A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

After Gui'er and Tong Yujun finished their conversation, it was already dark and the weather was getting colder. As evening approached, darkness came earlier and earlier.

Tong Yujun walked ahead in a daze. Gui'er quickly stepped forward to comfort her, saying, "You'd better be cautious about this matter. There's no guarantee that there won't be a turning point, but you must not act rashly. Especially your aunt. You must persuade her not to overstep the line. The Marshal knew about it last time, which means he must have arranged for someone to check it out."

Tong Yujun smiled bleakly, turned around and left without asking Gui'er to take his car. Gui'er felt embarrassed to follow him as she couldn't help this time, so she turned around and looked for a rickshaw.

Looking around at the entrance of Wing On Department Store, she didn't know if it was dinner time or what, but there was not a single rickshaw around. Seeing that time was getting later and later, and today was the day she was going to have dinner with Dashuai, Gui'er was a little anxious.

Suddenly someone grabbed Gui'er from behind. Gui'er was startled and was about to scream when a familiar voice came from behind: "Miss Gui'er, why are you here?"

Gui'er turned her head and saw Wu Mingqiang. He was staring at her with burning eyes. His shiny black pupils reflected a different light in the dim street, like the unique eyes of a beast hunting in the dark.

Gui'er sensed a dangerous atmosphere and quickly said with a smile, "I called my brother. I don't know why he hasn't come to pick me up yet. He should be here soon."

Wu Mingqiang seemed to come to his senses in an instant, loosened his grip, and said with a smile, "So that's how it is."

The two of them stood awkwardly at the entrance of Wing On Department Store. After a long while, no rickshaws appeared. Of course, the car that Gui'er mentioned, sent by Sha Yanxiao, was impossible to appear either. Wu Mingqiang said to Gui'er, "It seems that the young marshal has something to do and can't leave. If you don't mind, why don't you take my car back?"

Gui'er sensed something was wrong with Wu Mingqiang's expression, so she quickly said with a smile, "Then I'll just take a rickshaw back later. I don't want to waste your time."

Wu Mingqiang smiled and said, "No need to delay. I'm free at night anyway." Then he walked towards a car next to him. When Gui'er looked at the brand new car, she realized that Wu Mingqiang must have become rich.

Wu Mingqiang didn't have a driver, so he had to drive himself. He first helped Gui'er open the passenger door. Gui'er suddenly had an idea and opened the back seat herself and walked in. "Excuse me, I'm usually used to sitting in the back. Do you mind?"

Wu Mingqiang was stunned for a moment and said, "I had forgotten that the young lady always sits in the back."

In this way, the two of them were separated, and Guier finally felt a little safer.

Wu Mingqiang slowly started the car. Gui'er felt uncomfortable watching him look at her through the rearview mirror while driving, so she said something to make conversation, "Brother Wu, I really like the gift you gave me a while ago. Thank you."

Wu Mingqiang was delighted to hear this and said, "As long as you like it, Miss. I know someone who's a manager at Sincere Department Store. If you find any good items, just tell him and he'll reserve them for me. If you have anything you want in the future, just tell me."

Gui'er thought to herself that Wu Mingqiang was quite capable, had high emotional intelligence, and was ambitious. He might be able to achieve something in this era. However, she did not have much contact with this person and did not know what his character was like.

Wu Mingqiang talked incessantly about some new gadgets that Xinshi Department Store had recently introduced, such as cameras and radios, which he could easily get.

Gui'er didn't want to hear his boasting, so she changed the subject and said, "Brother Wu went to Shanghai a while ago to look after the former Ji family's assets, right? Is there any problem?"

Wu Mingqiang was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "The young lady is one of us, and I won't hide it from you. In fact, I went to Shanghai not only to look after the former Ji family's assets, but also to check on Miss Shen."

Now it was Gui'er's turn to be surprised. She asked, "Why are you checking her out? Was this what Second Brother called?"

Wu Mingqiang smiled mysteriously and said, "Because there are rumors that Director Shen is secretly colluding with the Japanese, isn't the Marshal planning to marry them? So they asked me to investigate to avoid being implicated."

"So how's your investigation going? Any results?"

"How should I put it? Most government officials actually have some connection to the Japanese or other foreign governments. Director Shen is also quite close to them, but he hasn't done anything inappropriate at this stage. We've already arranged for close monitoring."

Gui'er realized the seriousness of the problem. As a senior government official, he should not have close contact with foreigners. However, in this period, everything is in chaos and people's morale is low. I'm afraid there are quite a few officials who have private contact with foreign countries. Sha Yanxiao's arrangement is also correct. He sent people to monitor closely to prevent Director Shen from doing something inappropriate and bringing trouble to the Marshal's Mansion.

Soon Wu Mingqiang drove Gui'er back to the Marshal's Mansion. As soon as Gui'er got out of the car, she went straight to the dining room in the front yard.

Fortunately, she made it in time, but the Marshal had not arrived yet. Guier adjusted her breathing and quietly found her seat while no one was paying attention and sat down.

There was nothing special about the meal. After the meal, the Marshal said that he would hold a one-year-old birthday party for his little grandson, Marshal Zhang's legitimate son, in a while.

When the Third Concubine heard this, she naturally smiled, and the Madam also smiled, but Guier saw that only her mouth was smiling, not her eyes. The Fourth Concubine simply rolled her eyes and curled her lips.

Gui'er was in no mood to gossip about the undercurrents between the rooms. When she returned to Sha Yanxiao's courtyard, she deliberately took out the snacks that Wu Mingqiang had given her before and asked Dingxiang to send them to each room for them to taste. She took the opportunity to send her away, and then took Sha Yanxiao to the study on the pretext of looking for a book to read.

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "You came back late today and acted so mysteriously. Did something happen outside?"

Gui'er said, "Brother, you guessed it right." Then, she told Sha Yanxiao what Tong Yujun had told her.

As expected, Sha Yanxiao angrily slammed his fist on the table and said bitterly, "This damn Tong family, after marrying into the Marshal's Mansion, he has gained so much benefits. How many merchants do business with him because of our Marshal's Mansion? How many land and shops were acquired from the drug and gambling crackdown in Fengcheng were given to him for free? Don't think I don't know."

Gui'er quickly tried to appease him, saying, "I think this is a joint problem. It's mainly because Eighth Concubine has been exposed to new ideas and doesn't want to live with Father anymore. With Father's temper, I'm afraid someone might get killed."

Sha Yanxiao scoffed, "Naive! What new ideas, old ideas? The Eighth Concubine was sold to the Marshal's Mansion by their family to continue their family line. Since they've already sold their loved one like an object, why would they care about her ideas? It's just an excuse."