A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

After leaving the Rong family, Gui'er was thinking about how to tell Sha Yanxiao about what Miss Rong had mentioned. Sha Yanxiao asked her, "Is Miss Rong okay?"

Gui'er then remembered that Sha Yanxiao hadn't even visited Miss Rong, so she said, "She's seriously injured. There's not a single spot on her face that's healthy. Brother Yanxiao, why don't you go see her?"

Sha Yanxiao said: "I wanted to go see her, but the last time I saw her, she was like crazy, shouting and covering her face with her hands, so her parents asked me not to see her for the time being."

Gui'er was also very sad in her heart and said, "I heard that you were getting engaged. If something like this happened, would you mind?"

Sha Yanxiao was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Of course not. I chose her because of her personality, appearance, and family background. As for the damage she suffered, she will eventually recover."

When Gui'er heard Sha Yanxiao say this, she felt relieved but also depressed. It might be because Sha Yanxiao did not mention love or anything like that. But in this era, how can love be included in the choice of a match made in heaven?

Guier conveyed what Miss Rong said to Sha Yanxiao.

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "She is quite sensible."

Gui'er was stunned for a moment. She originally thought that Sha Yanxiao would not accept Miss Rong's proposal to take her personal maid as a concubine. But when she thought about it, the Marshal had many wives and concubines. As his son, how could Sha Yanxiao be an exception?

Guier smiled bitterly and shook her head.

Sha Yanxiao glanced at her, reached out and touched her forehead, and said, "What's wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable? I should have known I shouldn't have forced you to come out to see her. Does your body still hurt?"

Guier smiled and said, "I'm fine. Brother Yanxiao, do you really not care that Miss Rong was bullied? Or do you care, but she is so good that you can let you take a concubine as compensation, so you are willing to do so? I saw in the newspaper that all the brothers and sisters of the Rong family are born of the same mother, and Master Rong did not take a concubine."

Sha Yanxiao said, "Master Rong doesn't take concubines, that's his own business. Nowadays, which wealthy family doesn't have three wives and four concubines? As for asking me if I mind if she was bullied, I'm not that pedantic old man who cares so much about chastity. I actually checked my own background. My biological mother was someone else's wife. My father wanted to marry her as his second wife, but she didn't want to. She just gave birth to me and gave me to my father, and then they parted ways. So I think it's more important for them to live together than whether she is pure and innocent. Besides, Miss Rong didn't want to have such a thing happen to her."

Gui'er felt like she had received a lot of information at once. She endured for a long time before finally refraining from telling Sha Yanxiao that his biological mother, Mrs. Song, had not yet parted ways with the Marshal.

Gui'er admired the fact that Sha Yanxiao didn't care about the other person's past. Even in modern times, many men probably couldn't do that. However, he thought taking a concubine was natural, but Gui'er felt a little weird about it. This was the first time she felt the gap between modern and past ideas.

For the next two days, Sha Yanxiao did not let Guier go to see Miss Rong, asking her to stay at home and recover from her injuries.

It was also the Chinese New Year during this period. The New Year in big cities is very lively, with firecrackers coming from all directions from time to time. The Marshal's Mansion was no exception. The Marshal specially asked the housekeeper Liu to buy some fireworks to set off. He also told everyone that he had hidden fortune coins around the house and asked everyone to find them on the first day of the new year. Whoever they found would make a fortune in the next year.

So on New Year's Day, everyone from Sha Yanxiao and the eldest and third young masters, to the young ladies, down to the stewards and servants, was searching. Finally, Gui'er found a silver dollar under the telephone in the living room, while the eldest young master, Sha Yanyao, found one behind the clock, and housekeeper Liu found one in a plum blossom pot. Everyone was delighted.

The Marshal and his wife also gave red envelopes to everyone. Each young master and young lady received a small gold bar, and each manager received a silver dollar. It was only then that Guier saw that there were at least 50 or managers of all the shops and businesses in Shanghai, which showed that Shanghai had quite a lot of businesses. Then the managers distributed the red envelopes to the servants, which were said to contain coins.

Gui'er also prepared a red envelope, giving Dingxiang 50 coins and Dali a silver dollar. Dali was flattered after receiving it and said, "How can I accept a red envelope from a young lady? You are still a child."

Gui'er said, "Brother Dali has kept me safe so many times over the years. This is just a token of my gratitude."

