A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Xu Wenjie slowly stopped eating after he had eaten most of the beef pot stickers. Gui'er and Miss Shen knew that he must have suffered a lot this time, so they didn't say anything and just sat quietly by his side. Miss Shen even considerately poured him a glass of water.

Xu Wenjie picked up the cup and took a big sip, then breathed a sigh of relief as if he were reborn. He looked up and was about to say something, but when he saw Ah Cheng, he closed his mouth again.

Gui Er said to Ah Cheng, "Brother Ah Cheng, can you go outside and help see if anyone is following us?"

Ah Cheng nodded and walked out.

Xu Wenjie watched him walk out and close the door before he raised his head again. Miss Shen asked him, "What happened?"

Xu Wenjie slammed his fist on the table and gritted his teeth, "What a scoundrel! How despicable! They arrested me without any evidence at all."

"How did they find you?" Gui'er meant whether those people found Xu Wenjie through other people's betrayal, which was what she cared about most.

Xu Wenjie shook his head and said, "That shouldn't be the case. I heard from others in prison that they had shut down Life Magazine, and I just happened to be selling Life Magazine in my store."

"What questions did they ask you? How did you answer?" Gui'er was mainly afraid that Xu Wenjie would reveal the affairs of Song Xichen and Manager Liu after being tortured by them.

Xu Wenjie glanced at Gui'er and said, "Don't worry. They're only asking about matters related to me and Life Weekly. There were dozens, maybe even hundreds, of people arrested with me, and more and more. Many had no idea what was going on, including students from your school. But most of them eventually paid to be redeemed, and the rest, without money, are still incarcerated."

Gui Er finally breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. She smiled and said, "Boss Xu, it's great that you made it out safely. This time it was all thanks to Sister Feng Shu. She asked my eldest brother for help, found Director Wang, and even raised a lot of money."

Miss Shen quickly said, "No, no, Gui'er, you are the one."

Xu Wenjie was moved after hearing this and said to Miss Shen and Gui'er, "Thank you so much for saving me."

After a pause, he asked, "You just mentioned Director Wang? Is that Director Wang from the Military and Political Affairs Department?"

"Yes, this man took advantage of the situation and asked for five large yellow croakers, and said that he was doing it because of our acquaintance." Miss Shen said with a smile.

Xu Wenjie slammed his palm on the table, clenched his fists, and said angrily, "This Director Wang, my father saved him many times before, actually took advantage of the situation to rob him."

"It's good that you're out now. What are your plans for the future?" Miss Shen asked.

"As soon as I was arrested, they searched me, stripped me of my clothes, and took away all my belongings. You have to pay for food in prison, but my money was taken away, and no one sent me any money, so I could only drink stale porridge every day. When they interrogated me, no matter if you were right or wrong, they would punch and kick you."

Only then did Guier notice that the corner of Xu Wenjie's mouth was broken, and he must have been beaten.

Miss Shen said, "I'm glad you're back safely. We went to your house and your mother was very worried. You should go back to see her as soon as possible."

Xu Wenjie was a little embarrassed when he heard this and said, "Have you been to my house? I used to despise money, but now I realize that money is a good thing. It can buy dignity and freedom."

Gui'er felt strange after hearing this.

Miss Shen said, "Put other things aside for now. Go home and see your mother first."

Xu Wenjie nodded, thanked Gui'er and Miss Shen again, and then left in a hurry.

Miss Shen said to Gui'er, "Let's go back quickly, or the lady will scold you again."

Guier nodded, and quickly asked Acheng to call two rickshaws, and urged the drivers to go back.

Back at the Sha Mansion, luckily it wasn't too late, but the lady said to Gui'er, "Why are you back so late today?"

Gui'er quickly said, "The teacher in our last class said there was a key point for the next exam, and he insisted on lecturing for an extra half hour."

The lady didn't pursue the matter further. She said, "We are going to a banquet tonight. Director Wang's mother is celebrating her birthday."

Gui'er quickly said, "I'm still a child. It's not appropriate for me to go."

The lady thought for a moment, then looked back at Sha Yanyao and said, "That's true. Does Yulan want to go?"

Guier rolled her eyes. Director Wang's mother was having a birthday party, so his wife and children must be there. It would be too shameless for Shui Lingling to bring a mistress to the party, right?

"Mother, Yulan is Director Wang's favorite. We are going there to please him, so it would be appropriate to bring Sister Yulan with us." Song Tingting, who is usually like a quail, suddenly spoke.

Sha Yanyao frowned, and Guier pretended not to hear and looked away.

The lady pondered for a moment, then said to Yulan, "You'd better go, do a good job, and take that set of jade jewelry with you."

That set of jade jewelry originally belonged to Gui'er. Madam was reluctant to buy it for Yulan, so she insisted that Gui'er lend it to Yulan. As a result, it was like a tiger borrowing a pig.

After hearing what her lady said, Yulan quickly got dressed, and then they set off. No one cared whether Guier had dinner in the evening.

Guier sighed and returned to her room, thinking of asking Ah Cheng to go out and buy her food later.

Not long after entering the room, Dingxiang came over with a bowl of noodles and said to Guier, "Miss, the kitchen is serving noodles today and didn't cook for the master. I left a bowl for you. You can make do with it. It's better than nothing."

Ah Cheng also ran over and said, "Miss, I'll go out and buy it for you."

Gui'er quickly said, "No, I'm not hungry anyway. It's rare that they all have things to do today. You can rest early and tell the others that they can rest. There's no need to come over here. I'll take this bowl down for you after I finish eating."

Dingxiang and Acheng were very happy and nodded repeatedly as they left.

After seeing them leave, Gui'er tiptoed around the building again. After making sure that there was no one there, she hurried to Sha Yanyao's study and called Song Xichen. She also wanted to report to Song Xichen what happened here. She should have reported it at the beginning, but she had been so flustered thinking about saving people these two days that she actually missed the matter.

It was already evening, and Song Xichen had returned to the Song residence after get off work. Gui'er had no choice but to call the Song residence. Fortunately, it was Song Xichen who answered. Gui'er said to him, "Brother Xichen, is it convenient for you to talk on the phone now? Will anyone eavesdrop?"

Song Xichen listened very cautiously and said, "Wait a moment." He must have observed for a while before saying, "It's okay, go ahead."

Gui'er told him what had happened in the past few days, and specifically told Song Xichen what Xu Wenjie had just told her, about how he was interrogated and how nothing should have been exposed.