A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Upon hearing this, Gui'er immediately remembered that there was a batch of medicines in the secret room of the villa, and quickly said, "Didn't I tell you before that I found some medicines in our villa? Why don't I try to get them out?"

Chen Zhongyu asked, "How many?"

"There are probably two boxes full of Western medicine."

"It's just a drop in the ocean. The casualties in major battles are devastating. I'll try to buy some supplies on the market and smuggle them away secretly, but I'm a bit short on funds right now and need to raise more money."

“I have some here, you can take it to buy medicine first, and I’ll get those two boxes of medicine from my place later.” Gui’er took out two small gold bars that she had brought for self-defense from her purse and handed them to Chen Zhongyu: “Is this enough? If not, I’ll go get more.”

Chen Zhongyu took the document and glanced at it. He then said from outside, "Your family recently opened a pawnshop. Are you sure you have enough funds? Your brother isn't here right now. These servants know that your brother gave you money, and that guy surnamed Wu knows that your brother gave you such a large sum of money. Could he be plotting something? You need to be careful to prevent someone from robbing you of your money and killing you."

Gui'er smiled and said, "Don't worry, Acheng and Dingxiang are quite loyal to me. Although Wu Mingqiang sometimes acts on his own, if he really wanted to be greedy, he could have simply cashed out the banknotes and savings he gave me and left. He has already taken them back. I believe he has no ill intentions; it's just that we can't accept his way of doing things."

Chen Zhongyu nodded and said, "As long as you're sure you're safe."

Gui'er said to him, "I'll bring the medicine from home out later, but it's in a secret room in my house that even my servants don't know about, so I'll have to do it in batches."

Chen Zhongyu repeatedly instructed, "Your safety is the most important thing. You make your own judgment. If it's safe, bring it over; if it's not safe, don't bring it."

Gui'er bought several newspapers and a magazine before leaving Xinmin Bookstore.

Acheng drove her back to the villa. When they reached a fork in the road, they suddenly stopped.

Gui'er glanced at the sign and, seeing they hadn't arrived yet, asked curiously, "Brother Cheng, what's wrong? We're not here yet?"

Ah Cheng turned around, glanced at the newspapers and magazines she had placed on the seat, and said, "Miss, are these newspapers and magazines worth two gold bars?"

Gui'er was stunned.

Ah Cheng said, "I saw everything through the glass window. This guy surnamed Chen, is he trying to scam you out of your money? I know you're a girl all alone here, and you really want to visit your relatives and friends more often. But some people just take advantage of those they know. The money the young marshal left you is to ensure you live a safe life in Hong Kong. You mustn't be scammed."

Gui'er was a little nervous. She hesitated whether to tell Acheng the truth, but considering that Acheng also came from the underworld, it was unlikely that he would accept revolutionary ideas all at once. So she said, "Brother Acheng, don't be nervous. I asked Editor-in-Chief Chen to do something for me regarding those two gold bars. He knows some people who are going to the interior and might pass through the war zone, so I asked him to find out about my two brothers."

Acheng was somewhat taken aback and said, "Didn't Brother Qiang ask around to find out about the news from Jiangcheng? Why is Miss in such a hurry?"

Gui'er sighed and said, "It's not that there's been any news for a long time. Besides, Brother Chen is just asking someone else to go. Going to the war zone is very dangerous. If you don't give them a lot of money, they won't help you. I'm mainly worried because I heard from Fourth Madam that Madam is sick."

Ah Cheng finally believed it: "Miss is kind-hearted. Even though the former madam treated you so harshly, she still cares about you."

Gui'er quickly seized the opportunity to say, "Well, at least when we were in Nanjing, we did receive care from them, mother and son. By the way, Brother Cheng, you must not tell Brother Wu about this. He has a rather impatient temper, and he's been so busy these past few days. Don't let him worry about these things anymore."

Acheng nodded and said, "It's good that you're not being scammed."

Gui'er smiled and said, "Don't worry, it won't happen. Back in Nanjing, when we were arrested and imprisoned by Director Zhou, didn't he come to help us? He's a good person."

Acheng nodded and said, "That's true."

Back at the villa, Gui'er took advantage of the night to go to the secret room and take all the medicines to the second floor in several trips. She then put them in a safe so that she could take a little bit every day.

After that, every time she went to the bookstore, she would deliberately carry a larger shoulder bag, put the medicine in the IV bag, and deliver it to the bookstore like an ant carrying food.

That day, she was planning to go to the bookstore after class, as usual.

Lin Peishan called out to her, "Gui'er, do you want to go to the movies together today? There's a movie called 'Street Angel' that's supposed to be really good."

Gui'er was only thinking about delivering the medicine as soon as possible, so she said, "I'm afraid it's not possible today. I need to go to the bookstore to buy some materials today."

"Why have you been going to bookstores so often lately? Which bookstore do you go to? I want to go too, I'm thinking of buying some Tolstoy books."

Gui'er's heart skipped a beat, but she couldn't refuse, so she could only vaguely reply, "It's at Xinmin Bookstore, not far from the school. If it's on the way, let's go together."

So the two of them rode in the same car to Xinmin Bookstore.

When they arrived at the bookstore, Gui'er looked up and saw Chen Zhongyu standing behind the counter arranging newspapers. When he saw her, his gaze lingered on her handbag for a moment, then turned to Lin Peishan who was following behind him and greeted her with a smile: "We have some new fashion magazines in the store. Would you two ladies like to take a look?"

“My classmate Lin Peishan wants to buy Tolstoy’s books,” Gui’er introduced, then walked to the bookshelf, pretending to look for a book. With her back to the counter, she unbuckled her handbag and handed a medicine box behind her with her fingertips.

Chen Zhongyu understood immediately. He bent down to pick up the pencil that had fallen to the ground, and his hand inadvertently brushed against her palm, the medicine box slipping quietly into his sleeve. He did all this so smoothly that Lin Peishan, who was looking around the shop, was completely unaware.

"The books here are so comprehensive!" Lin Peishan suddenly exclaimed, her voice tinged with excitement. She had noticed earlier that although the shopkeeper was wearing a light gray long gown, he was a tall and handsome man with black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. The gaze behind the lenses was gentle and calm, exuding a mature and refined air, making him much more pleasing to the eye than the restless boys in school.

Chen Zhongyu straightened up and pushed up his glasses: "Tolstoy's translation is on that shelf over there, and there's a new translation by Mr. Cao Ying." He led Lin Peishan over, and as his fingertips traced the spine of the book, Lin Peishan caught a glimpse of his slender, well-defined hands, with thin calluses on his fingertips. For some reason, her cheeks felt slightly hot.