A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui'er couldn't help but shudder when she heard this.

Yulan was probably a big mouth, and soon even Dingxiang knew about this. Guier asked her curiously, "Who said that?"

Ding Xiang said with a gossipy look on her face, "Of course it was Miss Yulan herself who boasted about how she was going to become a wealthy lady."

Gui'er shook her head. Although Yulan was clever and eloquent, people who couldn't keep their promises would never achieve anything great. No one knew what disaster would happen in the future, so it was better for her to keep her distance.

But the lady was very happy and treated Yulan better, just like when she first came to the Sha Mansion, taking her out shopping from time to time to buy new clothes.

Every time Yulan got something, she would come to tell Guier about it, either saying that she got a new velvet cheongsam today, or that her mother bought her a set of silver bracelets.

However, neither the Madam nor Yulan mentioned returning the jade jewelry that Guier had lent her. Yulan felt a little guilty and said to Guier, "When I enter the palace, I will definitely have some new clothes. I can return this set to you then. Otherwise, I must have a set of jade jewelry that I can show off." She spoke as if the things were originally hers.

Among the few pieces of jewelry that Guier has, this set of jade jewelry is the most valuable. However, she is living under someone else's roof now, so it is not easy to force her to take it back. I can only let her have it for now.

One day, Gui'er was about to go home after school when she found Zhou Huifang there, looking unhappy. She asked her, "What's wrong with you? Did something happen?"

Zhou Huifang sighed and said, "Do you still remember the bookstore owner Xu that you and Teacher Shen saved?"

Gui'er's heart moved. She hadn't been to the bookstore since the last time, and she also learned from Song Xichen that the result of the handling of that matter was to allow Xu Wenjie to join the Military Commission through the introduction of Director Zhou.

But she was actually still quite concerned, so she pretended not to care and said, "Oh, he hasn't been to the bookstore recently. What happened to him?"

Zhou Huifang said: "He is going to work for the government."

Guier smiled and said, "What's wrong with working for the government? Why are you sighing? Isn't this a good thing?"

Zhou Huifang looked at Gui'er, hesitant to speak, sighed, and said, "Forget it, you don't understand."

Gui'er probably guessed that she was referring to Xu Wenjie joining the Military Commission. After all, Director Zhou was her uncle and he would definitely reveal something.

She decided to play dumb until the end, so she smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. He's out and has resumed his shop, which is good. There's a new snack shop that opened near the school recently. I heard that the sweet osmanthus candied taro shoots and candied lotus root porridge are very good. Let's go try them."

In fact, the dessert shop was just across from Xu Wenjie's bookstore. Guier wanted to go there to eat and observe what was going on over there.

Although Zhou Huifang was still unhappy, she seemed quite interested when she talked about food, so she nodded and agreed.

When they arrived at the dessert shop, Guier specially chose a seat by the window, asked the boss to place an order, and then chatted with Zhou Huifang while secretly observing Xu's Bookstore through the window.

Xu Wenjie was still in the store, so Guier smiled and said to Zhou Huifang, "Didn't you say Boss Xu went to work for the government? I see he's still in the store."

Zhou Huifang turned her head and took a look, also feeling a little strange, and said: "My uncle clearly said that he invited Xu Wenjie, and Xu Wenjie agreed." After saying this, she was stunned for a moment, probably realizing that she had let the cat out of the bag.

Gui'er quickly changed the subject and said, "Who cares? Whether he works for the government or not is none of our business. Why are you so concerned about him?"

Zhou Huifang suddenly blushed and lowered her head and said, "How could I have that?"

Guier realized whether Zhou Huifang liked Xu Wenjie.

But it is understandable. After all, Xu Wenjie is in his early 20s, tall and handsome, well-spoken, and the son of a high-ranking official since childhood. He has an outstanding temperament. He is very attractive to a or -year-old girl like Zhou Huifang who is just beginning to fall in love.

Originally, after Miss Shen and Sha Yanyao divorced, Guier wanted to match her up with Xu Wenjie, but now the situation is unclear and Guier doesn't dare to intervene easily. Unexpectedly, Zhou Huifang appeared now, and Guier suddenly felt a headache.

Zhou Huifang didn't know if Gui'er had seen through her, but she stopped trying to hide her feelings and said, "I think he's handsome and has progressive ideas. He's a very good person. What do you think?"

Gui'er didn't dare to agree. She was afraid that if she agreed, Zhou Huifang would go after Xu Wenjie and that would be troublesome.

So I said, "It's good, but it's a bit old. You're an adult now."

Zhou Huifang said, "Please, I heard he's only 23, not much older. The man my father asked someone to tell me about last time was 12 years older than me."

"Ah? Then you..."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me turning down the hunger strike."

"Oh, that's good."

After that they chatted about some other things, then finished their meal and prepared to go back.

Zhou Huifang suddenly said, "Gui'er, I feel like we get along quite well. Let's go out together next time. Come with me to the bookstore."

Gui Er didn't expect her to be such a man of action. She didn't want to help and said, "He's already in his 20s, maybe he's already married."

Zhou Huifang was stunned for a moment and said, "That's right. Hey, then I can just find a chance to ask my uncle. It's settled then."

When we returned to the Sha Mansion, it was a little late. The lady said, "Gui'er, we are a wealthy family, not a small family that can run around everywhere. You have been running around like a socialite all day, and if this gets out, it will tarnish our family's reputation."

Sha Yanyao quickly said, "Mother, don't say such harsh words. Gui'er must have been delayed by something."

Gui'er glanced over and saw Song Tingting standing next to her, looking like she was enjoying the show. Yulan lowered her head, fearing she would be affected, and said, "Mother, I went shopping with my classmate Zhou Huifang. I originally thought it was not right to run around so I wanted to refuse, but then I remembered that you said before that you wanted to maintain a good relationship with her, which might help my brother's career in the future, so I agreed. I will be careful next time and refuse her if she asks me out again."

Upon hearing this, the wife's expression immediately brightened. She smiled and said, "So it's Director Zhou's niece. Why is this child hiding it? If you had told me earlier, this would have made a difference. Wherever the children of high-ranking officials go, they're bound to gain experience. It's good for you to go along. Although what I say may be unpleasant, it's for your own good. It's not peaceful out there right now. Are you hungry? Bring on the food and eat quickly."