A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Two days later, there seemed to be no movement. Gui'er couldn't help but ask Ah Cheng what actions Wu Mingqiang had taken?

Ah Cheng said, "Brother Qiang has found out the whereabouts and patterns of each of Director Zhou's mistresses and is ready to take action, but the eldest young master said not to rush. He wants to report Director Zhou to the higher-ups and see if he can get rid of him so he doesn't have to resort to this shady move."

Gui'er asked, "Are there any of his concubines we can use as scapegoats? Don't let it get to us. We're all in this together. If it gets to Big Brother, we won't be in any good."

Ah Cheng said doubtfully, "But doesn't the young master intend to get rid of Director Zhou?"

Gui'er smiled and said, "I think Director Zhou is a ruthless and vicious person. He's been in Nanjing for many years and has deep roots. How could it be possible that he was punished just because he had several concubines? I'm afraid his concubinage is well known among the higher-ups. If you report it, it might not only be ineffective, but you might even face retaliation from Director Zhou. Director Zhou won't let you off easily."

"Besides, Director Zhou wanted those gold bars, and we only gave him 200 of them, which is still far from enough. The Marshal's Mansion won't give any more money, and Big Brother doesn't have any money. Anyway, I don't think this level will be easy to pass, so it's better to keep some in reserve."

She said to Ah Cheng, "Although Big Brother doesn't intend to get rid of Director Zhou, we still have to be prepared."

Ah Cheng nodded and said, "Miss, what you said makes sense."

When I returned to the Sha Mansion that day, my wife came to greet me as soon as I entered the door and said, "Gui'er is back. Are you busy with your studies lately?"

Gui'er felt puzzled. Usually she would respectfully tell Madam that she was back, and Madam would just nod indifferently. But why was she taking the initiative to smile at her today?

So I got a little defensive and said with a smile, "It's okay. It's almost the end of the semester, but I'm catching up on all the subjects."

The lady patted her head affectionately, took her hand and walked into the hall together, saying with a smile, "I knew my good daughter would never need anyone's worries. By the way, I see you've grown up and need some nice clothes. In a few days, I'll take you to the department store to buy you some of the latest cheongsams."

The two walked into the living room and sat down. Song Tingting just came down from upstairs with a few clothes in her hands. She said to Gui'er with a smile, "Sister, you're back. I heard what mother said upstairs. I have a few of my old clothes here. They don't fit me anymore, but the style and material are still good. They'll fit you just fine, even though they're old. I haven't worn them many times, so don't be disgusted. Take them and wear them."

Even Song Tingting changed her expression, and Gui'er felt something was wrong. However, she kept silent and took over with a smile, saying, "Thank you, sister-in-law. You are so kind to me. I'll go upstairs to do my homework first and come back to talk."

When she returned to her room, Dingxiang brought her milk tea as usual.

Gui'er asked her, "What's going on? Why are these two acting strangely when I came back today?"

Ding Xiang stammered, "I don't know either, but it seems like the eldest young master went out today and came back looking very unhappy. He also talked with the mistress and the young mistress in the study for a long time. I don't know what they talked about."

Gui'er asked hurriedly, "Have you heard where big brother went?"

She had a bad feeling. She always felt that the lady's behavior was somewhat similar to her previous attitude towards Yulan. They must want to use her as a bargaining chip. Otherwise, with the lady's character who was eager to squeeze more money out of Guier, how could she possibly spend money to buy clothes for Guier?

Ding Xiang said, "No, none of the servants knew where the young master was going, but he probably wasn't going to work because he dressed up formally before leaving, even applying hair oil. The mistress and the young mistress both solemnly saw him off to the door. How could he normally go to work like this?"

Gui'er guessed that maybe Sha Yanyao had hit a snag when he wanted to report Director Zhou, and after coming back to discuss with his wife and Song Tingting, he decided to use Yulan's trick to deal with Director Zhou again, but they were out of money now, so they thought of themselves.

Thinking of this, Gui'er already had an idea in her mind. She asked Dingxiang to go down, then took out a piece of paper, thinking of writing down the situation and finding an opportunity to let Miss Shen bring it to Xu Wenjie. Now the surveillance is much looser, so if she is careful, there should be no problem.

Just as she picked up the pen, someone knocked on the door. She picked up a book, opened it and pretended to read it, then said to the person outside, "Come in."

It was Sha Yanyao. Gui'er was very surprised. She quickly stood up and gave him her seat, and rang the bell to ask Dingxiang to make a pot of tea.

Sha Yanyao waved his hand awkwardly and said, "No need. I just came to talk to you about something."

Then he sat down, glanced at Gui'er, sighed, and said, "I went to see Director Zhou's superiors today, but they just laughed it off. I feel like they have a close relationship with Director Zhou. I wonder if they will tell Director Zhou about this. If they do, our lives will be even more difficult from now on."

Gui Er quickly said, "Didn't Big Brother and Wu Mingqiang plan to get rid of Director Zhou? Let's take action now while the surveillance is lax to avoid future trouble."

Sha Yanyao said with some embarrassment, "I thought so too, but Wu Mingqiang has reported back the past few days that although Director Zhou is a lecher, he has been engaged in espionage work for a long time and is very cautious and skilled. Wu Mingqiang's subordinates are just former thugs of the Shanghai mafia. I'm afraid they can't deal with Director Zhou. If the operation fails, our whole family will be doomed."

Gui'er thought: Could this have something to do with the sudden change in attitude of Madam and Song Tingting towards me?

So he said, "So what are you going to do, brother?"

Sha Yanyao bit his lip, glanced at Gui'er hesitantly, and said with some embarrassment at the ground, "According to Wu Mingqiang's investigation, Director Zhou likes Yangzhou skinny horses."

Gui'er sneered inwardly, having indeed guessed it right. She smiled and shook her head, saying, "Brother, although I'm young, I know what Yangzhou skinny horses are. The newspapers say they're little girls from poor families along the Qinhuai River who are sold to brothels when they're young, right? But we owe Director Zhou hundreds of gold bars. One gold bar could buy several little girls. Even if I were the daughter of a marshal, I wouldn't be worth hundreds of gold bars, right?"

Sha Yanyao said awkwardly, "What you said makes sense, but Mother insisted on trying this tactic. I thought about it, sister, you've killed bandits before, so can we set a trap and get rid of Director Zhou?"