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Chapter 580: Chapter 570: The Female Leader Has Many Flaws
At this time, not just anyone could ride in a train’s soft sleeper; those were for department-level leaders, overseas Chinese, and others with status and position who could obtain tickets.
Based on Li Hongjun’s rank, getting a regular sleeper berth would have been quite lucky; being able to take a soft sleeper back to the Capital must have been the result of his superiors seeing his serious injuries and granting special approval.
This train had only one soft sleeper car, and even so, it wasn’t full. When Shen Yunfang and Li Hongjun boarded, they were the only two people in this compartment.
Fortunately, with two people, there was a lower berth for each. Seeing no one around, Shen Yunfang pulled the compartment door shut, creating a small, enclosed space. She then took out a bottle of warm tap water from that space and attended to Li Hongjun as he drank.
At the time, trains were coal-fired, so if you wanted to drink hot water, you had to wait until after the train started moving and the attendants boiled water; it would take at least another half-hour. Shen Yunfang didn’t want to wait; the spot was also quite secluded, so she used the space for a bit.
"Do you need to use the restroom?" Shen Yunfang finished the rest of the water, then put the cup straight back into the space.
"No need, I’ll sleep for a bit." Li Hongjun was exhausted after a day’s efforts and truly felt he couldn’t hold up any longer.
"Alright, go to sleep, I’ll tidy up." Shen Yunfang pulled a wool blanket from her bag and covered Li Hongjun, urging him to sleep quickly.
"You shouldn’t fuss either. You’re tired from the whole day, take a rest too." Li Hongjun murmured before drifting off.
"Hmm, I know, I’ll lie down in a bit. Don’t worry about it; just sleep." Shen Yunfang took out another sheet and prepared her berth. After she finished, all was silent behind her. Turning back, she saw that Li Hongjun was already asleep.
Shaking her head, Shen Yunfang arranged her berth properly, then began to sort through the black bag she brought, throwing all the temporarily unnecessary items into the space. She then took out a small basin and a towel, planning to fetch hot water later. Once Li Hongjun woke up, she intended to wipe his body down to offer him some comfort.
She was busy when suddenly someone pulled the door open from the outside.
Shen Yunfang was startled but relieved that she had already taken out what she needed from the space. If she had been caught manipulating the space, it would have been a big problem.
Shen Yunfang patted her startled heart and turned back to glance at the person who had entered, knowing it wasn’t their fault. Still, she felt a touch of irritation toward this new compartment companion.
The newcomer was a woman in her forties with short hair and little curls, which was quite a trendy hairstyle. The woman opened the door to find someone crouching over, rummaging through their stuff. She frowned slightly, glanced at Shen Yunfang, and then at Li Hongjun, who was asleep on the neighboring berth.
Seeing that she was in the way, Shen Yunfang quickly stood up and sat on her berth. Then she kicked the black pile on the floor under her berth, planning to continue tidying up after the person settled in.
The curly-haired woman, stepping in her leather shoes, walked in.
"Hello, you’re in this car too, huh? Are you in berth seven or eight?" Shen Yunfang felt awkward not saying anything, so she struck up a conversation, attempting friendliness. However, she kept her voice down deliberately since Li Hongjun was still sleeping.
"Hmm."
The response Shen Yunfang got was just a nasal acknowledgment. Instantly, she understood the woman didn’t care to chat with her, which suited her just fine. She had no interest in small talk either, and it was best if they both minded their own business.
Shen Yunfang directly leaned against her bed in her slippers and pulled out a book from under her pillow to start reading.
The woman with short curly hair placed her bag on bunk number seven, which was Shen Yunfang’s, and when she looked down again, she saw Li Hongjun’s exposed arm, its bandaging indicating that he was a patient.
She covered her nose with her hand in disgust, as if Li Hongjun were some kind of virus. Almost immediately, she picked up her bag and walked out of the compartment.
Shen Yunfang stuck her head out for a look, and then ignored her, thinking it was better for this unfriendly person not to be in the same compartment.
However, a little while later, the sound of footsteps could be heard in the corridor— it was still that short-curl-haired woman, this time followed by a female train attendant.
"Comrade, look at this, sharing a compartment with a sick person. Who knows if it’s dangerous? I hope you can switch my bunk," she said as she pointed at Li Hongjun for the attendant to see, to validate her claim.
Shen Yunfang frowned; this woman was incredibly rude. "Comrade," she said, "didn’t you see the patient here? Could you please keep your voice down?" Her man was tired from the whole day, and he had just fallen asleep, and it wouldn’t be good if this woman’s shrill voice woke him up.
The attendant also knew there was a wounded soldier from the battlefield heading to the Capital, so she nodded understandingly to Shen Yunfang, pulled the woman out of the compartment, and closed the door behind them to discuss outside.
Not knowing what the two said to each other outside, the short-curl-haired woman re-entered the compartment, fuming. After she threw her bag onto the upper bunk, it seemed as though she remembered something, and she rushed out again in a hurry.
"Train attendant, could you come here again?" The woman began to shout as she reached the corridor.
"Comrade, please lower your voice. You will disturb the rest of the other passengers," the attendant expressed her dissatisfaction with such low-quality passengers.
"No, I wanted to ask you for a new sheet and a towel blanket," said the short-curl-haired woman, who considered herself a person of status; she felt slightly embarrassed being reminded by the attendant and knew that those who could afford soft sleeper tickets were no ordinary people— it was best not to offend anyone here.
"What new sheet and towel blanket? We have changed all the sheets to new ones, but due to the limited conditions on the train, we do not provide towel blankets," the attendant left her puzzled.
"Don’t lie to me, look at the two people on the lower bunk. Don’t they have sheets and a towel blanket? We are all the same passengers, how can you treat us differently? If you don’t give me a reasonable explanation, I’ll have to report to your supervisor," she threatened directly.
The attendant was clueless about what she was referring to, so she stuck her head into the compartment to check the sheets and towel blanket that the short-curl-haired woman was talking about.
Shen Yunfang had heard the conversation outside the door, and when she saw the attendant looking over, she smiled slightly and explained, "I brought them myself."
The attendant then understood when she saw the sheet beneath Shen Yunfang and the towel blanket covering her; she turned back to the short-curl-haired woman and said, "Comrade, regardless of whom you want to lodge a complaint with, my answer is the same. All bed linen and covers in this soft sleeper compartment have been changed to new ones, and as for the towel blanket you mentioned, it is something brought by the passengers themselves. I truly cannot provide you with one."
After a while, the short-curl-haired woman sheepishly returned to the compartment and then pretended to be busy to cover her embarrassment.
She took everything out of her bag; water bottles, lunch boxes, even a washbasin for brushing teeth, and placed them on the small table, practically filling it. Then, she stuffed her bag onto the overhead luggage rack, took off her shoes, and prepared to climb into bed for rest.
However, as she was about to step on the footstool, she suddenly glanced around, and a smile piled up on her face towards Shen Yunfang on the lower bunk.
