Chapter 184: Tail Pointing to the Sky

Chapter 184: Chapter 184: Tail Pointing to the Sky

"My money... It was all in there... Next month’s rent, food, my job search... I was counting on it for everything..."

"He must have hidden it somewhere else!"

She pointed a finger abruptly.

"Make him take off his clothes! I’ll check every piece!"

The moment she said that, the nearby passengers were all stunned.

The train guard frowned, shaking his head repeatedly.

"Ma’am, that’s against the rules. We can’t do that."

"How about this: you tell me what the wallet looks like, how much cash was inside, whether your ID was in there, and I’ll file a detailed report. As soon as we have a lead, I’ll notify you immediately, okay?"

After speaking, the train guard let go of the man’s wrist.

The man shot Yao Yuzhen a sidelong glance and drawled sarcastically, "Well, well, from the big city, are we? Getting a little high and mighty, aren’t you?"

He tilted his chin up, rolled his eyes down, and peered at Yao Yuzhen from between his eyelashes.

"City folk can just blame whoever they want? They can just accuse people of being thieves out of thin air?"

After speaking, he deliberately tugged his sleeve down, making it RUSTLE loudly.

"I just said I was going to the restroom to find someone, and you insist I swiped your money! How much were you even carrying? You think it’s worth my time to pick your pocket? If you’re so rich, why aren’t you in a sleeper car? Why are you squeezing in here with the rest of us in the hard-seat car?"

He lifted his chin and jutted it toward Song Yao.

"Anyone watching would think you were some VIP just off the first-class cabin!"

As soon as he raised his hand, Yao Yuzhen’s head whipped around too.

And just like that, her gaze met Song Yao’s.

Song Yao: "..."

’Well, what a coincidence.’

The moment Yao Yuzhen saw it was Song Yao, her first instinct was to shrink back and hide.

But Song Yao was already looking at her, so there was no point in hiding. She immediately ducked her head and fussed intensely with her collar.

Seeing that she had stopped shouting, the man immediately turned to the train guard with a grin.

"Officer, are we done here? Can I go now?"

The guard stared at him for two seconds, his gaze sweeping from the man’s face down to the tips of his shoes, then settling on the old cloth bag he was carrying.

"Fine, you can go. But remember, stay out of trouble on the train."

He thumped his chest.

"Hey, don’t you worry! I’m an honest man who wouldn’t even step on an ant!"

The man had only taken two steps before Yao Yuzhen came to her senses. With her hand still pressed to her temple, she blurted out:

"He’s the one who stole it! He’s the one who took my money!"

Before the words were even out of her mouth, the man had already darted into the next car.

The train guard held up a hand in a half-hearted attempt to stop her.

"Ma’am, why don’t you fill out a lost item report first? I’ll submit it for you."

Yao Yuzhen’s throat tightened, and she didn’t answer.

She slowly turned back, her gaze sweeping toward the door to the next car.

Song Yao was already gone.

Song Yao had no desire to get involved in this drama.

’This whole thing smells rotten,’ she thought. ’Getting involved would only lead to trouble.’

Yao Yuzhen stared at the empty aisle, her eyes suddenly vacant.

Back when she used to ride in sleeper cars, she never even locked her bags.

’Who would bother trying to steal from a glamorous, wealthy young lady?’

’How could I be so unlucky?’

Yao Yuzhen’s legs gave out. She slid down against the wall of the train car, buried her face in her hands, and began to cry, her shoulders shaking.

She had just walked out of the detention center, clutching the three hundred yuan Shen Zhenwu had stuffed into her hand.

Right after, she’d managed to find a place to stay in a narrow alley in the old district.

It was eight yuan a month for a tiny, drafty room with no heater.

The landlord didn’t waste any words and demanded six months’ rent upfront.

She had wanted to find a better place.

But after searching the entire street, she found there wasn’t a single decent room available.

Left with no choice, she had gritted her teeth and taken it.

Her pride, what little she had left, absolutely refused to let her hang around the Shen Family’s home.

So she had grabbed her luggage herself and plunged into this tiny, unheated room.

The room was so small it was hard to even turn around.

Once her few belongings were crammed inside, there was barely any room to stand.

