A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

When Gui'er left for school that day, she noticed that everyone was in high spirits. Curious, she asked Ah Xiang, "Is there any happy event happening in the mansion today?"

Ah Xiang smiled and said, "You just arrived and haven't received your wages yet? Today is the day to pay wages. After lunch, the servants can go to Butler Zhang to collect their wages."

Gui'er remembered that Song Xichen had given her more than 3 yuan for an outing. She wondered if she would be paid this time. She felt that her treatment in the Song Mansion was already better than many others, and she felt a little embarrassed to offer wages. However, if she wanted to be independent in the future, she would definitely need money. She would wait and see after she got home from school.

Dagang drove Gui'er to the school gate. Just as Gui'er was about to get out, Song Xichen stopped her and took out an envelope and handed it to her: "Here is your salary for this month, 10 yuan. Keep it safe. Although you eat and wear everything at home and don't have much to spend, you must save your money well. Girls must have some private money. There is a bank on the street where my office building is. When you have enough money saved, you can take it there to open an account. If you don't know how, I can take you there to open one."

Gui'er was surprised that Song Xichen would care about her savings. She carefully took the envelope and said to Song Xichen, "Thank you, Master."

Gui'er knew that money was very important, especially since she had no relatives or friends in this world. The Song Mansion gave her shelter and Song Xichen took care of her, but it was possible that all of this would be overturned because of a trivial matter, because the lives of servants here were worthless.

During recess, she was playing on the playground with some classmates. She took the opportunity to ask them how much pocket money their families gave them. Tong Yujun nonchalantly replied, "Not much, actually. Only about 50 yuan a month."

The other students were stunned when they heard this. It seemed that the Tong family was indeed one of the richest families in the school.

The bell rang for class, and everyone went back to their classrooms. A classmate named He Ruizhu said to Gui'er, "Guier, don't listen to what Tong Yujun says. Everyone earns a few dozen copper coins to a dollar a month. My father is the deputy manager of the Tong family business, and his monthly salary is only 30 dollars. I have two younger brothers, and my mother gives me 50 copper coins every month for pocket money, but I save it all."

Guier asked curiously, "What does your mother do?"

He Ruizhu said: "My mother didn't work because there was no one to take care of my two younger brothers. But she used to work as a clerk in a pharmacy. She earned 20 yuan a month, which was quite impressive. I hope I can find a clerk job in the future."

Gui'er had only been here for a short time and had no idea about these things, but when she looked at Ruizhu's clothes and daily expenses, she saw that they didn't seem to be particularly tight on money. Their family should be considered a middle-class family, with enough food and clothing but no special extravagance.

She secretly made up her mind that if she had the chance to leave the Song Mansion in the future, she would make this her goal.

After school, Guier returned to the Song residence. During dinner, she noticed that there were fewer people around, so she asked Zhang Ma. Zhang Ma said, "Aren't wages paid today? Everyone went out to eat something delicious. If you have relatives outside, send the wages home. You rarely get home once a month, so you must stay a little longer."

Gui'er suddenly realized what was going on. After dinner, she and Taohua chatted as they returned to their respective courtyards. Gui'er quietly asked Taohua, "How much did you get paid this month?"

Taohua said, "We arrived at the Song Mansion at the same time. This was our first payday, and I received five dollars. That's a really high salary! I've never seen so much money in my life."

Gui'er felt something was wrong. She had already given out 5 yuan last time, and this time she gave out 10 yuan. There must be something fishy going on. However, it was inconvenient to tell Taohua, so she had to change the subject vaguely and said, "Yes, how are you going to spend this money?"

Taohua said, "I don't know if my family is still in my hometown. If they are, I would send this five yuan back to them."

Gui Er was displeased when she heard this and said, "They sold you out. If it weren't for the young master saving you, you really don't know if you would still be alive now. Why are you still caring about them?"

Taohua said, "There's nothing we can do about it. We've run out of food at home, and my dad said he'll save up enough money to redeem me once the harvest is good. But they don't even know I'm at the Song family yet, so how am I supposed to contact them then?"

Guier really wanted to say to her, "Don't be naive." But then she thought, Taohua is just a 9 or 10-year-old child, so it's better not to discourage her too much.

At this time, Taohua asked Guier: "Are you planning to send the money back? Your family is not a tenant farmer. You have two acres of thin land. Maybe there are still people at home."

Guier lifted the hair on her forehead, revealing the scar on her forehead. The scar has healed and formed a scar. Now it is basically impossible to tell that she was injured, but there is a faint red mark.

Gui'er said, "Because of my injuries, I no longer remember what my family looks like. Everything I know about my family now is from what you told me. After all, when my family sent me to the flower boat, they knew where it was and anticipated that I might end up in the worst possible situation. I'll just consider myself reborn as a human being."

Taohua was silent.

Back at the eldest young master's courtyard, Gui'er saw Song Xichen sitting in the living room, legs crossed, reading a newspaper. Seeing no other servants were around, she cautiously approached him and said, "Young master, I heard Taohua say her monthly salary is only five yuan. Why is mine so much? And this is my second time getting paid monthly."

Song Xichen put down the newspaper, smiled, and asked her to sit next to him. He touched her little face and said, "The five yuan last time was for you to buy something at the department store. Of course, you can think of it as monthly allowance. This time, the ten yuan is a reward for your performance in this matter of being a young lady. Just take it with peace of mind."

Gui Er felt relieved after hearing this and quickly said, "Thank you, Master."

She returned to her room and put the newly earned 10 yuan into her book. She was very grateful to Song Xichen, but suddenly remembered that she had not made the sachet she promised him, so she quickly finished her homework and started to make it.

It took several days to make this sachet, but after looking at it from left to right, I felt embarrassed to give it away. Guier had never done needlework before and was clumsy. The stitches looked like a spider crawling.

Guier got up early in the morning and ran to the yard when no one was around. She picked some magnolia flowers and put them in a sachet. She picked it up and smelled it. It was fragrant, but the craftsmanship was too crude.

"Is that for me?"

Gui'er was startled when she suddenly heard a voice behind her. She turned around and found Song Xichen standing at the door staring at her.

In fact, Song Xichen heard noises from the next room early in the morning. He was a very alert person. Before going to bed every day, he would even walk to the door of the small room next door to make sure Guier was asleep before turning off the lights.

Early this morning, he noticed a small figure in the next room sneaking out of bed, heading straight to the garden, climbing up and down to pick flowers, and then putting them into a sachet, thinking that it was a gift for himself.

Gui Er was a little embarrassed. She walked up to Song Xichen shyly and handed him the sachet. She blushed and said, "This is my first time, so I'm not very good. Please don't mind."

Song Xichen played with it for a few seconds, put it in his pocket, and said with a smile, "Okay."