A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui'er looked in that direction and saw that Lin Peishan was personally serving the guests, pouring tea and adding water for them, acting just like a boss lady.

Gui'er was smiling and about to walk over to tease her when Chen Zhongyu suddenly lowered his voice and said seriously, "Gui'er, we have a mission."

Gui'er was stunned for a moment, then realized what was going on: "What mission?"

"Our troops need some cotton and cotton cloth to make clothes to keep the soldiers warm."

Gui'er was stunned when she heard this: "Why are you only saying this now? The temperature in the mainland should be lower than here. They should have needed it a long time ago, right?"

Chen Zhongyu sighed and said, "Actually, the colleague who was in charge of liaison was killed by the enemy on the way. It was only when the organization found out that there hadn't been any news for too long that they sent someone back. At first, I was thinking of handling it myself. I had heard about the affair between that Wu guy in your pawnshop and that prostitute in Shitang. I thought you had some family matters to attend to at the time and didn't want to bother you. But I tried my best to raise funds but couldn't get much. First, I didn't have the funds, and second, it's the Lunar New Year now, and everyone said to wait until after the New Year. If I forced it, I was afraid it would attract the attention of the authorities, so I thought I'd talk to you about whether any of your relatives or friends could help?"

Gui'er's eyes darted around, and she nodded, saying, "I'll go find Song Xilun and Sha Lili right now. Their families both own businesses, so they should have connections."

She paused for a moment and then said to Chen Zhongyu, "Brother Chen, you should have told me sooner. Even if something happened to my family, how could those underworld disputes compare to the lives of our comrades?"

Chen Zhongyu breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and said, "Is everything taken care of now?"

Gui'er sighed: "It's all sorted out now, but I'm afraid I'll have to be more careful with my subordinates in the future to prevent them from making mistakes."

Time was of the essence, so Gui'er immediately called Song Xilun to ask if he could buy cotton and cotton cloth now.

Song Xilun paused for a moment and said, "It's possible, but how will you start a business?"

In her haste, Gui'er forgot to come up with a good reason and stammered for a while before finally saying, "Do you remember my sister who married a merchant? She has a big client who needs cotton, so she asked me to help her find some."

"Is it in such a hurry? It's still Chinese New Year."

"It's precisely because it's difficult to find sources of goods during the Lunar New Year that they're willing to pay high prices."

"Since you put it that way, I'll go and try to find a source of goods for you."

After hanging up the phone, Gui'er was still worried. She wanted to be on the safe side, so she asked Sha Lili as well. However, Sha Lili was not as easy to talk to as Song Xilun, and she was the kind of person who would do anything for personal gain.

After thinking for a moment, Gui'er went to a nearby pastry shop and bought a box of pastries. Then she asked Acheng to drive her to Shalili's place.

Acheng said, "Miss, we heard from Ouyang Bao the other day that Miss Lily wants to use you as a favor. Are you still going to see her?"

Gui'er couldn't tell her directly, so she sighed and said, "There's nothing I can do. They are relatives after all, and we can't be too distant from them."

Sally's trading company has resumed normal business operations, but the New Year atmosphere is still there. Couplets and the character "福" (good fortune) are pasted on the door of the trading company, and there are even red paper firecrackers on the ground in front of the door.

Gui'er explained her purpose to the foreign firm's clerks. After they went up to announce her arrival, they came down and politely said, "Our young mistress invites Miss Gui'er up for a chat."

Gui'er carried the snacks to the living room on the second floor, where Shali and the fourth concubine were both present.

"Fourth Aunt... Fourth Mother, Happy New Year, Lily! How have you all been lately?"

Fourth Concubine said with a smile, "The New Year is almost over, and you're only just arriving. I thought you'd forgotten about our family relationship."

Gui'er quickly replied, "What are you saying? I just thought that my brother-in-law's family would be busy with guests and social engagements during the New Year, and that coming here might be a disturbance, so I postponed it until now."

"Oh, I see. I thought it was because of that scandal that happened to your family a while ago," Sally said with a forced smile.

Gui'er was stunned. She realized that Sha Lili was referring to Ru Meng and Wu Mingqiang's affair.

She didn't bother to hide it and said with a smile, "There was indeed a little trouble at home, but it's all been resolved now."

The fourth concubine sighed and said, "We've been telling you for a long time to invest all your money in our shop, but you wouldn't listen. Now look what's happened, everyone down there is finding ways to deduct your pay. This guy's name is Wu..."

“Wu Mingqiang, Mother, used to be Second Brother’s most capable henchman,” Sha Lili reminded him from the side.

“Yes, I remember now. They used to be assassins for the Ji family, ruthless and vicious. Your brother, sister, and I originally wanted to visit you during the New Year, but considering that such people are around, we didn’t want to cause any trouble,” the fourth concubine said harshly.

Gui'er felt a little embarrassed and quickly changed the subject: "Oh, right, speaking of which, I haven't met Third Brother yet. How is he doing now? You guys don't live together, do you? Speaking of which, Third Brother is my elder, so I should bring some souvenirs and visit him."

As soon as she finished speaking, both the fourth concubine and Shalili were visibly stunned.

"Oh, him? He's living with his father-in-law now. They have a large family there, and your brother was a little frightened on the way from his hometown. He's always been in poor health, so he's resting at home. There's no need to visit him."

Gui'er felt something was amiss. Logically speaking, the fourth concubine should have lived with her son, but she had been staying with Sha Lili ever since she came to Hong Kong from her hometown. Moreover, Sha Yanwen's wife and Sha Lili's husband seemed to be cousins ​​and should have been very close. Why did she give off such a distant feeling?

Gui'er wasn't in the mood to think about these things anymore. She smiled and said, "Brother-in-law, this foreign firm does quite a variety of businesses. I wonder if they deal in cotton cloth or cotton?"

Sally said with some surprise, "We do have cotton and cotton cloth, but not much. Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

Upon hearing that she had connections, Gui'er quickly said, "Oh, it's like this. My classmate's relative owns a clothing factory. They received a large order and urgently need cotton and cotton fabric. They're looking everywhere for it. I thought, don't we have someone in our family who runs a trading company? So I asked around. If the deal goes through, I can earn a commission as a middleman. Would it be convenient for you to ask my brother-in-law how much cotton and cotton fabric he can find? I'll give my classmate a reply. We're all family, so let's make money together."