A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Lin Peishan took Gui'er's hand and walked out. Gui'er noticed that Lin Peishan's steps were light, so she asked curiously, "Why do you seem to be in such a good mood today? Did something good happen?"

"No, I think it's good that everyone is safe and sound." Lin Peishan said, putting her hands behind her back and skipping forward, leaving Gui'er completely confused.

After Gui'er and Chen Zhongyu met, she finally felt relieved. Sitting in the car, she thought about how to get the guns and ammunition out of the secret room while looking at the scenery outside.

Suddenly, she realized the car wasn't heading back to the villa, so she asked curiously, "Brother Cheng, aren't we going home now?"

Acheng turned around and said, "Didn't you say you wanted to go to the pawnshop after school?"

Gui'er then realized that A-Cheng might have overheard her conversation with Lin Pei-Shan. Thinking that she hadn't been to the pawnshop for many days, she decided to go and take a look.

As the car continued driving, Gui'er suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure flashing past the arcade next to her. She quickly turned her head to look and found that it was A'gang, the young apprentice of Chen De, the pawnshop clerk.

It's business hours now, why would he be wandering around outside?

Gui'er felt strange, but then she thought that maybe the person had asked for leave for personal reasons, so she didn't take it to heart.

Upon arriving at the pawnshop, Gui'er noticed that there weren't many people inside, so she got out of the carriage and went inside.

Wu Mingqiang wasn't at the shop, so Chen De hurriedly came out to greet him.

Gui'er walked into the shop and found that not only were Wu Mingqiang and A Gang not there, but even Wu Mingqiang's two subordinates, A Guang and A Zong, who had been assigned to work in the shop, were not there.

"Are you alone? Where did they go?" Gui'er asked curiously.

"Well, Mr. Wu took them out," Chen De stammered.

Gui'er knew that running a pawnshop required socializing, and that some valuable items even required the pawnshop staff to personally visit the pawner's home to inspect them. However, if that were the case, Chen De should be the one to handle it, since he was more knowledgeable in the field. Wu Mingqiang, on the other hand, was just a novice, and even if he was smart, he couldn't possibly get the hang of it so quickly.

"Where did they go? When are they coming back? I finally managed to come all this way, and they're not here at all." Gui'er sat down, pretending to be nonchalant.

As Chen De skillfully brewed tea, he smiled and said, "Mr. Wu always goes out frequently. He says he wants to meet with friends and socialize to expand his business."

Gui'er took the tea he offered, took a sip, and found it to be her favorite jasmine tea.

"How's business lately?"

"During the typhoon, our pawnshop was the most generous on this street, offering slightly higher prices than other pawnshops. As a result, we had quite a few repeat customers, and our customer base was relatively stable. However, these customers weren't very wealthy, so they didn't accept very high-quality goods, and the profit margin wasn't as high. But we still made money."

Gui'er wasn't very familiar with the ins and outs of pawnshops, and hearing his seemingly logical explanation, she couldn't think of any way to refute him. So she said, "Brother Cheng, I told you before that you and Brother Wu would manage this pawnshop together. Since it opened, have you ever kept track of the accounts?"

Acheng stepped forward and said, "Not yet, Miss."

"Since you've all come all this way, let's check it out."

As soon as Gui'er finished speaking, she sensed a barely perceptible hint of panic in Chen De's eyes.

He smiled and said, "What you said makes sense, Miss. It's been a while, and we should indeed inform the owner. However, Mr. Wu is not here now and probably won't be back before closing time today. Why don't we have Mr. Cheng come over tomorrow morning so the two of them can check together?"

Gui'er hesitated. She had seen Chen De's panic just now and felt that something was amiss. If the night had passed, he probably would have already settled the accounts.

Just then, Ah Gang suddenly ran in from outside, excitedly saying, "Uncle De, that necklace..."

When he saw Gui'er, he froze. He swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and stood there blankly, looking completely lost.

Chen De slowly turned around and scolded, "Look at you, always so flustered. When are you going to mature? Are you still going to pawn that necklace from Master Zhou's house?"

"Oh, him, that..."

Seeing his anxious and uneasy look, Chen De shook his head and said, "Judging from your empty hands, I know he's quit again. Alright, go back to work."

Then he turned to Gui'er helplessly and said, "There's a grain store owner nearby who keeps coming over and saying that he has an ancestral ruby ​​necklace that he wants to pawn. He's already had it appraised several times, but he's been hesitant. This time he asked us to go over again, but I was too lazy to go, so I had A-Gang go instead. Sure enough, he didn't want to pawn it."

Ah Gang seemed to realize what was happening at this moment, and hurriedly nodded and said, "Yes, yes, the boss said that he still needs to think about it."

Gui'er thought to herself, "A family heirloom ruby ​​necklace has been appraised and should be quite valuable. How could they send a mere shop assistant to entertain her? If I wanted to keep it as a family heirloom, I would probably change my mind if they only sent a shop assistant."

However, she didn't say it aloud, but smiled and said, "Since it's a family heirloom, it's normal for people to hesitate. Let him go for now."

“Miss is right. Ah Gang, it’s already this late, there probably won’t be any more customers. Why don’t you sweep the floor first?” Chen De turned and instructed.

Isn't this a signal that the door is about to close? It's a reminder to Gui'er that it's time to leave.

Gui'er was also hesitant. If she insisted on checking the accounts and inventory now, there would be two problems. First, there wouldn't be enough manpower, and Chen De and A Gang wouldn't cooperate. If things fell apart, she wouldn't be in a good position either. Second, Wu Mingqiang wouldn't be there, and she might feel that she didn't trust him.

However, judging from Chen De and A Gang's actions just now, there are too many suspicious points. This pawnshop was opened with their own money. If they really lost money, wouldn't it be the same as being bullied by others for nothing?

Gui'er took a sip of tea and saw that A-Gang, while sweeping, ended up sweeping right next to where she was sitting.

She suddenly had an idea, stood up, and naturally walked upstairs.

"Miss, what are you doing?"

"I'll go up and take a look. Didn't Mr. Lin, the young master of Ren'antang, come over last time to buy some ginseng? We need to preserve it carefully. After the last typhoon, it's probably quite damp. I'll check if it's damaged so I don't have to compensate him."