A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui'er said, "I'll try, but after installing the explosives, the car will be very dangerous. How are Jinbao and I going to get out? There are a lot of people at the temple fair. Will there be any innocent people hurt?"

Xu Wenjie said, "Don't worry, it's a time bomb. It won't explode before the time comes."

Gui'er was a modern person, so she had some basic common sense. Bombs are most afraid of being hit, and if they were placed under a car and hit hard, they might explode. So she asked Xu Wenjie, "How long is the timer on this time bomb? It's impossible for the car to explode right before the entrance to the Sha Mansion, right?"

Xu Wenjie thought for a moment and said, "I'll have our colleagues try to extend the time a bit to give you enough time to clear suspicion and ensure your safety. Don't worry. If you have an appointment with Director Zhou, please notify your sister Feng Shu and have her notify me."

Guier nodded and went home after school as if nothing had happened.

She told Jin Bao about it, and Jin Bao said, "We can't even meet Director Zhou, how can we invite him to the temple fair?"

Gui'er thought for a moment and said, "I'll figure out a way to do this."

At dinner that night, she said to Sha Yanyao, "Brother, when I was at school today, my classmate Zhou Huifang, Director Zhou's niece, suddenly returned the heart-shaped necklace she had taken that morning to me. Don't you think it's strange?"

The whole family was surprised to hear that Director Zhou had actually spit out the meat he had eaten. The wife thought for a moment and said with a smile, "It seems that you and Sister Jinbao are quite favored by Director Zhou. He doesn't even want your things. And have you noticed that every time you go out, it's your brother who is stopped. You have never been stopped."

Gui Er pretended to think for a moment and said, "That's true. Perhaps Director Zhou felt that a child like me wasn't worth questioning or harassing."

Sha Yanyao listened and nodded thoughtfully. After finishing his meal, Gui'er still hadn't noticed anything. She wondered if this tactic of retreating to advance hadn't worked. Should she find another way? Or should she use the money to directly ask Sha Yanyao to invite Director Zhou to be her guest?

Gui'er was in the middle of worrying when Song Tingting suddenly spoke up, saying, "Why don't we invite Director Zhou over again and have Jinbao and Gui'er have a good meal with him? Then maybe if he's happy, he won't be so hard on us."

Jinbao and Guier didn't say anything. It would be too unusual if I agreed.

The lady looked at Gui'er cautiously and said, "Your sister-in-law does have a point. Why not invite Director Zhou over again? Don't worry, he can't do anything in front of everyone."

Seeing that the time was almost right, Gui'er nodded reluctantly and said, "Then I'll follow Mother's arrangements."

Madam and Sha Yanyao were visibly relieved and said to her with a smile, "Okay, we'll ask Director Wang to help arrange for Director Zhou to come over for dinner tomorrow."

After dinner, Sha Yanyao was busy calling Director Wang, while his wife ran to the kitchen to see what to prepare to entertain Director Zhou tomorrow.

Guier returned to the room, and soon Dingxiang brought up the milk.

Gui'er felt a little strange. Usually she would get up when she was about to go to bed, but why did she get up so early today?

Ding Xiang said, "Miss, you shouldn't have agreed to that. Madam and the eldest young master wanted to use you to entertain Director Zhou. Miss, you clearly took out the token of love you had with the second young master to help them out two days ago, and they actually treated you like this. Why don't you let Ah Cheng tell Wu Mingqiang? If the second young master finds out, he'll be so heartbroken."

Gui Er didn't expect Ding Xiang to be so on her side, but she couldn't reveal too much to Ding Xiang, so she could only say, "Actually, when I sent my mother to the hospital that day, I asked Brother Cheng to contact Wu Ming Qiang, but we couldn't get through, so he disappeared. Now that he's missing at this critical juncture, I'm afraid it has something to do with Director Zhou.

Ding Xiang's face turned pale when she heard this: "Wu Mingqiang, even Wu Mingqiang could be arrested by Director Zhou?"

Only then did Guier realize that in the eyes of these servants, Wu Mingqiang was a very powerful person.

Ding Xiang was stunned for a long time before she said to Gui Er, "Miss, since even Wu Mingqiang has been arrested, you should quickly call the Second Young Master and ask him to come and pick us up."

Gui'er believed that if she called Sha Yanxiao, he might come to pick her up, but if that happened, Sha Yanxiao would also be involved. Director Zhou was a central government official. If the central government took action, it was not known whether it would have any impact on the local warlords. If the Sha family in Jiangcheng was weakened, then maybe their own people would start fighting before the Japanese arrived. She did not want to cause a bad influence on the people of Jiangcheng.

On the other hand, Sha Yanxiao could take him away, but what about Song Xichen and Manager Liu? Xu Wenjie and the others still needed his cooperation to rescue their comrades.

Gui'er thought for a moment and said to Dingxiang, "Director Zhou holds a high position of power. If he drags us into Jiangcheng, the consequences will be disastrous. We might even lose our territory there."

She smiled and said to Dingxiang, "Don't worry. The reception for Director Zhou will mainly be handled by Jinbao. I'm just a supporting role. Oh, and I heard there's a temple fair nearby called the Fengtaimen Temple Fair. You love these lively places, don't you know?"

Ding Xiang smiled and said, "I know. Last year, while you were in school, I took leave from Madam and the other maids to go shopping. Miss, why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?"

Guier smiled and said, "There's been a lot of turmoil at home lately, and things haven't been going well. I heard that the temple fair is held at a place called Shansi Temple, where you can burn incense and pray for blessings."

When Dingxiang heard this, she said excitedly, "Yes, we got this amulet at the temple fair last year." As she spoke, she took out a small amulet from her pocket.

Gui'er said to her, "Can you lend it to me temporarily? I'll explain the reason to mother tomorrow and then go to pray for a blessing. It's inconvenient for me to go out now, and I don't know if mother would agree.

Dingxiang readily handed her the amulet.

The next day, Director Zhou and Director Wang arrived as scheduled. His wife asked the kitchen to prepare all the precious ingredients that Wu Mingqiang had sent earlier, such as abalone, sea cucumber, and fish maw, so the banquet was still acceptable.

Jinbao was specially arranged to sit next to Director Zhou. Originally, the wife wanted to arrange for Gui'er to sit on the other side of Director Zhou, but because Director Wang came, Gui'er sat next to Jinbao. She gave Jinbao the amulet she borrowed from Dingxiang and told her to choose the right time to act.

Then, halfway through the meal, Guier said to Director Zhou, "Huifang has returned the necklace to me. Thank you, Uncle Zhou, for your help."