A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Seeing how badly Tong Yulan’s boyfriend was beaten, everyone didn’t dare to say anything and just wrote the letter obediently.

They said they were going to write a letter, but they didn't know how to write a kidnapping or ransom letter. Tong Yulan asked timidly, "What should we write in this letter?"

One of the gangsters raised his hand to hit her, but the leader stopped him and said, "Miss, you can write whatever you want. We only want 1000 yuan per person. Since you are a servant, we don't count it. This is already a bargain for us. If it were someone else, they would have suffered physical pain."

Seeing this situation, Tong Yulan didn't dare to ask any more questions and could only bite the bullet and pick up the pen to start writing.

Gui'er thought for a moment and wrote, "Mr. Xichen of the Song Mansion, I have always been grateful for your care. This morning, I went out to meet a classmate, but unexpectedly, something happened and I was invited here by some kind men. I am safe for now, but they require 1000 silver dollars before they will let me go. I wonder if Brother Xichen could prepare it for me. If I am free, I will do my best to repay you. Thank you very much. I, Wu Gui'er, bow again."

Gui'er wrote the letter to Song Xichen because she didn't know whether the people in the Marshal's Mansion would be willing to save her, nor could she guarantee that after the bandits knew her true identity, they would kill her because they didn't want to get into trouble. This era was not like modern society where there were surveillance cameras everywhere, so it was not so easy to track her down.

After getting the letter, those people went out. Only then did Guier take a good look at the room. It was a suite. The entrance was the living room, and next to it was the bedroom. There were two rows of chairs in the main hall of the living room, and a round table next to it as a dining room. There was only a bed, a cabinet, a dressing table in the bedroom, and a shelf for the washbasin next to it. There was no kitchen or toilet, so they should be outside.

Gui'er tiptoed to the door and could see a little bit of the yard through the gap. There was no one guarding their house, but the bandits were moving around in the yard. On the right side of the yard, there was also a house that looked about the same size as their suite. It was closer to the gate, and the bandits should be living there.

It seems that the chances of them escaping on their own are too low given that they are unarmed.

At this time, Tong Yujun and her sister were sitting there with worried looks on their faces. Tong Yulan's boyfriend was kicked in the nose and was bleeding. Tong Yulan hurried over to take care of him. Actually, there was not much to take care of him because there was neither cotton nor hemostatic medicine. She could only let him hold his head high.

The man kept complaining, saying that he shouldn't have gone out to watch a movie today. Then he said that if he had gone out alone, he would never have encountered such a thing. Then he kept saying that his family couldn't have that much money to pay the ransom.

What he said about his family being just ordinary employees of a foreign company must be true.

Gui'er quietly asked Tong Yujun, "Does your family have enough money to pay the ransom?"

Tong Yujun said hesitantly, "I don't know either. You're not called Dashuai..." At this point, she glanced at Tong Yulan's boyfriend and changed her words, "If you don't look for the Sha Mansion, is it more reliable to look for the Song family?"

Gui'er also glanced at Tong Yulan's boyfriend and said, "I'm just an adopted daughter. People may not be willing to pay so much money to save me. The Song family can at least help investigate." She meant that Song Xichen was a policeman with investigative capabilities and could help. In fact, asking the Song family to pay 1000 yuan to redeem herself was impossible.

Everyone was silent after that.

Gui'er had gone out after breakfast in the morning. She had intended to rush back for lunch, but she was caught. Looking at the sky, it was almost dinner time. She didn't know if Shafu had noticed.

She was worried, but she was also hungry. Suddenly, she heard someone talking outside. Guier walked to the crack in the door and peeked out.

I found that the group of people had set up a table in the middle of the yard and were eating. The food was not good, just some steamed buns and porridge.

Guier turned to the others and said, "They're eating outside."

Tong Yulan's boyfriend jumped up, walked over and knocked on the door, saying, "How can you just focus on eating? We need to eat too. We've been hungry for so long since you caught us here."

Gui'er was stunned and walked away quickly.

As a result, the next second, the door was kicked open, and Tong Yulan's boyfriend was kicked far away. The leader walked in, put his hands on his hips, looked at him with a smile and said, "Do you want to eat?" Then he walked forward and seemed ready to beat him up.

Gui'er quickly said, "Boss, wait a minute." Then she took out her small wallet and handed it to the leader, "This is all the money I have. This guy is injured, so please let him go."

The chief took the wallet and opened it to take a look. Gui'er had brought a few silver dollars and some loose copper coins today. After coming here, she had secretly hidden the silver dollars in her shoes. Now there were only twenty or thirty copper coins left in the wallet, which was enough to buy a meal.

The leader handed the purse to one of his subordinates and said, "Go, buy some food for the young lady." Then the group of people retreated. After about ten or twenty minutes, the door opened and a subordinate came in with some steamed buns and porridge.

Everyone was hungry, so they gathered around. Gui'er remained alert, fearing they might have drugged the food. She smiled and said to the man delivering the food, "Thank you for the hard work, big brother. It's a pity I'm broke now, so I have nothing to thank you for."

The subordinate was honest and said, "It's okay. The steamed buns and porridge are not worth much. With the few dozen coins you just gave us, we bought a roast chicken and some wine."

Gui'er looked out into the yard and saw, as expected, a roast chicken and two bottles of wine on the table in the middle of the yard. She smiled and said, "That's good."

The bandit put down the food and left. Everyone was hungry, so they sat down to eat. Gui'er arrived a little late because she had exchanged a few words with the bandit. She found that the steamed buns were gone. When she looked up, everyone else took a steamed bun. Tong Yulan's boyfriend had one in his mouth and one in his hand. Gui'er rolled her eyes inwardly. Tong Yujun said embarrassedly, "How about I give you half?"

Gui'er quickly said, "No, I'll just eat some porridge. I'm not very hungry anyway."

At night, Gui'er paid close attention to the movements outside. It was now completely dark outside. Through the crack in the door, she could see a glimmer of light from the street lamps in the distance. The bandits did not give them candles. They groped around on their own but could not find the light switch. At that time, some wealthy neighborhoods in Shanghai had already installed electric lights, but the remote poor families still did not have them. Gui'er guessed that this was a relatively remote suburb of Shanghai.