A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Miss Shen's expression was very complicated after hearing this. After a long pause, she said, "Gui'er, please don't mention this to my mother. In my mother's mind, she and my father had always had a good relationship. Until he died, he suddenly brought back a young girl and a little boy. Everything changed. My mother is still trying to comfort herself that it was just a momentary mistake by my father. I didn't expect that his retreat didn't include me and my mother."

Gui'er felt a little regretful for telling her and quickly said, "If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have told you. I'm going to make you feel bad again."

Miss Shen smiled and waved her hand, saying, "It's okay. I also remember that the Marshal gave my father a batch of antiques when we were engaged, but we ended up getting divorced. He must be unhappy and wants to take them back. If I knew where they were, I would be happy to tell him, but unfortunately, I don't know either."

Gui'er said quickly, "It's okay. My father and brother didn't ask me to ask you. I just thought it was related to Director Shen, so I told you. There's another point. At that time, we were in Shanghai. The Marshal and my brother both thought that Director Shen must have stored these antiques somewhere in Shanghai. As you know, the Japanese are now very aggressive in Shanghai. I don't know when they will occupy the whole city. If that happens, these treasures will fall into the hands of the Japanese. It would be a pity."

Miss Shen asked, "Is the situation in Shanghai so bad now?"

Gui'er sighed. "Yes, my brother also sent some capable people to Shanghai. In addition to investigating Director Shen's antiques, they also investigated the environment there. Even if you don't go to Shanghai, you can feel it when you return to Jiangcheng. Because many bosses who originally set up factories in Shanghai have been forced to move their factories to rural areas like Jiangcheng, and some have even gone bankrupt and stopped production."

Miss Shen sighed. At this moment, Xu Wenjie knocked on the door, walked in and said, "Gui'er, your Ah Cheng said he is here to take you home."

Guier quickly stood up and said, "Then it should be time. I'm leaving first."

Coming out of the study, Mrs. Shen also greeted Gui'er warmly and said with a smile, "Guier, I heard that your family is trying to match you with a young master with a very good background. You are so lucky."

Gui Er quickly said, "Mrs. Shen, I'm afraid those people are just talking nonsense. As an adopted daughter, how can I be qualified to marry into such a good family?"

Mrs. Shen smiled and said, "Marriage is predetermined by heaven. It has little to do with one's background. I heard that young master surnamed Liang has some connections with the vice president of the government. You must not miss out on this opportunity, or you will regret it in the future."

Miss Shen quickly said, "Mother, what nonsense are you talking about? Gui'er is still so young, why should she think about all this? Gui'er, go back quickly."

After Gui'er came out, she thought carefully and realized that Mrs. Shen should be talking about Liang Guowei. She didn't expect that so many people knew about Liang Guowei's affairs. It seems that she has to find a way as soon as possible, otherwise once the news spreads widely, she might be forced to do something wrong.

On the way back, Gui'er asked Ah Cheng, "Brother Ah Cheng, have you contacted Brother Wu these past two days? How's his investigation going? Even Mrs. Shen knows about the rumors about Liang Guowei now."

Ah Cheng said awkwardly, "Miss, we are outsiders. After all, we are not as easy to deal with as the local tyrants. Brother Qiang has only found out that Master Liang's uncle is indeed a close friend of Chen Gongbo, and it seems that he is also helping to handle some of Chen's affairs."

Gui'er was in no mood to listen to these little things. She only cared about how to get rid of Liang Guowei, the troublesome sticky candy.

After a few days, Liang Guowei started to ask Guier out again. Guier didn't want to, but he actually broke in and visited her at home.

Madam and Miss Tian entertained him very warmly. Gui'er was a little dumbfounded, but with so many eyes in the Sha Mansion, he could do nothing and just wait and see.

Liang Guowei simply boasted to Miss Tian and his wife that he came to Nanjing to learn things from his uncle, and because his eldest brother was in poor health, their house would be his in the future.

When the lady heard this, she smiled happily.

After Liang Guowei left, his wife repeatedly urged Gui'er to take the initiative to ask him out for a meeting, saying, "He has such a good family background and origin, but he didn't look down on your birth. Instead, he was so humble and kept praising you. Isn't that very polite? You should not keep dwelling on the past. Young people, everyone has made mistakes. It's okay if he corrects himself now. Besides, you are old enough and it's time to discuss marriage. But after all, you are not my biological child. People will always say that it is not as good as it should be. I would like to find a good in-law for you, but what's the point if they don't like you?"

At this point, the lady glanced at Jinbao and said to Guier, "I know you are a good child, you have always respected yourself and are not greedy for fame and fortune, but you must seize the opportunity. This is related to your lifelong happiness. Don't you see that in those well-off families, even if it is just to be a concubine, there are still people vying for it."

Gui'er didn't know what to say. It would be a trap whether she said it or not. She could only smile and find other things to cover it up.

That day at school, Ah Cheng told her, "Brother Qiang asked me to tell you that he discovered that Liang Guowei's uncle, Mr. Liang, seems to be in contact with the Japanese in Shanghai."

Gui'er shuddered, she felt something was connected.

In her memory, Wang Jingwei should have defected to Japan shortly after the Battle of Shanghai, but before defecting to Japan, he must have had contacts with those people and negotiated terms. This is like a modern executive who will definitely contact privately and negotiate treatment before jumping to another company. But as the vice president of the Republic of China, second only to the emperor, he would definitely not do it very blatantly. He might even let his trusted subordinates do it. Chen Gongbo, as his right-hand man, later followed him to defect to the enemy. Is it possible that Chen Gongbo was doing it for him? Chen Gongbo also held a high position, so it would definitely not be convenient for him to come forward, so he would find some people outside the government, such as Mr. Liang.

Gui'er thought about this and felt that something was fishy. She went to school and saw Xu Wenjie walking into the utility room. She said to her classmates, "I need to ask the janitor to fix my desk. It keeps shaking."

Then she went to the utility room and told Xu Wenjie the information Ah Cheng had given her and her own speculations.

After hearing this, Xu Wenjie frowned and pondered for a moment before saying, "Do you have evidence to prove that Mr. Liang was in contact with Japanese military personnel, rather than Japanese businessmen? Mr. Liang is a businessman, so it's normal for him to have contact with Japanese businessmen."