A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Sha Yanyao was quite surprised to hear that Yulan was also willing to help. He smiled sadly and said, "It seems that Fengshu is still very popular at home. After all, I missed a good woman."

Now Gui'er didn't know how to respond.

When they arrived at school, Gui'er hurried to find Miss Shen, who was also looking for her. They found a place where no one was around, and Miss Shen asked, "How is your brother?"

Gui'er said, "I was just about to ask you, when you looked for my brother last night, did he agree?"

Ms. Shen said: "He said he would think about it."

Gui Er said to Miss Shen, "I have already persuaded his current wife, and Yu Lan to help. I hope they can play a role."

Miss Shen still asked nervously: "What if he is unwilling to help?"

Gui'er comforted her and said, "Then let's think of another way."

Gui'er wasn't sure, because she didn't know if Xu Wenjie's job was just to help with liaisons. If so, he wouldn't have left much evidence. If there were other high-level intelligence involved, it would be difficult to find him.

That evening, Director Wang came over for dinner. Gui'er pretended to be calm as usual, but he was actually very nervous. If Sha Yanyao was willing to help, he would have asked Director Wang about it.

After finishing his meal, Director Wang stayed in Yulan's room for a while and then returned at the same time as usual.

Gui'er was very uneasy. Could it be that Sha Yanyao was unwilling to help? Had he asked Director Wang about it?

The next day, when they got to school, Miss Shen found Gui'er. They found a secluded place and Miss Shen said to Gui'er, "Your brother called me and told me that he had spoken to Director Wang yesterday. Director Wang actually has some connections with Xu Wenjie's father. He said he was willing to rescue the fish, but he wanted five large yellow croakers."

Gui'er said, "Do you want so much? This isn't based on our past friendship; he's clearly trying to take advantage of the situation."

Miss Shen said with a sad face, "I actually asked my mother to contact some of my father's old friends. They asked around and they all said there's no evidence Xu Wenjie has any ties to the Communist Party. They said they'd save him, but they wanted 100 gold bars. I don't know if what they said is true or not, as my father is no longer with us. It's very likely they were just trying to make money. Director Wang is still in office, so what he said should be true."

Gui'er said, "Sister Feng Shu, do you have that much money?"

Miss Shen bit her lip and said, "My mother did have some, but after my divorce, she valued money very much. She said that the little money she had was her lifeline for the rest of her life, so she's basically very stingy now. The number of servants at home has also been reduced, leaving only two or three. When I asked her to help rescue people, she was willing to run away, but she said no when it came to paying."

Gui'er thought for a moment and said, "I do have some money on hand. It's the living expenses my second brother gave me, and if I sell some of my gold and silver jewelry, I should be able to get two large yellow croakers. I'll give it to you when the time comes, and you can give it to my eldest brother and say it's your money."

Miss Shen said quickly, "How can this be possible? Your life is already difficult enough under the care of Madam and your new sister-in-law. How can you survive without some money?"

Guier smiled and said, "Then I'll just ask my second brother for more. He's quite generous to me." In fact, Guier did have some money left from selling Ji Yiru's things. If she pooled the money together and took some from her own savings, she should be able to get enough for two big yellow croakers. She still had some savings, and she should be able to live a decent life in the future using money from her savings. However, it was really hard to explain where the money went.

Miss Shen was very touched. She touched her head and said, "I'll sell my savings and the gold and silver jewelry I used to have. Anyway, I'm not a lady now, so it's not easy for me to carry so much. I'll see how much I can get together when the time comes. If it's not enough, I'll tell you again. I'll try not to use your money."

"Your second brother is a shrewd person. Although I haven't had much contact with him, people around him all say that he is very cautious and meticulous. If he finds out, I'm afraid it will lead to other things."

It was the first time that Gui'er heard someone make such an evaluation of Sha Yanxiao, but now she was so busy thinking about how to save Xu Wenjie that she had no time to think about anything else.

She said, "Actually, can we negotiate a price with Director Wang? He's clearly asking for too much. Even though your mother asked for help and those people offered 100 gold bars, it's obvious they were trying to scam her out of money, so don't use that as a reference. But didn't Director Wang say he was doing it for Xu Wenjie's father's sake? If that's the case, how can he have the nerve to ask for that much money?"

Miss Shen shook her head and said, "Director Wang is very careful and cautious in his official duties, but his personal ethics are not very good. Everyone knows this."

Gui'er suddenly remembered that Xu Wenjie's home was in Nanjing, so she said to Miss Shen, "Do you know where Xu Wenjie lives? His mother must be very worried about this. How is his family doing now? Can you spare some money?"

Miss Shen said, "We used to have some contact with each other, but since his father passed away, we've been living in Shanghai and Jiangcheng, so we've had less contact. He's the only boy in his family, and if anything happens to him, I don't know how worried his mother will be."

She thought for a moment and said to Gui'er, "Why don't we go see her after school today?"

Guier thought about it and nodded.

After school, Miss Shen took Guier in a rickshaw to a courtyard near their home, not far from the Shen residence and the Sha residence. Guier was not surprised, after all, Xu Wenjie's father was a high-ranking official.

After getting off the rickshaw, Miss Shen walked to the courtyard gate and knocked on the doorknocker. A small door the size of a birdcage opened, and a man who looked like a doorman asked through the small window, "Who are you looking for?"

Miss Shen said politely, "Hello, we're looking for Mrs. Xu."

The man said expressionlessly, "The Xu family has moved away. We are new here."

Miss Shen and Gui'er were both surprised. Miss Shen quickly asked, "Do you know where he moved to? I'm a friend of my son's friend. I need to talk to his mother about something important. Her son is in trouble."

After hearing this, the man glanced at Miss Shen and Gui'er, and said in a softer tone, "She must have moved to Xiaguan. What happened to her son?"

Miss Shen hesitated for a moment and said, "His son was arrested, and he needs money to redeem him."

When the doorman heard it, he opened the door and walked out. Guier could see clearly that he was an old man in his 50s with white hair and some muscular body. It was obvious that he had been doing hard labor for many years.

The old man asked in surprise, "How could this be? I was originally their doorman, but since they moved to Xiaguan, the new owner hired me to continue guarding the house. Ladies, please wait a moment. I'll talk to the owner and take you there."