radicalducati Chapter 151 - The wait is long!
Chapter 151 - The wait is long!
The lights in the corridor were dim, and you could barely make out a shadow.
Lin Shuyao walked forward, hoping to find a train conductor. Just after passing two sleeper compartments and crossing the connecting area between carriages, she suddenly heard several muffled "thumps" accompanied by the hissing sound of metal being pried open.
She held her breath, pressed her body against the carriage wall, and slowly moved to the connecting door, peering out through the crack—
A beam of flashlight light suddenly swept over.
The raindrops drifted obliquely through the beams of light, as dense as a white cloth.
There was someone outside using a pair of iron pliers that were about half an arm's length long to pry open the car door!
Lin Shuyao turned pale with fright, her legs went weak, and she almost lost her balance. She steadied herself and tried to open her eyes wide to see more clearly. She saw that the person who broke in was surrounded by several accomplices wearing large raincoats. They were all men, and all of them were big and burly.
Two of them were holding long machetes, the blades reflecting the light in the night, appearing gleaming white.
Lin Shuyao's heart clenched, and she instinctively raised her hand to cover her mouth, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably.
What a shame!
I've been robbed on a train!
The train suddenly stopped just now; it must have been forced to stop by these people using some method.
The train conductor did not make an announcement to inform the passengers in a timely manner, not because he did not want to, but because the broadcasting system may have been sabotaged by this group.
Without announcements, each carriage became an isolated entity, with no one knowing what was happening, let alone able to unite against the robbers.
Almost five minutes have passed since the train stopped, and no train attendant has come to patrol or issue any notification.
Either there was an inside agent among the train conductors, who was in cahoots with the robbers and managed to divert the attention of the other colleagues.
Either the train conductor is too busy contacting the main dispatch center to notify everyone else, or...
If the signal between the train and the central control station is also cut off by this group, then this train is now like an isolated island in a vast ocean, completely cut off from the outside world!
These passengers, fast asleep on the bus, will all become lambs to the slaughter by the robbers!
It's over! It's over!
Tonight's robbery was clearly premeditated and planned. These robbers went to such great lengths; they couldn't possibly just take a little money and leave. They were definitely not going to be easily dealt with.
If I were to be tempted by lust again... not just if, but definitely, what kind of good person would dare to plan a train robbery?
The train connecting door in front of us was already showing signs of loosening; the lock had almost been pried off by those men.
Lin Shuyao's palms were sweaty, and her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of her throat.
She clung to the carriage wall, dragging her legs as she moved back to the corner of the corridor, then quickly turned around and ran frantically back to her own carriage.
I rushed in and bumped into a middle-aged woman who was getting up from the lower bunk to use the toilet.
"Ouch! What are you doing in such a panic in the middle of the night!" The woman stumbled back two steps, rubbing her shoulder and exclaiming softly. Then she sensed something, "Hey, has the train stopped? It doesn't seem to be moving."
"Shh!" Lin Shuyao quickly made a shushing gesture, turned around and closed the door of the private room, then walked to the bed and woke up the remaining two people.
"Wake up! Don't sleep, something's happened!"
The round-faced young woman rubbed her eyes and sat up: "What's wrong?"
The man, in his fifties, sprang to his feet, threw on his clothes, and got out of bed: "What happened?"
The middle-aged woman who had just gone to the restroom came back to the lower bunk and stood next to Lin Shuyao: "What happened?"
Lin Shuyao lowered her voice and said to the three, "There are robbers outside trying to pry open the train doors. There are at least five or six of them, and they have machetes. They forced the train to stop. The public address system is broken, and the train conductor isn't responding. We've probably lost contact with the main control center. We have to fend for ourselves. Get ready quickly!"
"What? A robber?!" The middle-aged woman's face turned pale, her eyes widening in terror, but she remained relatively calm and didn't scream. It was clear that she had experienced some hardships.
The middle-aged man's reaction was relatively calm, but his trembling hands betrayed his panic: "Are you...are you sure?"
Lin Shuyao nodded: "I'm sure, I saw it with my own eyes. It was right at the connecting door between the first sleeper car and the hard seat car."
The round-faced woman exclaimed in surprise, jumped up, and tried to rush towards the door: "Ah! We need to hurry and tell the train police! Aren't there police officers on the train?"
Lin Shuyao grabbed her wrist and pulled her back: "They forced the train to stop, which shows how capable they are. Maybe there are their accomplices among the staff on the train. If you rush out now, you'll just be the first one to be killed to silence you."
The round-faced woman hugged her arms, shrinking into a ball in fear: "Oh no, what should I do... I'm so scared..."
Lin Shuyao: "Being afraid is useless. We can only rely on ourselves. Hurry up, they're about to get on. There aren't many carriages ahead of us."
The middle-aged man immediately sprang into action, rummaging through his luggage and hiding all the valuables.
There were four people in the private room: three women and one man. The man was safe as long as he paid money, but the women were in danger.
Not only will you lose money, but you may also lose your reputation.
"Quick, let's disguise ourselves first."
