A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui'er was very surprised when she heard Sha Yanyao say that Xu Wenjie's father was killed by bandits. She remembered that Xu Wenjie had told Director Shen before that his father would come over to celebrate the New Year, and his mother had come earlier. She didn't expect such a thing to happen.

After a long while, she said to Sha Yanyao, "Is this the case? The Xu family will be in decline, and Xu Wenjie will no longer be able to compete with you?"

Sha Yanyao tapped Gui'er's nose and said, "Smart."

When Gui'er returned to the villa, she saw Sha Yanxiao lazily lying on the sofa reading a newspaper. Seeing Gui'er coming back, he smiled and asked, "How was your fun outside today?"

Seeing no one around, Gui'er told Sha Yanxiao everything that had happened at Miss Shen's house: Sha Yanyao's leg seemed to have been healed, his wife and son were seeking high-ranking positions, and Xu Wenjie's father had passed away.

Sha Yanxiao was obviously not interested in hearing about Sha Yanyao's legs and his job search. It seemed that he had known about it for a long time.

When he heard that Xu Wenjie's father had passed away, he sat up suddenly and said, "Really?"

Guier nodded and said, "That's what big brother said, and he was quite happy."

Sha Yanxiao frowned and said, "But Director Shen's promotion was mainly due to the support of Xu Wenjie's father. In this way, he has no hope of promotion. I don't know if he will contact the Japanese again. No, I have to discuss it with my father." Then he got up and left.

Gui'er also realized the seriousness of the matter. She looked around and saw that there was no one around. She hurried to Sha Yanxiao's study and secretly called Song Xichen to tell him about this matter.

After hearing this, Song Xichen said, "I understand. We will redeploy and will never let our country's map fall into the hands of the enemy. You should also pay attention to your own safety."

Two days later, Director Shen came to visit Marshal Sha with his whole family and gifts. When Dingxiang told Guier, Guier thought she had misheard and hurried to the first floor lobby.

It was true. The director and Marshal Sha were chatting, and the two ladies were sitting down to discuss their respective ways of keeping in good health. Miss Shen and Sha Yanyao were sitting on the side in an orderly manner. When they saw Gui'er coming down, Miss Shen warmly invited Gui'er to sit over and handed her a box of gifts. It turned out that the Shen family had prepared gifts for everyone in the Sha Mansion.

As the saying goes, one never hits the person who gives a gift. Everyone in the Sha family was in harmony when they received the gifts, especially the third concubine. She received a gold bracelet, which made her very happy. She praised Miss Shen for her elegance and beauty, like a fairy, and then praised Sha Yanyao for his youth and promising status, and said he and Miss Shen were a perfect match. Although her expressions were a bit too obvious, both sides enjoyed it very much.

That day, Marshal Sha invited Director Shen and his family to his home for dinner, and he even said, "I want to take out that bottle of French imported wine that I've been keeping for a long time and let my in-laws taste it."

Gui'er thought Director Shen definitely wouldn't like Sha Dashuai calling him that, but he smiled brightly and said, "Okay, then I, Old Shen, am in for a treat today."

Later, he felt that the dishes cooked by the chef in the mansion were not exquisite enough, so he went to the famous Xinghualou to order some dishes to be delivered, so that Guier and the other children could enjoy the feast.

The atmosphere at the dinner that day was very good and everyone was having a great time. The Marshal and Director Shen drank so much that their faces turned red. Sha Yanyao and Sha Yanxiao also drank with them, but they were both relatively sober.

By the time the banquet was over, Director Shen and the Marshal were already tipsy. They had changed their address to brothers instead of relatives. Director Shen put his arm around the Marshal's neck and muttered, "Brother, brother, I'm so miserable. I've worked hard for most of my life, and now I'm being sent out. It's not that I look down on your eldest brother, but there's really no other way. I have to find a way back to the central government, right? I finally hooked up with Vice President Xu, but before I even got to meet him, he was killed by bandits. Just imagine how unlucky I am."

Marshal Sha walked unsteadily, half-opened his eyes, and said to him with a flushed face: "Brother, don't be discouraged, brother, this boss is very hardworking. He has found a... something, a distant relative of my wife's. He can arrange a good position for him in the central government. Don't worry."

Director Shen patted Marshal Sha on the back and said, "Otherwise, it's my nephew who deserves the credit."

"You, you got it wrong. It's, it's son-in-law."

"Yes, son-in-law, a good son-in-law."

At this time, dinner was almost over. Mrs. Shen saw that Director Shen was drunk and felt a little embarrassed. She said to his wife, "Our Mr. Shen behaves like this when he drinks."

Mrs. Shen smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. The Marshal is the same. All men are the same."

Then the two ladies stepped forward and tried to pull them apart, but the two men just held hands and didn't want to let go, as if they were reluctant to do so.

Director Shen shouted into Marshal Sha's ear, "Brother, brother, there's another way to make money. When I came from Nanjing, I brought a few maps with me. They're valuable stuff. We can sell them to foreign countries. They're very valuable."

Suddenly, the restaurant fell silent. Except for the young children of the fifth and sixth concubines who were still playing, the other adults were all stunned, not knowing what was going on.

After a long while, Mrs. Shen finally reacted and said, "You're like this when you drink. You scare people." He turned to his wife and said, "I'm sorry. Our Mr. Shen likes to talk nonsense when he drinks."

The wife smiled and said, "The same goes for our Marshal. Lao Zhou, Lao Zhou, go get some sobering tea. The eldest and second sons, help them get some rest."

Then a group of people came over and helped the two to the living room, wiped their faces, and fed them sobering tea.

When Gui'er heard this, she realized that Director Shen wanted to sell the map again. While observing everyone, she quietly returned to the third floor. Seeing that there was no one around, she quickly slipped into Sha Yanxiao's study and called Song Xichen to inform him of Director Shen's plan. She also told him that the owner of the Shen residence was not at home, so they should see if they could find a chance to get in. However, they must be careful because although Director Shen was drunk, they could return to the Shen residence at any time.

After listening to this, Song Xichen said, "I understand. I'll let them act accordingly."

After hanging up the phone, Guier pretended to be concerned and went to the first floor to check the situation.

When I got to the first floor, I just heard Mrs. Shen say to my wife, "It's getting late now, so we'll leave first."

The lady said, "Let's wait until Old Shen gets better before we go."

Mrs. Shen and the young lady both said politely, "How can we bother you any further?"

Gui'er quickly said, "Miss Shen, let your father rest here for a while. A drunk man will easily vomit if he gets in a bumpy car."

The lady and the eldest young master agreed after hearing this, saying, "Yes, let's let him sober up before we go."