The landlord’s wife loitered by the courtyard gate every day. The moment she saw Yao Yuzhen, she would sidle up and ask:

"Girlie, how come you’re renting a room all by yourself?"

"Had a falling out with your husband?"

"You look pretty well-dressed. What does your husband do?"

Yao Yuzhen couldn’t be bothered to respond, not even bothering to lift her eyelids.

The woman would then purse her lips and mutter.

"What’s with the high-and-mighty attitude!"

As the end of the year approached, she started her nagging again.

"You’re not going home for the New Year?"

"Did you get a divorce?"

She even leaned in and lowered her voice. "Don’t tell me your man took all the family savings and ran off abroad, leaving you here waiting like a fool?"

The moment she said that, Yao Yuzhen was instantly reminded of how Ruan Yongxing had deceived her.

She couldn’t stand that woman’s mouth for another second. That very day, she packed her bags, stuffing a few changes of clothes into an old canvas bag. She dug out a crumpled train ticket stub from the bottom of her drawer to check the schedule, then rushed out to buy a ticket to her sister’s house before evening.

She truly had nowhere else to go.

When Yao Yingying saw her, her eyes went wide, and the kitchen knife in her hand almost fell into the vegetable washing basin.

But she immediately smiled and welcomed her in, turning to shout toward the kitchen.

"Mom, Yuzhen is here!"

Her brother-in-law was usually a quiet man, one who would just nod and bow whenever he met people.

He had been quite enthusiastic the first time he met her, rubbing his hands as he trotted out from the living room.

Her several nieces and nephews also gathered around, calling her "Auntie."

But when they heard she was divorced, their expressions changed instantly.

The most obvious change was in her brother-in-law, who usually had a stutter.

This time, however, his speech was perfectly clear. He stood just outside the doorway and yelled at his wife right in front of Yao Yuzhen.

"If you insist on letting her stay, then you can go live with her!"

"Our family can’t afford to support someone like her!"

Her sister still tried to coax her to stay.

"Stay a few more days. It’s almost the New Year, and I’ll be off work. I can keep you company."

She placed the heated dumplings on the table and handed a pair of chopsticks to Yao Yuzhen.

But Yao Yuzhen secretly booked a ticket back to the capital for the fifth day of the New Year.

’Who could have thought... on the way back, all the money I had would be stolen!’

She had never encountered anything like this when she traveled before, so she hadn’t thought to take precautions, stuffing all her money into a single pocket.

In the train car, Song Yao didn’t even look up, continuing to CRUNCH, CRUNCH on her potato chips.

Yao Yuzhen stopped crying, but not because she no longer felt wronged.

It was because a stubborn force was holding her up from the inside.

She couldn’t let the Shen family, especially Song Yao, think she was pathetic.

As soon as Song Yao got off the train, Shen Rongjing’s car pulled up smoothly in front of her.

Yao Yuzhen, hiding in a corner, watched helplessly as Song Yao got into the car with practiced ease, chatting and laughing with Shen Rongjing.

Her heart felt sour and choked with jealousy.

By the time she walked back to her little rented room, the sky was almost completely dark.

The landlord’s wife was squatting at the entrance, cracking sunflower seeds.

As soon as she saw Yao Yuzhen, she craned her neck and shouted.

"Well, look who’s back from her little trip so soon?"

Then she added, "Did your old man come back with you?"

Three or four other neighbors were sitting around her.

Hearing this, they all turned their heads in unison.

Yao Yuzhen ignored her, shooting her a glare.

She turned, pulled out her key, unlocked the door, and stormed into the room.

But she froze just half a step inside.

The room had been completely ransacked!

The few valuable pieces of clothing she had left in the cabinet were all gone...

But before she could even catch her breath...

"BANG!"

Yao Yuzhen kicked the door open.

The door slammed violently against the outer brick wall, shaking dust loose.

The landlord’s wife was bending over to move a small stool.

"Are you crazy?!"

she shrieked, jumping to her feet.

"If you break the door, you’re paying to fix it!"

"If you want to live here, fine! If not, then get the hell out! We don’t support freeloaders here!"

Yao Yuzhen’s chest heaved violently.

The landlord’s wife eyed her sideways for a moment, then spat on the ground.

"Tsk, something wrong with your head?"

Seeing the other woman was about to dust off her pants and go inside.