When Zhou Qiqi was woken up, her eyelids were still stuck together.
"Girl, wake up! Someone stole your bag!"
Seeing that she still looked confused, the aunt next to her raised her voice and reminded her again.
Zhou Qiqi finally came to her full senses, her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly looked at the person in her arms.
She remembered that before going to sleep, she had been holding the bundle tightly in her arms, but now it had slipped down to her lap and was no longer protected at all.
Looking at the bundle again, the knot on top was still tied tightly, but the edge had been torn open, and the patched cloth jacket inside had also been damaged, with half of the sleeve hanging outside the bundle.
She hurriedly opened the bundle, and sure enough, the handkerchief inside was gone.
When she bought the boxed lunch earlier, her handkerchief was bulging, and she even pulled out a ten-yuan bill from it. The train conductor took a long time to give her change, and everyone around saw it.
Now that the handkerchief is gone, it means she has lost a lot of money.
Just then, several other people in the carriage also started shouting that they had been pickpocketed as well.
"Go, go, go and quickly go find the patrol officer to report this!"
Reminded by the others, Zhou Qiqi went to find a patrol officer.
But after a short while, she returned dejectedly.
"How's it going?"
The older woman asked with a concerned look, and Zhou Qiqi gently shook her head.
In those days, trains were almost the only way for people to travel long distances. They were packed with people, like dumplings being dropped into a pot, and the flow of people was extremely high.
But the security personnel are pitifully few.
Thieves blend into the crowd to commit crimes; they're as slippery as eels, not so easy to catch.
Besides Zhou Qiqi, more than a dozen other people went to report the case.
The patrol officers registered their information and said that if they caught the thief, they would contact them to retrieve their lost items.
But everyone knew in their hearts that there was little hope.
Upon hearing her say this, the people around immediately started talking.
Some felt sorry for her, shaking their heads and sighing; others, however, gloated, with a malicious smile on their lips.
Others were eating sunflower seeds, watching with great interest.
Zhou Qiqi didn't take it seriously, thanked the aunt, and prepared to sit down.
But then she heard the older woman slap her thigh and point at her.
"This is all your own fault!"
Everyone nodded in agreement, like chickens pecking at rice.
"Auntie, what do you mean by that?"
Zhou Qiqi never expected that the blame would eventually fall on her, the victim. She was completely dumbfounded and looked utterly bewildered.
"You're a military dependent, right? A new bride? I saw you lifting your bundle just now, and there was a pass inside with the August 1st emblem on it."
The woman raised an eyebrow and asked in an unfriendly tone.
Goodness, this auntie has sharp eyes; she even keeps looking into other people's bags.
Zhou Qiqi didn't say anything, but silently complained in her heart.
"Am I right?"
Seeing that she didn't deny it, the aunt was extremely proud, as if she had won a battle. She pulled out a handful of sunflower seeds from her pocket and started cracking them open, talking as she did so.
She had wanted to say these words as soon as she got on the bus, and after holding them in for so long, she finally had the chance.
"Look at your clothes, just like mine, you must be from the countryside! So many patches on your clothes, but why don't you have any of the hard-working and frugal spirit of us rural folks? You don't look like a good wife who knows how to manage a household properly!"
"You finally have a little money, and you can't wait to eat it all. Spicy chicken, scrambled eggs, why are you so greedy! You're spending the money your man worked so hard for, risking his life to earn! How can you just spend it like that without a second thought? This is breaking your man's heart!"
"Besides, don't you understand the principle of not flaunting your wealth? Ten dollars, just handing it out like that, does that make you look rich? Who else would a thief steal from if not you?"
The aunt spat out a mouthful of sunflower seed shells, glanced sideways, and said in an extremely aggressive tone, "That's why I'm telling you, you deserve it!"
Zhou Qiqi's knuckles turned white as she gripped the tattered bundle, and she remained silent for a long time with her head down.
"Look at you, now you know how to be ashamed!"
The aunt pointed at Zhou Qiqi and laughed loudly.
The people around her joined in the commotion, all criticizing Zhou Qiqi.
In their eyes, military wives should live a simple and frugal life, how could they eat such expensive train meals!
This made the auntie extremely proud. She felt like she had suddenly become the opinion leader in the carriage, and she puffed out her chest proudly.
Zhou Qiqi then raised her head, a cold smile on her face.
She wasn't ashamed; rather, she was amused by the aunt's shameless and absurd reasoning.
After she had finished laughing, she straightened her back, looked directly into the aunt's eyes without flinching, and questioned her.
“Auntie, how can you be so sure that this money was given to me by my husband? It's my own money, I'm spending my own money! What, in your eyes, just because I'm a rural woman, does that mean I can't earn my own money? Chairman Mao said, ‘Women hold up half the sky,’ are you trying to go against him?”
As soon as these words were spoken, the carriage fell silent instantly; the chatter that had been going on just moments before vanished completely.
"You, you, you..."
"Don't try to pin this on me! Who can prove you earned this money yourself? So much money, how could that be? Do you think we're all fools?!"
The older woman never expected that this young woman would dare to talk back. She pointed at Zhou Qiqi and shouted arrogantly, even pulling the other people in the carriage to try to suppress her.
Zhou Qiqi remained completely calm, turning to face the entire carriage, her voice clear and bright like a female announcer from a radio station.
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