A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

At this moment, Wu Mingqiang and A Si, who had escorted Ouyang Bao back to his residence, returned.

Gui'er stepped forward and asked, "How did it go? Did he say anything else afterward?"

“He’s a bit drunk. But his first wife is really on his side. She even said she’d like to visit you in a couple of days. Ah Si, you should stay by Miss’s side these next two days, never leaving her side. He’s a detective, after all; he shouldn’t resort to force, right?” Wu Mingqiang said, frowning.

Ah Si said indignantly, "I will naturally protect Miss, but I didn't expect him to actually have someone follow and monitor that batch of cotton. This will make it difficult for Ah Cheng to extricate himself from the situation. If he uses this to make a big fuss, it will be very troublesome."

That night, Gui'er tossed and turned, anxious to tell Chen Zhongyu the situation at dawn. She hadn't expected Ouyang Bao to have investigated and guessed so thoroughly, uncovering the true nature of their entire network. Although there was no evidence, such things never needed it. It seemed Ouyang Bao's intention was to use the leverage he had gathered to blackmail her into becoming his concubine, thus allowing his wealth to smoothly fall into his hands. He probably wouldn't let Xu Jing, Chen Zhongyu, or Lin Peishan off the hook either. What should she do now?

When they arrived at school in the morning, Gui'er immediately pulled Lin Peishan towards the corner of the playground as soon as she entered the classroom.

"Gui'er, what are you doing so mysteriously so early in the morning?" Lin Peishan asked with a smile, puzzled.

Gui'er glanced around warily before saying, "Peishan, do you remember that one of our batches of cotton and cotton cloth was bought from a Chinese police chief named Ouyang Bao? Somehow he sent people to investigate Xu Jing's background, as well as Xinmin Bookstore, and he even found out about Acheng's cotton transport."

The book in Lin Peishan's hand fell to the ground with a "thud," and her face instantly turned pale. "How could this be? He..." She picked up the book, her fingers trembling violently, "Will something happen to Brother Xu Jing? And Brother Chen's bookstore... What are we going to do?"

“Last night he openly threatened me to become his concubine, or he would expose everything about us, the student movement, and the cotton business.” Gui’er clenched her clothes tightly. “I suspect he actually wants to take my property by making me his concubine, and since he’s investigated so thoroughly, he’ll definitely cause trouble for Brother Chen.”

Lin Peishan's eyes reddened with anxiety: "What can we do? If my father finds out I'm involved in these things, he'll lock me up at home. But Xu Jing and the others are still in danger..." She stamped her foot, "What kind of person is Ouyang Bao? Why did he..."

“Being a policeman in Hong Kong is no different from being a gangster, except you're wearing the guise of a government official.” Gui’er felt a heavy weight in her heart. “He said his wife is coming to see me in a couple of days, probably to test the waters.” Gui’er sighed. “Right now, I can only take it one step at a time and try to keep him calm.”

Finally, get out of class ended. The two pretended to go to buy stationery together, wandering around three streets to make sure no one was following them before quickly turning into the alley where Xinmin Bookstore was located. From afar, they saw three patrol officers in dark blue uniforms and green police hats standing at the entrance of the bookstore. One of them was slowly swaggering inside, while the other two stood guard at the bottom of the steps with their arms crossed, their eyes scanning the passersby warily.

Gui'er and Lin Peishan huddled behind the grocery store at the alley entrance, only daring to hurry into the store after the patrolman left, cursing and swearing.

Inside the bookstore, Chen Zhongyu was stuffing several progressive publications from the shelf under the counter when he saw them come in. He quickly put down what he was doing and said, "You're here. The patrolman was asking about Xu Jing earlier, and he even looked through the books in the store." He pointed to the corner of the wall. "I've had a feeling something was off. These past few days, there have been some unfamiliar faces loitering around the alleyway, pretending to read the newspaper, but their eyes are always glancing into the store."

Gui'er quickly told him about Ouyang Bao's visit to her yesterday.

Lin Peishan said anxiously, "Brother Chen, shouldn't we move over immediately?"

“Peishan and I are still in school. If we leave suddenly, it will only draw attention to us.” Gui’er frowned. “Peishan can’t be left alone at home either. Making a move rashly will only alert her.”

Chen Zhongyu pondered for a moment and said, "Let's hold on for now. This is Hong Kong after all. The British Hong Kong government has no reason to arrest us. I will send a telegram tonight to ask for instructions from my superiors." He paused for a moment and then said, "Ouyang Bao is greedy and lecherous. He won't take any hard measures for now. You all hold on and wait for instructions from your superiors."

Gui'er thought for a moment and said, "Brother Chen, could we let Professor Xu go to another place to lay low for a while? He's been too high-profile. I think we shouldn't have let him impersonate a businessman in the first place. If we hadn't, none of this would have happened."

Chen Zhongyu sighed and said, "After I took over from the previous administration, the liaison point here was rebuilt and we were short-handed. At the time, we thought that Professor Xu's family was in business, so it would be reasonable to investigate them. I didn't expect that they would be used by someone with ulterior motives. Be careful these next few days and don't come here for the time being."

After school, as soon as Gui'er got into the car, she asked A-Si, "How was today?"

"...Brother Qiang arranged for Ru Meng to receive Chief Ouyang. Actually, ever since Ru Meng took a liking to Brother Qiang, she hasn't been taking many clients. She's determined to marry Brother Qiang and leave the profession..."

Gui'er felt very guilty after hearing this. Although she had almost been implicated because of Ru Meng's matter, one thing is one thing, and she would still feel heartbroken and sad if Ru Meng was abused.

"Then should I..." Gui'er was about to suggest giving Ru Meng some money, but then she thought that would be the same as paying for Ouyang Bao's prostitution. Wouldn't that make Ru Meng misunderstand?

"Miss, don't worry about it. Brother Qiang already gave her the money. He also spent the whole afternoon comforting her, and she's very happy now."

Gui'er didn't know what this reassurance meant, and she didn't dare to ask, so she just nodded and said, "That's good."

"By the way, Acheng is back. He's at the pawnshop now. Starting tomorrow, he'll be picking you up and dropping you off again."

"Really? Brother Cheng is back. Then I won't go home first, let's go to the pawnshop."

Upon arriving at the pawnshop, as soon as I walked in, I saw Ah Cheng chatting with Wu Mingqiang inside.

Gui'er quickly walked up to greet him, saying, "Brother Acheng, you're back safe and sound?"

Ah Cheng quickly stood up and said, "Thanks to you, Miss. I just arrived."

Gui'er asked impatiently, "Then, how's the situation over there?"

Acheng glanced around cautiously, walked to the door of the reception room, pulled down the curtain, and said in a low voice, "Everything is fine. I'll tell you when I get home. I just heard about what happened here from Brother Qiang."