A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui'er happily followed Tong Yujun to the Tong family. This was Gui'er's second time to the Tong family.

The car drove into the Tong family compound. The housekeeper saw his own car and knew that the young lady had returned, so he came out to greet her. However, when he saw Gui'er get out of the car, he was very surprised and quickly turned around and shouted to the house, "The young lady from the Marshal's Mansion is here too."

Then several servants hurried out of the house and stood beside him. The housekeeper said respectfully, "Welcome, Miss Sha."

Gui'er was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood. They must have thought she was adopted and had the same surname as Marshal Sha. Just as she was hesitating whether to correct them, Tong Yujun spoke first: "Her surname is Wu."

The housekeeper panicked and apologized, "Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Wu."

Guier smiled, waved her hand and said, "It's okay."

So Tong Yujun brought Gui'er into the house. Mr. and Mrs. Tong came down from upstairs after hearing the news. They greeted Gui'er very enthusiastically, and Gui'er responded very politely. This was a world of difference from the first time they came here when no one was there. Moreover, Gui'er found that there were many more servants in the Tong Mansion now. Compared with the quiet and harmonious feeling when she first came here, it was now prosperous and lively.

After greeting the Tong family, Tong Yujun took Guier to her room on the second floor. There were two large wooden boxes with open lids. Tong Yujun told Guier that she was packing her things to see which ones should be taken to Shanghai.

Guier took a look and saw that the luggage was made of very expensive clothes, shoes, shawls, coats, hats, scarves, and several jewelry boxes. She couldn't help but marvel that they couldn't be from a wealthy family, as a teenager could carry so much luggage, not to mention Mrs. Tong.

Tong Yujun took out a blue brocade cheongsam and a rose silk cheongsam and asked Guier, "Which of these two do you think is better? This blue one was what my mother wore when she was a child. The material is very expensive, but the Yuanbao collar seems a bit outdated. This rose silk one was made by me last year and is still suitable for me this year."

Gui'er said, "Actually, both are good. If you don't like the ingot collar, you can take it to a tailor shop and have them alter it. Adding some embroidery would make it much better."

Tong Yujun said with great interest, "That's right. I'll take it and revise it tomorrow. I hope I can catch up."

Guier took the opportunity to say, "I came to your house this time and found that there seemed to be a lot more people here."

Tong Yujun handed the clothes to the maid next to her to fold while saying, "My father said that things are different now than they were in the past. Although life is still simple, there are too few servants in the house. If guests come over, the service will not be attentive enough and it will seem undignified."

Guier said, "Oh, so that's how it is."

Tong Yujun began to sort out her jewelry again. She took out another jewelry box from the closet and opened it. Inside was a full of bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and longevity locks. There were four or five longevity locks alone, some gold, some silver, and some gold inlaid with jade. She asked Gui'er, "Which ones do you think would be suitable for me to take?"

Gui'er said absentmindedly: "Why are you bringing a longevity lock with you? I feel like not many people there wear one." She actually got this information from seeing the advertisement girls in the newspaper.

Actually, Gui'er came here this time to see Song Xichen's blind date Tong Yulan, but she didn't see her after a long time, which made her feel a little disappointed.

Tong Yujun was trying to choose which bracelet to wear, and she held them up one by one to compare. Gui'er was discussing this with Tong Yujun when she suddenly noticed from the corner of her eye that Tong Yujun's maid had secretly taken one of the bracelets and tried it on herself while she was helping her put the longevity locket back into the closet. She felt something was amiss and winked at Tong Yujun. Tong Yujun turned around and saw this and said to the maid, "Azhi, I can do it myself. Go and make me two glasses of milk."

After the maid left, Tong Yujun sighed and said, "This maid is new. She's quite smart, but a little shallow."

Guier smiled awkwardly and said nothing. After all, she was a stranger and it was not convenient for her to say anything.

After a while, Gui'er still didn't see Tong Yulan. She estimated that Dali's car would be arriving soon, so she said, "It's about time for me to go back."

Tong Yujun was a little reluctant to let him go, and said, "Are you going back? On weekdays, when I get home, there's no one to play with me. It's so hard for you to come this time. By the way, drink some milk before you leave."

Gui'er had no choice but to nod. Tong Yujun handed her a glass of milk and said, "Let's go to the balcony to drink. The view there is open."

The two of them came to the balcony. Coincidentally, Tong Yujun's sister Tong Yulan was sitting in the pavilion below reading a book. Gui'er quickly said, "How come you're home without anyone to accompany you? Isn't your sister at home? Look."

Tong Yujun raised her hand and waved down, calling out, "Sister."

Tong Yulan heard the voice and looked up. Guier quickly nodded and greeted her. Tong Yulan smiled politely and nodded, then turned back to reading.

Tong Yujun said to Gui'er, "Look, with her personality, who can possibly get along with her? My father said she's a stranger and I don't know how she'll ever get married."

Gui'er also felt that Tong Yulan was a bit aloof, but since she was a guest, she couldn't possibly join in the conversation. She smiled and said, "It's not surprising. The two brothers in the Marshal's Mansion are much older than me, and I don't really have a say."

Tong Yujun shrugged his shoulders and said nothing more. At this time, the courtyard gate opened and a familiar car drove in. It was Dali who drove over to pick up Guier.

Gui'er immediately said to Tong Yujun, "My family's car is here to pick me up. I have to go back first."

Tong Yujun escorted Gui'er to the main entrance on the first floor. The housekeeper, Mr. and Mrs. Tong all came out to see her off. Gui'er passed by the pavilion and said to Tong Yulan with a smile, "Goodbye, Miss Tong."

Tong Yulan didn't stand up as enthusiastically as the others, but she nodded politely and said with a smile, "Just going back? Have a nice trip."

I feel that Tong Yulan does have a rather aloof personality, but she is still polite. I don't know if Song Xichen will like this. However, compared to the parents of the two sisters, Guier thinks Tong Yulan is more likable. At least she won't be indecisive and act according to other people's tastes.

After returning to their seats, Sha Yanxiao asked Gui'er, "How was it? Did you have fun at your classmate's house?"

Gui'er said, "It's not bad. I noticed that the Tong Mansion has a lot more servants. I didn't expect that Tong Yujun, a 12-year-old, would bring two large suitcases of clothes and jewelry with her when she went to Shanghai. It seems that the Tong family is quite wealthy."

Sha Yanxiao laughed heartily and said, "Don't I know about this Tong family? They were a prominent family in Shanghai back in the day. But during the inheritance dispute, they were only allocated a few shabby estates here, so they pretended to be polite. This Boss Tong was really trying to curry favor with my father, which is why he married his sister here. Ever since his sister got pregnant, he's been spreading the word that it's a son, saying he had a fortune-teller. My father believed him and gave him the mining rights to a coal mine. This year, their family has made a lot of money."

Gui'er suddenly realized that there was such a hidden story.