“Thought you were someone who stepped in to catch a thief out of a sense of justice, but who knew you were also someone who saw money and got greedy.”
“Give us back our money and tickets!”
“Quickly go find the train police to sort this out!”
…
Everyone was shouting and clamoring, and Su Xiaotian felt a headache coming on.
She said loudly, “You all say your money and tickets are here, but who can prove that this money and these tickets belong to you?”
Many of these people had genuinely lost money and tickets, but there were definitely some who would take advantage of the situation to fish in troubled waters.
If the money and tickets were returned directly according to what these people said, it definitely wouldn’t be enough.
Hua Xiucheng looked at Su Xiaotian with approval. This young girl was indeed remarkable, thinking so profoundly at such a young age.
“Then what do you suggest we do?” someone couldn’t help but ask.
Could it be that their money was just lost and unrecoverable?
Su Xiaotian said, “Could someone please go and invite the train police over? Once the train police arrive, we will hand over all this money and belongings to them, and then everyone can go to the train police to register and resolve the issue!”
As soon as she finished speaking, some people hurried off to find the train police, and more than one person went.
Clearly, everyone was eager to resolve the matter.
“Little girl, haven’t you considered that the train police might not be able to solve this problem?” Hua Xiucheng said in a low voice.
Su Xiaotian glanced at Hua Xiucheng and said with a smile, “Whether the train police can solve it or not is not my concern. In any case, I’ve successfully handed over the matter.”
At worst, if the train police couldn’t solve it, they would send it directly to the railway police station.
As for the people who lost their money and tickets, they would have to get off the train and wait.
Su Xiaotian had no intention of helping to solve these problems.
If she handled this well, there would be no credit, but if she handled it poorly, she would definitely be blamed. She wasn’t a fool.
Hua Xiucheng had initially thought that Su Xiaotian would come up with a solution to the problem, but he hadn’t expected her to have such an attitude. At that moment, Hua Xiucheng was somewhat disappointed.
But on second thought, if it’s not your business, stay out of it, and that seemed to be reasonable.
Never mind, it was already quite difficult for the young girl to think of a way to extricate herself completely from this matter.
Soon, the train police arrived.
Hua Xiucheng briefly explained the situation and then, under everyone’s gaze, handed over the money, tickets, and other valuables stolen from the thieves to the train police.
There were two train police officers who came this time. One was holding the stolen money and goods, while the other had to escort the two thieves, making him rather busy.
“Could someone please help the train police escort these two thieves!” Hua Xiucheng, following Su Xiaotian’s idea, did not offer to escort them himself. Instead, he spoke out loudly.
After all, none of them had lost any money or belongings, so there was no need for them to go along.
However, a few people who were anxious to get their money back voluntarily offered to help escort the thieves.
The remaining people, in order to prevent their money and belongings from being lost, also followed along in a large group.
Su Xiaotian waited until everyone had gone far away before finally letting out a long sigh of relief.
“Little girl, I thought you were going to help.”
“Help? Why should I help? Could it be that our train police comrades can’t even solve such a small problem?”
Su Xiaotian glanced at Hua Xiucheng and said faintly.
Hua Xiucheng was stunned. What? Such a simple problem?
This kind of problem easily led to disputes, so how could it be easy?
“Tell me your thoughts!” Hua Xiucheng finally asked Su Xiaotian.
Su Xiaotian said with a smile, “Most of these people have genuinely lost money and items, but there are definitely a few who are trying to take advantage of the situation, thinking they might be able to make a small fortune.”
Hua Xiucheng already knew this, so he just nodded slightly.
Su Xiaotian continued, “It’s impossible to get any results by questioning these people, but what if we question the thieves?”
Hua Xiucheng thought about it. He had entered a misunderstanding, always thinking of questioning the victims, but he hadn’t considered that at this time, perhaps only what the thieves said would be the truth.
“You’re right. Then we won’t bother with it anymore. Let’s go back to sleep.”
After saying this, Hua Xiucheng lay back down on his berth.
In reality, he hadn’t fallen asleep.
He was thinking. He was a very alert person, so why had he slept so soundly tonight?
If it weren’t for the little girl catching the thieves, the things he carried might have been stolen as well.
Not only Hua Xiucheng couldn’t sleep, but Su Xiaosi and Chi Yiyuan, although they had climbed onto their berths one after another, also dared not sleep.
Su Xiaotian was tired after exerting herself in the previous incident and quickly fell asleep.
When she woke up after sleeping enough, the sky was already bright.
Everyone else was already awake, but they all looked a bit tired, likely due to not having rested well.
