A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Ever since that incident, Song Xichen no longer asked Gui'er to serve in the front hall. Instead, he asked Dagang to do it. However, when eating, he would occasionally look back and see the burly Dagang standing behind him with an expressionless face. He always felt that something was missing and couldn't help but sigh every time.

When Song Xilun saw this, he laughed and joked, "Big brother still likes to be served by a warm, soft and sticky little person."

Song Xichen glanced at him and said nothing.

Gui'er no longer had to go to the front hall to serve meals, which made her feel much more relaxed. When it was time for dinner, she would go to the servants' dining hall with Ah Xiang and the others, sit down to eat, talk and laugh, and hear a lot of gossip.

Going to school went smoothly. Because she knew everything before, Guier was afraid that learning too fast would arouse other people's suspicion, so she sometimes pretended not to understand. However, the teacher always praised her for being smart and able to learn things quickly.

Tong Yujun has become her friend since that incident. Guier really wanted to repay Tong Yujun for sending her to school, but she had no money, so she had to keep it in her heart and was embarrassed to mention it.

After class that day, the teacher announced that everyone would go on an outing at the weekend. The classmates were all excited, but Gui'er hesitated all of a sudden. In her impression, an outing required preparing snacks and drinks, and she had no money to buy these things. Regardless of whether Song Xichen was willing to prepare them for her, what was more important was that she was a servant, and she had to work in the Song Mansion when she was not in school. Although it was just light work like cleaning the house and tidying up the room, she could not step out of the door of the Song Mansion for a moment. If the master and the mistress knew about this outing, who knew what trouble would arise. After thinking it over, Gui'er decided to pretend to be sick and ask for leave that day.

After school, Gui'er came to the police station to wait for Song Xichen. After finishing her homework on the small desk prepared by Song Xichen, she ran to the windowsill to watch the people coming and going on the street downstairs. Suddenly, she saw a classmate from her school walking into the department store with his parents. When he came out, he was holding a toy in his hand. He had changed his clothes and was wearing a brand new Xiaofengxian cheongsam with a small flower on his head. He happily took the toy and left with his parents.

Gui'er just remembered that her school uniform was her most respectable clothing. Although her other clothes were much better than those on the flower boat, they were all short-sleeved shirts made of homespun cloth and jackets and trousers that had to be tied with waistbands. The trousers were all black, and she was only given two pairs. She was given two white dresses. In addition, when she and Taohua left the flower boat, the madam bought them flowery clothes, which were considered very good clothes among the servants.

Taohua is now the young lady's personal maid. Her food, clothing and other expenses are almost exactly the same as the young lady's. Although Nanny Zhou mentioned it once, the young lady said, "I didn't buy her new clothes. The clothes she is wearing now are the clothes I wore when I was a child. Nanny Zhou, can't you recognize her?" No one said anything after that.

However, some gossipers were trying to deceive Gui'er, saying, "You two clearly entered the mansion together, but now Taohua is acting like a second young lady, while you are being punished every other day."

Fortunately, Gui'er was not really a nine-year-old child. She would always smile and say, "That's because Taohua is favored by the young lady. It's Taohua's blessing. It's a good thing that she can make the young lady laugh. If you can make the young lady laugh, maybe you can get the same treatment. Why don't you try it too?" After that, no one said that anymore.

Taohua was completely unaware of all this and was still like a carefree child. Whenever she had free time, she would run to Guier and say: Miss bought her food again. She was also envious of Guier for being able to go to school. She even told the Miss that she wanted to go to school too, but the Miss said: "I have to go to school every day. That place is not fun at all. You don't have to go. Just stay at home with me." So she had to give up.

Gui'er also felt it was a pity. Taohua seemed to be loved by everyone now, but she didn't know what would happen once the novelty of being a young lady wore off. She cherished the opportunity to go to school even more and tried her best to make more friends in school, hoping that they would be of some help when she became independent in the future.

Song Xichen returned to the office and saw the little girl lying on the windowsill, staring down in a daze. He quietly walked behind her and looked downstairs following her gaze, only to see a little girl about her age happily shopping holding her parents' hands.

Song Xichen's heart suddenly tightened. He had always thought of Gui'er as an uninvited guest who had suddenly appeared in his life. He viewed her with a more critical attitude, and found some of her behavior inconceivable, unlike that of a nine-year-old. But he forgot that she was indeed a child, a poor child sold because her family could not afford to raise her. Even if her behavior was out of line with the thinking patterns of someone her age, it was just a struggle for survival.

He thought of Taohua again. She always hung around his sister and played with her. Taohua was like a carefree child. It seemed that he was indeed careless.

Thinking of this, he said gently to Gui'er, "Do you want to go shopping?"

Gui'er was lost in thought when she suddenly heard a voice behind her and started. She turned around and saw it was Song Xichen. She quickly said, "Master, are you done with your work?"

Song Xichen nodded and said, "There's still some time before we get off work, let's go shopping in the department store." Then he took her hand and walked over together.

This was Guier's first time shopping in a department store since she traveled to this world. She couldn't help but feel a little excited and full of curiosity.

After walking out of the police station and forward another kilometer or two, you will arrive at the largest department store in the area: Wing On Department Store. In the past, every time Gui'er passed by by car, she would look at this classical-style building curiously. It has a prominent waistline and Baroque decorations in some parts. On the first floor facing the street, there is a row of more than a dozen glass windows displaying a wide range of goods and clothing models. The entire window design is magnificent. Although it is different from the modern taste, one can still feel the most fashionable feeling at the moment.

