretly stolen her belongings in the middle of the night.