"Then you search again." Xu Zhenzhen lowered her head, wiped her feet, poured water, and did not go back to bed to rest, but squeezed in with Tang Yue.
Yang Qingqing, Wu Xianhua, Zhao Xiaoyue, and others were all searching for the money in the dorm room.
Xu Zhenzhen also joined in the search.
Tang Yue dried her feet and was ready to go to sleep.
"Tang Yue, I want to check your bed," Zhang Minmin requested.
Tang Yue directly denied, "Zhang Minmin, I understand you want to find your lost money in the dorm, but this isn't right—you can't just randomly search other people's beds. If you really want to inspect, then turn over everyone's stuff in the dorm."
Zhang Minmin's proposal to check her bed—wasn't that suspecting her?
She was upright and had nothing to fear from suspicion, but allowing Zhang Minmin to search gave her the unsettling feeling as if she was a thief.
Moreover, if nothing was found on the bed, would they have to frisk and search through boxes?
"Minmin, I'll start," Zhao Xiaoyue immediately began lifting her quilt. It was early autumn, and everyone was using a thin blanket. She shook it off, and everything on the bed was clean.
Liu Fang followed suit.
Yang Qingqing and Wu Xianhua also turned over their quilts. Wu Xianhua said, "Zhang Minmin, there's nothing in my quilt."
Tang Yue didn't say a word and went through her own bedding, shaking it off. She said, "I don't have it either. I was back to the dorm for less than a minute. Maybe you should think about where you may have dropped it or forgotten it."
Tang Yue did not want to argue with Zhang Minmin. With the time spent arguing, she could be reading another page of her book—time was money for her.
She wanted to finish reviewing her high school courses early and then use the remaining time for some business to improve her family's living conditions.
"Xu Zhenzhen," Zhang Minmin looked towards the motionless Xu Zhenzhen.
Xu Zhenzhen pouted and said, "I don't have it either."
Xu Zhenzhen quickly walked to her bed and shook her bedding. If you looked closely, you would see her hands trembling. She did not expect Zhang Minmin to discover it so quickly, considering there were four ten yuan notes—how could she notice just one missing?
Her money was supposed to be all mixed up.
Xu Zhenzhen's heart was in chaos, thinking only about how to resolve this issue. She flipped over her quilt and even the underlay, and after confirming there was nothing, Zhang Minmin's suspicious gaze still alternated between scrutinizing Tang Yue and Xu Zhenzhen. She was quite sure she hadn't taken the money with her, so it had to be someone in the dorm.
"Tang Yue, Xu Zhenzhen, just now it was only you two who came back to the dorm. Whoever took it, give it back," Zhang Minmin bluntly put it.
Xu Zhenzhen's heart skipped a beat, and she loudly rebutted, "Zhang Minmin, don't bully me and Xiao Yue because we're not from the county. Neither of us took your money."
"Zhang Minmin, catch the thief red-handed," Tang Yue reminded her. She was really annoyed with her roommate Zhang Minmin. She could tolerate the cold looks she got from her in class, but now, instead of looking for the lost money, she was suspecting her dorm mates.
Although no one had much money, none would become a thief!
"What about your boxes, what about what's on you?" Zhang Minmin persisted. She could spend her money however she wished; she wouldn't care if others said she was wasting it. But if the money was stolen, she couldn't tolerate that.
"Just because you're poor doesn't mean you should steal money. If you needed to borrow some for an emergency, we all live in the same dorm. I'd lend it to you. Why the hell would you steal?"
Zhang Minmin seemed convinced it was them who stole it.
Tang Yue couldn't help but roll her eyes and said, "Are you brain-dead? If we don't have it on us and it's not in our boxes, do you still suspect we hid it somewhere else? Will you ever let this go? Who the hell cares about your ten yuan?"
"Exactly." Xu Zhenzhen spoke loudly, echoing Tang Yue, "What Tang Yue said is right. You're accusing us without any reason; if you have evidence, bring it. Otherwise, don't act like a dog, barking all over the place."
Xu Zhenzhen's heart thumped wildly, glaring at Zhang Minmin.
"In this dormitory, only you two came back. Who else could it be? If you don't admit it, I'm calling the police," Zhao Xiaoyue, who always followed Zhang Minmin, immediately countered upon hearing Xu Zhenzhen's words.
Liu Fang was more direct, extending her arm to pull Tang Yue down.
Calling the police? Being labeled a thief would ruin my life forever.
Xu Zhenzhen stood aside, her face turning pale, her heart skipping a beat. Thankfully, everyone's attention was on Tang Yue, so no one noticed her complexion.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Tang Yue steadied herself. This bed isn't sturdy; if she gets pulled down with it, she could get hurt.
To relive her life, she truly cherishes it.
"Let go." Trying to suppress the urge to scream, Tang Yue was pulled down by Zhao Xiaoyue and Liu Fang, and the money she had was yanked away as well.
"Money." Liu Fang and Zhao Xiaoyue immediately screamed when they looked inside her pocket.
"Look carefully with your eyes wide open. There's not a single ten yuan note here; it's not her money," Tang Yue said as she smoothed out her clothes, annoyed by the actions of Zhao Xiaoyue and Liu Xiaofang. Thankfully, they were all women here; if there were men around, she would have been exposed.
During the scuffle, the money in Xu Zhenzhen's pocket also fell out.
"There's still some there." Zhang Minmin was searching on the ground and sure enough, she found a ten yuan note near Tang Yue and instantly became enraged, pointing at Tang Yue and accusing, "Tang Yue, you shameless thief, you stole my money and won't even admit it."
"Minmin, we should call the police on such a person."
Zhao Xiaoyue and Liu Fang sang in chorus.
Tang Yue pushed Zhang Minmin away and said, "What nonsense are you spouting? Who stole your money? I only have small change on me; I don't have any ten yuan bills."
Tang Yue felt like they were insane, didn't she know how much money she had?
Zhang Minmin picked up the ten yuan note and put it in front of Tang Yue, saying, "Tang Yue, you still want to argue? Look, isn't this ten yuan bill the one that fell from you?"
"Fell from me?" Tang Yue had a strange expression, looking at the ten yuan note in Zhang Minmin's hand, slightly shocked. Her gaze subconsciously swept across Xu Zhenzhen.
With the commotion just now, if it was really picked up off the floor, then for sure, it was thrown out by Xu Zhenzhen.
"Could it be the money fell on the ground earlier and went unnoticed?" Xu Zhenzhen lowered her head.
Zhang Minmin immediately retorted, "Impossible, we turned this dorm upside down just now, and we didn't see this money. How come it fell from you, and this ten yuan bill just appeared?"