Dali was still hesitating, but Sha Yanxiao gave him a wink, and he finally accepted it happily.

Needless to say, Dingxiang was extremely happy and said, "Everyone says I'm lucky. Gui'er is a favorite of the Marshal and the Young Marshal, so I'm sure I can get a lot of benefits. Since I followed the young lady, I realized that not only are the tasks easy, but the money is also great."

Gui'er was a bit amused and said to Dingxiang, "Although I'm just a child, I know how difficult it is for you to be servants. I don't ask much of my servants except loyalty. I won't keep those who are disloyal and treacherous."

Ding Xiang immediately stopped smiling after hearing this and said cautiously, "I understand."

After Ding Xiang left, Sha Yanxiao walked over, touched her head and said, "Very good. I didn't expect you to be so good at controlling others."

Guier smiled and said, "I don't understand. I just don't want others to think that I'm easy to bully because I have nothing to do."

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, early in the morning, the Marshal and the Young Master were writing New Year greetings in the hall. In front of each of them was a large stack of cards. Gui'er walked over and curiously picked one up. She was surprised to see that Ji Zhongqing was written on one of the cards. Gui'er thought the name looked very familiar.

The Marshal smiled and said, "This guy is the leader of the Shanghai Green Gang. He owns a bunch of casinos and opium dens. We can't afford to offend him. Every time we run a small opium den, we have to pay him protection money to keep it running."

Sha Yanyao also laughed and interrupted, "But this guy has done a lot of bad things, so our family should keep their distance from him and just send him New Year's greetings."

As they were talking, Sha Yanxiao came over and said to Gui'er, "Come on, let's go visit Miss Rong."

Gui'er followed Sha Yanxiao to the Rong Mansion, which was also decorated with lights and lanterns. However, when they arrived at the villa where Miss Rong lived, the festive atmosphere was obviously much weaker. There were only couplets posted at the door, and no lanterns were hung.

Sha Yanxiao led Gui'er into the hall. Boss Rong, his wife, and three well-dressed, distinguished-looking men were sitting there. Seeing Sha Yanxiao, they all stood up. Sha Yanxiao wished Mr. and Mrs. Rong a happy new year. They politely thanked him. Mr. and Mrs. Rong gave Gui'er a red envelope and introduced them, saying, "These three are my sons." Sha Yanxiao bowed and said politely, "Happy New Year."

The three Rong brothers returned the greetings politely, and Guier also bowed politely and said, "Happy New Year to the three brothers."

After sitting down, everyone exchanged pleasantries. Master Rong said to Sha Yanxiao, "Although my daughter is deeply in love with the young commander, and the young commander treats her well, we have discussed and decided to send her to Hong Kong after the New Year."

Sha Yanxiao and Gui'er were both surprised. Sha Yanxiao asked, "Does Uncle still think I'm not doing well enough?"

The Rong family members quickly said, "No, it's really commendable that the young marshal has never abandoned you. It's just that I, Rong, have regarded my daughter as the apple of my eye since she was a child, and I must consider her future life. The story of her being victimized has spread like wildfire in Shanghai, and word of mouth is like gold. No matter how long it takes, she will become a joke among people after dinner. It's different in Hong Kong. No one knows her there. Her uncle has property there, and we also plan to move some of our property there so that she can have something to rely on. Besides, there are foreign doctors in Hong Kong who can take another look at whether her eye can be saved. If not, it is said that they can make an artificial eye so that she can look like an ordinary person. We plan to let her change her name when she goes to Hong Kong, so that she can start over then, which is better than staying here."

After hearing this, Gui'er felt happy for Miss Rong. This plan was indeed much better than marrying Sha Yanxiao.

Sha Yanxiao was silent for a moment and said, "Since Uncle Rong has already made up his mind, it's inconvenient for me to say anything more. I want to go and say goodbye to Miss Rong."

Boss Rong and Mrs. Rong hesitated for a moment and agreed. Sha Yanxiao then took Guier to Miss Rong's room.

After not seeing each other for a few days, the swelling and bruises on Miss Rong's face had subsided a little, and she saw a hint of surprise flash in Sha Yanxiao's eyes.

After Gui'er and Miss Rong had given their New Year greetings, they tactfully came out.

Sha Yanxiao and Miss Rong talked inside for about half an hour, and after coming out, they said goodbye to the Rong family.