A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

The two walked into the room and looked around curiously. They saw that the room was decorated in European style and was carpeted throughout. What made them most happy was that the room had a toilet and a bathroom. Taohua said, "This way we can take a shower and wash and hang our clothes. Maybe they will be dry tomorrow."

Suddenly, their stomachs made growling sounds at the same time. They remembered that they had been running for half a day and had not eaten lunch. They were already starving, and they couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Although they knew that there was a restaurant on the second floor, the cost was too high for them. Gui'er thought for a moment and said, "I know there's a bun shop in the alley at the corner of this street. You can buy a bun for two copper coins. Why don't we go there and buy some buns to eat?"

Taohua nodded, and the two were about to leave when there was a knock on the door. The nerves of the two, which had just relaxed, suddenly tensed up again, and neither dared to make a sound.

There were two more knocks on the door, and then a woman's voice said, "Hello, I'm the hotel delivery guy."

Gui'er and Taohua looked at each other, then mustered up the courage to open the door. A waitress came in with a small food cart. Gui'er said, "I don't think we ordered anything."

The waitress smiled and said, "This is a promotion in our hotel. All guests staying here will be given afternoon tea." She then took two cups of coffee, two small cakes, and a bowl of cut fruit from the small food cart and placed them on the table before leaving.

Guier quickly looked around the door and confirmed that the waitress was the only one there before she closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief.

The two had been hungry for a long time, and when they saw the food, they finished it in two or three bites without thinking, and finally relieved their hunger.

Then the two of them took turns taking a shower, washed their clothes, hung them out to dry near the window, and then lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

When Gui'er woke up, it was already evening. Taohua had already gotten up and was sitting by the window looking out.

Gui'er stretched and heard Taohua say sadly, "What should we do in the future?"

Gui'er also felt that it was time to think about it. She couldn't go back to the Song Mansion now. Although she had money, and a lot of it, for two little girls under 10 years old, how could she support them until they grew up and became independent in society?

Moreover, in this era, single homeless women seem to have few human rights. Human traffickers, bandits, and gangs are rampant. As long as they realize that you are weak, you will be a piece of fat meat in their eyes. Apart from the money on your body, women themselves are commodities that can be exchanged for money.

Gui'er shuddered at the thought, and Taohua said, "Why don't we go to your house?"

"My home?" Gui'er was unable to react for a moment.

Taohua said: "Didn't your brother come over last time? He said your family has returned, so you are a person with a home to return to, and we can go to your house for shelter."

Gui'er shook her head and said, "I don't think this is a good idea. We're almost ten years old now. If we go back to my house, we probably won't be able to keep the money we have. Besides, the best outcome for us going back home is that we grow up, get married, and get sent away to farm. If there's another famine in the meantime, can you guarantee we won't be sold again? Even if we're not sold, would you still be willing to go back and live like that? The money we have now can provide us with a good living if we just spend it on ourselves."

Gui'er was telling the truth. Now they each had between ten and twenty dollars on them, which was an average family's annual income. If the two of them returned to their respective families with this money, it would certainly be good for their many brothers, but it would not be good for themselves.

Guier also had another idea that she didn't say out loud. She wanted to continue studying. Although she was an adult inside, only by studying and going to school could she understand the intellectual class of this world and have the opportunity to become an independent woman. If she returned to her rural home, she could only become a peasant woman and be oppressed in this era.

Taohua was silent. She longed to go home, but she also felt that Guier was right, and she was deeply afraid of being sold again.

Gui'er thought for a moment and said, "I want to go to the school gate to look for my classmate Tong Yujun after school. The Tong family and the Song family are said to be equally wealthy, so the Song family shouldn't dare to offend them easily. I'll ask my classmate to find us a place to live first. If that doesn't work out, we can also ask my classmate to let us work as helpers in his house, so that we can at least make a living until we grow up."

Taohua nodded naively and said with a smile, "Then I'll rely on you. But I don't know me, so I wonder if you'd be willing to take me with you?"

Guier smiled and said, "We'll advance and retreat together. If this trick doesn't work, we can think of another way."

Looking out the window, Gui'er guessed that school was about to end, so she quickly got dressed. Fortunately, the clothes had almost been dried and were only a little damp, so she didn't care about it anymore.

Gui'er quietly walked along the road to the school gate and looked around vigilantly, fearing that the Song family had sent someone to guard the door.

After the familiar bell rang, students in school uniforms poured out of the school. Some went home in groups of three or five, some lingered in front of the snack stalls at the school gate to buy snacks, and some took their own cars and rickshaws to go home.

Guier carefully identified the cars parked at the school gate waiting to pick people up, and soon found Tong Yujun's family's car.

Gui'er found a corner near the Tong family's car and hid there. After a while, Tong Yujun came out. She hurried forward, took Tong Yujun's hand, and called out, "Yujun, Yujun."

Tong Yujun was startled, then turned around and saw that it was Gui'er. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Why didn't you go to school today? Someone from the Song family came to look for you."

Gui'er immediately became alert and asked, "How did you know? Where are they now?"

