A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui Er instructed Wu Mingqiang, "You need to rest well during this period. Don't drink alcohol. Don't overwork yourself. Got it?"

Wu Mingqiang said gratefully, "Thank you very much, Miss."

Gui'er had already treated his wound and was about to get up and say goodbye.

"Hey, Mr. Wu, you can't work too hard during this period. Does that mean I have nothing to do? Then I'll have to leave first." A delicate voice suddenly came from upstairs.

Guier looked up and saw a woman in her early 20s wearing a floral cheongsam and heavy makeup, wearing high heels, slowly walking down from upstairs.

It was not until she came to the first floor that Gui'er realized that this woman was probably not a decent person, because the slit of her cheongsam was almost up to her thigh. Normal cheongsams only have slits up to the knees, and only cheongsams in special industries would have such designs to attract customers.

"Little Brother Wu has guests, so I won't bother you anymore. Eat more nutritious food these days, and you can stew some chicken soup to help your body recover as soon as possible. I'll leave first." Gui'er had heard about Wu Mingqiang's decadent private life, but in this era, it was very common for rich men to have extravagant lives or have three wives and four concubines. She also knew that this could not be judged with modern eyes, so she had to stay out of it and ignore it.

"Miss, that she..." Wu Mingqiang blushed and wanted to explain in a panic, but he didn't know what to say.

"Then I'll be leaving first. Brother Wu, you don't have to see me off. Just take good care of yourself." After saying that, Gui'er got up and walked out.

"Miss, please take care. I'm so sorry for the rudeness and poor hospitality." Wu Mingqiang quickly stood up.

Gui'er and Acheng didn't exchange any more pleasantries and walked straight out. When they were almost out of the courtyard gate, they suddenly heard a woman crying faintly from the house.

"Huh? What happened?" Guier asked curiously.

Ah Cheng said gloatingly, "That must be Miss Sasha who got humiliated. She was originally sold to a theatre troupe by her family, but when the troupe disbanded, she went to work as a dancer in a nightclub, where she met Brother Qiang. He seemed quite sympathetic to her and frequented her. After a while, she found out that Brother Qiang had no parents and no background, but was rich, so she wanted to follow him. But he looked down on her for being a decadent woman and not presentable enough. So she turned to the next best thing and said, even if it was just to be a concubine, Brother Qiang wasn't even married, he didn't even have a wife, so why would he take her in? Now she's clinging to Brother Qiang, and whenever any woman gets close to him, she gets really nervous. Look, she probably saw you coming over, and she got jealous again. She came to settle the score with him for embarrassing him."

Gui Er asked curiously, "Although you are all Brother Wu's subordinates, he has already bought such luxurious real estate and women. Brother Cheng, why don't you buy a house? Is the salary too low?"

Ah Cheng scratched his head and laughed, saying, "How can I compare with Brother Qiang? I'm just a guard, the job is simple and not dangerous. Brother Qiang does everything, and he even handles some dirty work for the young master. He also does some private work outside. If the young master knew about these private jobs, it would be a big deal. That's why he is much richer than us."

Guier asked curiously, "What kind of private work is this?"

Ah Cheng hesitated for a moment and said, "Miss, I can tell you, but please don't tell anyone, okay? I don't want to get involved in this trouble."

Gui'er thought for a moment and said, "It shouldn't be disadvantageous to my brother, right?"

Ah Cheng quickly waved his hand and said, "Not really. He's mainly helping some wealthy people settle disputes. Everyone knows he's actually a thug for the Marshal's Mansion, so they give him some face. Of course, he also takes some middleman fees."

Gui'er breathed a sigh of relief. If this was the case, she could still accept it. At least it was much better than Sha Yanyao's extortion of the rich businessman.

The next day, Gui'er returned to the hospital as usual. When Manager Liu saw her, he looked around to make sure no one noticed them. Then he said to her seriously, "Guier, I heard what Old Song said. Did you get any trouble when you went back?"

Gui'er shook her head and said sadly, "Yesterday, my brother suddenly took me to that restaurant. I didn't even have a chance to inform you. I don't know when he found out. Are Brother Song and Boss Zhou okay now?"

Shopkeeper Liu sighed and said, "Old Song is fine, he just got hit a few times. Old Zhou was caught by the inspection team first. In order to get information, they beat him up. His leg was broken, and he had several broken ribs. He almost had his internal organs ruptured. Even gods couldn't save him by then."

Gui'er's face turned pale when she heard this. She said, "Is it that serious? I didn't realize it at the time. How is he now? Has he been saved?"

Shopkeeper Liu whispered, "I got some Western medicine from the hospital, anti-inflammatory medicine, and gave him an injection. It's working pretty well, but the injury was so severe this time, I'm afraid there will be sequelae. And it'll take a long time to recuperate. I don't think he'll be able to work in the short term. The organization has already arranged a place for him to recuperate. I'll visit him from time to time during this period."

Gui'er thought for a moment, then quickly pulled out all the silver coins from her purse and said to Shopkeeper Liu, "Please give this little money to Mr. Zhou. It's not worth much, but he can't work... If his family needs money, tell me and I'll find a way."

Shopkeeper Liu waved his hand and said, "You're not familiar with Old Zhou. Although he may appear smooth on the surface, he actually hates evil with a vengeance. Isn't your money the Marshal's Mansion's money? How could he possibly accept it? Gui'er, I've actually told you before that you and the Marshal's Mansion are two different classes, and there is opposition. It's just that the conflict hasn't intensified yet. I see that you've been taken care of by Sha Yanxiao for so long, and he's been so good to you, there must be feelings. However, class struggle is very cruel. When it really comes to a life-and-death struggle, what will you do? It's better to leave now."

Gui'er was stunned. She had never thought about these things before. But now it seemed that she was facing this problem more and more.

"Besides, you're grown up now. I know the fate of the other girls in the Marshal's Mansion is to be used as a marriage partner for the benefit of the family. Are you willing to be sold off to a strange wealthy family and become a canary-like rich wife?"

"Actually, the other people in the Marshal's Mansion did, but Sha Yanxiao always blocked it for me. He is still relatively open-minded." Gui'er whispered in defense of Sha Yanxiao.

"That's because the benefits aren't great enough for him to sacrifice you. After all, you grew up by his side, so there's some affection between us. But if an opportunity really arises that requires a marriage to consolidate the interests of both parties, there are no other unmarried girls in the Marshal's Mansion. You'd be the first to be affected, so you'd better be careful."