A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 494: Visiting Shopkeepers Zhang and Liu

Sha Yanxiao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly grabbed Gui'er's hand and said, "Did your father do anything inappropriate to you?"

Gui'er was a little puzzled and said, "How is this possible? Brother, you know I'm not at home all year round. Even when I was there, you always accompanied me to visit father."

Sha Yanxiao finally relaxed after hearing this. He frowned and said, "I haven't noticed any extreme behavior from my father. Is he still treating Taohua the same way now?"

Gui'er shook her head and said, "Actually, when I came back last time, Taohua told me that Father had behaved this way. After that, I told her not to meet with Father alone. Even if Father went to Third Concubine's room, she had to talk to him in a place where there were people around. So Taohua never mentioned Father's unusual behavior again."

Sha Yanxiao pondered for a moment, then sighed and said, "As a child, I sometimes don't know how to tell my father about things like this. But since it has come to this, I will tell him to let Taohua go out and get married."

Gui'er was very happy and quickly said to Sha Yanxiao, "Thank you, brother."

Later, Gui'er thought of Shopkeepers Zhang and Liu, and tentatively said to Sha Yanxiao, "It seems that what happened in Nanjing has implicated my master, Shopkeeper Liu. I wonder how they are doing now?"

Sha Yanxiao said to Gui'er, "After that incident, I did ask someone to investigate these two people. I found out that they often help sick neighbors and have a good reputation. However, some people did report that strangers would visit their shop from time to time."

Gui'er quickly said, "When I was an apprentice in their shop, I also saw strangers coming in, but they were all medicine dealers and herbalists selling medicine, as well as women who wanted to sell embroidery pieces to supplement their family income. I even helped Taohua sell her embroidery pieces to Shopkeeper Zhang. Shopkeeper Zhang would then sort out the embroidery pieces she collected, add her own embroidery pieces, and sell them to nearby tailor shops. Even Yunshanglou was her customer. Isn't that how business is done? If there were no strangers, wouldn't it go bankrupt?"

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "That's true, but they haven't been operating there since that doctor surnamed Liu went out of town. They seem to have moved to a more cramped area. If you want to go, I can take you there. But the environment there is not good, so don't stay for too long."

Gui'er was about to protest, but Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll take you there first, and you'll understand. That place is really not a place for a little girl like you."

Gui'er thought to herself, "I've already seen it." But she couldn't say it directly, so she nodded in agreement.

The next day, Sha Yanxiao took Gui'er and drove to the entrance of the alley where Manager Zhang and Manager Liu's new store was located.

The alley was too narrow for the car to drive in, so Sha Yanxiao got in the car and pulled Guier inside. People passing by turned around and looked at them.

Sha Yanxiao was not wearing a military uniform today, but he was still dressed in a suit and tie, which made him look a bit out of place with the residents in this alley who were wearing homespun clothes, some even with patches on their clothes.

Because Guier had been here before and knew the environment here, she specially chose a skirt made of ordinary material that she bought in a Nanjing shopping mall.

Sha Yanxiao frowned and said, "Was this dress bought in Nanjing? Did your mother buy it? Why did she buy clothes with such low-quality material?"

Guier smiled and said, "I bought this myself. My family had just had an incident, so I didn't dare buy anything too expensive. I was worried that others would think we were particularly wealthy and take advantage of us, so I bought this one. It's actually quite good, and it's quite comfortable to wear."

After hearing this, Sha Yanxiao sighed and said, "It's really hard for you."

As they were talking, the two of them walked to the front of the shops of Shopkeepers Zhang and Liu. At that time, there were several people in tattered clothes and barefoot in Shopkeeper Liu's shop. There were men and women who were holding a child of four or five years old who came to see Shopkeeper Liu. Shopkeeper Liu's shop was too small, and so many people filled the shop up in an instant.

Sha Yanxiao and Gui'er had no choice but to stand outside the store. Gui'er walked forward curiously to take a look. The child was pale and twitched from time to time. It was obvious that he was seriously ill.

Shopkeeper Liu carefully felt the child's pulse and flipped up his eyelids to check, then asked him to open his mouth and looked at his tongue, then he picked up a pen and wrote down the prescription. Shopkeeper Zhang, who was standing by, nimbly took the medicine from the rows of small drawers against the wall, and soon packed it into several packets and handed them to the people.

Several adults nodded. One of the older men reached into layers of clothes and took out a few copper coins from the inner pocket sewn inside the clothes. He counted them, looked at Manager Liu uncertainly, and then handed them over.

Shopkeeper Liu accepted it and nodded. The adults seemed relieved and said with a smile, "Thank you very much, doctor." Then they turned around and came out. They were stunned when they saw Sha Yanxiao and Gui'er. They quickly took a few steps back and walked away from the side.

Shopkeeper Zhang saw Gui'er and said happily, "Guier, you're back from Nanjing?" Then he saw Sha Yanxiao and froze. He exchanged a glance with Shopkeeper Liu, and they both stood up and walked over. Shopkeeper Liu politely said to Sha Yanxiao, "You must be Gui'er's brother, right? I'm sorry for not welcoming you. Our shop is really cramped. Please come inside and take a seat."

Sha Yanxiao smiled and nodded, then walked into the store. Guier looked at the store which was only a few square meters wide. Three walls were all lined with small drawers for medicine. There were two old tables, one table belonged to Shopkeeper Liu, and the other belonged to Shopkeeper Zhang. Shopkeeper Zhang's table was also covered with various embroidery pieces, which were pressed on the table with a piece of glass. A piece of cloth was hung outside the table with three big words written on it: "Collecting Embroidery Pieces".

Even though there are only four people in the store now, there is no room for one more person to come in.

Sha Yanxiao looked around with a smile on his face, then said to Shopkeeper Liu, "Thank you for your continued care and guidance for our daughter Gui'er. I heard that you were recently implicated in our family's affairs and suffered some losses, so you moved here. I feel guilty about this. So, I have a few shops under my name that are slightly larger than this one. I'll give them to you, sir. They'll be better than here."

Shopkeepers Zhang and Liu were stunned for a moment. They had not expected Sha Yanxiao to do such a thing, so they all looked at Gui'er.

Gui'er didn't expect that Sha Yanxiao would let Shopkeepers Zhang and Liu use his store for free. After thinking about it, she felt that this was a good idea. If the store was given to them in the name of Sha Yanxiao, it would mean that they had the protection of the Marshal's Mansion, and no one would dare to cause them trouble easily.