A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

As Gui'er spoke, she went up to the second floor, walked to the cabinet where the ginseng used to be, opened it, and found it empty.

“Miss, you’re too late. Mr. Lin just redeemed the ginseng yesterday. Ah Gang, what are you standing there for? Go and get Mr. Lin’s redemption ticket for you to see.”

A moment later, Ah Gang handed over an account book, which Chen De skillfully flipped through a few pages. He then pulled out the ransom note tucked inside and handed it to Gui'er with a smile.

Gui'er took it and saw that it clearly stated: "Two ginseng roots redeemed, payment settled."

This thing shouldn't be easy to forge on the spot. Gui'er nodded and returned the ransom note to Chen De. She then pretended to casually open the other cabinets and drawers, but she had never seen or handled any of those items before, so she didn't know if there were any omissions.

"These pawned items were stored very well, thank you for your hard work, Mr. Chen." Gui'er felt that things weren't so simple, but she couldn't find any fault with him, so she could only offer some words of comfort and praise before turning around and walking downstairs.

"Thank you for the compliment, Miss. It's my pleasure."

"Miss, shall we continue with the inventory?" Acheng asked.

Gui'er frowned. If they were to take inventory now and then find no mistakes, it would only make things awkward for both sides. So she said, "Let's talk to Brother Wu tomorrow and ask Ah Si to come over and help us with the inventory."

"Okay, I'll go get the car first," Acheng said as he went out.

Chen De and A Gang stood to the side, smiling.

“Oh right, Brother Wu mentioned before that a wealthy family pawned a jade incense burner. What was it like? I heard it was quite valuable. I’d like to see it.” Gui’er finally remembered a business deal that Wu Mingqiang had mentioned to her.

"Ah, this..." Chen De was clearly taken aback.

When Gui'er turned to look at A-Gang again, his face had turned deathly pale.

"Hehe, what a coincidence, this item has also been redeemed by a customer."

Gui'er remembered that Wu Mingqiang had clearly said that this family was already destitute and had no ability to redeem the property.

"Oh, I see. It seems this family has overcome their difficulties. That's a good thing."

"Miss is right. Ah, the car is here, miss, please slow down."

Chen De and A Gang watched Gui'er get into the car and drive away before turning back to the shop.

However, they didn't know that Gui'er had already seen their relieved expressions in the rearview mirror.

"Brother Cheng, when you go to the shop tomorrow to do the inventory and check the accounts, pay special attention to that jade incense burner that Brother Wu mentioned before. See if the customer really redeemed it and if the money has been collected."

"Okay, miss."

That evening, Gui'er announced at home that she would arrange for the pawnshop to conduct an inventory check the next day. Wu Mingqiang smiled calmly and said, "That's right, it's time to take stock. We've brought in quite a lot of goods recently, especially after the typhoon. I think we should be making a profit."

“Yes, last time you told me about a jade incense burner. I went to the shop today hoping to see it, but Chen Chaofeng said it had already been redeemed. It’s a real pity I didn’t get to see it.”

"Huh, really? I thought that old man wouldn't have the money to redeem himself," Wu Mingqiang said, somewhat surprised.

"What? Brother Wu, you don't know?"

"Oh, I've been going out a lot lately for business dinners. I mainly want to build good relationships with some wealthy tycoons so I can sell our valuable, pawned goods to them later. That's why I'm not in the shop often."

Gui'er nodded, but she still noticed a hint of unease on Wu Mingqiang's face, which made her quite puzzled. It was hard to say whether Wu Mingqiang was upright or not, but she was confident that he was loyal to her.

The next morning, Wu Mingqiang wanted to ask Gui'er to go to the store with him to supervise the inventory.

Gui'er said, "No need, I don't understand this stuff and can't be of much help. You guys go ahead. I know that business is all about steady progress. Whether we make a profit or not doesn't matter. The main thing is to see if there are any problems with our shop. After all, this is our first time doing business. Brother Si's health has almost recovered. Let's take him to familiarize himself with the business and see if he's comfortable with it. If he is, he can stay and help out in the shop. Liu Jin can come back and continue making doors."

Hearing this from the side, Sister-in-law Ying nodded and bowed repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, Miss, thank you, Miss."

After that, she went to school as usual.

As soon as she sat down, before class even started, Lin Peishan said to her, "Do you know Du Jianbang from the Chinese Department? He just came to see you."

"Who is Du Jianbang? I don't know him." Gui'er was a little confused. "I don't know a single person in the Chinese department. What does he want with me?"

"He said your relative asked him to come find you. I told him you hadn't arrived yet and would be a little late, so he left. He said he'd come back later. Don't you really recognize him?"

"I don't know him. Maybe a relative from my hometown asked someone to find me." Although Gui'er had her doubts, she made up an excuse to get by.

When get out of class ended, Lin Peishan suddenly pointed to the door and said, "Look, it's that person again."

Gui'er looked in the direction he pointed and saw a man in a stand-up collar Zhongshan suit walk in from the classroom door. He smiled and said to Gui'er, "Student Sha, a relative from my hometown asked me to pass on a message to you and also brought you some things. Would it be convenient for you to come out and pick them up?"

Gui'er asked warily, "Where are you going to get it? I wonder which relative asked you to find me?"

"It's your elder brother in Shanghai, Mr. Sha. There's not much, but it's inconvenient to hand it to you in front of others."

Gui'er was taken aback. When she looked at the person again, she suddenly felt that the face was familiar. It seemed that she had indeed seen him before. The person was of medium height and his appearance was not outstanding. In fact, he was very ordinary and would not be recognized in a crowd. However, he had a baby face with single eyelids.

She suddenly remembered this person; he seemed to be one of Sha Yanyao's subordinates. She thought she had seen him a few times in Nanjing, always silently following behind Sha Yanyao.

"Oh, so it was my elder brother who asked someone to bring me something. Thank you so much." Gui'er quickly got up and followed the person outside.

The two walked out of the classroom and came to the foot of the teaching building, stopping only when they reached a corner of the campus.

"Miss Gui'er, this is a letter that Deputy Director Sha asked me to bring to you, and this too." Du Jianbang took out a bag and handed a heavy package to Gui'er.

"Here are 100 silver dollars. Your elder brother asked me to give them to you. He told you to be careful in Hong Kong and not to cause trouble. Don't let your men know about this money."

Gui'er was very surprised. She didn't think she had a particularly good relationship with Sha Yanyao before, so she didn't expect him to remember her.