"Follow me and do as I say. Stuff all your clothes into your belly and pretend to be pregnant. Wrap your hair in a headscarf," Lin Shuyao called to the round-faced woman who was terrified and at a loss. Then she said to the middle-aged woman, "Put on all the clothes you can wear, the more bulky the better, and wrap your hair up too."
Her words seemed to give the two women a sense of direction, and they both got busy with their own tasks.
Lin Shuyao pulled an eyebrow pencil out of her bag and started drawing on her face by feel.
First, she drew a few forehead wrinkles on her forehead, then drew fine lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth, making her look ten years older. She then drew a few black moles on her face, enlarged the shadows around her nostrils, and finally wrapped her hair and most of her face in a dark headscarf.
She took all the clothes out of her duffel bag, crumpled them up, and stuffed them under her clothes, making her look bulging like a woman seven or eight months pregnant.
The round-faced woman also dressed up as a pregnant woman.
The middle-aged woman put on all the clothes she could find in her luggage, making her look like she had gained 20 pounds.
Lin Shuyao used an eyebrow pencil to make the two of them look ugly, then pulled the middle-aged man and the round-faced woman aside and said, "You two pretend to be a couple in a bit."
Then he looked at the middle-aged woman and said, "Auntie, we're playing mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. There are two pregnant women in our carriage."
After she said that, the others understood what she meant.
They were pretending to be pregnant, hoping the robbers would have some humanity and let them go.
Middle-aged man: "Don't worry, if they have any malicious intentions towards you, I won't stand idly by!"
This sounded like a show of loyalty, but Lin Shuyao was still worried because the other side consisted of five or six vicious thugs, and the middle-aged man looked frail and weak.
"Uncle, now try to vomit in the carriage."
"What?"
Lin Shuyao explained, "The vomit is disgusting. When people come over and smell it, they won't want to stay in our private room for long."
The middle-aged man hesitated for a second, nodded, bent down, and stuck his finger up his throat—
"vomit--"
People naturally feel nauseous when they are nervous, and when you rub your throat like that, something immediately comes out, and the sour smell fills the small private room.
No one dislikes the smell; in fact, the more unpleasant the smell, the safer they feel.
After disguising herself, the round-faced woman rummaged through her luggage, pulling out all her valuables: "What should I do? Where am I supposed to hide all this stuff? They're not going to steal it all, are they? I've been saving this up for years..."
The round-faced woman clutched her small cloth bag containing money, her eyes already red.
The other two people thought the same thing.
Everyone wants to hide all their valuables so they don't lose anything.
But wouldn't that reveal that they had prepared in advance?
For a train journey as long as the one from Beijing to Guangzhou, it's impossible not to have some money on you.
Lin Shuyao advised, "We all have to bleed a little tonight. Think about it, if these people dare to force the train to stop, what else wouldn't they dare to do? They won't give up until they see some benefit. Besides, those who can afford sleeper tickets are in better conditions than ordinary people. The robbers know this too, otherwise they wouldn't have started with the sleeper berths."
She had a point, but the round-faced woman still looked like she was about to have her flesh cut off.
Lin Shuyao firmly stated, "Your choice is between money and your life."
That would be deadly!
The round-faced woman gritted her teeth and pulled half a bill from her purse. "Is...is this enough?"
Lin Shuyao glanced at it: "Pretty much."
The middle-aged man pulled out a wad of cash, placing a small portion in his chest pocket and hiding the rest in different places. Looking at his watch, he suppressed the heartache and didn't take it off.
Most people who could afford sleeper cars were cadres, and watches were standard equipment. If someone didn't have one, the robbers would definitely become suspicious and might even search them, resulting in even greater losses.
The middle-aged woman, however, valued her life more, keeping only enough money for her journey home, and prepared for the robbers to take the rest.
While others were busy, Lin Shuyao also hid her valuables.
The rain outside was getting louder and louder.
Lin Shuyao and the round-faced woman lay down on the lower bunk, while the middle-aged man and woman each stood guard in front of their beds, ready to play their respective roles.
Just as the group got into the zone, they heard a piercing scream from the other end of the carriage.
"ah--"
Then came screams that rose and fell, and the carriage descended into chaos.
It was clear that they had already discovered that hijackers had boarded the vehicle.
"All of you, behave yourselves! Hand over the money! Anyone who touches it dies!"
The man roared in a rough voice, his accent heavy, with a hint of ruthlessness.
"Don't fucking refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. This knife of mine isn't just for show."
"Ah! Don't kill me, don't kill me! Give me everything, I'll give you everything!"
"Waaaaah—waaaah—Mommy, I'm scared..."
Some people were begging for mercy, some children were crying, their voices shrill and one after another, and there were short screams, as if they had been stabbed.
The entire train instantly entered hell mode.
Amidst the various sounds, several footsteps drew ever closer.
We found the next private room.
Lin Shuyao lay on the bed, trying to close her eyes and suppress her breathing, her hands clenched tightly under the covers, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably. A middle-aged woman sat beside her, playing the role of a mother-in-law watching over her pregnant daughter-in-law. She looked calm, but her heart was pounding in her throat.
The sound of footsteps grew clearer and clearer, and then stopped at the door of their private room.
Boom!
The door to the private room was kicked open.