Shen Qingqing smiled faintly. “All right, Jiaojiao, don’t be angry anymore. It’s not worth making yourself sick over it. Once we arrive, I’ll go to the police station with you and see if we can look for your things again.”
Seeing Shen Jiaojiao looking so furious, Shen Qingqing didn’t mind saying a few comforting words to her.
She happily ate her rice. Although the food tasted truly mediocre—the half-cooked rice paired with bland vegetables and potatoes with barely any oil made it difficult to swallow—this was simply how things were in this era. As long as she wasn’t going hungry, she was perfectly content.
Shen Jiaojiao looked at Shen Qingqing and the perfectly intact bundle beside her. Tears welled up in her eyes again.
Her eyes were red as she glared viciously at Shen Qingqing, filled with unwillingness.
“Why? Why did only my things disappear while yours are perfectly fine? Why did that thief only steal my things? Waaaah…”
Shen Qingqing almost burst out laughing. She desperately suppressed the corners of her lips and said innocently, “Oh, Jiaojiao, you brought so much luggage. It was really conspicuous, so they probably noticed you when we first boarded. As for me…”
She helplessly glanced at her pitiful little bundle.
“Maybe I brought too little. Nobody was interested in stealing it.”
Shen Jiaojiao was still unwilling to accept it. She angrily stuffed another large mouthful of rice into her mouth.
This had never happened in her previous life. Why had things suddenly changed this time?
In her previous life, her and Shen Qingqing’s dowries had been roughly the same. Could it really be, as that wretched girl had said, because she had brought too many things this time and attracted the thief’s attention?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
But now that things had come to this, there was probably no chance of recovering her belongings. She could only wait until they reached the island and find a way to write to her parents, asking them to send more things.
She absolutely couldn’t marry into the Lu family with practically nothing. That would be far too embarrassing!
She was going to become the wife of a regiment commander. How could she have no dowry at all? Wouldn’t everyone laugh at her?
After finishing her meal, Shen Jiaojiao temporarily put the matter of her dowry aside because she had thought of something more important.
She lay on the bunk, pretending to close her eyes and rest, but she wasn’t sleepy at all. Her mind was racing.
If she remembered correctly, something even more terrifying had happened on this train in her previous life.
At the same time, Shen Qingqing also remembered what had happened on this train in her previous life.
At the next station, a robber would board the train.
Trains in this era had no security checks, much less inspections of passengers’ belongings. The robber had attempted to steal something but was discovered and chased by several railway police officers. He also had a knife hidden on him.
When he realized he couldn’t escape, he would grab a passenger at random and use her as a hostage to threaten the railway police.
Shen Qingqing remembered that the female passenger who had been taken hostage had her face slashed. Because the wound was too deep, it caused permanent disfigurement.
The incident happened on this very train, which was why she still remembered it so clearly.
Shen Jiaojiao opened her eyes and glanced at Shen Qingqing. A venomous look flashed through her eyes.
Why had her dowry disappeared while Shen Qingqing’s belongings remained perfectly intact?
Among those bags had been several hundred yuan that her mother had specially given her. Now that the money and all her belongings were gone, her heart practically bled.
If she remembered correctly, her mother had also given Shen Qingqing some money. Although it wasn’t as much as hers, it was still more than a hundred yuan.
At a time when an ordinary worker only earned thirty or forty yuan a month, that was quite a substantial sum.
Shen Jiaojiao gritted her teeth.
No. She had to find a way to make Shen Qingqing encounter that robber ahead of time!
The two sisters were going to follow their husbands to the island. One of them would have a dowry while the other had nothing.
How could that work?
What would her future husband think of her?
But if Shen Qingqing’s face were disfigured too…
Then everyone’s attention would no longer be focused on her.
With that thought, Shen Jiaojiao couldn’t help curling her lips into a sinister smile.
Which carriage had the accident happened in again?
Shen Jiaojiao carefully racked her brain.
It seemed to have been behind their current carriage.
That’s right!
It seemed to be the carriage near the dining car.
Shen Jiaojiao glanced at the sun outside and estimated that the time was about right. She sat up and stretched lazily, then said as though casually, “Sis, why don’t you come with me and look again? Maybe we’ll find my dowry!”
Although Shen Qingqing had no idea what scheme she was plotting, she still nodded.
She wanted to see what other trouble Shen Jiaojiao was planning to cause.
Shen Jiaojiao pointed toward the back of the train.
“Sis, I remember we didn’t really search around the dining car. Why don’t we go take another look?”
Shen Qingqing had already figured out that Shen Jiaojiao had been reborn as well. Naturally, she knew that Shen Jiaojiao must also remember what had happened on this train.
But hearing that Shen Jiaojiao actually wanted to lure her to that particular carriage in this life still made her heart grow cold.
If she thought about it carefully, in their previous life, although Shen Jiaojiao and she hadn’t been particularly close, they had at least maintained a decent relationship on the surface.
So why, in this life, was Shen Jiaojiao determined to find ways to get her hurt?
Was it simply because Shen Qingqing had appeared to live a better life than her in their previous life?
Shen Qingqing stared coldly at her.
She had already guessed most of what Shen Jiaojiao was thinking.
Since Shen Jiaojiao had shown her no mercy, she couldn’t blame Shen Qingqing for returning the favor!
Shen Qingqing nodded, deliberately putting on an utterly unsuspecting expression.
“Sure! I’ll go with you. This time, we have to search thoroughly.”
Hearing this, Shen Jiaojiao was overjoyed. She hurriedly grabbed Shen Qingqing’s hand and pulled her toward the dining car.
Looking at how eager Shen Jiaojiao was, Shen Qingqing’s heart grew even colder.
She also wanted to see just how vicious Shen Jiaojiao could become.
Whatever came, she would deal with it accordingly. If Shen Jiaojiao truly intended to show her no mercy, then Shen Qingqing would simply turn her scheme against her and make her suffer the consequences herself.
Besides, she had the spiritual spring water. She wasn’t afraid of getting accidentally injured.
The spiritual spring water could heal wounds.
She had discovered this in her previous life when she had accidentally injured her arm. While fetching water from the space, her wound had accidentally come into contact with the spiritual spring water.
To her astonishment, the wound had slowly begun healing.
What shocked her most was that after it healed, not even the slightest scar remained.
It was almost as if she had never been injured at all.
So even if she accidentally got hurt later, she wasn’t worried about being left with a scar.
The two quickly arrived at the carriage beside the dining car.
Each of them had their own agenda as they looked around the carriage, pretending to search for the missing dowry.
In reality, however, both of them were secretly watching the entrance connecting the carriages from the corners of their eyes.
Just then, the train arrived at a station and slowly came to a stop.
A group of passengers had just squeezed off the train when someone suddenly rushed through the doorway.
Shen Qingqing’s expression sharpened.
She immediately became alert and kept a close eye on Shen Jiaojiao beside her.
A young man came running after the person.
He was sweating profusely and shouted loudly,
“Stop him! He’s a thief!”
The aisle was already packed with people, while several tall railway police officers from the carriage ahead were rushing toward them.
With nowhere left to run, the thief suddenly pulled a dagger from his pocket and reached out toward the crowd in front of him.
At that moment, Shen Qingqing also got a clear look at the young man chasing him.
He was wearing a naval uniform. Tall and imposing, he carried an intense aura of pressure as he pursued the thief.
A flash of delight appeared in Shen Jiaojiao’s eyes.
Without the slightest hesitation, she reached out her hand—
and was about to push Shen Qingqing forward.