A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

When it was almost dark, Song Xichen also came back. Gui'er hurried to greet him. Song Xichen frowned when he saw her and Taohua standing at the door to welcome guests. What was he about to say?

As a result, the eldest wife saw him coming back and immediately took him to introduce him to the wives and daughters of various wealthy families.

Gui'er had been running around all day and had been standing for half a day, so her feet were already tired, but no one came to rescue her so she had to continue standing there.

Suddenly, Butler Zhang, who was standing in the middle of the door, bowed and called out in a rhythmic voice, "Uncle has arrived."

The master hurriedly came out from the hall with his three wives, and Guier looked at them curiously.

Two cars drove up from a distance and stopped at the main gate of the Song Mansion. Two men in military officer uniforms got out of the car, and four men dressed as guards got out of the second car. The two officers, surrounded by several guards, walked towards the Song Mansion in a majestic manner.

One of the officers had a square head and large ears, a thick waist and round arms, and was about 1.75 meters tall. He looked about the same age as the master, so he must be the eldest wife's cousin, Captain Duan. The other was younger, tall and burly, at least 1.88 meters. Even through his crisp uniform, one could see the well-developed muscles beneath. However, this man was wearing a military cap, so Gui'er could only see half of his face. She could tell that his facial features were handsome and cold, but there was still a sense of familiarity.

A group of people walked into the gate, and the eldest wife came up to greet them and said happily: "Cousin, you are finally here."

Captain Duan said in a hurry, "Sorry, sister, I'm late because of a meeting." Then he turned around and said, "Let me introduce you, this is our young commander Sha Yanxiao."

The young officer took off his hat, and Guier saw his face clearly. She was so shocked that she didn't know what to say. Isn't this man the young leader of Qingfeng Village?

Sha Yanxiao took off his hat and said calmly, "Mr. Song, Mrs. Song, I'm sorry for disturbing you by coming here uninvited."

Song Shichang and his wife hurriedly said, "Young Marshal, what are you talking about? Your arrival has really brightened up my humble abode. Please come in, please come in."

Gui'er couldn't believe her eyes. She rubbed them hard to make sure she was not mistaken. Then she quietly approached Taohua and asked, "Does this young marshal look familiar to you?"

Who knew Taohua would say, "Really? Have you seen him?"

Gui'er whispered, "Don't you think he looks a lot like the young master of Qingfeng Village?"

Taohua tilted her head and said, "I had a terrible headache at the time and didn't look closely at all, but how could a bandit suddenly become an officer? Are you overthinking it?"

Gui'er then remembered that Taohua had a head injury at that time and the child was frightened, so it was not surprising that she couldn't remember it clearly.

At this moment, the young officer suddenly turned his head and nodded at Guier with a smile in his eyes.

Now Gui'er was 100% sure that Sha Yanxiao was the young leader.

Butler Zhang said to the people standing at the door, "The guests have arrived. Please close the door for now. All of you should go to the inner hall to serve the master."

As soon as the door closed, Gui'er hurried to the inner hall. She wanted to find Song Xichen and tell him about Sha Yanxiao.

She couldn't find Song Xichen in the hall, so she went to the back garden. The dinner had not started yet and there were many guests strolling in the back garden. Just as Gui'er was trying hard to find Song Xichen, suddenly a hand hugged her from behind.

Gui'er smelled a strong odor of alcohol, and an old, greasy voice came from behind her, "Hey, aren't you the little girl standing at the door to greet guests? I heard that you were rescued from bandits by the young master. Did those bandits teach you how to serve a man?"

Gui'er struggled desperately, but as a child she was too weak to defeat an adult man. She also hesitated whether to shout because she didn't think the Song family would offend their guests for a servant like her.

Seeing that the drunk's hands were becoming more and more excessive, he touched Guier's undeveloped breasts and then moved between her legs.

Gui'er took the risk, lowered her head and bit the drunk's hand hard.

"Ah!" the drunk man screamed in pain and let go of his hands. Guier took the opportunity to break free from his restraints, turned around and ran away.

"You little slut, how dare you bite me?"

Suddenly, a kick came from behind and hit him directly on the butt. He fell to the ground with a thud like a big frog. He struggled to get up, turned around and was about to curse, but he felt a chill on his chin. He looked down and saw that a gun was pressed against his chin.

He was so scared that he quickly raised his hands and said, "Please spare my life, sir." When he turned around, it was Sha Yanxiao.

Sha Yanxiao said in a low voice, "You must be Mr. Liu, the boss of the grain and oil store. I heard that although you are over fifty years old, you are particularly fond of little girls in their early teens. Is that true? This young marshal hates these cruel and perverted people the most. If I find anyone, I will kill them and then destroy them."

Boss Liu was so scared that he was sweating profusely, but he smiled and said, "Those are all rumors. Young Marshal, don't believe them."

Sha Yanxiao smiled evilly and said, "Then what did I just see?"

Boss Liu glanced at the cold barrel of the gun, which was pressing against his chin, and said quickly, "That was all a misunderstanding. I was mistaken about the person."

Sha Yanxiao smiled slightly, put away his gun, helped Boss Liu up again, and said, "So it was just a misunderstanding. That's good."

Boss Liu quickly stood up and patted the dirt off his body, but he didn't dare to leave. He nodded and bowed to Sha Yanxiao with a smile.

Sha Yanxiao glanced at him and suddenly said righteously, "This young marshal has returned mainly to collect military funds. Patriotic people like Boss Liu will surely be willing to donate generously."

Boss Liu was visibly stunned for a moment. Under the intimidation of Sha Yanxiao's cold eyes, he could only smile reluctantly and said, "Of course. Well, well, every citizen has a responsibility to make the country prosperous. Someday I will definitely..."

"Don't delay it for another day, let's do it now. I see your grain store is doing so well, your business must be good, so just donate 500 taels of silver." Sha Yanxiao said with a smile.

Boss Liu quickly said, "Young Marshal, we are a small business with very thin profits. 500 taels is too much."

"Then it's 1000 taels." Sha Yanxiao said with a smile.

Boss Liu didn't expect the price to go up the more he bargained, so he quickly said, "Then 500 taels, 500 taels."

Sha Yanxiao smiled with satisfaction and said, "Boss Liu is indeed very patriotic. I will send someone to your house to pick it up in a few days." Then he turned and left.

Boss Liu stood there in a daze. It took him a long time to come back to his senses and sober up completely.

Soon the news of Sha Yanxiao's collection of military funds spread among the guests. At first, everyone wanted to curry favor with the young marshal, but now they all try to avoid him.

Sha Yanxiao contacted many merchants and bank owners, including Mr. Song, and asked them to donate to military expenses. Everyone wanted to show their appreciation by donating a few hundred or a hundred yuan, or even one or two hundred yuan, but Sha Yanxiao set the limit as Boss Liu had donated 500 yuan despite his hardship, and no one should donate less than 500 yuan.

Everyone was a businessman and did not dare to offend the warlord, so they had to accept it in the end. Then they turned around and blamed Boss Liu, asking why he donated so much when he was the first to donate. Boss Liu became a rat crossing the street, with no way to express his grievances.