A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

The days passed one by one, and by the seventh and eighth day of the New Year, the New Year's atmosphere gradually dissipated. Miss Tian was very dissatisfied that Sha Yanyao did not return to Nanjing to spend the New Year with her. She called and sent telegrams to urge him to go back.

Sha Yanyao decided to go back after the 15th.

In previous years, Gui'er always went back and forth with the eldest wife. This year, because the Marshal wanted her to get engaged to Duanmu Heng, this matter remained unresolved, making her even more irritated.

Many servants in the Marshal's mansion also knew about this. Ding Xiang said, "Miss, we're not afraid of getting engaged. After we're engaged, we'll go back to Nanjing with the eldest wife to go to school. We'll just stay there and find a good family there. The Duanmu family is in cahoots with the Japanese. How dare they go to Nanjing and do anything to you?"

What Gui'er heard actually made sense. Although she wanted to continue her studies after graduation, it would be difficult. She could just move out of the big house and rent a house outside and find a job. However, with her own ability, she probably couldn't support Dingxiang and Acheng at the beginning.

Ding Xiang smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about us. I think the Second Young Master will definitely not ignore you."

Sha Yanxiao was not very happy about this idea. He said, "I originally thought you would come back to me after finishing your studies, but now you're going further and further away, going to Nanjing and never coming back. There's no need to act like a refugee for such a traitor. I will take care of him myself."

Taohua also did not agree with Guier going to Nanjing and not coming back. She cried and said that the family must be together and they would be reunited in the future. Only then did Guier realize that Taohua had already regarded her and the Wu brothers as her own family, so she looked forward to leaving the Marshal's Mansion and returning to her family every day. However, Guier always had a grudge against the Wu brothers. They seemed to care about her a lot, but they were useless when it came to the critical moment. She had been helping them all these years. Sometimes Guier felt that helping them was also a kind of compensation to the original owner of this body, because she felt that the original Guier might have died long ago.

That day, Gui'er was bored and was swinging on the swing in the yard with a book in her hand. Suddenly, the housekeeper came in with a man carrying a basket of things. She asked curiously, "Housekeeper, what are you carrying?"

The housekeeper smiled and said, "Miss Gui'er, these are the rice cakes, Yuanxiao cakes, and dumplings that the mansion has distributed to our courtyard."

Gui'er thought for a moment and said, "Oh, I'm a little craving for Yuanxiao cakes. Bring me some later." Then she got up and walked into the house.

"Hey, what are you looking at? Go away."

Suddenly, she heard the housekeeper's scolding from behind. Gui'er turned around and saw the coolie carrying rice cakes staring at her motionlessly. She saw that the man was in his forties or fifties, wearing thin, patched coarse cloth clothes, with wrinkles all over his face and an untidy beard. He was tall but hunched over.

Gui'er had never seen this person before in the Marshal's Mansion. When the housekeeper came in with the Yuanxiao cakes, she asked, "Which courtyard was that person from? Why have I never seen him before?"

The housekeeper said nonchalantly, "He's just a coolie who came from Meixiangzhai to deliver rice cakes. The servants in our house still need to be respectable."

Gui'er suddenly realized what was going on and didn't take it too seriously. Just then, Sha Yanxiao came back from outside, so she quickly called him over to eat Yuanxiao cakes together.

Sha Yanxiao picked up one and ate it while saying, "Just now when I came in from outside, I saw that delivery man kept looking into the house. What happened?"

The housekeeper smiled and said, "I'm afraid he's staring at the young lady. Just now, when he was carrying something into the courtyard, he was stunned when he saw our young lady and couldn't walk. It's not his fault. Our young lady is indeed very beautiful."

Sha Yanxiao's expression changed when he heard this, and he said sternly, "How can we allow some unidentified people to act so recklessly? What if they have malicious intentions?"

The housekeeper was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then hurriedly said, "This, this is a small oversight. I must pay attention to it next time."

Gui'er quickly smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Brother, it's not that serious. I usually go in and out in a car or a van. I have someone accompanying me. Even if that person is a bad guy, he can't do anything to me."

Sha Yanxiao didn't say anything else.

Gui'er thought it would be boring to stay at home during the New Year, so she asked Dingxiang to pack some New Year candies for her. She planned to go and wish Zhang and Liu a happy new year. She also specifically asked, "I like these Yuanxiao cakes. They taste good. Please help me pack some and give them to them to try."

Sha Yanxiao looked at Gui'er and suddenly said, "How about I go with you? You've been taken care of by them for so long, I should go and thank them."

Gui'er was stunned for a moment. Honestly, she didn't really want Sha Yanxiao to go, but she had no reason to refuse, so she smiled and said, "That's great, but you can't go in your military uniform. I'm afraid it'll scare those who come to get medicine."

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "Of course."

The two got out of the car at the alley where the pharmacy was located, walked forward for a while, and when they were at the door of Xiuchuntang, a girl came out from inside supporting a man, and they almost bumped into them. They stopped and looked, and found that it was Duanmu Heng. He was wearing a suit and tie, a new set of clothes from head to toe, and wore gold-rimmed glasses. There were two brothels beside him, holding the brothel. It was obvious that he had drunk a lot of wine, and his steps were unsteady and his eyes were blurry with drunkenness.

Gui'er was shocked. Although she didn't think Duanmu Heng was a good person, she thought that at least he was not a playboy like Liang Guowei. He was always well-mannered, knowledgeable, and looked like a gentleman.

Sha Yanxiao had a look of disgust on his face, but he didn't say anything. He just subconsciously pulled Gui'er behind him.

Duanmu Heng seemed to be very drunk and did not recognize them. He let the two prostitutes help him into a rickshaw and send him away.

Sha Yanxiao looked back at Gui'er and said softly, "If you think it's boring, why don't we go back first and come back another day?"

Guier smiled and said, "It's okay. It has nothing to do with us anyway. There's no need to disrupt our plans because of such a small matter."

The two continued walking forward and came to Zhenxiufang. The shops on both sides were open, but the shop assistants were not there. They were probably back home for the New Year.

Shopkeepers Zhang and Liu were surprised to see Sha Yanxiao, and then warmly welcomed them into the Zhenxiu Workshop. Shopkeeper Liu smiled and said, "It's Chinese New Year after all. Sitting in a pharmacy is probably not auspicious."

Sha Yanxiao handed over New Year candies and Yuanxiao cakes and said with a smile, "Gui'er has been taken care of by you two for a long time."