Su Xiaotian greeted them before going to wash up.
After a simple wash, when she returned to her seat, Su Xiaosi was already holding warm water for her.
“Xiaotian, drink some water.”
After thanking her fourth brother, Su Xiaotian drank a few sips of water.
“Xiaotian, did you sleep well last night? Were you scared?”
He had wanted to ask these questions last night but couldn’t. He was afraid that asking would make Su Xiaotian even more scared.
He had tossed and turned all night, and finally, when morning came, he asked this question.
Su Xiaotian smiled and shook her head, “A little at first, I was afraid they had weapons. Later, when they said they were going to take me away and sell me, I wasn’t scared anymore.”
It wasn’t that she wasn’t scared, but she knew that being scared was useless. The thieves weren’t just thieves; they were also planning to be human traffickers.
Hearing that the thieves had even thought of taking Su Xiaotian away to sell her, Su Xiaosi’s heart trembled.
He had brought his sister out, and he never imagined that on the first day, he almost lost his sister.
Fortunately, his sister was alert, otherwise, he would be unable to live with himself right now.
Su Xiaosi said guiltily, “Xiaotian, it’s my fault. If I hadn’t been sleeping so soundly, I could have protected you.”
He decided that starting from tonight, he wouldn’t even blink and would definitely keep a close eye on his sister.
“No one could have expected this, Fourth Brother. You don’t need to blame yourself. Everything is fine now!” Su Xiaotian smiled and comforted her brother.
“No, I have to go find the train police and severely punish those two. Stealing money is one thing, but they even wanted to take people away and sell them!” Su Xiaosi suddenly stood up, ready to rush out.
Chi Yiyuan grabbed his arm and said, “Don’t be impulsive. Even if we tell the train police about this now, it won’t lead to heavier punishment for those two.”
“Why?” Su Xiaosi asked unwillingly.
“There’s no evidence, and besides, Xiaotian is fine here.”
Chi Yiyuan was also angry, but he was more rational than Su Xiaosi.
Su Xiaosi was so angry. Just because people are fine, they can’t be severely punished?
Must they wait until something happens to people before they can be punished?
What would be the point of that?
“Don’t worry, so many people went with them last night and haven’t come back yet. Those two definitely won’t get away with it!” m..oΓg
Su Xiaotian looked at the still somewhat empty carriage and said with a smile.
“Do you want to come with me and take a look?” Hua Xiucheng said with a hearty laugh.
Su Xiaotian wasn’t very interested in paying attention to these matters, so she resolutely shook her head, “I haven’t had breakfast yet.”
After saying this, Su Xiaosi quickly took out the eggs he brought from home, then took out some flatbread, and finally, a few washed cucumbers.
This kind of flatbread was quite dry, and Grandma Su had spent several hours baking it.
This flatbread was much more durable than steamed buns and flower rolls.
Even in hot weather, it could be kept for four or five days. When they set off, Grandma Su had brought a lot for them to eat for breakfast.
Hua Xiucheng also hadn’t had breakfast. He had originally planned to buy some breakfast at the dining car, which was why he had invited Su Xiaotian to go with him.
Watching the excitement was a pretense; the real reason was to buy breakfast.
As a result, Su Xiaotian refused to go but took out breakfast.
Hua Xiucheng looked at these breakfast items and suddenly felt hungrier.
However, he felt awkward about freeloading.
After thinking for a moment, Hua Xiucheng went to the dining car.
Not long after, Hua Xiucheng returned, followed by someone pushing a dining cart.
“Old Chi, Little Tian, Little Yuan, Little Si, I bought breakfast. Let’s eat together.”
“We have some!” Chi Yiyuan said coldly.
Chi Ge glared at his grandson and said, “You’re too kind. We brought our own breakfast.”
“Your flatbread is also quite dry. I bought some millet porridge. The millet porridge on the train is cooked well and is worth trying!”
Hua Xiucheng actively invited them and asked the dining cart staff to bring out the small basin of millet porridge he had bought and place it on the table.
“You must have brought lunchboxes, right? Come, don’t be shy. Let’s eat and drink together!”
Su Xiaotian chuckled. She finally understood that Hua Xiucheng wanted to eat their flatbread.
Speaking of which, this person was really strange. Why was he fixated on their family’s food?
The vegetable pockets yesterday could be understood, as they had meat and vegetables and tasted good, but today’s flatbread was just ordinary flatbread!
Chi Ge also understood Hua Xiucheng’s intentions and no longer stood on ceremony. He first scooped half a lunchbox of millet porridge, broke the flatbread into pieces, and soaked it in the millet porridge.