Tong Yujun said, "I saw a man who looked like a housekeeper go to the principal's office. Not long after, the principal came over and asked me if I had seen you. I guessed that person must be from the Song family. I said no, and they went back."

Guier glanced around. She was worried that the Song family would leave someone at the school gate to monitor them, so she said to Tong Yujun, "Get in the car first. I'll talk to you there."

So, the two of them got in the car and it slowly started up and drove away. Gui'er told them everything that had happened today. Finally, she said, "I originally wanted to go straight back to school, but I figured they would find us, so I had to wait for you at the school gate after class."

Tong Yujun was filled with righteous indignation when she heard this: "This is simply appalling! How can they use a living person for sacrifice?"

Gui'er said, "I don't think the eldest young master and the old master know about this. It's just that my wife is superstitious. I want to hide in your house. Is that okay? I just need to hide until the eldest young master comes back."

Tong Yujun patted his chest and said, "Of course you can. I told you to come to our house a long time ago."

Gui'er was very happy and said gratefully, "Thank you so much. I have a friend named Taohua. We escaped together."

Tong Yujun said without hesitation before she finished speaking: "Let's ask her to come over."

Gui'er was naturally very grateful and said, "Okay, then we should go to Wing On Department Store first. Taohua will wait for me there."

Tong Yujun then asked the driver to drive to Wing On Department Store, pick up Taohua, and then drove to the Tong family mansion.

Unlike the Chinese courtyard design of the Song Mansion, the Tong family mansion is a European courtyard-style building. After the car enters the gate, it goes directly through the wide courtyard to the two-story Western-style building.

After getting off the car, Tong Yujun led Gui'er and Taohua into the hall. Tong Yujun ordered the servant, "Auntie Huang, go make tea for them and bring out some food." Then he said to Gui'er, "You guys sit here for a while. I'll go upstairs to tell my father." With that, he went upstairs.

Gui'er looked around. The living room was furnished with leather sofas, the floor was covered with carpets, and there was a crystal chandelier several meters high hanging from the ceiling. This house was full of splendor and luxury. Taohua, seeing such a luxurious European-style building for the first time, looked around curiously.

Gui'er found that there were very few servants in this house. From the moment they drove in, they saw only three servants in total: a driver, a doorman, and the 60-year-old Huang Ma who was making tea for her. Compared with the Song family where there were servants on duty in every room and courtyard, this place was much quieter.

So she smiled and said to Huang Ma, "Thank you, Huang Ma. It's obvious that Huang Ma is a housekeeper with a lot of experience. How could we, the younger generation, dare to trouble you?"

Huang Ma was stunned for a moment and then smiled and said, "Our Mr. Tong is back from overseas. He doesn't have so many rules. We only have one butler, two kitchen assistants, two cleaners, a doorman, and a driver."

Seeing Huang Ma talking about the host family, Gui Er smiled and said, "Your young lady and I are classmates. It seems that your host is very easy to get along with."

Huang Ma opened her mouth and said, "Yes, the master and his wife are very good to us. The young master and the two young ladies were also raised by us. They are like a family."

Gui'er knew the Tong family was a modern family with a relatively simple structure. This would increase the chances of them taking them in. After all, she and Taohua were two poor little girls who had nearly been killed by feudal superstition. Thinking of this, she smiled and said, "That's great."

The two of them sat in the living room for more than twenty minutes, but Tong Yujun still hadn't come down. Gui'er felt something was wrong.

At this time, a man in his 50s, wearing a long gown and with slicked-back hair, came down from upstairs. He walked straight up to Gui'er and Taohua, bowed, and said with a smile, "It's a rare visit from the two young ladies, so we should have treated them well. However, the young ladies suddenly felt a little unwell after coming upstairs. The master asked me to come and tell you to go back and come back another day when you feel better. I will definitely treat you well."

Taohua didn't understand, and stood up anxiously and looked at the other person.

Gui'er understood that the Tong family didn't want to cause trouble and wanted them to get out immediately.

Gui'er sighed, stood up, and said to the housekeeper with a smile, "In that case, we won't bother you anymore. But could you please not tell anyone about our visit? That way, you can leave us a way out."

The housekeeper was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Of course. Please take your time, both of you."

Gui'er and Taohua walked out. As they walked out of the small western-style building, Huang Ma suddenly ran up and said, "Ladies, please stay." She took out a small bag and said to Gui'er, "This is from our lady for Miss Gui'er."

Gui'er took it and weighed it in her hand. She knew that it must be filled with silver dollars. She was not sure whether she could survive now, so more money always meant more hope. She did not refuse and said to Huang Ma with a smile: "Please tell your young lady that this money is a loan from me. I will definitely return it to her when I have money. Please thank him for me."

Then she took Taohua's hand and walked towards the gate. When she was about to go out the gate, Guier felt a sight from behind. She turned around and saw a little head on the second-floor window of the small western-style building staring at her shyly. Guier knew that it was Tong Yujun. She knew that Tong Yujun had tried her best and did not blame her. She smiled and waved to her, then turned and walked out of the Tong family mansion.