Song Xichen held Guier's hand and walked into the mall. Guier found that this mall actually had an escalator, but it only went up and not down. Guier found that one of the characteristics of this mall was its very advanced concept. Female salespeople were arranged to work at counters with more male customers such as tobacco and pens, while male salespeople were arranged at counters with more female customers such as silk and ready-made clothes. Guier took a closer look and found that their salespeople actually had appearance requirements. They all had regular facial features and temperament. Guier thought that she could use this as an employment direction in the future. It was a way out after all.

Seeing Gui'er staring at him with her big, distracted eyes, Song Xichen thought it was adorable and said generously, "Take whatever you like. I'll pay the bill in the back."

Gui Er didn't dare take anything too expensive, so she only took the cheapest fountain pen and a bottle of ink from the stationery counter and said to Song Xichen, "Master, our teacher said that from now on, we should not only write with a brush, but also get used to writing with a fountain pen."

Song Xichen: "Okay. Buy it."

Walking to the toy counter, Guier discovered that children's toys of this era were surprisingly advanced. There were all kinds of wind-up frogs and cars, as well as various dolls. Guier felt that she had even played with a wind-up frog when she was a child.

The two walked past the ready-to-wear wardrobe counter, and the salesperson greeted them warmly, "Boss, are you out shopping with your daughter? Come and take a look at our new cheongsams. They'll look great in the latest styles."

Gui'er said, "No need."

Song Xichen stopped in his tracks. The salesperson saw that he was interested and quickly took out several small cheongsams suitable for Guier from the counter. Song Xichen put them on Guier one by one and finally chose a long green satin skirt with dark patterns and a short silver-white pearl skirt. Guier saw that the fabrics of these two clothes were something she had never seen before in her original world and they were probably worth a lot of money. If she wore them in the Song Mansion, it might cause some trouble.

At this time, Song Xichen turned around and asked Gui'er: "I think these two are very good, do you like them?"

Gui Er didn't want to spoil his fun, so she thought for a moment and lowered her head and said, "I like it very much, but if I tell people about it in the mansion, I'm afraid others will say something."

Song Xichen smiled lightly and said, "It doesn't matter. If someone mentions it, just ask him to come to me and I'll tell him." Then he turned to the salesperson and said to pack these two items.

The salesperson nearby saw that this was a high-end customer who was willing to spend lavishly, so he immediately said with a smile, "Okay, okay, boss, would you like to buy another pair of shoes for your daughter? We have new French leather shoes. They are made of calfskin and are very comfortable and fashionable. They are the latest model this year."

Song Xichen said, "Take it out and let me see it."

The salesperson hurriedly turned around and pulled out an exquisite shoe box from the cabinet. He opened the box, revealing a pair of small leather shoes that looked a bit like ballet slippers. The toes were a bit pointed, more like miniature adult shoes than children's. Song Xichen took the shoes out and had Gui'er try them on. They fit perfectly. He turned to the salesperson and said, "Let's take this pair."

Gui Er quickly took off her shoes, wanting to change them back. Song Xichen smiled and said, "You look great in them. Just wear them like this and go."

As she spoke, she handed the clothes and shoes she had bought to Dagang who was following behind. Guier felt a little sorry and said to Dagang, "Thank you, Brother Dagang."

When Song Xichen heard this, he looked as if his home had been robbed and said, "Why should I thank him? I obviously paid for it."

Dagang rolled his eyes in the back, and Guier quickly said with a smile, "Master, you must thank me. I just haven't figured out how to thank you yet."

Song Xichen then turned his anger into joy and said, "Okay, then think about it."

After touring the first floor, the three of them took the escalator to the second floor. It turned out that the second floor was a restaurant, which offered Chinese and Western cuisine, exquisite Cantonese dishes, home-style economical side dishes, coffee and snacks, etc. Song Xichen led Guier and Dagang to the second-floor restaurant, sat down, ordered some snacks and said, "We have to go home for dinner later, so let's have some snacks first." After a while, the waiter brought over several baskets of snacks. Guier saw that there were butterfly cakes, salt and pepper beef tongue biscuits, five-spice oil-fried sesame cakes, red bean cakes, double-nut milk skin cakes, and beverages such as coffee. He also ordered milk tea specifically for Guier.

It was Gui'er's first time eating such dim sum, so she was very curious and tried a piece of each. She looked up and saw that there were couples around, or couples or families shopping here. Judging from their attire, they seemed to be well-off.

After they finished eating, they went home. When Guier came down the stairs, she saw an inconspicuous corner at the corner of the stairs. All the discounted items were priced at 1 yuan. She didn't expect that in this era, there would be discounted items just like modern supermarkets. She walked over curiously and found that there were all kinds of discounted items here, all brand new, which might be leftover goods or backlogs of warehouse clearance goods.

Gui'er also saw a roll of royal blue brocade with a bamboo leaf pattern. She felt like she had discovered a new world. She turned around and said to Song Xichen, "Master, I think this fabric is very good. If you don't mind, I'll make you a sachet."

Song Xichen was very happy and bought the fabric immediately.

Back at the Song residence, Gui'er ate in the servants' dining hall, then returned to the courtyard to finish her chores before returning to her room to do her homework. Upon entering, she saw a wind-up toy frog she had just seen at Wing On Department Store on her desk. Its shiny green tin casing exuded a nostalgic feeling, and underneath it was a piece of paper. Gui'er picked it up and read: "Go on the picnic. Wear the clothes I bought today. I'll have the kitchen prepare food for you." Song Xichen.

Gui'er folded the note in half and put it in the drawer. She gently stroked the spring on the little frog and put it down. The little frog immediately jumped forward with a ticking sound.

Gui'er took out the piece of brocade she bought at Wing On Department Store and planned to make the sachet for Song Xichen as soon as possible.