A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

The next day, as soon as Gui'er got to work, she started looking through the information that Zhang Liyun had mentioned yesterday. She didn't do it to familiarize herself with the business, but mainly to see which goods were stored in which area of ​​the Gonghexiang warehouse, so she finished looking through it quickly.

She found that the data showed that Mitsui & Co.'s goods had not been stored in the Gonghexiang warehouse for more than a year, so she asked Zhang Liyun curiously, "Ms. Zhang, how come all these goods have not been stored in the warehouse for more than a year?"

Zhang Liyun said as a matter of course, "Our foreign company's business is booming, and Mr. Mitsui is Japanese. Don't you know that the Japanese are very powerful in the Shanghai business community these days? If we can't sell all our goods, Mr. Mitsui will find some local officials and have them find those companies and force them to sell our goods."

Gui'er said, "That's impossible! How can we do that?" Then she lowered her voice and asked cautiously, "I heard that student newspapers are boycotting Japanese goods."

Zhang Liyun said angrily, "That's just talk. Who wouldn't want to make money? All they have to do is change the label and say it's made in China."

Gui'er said, "So that's how it is."

"That's right," Zhang Liyun said proudly, "because we need to make room for the new goods. This is called the rotation of goods."

Gui'er was a little confused. If that was the case, wouldn't Director Shen's antiques be placed here? Because Director Shen had been dead for several years.

She hesitated for a moment, then boldly asked, "What about art goods? For example, calligraphy and paintings?"

"We don't have this kind of goods. The warehouses at Gonghexiang Wharf are full of industrial products."

"Oh I got it."

Now it was confirmed that the Gonghexiang Wharf warehouse should not be the place where the provincial director's antiques were stored. Gui'er was a little depressed.

Since it has been confirmed that the Gonghexiang Wharf warehouse is not where Director Shen stores antiques, there is no need to stay in this bank anymore. Guier decided to run away today after finishing her work. At most, she would go to a roadside telephone booth tomorrow to make a phone call to notify them and find an excuse that she had something to do at home and had to go back to her hometown.

After making up her mind, Gui'er simply stopped working. She was exhausted from being ordered around by Zhang Liyun for the past two days. She just sat there with her legs crossed, eating melon seeds and drinking tea.

Seeing Gui'er also imitating her, Zhang Liyun quickly said, "Miss Wu, you've been here for two days. Are you used to it? Manager Zhang said you are a very diligent person and said he would pay you a commission."

Guier smiled slightly and said, "Really? Manager Zhang is so nice. I'm sure he treats Miss Zhang well too. I'm so lucky to be able to work in our company." But she said this but still took no action.

Zhang Liyun saw that she could no longer control Gui'er. After waiting for a while, she had to put on a gloomy face and start working, throwing things around while doing it. Gui'er knew that she was doing it for show, but she didn't care. If she wasn't afraid that leaving suddenly would arouse other people's suspicion and report to the Japanese, she really wanted to run away immediately.

After waiting for a long time until the end of the workday, Gui'er packed up her things and prepared to leave. Just as she walked downstairs and was about to take the tram, Gu Yuanyuan suddenly came up and said, "Miss Wu, are you going home?"

Gui Er was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Yeah, isn't Miss Gu going home?"

Gu Yuanyuan said boredly, "Tomorrow is Sunday. I want to go to Wing On Department Store and see if there are any new imported dresses."

Gui'er thought that Gu Yuanyuan was Sanjing's mistress and might know something, so she smiled and said, "What a coincidence, I want to buy a dress too. You have such good taste in clothes, why don't we go look together and you can give me some advice."

Gu Yuanyuan happily agreed. She thought the tram was too crowded, so she called a rickshaw and the two of them set off to Wing On Department Store together.

When they arrived at Wing On Department Store, she took Guier straight into the imported goods section. She tried every new product that she could, and even took out and looked at the ones that she couldn't try. Then she explained them to Guier like she knew every new piece of clothing, jewelry, bags, leather shoes, hats, and scarves in Wing On Department Store like the back of her hand.

Guier clearly saw the salesperson's fake smile, which was so fake that it was almost unbearable, but she didn't notice it at all.

In the end, before we even bought anything, Guier said with a smile that we were tired from shopping and wanted to go upstairs for a drink. So we went to the restaurant on the second floor and ordered two cakes and two drinks.

Gu Yuanyuan said to save face, "I'm telling you, it's not that I can't afford it, I just want to wait for Mr. Mitsui to come over before I buy it."

Guier smiled and said, "I heard that you are Mr. Mitsui's secretary and that you are very favored by him. How enviable!" She knew that many singing girls and dancers who became mistresses of others were actually somewhat inferior in their hearts and hoped to be recognized by others. She wanted to get closer to Gu Yuanyuan and take the opportunity to find out about Mitsui.

Sure enough, Gu Yuanyuan suddenly became happy after hearing this and said proudly, "That's right. Every time Mr. Mitsui comes to see me, he brings me Japanese gifts and takes me to Yong'an Department Store to buy things. He is very nice to me."

Guier smiled and said, "That's great! I heard that Mr. Yamai owns a lot of real estate and is also fond of antiques, calligraphy and paintings. He must have a lot of treasures at home."

This really got Gu Yuanyuan talking, and she said excitedly, "Yes, he said that a high-ranking government official wanted to go to Japan, so he shipped a large number of antiques and asked him to store them. But then the official passed away, and if no one claimed the antiques after two years, they would belong to him. He said he would pick out a priceless piece for me then."

Gui'er's heart trembled, and she quickly said, "The official is dead, you can get it now, why wait a few years? You should talk to him and ask him to give it to you as soon as possible to avoid any more trouble. I heard that Mr. Mitsui also has a secretary in other companies."

"Oh, Miss Wu, you really understand my heart. But he said that in bed after drinking. Afterwards, he denied it, saying that it didn't happen and that someone had entrusted him with it. He also said that the person's widow had the documents."

Gui'er felt like she'd heard something truly extraordinary, so she quickly continued to pry, "Didn't he say it would only take two years? Maybe the two-year deadline is up, or something?"

"No, Miss Wu, I'm only telling you this. In two years, Shanghai will all return to Japan. By then, everything will belong to the Japanese, and many people will suffer. People like us who are currently working for Japanese companies might be safer."