A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Taohua and Gui'er followed Long Ye and his group for several miles. The two children were already frail, and since it was so early in the morning and they hadn't eaten breakfast yet, they gradually lost their pace. One of the men in a black coat said to Long Ye, "Long Ye, it's a bit of a hindrance to have these two little ones with you. Why don't you find a place to put them first and then talk about it."

Long Ye looked back at them and said, "That's right. I should have finished my business and then asked He Ergu for them. You should take them to the inn first."

The man came over and said to them, "You two follow me." Gui'er and Taohua saw that the man had a square face and thick lips, and he spoke to them in a gentle manner, so they were not too scared and followed him.

Gui'er thought that this was not a long-term solution, so she had to plan to escape. However, she had just arrived and didn't know where to run, so she decided to observe first.

While they were thinking, the man had already brought them to a secluded corner. There was a courtyard here with earthen walls made of green bricks and green tiles. It was no different from the other courtyards around it, except that there was a flag hanging at the door with the word "inn" written on it. Gui'er took a look at the door. There was a street next to the inn, but its main entrance was not on the street, but in a small alley on the side. The alley was connected in all directions, making it very convenient to escape at the slightest disturbance. It really looked like a place that a wandering person would choose to stay.

The man led the two of them into the inn, came to the counter and said, "We are Lord Long's men."

When the waiter heard this, he immediately shouted, "Boss, Boss, Mr. Long's men are coming."

A plump man with a round face and a mustache walked out from the back hall. He glanced at the man who had led Taohua and the others over, bowed, and said, "It's Brother Dagang. Why didn't Master Long come this time?"

The man named Dagang also bowed and said, "Master Long is out on business. He asked me to put these two little girls here for now."

Hearing this, the waiter and the shopkeeper looked at Gui'er and Taohua curiously and said, "Okay, okay, please follow me. I'll get a room with them." Then he asked the waiter to take the three of them to the second floor.

The waiter opened the door of the first room at the top of the stairs and said, "How do you like this one?"

The man named Dagang poked his head in, took a look, and then observed the surrounding terrain and said, "I want the room at the end of the corridor."

The waiter quickly agreed and took them to the innermost room and opened the door. Dagang walked in, opened the window of the room and looked out, then said to Taohua and Guier, "You two stay here and wait for Master Long to come back." After that, he winked at the waiter, who nodded in understanding, and the two left the room.

Gui'er and Taohua listened to their footsteps and breathed a sigh of relief when they walked away. Taohua sat down on the bed and cried, "Guier, what should we do? I heard that this bandit is very cruel and wants to eat people."

Gui'er thought it was a little funny, but it wasn't surprising coming from a nine-year-old, so she comforted Taohua, saying, "No, this is an inn. He has other food to eat, and he won't eat ours."

Gui'er went to the window and looked out. She saw Dagang walking out of the inn. This was a good opportunity to escape. She turned around and said to Taohua, "Why don't we run."

Taohua was horrified when she heard this and said, "If we get caught, we'll beat him to death."

Gui'er said, "So do you want to follow the bandits back to the mountains and become their wife? If you don't run away now, you'll never have another chance."

Taohua hesitated for a moment but finally agreed. So when they heard that there was no movement, the two of them came out of the room and prepared to sneak away.

As soon as they reached the stairs, the shopkeeper appeared from behind them and asked with a smile, "Where do you two want to go?"

Taohua subconsciously hid behind Guier, who said calmly, "We want to find some water to wash up."

The shopkeeper, holding a pipe in his mouth, walked slowly up to them and said, "I'll have my servant take it to your room later. Now go back."

The two of them had no choice but to retreat back into the room. Taohua said, "We can't get away. That guy must have told the shopkeeper and the staff to keep an eye on us. Even if we ran away, how would we get home? We already have nothing to eat at home. Are we going to let them sell us out again if we go back?"

Gui'er thought so too. She still felt that she was an adult and could overcome any difficulties. However, this body was that of a nine-year-old child. Even in the original world, she had to rely on adults.

The two of them were bored in the room. The waiter brought up some water, and Taohua was about to wash her face when Guier remembered they were wearing powder and quickly stopped them: "If we wash the powder off, won't our true appearance be revealed? They'll know we're just country girls."

So she didn't dare to wash her face and had to sit there. Guier's head hurt more and more, and she had no medicine to take, so she could only endure it. Slowly, she felt a little unbearable, so she went to the bed and lay down. Taohua saw her and asked worriedly: "What's wrong with you?" She reached out and touched her forehead, exclaimed: "Your head is so hot." She quickly let her lie down, took out the handkerchief she carried with her, dipped it in water, and put it on her forehead.

Gui'er only felt a coolness on her forehead, and then her consciousness gradually became blurred.

Gui'er didn't know how much time had passed before she felt someone shaking her desperately. She opened her eyes and saw it was Taohua. Taohua said in a trembling voice, "Master Long is back."

Gui'er tilted her ear to listen to the noise outside. She heard a very noisy sound of people toasting each other on the first floor. The loudest voice really sounded like that of Lord Long.

