Chapter 230: Stealing

Wang Mei and Wu Lan chatted for a long time about making clothes, with Shen Yunlian chiming in from time to time.

The three women hit it off surprisingly well.

Besides, Wu Lan was the wife of a soldier, which naturally gave people a good impression of her. In the end, they exchanged addresses.

Wu Lan said she would make clothes for Yun Jiao once she got settled.

She glanced at Yun Xiaojiu, who wasn’t far away. "Whose son is that? He’s really cute, too."

It was rare to see a little boy so delicate and adorable.

Shen Yunlian said with a smile, "He’s my youngest son, ranked ninth at home."

Wang Mei added, "Once you’re settled, we’ll send you some seafood! We live by the sea. We might not have much else, but we’ve definitely got more than enough seafood. If you live far away, though, we can only send the dried kind."

Wu Lan said, "I’d love that."

Time passed quickly as they played and chatted on the train.

For dinner, they ate instant noodles. At least there was enough hot water on the train.

A few hours went by, and that family of three, who clearly never learned their lesson, came back to make a nuisance of themselves again.

No major conflict broke out, but the couple walked past them holding the train’s "deluxe" dinner, clearly showing it off.

The husband couldn’t keep his mouth shut. "Oh, you’re just eating *this*? We’re so sick of instant noodles at my house."

Wang Mei and Wu Lan gifted them a massive eye-roll.

Everyone else completely ignored the two, just focusing on their own food.

Their son, however...

The instant noodles smelled too good. Being the brat that he was, he had no interest in his parents’ "high-end" dinner and instead started wailing that he wanted instant noodles too.

That was a real slap in the face for the plump woman.

Yun Xiaowu and the others, afraid the rude kid would try to snatch their noodles again, immediately shielded Yun Jiao behind them. Then they clutched their own noodle cups tightly, glaring at the boy. If he dared to try and grab anything, they’d send him flying with a kick!

Faced with Yun Xiaowu’s group glaring at them like hawks, the flustered couple could only take their son to go buy some instant noodles.

This time, they didn’t dare say anything in front of Yun Jiao and the others.

Wu Lan rolled her eyes. "She’s even more of a poser than I am."

After dinner, everyone chatted for a while before falling asleep on the train.

Pickpockets were common on trains in those days, so the two strong, middle-aged men, Yun Linhe and Yun Linhai, stayed vigilant and didn’t sleep too deeply.

Around two or three in the morning, Yun Linhe groggily sensed someone leaving the train car and was instantly jolted awake.

He checked their luggage and, seeing nothing was missing, didn’t think much of it, assuming someone in the car had just gone to the restroom.

But the next morning, a panicked scream echoed through their train car.

Everyone was annoyed.

The shriek was just too piercing.

"Where’s my ring? My bracelet? And my gold necklace...?"

The familiar voice, unsurprisingly, belonged to one of the couple.

The first thing Old Wu did was check his ambergris.

Seeing the ambergris safe and sound in his bag, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, it’s still here."

Yun Linhe said, "None of our things are missing."

The couple who had lost their precious valuables wore twisted expressions as they frantically searched their bunk and under the bed.

After confirming their things were gone, they grabbed a person in the nearest sleeper bunk.

"Was it you? Did you steal our things?!"

The one the fat man grabbed was an old man. It was already bad luck being so close to them, and now he was being framed as a thief.

It was the last straw. The old man immediately started wailing.

"Help! Murder! Someone, help!"

At this point, everyone else was also checking their own luggage. After all, if the couple’s things were stolen, there was no guarantee theirs weren’t.

Fortunately, the thief seemed to know who the "fat sheep" were. They were likely satisfied after stealing the couple’s belongings, as they hadn’t touched anyone else’s things in the car.

Someone who couldn’t stand it anymore tried to reason with them, but the lunatic couple immediately shifted their target and asked if they were the ones who stole it.

"You’re all just a bunch of paupers, you can’t stand to see anyone else have anything good! Open all your luggage, we’re going to inspect it one by one! It must have been one of you who stole our gold jewelry!"

Hearing her say this, everyone frowned.

One of the more hot-tempered passengers retorted directly, "You say inspect, so we should let you inspect? Who do you think you are?"

"If you don’t let us inspect it, then you must be the one who stole it."

The train car immediately erupted into a noisy argument.

Yun Jiao and her group were standing a fair distance away, just watching the show.

But the next second, the plump woman’s gaze fell on them.

’I have a bad feeling about this,’ Yun Jiao thought.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who felt that sense of foreboding.

Wu Lan clicked her tongue. "Don’t tell me that crazy hag is going to suspect us."

The moment the words left her mouth, the plump woman pointed at them and shrieked.

"It was you! It must have been you!"

"You had a problem with us yesterday! You must have held a grudge and stolen our gold jewelry while my family and I were sleeping!"

Mr. Mu’s and Elder Wu’s faces darkened instantly.

In all their years, this was the first time they’d ever been pointed at and called thieves.

Wu Lan’s face was cold. "You’re being completely unreasonable. You just flap your gums and say we stole it. Even the police need evidence to handle a case! You say we stole it, so where’s the proof?!"

"The proof? Open your suitcases and let me check, then we’ll have proof."

Wang Mei bristled. "Pah! Who the hell do you think you are to inspect our luggage? With the way you two act, wishing you could be dripping with gold and silver from head to toe, it’s no wonder a thief targeted you. You deserved it!"

The plump woman lunged forward. "I knew it was you! A bunch of pathetic paupers who can’t walk straight at the sight of anything valuable! I’m going to report you and have the police arrest all of you!"

Wu Lan and Wang Mei grabbed her by the hair and started fighting back.

They were already furious about being wrongly accused of theft first thing in the morning, and now this woman dared to attack them first.

The man also roared and charged over.

But Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe were no pushovers.

The farce didn’t end until the train conductor police arrived.

The couple were both scraped up and looked particularly miserable.

But they still adamantly pointed at the group, insisting they were the thieves and demanding to inspect their luggage.

The train police officer had a headache. He looked at Yun Linhai’s group and was about to speak when Old Wu spoke up.

"My belongings... you can’t afford to inspect them."

If the ambergris was exposed, they would be in grave danger.

Therefore, not only Old Wu, but Mr. Mu and the others also insisted on not allowing their luggage to be inspected.

This only made the plump woman’s family even more certain that they were the thieves.

Elder Wu didn’t argue with the couple. He simply said that he needed to make a phone call when they reached the next station.

At this point, Yun Linhe also told the officer, "Last night, I was half-asleep and felt someone leave the car."

The plump woman yelled, "Stop trying to change the subject! It was you who stole it!"