“Comrade Hua, let’s eat together, let’s eat together!”
Chi Ge called out, and Hua Xiucheng no longer stood on ceremony. He directly reached out, took a piece of flatbread, and ate it heartily.
While eating, he smacked his lips, saying how delicious it was.
Chi Yiyuan was completely speechless. How could he have encountered such a shameless person?
However, since his grandfather was willing to invite him, as a junior, what could he do?
Before long, everyone was full and satisfied. They ate flatbread, drank millet porridge, and each received a small piece of cucumber. Their meal was much more abundant than others.
“Old Chi, you brought quite a lot of food on this trip!”
Chi Ge smiled and said, “Indeed. Bringing more food ourselves allows us to eat better and also save some money.”
There were coarse-grained steamed buns on the train, which didn’t require tickets, but they didn’t taste good. To eat something tastier, one had to use tickets.
Chi Ge hadn’t seen ration coupons for many years. Although the Su family had given him some when he left, he was still somewhat reluctant to use them.
“What you said makes sense. It’s just that it’s summer now, and many foods spoil within one or two days of being on the train!” Hua Xiucheng said regretfully.
He had also brought some food when he boarded the train, but he had only eaten it for one day.
“Our flatbread can be kept for three to four days. Also, we brought instant noodles, which can be eaten after soaking in hot water.”
Chi Ge said this. After all, even if he didn’t say it now, Hua Xiucheng would definitely see it when they ate at noon.
“Can be eaten after soaking in hot water?” Hua Xiucheng clearly hadn’t expected such food to exist.
“You haven’t heard of instant noodles, have you?” Su Xiaotian asked.
When Hua Xiucheng heard the words “instant noodles,” he suddenly lost much of his interest.
Of course, he had eaten instant noodles before. At first, he thought they were edible.
But after eating them a few more times, the taste was unbearable. He would rather eat the food on the train.
Su Xiaotian and the others naturally didn’t know what Hua Xiucheng was thinking.
They tidied up their bowls and chopsticks, cleaned them, and then put them away.
Sitting by the window, they looked outside for a while and found it boring.
Su Xiaosi was the first to climb back to his berth and take out a book to read.
Then Chi Yiyuan also climbed back to his berth. However, as he climbed back, he didn’t forget to greet Su Xiaotian.
Actually, it would be better to sit or move around downstairs, but Chi Yiyuan just felt that Hua Xiucheng had ulterior motives towards Su Xiaotian.
Su Xiaotian followed Chi Yiyuan’s suggestion and climbed onto her berth.
However, this time, Su Xiaotian also took out a book and pretended to be studying diligently.
Chi Yiyuan felt much more at ease and took out a book from his bag to read.
Hua Xiucheng looked at the three children all taking out books to read and was very surprised.
Although interest in reading had greatly increased among many young people and children since the resumption of the college entrance examination, not many people persisted in reading on the train.
“Old Chi, your children all love to study!”
Speaking of this, Chi Ge was very proud.
Although the Su family’s children were not related to him by blood, he had privately taught them some knowledge, so they could barely be considered master and disciple.
“Indeed, this is Xiaosi. He has three older brothers who were admitted to university the year the college entrance examination was resumed. All three children study very well. They were among the top five in the province and all attended universities in the capital.”
“Xiaosi is also good. Xiaosi was also admitted to a university in the capital, and he is going to report for duty this time. There is also a Xiaowu, who was also admitted to a good university.”
Su Xiaotian was reading when she heard Chi Ge boasting like this, and she was immediately a bit flustered.
Why was Grandpa Chi so unguarded?
What if this person named Hua Xiucheng had malicious intentions?
She wanted to remind him, but seeing Chi Ge happily talking, she gave up the idea.
Forget it, let Grandpa Chi have his way.
Elderly people are always more willing to boast about how outstanding their juniors are, and Grandpa Chi was no exception.
Hua Xiucheng clearly hadn’t expected that Su Xiaosi was going to university. This child didn’t look that old.
“How old is Xiaosi?”
“Eighteen years old,” Chi Ge said. “Xiaowu is even younger, seventeen years old, and he went to a military academy. He wants to be a soldier but is unwilling to give up his studies!”
“Xiaowu went to a military academy?” Hua Xiucheng became excited and asked, “Which school?”
Xiaosi was Xiaotian’s brother, and Xiaowu should be too. For some reason, he just felt that Su Xiaotian’s brothers couldn’t be bad.
[Author’s Note]
It’s almost Chinese New Year, and I’m really busy. I’m only writing four thousand words a day. I’ll try to update more next month. Good night, everyone!