Taohua asked in panic: "What should I do?"

Gui'er didn't know what to do, so she said, "Let's take it one step at a time."

The group drank for about two or three hours before finally dispersing. Dagang and another of his men, who were in charge of the drunken Long Ye, came to the room where Taohua and the others were staying. They put Long Ye on the bed and were about to leave. Turning around, they saw two people standing in the corner. Gui'er had a headache, so Taohua put a handkerchief on her face. The powder on her face had almost fallen off, revealing her true appearance. Dagang couldn't help but open his eyes wide and said, "You damn girl, you actually dared to put on such heavy makeup to fool Long Ye? When he wakes up, he'll beat you to death."

Only then did Gui'er feel truly terrified. These were bandits, probably even more ruthless than the old procuress. It looked like they were really going to run away. She approached the bedside, glanced at Long Ye, and saw that he was very drunk and unconscious. She said to Taohua, "Let's run. If he wakes up, we might be dead."

The two of them tiptoed through the door and headed downstairs. They arrived at the first-floor lobby. There were no guests now, but several tables were still piled high with dishes, and wine glasses and leftovers hadn't been cleared away. Gui'er and Taohua were about to cross the lobby and head toward the main door when a waiter suddenly emerged from the kitchen. He looked a bit surprised to see them and said, "What are you two doing?"

Taohua was so frightened that she dared not say a word. Guier suddenly had an idea and said, "We are hungry. We want to come down and find some of their leftovers."

The waiter was stunned for a moment and said, "That's right. We've locked you up there all day. How can a child stand being hungry? Come with me. There are some leftover steamed buns from some customers in the kitchen."

The two had no choice but to follow the waiter to the kitchen. The waiter handed each of them a steamed bun. They had been locked in the room for most of the day and were hungry. They didn't care about anything else and started to eat with big mouthfuls. When they thought about it carefully, this was the first thing they had eaten since they came to this world. Before, they had only porridge like rice soup and sweet potatoes the size of fingers. After peeling them, there was not much to eat at all.

The waiter saw how they were eating voraciously and couldn't help but feel sympathy for them. He handed each of them a steamed bun and a bowl of water and said, "You two are really pitiful children. Eat slowly."

Suddenly, there was a sound of banging on the door in the yard outside. Soon, there was a commotion and footsteps coming from all directions. The waiter's face changed and he picked up the kitchen knife on the chopping board and rushed out. As soon as he rushed to the kitchen door, he heard two loud bangs and fell to the ground.

Taohua was so scared that she was about to scream, and Guier quickly covered her mouth. The two of them ran and hid under a table where the ingredients were placed.

Outside, there was flickering fire and a cacophony of voices, some cursing, some screaming, with intermittent bursts of gunfire, the sound of things being smashed, and the sound of dishes breaking on the ground. It was extremely noisy for a while, and the two were extremely nervous and didn't dare to breathe.

After an unknown amount of time, the outside became quiet. Only a majestic voice could be heard saying, "Go, search everywhere again to see if there are any fish that have slipped through the net." "Yes."

Just when the two didn't know what to do, a big hand reached out from under the table and pulled them out like chickens. The two were so scared that they struggled desperately, but it was no use. They were still firmly clamped and carried directly to the lobby.

Guier took a closer look and saw that the inn's lobby was in shambles, with dishes scattered across the floor and broken tables and chairs. Long Ye and the innkeeper were being forced to kneel on the ground, while some of his men lay motionless, while others were injured and forced to kneel on the ground. There were also some ordinary guests who had originally stayed at the inn, standing obediently to the side.

In the center of the lobby, a tall figure in military uniform stood there very majestically, surrounded by dozens of people in soldiers' uniforms. Guier looked up and saw that the man was about 2 or 30 years old, tall and sturdy, with an imposing look between his eyebrows, a square face, a high nose and a wide mouth, straight ears, and a pair of sharp and bright black eyes. He looked dignified and awe-inspiring without even being angry.

The man under Lord Long's command, Dagang, was standing next to him. Gui'er couldn't help but scream. The man in military uniform heard the noise, turned around, saw the two children, and asked, "What's going on with these two children?"

Dagang said, "These are the two little girls that Lord Long extorted from the flower boat."

Before the soldier could say anything, Gui'er suddenly had an idea and pulled Taohua down to her knees, saying, "Sir, please spare us. We were forcibly bought from our homes by bandits and a brothel owner. Please save us, sir. We are willing to work like slaves to repay you."

At this time, Dagang spoke up: "Master, if we let these two little girls go back to the flower boat, they will be stuck in the mud. Why don't we take them back to the mansion first? If we can find their families later, we can send them back. It will be a good deed."

The soldier nodded and said, "Okay, you take them back first, and I'll take care of the rest here."

The two were really surprised and happy to hear this. They knew that this time it was a respectable family after all. Taohua kowtowed repeatedly and said, "Thank you so much, benefactor. Thank you so much, benefactor." Guier quickly followed her example and kowtowed as well.

The soldier felt a little embarrassed and waved his hand to let Dagang take them away quickly.