A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

"That's ridiculous! My eldest brother is the director. He already proved Gui'er was not a suspect. Why did he continue the investigation?"

Wu Mingqiang and Dali didn't dare to say a word.

Gui'er quickly said, "Second brother, don't be angry. There are actually many factions involved in intelligence operations, and it's not necessarily the Military Commission. And Big Brother doesn't know all of their committee's actions. When I was in Nanjing, I heard him say that he had several superiors, and Director Tian was just one of them. Big Brother also has to share the money he receives from others with his superiors."

"Oh, now that you mentioned that, Miss, I remembered it. This group of people just arrested people at will under the pretext of suspecting that they were involved with the revolutionary party, and then asked their families to pay a ransom before releasing them. They have already extorted many wealthy families." Wu Mingqiang said.

"How dare they extort money from us on our territory? Young Master, do you want to teach them a lesson?" Dali said indignantly.

"Don't do that. These people are just like that. If you provoke them, it will be like provoking those in the central government. That might just give them a reason to take back the power here. Besides, my father is in poor health now. After all, my brother is just my father's son and has not been appointed by the central government. This will become their handle. Brother, you must think twice." Gui'er advised hurriedly.

"...But how can I swallow the anger they put you in such a difficult position and bully you like this?" Sha Yanxiao said after a long while.

"I'm fine. I haven't done anything wrong. If they want to follow me, they can. They're just following me to the department store and to my brother's house. Things about my mother's family will get out, and that's not good for someone with ulterior motives. So I've decided to go to my brother's house less often."

"Young Marshal, I have an idea. These people are extorting merchants and wealthy people because they are actually stealing business from local gangs. In the past two years since you took over, you have cracked down on them severely, and the local gangs have restrained themselves a little. However, they have never stopped collecting protection fees, but they dare not go too far. Therefore, those wealthy people don't want to make a big deal out of it. After all, every rich person has a few dirty deeds. As long as the amount is not large, they are satisfied. Now that these people have arrived, it has become a double squeeze. Some wealthy people are complaining bitterly and even using spies to deal with the gangs. Some young and inexperienced people have wanted to deal with them for a long time, but I have been suppressing them. As long as we spread the word and let them move freely, even if these people have guns, they will be no match for them."

"No, Brother Wu, it's so obvious that you opened that gambling den. Now everyone knows that you have connections with the gang. You were with my brother in the early years. With just a little investigation, they would know that it was my brother who did it behind the scenes. It would be better for my brother to take people there and beat them up. It will have the same effect anyway." Gui'er said.

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "Sister, you've grown up and become more thoughtful. But you rejected both methods. Do you have any better ideas?"

Gui'er thought for a moment and said, "It's not that there's no way out. Are there any people there who are addicted to gambling, sex, or smoking opium? If so, it would easily lead to disputes, such as stealing women or refusing to pay gambling debts. If something like that happens, they can't blame us, right?"

Dali, who was standing by, immediately showed an admiring expression upon hearing this. He smiled and said, "It seems your studies were not in vain. I knew you were a smart kid when you were little. Now you are not inferior to a boy."

Sha Yanxiao also smiled and nodded, saying to Wu Mingqiang, "Just follow this line of thought and check to see if there's anything you can use."

Wu Mingqiang nodded: "Yes, I'll check it out right away." He turned around and was about to leave, but stopped at the door: "Also, it was my fault for scaring the young lady last time. In order to apologize to the young lady, I found a small gadget." As he said that, he took out a small brocade box from his pocket.

Gui'er glanced at Sha Yanxiao, and only after Sha Yanxiao nodded did she take it.

When I opened it, I saw a pair of twisted bracelets made of white marble. They were very watery and looked very smooth.

Guier wore one on each hand. Her hands were very slender, a little fleshy, white and tender. Wearing these two bracelets made her hands look even more elegant, just like the reflection of white jade in the snow.

Sha Yanxiao was a little dazed when looking at Gui'er's hand. It took him several seconds to react. He turned around and saw that Wu Mingqiang was the same. He was standing there with his eyes staring at Gui'er's hand. He was a little unhappy and coughed.

Wu Mingqiang came to his senses and said quickly: "Miss, it fits you very well. I didn't make the wrong choice. That's great. I will go and take care of it right away." Then he turned and went out, and Dali followed him out.

Gui'er also caught a glimpse of Sha Yanxiao's expression and was a little afraid to speak.

At this time, Dali returned and said to Sha Yanxiao, "Wu Mingqiang is gone. This guy is quite wealthy. I've heard that he took advantage of the young master's intelligence gathering to make money. I don't know if it's true. There used to be a mine. Now that the mine is gone, where does all the money come from?"

Sha Yanxiao turned around and asked Gui'er, "Did you just say he runs a gambling den?"

Gui'er was stunned for a moment and thought: Could it be that Wu Mingqiang opened a gambling den without Sha Yanxiao's approval?

She didn't dare to cover up for Wu Mingqiang, so she nodded and said, "Yes, it's on the first floor of Chunlai Restaurant. It's a mixed crowd, with all kinds of people there. Many of them look like gangsters."

Sha Yanxiao frowned and said, "You went to a place like that to look for him. You must be scared. Ah Cheng didn't even warn you."

Gui'er quickly said, "Brother Cheng said it wasn't like this before, and he felt really bad about it at the time. I only stayed there for a short time before leaving, so it's okay."

Dali said from the side: "Should we give him a good beating? Otherwise he will become too big to be controlled."

Sha Yanxiao thought for a moment and said, "After he finishes this matter, he can secretly eliminate a few of the city's underworld leaders. The security has been poor recently, and I'm afraid some people will take advantage of the current bad market and think that no one is watching over them, so they will act recklessly. There's no need to tell Wu Mingqiang about this."

Dali nodded and said, "Okay, I understand."

Gui'er originally liked these two white marble twisted bracelets very much, but when she heard Sha Yanxiao say these words, she secretly took them off.

After Sha Yanxiao finished entertaining Dali, he turned around and found Guier's hands were smooth. He smiled and said, "You look very good in this bracelet. Wear it. I like to see you wearing it."