Shen Zizhen did indeed have this concern.
"Teacher Shen, it's alright. We've inquired, and there's a carriage inn not far ahead. We'll just stay for one night," An Rongxue said very politely.
They couldn't possibly have Teacher Shen worry about their accommodation after escorting them.
"That's easy. Teacher Shen, we'll offer all our dormitories. Tonight, we'll let these two brothers make do in our dormitories for the night," Old Liu said, not considering whether the two might mind their dormitories being less than ideal.
After all, if people could stay in places like carriage inns, why would they be picky about their dormitories?
As expected, An Rongxue was initially surprised to hear they could stay in the police station's dormitories, but his smile quickly faded.
"That wouldn't be good. If you let us stay in your dormitories, where will you sleep? You need to maintain public order, and we can't take up your resting space."
Shen Zizhen also smiled and said, "That's true. Comrade Old Liu, I have a small request. I'd like to ask for your help in finding a decent guesthouse outside."
"Don't be so polite. There are six of us at the police station, and two are on duty every night. We happen to have two empty beds." Old Liu explained casually to the group.
"Tonight, it's me and Xiao Wang on duty. You can just use our beds. Although our beds aren't the best, they're still better than a carriage inn."
He had seen all sorts of people and could tell that these two were not from wealthy families. Even if Shen Zizhen paid, they would likely be reluctant to spend the money.
Indeed, after hearing this, An Rongxue, though a bit embarrassed, agreed.
With these matters settled, the next issue was food. Shen Zizhen and the others had received quite a bit of food and drink, which they could eat directly. Even the comrades at the police station received several pieces of fruit.
Old Liu initially refused. This food was a token of respect and goodwill from the enthusiastic passengers to Shen Zizhen; what right did they have to eat it?
But Shen Zizhen said that the three of them couldn't finish so much, and they should just keep a little to take on the train. He asked the comrades to help eat the rest to prevent it from spoiling.
Although Old Liu knew this was Shen Zizhen being polite, he thought that they themselves would be reluctant to buy fruits, so he accepted.
At seven o'clock, the train arrived at the station. An Rongxue, An Ronghua, and the police station comrades saw Shen Zizhen and the others off. They also helped carry the rice onto the train.
"Teacher Shen, should we inform your family to pick you up?" With so much heavy rice, it would be difficult for just a few people to carry.
"We've already informed them of the train number. Someone should be here to meet us," Shen Zizhen said with a smile before waving goodbye.
The An brothers waved goodbye with great reluctance. Although they were strangers before, the An brothers felt that Shen Zizhen and the young master genuinely cared about them. People like them were worthy of their trust and faith!
After the group disembarked, Su Xiaotian could still see the enthusiastic railway police comrades and the An Rongxue brothers standing on the platform, chatting and laughing through the glass window. Her heart felt very warm. It was only in this era that the relationship between the police and the public was so harmonious. Later, she didn't know what happened, but the relationship gradually became less cordial. Perhaps it wasn't just the police-public relations; some people even showed no respect for national heroes. Among them was Shen Zizhen, the old scientist who dedicated his life to seed breeding, who was also criticized in later generations.
Well, it was better not to think about these things for now, to avoid being upset.
As Su Xiaotian was thinking, the train began to move slowly. The people standing on the platform waved vigorously at them. Su Xiaotian and the others also opened their windows and waved back.
The train gradually accelerated, and soon, they were further and further away from the platform. When the people on the platform could no longer be seen, the three closed the windows and returned to their seats.
Shen Zizhen directly locked the door of the small compartment from the inside, preventing others from entering, giving them a private space. After all, all four seats in this compartment belonged to them, so locking the door was understandable. It wasn't that Shen Zizhen wanted to waste public resources, but some of the materials he had were very important, and their loss would be immeasurable.
Furthermore, since not everyone could travel in the soft sleeper carriage, the number of eligible passengers was relatively small. While other carriages might be overcrowded on most trains, the soft sleeper carriages usually had empty berths.
The three of them organized their belongings one by one, placing what should go under the beds and what should go on the shelves. Su Xiaotian took the initiative to ask for the research data, claiming that she would be sleeping on the upper bunk and it would be relatively safer. These research data were already very different from when they had set out. When they left, it was only theoretical, but now it was tangible results. If anything went wrong, it would be too late to regret it.
Although Shen Zizhen felt this was unnecessary, as the train should be very safe, he trusted Su Xiaotian and handed it over.
"Why don't I hold onto this information?" Su Sangong basically agreed with his sister's words unconditionally. If his little sister was worried about problems, he would diligently guard the information. Holding this information, he would probably have to keep his eyes open even while sleeping. However, considering it was only three days on the train, he could catch up on sleep during the day and guard the information carefully at night.
"It's fine, Third Brother. I'm just being cautious. You can sleep soundly!" Su Xiaotian quickly said with a sweet smile to Su Sangong.
But Su Sangong clearly did not agree with Su Xiaotian's idea. His little sister was about to take an exam when she returned, so she couldn't afford to be sleep-deprived during the journey.
"You get some good rest. I'll sleep with this information for the next few days and guarantee that it will be brought back to the capital intact."
Su Xiaotian smiled and said, "I naturally believe in Third Brother's abilities. I just think it's safer to put it up there, not that I truly believe there will be problems."
In fact, for some reason, Su Xiaotian had felt a slight sense of unease and anxiety since boarding the train. It was also because of this that she made the suggestion. According to Su Xiaotian's idea, she could directly place this research data in her system space, and no one could take it away. If Teacher Shen and Third Brother held it, it wasn't guaranteed. At most, they would put the data under the bed. Even though they occupied this small compartment alone, who knew if someone was watching? If someone had ulterior motives, it was really hard to say. The public security at this time, while good in some ways, was also genuinely not good. If something happened, it probably couldn't be recovered.
Seeing Su Xiaotian's firm resolve, and thinking that he was on the lower bunk and his sister on the upper bunk, and that he would be more vigilant, making it safer, Su Sangong agreed.